Tag Archives: food preparation

Ready to Roast

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It almost 2 years since I wrote this post with a recipe for pumpkin soup. After a long, hot summer we are finally experiencing some slightly cooler days.

Like all of my cooking escapades there is plenty of room for variation. A couple of days ago GMan was baking a couple of loaves of sourdough bread so I decided to make use of the oven being on to roast the pumpkin while the oven was heating up to the temperature required for the bread.

Pumpkin wedges brushed with a mix of balsamic syrup and olive oil.

After roasting the skin peels off easily.

A pot of deliciousness.

We had soup for dinner and there were another 10 serves to go in the freezer for future meals.

It was a productive kitchen day as I had also made a new batch of spreadable butter, deyhdrated the pumpkin seeds and some root ginger which had been in the freezer for a couple of years and GMan made the bread.

Processing Plums

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It is that time of the year when everything seems to be ripening at once. I have a nectarine tree but no other stone fruit, however, there are plums aplenty around town and I have received some from 3 different sources in the last week so today I made jam using 3.4kg of plums.

This is the result.

These were the first batch of plums I was given. They don’t look much but have a lovely flavour and beautiful deep red flesh.

Since having an airfryer I have discovered that it is a relatively quick and easy way to sterilise the jars and lids rather than having to turn the oven on. That is definitely a consideration on a day like today when the forecast temperature was 37C (98.6F).

However, it was not all plain sailing as I had a calamity with the second batch of jars. Thankfully there were only 4 of them but they came to grief when I managed to catch the handle of airfryer with my oven mitt and send the contents flying across the kitchen floor. One jar broke but that was all. GMan kindly swept up the broken glass while I retrieved the remainder and the lids, re-washed them and started the process again.

The other job was somewhat simpler than jam-making as I had some gifted oranges to juice. It is the first time I have had fresh orange juice since we moved here which has been a bit of a shock after having what seemed like an endless supply from the 3 trees we had in our previous garden.

Finally, we were delighted to record 42mm of rain in a series of thunderstorms overnight. It has given the garden a welcome soaking during what has been several weeks of fairly hot, dry weather.

Planned Changes

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We have now been living here for 17 months so have well and truly experienced the full range of seasons. Despite having some basic ideas of changes we wanted to make to the house and garden from the time we moved in, we feel that it is good to be informed by the experience of actually living in the house for a full year.

There will be a number of changes over the next 6 months or so but the first one begins next week. I think this is the one I am most excited about.

The butlers pantry and the walk-in wardrobe share a common wall and make an L-shape on the relevant section of the floor plan below.

The wall between the pantry and the walk-in wardrobe will be removed and the wall behind the sink in the pantry will be extended. This will effectively double the size of the pantry and halve the size of the walk-in wardrobe.

The extended pantry will have a long bench on one side with 2 sets of deep drawers below it and the other side will consist of open shelving.

These are a couple of views of the current pantry. It is good but more space will be wonderful.

Looking from the kitchen directly into the pantry. None of this will functionally change. The extension will be on the right-hand side of the sink.

This is the wall that will be removed. The bench and shelving above will continue as will the floor-to-ceiling shelving on the other side.

I cannot wait to have more space and I will be able to rehome the storage buckets of bulk flour, seeds, nuts and dried fruit that are currently in the wardrobe of the spare room.

Of course, there is a trade-off. A smaller walk-in wardrobe is not an issue. The existing space is huge and could almost be regarded as a dressing room although we do not use it as such.

We have managed to spread things out to almost fill the space but we know that we can utilise the smaller space much more effectively as we will install modular hanging rails and shelving to easily accommodate our clothes. Additionally, there are 2 other bedrooms with wardrobes if we find that we need to hang out-of-season coats and jackets. The mirror will go and the shelving/hanging rails will be fitted on the side (about half the length) where the existing rails are as well across the end where the mirror is currently positioned. We have a full-length mirror in the hall near the front entrance so do not really need the second one.

During the next week we will need to move everything out of the wardrobe so that it does not get covered in plaster dust. The wardrobe and bed in the guest bedroom will accommodate most of it.

The pantry is not as much of an issue as everything on the open shelves is in sealed packets or containers but some of the things at the end near the wall removal will need to be moved out of the way. The builder has estimated about 10 days for the work so I am prepared for a bit of disruption. I am confident that it will be worth it when the job is completed.

A Bunch of Basil

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I grew a very successful crop of basil during the summer.

I made some pesto early in the season and also used some of it fresh. However, it is now going to seed and taking up space that I want to use for winter crops so it is really time for it to go. Yesterday I picked an armful of the younger shoots, stripped the leaves and rinsed them.

This haul was 4 tightly-packed cups of basil leaves so it was time to make more pesto.

Here is my recipe.

BASIL PESTO

4 cups basil leaves, tightly packed
7 tablespoons sunflower seeds
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon, juice and rind
5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place the basil, sunflower seeds and garlic in food processor and process until finely chopped and combined. Add the lemon juice, rind and nutritional yeast. Process until thoroughly combined. Gradually add the olive oil until desired consistency is reached. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I have chosen to replace the traditional ingredients of cheese and pine nuts with nutritional yeast and sunflower seeds which makes this recipe not only gluten-free but also nut and dairy free.

It was rather exciting to know that I had used basil, lemon and garlic which I had grown as well as locally produced olive oil.

Perfect Baked Beans

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A couple of weeks ago I successfully made baked beans which GMan declared were better than the ones out of a can. Some years ago I had attempted to make them but they were really not that great. This time I was armed with more experience and a video I had chanced upon as a starting point. However, I did adapt it somewhat to suit myself.

I have made another batch and made notes of the quantities and method as well as taken several photos so that I can share the recipe with you.

BAKED BEANS

Ingredients

1kg dry white beans
Olive oil
3 medium onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 capsicum (pepper), diced
700ml tomato passata
250ml water
1 tablespoon treacle
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 – 4 teaspoons smoky paprika
1 – 2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method

Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with boiling water (about 5cm above the level of the beans). Soak for several hours or overnight. The beans will swell but will still be quite hard. Transfer the beans and water to a slow cooker and add a bit more water. Cook on high for several hours until tender but not mushy.

Saute the diced onion in a little oil in a large pan. Cook gently on a low heat so that they soften but are barely coloured. Add the garlic and capsicum and continue cooking. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer gently until well-cooked and the desired flavour.

Add the drained beans to the sauce and combine thoroughly but do not break the beans up too much. Allow to stand and cool so that the beans absorb the flavour of the sauce.

Heat, eat and enjoy.

I choose to freeze the prepared beans which works really well. This is the results from the recipe above. The small dish will be my lunch today.

Notes

This is a large quantity – you can reduce the amounts.
I used Great Northern beans but you could use navy beans, canellini beans or whatever you prefer.
You could used canned beans if you wish. I prefer to use dried beans as they cost less and there is the added benefit of minimal packaging, especially if you buy them from bulk bins.
The tomato mixture could be pureed fresh or canned tomatoes or whatever you have on hand. You can also include some tomato paste for a more intense depth of flavour.
The original recipe used bacon but I choose to use smoky paprika to replicate the flavour and keep this recipe meat-free.
Add the seasonings gradually to account for your personal taste.
I used a couple of capsicums from the garden but regular red ones are fine, too.
I substituted rosemary salt for half of the salt.
I also added 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup of my homemade tomato sauce to make it a little spicier.

In other words, this is a basic recipe and you can adjust it to suit your personal taste.

Food Waste

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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.

Harvest Time

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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.

Tomatoes – A Test Run

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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.

A New Buy

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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.

In the Kitchen

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While our granddaughters were visiting us my kitchen activities were limited to just getting the next meal on the table but yesterday I managed to do a bit of forward planning and preparation.

The first thing was to make some Choc Fruit and Nut Balls. These are perfect for Christmas gatherings (or any other time of the year) when you are asked to contribute a plate. They are always well-received and are super-easy to make (no cooking required). They freeze really well and it is easy to pull some out at a moment’s notice.

My next job was to make some more peanut paste. I buy raw, unsalted peanuts and lightly dry roast them before putting them in the high-speed blender. I have previously roasted them on a baking tray in the oven but this time I decided to try them in the airfryer. This worked perfectly. I did 2 batches in a round cake tin for 10 minutes at 170C.

Meanwhile, I had a batch of grapefruit marmalade simmering on the stove. I never thought I would be making marmalade in December as citrus usually ripen here in late autumn/early winter and it is now officially summer. However, GMan took the car to have some work done on it the other day and was at a loose end for about 4 hours. So, he went walking in Bendigo while he waited and happened upon some free grapefruit in a box on the footpath. He collected 8 grapefruit in his backpack and they are now marmalade.

Also, in the spirit of not wasting anything I had these remnants to deal with. The last of the peanut paste is notoriously difficult to remove from the jug of the blender so I chose to leave about a tablespoonful of the mixture and then used that to make satay sauce. I set the excess coconut from rolling the choc fruit balls aside and then used it in making another batch of gluten-free muesli.

Here is our dinner of satay chicken with rice and green salad.

All of the recipes mentioned are elsewhere on the blog as they are regular favourites here. Here is the link to the recipe index which can be found on one of the tabs at the top of the front page of the blog. I refer to it frequently because a lot of what I write is as much for me as it is for my readers. Please feel free to use the index as your own.

The link for the Choc Fruit and Nut Balls is somewhat different to the ones I make now – there have been multiple modifications and I will add the updated version later today.