Green Gourmet Giraffe

The Last Drop - cosy pub grub

2009-12-10T09:34:00.015+11:00

We are packing to leave Edinburgh so I am feeling quite nostalgic about the place. Hence I will indulge in a quick pictorial post on my Edinburgh. I love to sit in cosy British pubs while wind and rain pound outside. My favourite pub is the Last Drop in the Grassmarket. I managed to visit twice during my visit and had a lovely meal both times.

My second visit was on the weekend with Sylvia and my friends Yarrow and Mindy. Our day spanned both the New Town and the Old Town starting at the National Scottish Gallery between the two. I love the rich red walls, elegant arches and antique seats which situate the paintings in their era. We had a quick look there and at the nearby German Christmas Markets. Then we took a quick trip into the New Town to Hendersons vegetarian foods shop. If we had been in Edinburgh longer, I would have been tempted by many foods.

We soon returned into the Old Town going up the Mound, past the best view of the Castle across Princes Gardens but it was too wet to really appreciate it from under the brolly. We stopped in at a little gift shop cum gallery and found a book about a dragon called Sylvia that was a compulsory purchase.

Then to the top of Victoria Street where E and I had been married in a gorgeous heritage room of the registry office many years ago. The registry office is now a nightclub selling cheap vodka. How the mighty have fallen!

At least Ian Mellors fancy cheese shop hasn't changed. But it was not easy to get into with a stroller.

I love the curves of Victoria Street, though it was no fun walking along this steep street to work when the footpaths were icy.

Another sign of the changes in the area was the fancy coffee shop next to our old front door. Even the colour of the front door had changed from blue to red.

But Helios Fountain is still full of fun gifts for young and old. E and I had a browse for old times sake when we were in the Grassmarket a few days earlier.

We had been to the Last Drop because it is a pub I remember fondly as a place I loved going for a meal or just taking friends for a drink. It was a short walk from our flat and so cosy inside.

It has something for everyone. Mulled wine for me and haggis for E. I had a smaller plate of vegeraian haggis with some creamy tomato soup. E loved the whisky sauce on his haggis, neeps and tatties.

A few days later I found myself there with Yarrow and Mindy. We were all set to try another pub. The menu on the Beehive in the Grassmarket looked interesting. Mindy wanted chips and beer. The Beehive had vegetarian fish and chips which she was up for trying. Yarrow checked we could bring Sylvia in with her stroller. They didn't have a license for children. So we returned to the Last Drop where I knew children were welcome. The barmaid even remembered us and admired Sylvia's paw mittens.

Yarrow and Mindy were not that hungry and we decided to all share a large plate of nachos. I agree on the condition that we had the version with vegetarian haggis. Mindy was horrified at the fusion of cuisines but I was delighted. In fact I am considering having them at New Year's Eve. My photo does not do it justice but the pile of corn chips, salsa, guacamole, jalapenos, sour cream, grated cheese and vegetarian haggis was wonderful.

After our meal we went to the intersection where the Grassmarket becomes the Cowgate and turns up into Candlemaker Row. I love the evocative street names. E called the Cowgate 'the street of shame'. I am not sure why. Possibly because it was a street of too many nightclubs. If you walk to this intersection you will see one of my favourite castle views, looming over the humble dwellings of the Grassmarket.

We walked up Candlemaker Row to the little statue of Greyfriars Bobby. The statue of the little dog who was remembered for his fierce loyalty to his master is very moving.

We wandered into Greyfriars Kirkyard to stroll among the graves. The church was unfortunately closed and I didn't get to have a neb inside. But the graves are amazing both because they give insight into an age many decades ago and they have the beauty of weathered stone. We discussed how you might feel if you had graves against the back of your house. Then we headed off to explore the Museum of Scotland and finish the afternoon at the Elephant House.

I had better finish packing. I'd much rather be blogging but the computer must be packed in suitcases with everything else. Sunny Melbourne, Zinckie cat and home await us.

The Last Drop
74-78 Grassmarket
Edinburgh, EH1 2JR
Tel: 0131 225 4851
Web: http://www.classicpubs.co.uk/thelastdropgrassmarketedinburgh/

David Bann - vegetarian excellence!

2009-12-09T22:00:00.013+11:00

When we arrived in Edinburgh we walked through Hunter Square off the Royal Mile and were surprised to see Banns no longer there. Fortunately Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes recommended I visit Banns and directed me to where it now resides in St Mary’s Street. Then my friends Yarrow and Mindy arrived in Edinburgh for the weekend and suggested I come to dinner with them at Banns. It was an excellent choice.

How exciting to be out for dinner in the evening! Most of our evenings are spent either visiting E’s folks or at home with Sylvia. I confess to some soapy evenings with East Enders and Coronation Street or a bit of blogging. We are trying to get Sylvia to bed in the evening (although she has recently decided she doesn’t want to be in bed till late). So, we decided E would stay in the apartment with her and I would go out with Yarrow and Mindy.

Now I think I might have been to Banns in Hunter Square before or looked at the menu and not been impressed. It was a bright little café in a prime tourist area. Hence, I was unprepared for the reincarnation, which is called David Bann, being a more upmarket, stylish restaurant. It is painted in dark greys and reds and lit with little fairy lights and candles. A sphere of broken up light is projected onto one wall. Although vegetarian, there are no hippie undertones. There are no pretty Christmas lights such as the ones I passed on the walk down Royal Mile. This is the haunt of serious diners.

Mindy quite rightly commented that the food was some of the best presented vegetarian food she had come across. I am sorry that in the dim light my photos don't do it justice. The menu was a tyranny of choice (with no vegetarian lasagne or haggis in sight). It is always a treat to go to a vegetarian restaurant and not be confined to the grudging vegetarian choice on the menu. It also means that sharing is an easy option. We decided to begin with two starters between the three of us.

I loved the fried smoked tofu which had been marinated and served with a plum sauce. Yaz thought the lettuce rose garnish worthy of photographing. Its simplicity was a great way to start. I was less keen on the Thai fritters made of smoked tofu, which were just that bit too spicy for my liking, though I did enjoy the banana chutney and plum sauce accompanying them.

We ordered different mains and were able to try each others'. Mindy ordered the Roast Aubergine Chickpea Cake with Mash and Gravy and Yarrow ordered the Tart of Jerusalem Artichoke and Celeriac. Both tasted lovely but quite hearty and rich. My favourite, fortunately, was my choice of the Beetroot, Spinach and Dunsyre Blue Timbale.

Now timbales make me think of earnest 1970s vegetarian cookbooks with faded pictures of virtuously healthy food on chunky stoneware dinner plates. Once I overcame this prejudice I was delighted to discover how delicious they can be. Surprisingly at home in sophisticated modern vegetarian cookery. But I think my meal was one where the sum is greater than the parts. Just my kind of thing - lots of complimentary colours and flavours.

The timbale in question was a souffle (cooked in a timbale mould) of beetroot and blue cheese with a topping of spinach and nutmeg. It was served on a wedge of polenta and accompanied with buttered cabbage, roasted swede. My only quibble was that I would have liked the swede roasted a little more. But it was superb. I had a glass of velvety Argentinian Merlot to drink with it (Michel Torino, Cafayate Valley, 2008).

Mindy and Yarrow were too full for dessert but I eat out infrequently enough in the evening that I could justify the indulgence. I passed up the hot pear and passion fruit tart in favour of the dark chocolate souffle. I think my dining companions were pleased just to look at the gorgeous presentation. It tasted as good as it looked. The souffle was rich with a fluffy texture. The vanilla ice cream with white chocolate sauce lightened the intense flavours.

So I will highly recommend David Bann to anyone - vegetarian or not - living in or passing through Edinburgh. It is one of the best meals I have had during our visit here. We are heading home tomorrow so I might squeeze in another entry before packing the laptop but I must attend to so packing now.

David Bann
56-58 St Mary's Street,
Edinburgh, EH1 1SX
(Off the Royal Mile and the Cowgate)
Tel: 0131 556 5888
Email: info@davidbann.co.uk
Web: http://www.davidbann.com/

Leftovers pasta bake

2009-12-08T09:08:00.007+11:00

It doesn't take long to build up scraps and pieces in the kitchen that need using. We have tried not to let the kitchen get too full of food that we wont have time to use while we are staying in the Edinburgh apartment. Last week I made a pasta bake out of leftovers and quirky purchases.

It was fairly easy though I could only find a big salad bowl to mix it in. It was more rich and creamy than necessary but very tasty. I would probably not make it exactly like this again but if I did I would possibly use other vegetables than green beans - maybe mushrooms and broccoli.

There is not much more to tell you about the pasta bake. I could tell you lots about our holiday if only Sylvia would sleep. We are continuing to have a wonderful time. I am eating well, hardly cooking and enjoying seeing Sylvia playing with her cousins and grandparents. We have caught up with a few friends but not as many as we would like. But I thought I would show you some of the cards from the christening and otherwise to show how generous so many have been with us.

We have also received many presents but I wanted to point out one today. Sylvia's new green giraffe which was not only sent by Lysy of Munchkin Mail but also knitted by her. I am in awe at her 3D knitting skills. Isn't it gorgeous? A big thanks goes out to Lysy. The giraffe is being named Munchkin in her honour!

I must go as there are lots of things to do and Sylvia still is not sleeping. We only have a few days to go in Edinburgh but I still have lots of places to write up so stay tuned!

Leftovers pasta bake
Serves 4

250g dried spaghetti
1 cauliflower, trimmed and chopped
200g dwarf beans, trimmed and chopped
125g double cream
250g bottled tomato pasta sauce
140g pouch of vegetable and lentil baby food
400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
150g grated cheddar cheese
1 piece of bread grated into crumbs

Bring salted water to the boil and place spaghetti and cauliflower in it. Simmer for about 5 minutes and then add dwarf beans. Keep simmering for about 5 minutes or till spaghetti is cooked.

Meanwhile place cream, pasta sauce, baby food, black beans and 100g of cheese in a large bowl and mix. When spaghetti and vegetables are cooked, drain and mix with the sauce in the bowl.

Either set aside remaining cheese and breadcrumbs or stir into pasta mixture. Scrap pasta mixture into a large baking tray (I used a round 23cm baking dish with half the mixture over two nights). Bake for about 25 minutes at 180 C if you have a powerful oven like the one we are using at present.

On the Stereo:
Fourteen Autums and Fifteen Winters: Twilight Sad

North Berwick - Tiffany's Tea Room

2009-12-07T09:44:00.016+11:00

On Tuesday, we put Sylvia into her cosy teddy bear suit again and took the train to chilly North Berwick. Not to be confused with Berwick-upon-Tweed on the border of Scotland and England, North Berwick is a formerly fashionable seaside town east of Edinburgh, which nowadays is prime commuter belt real estate. E visited North Berwick each summer as a child and has fond memories of these day.

I have been there quite a few times since I met E but rather than playing on rocks and staying in guesthouses, my memories focus on gift shops and marvelling at how different the British seaside looks to our Australian seaside towns.

I am also fond of a town that has a Melbourne Place and a Melbourne Road. (NB Edinburgh used to have a Melbourne Place on the corner of the High Street and George IV Bridge but the ugly old 197os building has been replaced with a new hotel and the name seems to have gone.)

When we arrived we wandered through the town admiring the buildings and browsing in giftshops on the High Street. Unfortunately our first stop at the Westgate Gallery was too early for lunch but my parents-in-law tell us it is a lovely place for a bite.

Soon after we were looking for a place to eat and stopped at Tiffany's Tea Room. We were initially attracted by the candles and old sewing machines in the window but inside were impressed by the warm red colour on the walls and the light and space created by the mirrors. A large festive wreath hung in the middle of the ceiling among the chandeliers.

The soup of the day was tomato and basil. I asked if there were cheese scones to have with it. No cheese scones today, only plain or cherry or raisin, I was told. I asked for a plain scone with cheese and the owner looked at me in bemusement but brought out a large warm scone with a little container of grated cheese. The soup was lovely - simple and tasty. It came with a little jug of cream on the side. E had a tuna toastie with salad.

We both ordered a pot of tea. I loved the list of speciality teas with names such a cuddly tummy and apple strudel. I had peppermint and was pleased it was loose tea rather than a tea bag. The tea was poured into elegant floral bone china cups with saucers. We shared a millionaire's shortbread to have for afters. It was a large slab that tasted rather good. E told me it was the nicest he had had for ages and he didn't like Australian millionaire's shortbread any more.

Satisfied with our lunch, we found the baby change room at the very nice public toilets (that even have an attendant there) in Quality Street. The name says it all really! You can view North Berwick Law from this street. This is a hill with whale bones on top of it. I am not sure why but I think it has to do with local maritime history.

Then we strolled down to the Scottish Seabird Centre. You only have to take a look at a door knocker shaped like an anchor or notice wee Puffin Cottage - it is the small one in the photo - and you feel the presence of the sea without even viewing it.

I am not sure I have ever been inside the seabird centre but it has nice tea rooms (again according to my in-laws), a good gift shop and fine sculptures outside such as this one. The harbour is also worth a look. The thought of swimming in the old pool, which is now a carpark, gives me the shivers on a cold day. E found it so cold on Tuesday that his fingers were icy beneath his gloves. My hands were ok without gloves but maybe it was all the snapping away on my camera that kept my fingers warm.

From there, we walked around the beach to E's rocks. They are the ones he loved playing on as a boy. You have a great view of Bass Rock from them, as you can see in the top photo. It is impossible to be in North Berwick and not see Bass Rock. It is so iconic that even if you do not see it from the shore, you will probably see it on a souvenir somewhere in the town. In fact, it is on every postcard that E's family send him when they holiday in North Berwick each summer.

Tiffany's Tea Room
21 High Street
North Berwick

Edinburgh Castle: Queen Anne Cafe

2009-12-06T07:56:00.017+11:00

On 30 November we queued to enter Edinburgh Castle and were delighted to find entry was free because it was St Andrew's Day. When I first visited the Castle I had a fairy tale notion of a castle as one building and was quite surprised to find it is actually a complex of buildings more akin to a small village. A few visits later, I enjoy wandering about the buildings and exploring the many layers of history.

This is the best place for views of Edinburgh. The Castle is visible from many points in Edinburgh and building regulations have done well in keeping it as one of the tallest buildings in the city centre. Even the flat we lived in before we left Edinburgh had a wonderful view of the Castle. I always loved seeing the sheer cliffs upon which it was built.

We were lucky to be there on a clear day and could see far out to the Kingdom of Fife across the Firth of Forth. Here is the view of Calton Hill and Waverley Train Station.

The castle is heavily armed with cannons that would have fired upon any invading enemies.

The oldest building in the complex is St Margaret's Chapel. This tiny building dates back to the twelfth century. It has beautiful stained glass windows and very little room for weddings, which as you can imagine are very popular.

I love all the little details around the castle. E laughed at the sign for the New Barracks which were built in 1796-1799. He commented on how ideas of old and new are different in Scotland to those in Australia. Here is a close up of the detail on ye olde drainpipes. I wish we had drainpipes like this in Australia!

We visited the war memorial where Sylvia's happy laugh rang out loudly. Coming out into the Crown Square we decided it was time for lunch and ignored the Crown Jewels in favour of the Queen Anne Cafe.

We were seated in an area that was once a narrow outdoor path between buildings. It is now a warm enclosed area. A large skylight ceiling makes it feel light and airy despite the grey old stone walls. A Christmas tree in the walkway adds some festive colour to the area.

We had a variety of menus to choose from - the carvery, the Christmas or the cafe. We still hadn't had any haggis so we both chose to have the carvery menu so we could have haggis, neeps and tatties. (That is one of Sylvia's mittens, which she wore while walking around the castle because it was so cold. Putting the mittens on her took enough energy to warm anyone!)

My vegetarian haggis was so peppery that it was hard to taste it properly but I enjoyed it with the sweet neeps (turnips to a Scot and swede or rutabaga to others) and creamy tatties (or potato). The potato had sat a bit long in the bain marie but was still nice as part of the meal.

I took a photo of E's meat haggis to show how similar the carnivore and vegetarian versions are. I did see the beans in mine so it was possible to tell them apart.

For dessert E had the cranachan brulee with winter fruit. He thought it superb. I had a taste and it was indeed very creamy and nicely flavoured.

I was tempted by the clementine and gingerbread trifle but instead chose the baked apple and scotch fudge pie. It was a cold apple pie topped with a toffee flavoured cream. It was a bit cold for my liking but I enjoyed the creamy topping even if it wasn't quite as dense as I had expected of fudge in a pie.

You will see Sylvia's paws again in the photo. These mittens went very well with her cosy teddy bear suit that she wore around the castle. Her Scottish Gran had bought her a couple of warm suits because Scotland is indeed colder than a Melbourne winter, especially on the castle ramparts. We walked out of the cafe back into the cold air, pleased to have had haggis at the Castle on St Andrew's Day.

Queen Anne Cafe
Crown Square
Edinburgh Castle
Castlehill
Edinburgh
Website: http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/index/plan/essentials/cafes.htm

Edinburgh Winter Wonderland

2009-12-05T09:46:00.013+11:00

When we decided to visit Edinburgh in late November, I was excited at the opportunity to visit the German markets, which are part of the Edinburgh Christmas. When we lived here, I loved to go along to the brightly lit cluster of stalls and have a mug of mulled wine and a slice of stollen.

After Sylvia’s christening, we went along with Chris, Fergal and Dash, who were visiting from Ireland. We caught the bus to the Princes Gardens and Chris tried to stop Dash from grabbing at Sylvia (a natural reaction of an older cousin to the younger one – it is what Sylvia tries to do when playing with wee Florence, her younger cousin in Scotland).
It is eight years since we had last visited the markets and we were surprised at how they have grown. Last weekend was the first after the markets opened this year and they were heaving with crowds. I was surprised at all the fast food stalls that have sprung up at Christmas in this part of the Princes Gardens. The Big Wheel is still there as is the ice rink. I love the ferris wheel which gives wonderful views of Edinburgh, especially the nearby Walter Scott Memorial but I still shiver in horror at my memory of my one and only attempt at ice skating.

We found ourselves a spot to rest our drink and E went off with Fergal to order some mulled wine or gluhwein. The warm spicy drink is wonderful in cold weather (and there is a non-alcoholic version but I haven't tried it yet). Once you have finished your drink you can return your mug and get your deposit refunded or you can choose to take it home as a souvenir.

But there was no sign of the slice of stollen that had always accompanied the mulled wine. There were donuts and strudel, chips and gingerbread but no stolen. Finally I stopped at one of the stalls selling loaves of stollen and asked them to slice one up for me. I was determined to get my stollen and it was worth the effort. I love the marzipan centre in the yeasted fruit bread. It goes so well with mulled wine and seems so festive.

Once we had finished our wine, we browsed the market stalls, which have lots of interesting Christmas decorations. We particularly liked the little houses, which are so festive, especially when a candle is lit inside them. Nutcrackers, Christmas tree decorations and toys are also found alongside the German baked goods.

After browsing the stalls, we needed a cup of tea to warm us up. Chris and Fergal found the Scottish weather very cold and the babies needed feeding. We decided to stop at the nearby Scottish National Gallery café and restaurants. It seemed many others also had the idea to stop at the café which has one of the best views of the Christmas Winter Wonderland. We had to wait in queue for a seat. (Enough time for Fergal to run up the mound to take a look at the Witchery.) However the maitre d’ was most obliging, which made it more bearable.

E chose fish and chips which came with mushy peas but were done very nicely. Chris had one of the cheese plates. I can’t remember which one but she was most pleased with it so I am showing you this blurry picture above. I tasted a few samples and can vouch for the fine cheeses.

I chose the soup of the day and a cheese scone. They told me it was cauliflower and, although it was delicious, it tasted like lentil more than cauliflower but I never got a chance to check with the staff. I was glad to have my soft scone as the bread with the soup wasn't too flash. It was a simple but warming meal.

Chris and Fergal sat in seats overlooking the large windows and were most impressed with the view of the Christmas lights, glowing more brightly as the afternoon darkened. All too soon they had to go for their bus to the airport but it was a lovely afternoon with them and we look forward to seeing them in the warmer days of the Australian summer soon. Meanwhile, we headed home with some stollen, lebkuchen and a little house.

The Scottish Café and Restaurant
National Gallery of Scotland
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Telephone: 0131 226 6524
Web: http://www.thescottishcafeandrestaurant.com/

Christening Cake

2009-12-03T09:52:00.014+11:00

We held Sylvia’s christening in Edinburgh on the weekend. I do not advise planning a christening over the other side of the world. It is a stressful business and you need a very helpful sister-in-law to pull it off. But if you do attempt such an event, I highly recommend making Nigella Lawson’s Nutella Cake for the occasion.

We decided a long time ago that it would be nice to hold Sylvia’s christening in Edinburgh to include her Scottish relatives and family friends in a significant event in her life. Not having been in Scotlnd for a few years, it was also a good opportunity to catch up with everyone. Fortunately a family friend, Fr Robin, helped us arrange the christening and E’s sister HH helped organize refreshments afterwards.

So on Saturday, we dressed Sylvia in her tartan dress, stripey purple tights and white crocheted cardigan and took her to the church. It was quite an overwhelming occasion to see so many faces we had not seen for years but so lovely that many could come to meet Sylvia and be part of her special day.

I was pleased to have some family present because my sister Chris came from Dublin with her partner, Fergal and little boy, Dash. It was fun to see the two babies meeting for the first time. Dash has a cheeky grin and made many attempts to grab at his little cousin, Sylvia. She also made a grab or two for him but his hair isn’t as long as mine so it doesn’t make for such enjoyable tugging!

The church is a beautiful nineteenth century building near where we are staying. It has recently been renovated and has warm red walls and colourful stained glass windows. The service, conducted by Fr Robin, was lovely and welcoming. I loved how he encouraged us to eat together as a family and live a life of justice and peace. E's childhood friend, Douglas, played guitar and his nephew Barney filled the font with water. Sylvia was well behaved with only a small cry when the water trickled over her hair.

Afterwards we went to the Braidburn Inn for refreshments. The sausage rolls and sandwiches were said to be very good. I enjoyed a bit of quiche but was too busy to eat much. The food was very good and the staff were just great. Nothing was a problem for them.

I took along a chocolate cake because it seemed the easiest way to ensure we had the sort of cake I wanted there. Chris and I cut it into slices and passed it around with a little jug of cream. By the end of the cake, the slices were very thin but I was impressed that we were able to serve it up to about 30 adults plus kids. It was well received with E’s nephew Barney declaring it to be the best chocolate cake. Now there is a kid with good taste.

It is a sign of how well-stocked our apartment is that I was able to bake this cake with ease. I liked the recipe because even though I could not find ground hazelnuts, the ingredients were easy to find and buy without having lots leftover. The fan forced oven was a joy to bake in and I enjoyed using old fashioned egg beaters to beat the egg whites.

For the decoration, I made grubs because they are a sentimental favourite with my family and I bought berries. The berries are not local – having been flown in from South Africa, Mexico and Spain – but the extravagance seemed justified for a special event. (Although HH told me that berries on the cake spoilt the calorific feast.) Such a simple and delicious way to make a cake look amazing, helped along by a cheap plate from the supermarket.

I was really pleased with the final cake and just a little sad not to have any leftovers to take home.

Nigella’s Nutella Cake
From Nigella’s Website or How to be a Domestic Goddess

100g dark chocolate, melted
125g soft unsalted butter
400g Nutella (1 large jar)
100g ground hazelnuts (I used ground almonds)
1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water (I used baby puree)
6 large eggs, separated
pinch of salt

To decorate:

125ml double cream
100g dark chocolate
Berries (I used raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
Grubs or other truffles (mine were the size of a cherry)

Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease and line a 23cm round springform cake tin.

Melt chocolate in the microwave and set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl beat together butter and nutella till creamy. Add frangelico (or liquid of your choice), egg yolks and hazelnuts. Then mix in the melted chocolate.

Beat the egg whites and salt in a large bowl (I used a medium one and it was ok but a large bowl would be better as the egg whites expand with beating) until soft peaks appear. Stir a spoonful of egg white into the chocolate mixture, being as rough as you like. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites, a third at a time.

Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes. It is ready when the cake is coming away from the sides but this cake is better a little underbaked and fudgy in the centre than too dry. Cool cake in tin.

To decorate: Nigella suggests leaving the base of the springform tin on the bottom when decorating but I was able to remove mine. When cool, I made chocolate ganache by melting the chocolate with the cream and cooling a little. Then I spread it over the cake and down the sides. I arranged grubs around the bottom and the top of the cake. When ready to serve the next day, we arranged berries on top with a dusting of icing sugar.

On the Stereo:
Forever: Dame Shirley Bassey (free with the Daily Mail)

Spicy Cabbage and Coconut Soup

2009-12-02T10:31:00.011+11:00

There is not a lot of cooking going on here right now. You will notice most posts focus on lunches, which we are mostly eating out. Evenings we often visit E’s folks and then get home and crack open a packet from Sainsburys supermarket. They do some wonderful vegetarian food. Spinach, Feta and Cherry Tomato Pie, Smoky Sweet Potato Soup, and Spinach Pakoras have all found their way into our trolley. But after too much eating other people’s food, I crave healthy home-cooked food. Last week I managed to find time make a smashing Spicy Cabbage and Coconut Soup.

Root vegetables and cabbages were on special. I remembered Wendy’s Lemongrass and Cabbage Soup, which I have wanted to try for ages, and decided I could make my own makeshift version. Rather than using lemongrass, chilli, garlic, coriander and lime, I bought a stirfry sauce. I also had a bit of fun choosing some flavoured noodles that we wouldn’t normally find in a Melbourne supermarket.

I have mentioned that my in-laws stocked up the pantry in our apartment. I was surprised to hear they had to buy me peanut butter. My surprise is not that peanut butter is seen as essential for me but that it is not essential for everyone. I added a few spoonfuls to the soup to add some flavour and protein.

I loved the soup but E was not keen. It was spicy enough but too watery for him. I suspect there was also a bit much cabbage. Cabbage soup does not sound the most appetizing of meals but it was rather tasty with Asian-style spices and quite hearty with the addition of root vegetables and noodles. I was quite glad he didn’t like it much, so I could eat more of it.

I always love wandering the aisles of a supermarket in a foreign country. One thing that amused and amazed me about the cabbage was that the grower’s name is on the label. I kept teasing E that I would tell David Grant that he was rude about his cabbage. It does make it quite personal, doesn’t it!

The soup seemed a good way of pepping up British vegetables. I have also horrified E by buying a “Brussels sprouts tree” from Sainsburys (grown by David Carr). It is the perfect way to have some greens on hand.

Greens and Scots don’t go together! (Apologies to Mr Carr!) On the other hand they love porridge. Sylvia who is half Scottish loves the baby porridge made of quinoa, millet, oats and spelt grains with banana and plum flavouring. Sounds quite fancy for a baby, doesn’t it! On the morning that I made the soup, we went to see E’s nephew Barney in his school assembly. There was gaelic singing, dancing and presentations on crofting families. When it was mentioned that they ate porridge, the little boy behind us shouted loudly, “I love porridge”.

The Brits also do such lovely Christmas food. The weather here is so much more appropriate than in sunny Melbourne. We watched Delia’s Classic Christmas on BBC2 tonight. Despite her love of meat, I enjoyed the program with footage of a cat running around her country home in between seeing her freezer stuffed with food and Delia relaxing with a festive drink. I fancy trying the Cheese and Parsnip Roulade with Sage and Onion Stuffing (to be served with cranberry sauce) and the Chocolate and Sour Cherry Crumble.

Lastly, I thought I would apologise that I am not able to visit other blogs at the moment. Although we have wireless broadband here, I know if I start looking at all the posts appearing on my blog reader I will get distracted and wish I could do cooking that is just not practical here. Besides, we have little enough time here. So during my holiday in Edinburgh, I have decided to just spend my blogging time trying to keep up with posting about the trip. When I get home I will catch up with all your posts. Meanwhile, here is what I did with my soup away from home.

Spicy Cabbage and Coconut Soup
Serves 4

1 onion, chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 tsp salt
1 x 250ml jar of Wagamama coconut, ginger and lemongrass sauce (or similar)
bring to boil and cook for 15 min or so
2 cabbages, sliced
¼ cup crunchy peanut butter
250g creamed coconut
about 250g cooked noodles (I used garlic and coriander ones but vermicelli or rice stick noodles would work well)

Place onion, parsnip, turnip, carrots and salt in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Leave while visiting in-laws and shopping at Cameron Toll. Pour in lemongrass sauce, bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes while preparing cabbage. Add chopped cabbage to saucepan. Discover saucepan is so full that I wish I had my big stockpot at home but let it stew with the lid, prodding and poking occasionally, until it is wilted enough to stir soup. Add creamed coconut and peanut butter. Bring to boil and simmer for about 20-30 minutes while feeding baby and watching television. Divide noodles among four soup bowls. Pour soup over noodles and serve hot.

On the Stereo:
The Music of Ennio Morricone (free with the Sunday Times)

Edinburgh: the grim, the cosy and the grumpy

2009-12-01T09:57:00.011+11:00

On Thursday we decided to have a stroll along Royal Mile, starting with some lunch. We took the stroller into a cafe we have been to before, looking forward to some haggis, only to be told it is actually a bar with no license for children. I was upset to be barred from pubs because these are some of my favourite places to eat in Edinburgh. We walked the streets in search of a child-friendly place but it was all pubs. (I have since asked in other pubs which seem ok to have children in them for meals.)

In desperation we finally stopped for lunch at the Rabbie Burns Cafe. E decided it was the grimmest cafe in Scotland. Nae music and nae atmosphere despite copious amounts of tinsel hanging from the ceiling.

I didn't mind the lack of ambience as much as the lack of vegetarian options. In most British eating establishments I am spoilt for choice. Here I was reduced to a baked potato with cheese and beans. E had his haggis, which was presented in a most unusual way with oatcakes.

We were close to John Knox's House and decided to have a neb. When E told the man behind the counter that we were now living in Melbourne, he said he missed Edinburgh. Ironically it wasn't until he had left that he really appreciated his home town. Meanwhile, I was cursing cruel fate. If we had just walked a little further I could have eaten at the adjoining cafe. It not only had a cosy warm ambience with interesting wooden tables and chairs, but it also had a delicious-sounding gratin of butternut squash, leek and sweetcorn in white wine with a hazelnut and herb topping .

We left our stroller in the ground floor and carried Sylvia up the spiral stone steps to John Knox's house. There were displays about Protestant reformer, John Knox, and James Mosman, goldsmith to Mary Queen of Scots. I didn't have much energy for reading a lot of the storyboards and so left without altering my image of John Knox as a grumpy old man who argued with Mary and was against all fun.

I did, however, enjoy the top room, which gave a sense of how the house might have been in Knox's lifetime. Not only was there a quill and ink bottle that he might have written with but also an invitation to dress up in replicas of the cap and gown he might have worn. No doubt Knox would not have approved of the fun we had with them.

Also of interest was the painted ceiling. It reflected decadent times in Edinburgh and apparently was boarded up as the population became more prudish. I did wonder if it gave an insight into why fruit is not enjoyed more in Scotland. This picture seems to suggest it is the bounty of Beelzebub.

We then returned to the adjoining Scottish Storytelling Centre on the ground floor. The displays of literature are quite interesting with something for everyone from Walter Scott and Peter Pan to Maisie of Morningside and the Gruffalo. Once we had purchased some Scottish books for Sylvia, we had to stop for a cake at the cafe.

I had a splendid chocolate beetroot cake which was wonderfully fresh and soft with a sweet creamy buttercream icing on top. E had a slice with biscuits and coconut (reminded me a bit of hedgehog). The raspberry and vanilla lemonade was also delicious. The cake display generally looked lovely, and I particularly also liked the look of the honey, apple and polenta cake.

I would love to get back to this cafe before heading home. Unfortunately today we were in the High Street again and saw so many cafes I want to try that I feel we need much more time than we have to visit all these places. I can tell you one thing: life is too short for grim cafes. At least I now know one source of very good cake!

Scottish Storytelling Centre Cafe
43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR
Tel: +44 (0)131 556 9579
Web: http://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/

Ramblers at the Castle in Peebles

2009-11-29T23:56:00.009+11:00

On Wednesday we headed down to Peebles where E's parents had lived for almost a decade. It was where we stayed on our last visit to Scotland a few years ago.

For those who don't know it, Peebles is located on the River Tweed among the rolling hills of the Borders only about an hour from Edinburgh. It is a pretty town that has become popular with tourists and commuters.

On the day we were there it was raining cats and dogs but we fortunately borrowed an umbrella from the family friend we were visiting. We also visited quite a few charity shops and gift shops. Unfortunately the new British Heart Foundation charity shop didn't open til yesterday so we missed browsing in there. I imagine there was a stampede when the doors openeed!

I took this photo of the three salmon, which is the symbol of Peebles that can be seen around the town and on the coat of arms of the Burgh of Peebles. The motto translates as Against the Stream They Multiply and refers to salmon in the River Tweed. Peebles has lots of interesting traditions. One that amuses me is the reference to those born in Peebles as Gutterbluids. Those who aren't are known as Stoorifits.

With all the rain and cold, we were in need of warming food. E's family had a soft spot for the Castle Warehouse, which sells a great range of kitchenware, clothes and gifts. We were down that end of town and decided to have lunch at Ramblers Cafe which is located in the shop.

It has a no strollers policy but we parked ours outside and put Sylvia in a highchair. The menu had sandwiches, soup and a specials board had a wild mushroom risotto that sounded interesting. We both chose the Vegetarian Breakfast. You can see in the photo at the top that it is a substantial meal of vegetarian sausages, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, baked beans, fried potato scones, toast, tea and marmalade. (The baby food was not included - we brought it with us for Sylvia.) I opted not to have the egg and was impressed that they asked if I wanted extra sausages instead. I asked for a few more beans. Many places aren't so generous when I ask for no egg.

When the waitresses brought over our plates, they were so hot that cloths were needed to hold them. Before setting the plates down they thoughtfully dragged Sylvia's high chair back so she couldn't reach the hot plates. I really enjoyed my meal. In the last post a few people commented that I should find a good bakery. While I agree the Greggs chain of bakeries is nothing fancy, I had trouble finding the nice sourdough bread that I love when I last lived in Edinburgh but I did grow to appreciate a good fry-up.

I had been eying off the great selection of slices and desserts. The apple toffee brioche on the specials board particularly took my fancy. But I was too full. So I was quite pleased when we got home and E produced a piece of malteser slice that he had purchased when he paid the bill. We had some with our cup of tea after dinner. I enjoyed it but wasn't as impressed as E was. But I do love how pretty it looks.

Ramblers Cafe
Castle Warehouse Cookshop
1 Greenside, Peebles
Tel: (01721) 723636
web: http://www.castlewarehouse.com/

Edinburgh - arrival and M&S Cafe

2009-11-26T23:11:00.014+11:00

Oh, it is lovely to be in Edinburgh again! So now that we have worked out wireless broadband in the apartment, I can share the good, the bad and the ugly about Edinburgh.

The plane food was rather forgettable other than a chocolate and raspberry cake with quinoa flour. We arrived in Edinburgh and Sylvia immediately charmed E's family. They had keys to the apartment where we are staying and we finally collapsed there on Monday night. My in-laws had done a fantastic job of stocking the flat with good food and making it baby-friendly.

I love the Scottish butter label with the wellies.

On our first morning, we headed out to Princes Street where the roadworks greeted us and obscured the view of the castle. You will noticed that the weather is gloomy grey. Sylvia's rain cover on the stroller has been very useful.

But the Scots are great at Christmas decorations and they shimmer brightly on dark days.

I couldn't wait to check out the food hall at Marks and Spencer. They have such wonderful prepackaged food here - on our first night we had a broccoli and stilton tart with crunchy cheddar topping. But I despair of the 'fresh' food. The sign on this shelf says Fresh Produce. It is not at all my idea of fresh. Why all that packaging!

We had lunch at the Marks and Spencer Cafe on Princes Street. E enjoyed chatting to the old dears who loved Sylvia.

The warm cheese scones are superb with lots of cheese through the scone. I also had a salad of pasta, pesto, tomatoes, spinach and pecorino cheese. It was nice but I was disappointed the tomato and basil soup was unavailable. Also much appreciated was the orange and raspberry juice. Delicious!

We still haven't made it to Gregg's Bakery but have drooled over the goodie in the window.

The UK does have a fine appreciation of vegetarians and I couldn't resist a couple of vegetarian cookery magazines. I did manage to avoid a purchase from the "tragic life stories" section of W.H. Smith!

The kids clothes are also great. Here is a little hat we bought for Sylvia. Isn't it so cute! We are off to lunch now so I will tell you about the fry-up at the top of the page another time.

Mexican Lasagne and our Jetset Baby

2009-11-22T14:03:00.008+11:00

The suitcases are almost packed and the perishable food in our kitchen is almost gone. By the time you read this we will probably be flying to Scotland. Hence, the cooking in our house lately, has been of the fridge-clearing type. I have tried hard not to be tempted to buy too much food. Instead I have turned my attention to odds and ends that need using.

I found a packet of corn tortillas that I had bought in a moment of enthusiasm and were now past their use by date. It seemed an ideal time to make tortilla stacks. Usually I layer wheat tortillas and chilli non carne, cover with cheese and cook for about 15-20 minutes. But I had some rice leftover from using up boxed curry one at the end of a tiring day. I remembered using rice in my burritos and decided to put it in the tortilla stack and it somehow morphed into a Mexican Lasagne with lots of layers. Perhaps inspired by my recent visit to the Tart ‘n’ Round Café, I made it both gluten free and vegan.

It was a success. Layers of rice and vegetables, tomato sauce, tofu cheese sauce and my attempt at Philippa’s parasalmond, it was a rich and interesting combination of colours, flavours and textures. I didn’t miss either wheat or dairy but it was lighter than a conventional lasagne. However, this is not always a bad thing. In the heatwave that followed making it, I was quite glad of a light main meal for a couple of nights that we could just pop in the microwave.

I am glad it worked because it was my last great cooking project before we go. Since then dinner has been made up of whatever needs using. I made a crustless quiche of mushrooms, spinach and vegie sausages, and have used some sausages and pasta sauce from the freezer.

Before I go, a few more quick notes. Thanks Ashley at Eat Me Delicious for sending me an One Lovely Blog award. I also wanted to comment on two arguements that I have heard recently. One came from a hardened omnivore, Sarah Palin, who said “If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat.” (Check out Jugalbandi’s post for an entertaining commentary on this.) If you believe this then surely you would also think it is ok to eat humans. The other comment from a vegan that seemed to not be thought through was that “we are the only species to drink another animal’s milk”. But if we are just following other species’ examples then surely we wouldn’t farm, wouldn’t cook and would forage for nuts and seeds and occasionally kill other species to eat. Just shows that both omnivores and vegans don’t always think about the implications of their arguments when they justify their diets.

But enough procrastinating! I will leave you with my Mexican Lasagne and return to my suitcases and my jetset baby. I expect this blog to be quiet for a few weeks. I am not quite sure what sort of internet access we will have in Scotland but I imagine we will wont have time for much blogging. I hope however to tell you about some good food in Scotland in the not too distant future.

Mexican Lasagne
Serves 6

Tomato sauce:

2 x 400g tins of diced tomatoes
1 onion
1 tsp cumin
1 chipotle chilli in adobo sauce, finely chopped
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp salt
½ cup lager beer
½ cup water
2 tbsp tomato paste (salt free)
400g tin of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Rice and vegetable filling:

1 tbsp oil
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
half a bunch of kale, finely sliced
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1 bunch asparagus, thinly chopped
1 small zucchini, finely chopped
handful cooked and chopped broccoli florets
5 button mushrooms, finely chopped
400g tin of corn, rinsed and drained (I forgot)
2 cups cooked rice, approximately
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp salt
pinch cayenne powder
juice of quarter lemon

Tofu cheese:

350g firm tofu, crumbled
2 tbsp mayonnaise (I used soy)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp white miso
2 tsp mustard
¼ cup soy milk

Parasalmond:

1 tbsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp salt
½ tsp veg stock powder (optional)
2 tbsp almond meal
2 tbsp sesame seeds

12 corn tortillas (312g packet)

To make the tomato sauce: put all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or till sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.

To make the rice and vegetable filling: heat the oil in a large frypan and fry carrot and kale for about 5 minutes over medium heat or til kale is soft enough for you. Add remaining ingredients and fry for another 5 minutes over medium heat.

To make tofu cheese: mix all ingredients in a medium to large bowl using a fork til you have a thick sauce.

To make the parmasalmond: mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. I found mine quite salty, especially on the first night, and would omit the stock powder next time.

To assemble lasagne: layer corn tortillas, rice filling, cheese sauce, tomato sauce, corn tortillas, rice filling, tomato sauce, corn tortillas, cheese sauce, tomato sauce and parmasalmond in a large lightly-greased baking dish (I used my large roasting dish). Bake at 220 C for about 30 minutes till browned and crispy. Can be reheated in the microwave, and it tastes even better after sitting in the fridge for a day or two.

On the stereo:
John Peel: Right Time, Wrong Speed: 1977-1987: Various Artists

Carrot Salad and Pate

2009-11-21T18:08:00.007+11:00

I recently found a superb carrot, walnut and cranberry salad in the Vegetarian Times among Thanksgiving recipes. I find it surprising to find a salad in a Thanksgiving menu. It seems more suited to an Aussie summer (or an Aussie spring pretending to be an Aussie summer).

I didn’t have walnut oil or silken tofu so I substituted mayonnaise and olive oil in smaller quantities. I think if you wanted to be quicker you could just substitute mayonnaise for the dressing because the ingredients are about the same. I am not really into creamy salads but the dressing was quickly soaked up by the carrot and just was really flavoursome. Quite tart, which may be because I used mayonnaise rather than tofu.

I loved the addition of walnuts and cranberries, though I might reduce the walnuts next time as they were pretty intense. It is such a simple idea. Why can’t cafes make yummy protein-filled salads like this instead of cramming them with meat. You could eat this salad with a light green salad and some good bread and it would make a satisfying meal. Or it would be excellent in a salad sandwich.

It is a good opportunity to rave about a pate-cum-dip-cum-spread that I found at Radical Grocery recently: Smoked Tofu and Olive Pate (I think the other ingredients were just a bit of lemon juice and capers). We have finished the dip so I can’t tell you who makes it but it was one of those flavours that make you excited to know there are still great innovative combinations waiting to be discovered. It is very good on bread with some of this carrot salad. It reminded me a little of the liverwurst paste we had on sandwiches sometimes when I was a kid (but tasted much much better). E thought it tasted like smoked ham spread and my mum thought it tasted like smoked trout. Try it if you get the chance!

When not piling the salad on top of some smoked tofu and olive dip on bread, I served it alongside falafel that my mum brought over for lunch; for dinner with salad, bread and pate, and tofu burgers; and, after a few days when I discovered the remains in the fridge, I had it with sausage and lentil pasta. Delicious!

Carrot, Walnut and Cranberry Salad
Adapted from Vegetarian Times Nov/Dec 2009
Serves 6-8

2 tbsp (soy) mayonnaise
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp seeded mustard
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup cranberries
3 medium carrots, grated
1 cup walnuts toasted and chopped

Mix the mayonnaise, oil, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice and salt in a small bowl. Place the carrots, cranberries and walnuts into a large salad bowl and toss with the mayonnaise dressing till all are combined. Can be left in the fridge for about 3-4 days in an airtight container.

On the Stereo:
Scott Walker sings Jacques Brel

Thanh Nga Nine - Vietnamese vegetarian appreciation

2009-11-19T22:58:00.008+11:00

On a sunny Sunday a few weekends ago, we met Yavanna and Chris for lunch on Victoria Street in Richmond. For anyone who doesn’t know the area, there is a heavy concentration of Vietnamese grocers and restaurants along this strip. My family usually goes to Thy Thy but I was interested in trying a new place - Thanh Nga Nine.

I love Asian soups with lots of noodles and exotic flavours but they so often have fish in the stock that I have become too wary to order them. So I was excited when I read AOF extolling the virtues of Thanh Nga Nine, including an appreciation for vegetarian food extending to stock. She referred to an article in the Age newspaper, which I presume is this one with a great story of a family on an odessey of sampling 22 Vietnamese restaurants in Victorian Street over a year.

Thanh Nga Nine is a clean modern restaurant with some traditional touches like a Buddah and Asian fabrics displayed on the walls. For the Collingwood tragics in my family, there is also a signed footy jumper. In one corner is a large fish tank full of a school of fish that darted about too quickly for my camera. I rang a few days earlier and booked a table because I wanted to check it was a baby-friendly place. They had set up a high chair when we arrived and there was room to park the stroller beside the table.

While service was occasionally a bit slow, the staff were most obliging. Tea was available upon arrival but it took a couple of requests to get some water. Finally we were told that it was taking a while to get the ice. The orders seemed to be taken a little quickly for me to fully peruse the menu but that was possibly because I was feeding Sylvia, who mercifully pretended to be a good eater. So I don’t have a good memory for the dishes but wanted to share my experiences.

The vegetarian section of the menu was quite substantial. Some of the starters were the sort you would find anywhere – spring rolls and rice paper rolls. But I was intrigued by the vegetarian mini pancakes. I was also determined to order a noodle soup, which is such a rare pleasure. I think I also might have spied a noodle and vegetable dish like they served at the Vina Bar, my favourite Vietnamese restaurant until its recent sad demise.

I am no fan of faux meat so it was unfortunate that I inadvertently ordered two faux meat dishes. The pancakes were light little pancakes with faux shrimp, what we think was a dab of mung bean paste and a sprinkling of what I think was faux fish seasoning. They were sort of interesting but too fishy for me. Yavanna who was sharing a plate of seafood pancakes with Chris, tasted the vegetarian version and said it didn’t taste as good.

Next my pho soup came and was full of faux meat – little dumplings and slices of some sort of white meat. I took one look and shuddered in horror. Very apologetically I explained that I did not like faux meat and had not realized it was in the soup. They kindly took it away and replaced it with a noodle soup with deep fried tofu, bok choy and bean sprouts. Not enough vegetables for me so I ordered a plate of steamed vegetables on the side, specifying that I wanted carrot and corn and broccoli like in Chris’ dish. I needed colour! Once this arrived I was very happy with my meal. The soup (pho) had a lovely subtle flavour of star anise and I enjoyed it very much with lots of flat noodles.

At the end of the meal, one of the waiters came to ask how our meal was. We said it was great but I talked to him about the faux meat issue. He said they had been considering rewriting their menu to make this clearer. I was impressed that he said his mother had recreated the pancakes for vegetarians because they were so popular. I stressed that I didn’t like faux meat but I know others would appreciate it.

Meanwhile the rest of the dishes were enjoyed. E had a chicken dish with lemongrass and Chris had an impressive spread of lots of seafood and noodles. But the starring dish of the day – for me at least – was Yavanna’s choice of deep fried eggplant. It was soft inside and crispy on the outside, had lots of peanuts and chilli and a delicious marinade but I can’t tell you any more than that. I will tell you to go and order it and taste how good it is for yourself. Even E, who is an avowed enemy of eggplant thought it delicious.

Despite my problems with the faux meat, it was a great meal out. I liked being able to try different dishes than the standard ones and appreciated the attitude of the owners in catering for vegetarians and families. No wonder it was busy. The food was not only delicious but also cheap. We walked away having paid $66 for the four of us for starter and main course. With interesting conversation and Sylvia doing her little dance in the highchair, it was a very pleasant lunch.

Thanh Nga Nine Vietnamese Restaurant
160 Victoria Street Richmond VIC 3121
Tel: 03 9427 7068
Open 7 Days, 10am to 10pm

Pizza for the Impatient

2009-11-18T23:02:00.010+11:00

I did it again! I bought fresh yeast and then was compelled to use it before it lost its zing. I made a great zucchini bread, which I hope to share soon but most of my yeast baking over the last week has been pizza.

Soon after I started blogging, I was amazed to find Katie at Apple and Spice making a yeasted pizza base that went straight into the oven without any proving. I get a little nervous about working with yeast and was impressed with the bold nonchalance with which she treated it. The very idea that I didn’t have to wait for yeast to rise seemed a great innovation. I meant to try it straight away and then I was distracted by other recipes.

I love the idea of waiting around for bread to rise and develop but often I want my loaf now. As the days warm up as we rapidly approach summer, I have less patience for bread. Having yeast to use in hot weather is no fun. Lately we have had days when I couldn’t bear to turn on the oven, and the heat zaps me of energy and motivation. So I have seized upon the cooler days (oh blissful 25 C) to bake. Even then, organizing myself around Sylvia is a bit of a challenge. I have found that Isa’s pizza base is great but you do need some time to do it. So I decided the time was right to try Katie’s pizza.

The first time I tried it, I followed Katie’s instructions and rolled it out as soon as I had mixed the dough. It was amazingly light, thin and unleavened. We had pizza with pesto, tomato, green capsicum, sundried tomato, olives, ricotta cheese and spring onion. I meant to make salad but didn’t manage to get organized. The pizza was quite small and not that filling. I should have known when the dough was about the size of my fist.

The dough was so easy to make that it seemed the ideal opportunity to finally try a dessert pizza. I mixed some honey and raspberries with ricotta and topped it with choc chips. I was pleased that when I left the dough for a short rest and used my hands rather than a rolling pin to stretch it, the pizza base was a little thicker and more bready. The topping was ok but not great. E was not at all enthused.

The next morning I decided to try it again but with cream cheese and nectarines. But when I opened the fridge to look for cream cheese I found some beetroot dip had spilled everywhere and in trying to clean it up I tipped blueberries all over the floor. At the moment Sylvia started crying. The pizza had to wait a few days till I found the time.

The cream cheese and nectarine topping was a great improvement on the ricotta job but I ran out of bread flour and added 1 teaspoon of gluten flour (vital wheat gluten) and some wholemeal flour. It was quite stodgy and I wasn’t sure it was cooked enough in the centre. However, a drizzle of maple syrup made it feel both decadent and suitable for breakfast.

Yesterday I finally found dessert pizza nirvana with a winning combination of cream cheese, chocolate and raspberries. It was creamy and chocolaty with the tart berries studded throughout. I had thought I would need some extra sweetener when it came out of the oven but it was sweet enough. Then after leaving it for about 10 minutes the chocolate was even more melty. Even the pizza cutter tasted good after making its way through that molten mess.

It was so good that E was swooning over it. It took me great self control to save some for dessert and to be nice and leave him some. It was so good that I didn’t care that Sylvia is starting to move about more and is now finding her way into the cat food bowl and our CDs or that Zinc spent the day miaowing at me to let her out even though it is too hot for her sensitive white fur, or that feeding Sylvia is a battle that zaps my energy or that I am behind in the housework as usual. This pizza is far better than a bex and a lie down.

Now I will be tempted to buy more fresh yeast just so I must make more chocolate pizzas. But then again, you don’t need an excuse for pizza that tastes this good and is ready in just over half an hour.

I am sending the chocolate raspberry pizza to Susan at for her weekly Yeast Spotting that continues to inspire me to bake interesting bread.

Katie's Pronto Pizza
adapted from Apple and Spice
Serves 1-2

For the dough
15g fresh yeast (or 7g dried yeast)
½ tsp caster sugar
50ml warm water
1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil
2 tbsp (30ml) milk
125g strong bread flour

Suggested toppings: Pesto, Olives, Semi sun dried tomatoes, Green capsicum, Tomato, Ricotta, Spring onion

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Mix the yeast and sugar in a medium mixing bowl till the yeast is liquid (or if using dried yeast mix with sugar). Add water, oil and milk. Then mix in flour until it comes together into a firm but slightly sticky dough.

Lightly knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth. Use a rolling pin to roll out to about 3-4mm thick and place on a baking tray that has been well dusted with polenta (Katie recommends you heat the tray but I didn’t for the savory pizza).

Arrange the toppings on the pizza and bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Chocolate and Raspberry Pizza
adapted from Apple and Spice
serves 2-4

15g fresh yeast (or 7g dried yeast)
1 tsp sugar
50ml warm water
1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil
2 tbsp (30ml) milk
2 tsp gluten flour
85g white plain flour
40g wholemeal plain flour
polenta, for sprinkling

Topping:
2 dessertspoons cream cheese (I used low fat)
100g choc chips*
handful frozen raspberries*

*Alternatively you can replace choc chips and/or raspberries with 2 nectarines thinly sliced.

Mix the yeast and sugar in a medium mixing bowl till the yeast is liquid (or if using dried yeast just mix with sugar). Add water, oil and milk. Then mix in flour until it comes together into a slightly sticky dough. Lightly knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth.

Turn on oven and heat to 190 C with a pizza baking stone inside. While oven is heating, let dough rest for 15 minutes in the mixing bowl – I didn’t clean or oil mine – covered by a damp tea towel. This time is quite flexible as I left it for different times depending on what I was doing while it rested.

The dough wont rise much but will puff up a little. Punch it down and press and stretch it gently to be about 5 mm thick, although it will be thicker on the outside which is ok because this part cooks more.

Have your topping ready and take pizza stone from the oven. Sprinkle polenta on the tray (but if you forget that is ok as I found out) and place flat circle of dough on the tray. Spread the cream cheese almost to the edge, scatter choc chips and then raspberries on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Sit for at least 5-10 minutes before eating because, speaking from experience, it will melt a bit more once out of the oven and will burn your mouth if you eat it straight away.

On the Stereo:
Scott Walker: The Collection

Polenta Pizza People

2009-11-16T11:06:00.009+11:00

Another weekend, another family birthday. They come thick and fast at this time of year but I am glad this is the last of them before we start the festive season. Today was the 5th birthday of my twin nieces Grace and Ella. I originally had said I would do the cake but as Rabbie Burns says, "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley."

The kiddies party in the park was at 10am, which is not a good time for Sylvia and me. We are not morning people and only managed to get there at 11.30 so it was lucky that my mum and Susie took over cake duties and taking a photo for me. They made the girls two gorgeous Barbie doll cakes with butter cream skirts decorated with glitter icing, icing hearts and shiny silver cachous. By the time we arrived the cakes looked like this:

My sister Fran managed to get in first with Sylvia’s Christmas presents. She had bought her some very cute silver sandals but worried that Sylvia would outgrow them soon so she gave them to her early. Sylvia is not even crawling yet so she doesn't wear shoes generally but I can see why Fran could not resist their charms. Unfortunately the moskitos felt the same way about my blood and kept coming back for more.

After the morning party, the family had a barbecue at home. A simple affair of sausages (with vegie sausages for me) and salad. Due to the heat and various diets, I decided against baking and made little polenta pizzas with faces instead.

I thought they would be good gluten free party food but Grace was not keen on them. Susie, who is also GF, liked them and so did other members of the family. They were quite large for party nibbles and I am not sure how easy it would be to make lots of them. I only got about 8 of them out of three-quarters a cup of polenta. But I would make them again.

After lunch I went for a swim with my 7 year old niece Maddy. She made me feel old when I told her that I remember when the area of Geelong where she lives was just fields and she started talking about dinosaurs. She also was amazed to find my car was 21 years old – ‘I didn’t know cars could last that long’, she said.

While we were playing in the pool, my mum made the Christmas pudding with some dried fruit I had soaked over night for her. I have made the pudding the last few years but this year I have less energy for it so mum helped. I just wish I could have been here to see how she does it, especially how she fits the mixture into a teatowel to boil it. When we got back, the pudding was merrily boiling and Sylvia had been awake for about 6 hours with only a 15 minute powernap but was playing on the rug quite happily. I was glad that she slept soundly in the car on the way home.

To make polenta pizza faces: I made up polenta in the microwave and spread it as thinly as possible in a shallow dish to cool. Then I cut round circles and placed them on baking trays. I spread each circle with some ricotta mixed with a little beetroot powder colouring. This not only represented pink skin but also gave something to hold the features of the face. Eyes were slices of olive with a small piece of cheese inside them, the nose was a thin triangle of carrot and the mouth was sun dried tomato. Then I cut sticks of mozzarella cheese and arranged it as the hair. Other things I might try when doing this again include as capsicum, capers, green olives with pimento in them and grated vegetables for hair. I baked them for about 15 minutes at about 220 C.

They looked cute but I wished that I had baked them with the bottom side up first to make it crispy – as I did with the polenta pizza tart. The bottoms were a little soft for my liking. However, this problem was solved at my parents’ place when we decided to put the pizzas on the barbecue. It warmed them up and the bottoms were brown and crunchy. I don’t have a barbecue but could heat them in a frying pan for a similar effect.

On the stereo:
The Colour of White: Missy Higgins

Tart ‘n’ Round Café: creative liberation

2009-11-15T22:45:00.009+11:00

I rang my friend Will to tell him I was concerned about him because we still had his hat that he left at our place months and months ago. These hot days are not ones to be without a hat. Yesterday while Sylvia slept, I drove to over to return Will’s hat. While I was over that way I had suggested we go to Tart ‘n’ Round Cafe in Thornbury High Street for a bite to eat. We strolled there wearing our sunhats.

I have wanted to try Tart ‘n’ Round for a while now since seeing it being raved about by other bloggers. It is a small local business that makes gluten free and vegan wholesale food and now runs a café new café that serves their delicious food. But when I went there I found that I had sampled the Tart ‘n’ Round baking before. I have seen their stall at Carlton Farmers Market and eaten their superb chocolate balls at Fatto a Mano bakery (228 Gertrude St, Fitzroy).

Tart ‘n’ Round has a stylish interior with brick walls, a corrugated iron counter and black shelves for food and crockware displays. I love a place that has lots of food to look at – bread and icecream in the fridge behind the counter; packaged fruit cake, chocolate balls and biscuits in a little corner of edible gifts and treats; and most importantly of all, a tempting dessert display in a glass cabinet. It all looked good.

We sat down to check the menu. While it was not huge, Will , who is a fellow vegetarian, laughed in delight because he could eat it all rather than avoiding all the meat. There were burgers, fritters, pasta, and more. He chose the lentil burger. I swithered between the lasagne and the chickpea salad but chose to taste both.

The service was prompt and friendly. Plates of large colourful meals were soon placed before us. Will had a large lentil burger in a bun with a generous side salad. When I later asked him how the bun was he said he never even noticed it was gluten free. He also had a mango smoothie that he thought quite ordinary but he swooned over the vegan ice cream.

My lasagne was layers of corn noodle, eggplant, pumpkin, mushroom and topped with thick rich tomato sauce. It didn’t taste at all like regular lasagne but I enjoyed the corny taste of the pasta and all the soft melting layers of vegetables. I had requested a half serve of the chickpea salad. It was most satisfying with lots of chickpeas, beans, carrots and avocado swimming in a lovely herby dressing.

Then our attention turned to the desserts. We had a tyranny of choices – biscuits, chocolate balls, tiramisu, lemon meringue pie, flourless chocolate cake, chocolate caramel slice, and even mince tarts. As I said above, I have purchased the crispy chocolate balls elsewhere. I know I should have tried something new but I love the caramel peanut balls so much and after Will’s glowing endorsement of the ice cream I was tempted to have both. (I have just realised that they are like my favourite chokito chocolate bar but better!)

I was convinced to try a warmed slab of the creamy, crunchy, chocolate covered peanut caramel balls with ice cream. It was wonderful but my eyes were bigger than my stomach. The ice cream was indeed incredibly smooth and creamy. But after my huge main course, I just couldn’t finish it. So anyone who claims that gluten free food or vegan food does not fill you up, just try Tart ‘n’ Round. In future I will just have a smaller peanut caramel ball – or maybe two because they are so good. Will enjoyed a hearty serve of tiramisu with ice cream.

Both of us left, pleased to discover a good local cafe. I must remember the take away option as well as eating in. They also sell ice cream in a tub, loaves of my celiac sister’s favourite GF bread, and for the Christmas season there are mince pies, puddings, fruit cake and special festive chocolate balls. So I recommend you try Tart ‘n’ Round if you are seeking vegan food (or either egg free or dairy free), gluten free food or just delicious food made with love and creativity.

Tart ‘n’ Round Café
839 High St, Thornbury 3071
Open: Wednesday-Friday 12.00pm -10.00pm, Saturday/Sunday 9.00am - 10.00pm, Closed Monday & Tuesday except for public holidays
Ph: 03 9480 0818
Web: http://www.tartnround.com.au/

PPN Sausages Pasta, Garden and Global Warming

2009-11-14T13:21:00.019+11:00

It is not yet summer and already we are suffering a sweltering heatwave. Yesterday morning I was pleased to hear my favourite radio show host Jon Faine making the point about climate change that a vegetarian in a sports car is less harmful to the environment than a meat eater on a bicycle. The talkback caller belligerently replied that he wasn’t about to stop eating meat. I wish there was more discussion about vegetarianism and climate change for people like this caller.

While I would love to live in a vegetarian world, I understand that this sort of change does not happen overnight. Incremental change is much more realistic. I think that a good start would be to encourage everyone to eat less meat. I love the idea of the Belgian town , Ghent, which is declaring every Thursday to be a vegetarian day.

But I know that there are some people who would find this idea challenging. Since I made vegetarian sausages with gluten flour, I have been experimenting with some sausage and pasta dishes. The sausages were a bit intense and rubbery when eaten alone but were fantastic in pasta dishes. It occurred to me that this is a meal I would recommend as a good way to start reducing your meat intake. If you don’t have the desire or time to make your own vegetarian sausages (you can also try a couscous and chestnut sausage or a rice and oats sausage), they are quite easy to buy in the supermarket (in Melbourne), as I did for the third dish. If you really want your meat, you could make these dishes with meat sausages but I would never recommend such a thing.

I have consciously been trying to reduce my dairy intake so I thought I would tell you about the meals in order of with cheese, with vegan cheese and then without cheese. All are quite substantial meals that can be made fairly quickly.

The Cheesy Pasta with Sausage and Veg (pictured at the top) was made with vintage cheddar cheese after a family afternoon tea. We were low in energy and surrounded by sweet leftovers. This dish took only 30 minutes to make and used up some of the scraps of ingredients around the house. It also had lots of vegetables, which we needed.

Mum had brought me some baby turnips she had found on special. I wanted to use up the cheese and, unusually, had cream in the house. I cooked both large and small pasta tubes to use up the dregs of packets. This was a very dairy-heavy dish that was delicious because the cheese was a really good one but it was a bit richer than I would prefer. I did enjoy having the sausages fried up into crispy bits that reminded me a bit of bacon.

Next I made Vegan Cheesy Pasta with Sausage and Veg. After making my vegan cheesy sandwich spread, I decided to try some of this sort of spread in a pasta sauce. The result was not particularly attractive as it looked a little curdled but it tasted good, especially with the sausages. I liked the wholemeal pasta with this one because it gave the dish a more wholesome feel. E said he enjoyed this one but it had a bit much pineapple. I stared at him in astonishment and then realised he was talking about the yellow capsicum.

For this second dish, I decided to use up the baby silverbeet or rainbow chard in my pot. My mum had given me the pot many weeks back and I had been unsure about when they were ready to pick. By the time I made this dish I decided they were well and truly past their peak but I was determined to use what I could. Homemade sausages, homemade cheese sauce, homegrown silverbeet. This made me feel like a real homemaker.

I have a before and after photo of the silverbeet in the garden. The first photo was taken soon after mum gave me the pot.

The second is taken just a few days ago. But one of the joys of a garden is the constant change. Even now it looks different. I pruned the lavendar bush yesterday and it looks like it has had a really bad haircut. Pruning is not a skill of mine but it had to be done. You can see that all the plants are drooping a little in the midst of our heatwave, except our little bay tree (is that a treelet?), which is full of new growth.

A few weeks back we also had our lemon tree full of flowers. When you think that every little flower is potentially a lemon, that is a lot of fruit. Too much for our young tree to bear.

But after our heat wave there are considerably less baby lemons still hanging in there. Fortunately there are still quite a few little ones that might become lemons we can use.

We even have a few little baby limes on our lime tree though I will be surprised if any of them become adult limes as they have an even tougher time than the lemons. I am just glad to see our lime tree doing well as it has always been the less healthy of our two citrus trees.

But enough of our stroll around the garden. Back to the pasta. The third dish to share is a Pasta with Sausage and Lentils. I made it a few nights back after a hot and busy day. I had been inspired by Cindy’s comment about the homemade sausages being good in Red Wine Lentils. It seemed like a good rich pasta sauce. But on the night in question, rich and heavy were not at all what I needed. I decided to make something that was far more like a warm pasta salad.

I chopped up all the vegetables, put the pasta on and dumped the lentils in a colander to rinse. All afternoon I had had a headache and suddenly I got a lot worse and had to lie on the couch. It was so simple to make that I could just tell E what to do to finish it off. By the time he was eating it, I had gone to bed. So the resulting dinner was considerably plainer than I had planned. This was a good thing when I needed to eat a little something later in the night.

When we had leftovers the next day, I added a few things I had planned to add the previous day and served it with a VT carrot, cranberry and walnut salad. It tasted lovely and I wished I had a more appealing photo to share but the lentils make it look all sludgy. Don’t be fooled by the messy picture, pasta and sausage is just the thing for a hot November night. And if you use vegetarian sausages just maybe you can help keep the heat down a little.

I am sending my sausage pasta dishes to Kait of Pots and Plots for this week's Presto Pasta Night (#139), an event founded by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Vegetarian sausage cheese and veg pasta
Serves 3-4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 sausages, diced
2 medium carrots, julienned
bunch baby turnips, diced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 head of broccoli, diced
½ bunch parsley, chopped
100g vintage cheddar cheese, grated
3 tbsp cream
200g dried pasta
black pepper

Heat the oil in a large frypan. Fry onion, sausages, carrots, turnips and garlic for about 15 minutes on medium heat. At this point I had to turn it off and feed Sylvia but I think you could just keep on going. Add broccoli and fry over medium heat for another 15 minutes until broccoli is soft. While broccoli is frying, cook the pasta in salted water as per directions on the packet. Check vegetables are cooked and take the frypan off the heat. Add cheese, cream, drained pasta and black pepper. Toss to mix it all up and serve warm.

Vegan sausage, cheese and veg pasta
Serves 3-4

250g dried wholemeal pasta
2 fat vegan spicy sausages, chopped
1 carrot
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 spring onions
1 yellow capsicum, diced
1 small bunch asparagus, chopped small
small handful baby silverbeet (or spinach), chopped
125g grape tomatoes, halved (I would do more of these next time)

Cheese sauce

125g tofu
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
juice of ½ very small lemon
1½ tbsp pesto

Fry the sausages and carrots in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan for about 15 minutes over medium heat.

While these are frying cook the pasta in salted water as instructed on the packet and make the cheese sauce by mixing all ingredients together.

Add spring onions, capsicum, asparagus, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the sausage mixture and stir fry over low heat for about 8-7 minutes until just cooked but still a bit crunchy. Turn off the heat and stir in the baby silverbeet and tomatoes so they warm through. Stir in drained pasta and cheese sauce.

Warm sausage and lentil salad
Serves 3-4

1 packet of 6 small sausages
250g dried pasta
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
½ red pepper, finely chopped
1 bunch asparagus, chopped
400g tin of brown lentils, drained and rinsed
1 generous handful baby spinach, chopped
1 small handful parsley, finely chopped
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
dash of cayenne pepper

Cook sausages under the grill (broiler). Cook pasta in salted water in a large saucepan as directed on the packet. While pasta and sausages are cooking, chop the vegetables. When pasta is cooked, drain and add remaining ingredients to the pasta saucepan which will still be hot. Stir until vegetables are warmed through – a few minutes. Chop sausages and add to vegetable mixture. Add pasta and toss together. Serve warm.

On the stereo:
Love Dreams: his 16 most beautiful melodies: Francis Lai

Stouty Oatmeal Beer Bread

2008-07-19T19:42:00.008+10:00

I think it would be safe to say that I have baked more bread this winter than in any previous winter. I am on a mission to bake more bread. One day I will finally graduate to sourdough baking but for now the yeasted bread is tasting just fine.

So I am interested in finding tasty and easy bread recipes. Susan’s regular Yeast Spotting at Wild Yeast is a good place to start looking. I have also been interested in Celine’s bread baking at Have Cake Will Travel. She has posted some good quirky ones lately like her peanut butter bread. But what has really fascinated me has been her addition of ‘vital wheat gluten’. I finally have discovered what I think is the local equivalent – gluten flour – thanks to Cindy. Of course I had to try it. I think I am right in claiming that it makes ordinary cake flour into strong high-gluten bread flour.

So with my new packet of gluten flour, I set out to try one of Celine’s bread recipes. In my searching I was delighted to find that although she has a bread machine, she has really helpful instructions on how to convert a bread machine recipe for those of us without such technical help.

The recipe I chose was an Oatmeal Beer Bread. I tried to follow Celine’s recipe but she called for oatmeal stout and all I could find was a more ordinary barley and wheat stout. Of course I didn’t need to use the whole bottle so E drank the remainder.

He amused me by reminiscing about stout while he drank half a glass of the stuff. Apparently he first drank stout when he was taken on a school outing to a pub in his last year of school. This made me laugh. No wonder the Scots know how to drink if they teach them at school. He did protest that it was extra-cirricular activitives - but really! Then he the told me that stout is an old lady’s drink and Ena Shaples from beloved British soap, Coronation Street, enjoyed a pint of stout. Well, I always thought it was a manly drink and that ‘girls’ drank fizzy lager. But according to the Corrie Blog, stout is often prescribed to new mothers and the sick because of its additional value. Well, my dad does say he could have a can of guiness for a meal!

Back to the bread. Celine’s method was by bread machine so I had an opportunity to find that her conversions to a hand method worked well. And the bread was soft and had a good texture. But when I asked E how it was he replied, ‘stouty’. I was surprised at how strongly you can smell the stout in the bread. I am still swithering about if I like that or not. One moment I think I will use a lighter beer next time, and the next moment I think I really enjoy the added flavour and will stick with stout. I’m not complaining. I have been enjoying it for breakfast this week. It toasts up a treat!

(PS. I am particularly pleased to get this post up because I had it written a few days ago and for 2 or 3 days running my internet connection has been so bad I couldn't post it. Most displeased!)

Oatmeal Beer Bread
(adapted from Betty Crocker’s Bread Machine Cookbook via Celine)
makes 1 small loaf: a 20cm loaf tin

2 tsp (7g) dried yeast
3 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup lukewarm water
1 cup lukewarm flat oatmeal stout or other beer
2 tbsp softened butter or margarine
2 cups bread flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
½ cup rolled oats
2 tbsp soy milk powder [optional, I didn’t use]
4 tsp vital wheat gluten or gluten flour [optional, I did use]
1¼ tsp sea salt

Proof the yeast by mixing it with the sugar, stout and warm water in a bowl and setting aside for about 10 minutes. It should start to go just a little foamy. I did this in the large mixing bowl I used to mix the dough but you could do it in a small bowl and spend the 10 minutes placing the remaining ingredients in the large bowl.

Mix remaining ingredients with the yeast mixture to form a shaggy dough. Knead on a lightly floured board for about 7-10 minutes til the texture of an ear lobe. My dough was very sticky and needed quite a lot of flour as I kneaded. Place the dough in the bowl (I didn’t grease the bowl in deference to my friend Yaz’s claim that it impedes growth) and cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm place about 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch down and shape to form a loaf. Place in a lightly greased small loaf tin (mine is about 20 x 13cm). Cover and set aside in warm place for about 60 minutes or til doubled in size. Bake 30-40 minutes (I think mine baked 30 minutes and then I returned it to the oven out of the tin for another 10 minutes so the crust could toughen up a little.)

Remove from tin once the bread is baked and cool on a rack before slicing.

On the stereo:
A Rush of Blood to the Head: Coldplay

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

2008-04-22T23:00:00.010+10:00

On the weekend I had a yen for sausage rolls. I mean the vegetarian variety, of course. Perhaps my neb at nut roast event has made me nostalgic for food from my childhood. Some might even argue that a vegetarian sausage roll is just a nut roast in pastry.

When I was too young to know any better and ate meat, sausage rolls were eaten at parties or just for light meals (or even sitting in a dressing gown in front of a soap opera, but I can’t mention names)! They were often offered as an alternative to meat pies which we called plasma pies (shudder of horror)! We usually had small sausage rolls that lots of little hands could grab and dunk in tomato sauce.

When I posted about making my version of vegetarian sausage rolls for party food last year, Cindy from Where’s the Beef kindly pointed me in the direction of the recipe she has been using for years. In her post Cindy remembers trips to the local bakery for sausage rolls. Such memories make me nostalgic for a time when I could stop at a bakery and eat any baked goods. I am of course nostalgic for the choice rather than the taste.

Many pie displays now include some sort of vegetarian pie but you still rarely find vegetarian sausage rolls when eating out. Cindy comments that this recipe should be shared with the world and, after finally making them, I can’t help but agree. It is easy and so delicious that I am sure there would be many takers if some enterprising person tried selling these. I thought the raw mixture was unbearably salty but when cooked it tasted so good. They are darker and richer than mine; closer in texture to that of their meaty cousins and packed with flavour.

The main problem is that these sausage rolls look so like the meaty ones that you could be mistaken for thinking they actually were. I mention this problem because it is easy to become paranoid about eating out when a vegetarian. Some meat eaters think it is hilarious to tell me the food they have just served up has meat in it, but it is too close to the truth to seem funny. Most vegetarians will have had the experience of being told that the stock is vegetarian, only to find bits of meat (or a ham bone) floating in the soup.

My mum has embraced the idea of choice and begun to make me some vegetarian sausage rolls when she makes meat sausage rolls but I worry she might mix them up. So I was inspired by the seeds on Cindy’s sausage rolls. I am now wondering if I should suggest my mum puts sesame seeds on my sausage rolls so it is easy to recognise the good ones! I know it seems obvious but it has just never occurred to me before.

Cindy’s sausage rolls with a mug of leftover mushroom stew were wonderful warming comfort food after a lazy Saturday. We even had a few for lunch the next day. This is an excellent version of a classic snack that I would recommend everyone try. Don't ask me who Liz O'Brien is because not even Cindy knows.

Finally, if you are looking for other ideas for filling vegetarian sausage rolls, you might like to try using the nut roast mixture from one of the recipes in the neb at nut roast round-up and baking it in pastry using the same method as in the recipe below.

Update Nov 2009: If you want a vegan version, see Cindy's vegan sausage rolls where she substitutes tofu for the egg and cottage cheese - I still mean to tr it some time.

Liz O’Brien’s Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
(from Where’s the Beef)
Makes about 28 x 5cm (2 inch) sausage rolls

Filling:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup (125g) pecans, chopped finely
1 medium to large onion, finely chopped
1 vegetable stock cube (I used 1 tsp of stock powder)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I used 2 tbsp tamari)
250g cottage cheese
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup breadcrumbs

3 to 4 sheets of ready-rolled 25 x 25cm puff pastry
Beaten egg for glaze
Sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Thaw 3 to 4 sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry. Place the first sheet on a flat surface and cut it in half, into two rectangles. Spoon the non-sausage mix down the centre third of each rectangle. Brush one long edge with beaten egg and fold in the long edges so the one with beaten egg overlaps the other edge.

Repeat with other pieces of puff pastry. Brush with beaten egg (or milk) and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place sausage rolls seam down on a greased or baking-paper lined baking tray. Use a sharp knife to slash marks across the pastry. You can use the knife marks to indicate where to cut them after cooking (halves, thirds or quarters) and/or to make decorative marks

Fill all the pastry and bake sausage rolls at 220C for 20 minutes. I cut up the sausage rolls after they are cooked so the ends don’t dry out too much. The ones that you want to eat now should be kept in the oven for an additional 10 minutes or til golden brown.

Take out any rolls that you don’t want to eat and cool. These can be frozen for later. The leftovers can go straight from the freezer into a 220 C oven to cook for 15 minutes.

Serve with tomato sauce.

On the stereo:
Cross: Tom Hall

It’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll

2007-07-22T22:56:00.001+10:00

I think it is an Australian joke to sing 'It’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll' to the tune of the AC/DC song 'It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll'! It might have been sung about vegetarians.

There are lots of vegetarian sausage rolls in the shops but I struggle to find good ones! The best I ever had was in Cranks vegetarian restaurant in Covent Garden, London. Unfortunately, this specialty long ago fell off their menu. I can’t think why. But the memory lingers. This is the sausage roll I have always aspired to imitate in my own baking. One of the joys of baking is being able to make foods we love in memory of those we can no longer find anywhere outside our own kitchens.

I decided to make sausage rolls for a kid’s birthday party yesterday. It was organized by my sister Francesca for her partner’s little girl, Maykaylah. Fran is an organizer extraordinaire. She sends emails, draws up Excel spreadsheets and searches the net for ideas. She said there would be sausages, hamburgers and sausages rolls. Of course, my family is great about me being vegetarian and so Fran had got some veggie sausages for me but we planned to cook them inside so they didn’t cook in the meat fat on the barbecue.

But when I heard my mum was making sausage rolls, I thought it would be easier to make vegetarian sausage rolls than to have a separate cooking of veggie sausages. (The logistics of being vegetarian aren’t always easy.) So I made my sausage rolls and then when I arrived, I found my mum had made vegetarian sausage rolls for me. I should have known! She had even scored lines on them with a knife for easy identification.

After all this palaver, I felt for my little celiac niece who desperately wanted some Twisties (cheese corn snacks). It is hard sometimes to be different from everyone else. I feel a pang when I attend catered events and there are hot pastries and I am meant to pick through the soggy sandwiches to find which are free of meat. I don’t feel at all tempted to eat the meat but I hate having second rate food when everyone else has something wonderful. So it is always a treat when I am out and can partake of the sausage rolls. And I am lucky to have a family who look out for me.

The theme was Jungle Party and it was held out the back in the huge shed. Although it was sunny enough for people to sit outside. There was music and games and jungle juice (cranberry juice, orange juice, soda water, chopped strawberries and chopped pineapple) in the shed. And once Steve had fired up the barbie, it had a table laden with barbecued meat, salad and sausage rolls. Later the table held cupcakes (which I made!), jellies, fairy bread, and a birthday cakes. There was even a home made piñata hanging off the clothes line full of treats. A kids party to remember! Maykaylah was beaming with pleasure.

I ate my mum’s sausage rolls at the party and then went home and had my sausage rolls for dinner with salad. Now I couldn’t eat them day in day out but as a vegetarian, it is happy days when there is an abundance of vegetarian sausage rolls so I wasn’t complaining. (But I did put the remainder in the freezer.) The recipe for the ones I made is below, but it is one of those recipes where it is just a matter of using whatever is at hand.

Update Nov 2009 - found the lyrics to the whole Long Way to the Shops if you Want a Sausage Roll parody. Also have started making Liz O'Brien's Sausage Rolls more regularly - they are like meat sausage rolls but have oats, cottage cheese and eggs or can be made with tofu for vegan versions. Highly recommend them.

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
(makes about 25-30 small sausage rolls)

Filling:
5 small carrots, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/3 cup ground almonds
1 egg
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1-2 tbsp tahini
½ cup water
Generous grinding of fresh black pepper

450g puff pastry
Egg to brush on the pastry

- Mix all filling ingredients and check seasoning. The mixture should be fairly stiff so you can shape it into a sausage with your hands.
- I use ready rolled puff pastry which comes in sheets that are 25 x 25cm. I cut each in half and used 5 of these 25cm x 12cm strips of pastry. I put a 5cm wide strip of filling down the middle – I use my hands to shape it into a sausage shape.
- With your finger or a pastry brush, use water to moisten the long side of the long side. Roll the pastry over so it overlaps and seals with this moistened side.
- Use a knife to score where you plan to cut them (they can be as long or short as you want) and brush with beaten egg.
- Bake for 20- 35 minutes at 220ºC and cut into smaller pieces. (I baked 20 minutes, cut them up, cooled them, and when I was ready to eat them put them in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes.)

On the Stereo:
Flood: They Might Be Giants

Chocolate cookies and pizza

2009-09-07T22:54:00.015+10:00

It was a busy weekend. A superhero birthday party, a birthday brunch and then father’s day. E spent lots of time with Sylvia, playing and changing nappies and giggling. But no more than he does most weekends. I made him a nice dinner but I don’t need an excuse to cook for him.

In fact, it is my cooking that gives E more time with Sylvia than he might otherwise have. I seem to spend many evenings saying can you just hold her while I …. Of course he never complains about spending time with his wee treasure. Yet another benefit of blogging!

The excellent food we had yesterday made me very grateful for blogging. I baked two things I might not have made without my blog. Chocolate cut out cookies and pizza. Baking cookies while pizza dough rose filled the kitchen and the house with homeliness.

I have avoided cut out biscuits or cookies (I usually say biscuits which is more Australian but because I like the name of these – Best Ever Chocolate Cut Out Cookies – I will use cookies today.) The idea of having to wait for cookie dough to cool in the fridge and then roll it out did not appeal and the end result always seemed to dry and crunchy for me who prefers soft cakes. I am more comfortable making ugly chunky cookies than making them elegant morsels with pretty designs.

I recently found some Australian animal cookie cutters that seemed just the thing for easily making pretty cookies to parade on my blog. The gingerbread recipe I made was so delicious and soft (for cut out cookies) that I have made it three times in the last month. Not just for me. I have given them away as presents and taken them to social gatherings. This recipe has given me back my cut out cookies mojo. It reminds me of the fun of playdough. I am sure Sylvia will enjoy making and eating these cookies one day.

When I posted the gingerbread recipe, I looked around at other cut out cookie recipes and listed them on my blog to remind me. After helping out with superhero biscuits at Quin’s party on Friday I had some tubes of chocolate fudge icing leftover. I thought I could use them up by decorating some more biscuits. These chocolate cut out cookies had been beckoning me and I was easily able to find them through my link on my blog. The dough was very soft and sticky but it was worth it.

The cookies were exceedingly good. Terribly moreish. Dark and devilishly chocolatey. In fact E, who spends his life telling me not to bake chocolate goods, said he liked them more than the gingerbreads. He love their buttery flavour and softness. I have new gingerbread cutters that are cute but have a tendency towards decapitation. I tried decorating the little gingerbread men with the fudge icing and found the tubes too hard to pipe with but when I gave E a plate of my dodgy attempts he gobbled them up. These are the sort of cookies I feel like telling someone to take away from me because I can’t resist the temptation. Luckily I had been out for a swim yesterday.

As well as the cookies there was pizza. I was partly inspired to make this by a comment by Maybelle’s Mom, who said they have pizza once a week. I haven’t baked with yeast for ages – well not since last year – and have been itching to do so. Pizza seemed like a good way to ease back into it – although Spring is not a good time to try and get back into bread baking, which is a winter activity for me. But I love a good pizza.

When you eat pizza on bases bought from the shops you forget how good a home made one is. I wanted to try a wholemeal one but wasn’t feeling brave so I revisited Isa’s pizza base that I had blogged before. I tried stretching the dough with my hands rather than rolling it out with a rolling pin. For the toppings I was quite keen to try something different. I had some leftover roast potato and pumpkin to use up (NB I didn’t use them all on the pizza so I made a great soup today with roast potato and pumpkin, onion, garlic, carrot and stock).

Both pizzas had a sauce made up from what I could see around the kitchen – tomato paste, pumpkin puree (rejected by Sylvia), garlic, walnut oil, olive oil, lemon juice and fresh basil. The first pizza had this sauce, roast pumpkin, thin asparagus, marinated feta cheese and a drizzle of the marinade oil. The second pizza had the sauce, grated mozzarella, roast potato, thinly sliced red capsicum and more grated mozzarella. Both were delicious.

I am still hoping I might try a wholemeal pizza base soon. I was pleased to see that Maybelle’s mom had posted her pizza dough recipe and it had mashed potato in it. I also was inspired by a few other recent posts:

Feeding Maybelle – Wholewheat Mashed Potato Pizza Dough
Munchkin Mail – Wholemeal Pizza
Food for Laughter – Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Melbourne Kitchen Tales - No Knead Pizza Dough

What kid would not love pizza and chocolate cookies. E, being a big kid, was delighted. We watched an old war movie called Sea of Sand recently. I was amused by one scene where they use cocoa to make their faces dark when on a night raid. So not only is this recipe like playing with play dough but the cocoa is all you need for some war games! A perfect game for Father's Day.

Best Ever Chocolate Cutout Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes
Makes about 36 x 5cm diameter cookies

170g butter, softened
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1⅓ cups plain white flour
⅔ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar (I softened butter from the fridge by microwaving on a low heat so I could cream it by hand rather than with electric beaters). Add egg and stir or beat till combined. Gradually add in dry ingredients to form a soft dough.

The dough was so soft I didn’t even bother making a ball with it. The recipe said to refridgerate for 2 hours but I put it in the freezer in the bowl for 30 minutes instead.

Take dough from freezer or fridge and lightly knead on a floured ball. It is so soft that you need to have your hand and board well floured but it should be quite firm from the freezer and need a little kneading to be pliable enough to roll out. Use a floured rolling pin to roll out to about 1 cm thick or less. (The recipe suggests ⅛ inch in thickness).

Use well floured cookie cutters to cut shapes (or cut shapes with a knife or use the floured rim of a drinking glass). Carefully transfer shapes to greased or lined baking trays (I line mine with baking paper.) Bake at 190 C for 8-10 minutes. Cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Or you can transfer the baking paper with cookies onto the wire rack (this helps if you have more than one batch of cookies to go in the oven).

On the stereo:

Living in the Past: Jethro Tull

NCR Carrot, Chestnut and Lentil Soup

2009-11-12T21:57:00.012+11:00

I strolled down to Sydney Road, Brunswick last week and hit the shops before it became too hot for such walks. I returned home with a swag of goodies. Most exciting and intriguing were a packet of dried chestnuts from The Mediterranean Supermarket and a bunch of purple carrots from La Manna Fresh.

If only I had these carrots for my purple post but it was not to be. Prior to my delight at discovering this bunch, purple carrots were as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel. I have envied other bloggers their multi-coloured carrots but never considered that I might be lucky enough to find them for a reasonable price at a local fruit and veg shop.

Purple carrots are a rare pleasure but it did make me wonder, if the Dutch had not been so patriotic about breeding carrots to pay homage to the House of Orange, might we take purple carrots for granted today just as we do with the common orange ones. Or maybe we would have both. Don’t they look lovely together.

Serendipitously, Lisa had asked for root vegetable soups or salads in November for No Croutons Required, the monthly blog even she holds with Jacqueline. I knew this was an opportunity to show off my lovely purple carrots. The chestnuts were also beckoning. So I set my sights on a carrot and chestnut soup. Carrots are in many of my soups, though as background rather than featuring but chestnuts are still a bit of a mystery to me.

I set off in search of ideas about using dried chestnuts. Ilva in Italy seems to use them a lot – for example in her Chestnut, Rosemary and Parmesan filled Brussels Sprouts. I was pleased to see that Clotilde had a recipe for Carrot and Chestnut Soup. It seemed like I had the right idea. But I wanted something a bit more chunky with rice. Both Kevin and Sophie combined their chestnuts with lentils (oh and I had even tried the combination). So when I found some puy lentils in the back of the pantry, I threw them in.

The chestnuts did not look at all attractive. In fact, they reminded me of creepy brains. It would have been helpful to have instructions for cooking them on the packet. I thought they wouldn’t take too long once soaked, based on what I read on the net, but they took forever. Well after almost one and a half hours I wasn’t sure that they were cooked. But I just wasn’t sure what they were meant to taste like. Finally, I was hungry, so in frustration, I decided just to blend the soup.

I served dinner to E with trepidation, not expecting him to like it. It was a deep purple colour and quite thick and chunky. To my surprise, he loved it. It was very rich and sweet, despite quite generous seasoning. It was good but full of unusual flavours and textures that I couldn’t quite name.

It needed something. I sprinkled parsley over it but it needed something else to lighten it. I didn’t have any parmesan and if I had had more energy I would have tried making Philippa’s parasalmond (ground almonds, nutritional yeast, salt and sesame seeds). The next day I bought some yoghurt and it gave the lift it needed. Makes me think that maybe some lemon juice might have also helped. We ate it with salad over a couple of nights and it was great with lots of vegetables.

Overall, the soup was a success, albeit a little odd. I now have most of the bag of dried chestnuts to play with, if only I could be certain when they were cooked. More experiments await. I hope more purple carrots also lie ahead too.

Carrot, Chestnut and Lentil Soup
Serves 6

100g dried chestnuts, soaked overnight
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 litre vegetable stock
¾ cup white wine
1 litre water
1 tsp salt
10g dried porcini, chopped
750g carrots, diced
½ cup brown rice
½ cup puy lentils
5-6 button mushrooms, chopped

To serve:

yoghurt
parsley, chopped
black pepper

Fry the onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes in a large stockpot. Meanwhile drain the chestnuts and remove any brown bits of shell. Roughly chop the chestnuts.

Add the chestnuts, garlic, stock, wine, water, salt and porcini to the onions. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Add the carrots, rice, lentils, and mushrooms. Bring to the boil and simmer for about an hour or till rice, lentils and chestnuts are soft.

Blend and check seasoning. Add a little more water to thin a little if it is too thick. (I found I needed more water when reheating leftovers.) Ladle into bowls and top with yoghurt, parsley and black pepper.

On the Stereo:
The best of Jack Jones

Blog Index and Notes

2008-01-01T22:42:00.141+11:00

To help navigate my blog, I have created an index by category, which is regularly updated. All recipes are vegetarian. See the end of the list for Notes. You can also find more information about the ingredients at Kitchen Notes, Ingredients and Substitutions or go to Index by Ingredients (which is less complete than this index) to search in an alternative way.

Categories:
Starters/Light Meals, Vegetables on the Side, Dips, Soups, Salads, Pasta/Noodles/Risotto, Oven Bakes, Nutroasts/Loaves/Burgers, Pastry/Pies/Tarts, Stews/Stovetop, Chilli Non Carnes/Tacos, Curries, Desserts, Baking with Yeast, Savoury Baking without Yeast, Sweet Baking: Cakes/Brownies, Muffins/Little Cakes, Slices, Biscuits/Cookies, Other Sweet Treats, Novelty Birthday Cakes, Sauces/Condiments, Drinks, Breakfasts, Eating Out - Melbourne City, Eating Out - Melbourne's Suburbs, Eating Out - Outside Melbourne, Markets and other Outings, Reflections

Starters/Light Meals
Antipasto Polenta (gf)
Carrot and potato fritters
Corn pancakes and salsa
Falafel wrap with beetroot and kale
Fantastic Falafels (v)
Gyoza with mushrooms and lime leaves (v)
Liz O'Brien's Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
Mock Fish (gf, v)
Mushroom and cheese quesadillas (gf)
Polenta Quinoa Sticks with Rhubarb Sauce (gf, v)
Pudla (chickpea pancakes) with green peas (gf, v)
Rice Paper Rolls (gf, v)
Salad Sandwich (with cheese)
Salad Sandwich (vegan)
Sephardic spinach filo cigars
Soy bombs (v)
Stuffed Pears (gf)
Tatties and Neeps Rosti (gf, v)
Tomatoes stuffed with Guacamole (gf, v)
Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
Welsh Rarebit with Leeks

Vegetables on the Side
Broccoli with brie and breadcrumbs
Brussels sprouts with Cointreau (gf, v)
Cauliflower Cheese
Cauliflower Rice (gf, v)
Dukkah roasted eggplant and beetroot (gf, v)
Grilled miso asparagus (gf, v)
Mashed Potato with Olives (gf)
Mashed Vegetables with Promite (gf, v)
Mixed Asian Mushrooms with Dashi (gf, v)
Neeps and tatties latkes (v)
Orange Veggies (gf, v)
Potato gratin with nutmeg and cloves (gf)
Potato parsley stars (gf, v)
Roast Potato and Pumpkin (gf, v)
Rumbledethumps (gf, v)
Rumi Carrots with Dukkah and Tahini (gf, v)
Sicilian Drowned Broccoli (gf)
Silverbeet Gratin
Silverbeet with Tahini (gf, v)
Tangy Silverbeet (gf, v)

Dips
Berry Good Guacamole (gf, v)
Broccomole (gf, v)
Carrot and Tofu Pâté (gf, v)
Creamy pumpkin dip (gf, v)
Finnish green bean paté (gf)
Hummus (gf, v)
Lentil and Walnut Pate (gf, v)
Moroccan Carrot and Feta Dip (gf)
Muhammara (gf, v)
Pea, mint and bean dip (gf)
Pea Pesto (gf)
Roasted pumpkin and garlic hummus (gf, v)
Smoky sweet potato and bean dip (gf, v)
Spicy Carrot and Bean Dip (gf, v)
Vegan cheesy sandwich spread (gf, v)

Soups
Baked Bean Soup (gf, v)
Black bean soup wih avocado (gf, v)
Borscht (gf)
Broccoli parsnip and lentil soup (v, gf)
Broccoli, zucchini and blue cheese soup (gf)
Carrot Miso Soup (gf, v)
Celeriac, potato and watercress soup (gf)
Chinese-style tofu, vegetable and noodle soup (v)
Cheesy Potato and Mushroom Soup with Greens (gf)
Chestnut, parsnip and orange soup (gf)
Chunky Beetroot Soup with Kidney Beans (gf)
Cool Green Spring Soup (gf, v)
Cream of broccoli soup
Creamy celery soup (gf, v)
Creamy lentil and vegetable soup (gf)
Curried apple soup (gf)
Curried Cashew Vegetable Soup (gf, v)
Curried Cauliflower, Spinach and Peanut Soup (gf, v)
Easy Noodle Soup (gf, v)
Fennel, lentil and rice soup (gf, v)
Four-Grain Tomato Soup (gf, v)
Fresh green pea soup (gf)
Frugal Freezer Stock (gf, v)
Fruity Cauli Chowder (gf)
German Lentil Soup with Veggie Frankfurters (v)
Lentil and Chestnut Soup (gf, v)
Light Vegetable Stock (gf, v)
Mexican Rice Soup (gf, v)

Miso soup with tofu, vegetables and noodles (v)
Mulligatawny (gf, v)
Mushroom Sherry Stew (v)
Nettle and silverbeet soup (gf, v)
Nigel’s leek and potato soup (gf)
No Tears Onion Soup - turkish style
Orange Vegetable Soup (gf, v)
Pea and Garlic Soup (gf)
Potato, bean and kale soup (gf, v)

Potato and corn chowder with basil and mustard (gf)
Pumpkin, Corn and Wild Rice Chowder (gf, v)
Pumpkin soup (and suggested variations) (gf, v)
Pumpkin and Tofu Laksa (v)
Quinoa, Cabbage and Corn Soup (gf, v)
Red lentil and preserved lemon soup (gf, v)
Roasted vegetable taco soup (gf, v)
Scottish Vegetable and Barley Soup (v)
Shitake and star anise split pea soup (gf, v)
Silverbeet pumpkin and rice soup (gf, v)
Split Pea Soup (gf, v)
St Patrick's soup (v)
Spring Risotto Soup (gf, v)
Spring vegetable and lentil chowder (gf, v)
Tomato Lentil Soup (gf)
Vegetable and Stale Bread Soup (v)
Wanton Dumplings in Ginger Broth (v)

Salads
Asparagus, artichoke and wild rice salad (gf, v)
Asparagus, capsicum and rocket salad (gf, v)
Autumnal Roasted Vegetable and Fig Salad (gf, v)
Avocado, Pear and Pecan salad (gf)
Beet red salad (gf, v)
Beetroot and apple salad with crimson dressing (gf)
Beetroot and pomegranate tabbouleh (v)
Bread, Dukkah and Salad Platter
Bill’s Broccoli Rice Salad (gf, v)
Carrot with Lime and Mint (gf, v)
Cauliflower, cranberry, feta and walnut sala d (gf)
Cauliflower and sesame salad (gf, v)
Celery, Watercress and Cauliflower Salad (gf, v)
Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Sun-dried Tomatoes (gf, v)
Cranberry and mustard coleslaw (gf, v)
Dill pickle potato salad (gf, v)
Eastern European Potato Salad (gf)
Fennel and raspberry salad (gf, v)
Green Bean and Broccoli Tabbouleh (v)
Green on green salad (broad bean, peas and rocket) (gf, v)
Lemony Mediterranean Salad
Lentil Salad with Haloumi and Asparagus (gf)
Macedonian eggplant salad (gf, v)
Marinated Tomato Salad (gf, v)
Orange, Berry and Green Salad (gf, v)
Peach and pineapple salsa (gf, v)
Peasant potato salad (gf)
Pesto Pasta Salad
Pumpkin, pomegranate and orange salad with spiced walnuts
Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Lemon Dressing (gf, v)
'Raw' mock fried rice (cauliflower salad) (gf, v)
Roasted beetroot and haloumi salad (gf)
Simple salad suggestions (gf, v)
Spicy peanut and lime coleslaw (gf, v)
Spinach and strawberry salad with pomegranate vinaigrette (gf, v)
Strawberry and Cucumber Salsa (gf, v)
Tabouli (parsley and tomato) (v)
Tambo salad with preserved lemon and capers (gf, v)
Tex Mex Salad (gf, v)
Thai Style Salad with Noodles (gf, v)
White bean and vegetable salad with a splash of red (gf, v)
Winter Ravioli Salad
Winter Roasts Vegetable Salad (gf)

Pasta/Noodles/Risotto
Asparagus, Mint and Lemon Risotto (gf)
Baked gnocchi with radicchio, gorgonzola and walnuts
Beetroot Gnocchi with Pea Pesto
Beetroot risotto with chocolate and walnuts (gf)
Broad Bean Pesto (gf)
Cavolo Nero and Chickpea Pasta
Creamy pumpkin macaroni cheese
Creamy Spinach Walnut Pasta
Creamy Vodka Pasta Sauce
Easy Noodle Soup (gf, v)
Genovese-style pappardelle
Green lasagne with broccoli and rocket pesto
Jarlsberg tempeh casserole
Macaroni cheese
Neofolk Buckwheat Pasta Bake (gf)
Painless pasta
Pasta with mint and parmesan
Pasta with spinach, chickpeas and facon
Potato and Pasta Bake
Pumpkin and Pecorino Pasta Sauce
Pumpkin, Apple and Sage Risotto (gf, v)
Pumpkin, tomato and spinach pasta sauce/salad (v)
Quick and spicy noodles (gf, v)
Red Russian Pasta (v)
Roasted Asparagus, Tomato and Caper Pasta (v)
Roasted Vegetable Pasta
Russian lite macaroni cheese
Sauceless Garden Lasagne
Silverbeet and ravioli stew
Soy bombs and tomato sauce on top of spaghetti (v)
Spinach capsicum and feta pasta
Sweet Potato, Brussels Sprouts and Feta Risotto (gf)
Vegetarian Bolognaise
Vegetarian Lasagne

Oven Bakes
Autumn Pumpkin and Millet Bake (gf, v)
Baked Beans (gf, v)
Baked Blushing dumplings
Baked Eggplants with Cashews
Baked Feta with Tomatoes (gf)
Baked Potatoes with beans and pesto (gf)
Banana and Spinach au Gratin
Beetroot Koftas in Carrot Sauce (gf)
Broccoli roulade with tomato sauce
Chickpea broccoli casserole (v)
Great Stew of Darkness (gf, v)
Gruyere profiteroles with pea sauce
The Enchanted Broccoli Forest (gf)
Fantastic Falafels (v)
Leek and tomato crumble (v)
Mediterranean Rice Slice (gf, v)
Mediterranean stuffed peppers (gf, v)
Nicki’s Nana’s Chulent (v)
Polenta cups with green pea puree (gf, v)
Pumpkin and quinoa tagine (gf)
Pumpkin and Sausage Roast (v)
Shepherd’s Pie with Pesto (gf)
Soft Polenta with Tomato Sauce (gf)
Spinach, Cauliflower and Fennel Gratin (v)
Swinging Pancake Stack
Turnip, Mushroom and Pecan Galettes (gf)
Under the Doona Veggie Crumble
Vegetarian Cassoulet

Nutroasts/Loaves/Burgers/Snags
Beggars Burgers
Broccoli and hazelnut burgers
Carrot and Mushroom Loaf
Carrot and Nut Rissoles with Red Onion Gravy (gf, v)
Carrot, Parsnip and Cashew Loaf (gf, v)
Cereal Nut Roast
Cheese and Walnut Nutloaf
Cheesy Nutloaf (gf)
Chestnut, Walnut and Mushroom nut roast (gf)
Chickpea cutlets (v)
Chorizo Sausages (v)
Henderson's Vegetarian Haggis (v)
Michaelmas Loaf
Mushroom, chestnut and couscous sausages
Nutroast
Parsnip Nut Roast (v)
Pumpkin, Carrot and Lentil Loaf
Purple falafel with vegetables (v)
Red Lentil Loaf
Red Rascal Burgers
Roasted Beetroot Tofu Burgers (gf, v)
Shamburgers
Smoked tofu and bean burgers (gf, v)
Spicy Vegetable Loaf with Yoghurt Sauce (gf, v)
Tofu, carrot and zucchini burgers
Tofu and lemongrass nuggets with chilli sauce
Tofu and spinach nutroast (gf)
Vegetable nut crumble
Vegetable nutloaf
Vegetarian Haggis (v)
Walnut and mushroom nutroast (v)

Pastry/Pies/Tarts
Brie, tomato and zucchini tart
Broccolini and brie tart
Crustless asparagus and potato quiche
Fontina onion and potato tart
Hubert the Hog’s Head
Leek Tofu Quiche (v)
Liz O'Brien's Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
Mexican croustade (v)
Mushroom Yoghurt Pie with Spinach Crust
Pierogi with Cabbage, Walnuts and Blue Cheese
Polenta Pizza Tart (gf, v)
Pumpkin Cornmeal Quiche
Red Onion, Feta and Olive Tart
Sephardic spinach filo cigars
Spinach and potatoe pasties
Spinach and ricotta pie with filo roses
Vegetable Cheese Pie
Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
Will's farmhouse (mini) pies

Stews/Stovetop
Apricot and Orange Glazed Tofu (gf, v)
Bean, barley and tomato stew (v)
Bean stew with honey and cider (gf)
Bulghur wheat with aubergines and mint (v)
Coconut Black-Eyed Bean Stew (gf, v)
Deconstructed pumpkin hummus (gf, v)
Fried rice with vegetables, pineapple and cashews (gf, v)
Green broccoli quinoa (gf)
Italian rice and beans (gf, v)
Mushroom and Lentil Ragout (gf, v)
Paella with brown rice (gf, v)
Peanut Stew with Banana (gf, v)
Potato, mushroom and tofu paprikash
Prune and Bean Casserole (gf, v)
Roast Vegetables with Fruity Lentils (gf, v)
Rumbledethumps (gf, v)
Silverbeet, cauli, chickpea and preserved lemon stew (gf)
Spanish Vegetable Casserole (gf, v)
Szekely Gulyas
Vegetarian Pad Thai (gf, v)

Chilli Non Carnes/Tacos
Black bean and apricot chilli non carne (gf, v)
Black bean and sweet potato burritos (v)
Borlotti Bean Mole with Roast Pumpkin and Silverbeet (gf, v)
Bulgur and beans chilli non carne (v)
Chilli non carne with lager (gf, v)
Isa's Chili sin Carne al Mole (gf, v)
Kidney Bean Stew (gf, v)
Mexicale Pie
My breakfast burritos (gf, v)
Oaxaca Tacos (with potato and cheese) (gf)
Pumpkin, bean and tofu enchiladas (gf, v)
Shark fin chilli non carne (gf)
Spinach, pumpkin and bean burritos (gf)
Tacos (gf)

Curries etc

Aloo Jeera (potatoes and cumin) (gf, v)
Cauliflower Dal with Panch Phoran (gf, v)
Cauliflower in spicy peanut gravy (gf, v)
Chana Masala (gf, v)
Dal Makhani (gf)
Easy Dahl (gf, v)
Mughlai Biryani (gf, v)
Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese curry) (gf)
Roasted Vegetable Vindaloo (gf, v)
Red Lentil Dosa (gf, v)

Sausage curry casserole (v)
Spiced yoghurt rice with nectarines and mint (gf)
Vegetable and Chickpea Rogan Josh (gf, v)
Zucchini Koftas with Tomato Gravy (gf, v)

Desserts
Apricot and almond sponge with toffee sauce (gf)
Apricot sponge (v)
Apricot crumble with cranberries and hazelnuts
Baked berry, ginger and treacle pudding
Berry and coconut crumble (gf)
Butterscotch pudding (v)
Choc-nut Banana and Fruit Kebabs (gf, v)
Chocolate Pudding (v)
Chocolate pumpkin mini cheesecakes (gf)
Chocolate Rice Pudding (gf, v)
Choc-Berry Bread Pudding
Christmas Pudding
Condensed milk fudge sauce (gf)
Finnish Blueberry Soup (Mustikkakeitto) (gf, v)
Healthyish sticky toffee pudding (gf)
Nectarine and raspberry strudel
Notella Chocolate Sauce (gf, v)

Pine-berry fruit salad (gf, v)
Pumpkin and chocolate bread pudding (v)
Raspberry and yoghurt parfait
Red fruit salad (gf, v)
Rhubarb and Raspberry Crumble (v)
Steamed Strawberry Pudding
Strawberry and Passionfruit Icy Poles (gf, v)
Strawberry Soup (gf, v)

Summer fruit salad (gf, v)

Baking with Yeast
Bagels (v)
Cheese and Onion Bread
Finnish Rye Bread (v)
Hot Cross Buns
Isa's Pizza Bases (v)
MultiSeed Bread (v)
Nigella’s Norwegian Mountain Loaf (v)
Oatmeal Beer Bread (v)
Oatmeal and Treacle Bread (v)
Pumpkin bread
Russian Vegetable Bread (v)
Sesame and Lemon Bread (v)
Sprouted green lentil and bulgar bread (v)
Walnut and Fig Bread (v)

Savoury Baking without Yeast
Beer Bread (v)
Beetroot, goats cheese and onion bread
Birdseed Bread
Buttermilk and lemon myrtle damper
Cheese, Onion and Potato Bread
Cheesy Almond Muffins (gf)
Cheesy cornbread
Chickpea muffins (gf)
Corn bread with nut roast
Feta and pepper crackers
Gluten Free Cornbread (gf)
Olive oil parmesan scones
Potato Scones (v)
Pumpkin Cornbread (v)
Pumpkin and Goats Cheese Muffins
Pumpkin scones
Remembrance Soda Bread
Roasted Vegetable Crackers (v)
Scottish Oatcakes
Sour Skon
Spinach and feta scones
Sweet potato soda bread
Three cheese and beer bread
Tofu and pesto crackers (v)
Wholesome Guinness Soda Bread
Yeastfree rye and caraway bread (v)
Yorkshire Puddings

Sweet Baking - Cakes/Brownies
Apple and date cake
Awesomely Delicious GF Pumpkin Brownies (gf, v)
Butterscotch surprise cake
Cheese and apple cake
Chewy chunky blondies
Choc caramel banana cake

Chocolate, cherry and chestnut cake (gf)
Choc-Lime Marble Cake
Chocolate brownies with chickpea flour (gf)
Chocolate and Coconut and Date Cake (v)
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate fruitcake
Chocolate mug cake
Chocolate pumpkin spice cake
Chocolate Spice Gingerbread
Citrus Grape Cake (v)
Coconut Chai Cake (v)
Eggless Chocolate Cake
GF Apricot and Cranberry Cake (gf)
Ginger Fluff Sponge (gf)
Guinness Chocolate Cake
Heavenly chocolate cake (gf)
Heidi’s chocolate cake
Hummingbird cake
Jill Dupleix's flourless chocolate cake (gf)
Melt and mix chocolate chunk mud cake
Moist and nutty carrot cake
Mum’s Banana Cake
One Bowl Flourless Chocolate Cake (gf)
Orkney Ginger Broonie
Paragon chocolate orange cake
Peanut Butter Brownies
Pear and Spice Cake
Plain Butter Cake
Spring Chocolate Brownies (v)
Sticky prune cake
Vegan Chocolate Spice Cake (v)
Walnut Brownies
Walnut fudge cake
Wattleseed Mud Cake
Wholemeal Chocolate Cake

Sweet Baking - Muffins/Little Cakes
Apricot, Berry and Bran Muffins
Banana and Coconut Cupcakes (gf)
Cherry Banana Muffins
Chocolate avocado cupcakes (v)
Choc Honey Muffins
Fruity Quinoa Muffins (v)
Full Moon Cupcakes
Gluten Free Cupcakes (gf)
Hot Milk Cupcakes
Kraut Choc Cupcakes
Lemon Yoghurt Cupcakes (gf)
Marmalade, blueberry and nut muffins (gf, v)
Moist Bran Muffins
Nutella cupcakes
Oaty Rhubarb Muffins
Pear and walnut muffins
Pumpkin choc chip muffins (gf)
Queijadinhas (macaroon cupcakes) (gf)
Raspberry, coconut and apple muffins
Raspberry Brownies
Small Cakes (gf)

Sweet Baking - Slices
Apricot condensed milk slice
Chocolate Caramel Slice
Coconut ice (gf)
Fig and Almond Bars (gf, v)
Fruit, Nut and Tahini Slice (v)
Hedgehog
Hedgehog fudge with dried cherries
Honey parkin
Mars Bar Slice
Mock turtle
Pooh Bear Honey Slice
Pumpkin muesli slice (v)

Sweet Baking - Biscuits/Cookies
ANZAC Biscuits (v)
Balsamic Fudge Drops (v)
Best ever chocolate cut out cookies
Birdseed biscuits with choc chips
Butter biscuits with cocoa nibs and candied orange
Cake Crumb Cookies
Cashew Choc Chip Cookies (gf, v)
Choc Banana Oat Cookies
Choc Cherry Cut-Out Cookies
Choc chip and dried cherry cookies
Choc Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Chocolate and cranberry shortbread
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgies (v)
Chocolate Sesame Cookies (v)
Cornmeal Choc Chip Cookies (gf)
Gingerbread bush buddies
Gingerbread choc chip cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (gf)
Gluten free gingerbread cut out cookies (gf, v)
Grey ghost pumpkin cookies
Maple walnut chocolate chip cookies
Maple walnut cookies (v)
Orange and Rose Petal Biscuits
Potato chip choc chip cookies
Walnut and quince thumbprint cookies (v)

Other Sweet Treats
Apple and Cheese Pita Wraps
Apricot and cheese balls (gf)
Banana and choc chip scones
Berry scone wedges
Brandy butter and pudding truffles
Cheese and apple scones
Coconut Almond Balls (gf, v)
Condensed milk macaroons (gf)
Condensed milk and pudding truffles
Grubs (gf)
Lemonade scones (v)
No-Bake Chocolate Cookies (gf, v)
Orange and date scones
Potato boston bun (v)
Pumpkin scones
Scones (v)
Strawberry and Passionfruit Icy Poles (gf, v)
Wattleseed Cashew Truffles (gf, v)

Novelty Birthday Cakes
Blues Clues Cake
Club Penguin Cake
Crown Cake
Fairy Castle Cake
Farmyard Cake
Flower Cake
Green Giraffe Cake
Handbag Cake
Number Two Cake
Octopus Cake
Oven Cake
Sparkles the Rabbit Cake
Superhero Kapow Cake!
Vampire Cake

Sauces/Condiments
Apricot chutney (gf, v)
Asparagus Sauce (gf)
Bush mushroom and 'sausage' gravy (v)
Cherry salsa (gf, v)
Cinnamon tomato sauce (gf, v)
Gravy (v)
Green pea sauce (gf, v)
Lessarella vegan cheese (v)
Notella Chocolate Sauce (gf, v)
Oatmeal gravy (v)
Onion and Sundried Tomato Gravy (gf, v)
Paradise Chutney (gf, v)
Peach and pineapple jam (gf, v)
Pear and Walnut Chutney (gf, v)
Pico de Gallo Salsa (gf, v)
Pineapple and Banana Chutney (gf)
Port Gravy (gf, v)
Plum Chutney (gf, v)
Pumpkin and Pecorino Sauce (gf)
Pumpkin chutney (gf, v)
Raspberry Vinegar (gf, v)
Red onion gravy (gf, v)
Red wine sauce (gf, v)
Rhubarb Dipping Sauce (gf, v)
Rhubarb Relish (gf, v)
Roast Pepper and Tahini Coulis (gf, v)
Sarah Brown's tomato sauce (gf, v)
Tahini sauce (gf, v)
Simple Tomato Sauce (gf, v)
Tomato chutney with cranberries (gf, v)
Vegan Lunchbox Cheese Sauce (gf, v)
Vegan Mayonnaise (gf, v)
Worcestershire Sauce (gf, v)

Drinks
Apricot and strawberry punch (gf, v)
Apricot, pomegranate and orange smoothie (gf, v)
Banana, cranberry and raspberry smoothie (gf)
Berry and banana smoothie (gf, v)
Blueberry, banana and oat smoothie
Chilled apple green tea (gf, v)
Deep purple juice (gf, v)
Ginger banapplerry smoothie (gf, v)
Kiwi fruit, avocado and spinach smoothie (gf, v)
Mulled apple juice (gf, v)
Orange, fig and ginger smoothie (gf, v)
Purple passionate pine pom juice (gf, v)
Raspberry, apricot and pumpkin smoothie (gf, v)
Rhubarb and Raspberry Smoothie (gf, v)
Spiced red currant and orange punch (gf, v)
Strawberry cheesecake smoothie (gf)
Strawberry, kiwi and orange smoothie (gf)
Tropical peach smoothie (gf, v)

Breakfasts
Blueberry, banana and oat smoothie
French Toast with Baked Rhubarb, Strawberries and Banana (v)
Lazy Fry-Up Brunch (v)
Microwave Muesli (v)
My breakfast burritos (gf, v)
Oaty pancakes with berries
Potato Scones (v)
Pumpkin buckwheat pancakes
Raspberry Buttermilk Pancakes
Roasted Vegetable Tofu Scramble (gf, v)
Zuccchini and Cheese Fritters (gf)

Eating Out - Melbourne City
ACMI Cafe
Café Issus
Cookie
Degraves Espresso Bar
Dymocks Bookstore Cafe
Gaylords
Gopals
Kenzan @ the GPO
Nila

Eating Out - Melbourne's Suburbs

Andre's Coffee House (Coburg)
Baba (East Brunswick)
Bimbos (Fitzroy)
Black Ruby (Carlton North)
Café Bellino (Brunswick)
The Carlton Paragon Cafe (Carlton North)
CERES Café (East Brunswick)
East Brunswick Club (East Brunswick)
Hellenic Republic (East Brunswick)
Lentil as Anything (Brunswick)
Gravy Train Cafe (Yarraville)
The Green Grocer (North Fitzroy)
Green Refectory Café (Brunswick)
A Minor Place (Brunswick)

Mojo's Weird Pizza (Clifton Hill)
Monsalvat Café (Eltham)
Moroccan Soup Bar (North Fitzroy)
Mr Natural Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza (North Fitzroy)
Old Fire Station Café Gallery (Preston)
Rathdowne Street Food Store (Carlton North)
Rumi (East Brunswick)
The Vegie Bar (Fitzroy)
Tom Phat (Brunswick)
Vina Bar (Carlton)

Eating Out - outside Melbourne
A Break in Beechworth
Darwin Days
GO café (Geelong)
Harvest Café (Daylesford)
Hobart Highlights
Maloa House (Woodend)
Miss Marple’s Tea Room (Sassafras)
Philip Island Pleasures

Markets, Food Shopping and Picnics
Carlton Farmers Market (Carlton)
Collingwood children’s farm Farmers Market (Abbotsford)
Crabapple Cupcake Bakery (Prahran)
Lazy Leftover Lunch at the Lake (Coburg)
Moonlight Cinema, Botanic Gardens (South Yarra)
Queen Victoria Market (City)
Slow Food City Marketplace 2008 (City)
Sydney Road – bakery tour and street party (Brunswick)

Reflections
About Me, Part 1 – mostly about Melbourne and food...
About Me, Part 2 – mostly about travels and food
About Me Me Me Me
Accolades and some random facts
Eight random facts about me and my day
Favourite food books
Fridge Door Confessions
Green Home, Green Houses
Happy New Year 2009
Hospital food and mum’s cooking
Housekeeping
How does our garden grow!
If music be the food... (food in song titles and band names)
In Praise of Cookbooks
My Cookbook List
My Personal Vegetarian 100 List
A Neb at Nut Roast – event Round Up
A Neb at Nut Roast - an invitation and nut roast information
Planet of the Blogs (reflections and resources about blogging)
Purple Pleasures, Purple Dinner
Random facts that speak of me
Ripple in Still Water
Teatowel Interlude
Top Ten Photos
Welcome little one! (Sylvia's birth)
What does home mean to you?
Where have all the vegetarian salads gone?
Why do we need another food blog anyway?

NOTES:

All recipes are vegetarian:
- I try to acknowledge the source of recipes where I can, but I have been jotting down recipes for years so I can't always be sure of the source - please let me know if I have not acknowledged your recipe and I will be happy to amend the post. I also cook a lot of dishes which are derived from my experience of cooking and reading but don't have any attributable source.
- where I use Worcestershire Sauce, it is a vegetarian version
- I try to use vegetarian cheese but I don't always manage it

v = vegan or vegan-friendly, You might like to consider
- you may need to substitute soy, rice or nut milk for cow's milk
- you may need to substitute agave/maple syrup for honey - for more information on agave, go here.

gf = gluten free or gluten free friendly. You might like to consider:
- you may need to check your soy sauce is gluten free
- you may need to check your noodles are gluten free - I have only labelled pasta recipes gf where the noodles tend to be traditionally gluten free such as rice noodles, but you could use some of the pasta sauces by using gluten free pasta.
- I don't include any recipes with oats in my recipes labelled gf
- the best gf flour mix I have found is Casalare gluten free flour

Measurements. The measurements I use are Australian cup (1 cup = 250ml) and spoon measurements, and/or metric. For conversions, go to Real Food for Real People or Gourmet Sleuth.

Useful Websites on Ingredients:
- Market Fresh - photos of vegetables and when they are in season in Australia.
- Gourmet Sleuth - a little information on a lot of ingredients
- Cooking Light - Flavour Profiles - more information on less ingredients

Please let me know of any mistakes or broken links on this page or on my blog by emailing me at gggiraffe07ATyahooDOTcomDOTau or by posting a comment.

My blog started in April 2007.

The Wall, Rose Petals and Biscuits

2009-11-10T11:52:00.009+11:00

It was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall yesterday. I was not really interested in politics when it came down in 1989 so it wasn’t a huge event in my life. But I did visit Berlin in 1998 and viewed the remains of the wall including the wonderful “graffiti” on the East Side Gallery. So to celebrate the anniversary, I have a special photo of the weekend’s biscuits with one of my travel pictures and my tacky souvenir of a little bottle of rubble from the wall.

While the world was remembering the fall of the wall, my family celebrated my brother, Dave’s birthday. I went down to Geelong on the weekend for a barbecue and cake. I took down some pink heart-shaped biscuits, which are not really suitable for a boy’s birthday, but I had a yen to try them. They gave Dave a smile anyway.

I saw the cut out biscuits recipe on Cakelaw’s blog a few weeks back and bookmarked it. She used lavender, which I want to try. Then soon after she made the recipe again with rose petals. It was perfect timing as I was looking for ideas for some rose petals I had just purchased. At the same time I bought some beetroot powder and decided to try making the biscuits pink with it.

They are part of the amazing Herbies spices range that I found at Two Prickly Pears in Lygon Street. When I opened the rose petals the heady aroma took me back to my childhood. I am not sure why. Possibly because we would attempt to make perfumes with petals from the garden. I hoped the scent would remain in the biscuits but was not as strong once baked with the more dominant orange zest. The beetroot powder surprised me with a strong smell of beetroot but I was glad that this smell didn’t remain with the baking.

I decided to bake these biscuits at 10.30 on the night before going to my parents’ place. I was filled with foreboding and feared I would regret this as I have had a few baking spells late at night when I am waiting for something to come out of the oven and I just want to go to bed. But these biscuits were a cinch. Cakelaw put her dough in the fridge to chill and warned that the dough was so soft that it needed to be handled quickly and carefully. I didn’t chill the dough and found it quite easy to handle. It helped that I rolled it out on baking paper but I hardly used any flour. I was finished by 11.30, even with having to settle Sylvia during baking.

The dough might have been softer for Cakelaw because she is in Brisbane, which is hotter than Melbourne was on Friday (though I might need to chill the dough if baking it today with temperature at 34 C). She might have also found it harder to handle because she used larger cookie cutters. I decided to use heart shaped cookie cutters because they seemed appropriate for pink rose biscuits but you should check out Cakelaw’s gorgeous biscuit shapes – baby bottles, prams, ballgowns and shoes.

We loved these biscuits in our house. E was very impressed. They were a bit like pretty shortbreads – pink, very soft and buttery with a subtle fragrance and studded with the odd rose petal. I was impressed that they stayed pink. I was a bit unsure of the beetroot powder and didn’t use much, partly because I was worried it would flavour the biscuits but I think I will try using more next time. One reason I bought it was that it seems a more natural way to colour food than the usual chemical-filled pink food colouring.

After the barbecue on the weekend, we had a birthday cake for Dave. My mum had made a sponge cake with cream in it. As usual, she couldn’t resist making a few other treats. We were all amazed at her take on gluten free jelly slice. This is a favourite of my childhood, which I rarely have now because I have not come across a gelatine-free version (but I must try one with agar agar). It had well cooked Aunty Kath’s choc chip cookies and butter on the base, condensed milk, cream cheese and lemon in the middle layer and jelly on top. She made delicious little caramel tarts with gingernut crusts and some caramelised leftover condensed milk. My pink hearts joined the spread and were appreciated but too many in the family are on diets that don’t allow such food.

E was poorly and stayed at home but Sylvia and I had a nice time. She loved the swing in the yard and played with Cooper – when he wasn’t sucking on the door. My dad set up a tent in the backyard for my nieces who had lots of fun playing in it. I was amused to hear about 4 year old Ella discovering the origin of meat last week. She asked about the pork they were eating. When told it was a pig’s leg, she was asking about the pig who only had three legs. No, it was killed, she was told. Ella then quite cheerfully went around telling people about the dead pig! I was surprised she wasn’t that upset but at least she knows where her food comes from.

As for the rose petal biscuits, you only have to look around my parents’ garden to see where they come from. It is a blaze of colourful roses, although they are starting to feel the heat. Biscuits from the kitchen and roses from the garden are simple pleasures I highly recommend.

Orange and Rose Petal Biscuits
Makes about 36 small biscuits
From Cakelaw

125g butter at room temperature (I used margarine)
55g sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons orange zest (of about half an orange)
150g plain flour
60g almond meal
35g cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tablespoon dried rose petals, chopped (or lavender)
½ tsp beetroot powder (optional)

Mix butter, orange zest, sugar and the egg yolk in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix till it comes together into a dough. At this point, Cakelaw flattened hers between two sheets of baking paper and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes but I didn’t and my dough was ok to handle. Briefly knead dough into a smooth ball.

Preheat oven to 180 C and line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats. Roll out dough on a sheet of baking paper to about 5mm thick. Cut shapes and transfer to prepared trays with a little room between – but the biscuits hardly spread. Bake for about 12 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on the trays.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth. Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand, and place between two large pieces of baking paper. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to a thickness of approximately 5mm. Roll out dough on baking paper and cut shapes – transfer to prepared trays.

On the Stereo:
The Velvet Underground and Nico