Sydney is still not convinced that summer needs to hurry up and get here. She teases us with a day or two of glorious sunny heat, instigating the removal of blankets from the bed and the pulling out of sandals from the back of the closet, only to bring down another week of grey, cold drizzle that once again call for tights, boots and a jumper - no wonder the meteorologists are striking. But the mangoes tell a different story, they whisper promises of days at the beach and x-mas holidays and … [Read more...]
Quinoa Tortillas
You know when you try something out expecting one result and what you get is so much better? Yeah, these are that. I noticed recently that Bob's Red Mill has started ranging in Australia - I was excited to say the least. FYI - they have nothing to do with this post, I just really like their stuff ... that said, if they sent me a hamper, I wouldn't say no, what I would do is giggle like a kid at Christmas. I get excited about baking supplies, it doesn't take much. Anyway, while I already have my … [Read more...]
Chili Garlic Monkfish Pasta
Watching cooking shows when hungry is kind of like going grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Probably not the best idea. We were watching the final episode of The Wild Gourmets in Spain on the ABC the other night ... by the end of it I was dying for clams with white beans and tomatoes, and white fish marinated in salsa verde with yellow potatoes and a salad of some kind with jamon and pine nuts and strong blue cheese - I don't even eat meat, it was at the point of ridiculous. Alas it was … [Read more...]
Chicken Cacciatore
This gets filed under the 'meals from childhood' category. I vividly remember mom making this in an electric fry pan - you know, the kind with the high sides and a domed lid - for dinner quite regularly. I have no idea if this is the same recipe, when I decided to cook it the other evening for RJ it was the middle of the night in NY, probably best that I didn't call to ask what goes in it! But that said, this is the recipe of my memories - tomatoes, multi-coloured capsicum [peppers], … [Read more...]
Spicy Carrot, Tomato and Lentil Soup
I love soup. I know, it's a big statement. There is this little cafe downstairs from my day-job office. They are friendly, and they make a good cup of tea and they have soup at lunch....$8.50 soup. It does come with lovely bread, but really, $8.50? It is not any more expensive, and is actually at times cheaper, than any of the other cafes around. This soup was inspired by one of their regular ones, and it is so simple I have made it twice already. As much as I used to call North … [Read more...]
Banana Split Spread
This conversation occurred the other day on the way to work: RJ: oh, so yesterday I ...akldj kdfa kadkjfjf ja sjlkh.... JJ: hold on, hold on, sorry, can you tell me that again, I wasn't listening at all, I was thinking about bananas. RJ: of course you were. Lately, this spread is what I've been thinking about. This, I could eat with a spoon [humm...did eat with a spoon...may be eating with a spoon right now] but it is hypothetically meant to be spread on things. Many years ago I came to … [Read more...]
Warm Potato and Pea Salad
...or Mustard Potatoes and Greens; or Peas, Greens and Potatoes with Mustard dressing; or, well you get the point. I should have just called it Warm Yum-Yum Salad. And that previously mentioned obsession with peas...yep, still going. So these days I photograph pretty much everything I cook, [some of it actually makes it into posts, it almost always means that things take longer to make]. However, most of the time I think up something that I have to have immediately and launch right in with … [Read more...]
