I want to share a recipe that has evolved in my kitchen since I first discovered that I could use cooked cauliflower as the base for a savoury white sauce rather than the traditional flour and butter roux.
The quantities listed are very flexible and only intended as a guide. The seasoning depends very much on your palate and should be adjusted accordingly.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 large cauliflower, cut into pieces (including stalks) 500ml milk, dairy or plant-based 1&1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon smoky paprika
Cook cauliflower until tender – microwave or steamed. Puree the cooked cauliflower, gradually adding milk to create the required consistency.
At this stage it should be smooth but will taste like milky cauliflower. Gradually add seasoning of your choice. Other options include powdered onion or garlic.
The mixture freezes really well and is super versatile. Here are 4 jars ready to go in the freezer.
It can be used in any way you would normally use white sauce. I sometimes add to vegetables or use for a pancake filling with mushrooms and chicken. Tonight I used it for the base of a tuna pasta bake.
Here it is almost ready to go in the airfryer.
I will add some topping of flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast and a little grated cheese and serve with some sliced carrots and zucchini.
After my previous post it is back to the things we do ourselves.
Today I picked up a couple of large grapefruit at our local LETS market. I have sliced them finely and am soaking them overnight and I will make some marmalade tomorrow. Grapefruit marmalade is GMan’s favourite so another jar or two is always a welcome addition to the pantry.
In the past I would have draped a tea towel over the bowl to cover the soaking fruit but I am using this cute fabric bowl cover which is simply a circle of fabric with an elasticised edge. It was a gift from a friend in Maleny and was made by one of the members of WAM (Waste Action Maleny). I was part of the group when we lived there so it was lovely to receive this gift.
Marmalade goes on toast and GMan was particularly proud of his latest loaves of sourdough. We have been here for almost 12 months and in that time he has been unable to replicate his best efforts but we both think that these are as good as any he has made.
The satisfaction in cooking, doing, making, building or repairing something yourself is immeasurable.
Food waste comes in many guises. It may be less than perfect produce being refused by supermarkets and ultimately being dumped. Excess produce being grown and discarded rather than being shared with those in need. Food that is bought and not used for a variety of reasons. Home leftovers that end up being thrown out rather than being used creatively. Large serving portions in cafes and restaurants which result in food wastage.
Food waste going to landfill produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Additionally, it makes absolutely no sense to waste food at any time but especially at the moment, during a cost-of-living crisis when many people are struggling to provide enough food for their families.
Every little bit we do can make a difference and here are some examples.
When I was cooking over the past couple of days I made bulk quantities of chilli con carne, beef and onion casserole and leek and potato soup. It usually use a large soup ladle as a measuring guide when portioning these up but it is not effective at thoroughly scraping the pot. There can be as much as half a serve left in the pot.
That is where these silicon scrapers come in really handy. I bought them nearly 4 years ago and they are honestly worth their weight in gold.
Here are the results of using them to properly empty a large pot and the insert of the slow cooker.
Much better than washing food (and money) down the drain.
The last month has been a bit of a rollercoaster. We headed off on holidays for 2 weeks to Hawaii and California. This was our first overseas trip since 2019 when Covid threw a spanner in the works of our (and many others travel plans). The trip went well and we enjoyed our time away although I was not particularly well for the second week. We still managed to do most of what we had planned but I did lay low for nearly a week once we were home. Consequently, the planned holiday blog posts did not all happen but I have the photos and stories and will update them one day.
We are definitely back into the swing of doing things at home. In fact, so much so that there has barely been time for writing. Blogging, like any other habit, requires constant, regular actions to maintain and I have let that slide a bit but hopefully tonight’s post will herald some regular posts in the coming weeks.
I began today by cleaning and sorting out the freezer section of the fridge/freezer in the kitchen. It is probably difficult to really see much change apart from the lack of crumbs in the drawers but at least I now know exactly what is in there.
I also have an upright freezer in the shed which has lots of packs of grated zucchini, mulberries and stewed nashi pears at the moment. It certainly tends to reflect what has been happening in the garden.
I made a batch of chilli con carne and we had some for dinner and there are now another 9 serves in the freezer.
When I cooked the rice to serve with the chilli I cooked a bulk amount and froze enough for 6 more serves. If I am going to use time and energy cooking food I think it makes sense to cook extra for another night.
There are a few other things happening in the kitchen but I’ll save those stories for another day.
When choosing this title I noticed that I had used it before in 2021 – except that it was in early November. It is now late summer here and everything seems to be ripening in abundance so we are fully occupied making sure that none of it goes to waste.
Here are a few of the things we have been doing in the past few days.
When we moved here we inherited two espaliered nashi pear trees which have borne prolifically. We did not net them so the parrots have enjoyed quite a feast but we have still managed to pick several hundred fruit. Once we discovered that we really like the fruit stewed, GMan has made it his mission to peel and slice the seemingly never-ending supply and the freezer is full of containers of stewed nashi which we will enjoy in the coming months.
It is now about 6 weeks since I picked the first of our zucchini and I been managing to use them at pretty much the same rate as we were picking them until the last few days. So, today I made zucchini slice. I have been trialling making them in individual serves in the airfryer for some time now and am happy that I have finally got the amended measurements and cooking times right. I will post an amended recipe in the next blog post.
I also grated several extra zucchini and have them packed in bags of 200g in the freezer for future zucchini slice making.
Meanwhile, the tomato sauce was simmering on the stove.
This was the result.
I made another of my experimental versions of basil pesto and am pretty happy with this one. Almonds instead of pine nuts. Some grated zucchini mixed with the basil makes it milder flavoured. Nutritional yeast rather than cheese makes it dairy-free, vegan and reduces the cholesterol. Yes, minimising the cholesterol intake is going to be more of a feature of my cooking in the future. I also add the juice of half a lemon as it makes it a bit less oily.
The bumper harvest has not been confined to just our garden and our neighbour’s. I picked up a bag of plums from a roadside giveaway earlier in the week. I stewed these and have some each morning on my cereal.
Processing gluts of home-grown, gifted or foraged produce can be time-consuming but it is a worthwhile activity which helps to minimise the amount of food going to waste.
We have had a remarkably mild summer so far but yesterday it really kicked into gear. The outdoor temperature at our place peaked at 40.5C. This is not remarkable compared to other parts of the country but it was certainly enough to make us choose to stay indoors. With the blinds drawn and a couple of ceiling fans we were quite comfortable for most of the day before turning the airconditioning on in the family room for 2 hours in the late afternoon from about 5.30pm. The temperature was set on 24C and this soon made the room pleasantly comfortable.
I spent most of the day sewing and made two bags for a friend from fabric she had given me. They were mostly relatively small pieces of linen and cotton which had been carry bags from bed linen she had purchased at various times. I am really pleased with the results and looking forward to giving them to her.
Meanwhile, GMan was hardly being lazy either. He had picked 45 Nashi pears from one of our trees the previous day. This was after the birds had helped themselves. If we get organised and net the trees next year our harvest should be about doubled. Neither of us were smitten with eating the fruit raw so he decided to try stewing them. This was a raging success as they taste just like the tinned pears we both remember eating when we were growing up. It was a huge job to peel, core and slice them all but we now have one container in the refrigerator and several others in the freezer.
Today is a day of extreme to catastrophic fire danger across most of the state so we will be indoors, staying cool and most importantly, following any emergency reports and advice.
I am always looking for ways to store the inevitable summer glut of home-grown tomatoes. I make tomato sauce (ketchup) but there is a limit to how much of that we need. The recipe is here if you are interested. I also used to freeze cherry tomatoes whole for use in casseroles and other cooking. I have dabbled in making tomato paste and tomato powder. These have all been reasonably successful but somewhat labour intensive.
Our tomatoes are not ready yet but the neighbours have generously shared their harvest.
I had these spread out to ripen and today I selected the reddest ones and cut them into quarters. I placed them into a round cake tin with 2 large cloves of garlic and a handful of basil leaves (all homegrown) and a drizzle of olive oil. I cooked them in the airfryer for 25 minutes at 170C then blitzed them in the high-speed blender.
I now have a couple of jars of delicious sauce which will be perfect for pizza bases, pasta dishes or adding to other dishes for a rich tomato flavour. This was super quick and easy and I will definitely be doing it again in the future. I choose not to process the sauce but simply store it in the freezer.
I think everyone has a personal favourite way of making lasagne.
Lasagne was my ‘go to’ dish in the early days of our marriage. In fact, so much so that GMan once commented that our impending dinner guests had eaten at our place previously so we would need to think of something else!
My version of lasagne has evolved noticeably over almost 45 years due to a changing culinary landscape and a variety of dietary considerations. I have reduced the proportion of meat in the dish, eliminated cream, use gluten free flour and pasta. The latest iteration actually replaces the pasta with thin slices of zucchini and the bechamel sauce is made with cauliflower rather than a roux of flour and butter. Interested? Read on for the full details.
LASAGNE
Meat sauce
250g lean minced beef 1 cup dried red lentils 1 large onion, finely diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 large carrot, grated 2 sticks celery, finely chopped 2 teaspoons beef stock powder 2 tins crushed tomatoes } – whatever combination of fresh, dried or frozen tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste } you have on hand. More water may be required. Herbs (fresh or dried) to taste – I used a handful of fresh basil and 1 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Place the lentils in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes. In a large saucepan fry the onion and garlic, add the mince and brown. Add the remaining ingredients including the drained lentils. Simmer gently until the lentils are tender. Add more water if the mixture becomes too dry.
Chop the cauliflower roughly. The stalk and small leave can be included in this recipe. Steam or microwave until tender. Place cooked cauliflower in blender and gradually add milk until the mixture is smooth and a suitable consistency. Add seasonings to taste. The quantities are only suggestion so add a bit at a time until it reaches your desired taste.
Set sauce aside until required. This sauce can be refrigerated for a couple of days or frozen if you have too much. It can be substituted in any recipe that requires a creamy white sauce. You can use plant-based milk if you choose.
Other
Zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise Grated cheese, I use a mixture of cheddar, parmesan and nutritional yeast
Assembly
Layer the various components in an ovenproof dish. I usually do meat sauce, zucchini, white sauce and then cheese and repeat 2-3 times until the dish is full.
Cook in the oven until heated through and browned on top. Alternatively, it can be heated in the microwave and finished off under the grill to brown the top.
Makes 6 generous serves.
This is the only photo I have as I did not think of writing this post until after we had eaten dinner. We ate 2 serves and the remainder were packed up and frozen in 4 individual serves.
It is a relatively rare occurrence these days for me to buy much other than consumables such as groceries and fuel, and experiences including travel, tickets to shows and events.
However, I think a recent purchase is worth sharing. Just after Christmas I was ordering some mixing bowls for one of my daughters. While perusing the website I saw some Joseph & Joseph chopping boards. These are rather expensive but were significantly reduced. I had seen my sister using them when we stayed with them early last year and I was impressed with them but had not done anything more about looking for some.
Anyway, I bit the bullet and bought two new red (naturally) boards. They are what I would regard as large and extra large. They are plastic but that is offset by their perceived longevity.
I may be a bit late to the party but here are some of the features I love about them. There is lip around 3 sides and a slight slope overall. These help to retain juices or errant bits when preparing food. Juices can also easily be poured from the deep corner. This in turn, helps to minimise waste. The recessed handles make them easy and safe to carry. One side has a spiked area which can assist in holding meat or other items in place while chopping them. There is also a narrow rubber strip on the edges which means they are stable and do not move when being used.
I have tried and used a variety of chopping boards over the years but these really appear to be the closest I have found to perfectly meeting my needs.
The other collection of boards all have their uses and will remain part of the kitchen until they break or wear out.
Fruit crumble is one of my favourite desserts but is not usually on the Christmas menu.
This year I am preparing lunch for 3 adults on what looks like being a cool and rainy day despite the fact that it is the middle of summer.
I have plenty of cooking apples and an abundance of frozen mulberries so we will be having apple and mulberry crumble with ice-cream for dessert on Christmas Day.
CRUMBLE TOPPING
Ingredients
1 cup coconut 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup plain flour (I use gluten-free flour) 1/2 cup flaxseed meal 2 teaspoons golden syrup 2 teaspoons powdered cinnamon 2 teaspoons powdered ginger 2 teaspoons powdered mixed spice 90g butter
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the syrup and mix through. Finely shave the butter and rub through the dry ingredients using your fingertips.
Spread the crumble mixture on top of your favourite stewed fruit and cook in oven or airfryer until the topping is lightly browned and crisp.
NOTES: This is a large quantity as I freeze any excess for future use so you may wish to halve the amounts. I only use real butter as it needs to be very firm (not spreadable) for this recipe.
organised castle 