I think I have mentioned before that I am not a huge fan of super rich ice creams that are full of cream, eggs and sugar. They leave a greasy feel in my mouth and all I seem to taste is the sugar. One of my self justifications for buying a rather expensive ice cream machine a few years ago was that I would make “healthier” ice creams. In summer I make lots of fruit based ice creams that have nothing much more than the fruit and a smidgen of sugar added. It works for us.
The kids have been feasting on mangoes for the last couple of months as we bought trays of mangoes every second week or so. I had been promising to make them some mango ice-cream for ages and finally got around to it. One of my memories of childhood was making mango ice-cream at home in summer. It was a big production and was a much-anticipated event. We had a wooden bucket that had to be soaked overnight so it would get almost watertight. Then a huge block of ice would have to be bought and chopped up. My mum would make the mixture with the mangoes. It was poured into a metal cylinder with a paddle inside it, that sat in the middle of the bucket and connected to a handle. Then lots of ice and salt would be packed firmly around the metal cylinder. My uncle would arrive to do most of the work turning the handle to churn the ice cream. All of us kids would take turns in churning the ice cream, finally handing over to my uncle as it started to firm up and got harder to turn. It was a big production that took all afternoon. And the ice cream was certainly the best I have ever eaten. The best bit was right at the bottom of the metal container – the really hard bit…and ofcourse licking the paddle clean! Is it just memory that makes me think it was so fantastic….or lack of experience with other ice cream? I know that it is certainly a taste of mango ice cream that I seem to spend my life chasing.
In contrast to my childhood experiences of making mango ice cream, it is a very quick and simple approach in our home (what memories will that create for my kids I wonder….!). I sliced the flesh of two big mangoes and popped them into a blender with a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar. Gave it an extra long whizz in the blender so that the sugar could dissolve (I could not be bothered making a sugar syrup and cooling it down, etc). Then I popped it into the ice cream machine and turned it on. When I checked it at the 10 minute mark I thought it had too strong a taste of mango, such that it almost tasted like fake or tinned mango (strange but true). So I decided to add some milk. Since I was planning on eating some of it as well, I used some hazelnut milk while the kids were not watching (they are not impressed with the concept of hazelnut milk). Turned it back on and about 10 minutes later it was ready.
Sam and Tara declared it to be the best mango ice cream ever. Me? I think it is not as good as the mango ice cream we had as kids!
I love lemon polenta cakes. The deli up the road makes a really nice lemon polenta slice and I have tried (mostly unsuccesfully) to create it at home. I suspect their verison has about twice the butter I am willing to put into a cake. Luckily I can just go and buy a slice and pretend ignorance while I eat it!
And then I spotted the Manna from Heaven recipe for the little lemon polenta cakes they make and supply to just about every cafe in Sydney in a NQN post. My kids love these tiny little morsels so I knew I had to make them. They turned out brilliantly – better than the cafe version (although a bit more rustic looking) if I say so myself. In fact, they were actually nicer the next day and they kept really well for a week. They retained their moistness and the lemon flavour got a little stronger as the week wore on. Makes me wonder just how old those cafe versions are, as they are invariably quite dry when we buy them. I took the lazy option and didn’t line my cupcake tins…which I usually do but in a pique of extraordinary laziness decided to skip. Mistake. They were hard little beasties to get out and resulted in the ‘rustic’ look. Next time I will take the extra thirty seconds and line the trays.
And then an unusual take on ‘popping out of a cake’….a pop up of Tara and Mr Bean. It was a “Belly dancing and Mr Bean” party….completely in keeping with Tara’s sense of humour.
Cupcakes to take in to school on the birthday itself this week:
25 kids at the kids party, four celebrations…and one very happy little girl!
I lost my cooking mojo for a couple of weeks. Being a person who cooks by taste and inspiration means that when I am good I am pretty good, but when I am bad I am really terrible. When the mojo goes, I can’t seem to cook anything at all. I even stuffed up boiled eggs for breakfast – and we are talking freshly laid eggs in a pan of water! Things I have made many times before turned out inedible. Take dhal/lentils for instance. We eat lentils about once a week in some form or the other. I usually make all sorts of interesting lentil dishes in an attempt to entice my family to eat them (Andrew usually manages to find something else to eat, or comes home too late to want dinner if I happen to say that it is dhal for dinner, such is his “love” for it. Hence the need to keep it varied and tasty….usually.) For the last three weeks, each time I have attempted to make dhal, it has ended up as a huge pot of something so disgusting that even I could not force myself to eat it. It went straight out to the dog and chooks and we had to get take away dinner for yet another night. This would not be such a terrible thing if we had better take away food options in the part of Sydney where I live, and each night we had to venture further afield to find decent food for dinner.
Late last week with Tara’s birthday fast approaching I was starting to get a tad worried about this lack of cooking ability. My kids have such huge expectations of multiple birthday feasts (an expectation created and nurtured by me ofcourse) that lack of cooking mojo was going to be a serious problem. By luck or accident it turned out ok on the weekend and I managed to produce a decent meal. I will post up some pictures and recipes shortly. But I am very pleased to say that tonight I successfully made an edible dhal (moong dhal with dill) and none went to the dog or chooks! The kids and Andrew even gave it the thumbs up, yes, even Andrew. So I think it is a recipe certainly worth posting up here! read more…
Tara was happier than usual doing her homework last week. “My teacher has given us all joyful words for spelling this week” she happily announced. Words like ‘happiness’ and ‘Christmas’ and ‘friend’ instead of the usual fare of ‘approximate’ and ‘trapezium’ and ‘estimation’ that have little use in a six year old’s life. Who would have thought that such a small thing as choosing ‘joyful words’ for spelling homework could bring excitement and happiness. It had to have been a coincidence on the part of her teacher I thought, and very surprising. More surprising though was the discovery that the school has not totally killed off all her joy of learning…yet! (Yes, I am looking forward to the end of the school year!)
Some Goan curries just don’t taste right with anything other than sannas – these little rice and coconut steamed things. I have never attempted them before but was surpised how easy they were to make. In Goa they are made with toddy (the sap of the coconut tree (I think), which is also the basis for the very special Goa vinegar). Toddy is tapped early in the morning, before sunrise as it ferments very easily. I remember being made to drink some of it on early mornings when we were on our twice annual holiday in Goa. Any that was left over was used in the cooking or set down for vinegar. I am sure I would like the taste of it a lot more now that I am an adult.
Thinking about what I could use to replace the toddy effect in the sanna batter, I decided to give some of my sourdough starter a try. Afterall it is natural yeasts, slightly sour and has the rising effect that bakers yeast (which is what people who don’t have access to toddy use) would deliver. (Ok I admit that the real reason I thought of sourdough is that I was in the midst of a sourdough obsession.)
The process and ingredients were pretty simple. The day before you want to make these, soak three cups of basmati rice in water for a few hours and then using a little coconut milk for liquid grind the rice to a fairly smooth paste (you don’t want it totally smooth). Don’t add too much liquid while grinding the rice, you want the batter quite thick – like a cake batter. When the rice has almost reached the required level of fineness, add in one grated fresh coconut and grind for a few more minutes. Most people use a lot less fresh coconut, but I figured that since I had the coconut (bought and grated just for this) I would be extravagant with it. And I like them to have a fairly strong coconut taste. Add a teaspoon or two of salt, a tablespoon of sugar and half a cup of sourdough starter (or a tablespoon of yeast). Mix well and leave it to stand overnight so that it ferments slightly and rises. The batter will get light and airy when it has risen enough. Put a tablespoon or two into little bowls that you have oiled well, and steam for about 10 minutes. You end up with a slightly sweet (from the coconut) with a hint of sourness, fluffy little cake that goes perfectly well with a really hot, spicy Goan curry.
Another evening when I really did not want to cook. I bought veal schnitzel from the butcher thinking that I would make proper crumbed schnitzel for my kids (something I very rarely do). But that evening I could not face the thought of the extra ten minutes of effort required to dip them in egg and all that nonsense. Instead I made this lemony-mustardy veal which turned out to be quite delicious and really did take less than ten minutes to get on the table – particularly since I used the working mother’s vegetable friend – the frozen pea – for greenery.
Veal with lemon, mustard and marsala
Heat a heavy cast iron pan for a few minutes. Slice up a lemon and lightly season your veal with salt and pepper while you are waiting for the pan to heat. Throw in a tiny knob of butter and a couple of lemon slices. After the lemon has browned on one side, flip it over and add the veal schnitzel on top. Try not to overcrowd your pan – you want to cook it fast and at a high heat. If you over crowd the pan, it will simply stew and take longer to cook. After one to two minutes flip the veal over and allow it to cook for another minute or two on the other side. Remove from the pan and place the veal and the caramelised lemon (which you can eat with the veal – quite delicious) which you can layer up on a plate. Cook all your pieces of veal the same way. Now add a big tablespoon of dijon mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice and a good slug of marsala or any other alcohol such as wine into the pan to deglaze it. If you use wine (instead of the rather sweet marsala, you might want to add a teaspoon of honey to balance the lemon). Stir it around and scrape any of the burnt bits on the pan into it. It thickens very quickly so you will only need a minute or two of this. Pour some of the sauce on top of the veal. Serve with the caramelised slices of lemon and some steamed peas. A reasonably balanced meal and one that also meets the high protein, low fat and low carb diet rules.
I think I have mentioned before that Anzac biscuits are much loved in our home – by the kids and Andrew. They get very cross if I start experimenting with the Anzacs as I have done before with a gluten and oat free version using Quinoa flakes (reasonably good although lacking crunch) and my high protein-low fat version where the pictures said it all. I whipped up a quick batch of these the other evening when a small stampede of kids came over for a play at our house after school. It was a more attractive option than cleaning up the house…and kids have grown to expect freshly baked treats when they come over to our place. We always have the ingredients for these biscuits at home and I usually make a double or triple batch. When we go camping I make up a big box of them to take with us and they go down very well after a morning fishing at the beach….or as a late supper sitting by the camp fire. I usually bake the first few trays for slightly longer so they get crunchier – they go in the bottom of the box and retain that slight crunch until we eat our way to the bottom of the box. (Yes, I am that crazy). We like ours a little chewy and a little crunchy – not those hard totally crunchy ones that you buy, and not a stale-tasting soft one. You will need to get to know your oven and experiment with baking times if you like yours this way too. read more…
A weeknight dinner needing to be high protein, low carb and low fat (yes the dreadful weight loss eating plan continues albeit with a serious case of cake addiction). A quick meal in the old days of high carb dinners was to create this tuna thing and toss it through pasta. I decided to replace the pasta with some lovely du puy lentils that we all love, and to serve it warm to trick myself into thinking that a salad was ok for dinner (it was one of those nights when starchy carbs were sounding pretty attractive). It worked!
Tuna and lentil salad
3/4 cup du puy lentils (soak them in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes if you have time)
1 large can of tuna in oil (use the cat food like tuna in spring water if you are more virtuous than I am. I used a can of Sirena and drained it well)
1/2 preserved lemon (use the zest of a lemon if you don’t have these, and remember to add in a bit of salt)
1/2 cup of kalamata olives
1 red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
parsley
1 bay leaf
chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs dijon mustard
2 tbs olive oil if you went the cat food option with the tuna
In a small bowl combine the mustard, a tiny pinch of salt (remember the preserved lemons are salty), pepper, lemon juice and olive oil if you are using it.
Put the lentils in a pan with plenty of water, a bay leaf, a clove of garlic and the stalks of the parsley and cook on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes. Check the lentils occasionally, you want them cooked but not mushy. Drain and stir through the dressing.
Slice the onion and pan fry it in a few drops of oil until softened and transparent. Add the finely minced garlic and the chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Now add in the tuna, olives and finely diced preserved lemon. Stir gently and cook for a few minutes on a low heat.
Mix the tuna and lentils together and serve on a bed of rocket or on its own. I added a swig of extra virgin olive oil over my kids serve of this salad as they certainly don’t need a low fat dinner.
Hello, my name is X and it has been six days and seven hours since my last…..cookbook purchase.
Yes, I have a cookbook addiction. It has been relatively under control for the last couple of years (finally learning restraint in my old age). But just recently the shelves have started groaning again. Visitors to my house often remark on my three shelves of cookbooks in the kitchen area, commenting that my collection is not too huge. I don’t tell them about the many more cookbooks that I store in the bookshelf in the lounge room…and the one near the stairs!
My last purchase was the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook. For those of you not in Sydney, Bourke Street Bakery (BSB) is a lovely little bakery in Surry Hills which makes great bread and fantastic pastries, etc. I have been wanting this book ever since it was published a couple of months ago. And finally I got my hands on it. I love their sourdough bread so I was keen to try out their recipe. That night I read through the entire book. Unusually for me, the very next day I made the first thing out of the book – their standard (wheat flour) sourdough bread (Unusual because I don’t always cook things out of cookbooks I purchase). It is quite a different recipe and process to the usual recipe I use. I was so happy with the dough that before I even put the bread in the oven I started up on the next batch – their Millers loaf which I made with approx 60% wheat and 40% rye. Also stunning. Andrew says it is the best bread ever, despite it getting slightly burnt. And my friend Janet who also scored a loaf also says it is very good (I think she was suspicious about my baking efforts before that). So this is now my favourite sourdough bread recipe and process. The photo above does not do it justice – my very first attempt at this bread which was slightly burnt. read more…
