Vegetable wonders

We still have plenty of beetroot and radishes.  I found a delicious new way to serve squid which has the added advantage of using some of the beetroot leaves along with spinach.  For four, saute a finely chopped red onion in a little olive oil then add 500g squid sliced into rings, with 1/4 cup white rice.  It may not seem like much rice but it is enough.  You don't want the rice to overwhelm.  The squid & spinach are the stars here.  Cook 3 minutes or so then add a tin of tomatoes and a handful of roughly chopped spinach & beetroot leaves with 2 tbsp chopped parsley.  Simmer 10 mins or until rice & squid are cooked.  Delicious.
Remember spicy bean stew?  This a herby version.  Saute a sliced leek in olive oil until soft then add 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook a minute or two.  Add a tin of tomatoes and a good handful of finely chopped herbs - parsley, thyme, chervil.  Cook about 10 minutes and if it looks dry add a splash of water.  At the end add some finely sliced spinach & beetroot leaves with a drained tin of canellini beans and cook until the greens are wilted and the beans are heated through.  Add a sprinkling of herbs to serve.
We went to friends for dinner, were served a wonderful meal and sent home with a bag of freshly picked runner beans.  I cooked these with herbs and served with steak and a corn and avocado salad.  For the beans, slice them thinly and cook in water about 10 mins & drain.  There were about 400g.   Heat a little olive oil & add a good handful of chopped mint, parsley, chervil & dill with 4 tsp capers, juice and zest of  a lemon, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 small shallots finely chopped.  Stir in the beans & serve.  Add any leftovers to a salad the next day. 
For the corn salad, combine kernels from 2 cooked corn cobs or about 2 1/2 cups frozen, 4-5 tomatoes cut into wedges, 2 diced avocados & handful of basil leaves.  Toss with a herb dressing made by mixing in a food processor 3 handfuls basil leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, zest of a lemon, 1 1/2 cups olive oil & a pinch of salt.  This will keep in a jar in the fridge for a week & is also great with fish & freshly dug potatoes.
The garden is certainly serving us well.  On Sunday I tried to finish up odds and ends.  We bought some fish from the market & served with the last of the potatoes & aforementioned oil, a corn cob mixed with the last of the peas and the lone leek sauteed with the lone courgette.  The courgettes got off to a slow start but are coming on now.  I think it may have been the lack of sun as there was a shortage of female flowers on the plants and apparently they appear as the weather warms up.
I have been reading about Isabel (Mrs) Beeton's carrot jam which was intended as a kind of substitute for apricot jam.  On further investigation, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of vegetable jams from our old friend Hugh F-W.  Not chutney, but vegetable jams.  I started with the carrot version, which resembles a spicy marmalade with lots of peel and is delicious.  I am keen to try the green tomato but we didn't put in any tomatoes this year.  I may be able to muster up the pumpkin jam as we have a splendid crop and if the courgettes improve look out for courgette and lemon jam.
With the pumpkin I have already made what looks like the winter's supply of pumpkin soup.  I will be looking for smart ideas for pumpkin shortly. 

The $21 challenge

We took the $21 challenge and actually spent $14.60 for the week.   We bought mushrooms, oranges, mandarins, beetroot, lettuce and a capsicum at the market and later in the week we bought milk.  For the rest, we used what we had at hand in the freezer, the pantry and the garden and we ate a lot better than you might expect. 
If you are going to try this - and you should - start with a meal plan and focus on using the things you've had tucked away for a while and haven't got around to using.  You might find some interesting things!  For Sunday lunch we ate some corn muffins from the freezer while for dinner we had mushrooms and chard with pearl barley.  This was another great find from the New York Times in the 'recipes for health' section, so it has to be good.  We bought the mushrooms from our allowance and everything else we had in the cupboard or garden.     
We certainly had most things on hand for lunches, including a lamb backstrap in the freezer. We have some lamb's lettuce in the garden & a few remnants of rocket plus sorrel & herbs so we were able to rustle up a salad every day.  When the lamb ran out we had falafels from the freezer. 
Day two was the last of the pea & ham soup from the freezer.  This was the soup we made with the end of the Christmas ham. Accompanied of course, by a slice of trusty sourdough, lightly toasted. Mmmm.
Day three was spicy bean stew from the freezer.  We had planned to make this fresh because it mostly uses beans & vegetables we already had in the fridge or pantry, but then I discovered we had some in the freezer from a previous week so used that instead.  This is a meal that always has left overs when we we make it for two and it freezes well.  This used to be a family standby and it's quick to make, so I often did it when we had to go to an event at school in the evening.  Phoebe said that this was the meal we always had when she was going to perform in a musical recital and so she associated it with butterflies in her stomach.  I hope she likes it better now.  You can make it go further by adding a chopped chorizo.  We always keep some in the freezer. The stew calls for a dollop of pesto  but we didn't have any so I used some zhoug left over from another meal at the weekend.  Note I make my zhoug from parsley because of that coriander thing. 
Day four we used one of the pumpkins from my autumn display and made a pumpkin risotto.  I roasted the  peeled, diced pumpkin at 180 for 1/2 an hour.  Just toss it in a little olive oil, salt & pepper & grate on some nutmeg.  I made a basic risotto using a leek from the garden.  At the end I folded through the roasted pumpkin, some Serrano ham (that I had bought for another meal the week before and not used) & some Parmesan.  There were a few roasted almond slivers in a small container so I sprinkled them on top.
Day five, we had a khoresht from the freezer.  I added some frozen peas and served on rice.  There was a small container of chopped pistachios & rose petals in the pantry so I sprinkled them on the top.
On Friday we usually have an omelette and we had saved the eggs left from the previous week for this.  We were really low on cheese but had just enough for the omelette & used up the last of the Serrano ham.  We also still had enough fresh veg and some buche zickli (that was for the same meal as the ham...) for a salad.
Saturday lunch we had some toast with the last few slices of cheese - sliced very thinly, and some lemon chutney. 
But I felt day seven's dinner was the master stroke.  We had had a shoulder of lamb earlier in the year when we had guests & the left overs weren't going to get used at the time, so I just shredded the meat & froze it.  Perfect for a delicious pie, perhaps?  I sauteed a leek & carrot from the garden with half an onion from the fridge & some garlic.  I added some rosemary & bay leaves & the last of the lentils I'd cooked for the lunches.  There was a jar of artichoke hearts in the pantry (naturally) so I added a couple of those, a dash of quince splash, some grated lemon rind & juice, the end of a bottle of white wine from the fridge & the lamb.  I put the mix into individual ramekins and covered with the last lonely sheet of puff pastry languishing in the freezer & brushed with milk.  I would normally have used an egg but that seemed like an extravagance.  I baked the pies at 180 for 1/2 an hour and they were truly delicious.
A friend had given is some windfall Granny Smith's for juicing and we used a couple of those to make an apple crumble which we served with the last of the feijoa ice cream from the freezer.
So, we ate really well on our budget and even had $6 left at the end of the week.  I definitely plan to do this again - possibly once a month.  It was a great idea to get things used up and we did have to think a bit more carefully about what we were eating - no coffees at work, except what's provided, for example.  The toughest thing was fruit.  Peter went without bananas because they are expensive and we didn't buy feijoas & passionfruit.  Using up freezer stock was great.  We just used what had been there the longest.  The other thing I will do next time is look more carefully in the pantry and use the things that I don't usually think of. Harriet did well too and like us found it easier than she expected.  Next time I am hoping more people will join us.

Old Family Favourites

On Sunday I used up the last of my Nice'n'Spicy Nasi Goreng spice mixes. You may recall the Denningvleis from July last year. I made the Nasi Goreng following the recipe on the pack. I used pork with carrots, celery, capsicum, the last of the broccoli from the garden and some beans. And I served it with my sister's peanut sauce recipe - a great favourite in our house.
Saute chopped onion, crushed garlic & chopped ginger until soft. (She doesn't say how much - I just used half an onion, 1 clove garlic & a knob of ginger). Add 1/2 tsp chilli powder & 2 tsp curry powder & cook one minute.
Add 1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar/ 1 tsp salt
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/3 c fruit chutney (we always use Tamarillo)
2/3 cup water (add more if too thick)
Bring to the boil & simmer until it thickens.
This sauce is lovely with spicy chicken on skewers and other Indonesian style dishes. Also very popular with children if you don't make it too spicy.
Apparently Phoebe's friends are very impressed with soup Monday as she reports on Tuesday the previous evening's delights. Monday is now her favourite day of the week because it includes both maths & soup - apparently a winning combination. Have any of you taken up the soup Monday concept, or even soup Tuesday? I recommend it. We've explored some great soups.
This week we went back to an old favourite, Pasta & Bean soup. I needed to use up some orzo I had bought a while back for something in particular & couldn't for the life of me recall what it was. I wanted to see the back of it & this soup seemed the ideal vehicle.
Heat a little olive oil in a large pot & soften a finely sliced onion & a finely chopped clove of garlic. Stir in a sprinkling of chilli flakes to taste with 2 bay leaves & 1/4 tsp dried thyme. Dried herbs are often good in a soup. Cook for a minute.
Add a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of kidney beans & one of mixed beans with 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock and bring to boil. Add 1 cup pasta. I usually use macaroni, but in this instance I used a mix of macaroni & orzo. You could use spirals or any short pasta you have in the cupboard. Boil gently until the pasta is cooked then season.
Serve topped with chopped parsley or try pesto & some grated or shaved Parmesan. This is something you can whip up in 20 minutes just from your store cupboard. Always a favourite with all our children.

A Bit of Everything

On a busy week night make a quick and simple spicy bean stew. Soften red onion, carrot, capsicum, garlic with some chilli flakes in a large frying pan. Stir in 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cinnamon & 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg and cook for a minute or so before adding a squeeze of tomato paste, a tin of chickpeas and a tin of kidney beans, drained, 1/2 cup vegetable stock and a tin of crushed tomatoes -I sometimes use a cup or so of homemade tomato sauce (see below). Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or so then add a cup of frozen sweet corn & cook a further 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley to serve. Serve on its own or with couscous.

I bring a cup of water or chicken stock to the boil, add a cup of couscous (try Tipiak) and some roasted garlic, tightly cover and leave for 10 minutes or so. Then fluff up the couscous with a fork, stir in good olive oil, toasted pinenuts and some finely chopped parsley. Sometimes I use Casbah roasted garlic & olive oil but I still add extra oil & pinenuts at the end. I just like pinenuts.

Leftovers of the beans will freeze well and you could serve as a side dish with a plate of old fashioned beef sausages and mash, or add some chopped chorizo.

Follow with rice pudding. I've always used Edmonds and we like the skin on, in our family, but last week I tried something different. Put 1 1/2 tbsp washed short-grain rice, grated zest of 1 lemon, 45g butter, cut into small pieces, 45g sugar, 500ml milk, 400ml cream, 1/2 tsp cinnamon in your ovenproof dish. Bake at 120C for 2-3 hours, stirring every hour or so. Then stir well, add juice of a lemon & serve with dried fruit compote. Put 100g each of 4 kinds if dried fruit - I used apricots, figs, prunes & sultanas - in a saucepan just covered with cold water. Bring slowly to the boil, cover & stand.

Last night we had a pork fillet with a roasted vegetable salad. For 300g pork, combine 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 clove of crushed garlic, 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary, zest of half a lemon in a bowl & season with salt & pepper. Rub over the pork & set aside.

Combine 2 parsnips & 2 carrots peeled & sliced on the diagonal, 1 red onion peeled & quartered, 4 cloves of garlic, (skin on, tops cut off), in a roasting dish, toss in a little olive oil & season. Roast at 200C about 40 mins.

Make a dressing for the veg of 1 tbsp lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil, crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard and some finely snipped chives. Brown the pork on all sides in a hot pan then roast for 12 minutes. Just pop a small roasting dish along side the vegetables. When done cover loosely with foil & rest for 10 minutes. When the vegetables are done add some chopped spinach leaves to the pan and let wilt down for a few minutes then toss with dressing and add the sliced pork.

I served with Puy lentils which are pretty much my standard accompaniment to pork. Soften a shallot , a clove of garlic, half a celery stick , half a carrot & a rasher of streaky bacon, all finely chopped. Once softened a cup of Puy lentils and stir until slick with oil, then add a bay leaf, a tsp grainy mustard and a cup of red wine. Cook down, then add 2 cups water, bring to the boil and simmer about 20 minutes. Add more water if necessary. I do this with most pork dishes, roast chicken and it is delicious with a garden salad, especially with left over cold pork or chicken sliced in & feta cheese. A few years ago Harriet had a friend whose household did not run to garlic or soy sauce. Puy lentils were new to him and his friendship was obviously the year of the Puy lentil. He asked if we ate them at every meal because his visits always coincided with a meal that included them. I probably do them around once a month and I always make enough to have cold with a salad for lunch. In summer I cook them up after work to take for lunch the next day.

This afternoon I made a batch of fresh tomato sauce to freeze. I use a 2550g tin which makes the equivalent of about 6 bought jars and costs less than half. Start by softening 3 finely chopped onions and 9 cloves or garlic with about 200g finely chopped streaky bacon. Add 3 finely chopped carrots, 300ml red or white wine and the tin of chopped tomatoes. Bring rapidly to the boil and after about 10 minutes add some dried oregano & season with salt & pepper. I add sugar as well because it brings out the tomato flavour. Simmer a further half hour & leave to cool. I blend it a little either in the blender or with the stick thing and freeze in about 1 cup portions. I often use this when a recipe calls for a tin of tomatoes. It will keep around a week in the fridge. The giant tins of tomatoes are really good value. I also use them to make homemade tomato ketchup.

This week we brought the olives out for inspection. When we opened the jar we were greeted with a rather unattractive furry covering which told us they were ready. Phoebe was somewhat alarmed but apparently this is what helps to preserve them. You rinse them well before the final bottling. Put them in sterilised jars & cover with a brine - ratio 1 L water to 75g salt, add 2 tbsp red wine vinegar the gently pour a layer of olive oil on the top. Seal & refrigerate once opened. We opened & served to Harriet who is an olive connoisseur. She gave them the thumbs up.

And lastly you must get some Clevedon Valley buffalo yoghurt. This is delicious. It has a wonderful sharpness. I am using the mozzarella this evening with a pumpkin cannelloni so will let you know how I get on.