In My Kitchen May 2014

There are not many surprises in this In My Kitchen post for those who have been reading my blog.  It is full of Easter, E's birthday treats, food from a few outings and a few choice picks from the supermarket.  That just about sums up my life over the last month!

Above is my haul from a visit to the Flemington Farmers Market.  You might spy some spaghetti squash that I stuffed recently.  The plums and apples went into a crumble but the quince are still waiting to be used.  I made more golden beetroot nut roast, a rice and vegie bake, and lots of soup.  The Red Beard sourdough bread was soft and delicious.  We also loved the apple juice and bagels for lunches.

It seems only fair I update you on the vegan Vegusto melty mozzarella cheese that I have mentioned recently.  I was not overly impressed at first but it has grown on me (not literally).  I had so many good ideas for using the cheese in cooking but found myself unable to resist it grilled on toast.  It was just so creamy and cheesy and delicious.

Here is the obligatory photo of some of the Easter eggs in the house.  We still have a few left.  After Easter I was tempted by the little eggs on sale.  I made an amazing sweet slice with condensed milk and mini eggs.  It was so moreish it was dangerous.  That recipe will have its own post.

Like me, my mum had her first year of baking sourdough hot cross buns.  Hers were delicious and looked prettier than mine.

E was given a few foodie items for his birthday.  My parents found him this Nigata Beer Edinburgh Premium Ale.  It is still in the fridge but he was most amused by the inane introduction: "This beer tastes delicious with a smooth deep flavour.  I have been looking for a recipe for delicious beer.  Now I've got it."

I bought E some crisps from Treats from Home.  He loves crisps but we try not to just buy them occasionally as treats.  These packets show how crisps are now getting posh.  Well mostly. 

I tasted the Guinness crisps and liked them.  We agree that if blind tasted we wouldn't have guessed Guinness.  It was more a deep savoury flavour that made the crisps look a little dirty.  The label had lots of chatter about how you eat these with your mates at the pub or watching the weekend match.  Not for the nerd by himself in the corner then!

I didn't eat the Walkers chicken crisps though most Brits would recognise this brand.  What struck me about this packet was the information that they were made "with free range chicken from Devon".  Hands up anyone who would taste the difference in a packet of crisps!

And then some crisps are just like you remember them.  We loved the label on the Monster Munch saying "new old! bigger like they used to be!"  It seems everything old is new again.  Though I hope the person who decided to make Monster Munch smaller has been severely reprimanded.  What were they thinking!

I bought E this tomato chilli relish at the farmers market.  He had a yen for chilli jam but there was none to be found.  This seemed a good alternative.

Lastly in the bundle of birthday goodies was this Fortnum and Mason Sir Nigel's Vintage Marmalade Shortbread Round that were Handmade in Edinburgh.  I couldn't resist this for a special gift.  They are very nice.  Yet I am still reeling from paying $24 at David Jones for 150g of biscuits.  There were other interesting flavours in the range but I wont be buying any more.

We went to a party a few weeks back and the main vegetarian food was samosas.  They were huge with sturdy pastry and soft comforting vegies inside.  When we left the host gave us a bag of these beautiful samosas.  They were delicious reheated the next day for lunch. 

We bought these seaweed snacks at the Fitzroy Market.  Sylvia and I loved them.  Then I looked a bit more closely at the packaging and found it was all foreign to me.  I hope they didn't have fish in them.  I don't think so.  But if they did I had no way of knowing.

I quite like this 100th anniversary packaging on the White Wings flour.  I find myself feeling sad in the supermarket these days.  The supermarkets are becoming so aggressive in marketing their cheap own brand products that big food corporations like White Wings start to look like the little guy.  I sort of feel sorry for them and then remember they have been doing this to smaller manufacturers for years.  No wonder I find myself feeling uncomfortable as I check out the shelves of products.

I was excited to find some brown basmati rice in the supermarkets (left).  It is something I have seen on blogs and been interested in.  It tastes delicious but I am not sure it is any easier or healthier than regular brown rice (feel free to correct me).  I already stock white basmati rice (my quick rice), brown long grain rice (right), sushi rice and arborio rice in my kitchen.  I can't see brown basmati becoming part of my regular purchases. 

The brown basmati rice was great with the Down Home Curry with Tofu & Broccoli from Isa Does It.  Yes I was cooking from a cookbook but I didn't really follow the recipe closely or take photos.  Mine had chickpeas and silverbeet!  It was delicious and even better the second day.

I am sending this post to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for her In My Kitchen event.  Head over to check out what is happening in other bloggers' kitchens.