Lentil Salad and the Dream Festival

I woke this morning with the sun streaming in the bedroom window. We ate breakfast in the backyard. Now that we are in October it well and truly feels like spring in our garden. There are lots of new buds on our lemon and lime trees. The mint is colonising the parsley pot. New bay leaves are sprouting. The change of the season feels well and truly upon up when the clocks go forward for daylight saving (which is even earlier this year).

I had my first peach of the season yesterday. A pleasing sign that summer is on the way. But really it is the hopeful young buds of spring rather than the fierce heat of summer that I love. The sun is warm and washing dries quickly, but it is not yet so hot that it will burn our noses or the cat’s ears. However despite dreading the fierce heat of summer, we have stone fruit, berries and dinner in the backyard to look forward to.

Meanwhile it was a fine spring day to be outside. We headed in to town to join the crowds at Birrarung Marr Park by the Yarra River where the Dream Festival is being held this weekend. It is a festival of art and music with a silly name but great spectacle. The park was filled with rows and rows of strange white characters that in a Dr Who episode would come to life and try and take over the planet Earth (probably friends of the Daleks). Plus there was ambient electronic music with a hint of neo-prog (that is E's description).

There was also an exhibition of giant blow-up ‘art installations’ (up to 8 foot high) on the water who looked like they might attack Dr Who. It felt quite odd to be walking along the floating walkway to view the installations in the river. But enjoyable to view these characters which were an interesting mixture of fun, spooky and thoughtful.

I hope the sunny photos of my afternoon will put you in the mood for a salad. This is one I have dug out of my backlog which I made on a day just like this back in September not so long ago. Perfect for celebrating fine spring weather.

I found the recipe on http://www.taste.com.au/ which has a great archive of recipes from Australian foodie magazines. I reduced the lentils, added some asparagus for extra greenery and made a few other small changes. It was a fantastically quick and easy dinner. So good in fact that I am sending this to Sra of When My Soup Came Alive who is hosting the fourth helping of My Legume Love Affair which was founded by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Lentil Salad with Haloumi and Asparagus
(adapted from Super Food Ideas - March 2004 , Page 57)
Serves 4

1 x 400g can brown lentils, drained and rinsed
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber, halved and sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
2 sprigs of mint leaves, shredded
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
250g block haloumi cheese, sliced in 4
250g asparagus, trimmed of woody ends
Olive oil spray
Lemon wedges to serve

Combine lentils, onion, cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, mint, lemon juice, garlic and oil in a bowl. Season then toss to combine.

Heat large non-stick frying pan and then spray with olive oil spray. Place haloumi in frypan and position asparagus around haloumi (we had this over two nights so were able to cook the asparagus with the haloumi which gave the asparagus some pleasing flavour). Cook til haloumi is golden on each side – about 2 minutes the first side and a little less on the second side. Drain haloumi on kitchen towels.

Serve lentil salad accompanied by warm haloumi and asparagus. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the haloumi. The lentil salad can be made a day ahead.

On the stereo:
fabriclive.07 – John Peel

Tahini Silverbeet and Chickpea Salad

Here is a meal that I made a couple of weekends ago. My only notes on the meal are E’s pronouncement that it was superb and two lists of ingredients written in such a hurry that it is hard to tell where one ends and the next starts. But I wanted to post it because it was such a great quick meal.

The salad was adapted from a recipe made by Mary at Shazam in the Kitchen. Mary was holding a regular series of Legume Wednesdays with lots of great legume dishes each week. She is finding herself too busy to continue the series at the moment (for which I have a lot of empathy), although she is still managing to keep up some entertaining posts. But the legacy lives on in my list of bookmarked recipes which I hope to try some time.

I have made a few changes to the salad. I kept thinking of adding preserved lemon as I need to start using up the jar in the back of the fridge. I was concerned that it might be a bit overwhelming. However the next day it made such a fabulous lunch that I think this salad might be better for sitting overnight in the fridge.

The tahini silverbeet accompaniment was made with more of the delightfully colourful silverbeet (a.k.a. rainbow chard) my mum brought me from her garden. I found this recipe in Cranks Fast Food in the library months ago. The recipe was for silverbeet but I had other vegetables to use up which worked fine but aren’t necessary.

I loved the tahini with it. I would go as far to say that this makes silverbeet (one of my most hated vegetable as a child) far more palatable than cooking it in a gratin. It was quicker and not so rich. I served it with the chickpea salad and rice but it would go handsomely with many other accompaniments – toast, salads, roast vegies, nut roast, pilaf etc etc.

Unfortunately my instructions for this dish are fairly vague as I can barely remember what I did. But when I scribbled it out in the library I only wrote down the ingredients and so I think this is a recipe where you can wing it and still have delicious results. I have never had any desire to grow silverbeet in my backyard but I am starting to think maybe it would be a good thing if I could eat this Silverbeet with Tahini more often!

Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Sun-dried Tomatoes
(Adapted from Shazam in the Kitchen)
Serves 2-3

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
1 capsicum (or cucumber), diced
¼ tsp cumin
12 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
Juice of a small lemon
1 tsp garlic flakes (or 1 clove of garlic, crushed)
1 dessertspoon of olive oil
1 tbsp preserved lemon (or less), rinsed and finely chopped
¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
Seasoning

Mix all ingredients together. Can be made the day before. Season. Serve at room temperature.

Silverbeet with Tahini
(adapted from Cranks Fast Food)
Serves 2 as a side dish

½ onion, cut in thin crescents
1 dessertspoon olive oil
4 silverbeet (or rainbow chard) leaves, chopped thinly
1½ tomato, chopped*
3 stalks asparagus, chopped small*
4 button mushrooms, sliced*
1 tsp garlic flakes
1 tbsp tahini
Pinch of salt
(optional – pinch nutmeg but I forgot)

* Extra vegetables are optional

Fry onion in oil for a few minutes til softened. Add silverbeet and cook a couple of minutes. Add tomato, asparagus, mushroom and garlic. Cook over high heat for a few minutes til all is wilted. Remove from heat and stir in tahini and pinch of salt.

On the stereo:
Space and Time: Steve Roach

NCR: 'Chinese' Soup

To look at my blog, you might think I dislike Chinese food. Very little of my recipes have any Chinese influence and I don’t tend to go to Chinese restaurants often. Unfortunately my experience of Chinese restaurants is not great. The last one I went to I ordered a plate of vegies because I didn’t want any of the heavy sauces. It came covered in grey goo. But I do love a good stir fry.

When I lived in student households I made stir fries all the time with guidance from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. They were great. Once I got the method worked out and did it regularly I did it well. Then I moved to a new kitchen and had to learn to do stir fries all over again. It has happened with a few instances of moving house that I have lost my stir fry mojo. In the kitchen I now use I don’t think I have come to grips with making them. Maybe one day.

Meanwhile I have found evidence that I really don’t do stir fries that often. I made a stir fry about a week ago partly because I discovered that I had a packet of hokkien noodles which were getting worryingly past the use by date. I picked up my bottle of sweet chilli sauce that I love in a stir fry and found it was over two years past the use by date. I threw it out and made the stir fry without. It was rubbish.

I was so disheartened that it will be a while before I try a stir fry again. Although I like Kathryn’s idea of her stir fry without a wok and might try that soon. It suits me as I have lost my wok along the way and am loathe to find space to store one in this kitchen.

So in my mission to use up noodles and get the stir fry vibe, I decided to try a noodle soup. I love noodle soups but rarely have the pleasure. When I eat out they are often made with meat or fish stock so I usually avoid them. Then if I make them at home E dislikes the thin watery soup. He also is not keen on my beloved miso soup (probably one reason I haven’t posted one here yet). I don't get too frustrated because when I met him he was not a fan of soup, so I think it is a fine compromise for him to eat as much of my soups as he does.

But every now and then I need to satisfy the whim despite E’s preferences. So the night after my disastrous stir fry I made a lovely Chinese-style tofu and vegetable soup. (I had specially planned to do this on a night when I made a dessert for E.) I am not overly confident with this sort of cooking, so I checked some recipes on the web and was most taken with one for a spinach noodle soup.

My mum had dropped off some silverbeet from her garden which I wanted to use. When I opened the bag she had given me I found it had wonderfully coloured red and yellow stalks. I often don’t eat the stalks of silverbeet but I was so delighted with the colours that I had hesitation in adding them to the soup. I think elsewhere this might be called rainbow chard. I also had quite a few of the vegies I had bought at the supermarket the previous night for the stir fry. One thing I learnt when making stir fries in the past is to prepare the vegetables before cooking. This was a useful lesson for this soup which also cooked quickly.

By the time I had finished, the recipe didn’t look at all like the one I started with. I am not even sure how accurate it is to claim it is Chinese. But it tasted very good. It had just the right combination of subtle spicy and sour flavours. The tofu was baked in a marinade so it was quite firm and tasty, as well as giving the soup more substance. And there were lots of lovely fresh vegetables. E was not overly impressed but I found it incredibly pleasing.

Holler and Lisa are asking for Hearty Vegetable Soups for their No Croutons Required event this month (entries due by 20 October). Hearty soups! I am craving lighter meals as we go into Spring. However, when I looked at the request for a bowl of soup that would be filling and satisfying enough to serve as a meal in itself, I decided this soup would be perfect in any season (with some tweaking of ingredients to allow for season). It certainly needs no accompaniment - just a good appetite and a love of soup!

Chinese-style Tofu, Vegetable and Noodle Soup
Serves 2-3

375g tofu, chopped
1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp vegetable oil
Juice of 1 small lemon

1 tsp vegetable oil
½ brown onion, cut in thin wedges
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ tsp finely grated ginger
½ medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
4 leaves silverbeet (or chard), finely sliced
4 stalks silverbeet (or chard), finely chopped
1 litre of water
1½ tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
½ tsp honey (or agave nectar)
1 tsp stock powder
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 stalks asparagus, trimmed and chopped
Handful of sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved
½ red capsicum, sliced thinly
4 mushrooms, sliced
220g hokkien noodles
Few drops sesame oil, to serve
Few drops Tabasco sauce, to serve

Toss tofu with tamari, garlic, oil and lemon juice in a roasting dish. Bake at 180 C for about 30 minutes or til starting to firm up but not too crispy. While tofu is baking, prepare the vegetables so when you start cooking the soup, the vegetables are ready and the tofu has come out of the oven.

Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and fry onion for about 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, carrot and silverbeet leaves and stalks. Fry about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients (including baked tofu) and bring to the boil (this took me about 10 minutes). Add a few drops of sesame oil and Tabasco sauce. Serve hot.

On the stereo:
Young Gifted and Black: 50 classic reggae hits: Various Artists

Pudla – for when your team lets you down!

My baby don’t care for golf or tennis
He says that football is just a menace
(from My Baby Just Cares for Me - June Hutton version)

We are not really terribly interested in sport in this house. I don’t think we watched a bit of the Olympics this year (apart from that on the news). Sport on the television is usually just a nuisance – it often means other shows we want to watch disappear. And I often don’t have a clue who is winning whatever tournament is flavour of the month.

When it comes to Aussie Rules Football, I don’t usually know what is happening. E and I have been known to play chess while the AFL Grand Final is on. When I was younger I was a keen Geelong supporter but they let me down too often and I found other interests. Now if you ask me my AFL team, I will confess to being a fair-weather fan - ie if they win I might be interested. So last year I was amazed to slowly notice that Geelong were on an incredible winning streak. They even went on to win the Grand Final in 2007 (for the first time in my lifetime). This year they entered the Grand Final with an impressive record of winning all but one game this season. The odds looked promising for back to back premierships.

I had promised E that if Geelong won yesterday I would make cupcakes iced in their colours – blue and white. He finally thought sport might have some worth. But the team spirit that I knew and loved in my youth returned to haunt me and yet again Geelong let me down and lost. So there were no cupcakes. Blue is a terribly unnatural colour to bake with, anyway.

So last night, not having been out to the shops and being in need of some hope, I turned back to a favourite colour – green! I remembered Lucy’s pudla which she said were for folk like me who didn’t want to leave the house to forage for dinner. Happily I did have all ingredients on hand – chickpea flour, frozen peas, spring onions!

Lucy says these quick and easy fried snacks are part of the cuisine from Gujarat in Western India and suggests eating them hot out of the pan. They are free of eggs, dairy, gluten, nuts and soy! They were particularly tasty with the addition of green peas and spring onions. I omitted the ginger so mine were even less spicy than Lucy’s. A quick search of the internet shows that these little beauties are flexible enough to take on different flavours and textures.

I am not exactly sure what to compare them to. Lucy said they have been compared to crepes but this is not quite right. They lack the lightness imparted by eggs and milk. The texture is more like unleavened bread but with a subtle spicy chickpea flavour. But they are cooked in puddles on a frypan and flipped over in a similar way. The result is floppy and stackable!

I halved the recipe which suited the two of us. We did have a few leftover which still tasted good the next morning but they are best fresh and hot. They would probably pair nicely with a curry or a salad.

We ate ours with a spicy tomato chutney and a sort of mock fish-cum-rosti I made to use up root vegetables and potatoes. Delicious! By the time I had finished I had forgotten that Geelong has lost another Grand Final. But I will be happy when they win the next one!

Pudla (chickpea pancakes) with Spring Onions and Green Peas
(adapted from Madhur Jaffrey via Nourish Me)
Serves 1-2

½ cup of frozen, shelled green peas
1 cup of chickpea flour (besan/gram)
½ teaspoon of ground cumin
pinch of ground turmeric
pinch of cayenne powder
½ teaspoon of sea salt
1 cup of water
handful of parsley, finely chopped
squeeze of lemon juice
4 spring onions, finely sliced
olive oil spray, for frying

Cook peas – I put them in the microwave for 30-60 seconds or you can boil and drain them. Crush with a fork or potato masher. Set aside.

Place chickpea flour, spices and salt in a small bowl. Make a well and slowly whisk in water so that the mixture is smooth and (virtually) lump free. Add peas, parsley, lemon juice and spring onions. Stir well and set aside at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Heat heavy bottomed non-stick frying pan over medium heat and spray lightly with olive oil. I was a bit unclear if they were to be small or large so I dropped a couple of dessertspoonfuls into three or four corners of the frypan and did them small – I think you could do them larger if so desired. Cook about 2 minutes or until golden brown – you can see they bubble a little and the mixture dries a little like pancakes to give you a clue as to when they are ready to flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes on the other side.

Serve with chutney, relish, or yoghurt. Or just eat hot straight from the frypan!

On the stereo:
Banter: a Candle Records Collection: Various Artists

Fridge Door Confessions

Wendy from A Wee Bit of Cooking has a quirky event on at the moment calling for pictures of our fridge doors. I am looking forward to joining her having a ‘nosey at other people’s fridge doors’ in the round up tomorrow. And I couldn’t resist sending her a photo despite the cluttered state of our fridge door.

Our fridge is so crowded that it is even filling up on the sides. Both E and I seem to accumulate clutter – don’t ask me how! And our fridge door is not immune. I have included a picture of the fridge (right) which shows that there is not much unused space on our fridge door. Apart from magnets, the door is filled with the likes of our shopping list, bills, dentist reminders, postcards, newspaper clippings, photos, business cards and takeaway menus.

I have done a little shuffling and photographed a close-up (top) for Wendy with some choice pieces. There will be no surprise to see a few giraffes there and I have left in a few freebie magnets that find their way here.

The DJ cat postcard was found on our last trip to Edinburgh – still makes us laugh! Quite a few of the magnets come from Scotland. The bagpiping angel from the Thistle Chapel at St Giles Cathedral reminds me of my time volunteering there.

Quite a few magnets are souvenirs of trips we have made. The tiki magnet I bought in New Zealand had to be included because E is going through a tiki phase. I quite like the New York magnet which was bought in 1999 and has the Twin Towers in the background. We love checking the thermometer on the Darwin fridge magnet (with the crocodile) when it gets hot.

Finally one of my very favourite magnets has to be the one that says, ‘if it’s a man’s world, let him clean it’. Always gives me a smile.

For an updated and neater look at my fridge magnets, go to this August 2016 In My Kitchen post.

Hobart Highlights

Before we headed to Hobart a few weeks ago, capital of Tasmania, we were told by friends about it being haunted, cold and small. It was cold and small (population 200,000) but we never got to do the ghost tour because it was cancelled on the cold and quiet night we chose in September.

We did hear whispers of hauntings but to E’s disappointment, no sightings! However as one of the oldest cities in Australia (settled in 1803) and a former convict settlement, Hobart does seem to be a place of history and ghosts. We were even told there might be a ghost in our B&B but we never confirmed it. We stayed in the historic suburb of Battery Point which was conveniently central so we had a view of the harbour from our attic room and a short walk to the city and Salamanca where we spent most time.

Without ghosts bothering us we had a relaxing time strolling around cafes and museums with the occasional harbour cruise, bus tour and botanical gardens walk. E discovered his favourite music shop ever (Music without Frontiers) in Collins Street in the City. But you want to know about the food, right? Beforehand I checked out posts reflecting on AOF and Cindy and Michael’s recent visits. So I appreciated their recommendations for Jackman and McRoss, Sirens, and Machine. Our favourite discovery was Tricycle Café & Bar.

The first thing we had to check out was the famous Salamanca Market on Saturday morning. It does take some time to browse its long row of stalls selling handcrafts, knits, books, CDs, souvenirs, bric-a-brac, produce, fudge and jam etc etc. We left with some fine goodies including fortified raspberry wine, fudge, chilli jam, nougat and bread. (NB We saw many of the goods from the market in stores during our next few days in Hobart.)

It took long enough that we needed a few nourishing breaks. My favourite find at the market may well have been the Olliebollen. Just the name is lots of fun. They are dutch donuts with raisins (and no holes) which were delicious freshly fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar. I also couldn’t resist a little tub of fresh strawberries. But for lunch I was persuaded to try the eggplant kebabs at the award winning Taste of Persia. They were surprisingly superb. The eggplant is cut up small, cooked and tossed in a rich gravy. It is served in pita bread with hummus, lettuce and tomato. Highly recommended.

Although Cromwell Cottage B&B served a cooked breakfast each morning (see dining room photo at the bottom of the post) we took the opportunity to sleep in and go out for brunch on a few mornings. Of course we had to sample the wares at the Hobart institution, Jackman and McRoss (57-59 Hampden Rd, Battery Point, 03 6223 3186) and headed there one morning. I had a tasty risotto cake with eggplant, red capsicum and spinach on top. E enjoyed his pie but was black affronted by the staff when he asked for the name of the CD and was told that it was in a locked office and they didn’t have time to check it. Attitude was not a highlight but I loved the cheese berry tart that we shared. The pairing of smooth cream cheese filling and tart berries was sublime. I would return just for the sweet treats.

But I was taken aback when I asked for some toast with it. I was told they didn’t serve toast, only bread rolls. It seemed odd that we couldn’t sample the bread at a bakery café but many other cafes in Hobart seemed to serve their bread. Having said this, the rye bread roll was warm and soft inside and very pleasing. We even brought a bread roll to snack on in our room with excellent Bruny Island C2 cheese from the Wursthaus deli but unfortunately we only had a teaspoon to chop with - not conducive to slicing up a loaf of bread.

We thought that the Shipwrights Arms (29 Trumpeter Street, Battery Point , 03 6223 5551) was the pub some friends had recommend so we headed there for dinner one night. Unfortunately we didn’t get a seat in the older part of the pub. Maybe they spotted me as a vegetarian. The website boldly claims No Pokies, No TAB, No Tofu, No Keno, No Pool Table, No Live Music, No Bok Choy!!! So it wasn’t that surprising that there was no vegetarian dish on the menu but luckily the soup was vegetarian that day so I was saved from chips and salad. Upon checking the website later I found that I was unlucky we went on Sunday night as the menu on other nights seems to have a few vegetarian dishes.

I forgave these quirks because the soup I had was a wonderfully fresh tasting tomato and vegetable soup with a few noodles. I paired it with a focaccia with pesto and cheese which was so rich that I couldn’t finish it. My favourite thing about the Shipwrights Arms was the chaise lounge in the door which seemed just right to lie on and groan after a large meal. I think every restaurant should have one!

Another morning that we ventured out for brunch, E was keen to try Machine (12 Salamanca Square, Salamanca, 03 6224 9922). It is a funky laundrette-cum-café with washing machines in a little separate partition. The main area is the café which is decorated with bright blue and orange vinyl. The menu is vegetarian-friendly menu so I felt spoilt for choice.

I chose the parmesan, caramelised onion and spinach pancakes with tomato pickle oil and had a side serve of mushrooms. The pancakes were substantial and delicious. But the mushrooms were some of the best cooked ever with a salty crisp fried caps. If I could cook mushrooms like this I would eat them on toast 7 days a week! E was similarly delighted with his machine packed roti bread with scrambled eggs and chilli jam. He had a side of sausages but both of us felt our side serves were unnecessary because the portions were very generous.

On our last night we finally had dinner at the vegetarian restaurant, Sirens (6 Victoria Street, Hobart, 03 6234 2634), which I had been eager to visit since reading Cindy’s rave reviews. She was not exaggerating. The restaurant is divided into wholesome and decadent sections by beaded Moorish arches. Pine tables and chairs with potted plants are on one side and soft maroon chairs and drapes on the other. The menu was full of fascinating dishes.

We started by sharing a starter of fried haloumi with lemon. For the main, E had the sautéed smoked tofu with spicy cashew, coriander and lemon myrtle pesto and broccolini. I chose the saimono (broth) with taro and mushroom dumplings, marinated wakame, black and white rice balls, pickled walnuts, daikon, and dengaku tofu. When our orders arrived I was a little jealous of E’s pile of green broccolini and artfully arranged slabs of tofu. I thought maybe he would baulk at the bed of bean sprouts but his sauce was so tasty he happily lapped them up. Mine was arrayed like a tasting plate of small nibbles. It was full of intriguingly unusual tastes which I enjoyed immensely but it lacked vegetables and colour.

I wasn’t too concerned, however that my meal didn’t leave me stuffed to the gills as I had been intrigued by a dessert which I think I remembered Cindy swooning over. It was a vegan dark chocolate mousse cake with an orange and rose geranium sauce. I actually thought it more like a tart with a nutty base but it was indeed worthy of superlatives. The mousse was light and melting but not to rich. I usually avoid mousses because I am not keen on eggs but this was something I can’t wait to try making. I checked with the staff who told me it was made with tofu. E chose a vegan shortbread with rose scented cream. It was more cakey than short but he enjoyed it. I was happy to have a little help with the splendid mousse. Sirens was surely one of the gems of Hobart and we were very glad to have sampled its food and ambience.

It was on our final day that E made a fine discovery in one of the Salamanca alleyways - Tricycle Café & Bar (Salamanca Arts Centre, 77 Salamanca Place, Salamanca, (03) 6223 7228). The counter is a cosy red area with a few tables and chairs plus an interesting clutter of tricycles, mirrors, photos and shelves of vinyl records. The ‘foyer’ area of the arcade where we sat is blindingly light in comparison with large arty chandeliers and a piano. Quirky.

The staff were accommodating when I asked for a different sandwich filling to the menu. E chose the chilli beans with avocado while I had a vintage cheese, spinach, onion jam and avocado sandwich. What was fantastic about the meal was the superb sourdough bread. I would go as far as to say it was the best bread we encountered in Hobart. We also shared a piece of parsnip cake which was lovely but I would have preferred a cream cheese icing rather than butter icing. E was delighted with the icing so I guess you can’t please everyone.

As this post is already long enough, I will just briefly mention a few other places where we dined. Da Angelo Italian restaurant in Hampden Road, Battery Point had a standard Italian pasta and pizza menu but the food and serves was excellent. I loved my falafel at Zest, the cafe at the State Library of Tasmania, after being fascinated by the display of history rooms at the library. Ecohaven was a relaxed retreat in the city and provided a friendly quick bite. I mention the Botanic Gardens restaurant not because the food was good or bad but because it seemed inappropriate to have a proper restaurant as the only indoor option – most displeasing on a cold day when we just wanted a quick snack. And I had a rather nice pumpkin gnocchi at the Woolstore.Hotel in the city.

All in all, the finest experiences in Hobart were probably found in the cafes and restaurants. A perfect place for lazy days filled with good food.

Update July 2011 - I have heard the sad news that Sirens has closed!  What a shame!

NCR: Spring Strawberry Soup

E and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last weekend. Having spent more than enough time eating out in Hobart until a few days before, both of us fancied a special dinner at home.

It was a perfect spring day. The mercury reached a pleasant 23 C. The warmth of the sun was welcome after a chilly Melbourne winter. After huddling inside by the heater for months we sat with the weekend newspaper in the backyard much to the delight of Zinc our cat. Even our struggling lime tree was proudly displaying new growth. Just the sort of day that inspires me to buy a loaf of excellent Sugardough bread, a bundle of nice vegies and head home to make fresh salad sandwiches to eat in the sunny backyard with Zinc sunworshipping nearby. Dinner was planned to reflect this fine weather.

I was glad of the leftover filling from my burritos the previous night. This made dinner that little bit easier. I halved and scooped out two medium zucchini and stuffed them with the filling and baked them about 30-40 minutes. I served these with roast potatoes, spring vegetables (broccoli, peas and asparagus) and a simple avocado sauce. Delicious!

But it was the soup that was to be the piece de resistance. When Holler and Lisa announced that the theme for their No Croutons Required event in September was to be fruit in a soup or salad, I decided to dig out a recipe for Strawberry Soup I had scribbled down in the library months ago. I’ve wanted to make a fruit soup for some time but never like the idea of tapioca or cornstarch in these soups and was attracted to this soup because it had neither. Even better, it had many of my favourite summer fruits.

Making this soup at the start of spring meant that much of the fruit in the recipe has not yet come into season … sigh! So I went to my favourite green grocer in Carlton where I was able to purchase Australian strawberries, raspberries and passionfruit. A fresh nectarine was a bigger challenge at this time of year, so I opened a tin of unsweetened peaches which had been loitering in the pantry.

The recipe called for marscapone but I have been intrigued by Ricki’s Chilled Peach Soup with Cashew Coconut Cream. Full of confidence I tried to make a simple cashew cream. The result was a horrid sweet watery substance with ground cashews in it. It was so disgusting I threw it out. I think my food processor let me down by not incorporating the cashews into the liquid properly. Maybe another time I will try it with cashew nut butter and see if that is any more successful. Or maybe I am just not meant to enjoy cashew cream any more than I enjoy any milk whether it comes from a cow or a soy bean.

So by the time my cashew cream failed I had no marscapone on hand. Nor did I remember to get mint for the soup. So what I had was pureed strawberries, fruit and a little sugar. As a lover of smoothies, I found it wonderful – velvety, refreshing and cleansing. Simon Rimmer in The Accidental Vegetarian describes it as ‘like a good snog’. The addition of passionfruit is a stroke of genius for the contrasts of its tart flavour and seedy texture against the smooth sweetness of the soup. In fact it was so good I even considered the possibility of pureeing the whole lot and serving it as a smoothie.

E doesn’t like smoothies. He doesn’t like chilled soup. He is not that keen on fruit. So I shouldn’t have been surprised that he wasn’t at all keen on the soup. In fact, I happily ate most of his. Bit of a shame on our wedding anniversary but I know he loved the first course. Besides he has his little pleasures. He got to choose the music! He also got some enjoyment from discussion of how much it looked like an alien lifeform in a sci-fi movie! So I don't think he really missed out. But maybe there will be a dessert for E coming up soon.

Even if E is not a fan, I hope to try this soup again before autumn blows around again. I can think of others who would love this soup. It would be fantastic in the height of summer which will be with us all too soon. In the blogosphere, I am sure Holler and Lisa will love it and send it their way for No Croutons Required.

Strawberry Soup
(adapted from The Accidental Vegetarian)
Serves 2-4

500g strawberries, hulled
1½ tbsp castor sugar
½ cup apple juice (or dessert wine)
4-5 pieces of tinned unsweetened peaches (or 1 ripe), diced
125g raspberries
Pulp of 2 passionfruit
Marscapone (or cashew cream) and mint leaves to serve (optional)

Blend strawberries and sieve (discard seeds). Mix puree with remaining ingredients. Chill until ready to serve. Serve with marscapone and mint leaves or serve as is. Tastes great the next day too.

On the Stereo:
With my little ukulele in my hand: Various Artists