This Month in my Kitchen

“ I make serious coffee – so strong it wakes up the neighbours.“

Author Unknown

This month, thanks to Danyse, for our long discussions and Saturday afternoon company. Danyse is a master cook, being Italian and having an ayurvedic background. She runs Alkaline cooking classes in Adelaide. Very successful. Eliminating acidic foods from the diet can change your life. Me, I love my oils too much to adopt this approach, but she is a fabulous and creative cook and if anyone can inspire you to this lifestyle, she can.

Love Love Love this month

warm weather, as winter takes off her cold cloak to reveal the rejuvenated world of Spring. The beginnings of Spring. Flowers, roses. Good food. Good friends.

Supporting the local businesses

I get a lot of Googles for Monsoon Restaurant, one of my local Indian haunts that has fabulous Dosa, and Cikolatte, where they serve wonderful coffee and chocolates. To save you searching further, here are the details:

• Monsoon Indian Restaurant, 135 Melbourne Street North Adelaide, phone: 8267 3822.
• Cikolatte, 133 Melbourne Street North Adelaide, phone: 8267 6048

Enjoy!

Reading this month

Working with Monsters by John Clarke.

Eating this month

• Rice dishes – paella, congee, risotto, lemon rice, ginger rice, fried rice, rice pudding.Mushrooms – fresh from the Farmer’s Market
• Coffee from Cikolatte at 133 Melbourne St. The best coffee in Adelaide.

Thanks this month to …

• a very difficult situation which has taught me patience, compassion and forbearance.
• Ahmet who has learnt to make coffee.

This month I (re)discovered …

• oh how very nice olives can be. See Warm Olives .
• cameras. It has been so long that I have focused on taking pics. Keep tuned. Some things to come.
• how much time blogging can take up.
• basmatti rice! Oh the scent as it cooks, perfuming the house. And when you cook it with a little ghee, it sometimes crisps on the bottom of the pan. Oh so Yum. Eat with left over Tomato Rasam poured over the top for a real quick flavour treat.

This Month …

• This month, it was Ganesha’s birthday. There was a huge celebration with a great Indian food and sweets, loved by Ganesha. He looked amazing, covered with flowers and garlands. Jay Ganesha.

• This month, I made the Great Italian Bread. I sure do love this bread. This time I added a little (really little – about 1 dsrtspn) of polenta to the mix and it gave it a wonderful texture. I used the last of an organic multigrain flour from Goodies and Grains in my local market. I think organic flour makes all the difference.

Fast Fast Food

• Quick salad for lunch: take some firm tofu, sprinkle or rub it with a spicy mix such as Garam Masala, cut into 2cm cubes and dry fry or saute in a little ghee or oil, and toss onto some of your favourite salad greens.
• Take a punnet of cherry tomatoes, bright and red. Slice in half and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with celtic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle over about 1 Tblspn of good extra virgin olive oil. Mix with your hands, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
  • Pile on to some thickly sliced wonderful bread and add shavings of cheese. Call it lunch or light dinner.
  • OR you can sit it on top of some salad greens, or some wilted garden greens such as spinach.
  • OR serve it in a pile, surrounded by sautéed tofu squares and sprinkled with some zaatar or dukkha.
  • Add to the tomatoes garlic, herbs or spring onions. Chilli for a kick.
  • Stir in to congee, serve over hot rice, or on a steaming bowl of pasta.
  • With the hand blender, blend it into a salsa, or a sauce, or a cold soup.
• Make soup. Choose pumpkin. I love butternut.Take some stock out of the fridge, peel the butternut and cook in the stock with any additional flavourings you have around – some garlic, bayleaves, ginger, cumin, cardamom or nutmeg, rosemary leaves, onion, a turnip goes well with pumpkin, half a lemon – anything that makes sense.I love adding a chilli, a tspn of cumin seeds and a handful of red lentils or tiny yellow dal.When the pumpkin is well cooked, blend with a hand blender, add pepper (it will take quite a bit) and some sea salt. Serve in a white bowl, drizzle with a good quality olive oil and sprinkle with coriander leaves. 20 minutes of not much work.

Hints and Tips for This Month

• Check this out – a post by Pinch my Salt that has increased the shelf life of my salad greens by 200%! She describes how to soak, wash and store greens to keep them really crisp and salad-ready for ages. Thank you so much, Pinch my Salt.

Favourites from This Month in previous years

Gradually as this site develops, these recipes will appear. They are favourites from my old old site (see About). If you are desperate for any of them now, let me know and I will make them available.

• Butter Bean and Broad Bean Pâte 1098
• Zahtar (a nut and spice mix – for salads or as a dip)(Jenny) 1003
• Sesame-Ginger Dipping Sauce 0903
• Roast Capsicum Sauce 1003
• Jenny’s Tofu Three Coloured Stuffed (after a conversation with a Catholic Indian woman from Singapore wearing a bhindi in the Central Market) (Jenny) 1003
• Asian Cucumber and Tofu Salad (a meal in a dish) 1003
• Vietnamese Spring Rolls 1096
• Steamed Asparagus with Tomato and PineNut Salsa 1001
• Balsamic Beets 1098
• Gratin Dauphinois (Potato Gratin with Cream) (France: A Culinary Journey) 1098
• Pommes de Terre Maxim (Potatoes Maxim) (The Heritage of French Cooking) 1098
• Indian Carrots with Cumin and Ginger 1098