A few years back I spent 10 days in Japan with a girlfriend from collage. We trekked around Tokyo, did the hot springs local-style in Hakone, got caught in a blizzard, navigated public transport, said sumimasen a thousand times and ate more soba noodles than you could imagine. When I got home I never wanted to see a noodle or a piece of sushi ever again... or so I thought. About three weeks later it was all I could think about. My insistence on 'must have soba like in Japan' led us to … [Read more...]
In my kitchen: December 2012
Each month, Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial hosts a feature called 'In my kitchen'. After months of peeking in through the window at other people I figured it was time to share what's happening on my own yellow laminate benchtop! A few new discoveries and a few fun bits and pieces - here we go... In my kitchen this December is: Further proof of my purple vegetable obsession manifesting in the form of purple kale and purple carrots from Eveleigh Market. ...yellow bench-top covered … [Read more...]
Winter White Bean & Kale Soup
There is a saying in Australia - 'does what it says on the tin'. This is that, but without the tin. It is - depending on your hemisphere, the end or beginning of - winter, there is kale, and beans. Voila we have soup. I used proper dried white beans since I knew in the morning I wanted to make it for dinner, but canned works just fine. Kale is perfect but silverbeat, chard, or any dark leafy green would be just as good. Same deal wth the veggies - feel free to clean out the crisper. After … [Read more...]
Kale Chips
Chips and beer, chips and beer, chips and beer. Well maybe just chips, but still, they would be brilliant with beer. Also, if you have never had Chimay... what is there to even say about it... a spring evening with friends, an autumn afternoon in a beer garden, a winter's night curled up with a good book... Belgian, rich, a little bit fruity, and just simply amazing. However, if you are a perpetual 'gimme a pint of America-land Light' kind of person, while the chips will still go down a … [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...]
Garlic Greens
So the Cavalo Nero from yesterday...this is how it most frequently makes an appearance...sauteed with garlic and olive oil, usually at least twice a week. Like spinach, it cooks down by at least half - if not more, so cut up at a minimum an entire bunch. It goes with everything, or even on it's own. It is currently filling my NEED VEGETABLES cravings, and we have exterminated the vampires for miles based on the amount of garlic we are going through. If you can't find Tuscan Cabbage, … [Read more...]
Cavalo Nero
Cavalo Nero aka Tuscan Cabbage is one of my new 'use as often as possible' ingredients. I figured I'd show you what it is before adding it to almost everything. There are a few other things going on here as well. For starters this is my DIY wooden board, secondly this was photographed with my new lens - had big aperture happening so the bokeh is a touch out of control but you get the idea. This stuff is fantastic. It almost melts down when sauteed lightly and wilts instantly in … [Read more...]
