It has been a while since I last posted because we’ve had an addition to our family: a beautiful little daughter. We are totally in love with her but it does cramp my cooking. I think it will be some time before I’m back pottering in the kitchen! So, I may not post for a while, but stay tuned for thoughts on baby food…
When we left London back in August 2010 we were taking a well earnt career break. I hadn’t anticipated mine to last quite this long, but landing back in Aus with a bun in the oven isn’t entirely conducive to convincing an employer you’re a job candidate with a long term future. So, instead of working I’m keeping the home fires burning while I slowly expand bellywards.
I’ve always made muffins, usually whipping up a batch on a Saturday morning for breakfast and weekday morning tea provisions. Banana choc chip or date, raisin and spice were the usuals, but because of the Queensland floods this summer, bananas have become a luxury item and not something to be merrily left hanging around getting brown and squashy as cheap filling for sweet treats.
When our stuff arrived from London and I finally had a fully equipped kitchen, it gave me an enormous sense of contentment and satisfaction to produce my first batch of muffins after six months.
Since then I’ve been experimenting and, thanks to Belinda Jeffery’s fantastic book Mix and Bake, have branched out into tea breads. I don’t have a massively sweet tooth (although late pregnancy has apparently brought on a craving for jubes, so there you go), but I am a fiend for anything spiced and, given the dessert menu, will tend towards the gingered, the cardomom scented or the cinnamon infused. Belinda is heavy handed with the spice rack in all her tea bread recipes and they make a welcome change from the regular muffins.
Below is a picture of her spicy pumpkin, pecan and raisin tea bread (although I had dates in the cupboard, so I used those instead. I am totally incapable of actually making a recipe to the letter).
Spicy pumpkin pecan tea bread. Made for morning tea
I’ve made this twice now and, like carrot cake, it is sweet, spicy, toothsome and vaguely wholesome. Made for laying on the butter and eating with a cup of proper tea mid morning. And it freezes well (and eats well while frozen!).
Another winner is her spicy apple, aniseed and hazelnut tea bread, which I don’t have a picture of. Of course, I used the pecans I already had from the pumpkin loaf recipe because it seems I have an allergy to actually obeying a recipe. Equally delicious, the aniseed makes it very aromatic and the applesauce used in the mixture gives it a softer crumb, so it’s actually easier to slice it from frozen than fresh.
But can a girl claim to be stocking her larder if she doesn’t have some chutney stashed away somewhere? I think not. Perhaps it’s the nesting instinct, but I have been collecting olive and pickle jars to recycle for a chutney session and a couple of weeks ago made a batch of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage chutney.
OK doesn't look so great in the pot, but on sourdough with cheddar yummmm!
Bottled deliciousness
Chutney is a play on sweet and sour with the bulk made up of a combination of (usually excess) fruit and vegetables. Hugh’s aims to use up those monster marrows old English men feel some Freudian urge to grow, but I just used a cheap kilo bag of zucchini. The sweet and sour element comes from the sugar and vinegar, which are also important preservatives, and the dried fruit. Hugh specified sultanas, but I have a bit of a horror of chilli and sultanas in the same dish (think 1960s “curry”), so used dates. Also they were in the cupboard and sultanas were at the shop.
This is the second batch of chutney I’ve made; the first was Nigella’s apple and cranberry, made as Christmas pressies in 2009. After impatiently waiting two weeks to crack Hugh’s open, the sharp spike in the number of cheese, salad and chutney sarnies in our house is undeniable proof of its success.
Very special thanks to Shared Table’s lovely sister for uploading the pics.
Every year Olive Magazine, published in the UK by the BBC, has a special readers’ edition where readers are invited to submit recipes in a number of categories as well as whole menus. Last August I was one of the featured readers with my “relaxed, Italian inspired summer menu for six”. I have to admit there was a bit of insider trading going on – my former boss’s wife is the editor of Olive and knows I’m a big foodie so I was approached to submit something.
Olive Magazine readers' edition
But, contacts notwithstanding, this is a really great entertaining menu because it gives you just the right ratio of pre-party kitchen pottering to maximum guest enjoyment time. I made a version of it for Easter lunch last year, which started as lunch and continued through the afternoon till past midnight, all six of us comfortably squashed round our table in our ‘bijoux’ sized north London kitchen.
Emily and her lunch menu featured in Olive Magazine
The published menu starts with Guacamole and babghanoush with crudites, marinated olives and baked ricotta with grilled peppers. I don’t tend to make formal three course meals so the dips are something to get people in the mood and look lovely – all different colours.
Olive Magazine spread of the grazing plate, to get the guests in the mood
Although lamb is the traditional Easter lunch offering (seems a bit gruesomely symbolic…) I chose porchetta, an Italian slow roast, fennel scented pork shoulder and served it with green bean & hazelnut salad and potato salad. In my family, I am the authority on potato salad.
The porchetta with bean salad. Isn't their food styling gorgeous?!
I should also add that for the Easter lunch, but not included in the Olive feature, I made the outstanding Ottolenghi baked mushrooms with pearl barley, preserved lemon and feta for a vegetarian friend. They are so good they’re now regulars in my repertoire. Again, genius because they can be made in advance.
And for dessert, the delicious almost trifle-like zuccotto. Although we’re not remotely Italian, the zuccotto has become something of a tradition in my family for Easter. My mum has made it several years running to follow the roast lamb, which we usually eat outside in the autumn sunshine.
The zuccotto. There are never any leftovers. Everyone wants seconds.
Introducing the menu, I said that my inspiration was that, to me, cooking is about creating a shared, convivial space that brings people together around the table. I’ve learnt (the hard way) that it’s impossible to have happy people in your kitchen if you’re a ball of “oh God the potatoes still haven’t been peeled” stress! So I designed my menu to create not only delicious food, but also a welcoming environment for my guests which means low-stress hosting for myself.
I am still so chuffed to have been featured and have to thank L, editor of Olive Magazine, for so kindly inviting me to be part of their readers’ edition. What a 15 minutes of fame!
I laughed till my tummy hurt reading these malapropisms. I particularly like number 10.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/supermarkets
Shout out to The Man for the link.
In general, I don’t really get geeky for gadgets, but over the years I’ve collected various bits of specialised kitchen equipment that I now wouldn’t do without. Having just moved hemispheres and then across the breadth of the continent, I’m a little light on in the batterie de cuisine department while I wait for my lovely things to arrive from London.
When we got to London we bought a cheap fying pan, a large pasta pot, a cleaver type knife and chopping board and that was pretty much it for the first six months. Fast forward 5 years of course, and my can’t-live-without implements had multiplied. Arriving in Sydney has repeated the London scenario: although this time we have a very flash non-stick pan (thanks Mum), a large pasta type pot on loan (thanks Mark), a cleaver type knife and a chopping board. And that’s about it. I exaggerate slightly, because we do have a few useful bits and bobs salvaged from the packing boxes of our old pre-London life, stored away for nearly 6 years as well as some beautiful wedding presents.
Setting up all over again has been an interesting exercise in re-learning what is essential and what is nice decoration. I’d say that, when push comes to shove, the above four items are essential, but would also add to the must-have list:
grater
colander
stove top espresso & djezva (for hot milk)
wooden or plastic stirrer
baking tray (any size)
The things that I would put on my list of can-live-without-but-would-really-prefer-not-to are:
mandoline for finely slicing veggies – get one, you’ll discover uses you never thought of!
stick blender – not a regular jug blender, I find them too messy and faffy
muffin trays – I make a LOT of muffins and feel bereft without my much used tray in the cupboard
small food processor – for pesto, chopping garlic, chilli & ginger for curry, various excellent uses
roasting tin
salad spinner
I’d really like to know what your must have and nice to have implements are. I know lots of you are living with cramped and/or shared kitchen quarters (Shared Table’s sister, I’m talking about you!).
So, what is it you really, really can’t live without? A microwave? A toasted sandwich maker? A cheese slicer? And what would you put on your birthday wish list?
I am a deeply domesticated girl. Much to my mother’s amusement, at age 15 I was already collecting a bottom drawer full of treasures bought on my St Vinnies raids, ready for the day I moved out. An aside here – I had, at that point, never heard of a “hope chest” and wouldn’t have know how to pronounce trousseau, so I wasn’t worryingly precociously preparing for my marriage!
While travelling through Europe and Turkey was an amazing trip, I am definitely not a nomad. Nearly 4 months on the road, then staying with (very welcoming, happy to see us) family for 6 weeks and then living out of a backpack again for a month here in Sydney is hard on a person who likes her domesticity. That is, who likes her own kitchen, her own cookbooks, her own space.
But hurrah! We have been in our new Sydney pad for just over a month and are slowly taking it from anonymous modern apartment to home. I was so excited the day we moved and even more excited the next day when we did a Proper Big Shop to restock my pantry. I am indeed living la vida loca. The thought of replenishing my pantry with all the essential oils, condiments, sauces and pastes that I really can’t cook without made me quite giddy with joy. I’m really not exaggerating. Check out my lovely cupboards, baby!
Since I took these pics I have only increased my supply of must-have stores. Maybe I missed my calling as Quartermaster General?
We’re not exactly at the point of feeding a fussy toddler, in fact we’re only at week 24 in utero actually, so this is a little preemptive. But. How cool are these cheesey goldfish crackers from Smitten Kitchen?!
Recently my Grandma celebrated a significant birthday and so all the family and her many, many friends got together for a champagne cream tea to toast her health and long life. One of the nicest things about socialising with the older generation is the food. They really know how to do a proper afternoon tea!
For morning prep, my sister and I were assigned asparagus roll duty. The party was held near Wellington (Shared Table is of Kiwi extraction) and in New Zealand it is against the law to hold any kind of eating occasion without asparagus rolls. Controversially though, we didn’t press the bread with a rolling pin as Grandma felt that makes it too doughy; we did of course cut the crusts offand butter all the way to the edges; some things are sacred.
Another feature of the older generation is their generous habit of always bringing a plate and various friends and relatives had brought contributions. One friend brought plate of simple buttered ham sandwiches, which deserve to be returned to the afternoon tea trolley. Another brought the most delicious salmon quiche and there were powder puff light meringues and pastry horns filled with creamed mushroom. My Aunty Jocelyn took Louise Cake to a whole new level by adding cherries and a layer of caramel. Playing the pregnant-sympathy card, I got the last piece 🙂
So, check out these works of afternoon tea art and get baking!
Neenish tarts. Look up Woman's Weekly if your Gran doesn't have the recipe
Grandma's strawberry & lemon tarts. So pretty!
Frankly I’m appalled at the bum deal Aussies get on their groceries. I’m astonished that there isn’t more public outcry and that government hasn’t intervened to introduce some real competition and break the stranglehold of the Coles-Woolworths oligopoly. Australians are getting taken for a ride just buying a loaf of bread because, well, the Big Two can get away with it. Where else are the punters going to go?
In the UK there are the Big Four (sounds like some kind of 1970s IRA style terror cell or possibly a disco group): Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda. They vary in style and both real and perceived quality but they have one thing in common – fierce competition on price. I talked a little about this briefly in my very first piece for this blog, ‘Leaving London: 10 things I’ll miss about Blighty’.
Just to illustrate the point I did some quick online comparisons between Sainsbury’s, where I shopped in London, Coles and Woolies (incidentally, Coles and Woolies could really up their online game – crap user interface guys!). This isn’t scientific and I chose tomatoes, yoghurt and mince because a) I always buy them and b) two are fresh so must be made in-country and one is not so can be imported:
Home brand tinned tomatoes are 74c at Coles, 81c at Woolworths but 52c (33p) at Sainsbury’s.
Homebrand 500g plain yoghurt is $3.15 at Coles, $3.21 at Woolworths but $1.78 at Sainsbury’s (£1.12) AND it’s certified organic. Non organic yoghurt is 79c (50p). Neither of the big Australians even offer a homebrand organic option.
Homebrand 500g beef mince is $3.95 at Coles, $4.54 at Woolies and $1.54 (97p for 400g) at Sainsbuy’s, which doesn’t take into account the organic options available at Sainsbury’s nor the regular “two for…” reduced price offers.
I know, I know, this isn’t scientific or thorough and the Aussie dollar is charging away making mince meat out of the pound, so using the exchange rate is a bit iffy. But. But, it is true that groceries are disproportionately more expensive here in the Land Down Under.
Coles seems to be taking a leaf out of the UK’s book, which may be down to the fact that, as this Sydney Morning Herald article outlines, the three recently appointed management head honchos are Brits. Their opening salvo in what may be a wider price competition was the $1 Milk War.
However, I am rather torn between my general outrage at the dodgy pricing in Australian supermarkets and my food principles. I like to shop locally and seasonally and specifically aim to support smaller producers. So what to do: stand by my principles or my cruelly abused purse? It wasn’t this much of a dilemma in the UK, where I could buy British, organic and well priced groceries.
The reaction to the Milk Wars is divided between one group of consumers pleased with the saving and, in the other camp, producers, some politicians and another set of consumers concerned at the longer term impact on the milk industry in Australia. I like the saving and also agree with the concern about the milk industry. I don’t want to only be able to get UHT milk in a decade because Coles and Woolworths slugged it out back in 2011.
The same concern about the Big Four bullying producers and cutting their margins to unsustainably unprofitable levels has been had in the UK; even Prince Charles weighed in at one point.
It is perhaps unfortunate that milk has been made the sacrificial lamb (to mix metaphors). As that article in the SMH sets out, Australia is seen as something of a cash cow by some manufacturers and, even despite our low population, expansive geography and isolation, are apparently making more of a margin out of us than they are in densely populated Europe.
“I am a firm believer still that many of the multinationals today are still using Australia as a cash cow,” Durkan says. ”I have little doubt, when I look at the prices on the shelves of some of the big proprietary brands, and I look at the margin we make as a company, it can’t just be the cost of production and the geography of Australia. It can’t be … they make more margin out of this part of the world than they do out of Europe. You have got to ask yourself why would that be the case.”
So, it may well be morally wrong to use milk as the basis of a price war, given the potential damage that could be done to an important industry and its role supporting regional livelihoods, but I’m more than a little bit suspicious that we are being taken to the cleaners by our grocers. A full scale price war could be what’s needed to make sure Australian supermarket customers aren’t being taken for granted.
One of the nice things about coming home is revisiting old favourites. I know there’s nothing particularly Aussie about fried icecream, you can get it in Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants in suburbs across the Western world (although I’m pretty sure not in China), but it’s something I associate with being a kid.
Old school fried icecream with "chocolate" sauce
This was actually a bit of a disappointing example. A great fried icecream should be flash deep fried so the icecream starts to melt inside its batter carapace. Unfortunately, this one was a bit tired and didn’t deliver a melty, crunchy, cold dessert.
a shared table 