The first recipe from my new Jamie Oliver cookbook that I tried. Three large tomatoes and a punnet of cherry tomatoes chopped up and thrown in a bowl with parsley and spring onions and a splash of red wine vinegar. Slice up and fry a chorizo sausage, when it's cripsy throw in some garlic and turn the heat down. When you don't want the garlic to cook any more (don't burn it!) add a splash of red wine vinegar. Mix the sausage with tomato mix for a yummy salad.
This recipe is from the Jamie Oliver cookbook Jamie does Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cooking: Croquetas
Another Jamie Oliver recipe from Spain, this was a near-disaster. You make a standard white sauce with butter, flour and milk and add nutmeg, cheese and ham (prosciutto is recommended but I went with leg ham), then you chill the mixture. Once stiff you're supposed to mould the mixture into little sausage shapes and coat them in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil for a few minutes. I'm not sure if my mixture hadn't been chilled sufficiently, or whether I'd mucked up the amount of flour needed (I really need to look for my kitchen scales!) but the mixture wasn't exactly stiff, more sticky than anything else. It was messy and took ages, and I ended up with some fairly munted shapes, switching to patties rather than sausage shapes (although I did manage to mould a couple of them into little snags). A very tasty dish but time consuming a labour intensive. Including chilling time, it took three hours from start to finish.
This recipe is from the Jamie Oliver cookbook Jamie does Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France.
Cooking: Patatas Bravas
In the Special Tapas section of the Jamie Oliver cookbook I found this scrumptious dish. Parboil and then fry potatoes, adding garlic and rosemary for the last minute of frying. Once drained, sprinkle paprika, fennel seeds and salt over the potatoes and toss until coated. The potatoes are served with a sauce, either on the side or covering the potatoes. The bravas sauce has onion and garlic (softened), chilli, finely chopped carrot, thyme, tinned tomatoes and red wine vinegar. Once that's all in the pot you simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are soft and the sauce is thick. Brilliant!
Cooking: Ratatouille-style Briouats
This was really easy and so scrumptious I wanted to eat the whole plateful! You make a basic ratatouille by roasting largish pieces of tomato, zucchini (courgette), onion, red pepper, and eggplant (aubergine) and garlic for 45 mins, then chopping it up roughly and popping into a bowl covered with the juice of one lemon. Lay out sheets of filo pastry and fill with the ratatouille and roll up the pastry covering the ends as you go. You can either shallow fry them or bake in the oven (we baked). To serve, squeeze more lemon over the top and add chopped parsley. On the side we had a beautiful simple sauce of natural yoghurt mixed with a teaspoon of harissa. Yum Yum!
This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's book Jamie does Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France.
Cooking: Choc Chip Banana Muffins
Breaking away from Jamie Oliver briefly I headed over to Taste.com.au for this easy and yummo recipe. http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/15298/choc+chip+banana+muffins
Kudos to Darren for supplying the Choc Chips!
Kudos to Darren for supplying the Choc Chips!
Cooking: Jansson's Temptation
I have no idea who Jansson is or how he or she was tempted, and the Jamie Oliver cookbook sheds no light on this. The dish though, is very good. Layers of grated potato sandwiching an onion/garlic/anchovy mix with thyme and lemon zest, double cream and milk slathered over the top follwed by breadcrumbs mixed with thyme and the remaining lemon zest. Baked for 45 minutes and served hot, it's got great texture and taste. The kids however were unimpressed. My son spotted a slice of onion and declared he wouldn't eat it (despite knowing that most of his favourite dishes contain onion) and my daughter gave it a go and said it made her want to vomit. Sadly, this recipe won't be on high rotation in our house.
Jansson's Temptation from Jamie Oliver's book Jamie does Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France.
Friday, December 31, 2010
On the eve of a new year
“Thank goodness it's nearly over,” say some, “Bring on 2011,” say others. What makes us so hopeful that there's something better on the horizon simply because the calendar clicks over another day? I love the optimism though. Go nuts guys. Be as hopeful as you can. It probably won't change anything, but it can't hurt right?
I'm not going in with anything as strong as optimism this time. Nor hope. More a wariness matched with quiet good humour, and allowances for brief periods of despair, anguish and joy.
It's not 2010 or any other year in particular that makes me take this view and seek an emotional balance. It's just that a lot can happen in a year, and it defies logic to suppose that all of the things that happen in a person's life over the course of a year are going to all be good.. People of my age and older seem to be always exclaiming how fast the years seem to be passing, but the perceived speed of the passage of time doesn't mean we're not packing a lot in to those 365 days.
Last week I made a list of personal highlights and lowlights of the year. Thankfully, there were many more of the former, but with the lowlights being dominated by loved ones dying or becoming ill, I really wish that list was much shorter than it is. The last few weeks in particular have felt like a festival of bad news, with each piece of additional news threatening to bury me in the heavy silt of intense grief.
One highlight I didn't list was the amazing privilege of observing and guiding the growth of the two human beings in my care. They seem to stretch their body frames a little longer as they sleep, waking taller, louder and hungrier each morning, and they make me laugh hard with their wry observations of life. KUTGW Lachie and Darcy.
Our home has swelled slightly with the addition of our housemate Amanda, and we are sometimes visited by Amanda's pug Hugo who snorts like a piglet and can cuddle on a lap for hours. Rosie and Ethan took to Hugo quite well, and people walking, running or cycling on the track at the rear of the house were treated to a trio of loud yappy dogs barking madly, instead of the usual duo. Good times.
The big ticket items this year were special – a trip to Europe, making new friends, reconnecting with old friends - but even the smaller ticket items (is that even a thing?) like seeing shows and dinners with friends were pretty special too.
I think 2010 for me was the year of the Little Girl with a Little Curl. When it was good it was very, very good, and when it was bad it was horrid. A little less intensity next year might be good.
To all my friends, family, colleagues, readers (all 12 of you), frenemies, nemeses, and the dogs, thank you for being part of the rich tapestry of my life in 2010 (and prior). My wishes for you for 2011 are simple: Go well. Be safe. Strive to be happy.
Happy new year.
L
Highlights & Lowlights of 2010
(in almost chronological order)
Highlights
EMC Summer School in Sydney
The go-go challenge
Slow Fashion Show in Melbourne (performing Shake Your Tail Feather)
Seven Days of Awesomeness (related blog)
Easter in Sydney (related blog)
The Swell Season (Melb & Syd)
Trip to Europe (UNI Conference and making new friends, as well as you know, Europe)(related blog)
Weekend in Canberra
Darebin Art Show
Kunst Rock (related blog)
Mrs Bang
Show Don't Tell
Thrill The World (related blog)
Half-Arsed Thursdays
Dinners at Vere & Roseneath Streets
BBQs at Arcadia Avenue
Lowlights
Deaths of Barry Beech, Eric Hopper, Jan Cleeland and Lulu Marilyn Smellybumholehead
Deaths of Rubie Hunter, and James Freud.
Sandy's diagnosis and imminent death. Li's diagnosis.
Favourite TV in 2010
Misfits, Sherlock, Mad Men, Chuck, Modern Family.
Favourite movie of 2010
Animal Kingdom (related blog)
Favourite album of 2010
Belle & Sebastian, Write About Love
Favourite books of 2010
(read in 2010 not necessarily written in 2010)
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz (related blog)
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
The Old Kingdom Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen), Garth Nix
Keys to the Kingdom series, Garth Nix
The Tomorrow Series and Ellie Chronicles, John Marsden
Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert
I'm not going in with anything as strong as optimism this time. Nor hope. More a wariness matched with quiet good humour, and allowances for brief periods of despair, anguish and joy.
It's not 2010 or any other year in particular that makes me take this view and seek an emotional balance. It's just that a lot can happen in a year, and it defies logic to suppose that all of the things that happen in a person's life over the course of a year are going to all be good.. People of my age and older seem to be always exclaiming how fast the years seem to be passing, but the perceived speed of the passage of time doesn't mean we're not packing a lot in to those 365 days.
Last week I made a list of personal highlights and lowlights of the year. Thankfully, there were many more of the former, but with the lowlights being dominated by loved ones dying or becoming ill, I really wish that list was much shorter than it is. The last few weeks in particular have felt like a festival of bad news, with each piece of additional news threatening to bury me in the heavy silt of intense grief.
One highlight I didn't list was the amazing privilege of observing and guiding the growth of the two human beings in my care. They seem to stretch their body frames a little longer as they sleep, waking taller, louder and hungrier each morning, and they make me laugh hard with their wry observations of life. KUTGW Lachie and Darcy.
Our home has swelled slightly with the addition of our housemate Amanda, and we are sometimes visited by Amanda's pug Hugo who snorts like a piglet and can cuddle on a lap for hours. Rosie and Ethan took to Hugo quite well, and people walking, running or cycling on the track at the rear of the house were treated to a trio of loud yappy dogs barking madly, instead of the usual duo. Good times.
The big ticket items this year were special – a trip to Europe, making new friends, reconnecting with old friends - but even the smaller ticket items (is that even a thing?) like seeing shows and dinners with friends were pretty special too.
I think 2010 for me was the year of the Little Girl with a Little Curl. When it was good it was very, very good, and when it was bad it was horrid. A little less intensity next year might be good.
To all my friends, family, colleagues, readers (all 12 of you), frenemies, nemeses, and the dogs, thank you for being part of the rich tapestry of my life in 2010 (and prior). My wishes for you for 2011 are simple: Go well. Be safe. Strive to be happy.
Happy new year.
L
Highlights & Lowlights of 2010
(in almost chronological order)
Highlights
EMC Summer School in Sydney
The go-go challenge
Slow Fashion Show in Melbourne (performing Shake Your Tail Feather)
Seven Days of Awesomeness (related blog)
Easter in Sydney (related blog)
The Swell Season (Melb & Syd)
Trip to Europe (UNI Conference and making new friends, as well as you know, Europe)(related blog)
Weekend in Canberra
Darebin Art Show
Kunst Rock (related blog)
Mrs Bang
Show Don't Tell
Thrill The World (related blog)
Half-Arsed Thursdays
Dinners at Vere & Roseneath Streets
BBQs at Arcadia Avenue
Lowlights
Deaths of Barry Beech, Eric Hopper, Jan Cleeland and Lulu Marilyn Smellybumholehead
Deaths of Rubie Hunter, and James Freud.
Sandy's diagnosis and imminent death. Li's diagnosis.
Favourite TV in 2010
Misfits, Sherlock, Mad Men, Chuck, Modern Family.
Favourite movie of 2010
Animal Kingdom (related blog)
Favourite album of 2010
Belle & Sebastian, Write About Love
Favourite books of 2010
(read in 2010 not necessarily written in 2010)
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz (related blog)
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
The Old Kingdom Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen), Garth Nix
Keys to the Kingdom series, Garth Nix
The Tomorrow Series and Ellie Chronicles, John Marsden
Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert
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