Foodie Friday – An Introduction

The Rhythm of Life

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Posted on February 10, 2014

…….or just a Never-Ending Story?

The jobs that seem to fall together under that all-encompassing title of “Housework’. Do you embrace them as a steady part of your routine and rejoice in the satisfaction of a job well done? Or do you constantly rail against the monotony of having to do the same task over and over again?

During the past few weekends we have made substantial progress with what The Duke refers to as our bucket list. It is not a bucket list in the generally accepted sense but more like a ‘to do list’. We have bought and planted the shrubs outside the boundary fence, prepared the fence posts (cut to length, cleaned and painted), created and planted the rockery and started on building more raised garden beds.

However, the last couple of days have been a bit different. The combination of a very busy week at work and drizzling rain yesterday meant that I did very little outdoor work. In fact, I could say I did nothing much until I actually list what I did do.

Washing
Ironing
Prepared meals
Menu planned
Shopping
Picked beans, tomatoes, corn and mangoes
Sorted contents of freezer
Prepared and stored mango (pureed, frozen, dehydrated)
Prepared and froze corn
Swept floors
Dusted sideboard and bookcase
Refilled pantry containers from storage buckets

There were probably a dozen other little tasks that have not even made it onto the list.

The Duke also washed several loads of dishes and emptied the compost numerous times while I was making a mess in the kitchen.

Most of these tasks will need to be repeated the next day, week or month but that does not bother me particularly. I am constantly looking at ways to simplify my life and one of the reasons to reduce the amount of time and effort that is expended on routine tasks such as many of those that I have listed. A good example is shopping. This my shopping consisted of buying cheese and vinegar at Aldi (the vinegar was for the chutney), a small quantity of fruit and vegetables at the local fruit stall and The Duke bought some bacon at the butcher when he went in to town on another errand. The flow on effect was that putting everything away took about 2 minutes so that is a huge saving as well.

So, what do you think of repetitive homemaking tasks?

Storing the Surplus

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Posted on February 2, 2014

As I mentioned yesterday, I picked corn. I ended up with about 18 cobs and after The Duke had 2 for his lunch I was still left with a lot of corn to keep for another day. After doing a bit of research, I decided to blanch it, strip the kernels and freeze them.

Here is what I did.

Cooked 3 – 4 cobs at a time for 6 minutes in boiling water. It needs to be a large enough volume so that the water returns to a rolling boil within 1 – 2 minutes of adding the corn.

Remove the corn from the water using a slotted spoon and drop immediately into iced water for 6 minutes.

Strip the kernels from the cob using a sharp knife. In the instructions I found on the internet someone suggested using a bundt tin to support the narrow end of the cob while cutting the kernels off. I happened to have one of these so tried out. I was very pleased with the ease of removing the kernels and the tin was perfect to catch them in.

I gently stirred the mixture to separate the kernels and spread them on 2 trays, covered them and placed them in the freezer overnight. I weighed the kernels before I froze them and my efforts yielded 1.7kg.

This morning I removed the frozen kernels and packed them into 2 containers. This way the kernels are individually frozen and I can remove as much or as little as I need at a time.

Despite my despair of a few weeks ago, the corn has been a real success and there are more cobs which will probably be ready next week.

Fabulous February

Simple Food

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Posted on January 22, 2014

Simple really does come in all sorts of guises and one of them is food. Here is what we had for dinner on Friday night. It was the end of the working week, we were both exhausted and not keen on creating a huge meal so I pulled this together with what was in the refrigerator and pantry. It took about 5 minutes, presented well and was nutritious and filling.

The tomatoes, figs and pumpkin were from the garden. The pumpkin had been roasted to use on pizza and I had some left over. Cheese, capsicum and cucumber from the refrigerator and finished off with walnuts and dried apricots.

Do you make any truly simple meals?

This is just a quick post as I have been away for a couple of days with my job so no time for blogging. I am working on a new post about my wardrobe. It may be ready tomorrow night so look out for it coming soon.

Dinner – Keeping it Cool

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Posted on January 5, 2014

As I mentioned in my previous post we sweltered through some very hot weather yesterday. I find find that producing an appetising, nutritious meal with the minimum of effort can be a bit of a challenge.

Since it was so hot yesterday, I had the added difficulty of not wanting to traipse to the shops to buy our weekly fruit and vegetables. So, I decided that I would make do with what I had.

The end result was a 3 course meal.

Chilled tomato and parsley soup
Rice paper rolls with dipping sauce
Pineapple and mint crush

None of these came from recipes in the true sense of the word but were creations out of my head with the ingredients I had available. However, I will add them to the recipe file soon.

A Christmas Table & Leftovers

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Posted on December 29, 2013

Each year I review my Christmas catering efforts to see what worked, what didn’t and what could be changed.

As I have explained, this year was quite different as I catered for a small family gathering of 4 in an unfamiliar kitchen with limited ingredients. I shopped with a view to minimal leftovers as well as a very simple menu. You can see the menu in my previous post.

This was the entree – grilled asparagus and prosciutto-wrapped haloumi. There was a roasted capsicum sauce to accompany it.

Here is the table set for the main course with grilled salmon, chestnut and cranberry stuffed chicken roll and 3 different salads.

It was very enjoyable and there is nothing that I would change. The menu could easily be used for a bigger group with minimal additional effort.

We visited relatives on Boxing Day so the leftovers had to wait until the following day when I used them to create a main meal salad. I do not have a photo but here is the ‘recipe’.

Potato & Salmon Salad

6 tiny potatoes
1 small piece of grilled salmon
1 stick of celery
1/4 red capsicum (bell pepper)
Herb mayonnaise

Boil the potatoes until just tender. Cool and cut into small pieces. Flake the salmon and add to potatoes. Add finely sliced celery and diced capsicum. Toss ingredients and stir mayonnaise through. Chill and serve on a bed of salad greens with tomato wedges.

The recipe is based on exactly what I did and it served 3 adults for lunch.

What creations have you made with leftovers during the festive season?

The Christmas Menu

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Posted on December 24, 2013

As you know we are staying in a holiday apartment so Christmas this year is a little different. I do have access to some basic oils and condiments, however, the full range of pantry ‘essentials’ that I take for granted at home are not all here.

On Sunday evening I finally made some effort to plan our Christmas Day menu but it was still really flexible when we went shopping at the Queen Victoria Markets yesterday. The plan evolved as I found various items. Today I went to the local shops to pick up the last few things I would need and I have started the preparation.

Here is the menu.

NIBBLES

Cracker biscuits and vegie sticks with dips – beetroot, pumpkin, carrot & coriander and 1 other which I can’t remember.

ENTREE

Grilled prosciutto-wrapped haloumi and grilled asparagus with roasted capsicum salsa

MAINS

Chicken roll with spinach and pinenut stuffing
Seared Atlantic salmon with lime and cucumberPotato salad with herbed mayonnaise dressing
Roasted balsamic pumpkin, red onion and feta salad
Rocket, avocado, tomato and capsicum salad

DESSERT

Berry meringue smash

It is designed to be a simple yet special meal which I can prepare in an unfamiliar kitchen with minimal extra ingredients. I have made the pumpkin salad, cooked the potatoes, wrapped the haloumi in prosciutto, roasted the capsicum and made the salsa.

Tomorrow I will assemble the other salads, roast the chicken and make the dessert. The Duke will cook the asparagus, haloumi and salmon on the BBQ.

I am looking forward to sharing a relaxing day with my family.

A Quiet Christmas

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Posted on December 17, 2013

You may or may not have noticed the lack of posts about getting organised for Christmas. That was because I really have done very little. We are going to be travelling interstate so it will be somewhat different to most years.

Things I have done:

Made a cake
Organised gifts for our children and granchildren
Attended the annual Christmas drinks with neighbours from our road
Sent a small number of cards and emails
Had a BBQ with my mother and siblings before we all head in different directions for Christmas

Things I have not done:

Put up a tree
Rushed around buying gifts for lots of people
Attended work Christmas functions
Planned a huge feast

This evening we called in to visit our daughter and family and give them their Christmas presents. The highlight was explaining to Miss O and Izz that we will be going to Sydney on New Year’s Day to see “The Lion KIng” for their Christmas gift from us.

The Duke and I will not be exchanging particular gifts but instead we are saving towards our planned trip to the UK later next year.

We will be spending Christmas Day with my mother and our younger daughter in Melbourne. We are staying in rented accommodation so I will decide on a menu based on the weather and also availability of kitchen equipment/utensils. We will have access to an excellent of fresh food from the market and we will enjoy creating a special meal without over-indulging. A laptop and the internet means that I will be able to use virtually any recipe I could possibly want.

I will spend some time reflecting on the year that was. 2013 has had some challenges which we have survived and I am looking forward to a fresh slate – 2014!

What are your plans?

Tomato Day

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Posted on December 16, 2013

It was nothing like ‘Tomato Day’ as described in the novel, “Looking for Alibrandi” but The Duke and I had our own mini version when we cut up 5.5kg of tomatoes yesterday.

A couple of weeks ago I asked at the local fruit stall if they had any cooking/sauce tomatoes as I wanted to make tomato sauce. After some discussion it was agreed that they would try to get some from the market if there were any available and let me know. I had not heard anything so I asked again when we went yesterday to buy our weekly supply of fruit and vegetables. B then presented me with a box of assorted over-ripe tomatoes which had been sorted from the regular ones rather than specifically purchased. These were then given to me as they would otherwise have been thrown out.

Back at home, we only had to discard 3 or 4 that were completely rotten and the rest were chopped up and placed in bags in the freezer. I simply do not have the time to make sauce this week in the lead-up to Christmas and holidays so they can stay in the freezer until I have time to make the sauce.

This is an example of the benefits of eating seasonal produce and also supporting and getting to know your small, local retailer. I could not imagine this scenario happening at my local Coles or Woolworths supermarket.