Brisbane Harvest

Banana Walnut Choc Chip Muffins

2010-09-18T22:33:00.001+10:00

Tonight I think I've cracked the ultimate banana muffin, filled with nommy chocolate chips and walnuts, modified from this recipe. I used dark brown sugar and buttermilk to add a little extra flavour and zing.

Dry Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup choc-chips
1/4 cup walnuts

Wet Ingredients

100 grams butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 over-ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Grease 12 hole muffin tray or 1 x 6 hole Texas muffin pan.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk them together to ensure an even blend.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork and mix together with all other wet ingredients. Then add to the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into muffin pan.

Bake 12-15 minutes.

These muffins fulfill the magic combination of being moist, containing fruit, nuts and rich flavours without being too dense or overwhelming.

Curried Cabbage and Mince

2010-08-07T20:26:00.001+10:00

Cabbage time. Morgan whipped up this dish tonight to honour the yummy cabbage in our box this week. He based his recipe on this one.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 red chillies finely chopped
2 tsp cumin
3 sticks celery, finely diced
500g lean beef mince or pork mince
1/2 cup long-grain rice, raw
2 tablespoons Keen's curry powder
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 mini cabbage, core removed and finely shredded
lemon juice to taste
Rice vermicelli

Method

Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add onion, chillies and celery and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add cumin, mince and half the cabbage and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add rice, curry powder, chicken stock and water. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until well-combined. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.

Remove lid and place remaining cabbage over top of mince mixture. Cook, covered, for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir through cabbage and serve immediately with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Really tasty! I love this dish. Thanks baby!

Creamy Kale Pasta

2010-08-06T18:36:00.001+10:00

Last week we received a gorgeous bunch of kale in our box. I was in the mood for something creamy and warming for a chilly winter night. But, I also wanted in include something fresh and use leftovers! How to manage? Below is my creamy kale pasta recipe as a result.

Ingredients

25g butter
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 chopped spring onions
1 bunch of kale, washed and roughly chopped
1/3 cup pure cream
1/2 can of condensed tomato soup
Leftover roast chicken
Smoked paprika and pepper to taste
1/2 lime's worth of juice
Cup of grape tomatoes
Parmesan cheese

Method
Saute garlic and the whites of the spring onions in butter. Add kale and simmer for a few minutes.

Add tomato soup, cream and shredded leftover chicken (or any other protein). Simmer for another few minutes, add paprika & pepper.

Slowly add lime juice and stir.

At this point you can just serve it up on pasta with some cheese. But, as I said above, I wanted to add a little freshness...

...Chop up grape tomatoes into halves...

...Serve with the greens of the spring onions.

Even better, leftover sauce can be spooned into puff pastry triangles the next night, brushed with egg and cooked in a 180 degree oven for 30 minutes for a delicious snack. Served here with hot sauce!

Squash, Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry

2010-07-23T10:33:00.001+10:00

I'm back!! 17 weeks pregnant and I've renewed our subscription to Food Connect after my trip to the USA. It's great to feel my energy coming back. First trimester was quite a fog. Still, I'm not quite back to normal, so we're going to try buying a mini-box for a month.

How inspiring! Those green things are like zucchini, but so fresh and sweet. I'm calling them 'squash'. Please let me know if you know a more precise name for them. I wanted to honour the cauliflower tonight. This dish is a warming, winter curry full of comfort. Even if you skip on some of the spices, make sure you use the cardamom.

Ingredients

20g butter (or ghee)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 small red thai chillies (makes it quite hot)

1-3 cloves of garlic minced or chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander seed
1 tsp cardamom seeds (or six bruised pods)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric

1 can coconut cream
1/2 cup stock
1/4 cup dried shitake mushroom slices (use fresh mushrooms if preferred)

2 sweet potatoes chunks roughly peeled
1/2 head cauliflower broken into small florets
1 can chickpeas
2 squash sliced

1 tbsp palm sugar
3cm x 1cm lemon zest in strips
Lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

Paneer cheese cubes (or haloumi)

Method

Cook onion on low heat with the oil. Add chillies after 5mins. Add spices after 10 mins. Cook until fragrant (1-2 mins).

Add a can of coconut cream (not coconut milk--you want the richest stuff they have). I used Trident coconut cream. Add stock, shitake mushrooms and sweet potato cook for 15mins. I love using dried mushrooms to add a thick umami flavour to dishes. You can grind them up in a spice grinder to really release a gorgeous mushroom flavour. I'm also being conservative with my fresh mushrooms. I'm holding on to them for use later in the week.

Add cauliflower and chickpeas. Cook for another 10mins.

Add squash, palm sugar and lemon zest.

Cook until squash is tender (approx. 5mins). Add lemon juice salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with fried paneer cheese. To cook cheese, heat up some vegetable oil (not olive) and drop cheese cubes into the oil for a minute or two until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Yummo! We don't have much of a winter in Brissy, but it's cold enough to enjoy a cheesy, flavourful winter curry. I hope you're all snuggled in!

Bread and Butter Pudding with Croissants

2010-06-05T19:01:00.003+10:00

We got a vanilla pod in our box last week! How decadent and perfect for chilly nights! Morgan has been taking such good care of me, he's the genius behind this dish. I'm just the blogger and appreciative eater! :)

This recipe is a mixture of old-Amish and croissants!

Ingredients

2 cups Barambah organic milk (we used skim)
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 old croissants, torn into small pieces (about the size of a grape)

Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk just until film forms over top. Combine butter and milk, stirring until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm.

2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Slowly add milk mixture.

3. Place bread in a lightly greased dish

4. Pour batter on top of bread.

5. Bake at 180 degrees C for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Serve warm.

Bread Pudding Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup granulated white sugar

1 vanilla pod (seeds scraped)

1 Tbsp. flour
dash of salt

Directions:

Mix everything together and bring to a boil for 3 - 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside for 5 minutes, then pour on warm bread pudding.

This dish is so delicious that I ate it for dessert and then ate some again for breakfast. It is possibly the most amazing comfort food ever!

Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables with Haloumi

2010-05-30T21:53:00.000+10:00

Morgan made scrumptious roast harvest vegetables for me last week. He was inspired by this recipe. We made it with BBQ steak, but it would work beautifully as a stand-alone dish. I've never eaten roast broccoli before, but it was truly delicious and very different to the more familiar steamed broccoli we eat.

4 cups broccoli crowns, trimmed and cut into bite-size florets
1 cup baby tomatoes
1 green capsicum sliced
1 baby eggplant sliced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
10 pitted black olives, sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons capers, rinsed

4 slices haloumi

Toss broccoli, tomatoes, eggplant, green pepper, oil, garlic and salt in a large bowl until evenly coated. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake until the broccoli begins to brown, 10 to 13 minutes.

Combine lemon zest and juice, olives, oregano and capers (if using) in a large bowl. Add the roasted vegetables; stir to combine. Serve with slices of fried haloumi.

Persimmon Cookies

2010-04-22T21:20:00.001+10:00

Oh my gosh Morgan made Persimmon cookies! He got the recipe straight out of the Food Connect newsletter this week

Ingredients:
2 ripe persimmons, pureed
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg (we didn't have any, so we used cloves)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup white or raw sugar
115g butter
1 cup raisins (we used dates)
1 cup chopped walnuts (we used almonds)
You can substitute raisins and walnuts for any dried fruit or nuts of your choice. You can also use ground cloves or ginger for extra zing.

Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Dissolve baking soda in persimmon pulp, then set aside.
Sift flour, spices and salt together, then set aside
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, beat in egg and persimmon.
Stir in dry ingredients nuts and dates.
Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

I'm not a big sweets person, but these are delicious with a big cup of tea. The spices really work as the weather cools down and we head towards Anzac day and remembrance of the year gone by. This is Australian harvest living.

Chicken Eggplant Cacciatore

2010-04-22T20:57:00.003+10:00

On Wednesday I had knee surgery, so I haven't been able to get into the kitchen--and will be unable to return for a couple of weeks. But, I haven't had any troubles eating beautiful food! Tonight Morgan made a variant on this recipe for my dinner. Adding eggplant and green beans, it was really delicious, hearty and nourishing.

3 tbs olive oil
1 breast of chicken (350g)
1/2 red onion
2 shallots (small brown onions)
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 Mushrooms
1 Eggplant sliced
Handful of green beans
3 garlic cloves, crushed
100ml dry white wine
800g cans diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
150ml chicken stock
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
Chopped flat-leaf parsley and basil and feta to garnish

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until browned all over. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the onion, celery, carrot and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until the onion softens. Add the garlic and mushrooms, eggplant and beans and simmer 10mins.

Return chicken pieces to the pan, add the wine and allow to simmer 1-2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, herbs and stock.

Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the olives and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve garnished with basil, parsley and feta

Broccoli and potato pizza

2010-04-17T15:23:00.000+10:00

Broccoli and potato are two pizza toppings that taste fantastic, but I haven't enjoyed them since living in New York and Melbourne respectively.

Broccoli heaped high on a pizza slice is a classic choice at Penn Station at 34th street. Now, the Yanks like their pizzas fairly plain. They often go for a single topping, such as pepperoni, broccoli or even just cheese. That's their culture. Where as I'm the sort of person who orders a vegetarian pizza and add chicken.

Potato on a pizza might be seen as carb-loading, the sort of thing Michael Phelps might inhale before an Olympic swimming event. However, when done modestly, the crackle and softness of herb encrusted roast potato pieces is the perfect addition to any pizza. I first tried it in Lygon St. Melbourne and suddenly remembered how good it tastes.

Anyway, before the toppings comes the dough-making athleticism of my beloved husband Morgan! See the recipe here. Last night he even allowed me to touch the stuff mid-knead. I felt like a bit of a duffer, every time I tried to gently squish the dough, it tore. Ah well, practise, practise, practise. :)

While the dough sits to rise. Chop up a sweet potato, 1 potato and 1 beetroot into 3cm-5cm cubes.

Oil a baking tray and add veges. Cover with a little oil, rosemary, tarragon, salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Put in a medium oven for 40mins. Take out the sweet potato and beetroot. Let the potato cook for another 10-20mins.

We use Alfa One Rice Brain Oil Cooking Spray. Rice bran oil has a mild nutty flavour and a high smoking point, which is good in the oven. We use it to spray around the metal bowl for the pizza dough too.

Dough is ready!

Chop up broccoli florets. Make a mixture of olive oil, vinegar (I used pomegranate balsamic), lemon juice garlic, salt and pepper. Use this mixture in addition to tomato paste for the base of the pizza. You can also sprinkle it on top of the ingredients before they go into the oven. You don't want the broccoli to get dry.

Put tomato paste onto rolled out dough. Add grated mozzarella cheese next. Finally add: broccoli, torn salami and slices of roasted sweet potato.

Mmmm, broccoli

Finished!

For the potato pizza, start the same as above, but then add cubes of roast potato, roast beetroot, 2 slices prosciutto, sliced olives, some crumbled feta and sliced mushrooms

Delicious!

Ginger, lemon and maple syrup tea

2010-04-16T09:06:00.002+10:00

This week we have been quite sick with a virus that has hit lots of people we know. How grateful I am to see the knobs of ginger and big lemons in our box this week. It's almost as if the earth knows what we need to get better. This is the absolute best thing I can think of for a sore throat.

Method

Thinly slice a knob of ginger into a jug. Pour boiling water over the ginger. Scrap off some lemon zest and add to the water. Add a few tbsp of maple syrup to taste. Maple syrup has a low fructose level and high levels of zinc, which makes it a healthier option than honey.

Allow to steep for at least 20mins--until cool enough to drink. Add fresh lemon juice when you serve to ensure the vitamin C is not broken down.

I recommend drinking a few litres of this over a period of hours to really make you feel better.

It is important not to add the lemon juice until serving. This way, you can pour new glasses of ginger tea throughout the day without it tasting 'off' due to the lemon juice going stale.

Spinach and Mushroom Schlorp

2010-04-11T20:20:00.001+10:00

'Schlorp' is a term Morgan and I use to describe a curry or stew-like concoction that (usually) has a high protein and umami ratio. It is thick enough that you eat it with a fork over rice or some other carb. Although, additional carbs are not a necessary part of enjoying schlorp! ;)

Tonight I made schlorp from the bolognese sauce leftovers.

I really wanted to use the rest of the bunch of silverbeet after reading about the high amounts of ALA in dark green leafy vegetables (our bodies can turn ALAs into omega-3s). Of course spinach is high in a lot of nutrients including: Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper, Manganese, Thiamin, Folate and Zinc. Whew!

Fry up some garlic and fresh chillies on very low heat in a little olive oil.

Add spinach, mushrooms & 1 cup of chicken stock (the last two are excellent umami flavours). Find out more about umami here

Add lentils (that's to add good vegetarian protein), leftover bolognese sauce (you can use any tomato-based sauce leftovers), 2tbsp sour cream (more umami) & 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice.

Simmer for about 10mins

Serve over brown rice with a little Parmesan cheese (more umami!).

Zucchini, Corn and Sage Pancakes

2010-04-11T12:32:00.004+10:00

The method of this recipe is inspired from the original Moosewood cookbook. However, her recipe does not use corn and adds mint instead of sage.

2 zucchinis grated
2 small brown onions finely chopped
2-3 cobs corn
5 eggs separated
50-100g Barambah feta
1/2 tsp sage
Sprinkle smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
approx. 1/2 cup flour

Lightly sprinkle zucchini with salt in a colander and leave for at least 15mins. Then, squeeze out all the liquid.

Simmer corn for a few minutes until the colour changes from light to dark yellow, but kernels are not too soft

Remove corn kernels with a sharp knife

Combine zucchini, corn, onion, feta, egg yolks, sage, paprika, pepper and flour.

Beat egg white until they form soft peaks and then fold into the mixture.

Dollop ladles of mixture onto a medium-hot fry pan with butter and cook like a pancake. Be careful not to have the pan too hot that the butter burns. If it does burn, wipe out the pan with paper towel and start again with fresh butter.

Serve with sour cream or yogurt. Add a little mango chutney to really make the flavours pop.

Proscuitto, silverbeet and ricotta frittata

2010-04-10T13:42:00.000+10:00

Ingredients

5 eggs

1 baby brown onion (I love these in the box this week. They are so fresh and sweet. They don't make your eyes weep and don't need pre-cooking)
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1 stalk silverbeet leaves shredded
100g ricotta
2 slices proscuitto chopped
Salt to taste

Beat eggs together. Add all other ingredients. Pour into a greased oven-proof pan (I used butter). Pop into a medium oven for 15mins.

Ours was in for a little too long. But, the golden colour is gorgeous.

Serve slices next to cos lettuce, baby tomatoes with a little olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Spagetti Bolognese

2010-04-10T13:26:00.001+10:00

Wow! Look at my Food Connect box this week. What a crazy amount of delicious food. Yummo.

After a long day on Friday I came home to find Morgan had made fresh pasta. he had seen all our tomatoes and decided to make bolognese!

Fresh pasta

6 eggs
Approx. 550g plain flour (fine flour if you have it)
1 tsp salt

Makes 8 serves

Morgan's method is precise (as always). He says: Knead the crap out of it until it goes 'delish' (approx. 5-min). You will notice that the dough transitions from a thing made out of flour and eggs, to a cohesive, moldable, tangible stuff. When it does that, keep kneading for a bit and put it aside for 1/2 hour minimum. Roll out using a pasta roller into flat sheets, lay them out to dry for a bit, then feed them through a pasta maker to make spaghetti!

Hang the strands to dry on your foldable laundry thingie!

Bolognese sauce

Cook 1kg mince until liquid is gone. Add 1/2 cup wine and cook until the liquid is gone. Add 4 cloves garlic, 3 finely chopped onion & olive oil. Cook, but don't brown the onions. Add Italian herbs and a couple of bay leaves (I threw in some rosemary too). Add 1kg fresh tomatoes + 2 cans of chopped tomatoes blended.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1.5hrs with the lid off. We added a little tomato paste 1 tbsp brown sugar, some balsamic vinegar and salt to taste. It's a process of adjusting flavours to suit the palate.

Serve over fresh pasta (3min in boiling water).

I added some Barambuh fetta, spring onions and chopped olives to serve.

When I grew up in Sydney in the 1980s, we ate 'spag bol' quite often. I remember the Parmesan cheese from a long-life can sprinkled on top and the crappy boxed pasta underneath. I love the emotions and memories that come from smell. Cooking this dish certainly takes me straight back to my youth. Not a huge surprise because smell is the only sense to connect directly to consciousness without being mediated by the thalamus. Thus, our experiences and memories are most quickly retrieved through smell. For more on olfaction see my memory blog entries on olfaction.

Eggplant Chilli Paneer

2010-04-06T20:43:00.001+10:00

Tonight was 'using up stuff the fridge' night. I saw eggplant, corn and green pepper and immediately thought of making Mexican chilli.

However, with no cheese or sour cream to dollop on top, I made do with frozen paneer cheese and a couple of leftover strips of haloumi

Saute finely chopped onion in olive oil. Add chopped red chillies and a spoon of cumin seeds. Add 2 sliced baby eggplant. Fry for a few minutes. Add 1 heirloom tomato (diced) and 3 garlic cloves finely chopped. Add 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup stock and tomato paste (I didn't have any paste left). Add fresh or dried oregano at his point for an authentic Mexican flavour. Add some sour cream if you've got it. I used some smoked paprika and ground coriander at this point. Salt to taste.

Add 1 tin of red kidney beans

Meanwhile fry up paneer cheese. You can buy a big bag from the Indian spice store in McWhirters in Fortitude Valley. It's a great place to pick up all sorts of goodies. Keep paneer frozen in the freezer. Frozen cheese makes life so easy! :)

Fry cubes of cheese in oil and drain on very absorbent paper towel.

Add green capsicum and corn kernels to the bean mixture cook for a few minutes. Add 1/2 lime's worth of juice and diced cheese just prior to serving.

Add chopped coriander and sliced olives to serve. I served it over brown rice, but you can make it more brothy and eat with corn chips if you have them.

Shepherd's Stew

2010-04-05T20:45:00.001+10:00

After enjoying lovely roast lamb last night and hot lamb sandwiches for lunch today, we thought we'd turn leftovers into a shepherd's pie, although we ended up with delicious Shepherd's stew!

Morgan removed the remaining meat off the bone and then we made fresh stock by simmering the bones in enough water to cover them. I added a roughly chopped onion, carrot, bay leaf and celery.

After 1hr I removed the bits and reduced the stock down to 4 cups and added salt and pepper. Meanwhile I made mashed potatoes with both regular and sweet potato. I used butter and a little cream and whipped them together with a whisk. I also added 2tbsp of Parmesan cheese to the mash.

I finely chopped up one red onion, 2 stalks of celery and 1 carrot and sauteed them in a little olive oil for 5 minutes.

Into the stock I added 2tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp beef stock powder, 2tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2tbsp plain flour. Then, I added the diced lamb, new bay leaf and sauteed vegetables and cook for 10mins to reduce the liquid. Finally add shredded silverbeet and dobbed mashed potato on top.

I had too much stock and too little potato, so I just allowed a few icebergs of potato to float on the top of the 'pie' as I put it into the oven.

When I checked on the pie 20minutes later, the potato had spread around the top by itself. Neat! I added a little butter on top to help the edges gain a golden colour. Cook for a final 20mins.

Shepherd's Stew!

Sprinkled with parsley, salt and pepper. Eat with a spoon instead of a fork! :)

Honey Garlic and Rosemary Roast Lamb

2010-04-04T20:37:00.000+10:00

Easter Sunday and roast lamb feels appropriately sacrificial. I haven't reinvented the wheel here, but there's a couple of flavours that I couldn't resist adding.

Roast lamb

Start with a classic garlic roast lamb recipe. That is, make 10 slits on a 1.5kb leg of lamb and stuff holes with slivers of garlic and sticks of rosemary. Then, mince up another couple of cloves of garlic with 3 tbsp olive oil and 2tbsp honey. Slather the lamb in honey mixture. Coat with 3tbsp rosemary leaves. Add pepper and salt and pop in a hot oven...

...prepare potatoes and sweet potatoes by washing them and dicing them. Coat in olive oil, smoked paprika, cumin seeds (whole seeds are important here), rosemary twigs and leaves, salt and pepper. Pop into a hot oven for 45mins, move them around and then leave in a medium oven for another 30mins or so.

After putting in the roast veges--approx. 20-30mins after lamb started cooking--add 1 cup of white wine and/or water to the bottom of the roasting pan and turn down to 180 degrees for approx. 1hr. The water stops the honey from burning. Cover in foil after taking from the oven and let rest for 20mins.

I made mint sauce with a bunch of mint, 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, 2tbsp brown sugar and some water.

Parsley, fetta, red onion and lemon juice to sprinkle over steamed broccoli (start steaming when lamb comes out of the oven).

Serve lamb next to heaped broccoli sprinkled with onion mixture and roast veges. Spoon over mint sauce to taste.

Lovely broccoli

Enjoy the rest of the autumn equinox folks! Next festival is Anzac day and remembrance.

Tandoori chicken with persimmon raita and beetroot chutney

2010-04-03T22:06:00.007+10:00

Tonight after a bike ride to the Gap and back, we made tandoori chicken. Marinading this overnight is ideal, but you can make a dinner to rival any regular BBQ chook with only 1hr in preparation.

I added fresh cinnamon, cardamom seeds and cloves to this recipe

Mix tumeric, smoked paprika, ground coriander, garam masala

Mix yogurt, lemon juice, spices, garlic and ginger together and rub under the skin of the chicken. It's pretty messy, but don't worry too much. I stuffed a couple of half-lemons into the tummy. Put on the BBQ and obey these instructions.

I grew up with my grandma making banana, coriander, dessicated coconut and lime juice sambal (thank you Charmaine Solomon!). My grandma lived in Kuala Lumpur in the 1930s when my dad was very young. Our family has a long tradition of home-cooked curries.

Another classic of Charmaine is her raita. I made it tonight with julienned persimmon instead of cucumber. Add natural yogurt, lime juice, salt, a little grated ginger and garlic and coriander.

Pop cubes of beetroot and roughly sliced red onions in the oven at 180 degrees for 1/2 hour in some olive oil.

Inspired by Nigella's Beetroot chutney, I poured roasted beetroot and onion into a frypan and simmered with 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, grated ginger, chopped garlic, garam masala, one mandarin's worth of juice for 10mins. Serve with mandarin segments and coriander tossed through. The mandarin really gives a complimentary flavour to the beetroot.

Serve beetroot, persimmon, chicken and banana over rice and eat!

A light, delicate variety of flavours all working together to honour the hard work of Brissy farmers.

Brisbane Pizza Dough

2010-04-03T10:46:00.006+10:00

Morgan has kindly shared his secret pizza dough recipe with me. He bases his dough on the recipe suggested by Theo Kalogeracos in Theo and Co: The Search for the Perfect Pizza p.61. But, he doubles the yeast recommended! Very cheeky.

Ingredients to make enough dough for two dinners for 2-4 people. That means one giant pizza on the night you make it and two big calzones from frozen dough. Allow frozen dough six hours to fully defrost.

500g strong bakers flour (i.e. plain flour with the highest protein level available)
5g salt (roughly half a tsp)
5g sugar (roughly half a tsp)
20g dry yeast (2 x sachets from the supermarket)
165ml cold water +/-

Mix all the dry ingredients together and slowly add the water and bring the flour into it over a few minutes. Then, knead the dough for 10minutes. This is the most important thing to remember. Set a timer and get sweaty!

The thing about making pizza is that you need to practice. Buy Theo's book for pictures and more help on the specifics. Morgan doesn't really measure anything but the flour and the yeast. Everything else he does by intuition. He adds water to the point it 'feels right'.

Once the dough is made, Morgan oils the bottom of a metal bowl, covers it in glad wrap and sets it next to a boiled kettle--after he makes a cuppa.

Dough re-enactment! :)

He comes back an hour later for his next cuppa and the dough is ready to use. This is what it's like making pizza dough in Brisbane in the late summer.

The combination of Brisbane's flora, fauna and shifting culture makes it an absolutely unique place to live.

When Morgan grew up in the Dandenongs, he would come home from school at 3pm on a cold day and his mum would start making bread dough whilst he chopped wood. It took about the same amount of time to knead ingredients and start a fire. When the fire was ready, dough could be placed beside it and bread would be ready in time for dinner.

Morgan and me walking along the river when we first arrived in Brisbane in 2006. This photo was taken one week before our wedding day.

Calzone

2010-04-02T21:16:00.003+10:00

Tonight we made a version of Jamie Oliver's calzone using half the dough from our pizza a week ago. It is great that dough survives being frozen. I don't know how the yeast manages it. :)

Instead of using Jamie's suggestion of 'tomato sauce', I made some using mixed heirloom tomatoes

I fried up 1 brown onion in some olive oil for 10mins and added tomatoes, 2 red chillies finely chopped, 1 stick of dried rosemary (leaves, not stalks) and 1 baby eggplant (not salted!).

I added a big knob of butter, 4 cloves of garlic, silverbeet and tomato paste.

Finally I added sliced swiss mushrooms, 1tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt & some cracked pepper and cooked slowly until the liquid mostly evaporated.

Morgan created the Calzone using shaved Parmesan and feta--we didn't have any mozzarella.

Folded over. We made two calzones. The first had a thinner crust and more filling, but fell apart a little more (pictured here). The second one was more robust (pictured below). With practice we will get the ratios right.

Into the oven on the pizza stone for 15min.

So tasty-looking.

Why go out for dinner?

Yep, it tasted as good as it looks. The pizza dough was crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. I am amazed really. The last time I ate a calzone was in NJ and it was bland and dripping in fat. What a difference this was!

Thai Beef Salad

2010-04-02T12:40:00.000+10:00

A new box of produce has arrived! :) This is a really staggeringly tasty set of veges. Tiny perfect eggplants, more persimmons, a secret bag of snow peas that taste so sweet and fresh that we are just eating them straight out of the bag. I love little bananas too. They're the perfect snack as you walk through the kitchen. However, the king of the box this week was the massive haul of basil.

I bow down to thee

It is the Easter long weekend in Australia. It is autumn, not spring, so a great time for reflection, taking stock and catching up on sleep. My darling hubbie made us Thai Beef Salad for dinner which was simultaneously comforting, spicy and refreshing. This is Brisbane eating. This is how we live.

The recipe is from here. We make it with more of the sauce than it recommends.

What a great way to enjoy cos lettuce, limes, ginger, garlic and about 1/2 of the massive bunch of basil we got.

We added pad thai noodles at the bottom. Just for fun. We forgot to add heirloom tomato! What a pair of duffers. :)

What really made me appreciate my life today was that this was our first time being 'City Cousins'. It is our pleasure to offer a safe space for the neighborhood drop-offs. But, what a lovely surprise to find this card tucked away amongst the boxes, welcoming us to our new role. Awwwww! What a great community feeling. Thanks Jeanne and Barry! :)

Roasted Sweet Potato, Leek and Tarragon Risotto

2010-03-31T08:05:00.001+10:00

Tonight we had guests who either weren't keen on mushrooms or chilli. I wanted to use up my sweet potatoes, so risotto was the answer.

Ingredients

3-4 baby sweet potoatos
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek (white bit finely chopped)
2 spring onions roughly chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp tarragon (dried or fresh)
2 cups arborio rice
500g chicken breasts
1 litre chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine, sherry or vermouth
1 bunch spinach
1/2 lime
Cream to taste
Parmesan to taste
Pepper to taste
Chilli to taste

Roughly-peel the sweet potato, cut in halves, drizzle in avocado oil and a little salt and roast in a medium oven for 30mins. Avocado oil is really lovely to make roast vegetables and we support Queensland farmers by using it. I bought this little bottle from the Kelvin Grove markets on a Saturday. Roasting makes root vegetables sweeter.

Sorry not to get more photos tonight. Having guests makes things a little hectic! :)

Sweat the leeks and the whites of the spring onions in some butter and olive oil for 5mins. Add garlic and tarragon (if dried, leave to later if fresh) and cook on low for another few minutes. Add arborio rice and cook for 1 minute. Add wine and raise the heat a little. Add chicken stock 1-2 cups at a time. Stir the mixture, but not constantly like a stir fry. Keep the heat low enough to enjoy talking to your friends. Add cream if desired.

In a separate pan cook chicken breasts on fairly high heat to sear both sides to a golden brown (about 3mins each side). Take off the heat, let rest for a few minutes. Carve up into chunks. Chicken should be undercooked because it will then be tossed into the risotto with sweet potato and cooked for another 10-15mins.

Add parmesan and the greens of the spring onions towards the end of the process. Put lid on the risotto and let sit for the final 3mins before serving.

Wilt spinach in a pot, drain excess liquid, squeeze lime juice over it. Mix through risotto as you serve.

Add pepper and Frank's Hot sauce to give it a final zing! [Not shown in picture]

Persimmon Prawn Rice Paper Rolls

2010-03-30T07:46:00.003+10:00

I was inspired by this recipe to make dinner last night.

This is my first time using rice paper rolls. They're fun to play with. You just dip them in water and they become like gladwrap for any food! I served them with hoisin sauce and a chilli concoction.

To make the rice noodles just soak them in hot water for 20minutes or so. This whole meal requires no cooking at all. Just a big bowl of hot water. It's fantastically easy to prepare. I got one of my dinner guests to julienne the persimmon whilst we were drinking wine and catching up. Too easy! :)

For the rolls I used mung beans, prawns, mint, coriander, persimmon, spring onion and rice vermicelli. Per person this costs about $3.50 ($2.50 100g prawns + $0.50 herbs + $0.50 vermicelli and wraps) in addition to the Food Connect ingredients.

I also grated carrot (you can see in the background on the left). But, I ended up mostly ignoring it.

Fresh red chillies, fish sauce, lime juice and garlic.

Friends eating together by candlelight on our balcony. I feel like Jamie Oliver!

For dessert I served roughly chopped apples with brie cheese. I also poached up some pears with muscato, a cinnamon stick, cardamom seeds, cloves and brown sugar. Served with mascarpone cheese with vanilla sugar.Unfortunately I have no photos of the end of the night due to rather a large amount of wine being consumed. Hehe. Yummo!

Tuna San Choy Bow

2010-03-28T20:22:00.004+10:00

Over the weekend we visited Melbourne and caught up with family and enjoyed a wedding of old friends. Melbourne food is fantastic, but eating out reminds me of how delicious eating in can be.

Getting home tonight I was craving Food Connect veges! My cats were grumpy with me, so I tried (without success) to tempt them with a small tin of tuna. That committed me to making something with tuna. So, here's what I did.

Tuna San Choy Bow

Tuna mixture

1 x 95g can of Sirena tuna
1 clove garlic mashed
2 tsp grated ginger
2 small stalks celery finely chopped
2 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
Handful of sprouted mung beans
1/2 lime's worth of juice
2 green tops of spring onions (I plant them on my balcony, rather than put them in the fridge)
Splash of soy sauce
A few drops sesame oil
Sprinkle of salt

Mix all ingredients and spoon onto a small cos lettuce washed and peeled. Steam a cob of corn and carve off kernels and sprinkle on top.

Crack fresh pepper over the top and splort garlic chilli sauce according to tastes.

Eat with your hands and sigh a big sigh of relief that you're home! :)

I used Frank's Hot sauce. I got to know this whilst living in the USA. It's a gorgeous product and deserves a place in your chilli cupboard.

Heirloom Tomato Pizza

2010-03-25T21:07:00.004+10:00

Last night you didn't hear much from us because we enjoyed leftover curry. Yummo! Tonight I convinced my amazing beloved to make pizza dough for dinner to honour the heirloom tomatoes that just arrived in our Food Connect Gourmet box.

Look at these beauties!

I made an olive oil, garlic, lime juice, mystery herb (minty thyme or oregano?), rosemary, salt and pepper marinade.

I allowed the oil, herbs and garlic mixture to meld with the fresh tomato whilst Morgan's pizza dough was constructed. I have no idea how he wrangles the yeast and flour into submission, but I appreciate it so much. Thanks baby!!!

I take shortcuts that make sense. These pizza tomato pastes sit in our fridge for months and save time.

Rocket, marinated tomatoes, cheddar cheese, green capsicum, sliced mushrooms, olives, fresh red chillies, spring onions and the leftover Castello on top.

In the oven for 10-15mins

Oooooh yummmy!!!

Melty

What a good life

Eggplant, Mushroom & Pumpkin Thai Curry

2010-03-23T19:31:00.007+10:00

The next challenge is: eggplant! Tonight my booful husband Morgan made thai curry.

Ingredients
1 onion finely chopped
3 baby eggplant cut in slices
2 small sweet potatoes diced
1/4 butternut pumpkin diced
4 swiss brown mushrooms sliced
Marinated tofu
1 can coconut milk
Green curry paste (from a jar)
Fish sauce
Fresh coriander
Lime juice

Method

Salt the eggplant and leave to drain out the yucky bitter juices. At the same time put pumpkin and sweet potato chunks into a moderate oven for 1/2 hr.

Update: Apparently fresh, small eggplants don't need to be salted--thanks to my readers for pointing this out. I guess living for so long with old, stale supermarket produce has affected the way I approach my veges.

Pre-dinner snacks of rice cakes, re-fried beans, (tin of re-fried beans mixed with sour cream, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, pinch of cumin) and spouted mung beans.

Saute onion in some peanut oil. Add curry paste (plus extra red chillies if you wish) and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add eggplant (well-rinsed), mushrooms and coconut milk and bring to the boil (add a few kaffir lime leaves and a spoon of palm sugar if desired). Simmer for ten minutes. Add the roast veges, tofu and fish sauce and heat through.

Serve with fresh coriander on brown rice (we were lazy and used a microwave pouch).

Eggplant triumph! :)

Cleaning up the kitchen tonight I saw the empty bags from my tofu and rice and thought I'd share them. Anyone living in Brisbane can buy these at a local supermarket.

Soyco Tofu & microwavable brown rice. It's so easy to have these long-life items in the fridge and pantry to make week day meals a breeze.

Creamy Broccoli and Tarragon Soup

2010-03-22T19:56:00.006+10:00

We have loads of broccoli! There's only two of us, so cooking food that makes good leftovers makes sense. Time to make soup!

Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped
2tbsp butter or olive oil (I used a bit of both)
1 carrot finely chopped
1 stalk celery finely chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tsp tarragon
1 litre beef stock
150ml sour cream

2 heads of broccoli chopped into little florets
1/2 lime
Cheese slices with low melt threshold (e.g. castello)
Chives
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Saute onions in butter/oil for 5mins. Add carrot, celery, garlic and tarragon and cook on low for another 10mins. Add stock and bring to the boil. Add sour cream and broccoli and simmer for 15mins or so until the broccoli softens. Ladle batches of soup into the blender. But, don't get too carried away. Some of the natural texture is tasty. Squeeze lime juice in just before serving.

Add cheese and chives on top

Watch it melt! Nommy. :)

This is a really filling soup! I tried to eat a slice of toast after a big bowl and it was overwhelming.

BBQ Roast Kangaroo

2010-03-21T21:38:00.008+10:00

Sunday is a good day to do some work on my PhD. After messing about for the morning I cycled off to the office with my lunchbox full of treats.

Banana cake, figs, banana, honey-encrusted macadamia nuts and apple slices. I took a side jar of yogurt to schlorp over the top of the fruit when I got to work. Yummo!

For dinner Morgan and I made BBQ roast kangaroo. We cooked the mini-roasts by searing the roo on both sides for a couple of minutes and then covering the lid of the BBQ for 25mins on a low heat. Once off the heat wrap in foil and let sit for 10mins before slicing. Cooking times are similar to the same amount of medium-rare beef, but without the damage to the Aussie environment! :)

I served roasted sweet potato and butternut pumpkin in rosemary and olive oil (30mins on 180 degree oven). I made a quick rocket salad with lime juice and olive oil. Plus chickpeas and quinoa on the side.

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
1 tin chickpeas
2 cups beef stock
3 tbsp sour cream
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 red onion finely chopped
handful of olives finely chopped

method
simmer quinoa, chickpeas 1/2 garlic and stock for 5mins (covered). Add red onion, sour cream and remaining garlic and simmer for 10mins. Take off heat and add olives and pepper to taste.

Serve roast kangaroo with sides, cranberry sauce and Dijon mustard

What you're going to see on this blog is some repetition of ingredients. This is what happens when you're a real person with a finite kitchen and fresh produce.

Some items get used over and over again until they're used up. Sorry if it seems predictable! luckily we get a new box of exciting ingredients each week to experiment with.

Speaking of exciting ingredients. I've begun storing my vegetables inside these crisper snap-lock bags. They let the ethylene out, which helps prevent spoilage. I reuse the same bags over and over again. They really help keep all my produce fresh.

Warm beetroot and quinoa tabouleh

2010-03-20T19:00:00.011+10:00

I like the constraints of box living. The lack of choice is actually incredibly freeing. I would prefer someone else choose for me than have to figure it out at the markets. I love inventing food to fit what nature provides. On a slightly more spiritual level, I like to feel the moods of the earth and know her influence on living things. We are lucky to have such plentiful food and I am grateful for it.

Really, I appreciate that farmers are making any produce at all. I tried to grow herbs this summer and whilst they began well, by the end of the flooding rains punctuated by no rain, my own forgetfulness or my cats leaping into them... they're all done for! The sage and tarragon are the only things left and some sort of bug has eaten most of 'em! Heh.

It's an interesting psychological difference between the fearful way I 'choose' produce in the supermarket ("it must be perfect") vs. the joyous way I accept a box of Food from Food Connect ("I trust it will be good"). I can't quite explain it, but there you are. :)

Anyway, tonight I wanted to use the single fresh beetroot that I got in my Gourmet Box this week. I had some parsley left over from last week and limes, so a beetroot and quinoa tabouleh inspired by this recipe was worth trying. I was very excited because I've never used quinoa before. Have you?

Quinoa is grown in Bolivia, but grows in Australia if farmers wanted to develop our industry. ;)

Quinoa has a similar proportion of protein to meat--taking water into account--and remarkably contains a balanced set of essential amino acids. These are the proteins humans cannot manufacture by ourselves. Apparently NASA is rather impressed by this ancient grain (NASA Technical Paper 3422).

Ingredients
1/3 cup quinoa (wash carefully! See the comment from my Boliva-traveling friend)
2/3 cup stock
1 beetroot* grated
1 onion finely chopped (I used white, though red is recommended)
1 tbsp olive oil
big handful of parsley
1/2 lime's worth of juice
1 tbsp aged red wine vinegar
black pepper

Method

Dry roast the quinoa in the frying pan for a minute or two. Add stock and simmer covered on low for 15min. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5mins. Saute onion in olive oil for 10mins or so.

Combine beetroot, parsley, lime juice, vinegar and pepper in a bowl. Beetroot and parsley are both fantastic nutrients, containing all sorts of great antioxidants and vitamins.

Add onion mixture, quinoa and beetroot mix to make a salad. Voila!

Look how crazy the quinoa is! The little grains look like tiny eggs with tails floating off. This stuff is so much tastier (and healthier) than cous cous. Apparently it sprouts fast overnight, releasing even more nutrients.

Plus, this recipe was super-yummy. The textures really pop and it's super fast and easy to make. 20 minutes to noms.

* Ingredients in green come from Food Connect

Fish Tacos

2010-03-19T22:11:00.002+10:00

Look at that cos lettuce and rocket! Wow. :D I love getting food straight off the farm.

For the curious, there's a QEII coronation tea cup that my grandmother bought when she and my dad were in London in 1953. Next to it is a pirate pub shot glass from Pirate museum @ Nassau. I bought it on a Disney cruise with my brother.

Jalapenos are in their prime and limes are filled with juice. It's the perfect time to make mexican food.

Harvest time also means lots of tomatoes! Fresh salsa is so easy to make and stays fresh in the fridge for a week. It's a great way to use up some fresh tomatoes.

Salsa
3 tomatoes diced
1 onion finely diced
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/2 lime's worth of juice
1/4 bunch of coriander finely chopped (including stalks, that's where the flavour is)
A few olives roughly chopped
Jalapeno finely chopped to taste
Salt to taste

Fish tacos
500g hoki fillets
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lime's worth of juice
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 pkt taco seasoning (I was feeling lazy)
3/4 cup water

Mix all the salsa ingredients in a bowl and let sit for an hour or two. The flavours get better with time. Rub the hoki filets in the cumin, oregano, olive oil, lime juice and garlic and cook in a medium oven for 20min. Remove from the oven and add to a saucepan with taco seasoning and water. Heat for 3minutes and serve with fresh avocado, salsa and shredded lettuce.

Today was my first avocado for the season. I made a super-easy mash-up of avocado, lime juice, coriander and salt. Yummy!!!

Lay out ingredients onto a heated flour tortilla

Roll up the burrito into a parcel and enjoy! :)

I forgot to use the gorgeous green capsicum that is also in plentiful supply right now. Next time for sure!

Buttery Mushrooms

2010-03-19T21:46:00.003+10:00

Saute a wedge of butter with red onions. Add sliced swiss mushrooms, sprigs of rosemary, sliced olives, garlic & parsley. Cook for a few minutes. Add a schlorp of aged red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with castello cheese on toasted slices of Banneton sour dough.

I served the mushrooms on my favourite villeroy and boch 'Botannica' dinner plate. I just have the one. It always fills me with the joy of science, discovery, gardens and the sublime mystery of the natural world.

Asian Pasties

2010-03-19T21:36:00.002+10:00

Morning on our balcony.

I turned leek and corn into Asian-flavoured pasties.

500g chicken mince
1 leek finely chopped
Handful of dried shitake mushroom slices hydrated in chicken stock
1 fresh cob of corn with kernels removed
4 (small Aussie) cloves of garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/3 can of bamboo shoots finely chopped
sesame oil
Chinese five spice
Sploosh of soy sauce
Small tsp of corn flour mixed in 2 tbsp cold water
4 squares of thawed frozen puff pastry
1 egg

Mix together all ingredients except the pastry and egg. Put Scoops of chicken mix into the pastry and use the egg to glue together all surfaces into a parcel. Make sure some gaps are present for steam to escape. Bake in a medium oven (175 degrees) for 40min or until pastry is golden.

Eat with dipping sauce made of fresh red chillies and soy sauce.

noms

Sunshine! Check out our macrame-shell candelabra!!! So awesome. It's a housewarming gift from a friend. I'm beginning to love it beyond kitsch

Hot Apple Chutney

2010-03-19T20:07:00.003+10:00

Hello! Welcome to Brisbane Harvest. I'm living in Brisbane and writing a blog of recipes and experiences of living in this climate.

My fresh produce comes via Food Connect. Food Connect sources sustainable, local produce from farmers around Brisbane. I am creating recipes to fit the food available each week.

In the week of the autumn equinox I received a box of apples and pears. I'm not much of a sweets person, so I needed to figure out a way to use 1.5kg of apples. I came up with: Hot Apple Chutney.

Ingredients
1 onion chopped finely
2 tbsp ghee (or butter/olive oil)
2 finely chopped fresh red chillies (chillies last really well in the
freezer. Try freezing curry leaves, lime leaves or ice-blocks of
coconut milk)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp grated ginger
4-8 cloves of minced (locally grown) garlic
1.5kg apples peeled, cored and diced
6 dried dates chopped
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup water

Method
Fry up ghee & onions on low heat for 5mins. Add fresh red chillies,
mustard seeds and cardamom seeds for 2mins. Add cumin, smoked paprika, ginger & garlic
for 1 min. Add diced apple, finely chopped dried dates, apple cider
vinegar, water, salt & pepper. Simmer for 30mins. Add olives in the
last 5mins.

Serve heaped chutney alongside dahl, vege curries, roast pork etc...

Pears and figs can be added/substituted into the recipe. Store
leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 week. Yum! :)

This is not the best photo, but you can see fresh broccoli that is absolutely delicious right now. I'll try to take pictures on more beautiful plates from now on! :)

My first lunch box contains a grated carrot salad with sprouted mung beans, olives and a salad of cos lettuce, green capsicum & tomato. I made a dressing of lime juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. I added a block of satay tofu and some leftover roast pork for protein.

Whew! Welcome to my little adventure in eating.

My partner Morgan and I getting handfasted by Red Oak Grove in NJ May 31 2005.

It's gorgeous weather right now. The summer rains and humidity have eased up. Days are sunny and languid with a gentle breeze coaxing qi through my kitchen. There are lots of moths about and the nights are cool enough to sleep beneath a sheet and cotton blanket.

4 Veges 2 Fruits

2010-03-15T22:53:00.003+10:00

It's not too hard to eat five servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit each day. Inside my lunch box is 1 cup of lettuce, sprouts, green capsicum, tomatoes, apple and grapes.

That means I only need 1 serving of vegetables for dinner! ;)

Grapes are so good in autumn. I like them for breakfast with sliced banana and honey infused Jalna BioDynamic yogurt.