From Disaster to Parfait

Yesterday morning I had a kitchen disaster. Ever since seeing that Frances had made Heidi’s Animal Cracker Cookies, I have wanted to make them. I am not keen on plain cookies or biscuits (as we call them) but I loved the idea of almond meal and coconut in the biscuit. I made a disastrous attempt to bake them yesterday in which I broke every rule in baking. Fortunately in the evening I had an epiphany and turned them into a wonderful parfait that was pronounced ‘splendid’ by E.

I had initially got excited about this recipe because it looked like one that I could make with my new icing gun which doubles as a cookie press. I wrongly assumed that any biscuit dough that is rolled out would be piped out through the cookie press. I also was shamefully slapdash about the recipe and method.

It was not my finest moment in baking. I just put everything in a bowl and mixed it together – rather than mix the wet and dry ingredients separately first. I decided to substitute canola oil for coconut oil. The dough was too dry to come together in a ball. I added more oil and then a dollop of molasses. It was a greasy mottled-patterned ball. I mixed and kneaded it too much in an effort to get the it all mixed and smooth. All this was done in a rush while Sylvia was playing on the rug. So I didn’t let the dough sit at least 1 hour.

By the time I got to my cookie press I wasn’t surprised it wasn’t working. Nothing else had gone right. I got a few crumbly blobs of mixture and a dribble of oil before I gave up and just made round discs.

I then scrubbed the shower while they baked. I tell you this so you understand that my mind wasn’t really on timing. I heard the timer buzz but spent a few more minutes finishing up, then rushed to take them out of the oven and give Sylvia my attention. I left them to cool on the oven tray rather than on a wire rack.

When they came out of the oven it was obvious that I had added too much oil because they had little crusty oil rings around them. Nevertheless I tasted them while holding Sylvia. Warm, they tasted lovely –yet again supporting my belief that everything tastes good freshly baked from the oven.. The texture was interesting and the molasses added nicely to the flavour. But when they cooled the ones that had been at the edges of the baking were a little too crisp.

Then inspiration struck as I was preparing dinner in front of MasterChef. I have been eating quite a bit of King Island Honey and Cinnamon Yoghurt lately but didn’t have any on hand. I did however have plain yoghurt and frozen strawberries. So I added my own honey and cinnamon, crumbled the biscuits and layered it all together in a large wine glass before we sat down to dinner. After dinner we had the parfaits. The presentation wasn’t up to MasterChef standard but they were delicious. Sweet. Tart. Creamy. Crunchy. Smooth.

These parfaits were also very filling and, while they served the two of us, they could have served four people. These made a quick and easy dessert for a summer evening. But great in winter too. I am not recommending you make such a bodgy job of the biscuits but if you have any disasters baking them, you could rescue them in just such a way. I have written what I did below as a reminder of what not to do. In future I will need to find a more satisfactory way of substituting for the coconut oil that Heidi used, or purchase some.

Parfaits are not something I am very familiar with. When we were young we used those long handled parfait spoons for spooning tinned food into the dog’s bowl. So in our house they were called ‘Pal Spoons’. No one wanted to use them for anything else. (Just like we had avoided the cup that the dog once drank out of.) I remember once going to my nan’s place and being served a dessert with parfait spoons. We looked down and started laughing at the Pal Spoons.

I’d like to say that I am older and wiser now. I’m not sure I want to make such claims but I can face a parfait spoon without giggling. And I am glad that it was the biscuits rather than me that crumbled under the pressure of the kitchen disaster. It all seemed worthwhile once I tasted that parfait.

Raspberry and Yoghurt Parfait
Serves 2-4

Biscuits
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
Makes 20 – you will need 4 for this recipe

1 cup wholemeal plain flour
¼ cup ground almonds
½ cup desiccated coconut
⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp olive oil
⅓ cup raw sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp molasses
pinch of salt

I cup yoghurt
5 tsp honey (or to taste)
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cup raspberries (I used frozen)

To Make Biscuits:
Mix all ingredients together til they stick together enough to roll into a ball. Knead briefly and make into two long cylindrical rolls. Slice into discs and place on a greased or lined baking tray. Bake for about 15-20 min at 180 C. They are best to eat alone if still a little soft when they cool but excellent in the parfait if a little crisp.

To Make Parfait:
Mix the yoghurt, honey and cinnamon together. Finely chop or crumble 4 biscuits. Layer yoghurt, biscuits, raspberries, yoghurt, biscuits, raspberries, yoghurt and then decorate with raspberries and biscuits and a sprinkle of cinnamon as desired. I left mine to sit at room temperature about an hour because the frozen berries kept it cold.

On the Stereo:
The Crane Wife: The Decembrists

Sour Skon

We went to Ikea for a new high chair on the weekend (in preparation for when Sylvia is eating solids). It is always a big undertaking to make our way through the superstore. We can’t seem to make our way to the cash register without buying something we really don’t need like a giraffe driving a strawberry. I knew you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it so it is in the below photo.

On returning home we needed food that was simple to make and comforting to eat. I made some pumpkin soup that wasn’t great. I just didn’t put in enough seasoning but, after tossing in some cumin and dukkah, the soup was finally made edible with the addition of some honey and cinnamon yoghurt. The second night when the yoghurt was gone, I rescued it by adding vegie salt, fresh ginger and lemon juice. What really makes any soup excellent, though, is a satisfying bread. This meal was made delicious by the accompaniment of a lovely sour skon.

I found the sour skon recipe on My Kitchen in Half Cups where Tanna regularly bakes wonderful breads. Most seem too challenging for me but this one appealed because it was so simple. All it needed was a little preparation. The buttermilk and oats have to be in the fridge for a few days and stirred every day. I put mine in the fridge for four days and only forgot to stir them on one of these days. Then on the day of baking you just stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and pop the dough in the oven.

The sour skon was delicious. Dense, oaty, porridgy wedges with craggy chewy crusts. They were best hot but still good the next day, if you have any left. It was great with soup but just as good with butter and honey. Tanna added caraway seeds but I left these out because I wanted them plain. I might try it with carraway or other flavourings some other time. I would love to try it with more toppings such as the blue brie that looked so meltingly good in Tanna's photo. It is so good, it would go with any topping, any meal, at any time of day.

When I told E they were from the Orkney Islands of Scotland he wanted to know where I got the recipe. ‘From a blogger?’ he asked, knowingly. But of course. ‘Is she Scottish?’ Nope. Tanna is from Dallas, Texas. Not at all where you would expect to source fine Scottish scones. But E was well impressed (although he says he has never seen scone spelt 'skon' so maybe this is an Orkney term). I know these scones will be welcome in our house any day, and will always rescue an ordinary soup.

Sour Skon
(Adapted from Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads via My Kitchen in Half Cups)
Makes 8 scones

1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1¼ cup buttermilk
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix oatmeal and buttermilk together. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days, stirring once a day. Tanna advised that this time was flexible if you need to leave it another day or two. It will be quite thick and claggy.

When you are ready to bake, place remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour in oat mixture. Mix just until the flour is absorbed. The dough will be very firm and thick.

Pat into a round disk of about 8 inches diameter and less than an inch thick. I did mine on a (greased) baking tray but Tanna used a cake tin. Use a sharp knife to score lines across to make 8 wedge shaped pieces.

Bake at 220 C (425 F) for about 30-40 minutes. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean when it is ready – mine took 40 minutes and the skewer was still a little moist but it tasted good. (That is - the skon tasted good not the skewer!) Apparently, you could also cook it on top of the stove on a griddle. Break along the scored lines to serve.

On the Stereo:
Mozart’s Requiem and Masonic Music

GYO Potato, bean and kale soup

While feeding Sylvia a few weeks back, I read a silly article in the weekend newspaper about a guy who has a little book with a list of 28 things he looks for in his ideal woman. He is still looking. One of his uncles told him that he is like a man going through the forest looking for a straight stick but that no sticks are completely straight.

The idea of searching for an ideal made me think of surfing the net and diving into all my cookbooks in search of a dish I have in my head. A dish such as an Italian potato, bean and kale soup. I swear I have seen it written down but it was nowhere to be found. (Update: I think I was thinking of Portuguese soup called Caldo Verde.) So I was delighted to finally do away with recipes and find that my own version was exactly what I was seeking. The potato and beans created a pale flavoursome creamy soup that had dark ribbons of kale and bright chunks of carrot. I felt like I had found a straight stick in the forest! Or maybe I am just easily pleased.

Not only was the soup hearty and satisfying, but it was an excellent use for some of my home made stock from the freezer and the tuscan kale (cavolo nero) that my mum had brought me in a pot. It was quite exciting to be using a vegetable from the backyard even if it had been nurtured to maturity by my mum. I think Zinc also approved of it as it gave her an opportunity to slip out the door as it was getting dark when I headed outside to ‘harvest’ my kale for dinner.

I thought this would be a good time to show you a photo of one of the roses in our front garden. One of the advantages of living in a unit is sharing the roses that our neighbour has planted. They have flowered all year despite the drought. So we have the pleasure of being able to stop and smell the roses as we step outside our front door.

I am sending this soup to Andrea’s Recipes for the Grow Your Own Event, which is for bloggers who have used produce from their garden or is gifted to them from a friend or family’s garden.

Potato, bean and kale soup
Serves 3

1 tsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
6-8 small potatoes, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
400g tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
500g vegetable stock
1 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs
1 bay leaf
6-8 kale leaves, chopped
lots of black pepper
parmesan cheese to serve

Fry onions in oil for about 3-5 minutes. Add carrot, potatoes, garlic, beans, stock, herbs and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and simmer about 20-30 minutes or until the soup has thickened and the potatoes are soft. Add the kale and cook another 3-5 minutes. Remove bay leaf and check seasoning. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

On the Stereo:
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony

They Who Dare: Masterchef and Ricki’s Tagine

A few weeks ago I had a dream of a reality cooking television show. The décor was a student share house and the judges were prevaricating proctors. It was all about students learning to cook. When I woke up I wished I could remember more details because I thought I could make my fortune with the idea.

Australian readers might recognise this dream as one of the side effects of watching too much Masterchef Australia. I don’t like reality television but this show which combines 'reality' with cooking, has got me hooked. I haven’t watched every episode but as the final week rolls around I am curious to find out who wins.

I love watching others cooking so couldn’t resist this show but, as well as being fascinating, it also has many frustrations. For a start, what does it say about our world when the judges are three men there for their skills (although some might argue that Matt Preston is there for his cravats) and the compere is a glamour girl who seems just there for her looks because she says very little of interest.

I get annoyed at the dramatic pauses by the judges and, in particular, the ‘sudden death’ tastings. In these tastings, two contestants are given a dish such as moussaka or sri lankan curry and one by one they identify ingredients in the dish. It is a tortuous piece of showmanship but not a learning experience. When they get it wrong, they just are told that is the end of their journey with Masterchef. There is too much luck and not enough nurturing of skills on camera, whatever happens behind the scenes. Although there is a lot of encouragement from the judges along the way.

Let’s be honest. It isn’t really about cooking. The show is more about entertainment than education, about creating celebrities as much as chefs, and about showing off rather than showing how.

The highlights of the show are the classes on Fridays. I loved last week’s Chocolate Cigars with Sabayon. But even though these are interesting, I often find the judges are smug about how much they excel at what the contestants didn’t do so well. I was really annoyed at one demonstration of a dish a contestant had messed up which was concluded with a simple ‘you’ll never make a bad version of this again’ rather than the exhortation to go away and practice, practice, practice.

For me, one of the most tempting and innovative dishes on the show, Poh’s Deep Fried Meringue filled with Chocolate, Chestnut and Orange, was all the more impressive because she was revisiting a dish she had failed with previously and had practiced it off camera. Of course I am more interested in desserts because so much of the mains are meaty. That said, I do admire Chris for his strong vision of opening a bar and microbrewery with a restaurant attached, even though he loves his meat.

One of the other contestants, Julie, comes across as a real home cook and I am sure the producers love her as the everywoman that viewers identify with. She was so sweet when she was terribly excited about cooking for Australian cookbook guru, Margaret Fulton. But she has also helped to illustrate the point that home cooking is very different to being a chef. Not just in how interesting a meal is but also in how it looks.

For the viewer at home, there is little watching of skills develop, although the master class on Fridays can be a good learning experience. I find it fascinating to see how they plate the dish because presentation is not my strong suite. It is also interesting watching how people develop ideas and there are some interesting ideas to pick up along the way.

But frankly, I learn so much more from blogs than I could ever expect to from Masterchef. One blogger I always love reading is Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs because I love the way she develops recipes for the food she wants to eat using the food she is able to eat. A case in point is her Tagine with Chickpeas, Olives and Prunes. It began with a yen for Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook, which she had enjoyed years before but she wanted it without the chicken. Adding quinoa and chickpeas was a stroke of genius.

I’ve had my eye on this tagine for some time but last week suddenly the pieces fell into place like a jigsaw that has been waiting to be put together. I had just bought some quinoa and realised I had olives that I had never used for the dish they were bought for, prunes lurking at the bottom of the fruit bowl, capers in the fridge that needed to be used, white wine I bought for risotto that E said tasted like Bulgarian paintstripper and home made stock in the freezer. It was all there. I just needed a side dish. In the fridge were some spinach, feta and carrot. I decided to make a green puree inspired by previous dips. The carrots would be ribbons of colour on top.

The tagine seemed very strong in flavour. Before I went vegetarian, I much preferred a stew with lots of vegetables rather than meat and that is still true of my taste. So I toned down a few of the flavours – capers, oregano and sugar. I also had pumpkin in the fridge but decided I needed more and stopped at the shops on the way home from eating indulgent cake with Yavanna at the Vegie Bar.

The tagine was easy to cook. It was just a matter of throwing everything in the pot and bunging it in the oven. It reminded me a little of Kathryn’s Greek ‘Chicken’ Casserole. In typical slapdash style, I didn’t read the recipe and just saw that Ricki said to put it in the oven for 40 minutes, failing to see that after checking and adding water if necessary, it had to be returned to the oven. So I was a little impatient with how long it took until I re-read the recipe.

The tagine tasted wonderful with the sharp almost grassy green puree and the fresh carrot ribbons. I loved the chewy quinoa and soft chickpeas. The pumpkin added flavour and moistness. There were so many flavours that it was good to have some simplicity in the puree and ribbons. The tagine was more salty and slightly bitter than it was sweet. In fact the prunes weren’t as prominent as I expected and the olives were less prominent than I expected. But when I asked E if I should make it sweeter like Ricki’s, he said no. I think the tagine would be too intense for me without some sort of side dish but with the puree and ribbons it was excellent.

I was also pleased with the presentation. ‘I’m just plating up the meal,’ I said to Ewan, showing the indeed I have watched too much Masterchef. He said he would be judge. He has also watched too much, but I am praying he doesn’t start to wear cravats like Matt Preston.

Finally, it seemed fitting that the meal had many Mediterranean flavours because that evening we sat down to watch 1950s war movie, They Who Dare, which was set on the Greek island of Rhodes. After practicing sleeping through the noisy music at the Vegie Bar that afternoon, Sylvia soundly slept through it, even when all the bombs exploded. Dinner and drama! Sounds very like Masterchef!

Quinoa and Pumpkin Tagine with Green Puree and Carrot Ribbons
(Adapted from Diet, Dessert and Dogs)
serves 4

Tagine:
700g pumpkin, trimmed, peeled and diced
½ cup white wine (I used Chardonnay)
400g tin of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup mixed pitted olives, to your taste
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp capers, with juice
3 bay leaves
1 cup dry quinoa
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 cup prunes, roughly chopped
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
pinch (3 ground) cloves

Green puree:
1 cup frozen peas
125g spinach
1 large handful of parsley
100g feta
½ medium lemon juiced
1 small garlic clove, chopped
4 tbsp pinenuts

To serve:
carrot ribbons,
squeeze of lemon juice
extra feta, crumbled
chopped chives

Preheat oven to 175 C or 325 F. Grease a large casserole dish or tagine. Place all Tagine ingredients in the dish and cover. Ricki baked hers for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 175 C, checking every 15-20 minutes after about 40 minutes, and adding ½ cup of water if it was drying out. I baked mine for 1 hour and 25 minutes with half of this time at175 C and half the time at 220 C (I turned the oven up out of impatience).

While the tagine is cooking, place al the green puree ingredients in the food processor and blitz till you have a lovely vivid green puree. (You can also prepare the carrot ribbons – I made mine with a vegetable peeler.)

Once tagine is cooked, place a couple of serving spoons of the tagine on a place, then a couple of dessertspoonfuls of green puree on top. Arrange carrot ribbons on the puree, squeeze some lemon juice over and sprinkle with fetta and chives.

On the Stereo:
The hall of the mountain grill: Hawkwind

AWED Butterscotch pudding

When I made butterscotch surprise cake a few months back, E was delighted. It was just his sort of thing. But the only surprise wasn’t in the soft sweet creamy butterscotch filling. It was also that E started to complain that no one made him butterscotch baked goods. Huh! I never bake anything with butterscotch and he doesn’t seem to mind but when I do he says I don’t do it enough.

I think it is a case of being easily distracted when it is not right in your face. After all, he likes lots of other things. But late at night a few weeks back after I made the chocolate mug cake, I was saying ‘wasn’t that fantastic!’ and he replied, ‘it would be better if it was butterscotch’.

Rather than feel unappreciated because he doesn’t love chocolate as much as I do (ok, I did a little), I channelled my energies into taking up his challenge. I didn’t find or invent a butterscotch mug cake – not yet anyway! But I sat up in bed feeding Sylvia late at night thinking about all the butterscotch things I might make him.

Although I was tempted by Ilva’s Pear and Banana Crumble with Caramel Sauce (because caramel is very like butterscotch), I decided to make a butterscotch pudding like my family’s favourite chocolate pudding, which is self-saucing. The sort with a cake-like sponge on top and gooey sauce underneath. So I set off searching the net and found butterscotch puddings with apple, banana and walnut.

Whenever I make a pudding, E always likes to say it would be better without the fruit. So I decided to start with plain butterscotch pudding and maybe try the others later. There is something so comforting about digging a serving spoon into a steaming pudding and watching the sauce ooze through the bottom of it, even if it is not chocolate. This one got a thumbs up from E. I can’t say it was the best pudding ever but it is a delicious, quick and easy pudding to make on a winter night.

I am sending this to Simran at Bombay Foodie who is hosting Dhivya’s AWED Event this month. The country is Britain so I thought a butterscotch pudding would be perfect, particularly as it is endorsed by our resident Scotsman.

Butterscotch Self- Saucing Pudding
(from Best Recipes)
Serves 4-6

1 cup self-raising flour
¾ cup sugar
60g butter, melted
½ cup milk
pinch salt

Sauce:
2 tbs golden syrup
1½ cups (375ml) boiling water
30g butter

Stir together pudding ingredients and spoon batter into a baking dish – it will be quite a stiff batter. Then stir together the sauce ingredients and pour over batter. Bake 30-40 minutes in a moderate oven (about 180 C). Serve hot or warm with cream, custard or honey and cinnamon yoghurt.

On the stereo:
The Definitive Simon and Garfunkel

Breakfast Burritos – My Way!

I’d never heard of breakfast burritos until I made burritos last year and was seeking information on Wikipedia. The idea of a tortilla filled with bacon and eggs did not enthuse me at all but I had visions of an egg-free tofu scramble full of all the things I love in a veggie fry-up when we eat out for brunch. Once the idea got under my skin it was like an itch I had to scratch.

What a perfect breakfast it would be. There was one problem! I rarely put a lot of energy into breakfasts these days. . I’ve never been a morning person but in my life before Sylvia, I would enjoy making a nice brunch and the weekend newspaper. Now that we have a baby who also loves a sleep in, my mornings start with feeding her and then I grab a piece of toast and some fruit. No pancakes or potato scones have graced our mornings lately. The most effort goes into an interesting smoothie.

When E asked for burritos for dinner recently, it seemed time for the breakfast burrito. After all, if you can’t have it for breakfast, dinner is the next best thing. Actually, it is a bit of an all day project so unless you rise particularly early, preparation is needed whether you make it for breakfast or dinner.

I wanted my breakfast burrito to reflect the best of veggie fry-ups and to have a Mexican flavour as well. So my recipe involves four components for assembling and serving. The refried beans were inspired by an Alison Holst recipe and quite smoky and spicy with a chipotle chilli in adobo sauce. The tofu scramble had fried potato, mushroom, spinach and facon. I decided to add some facon for a bit of fun, although the smokiness of the chipotle means it is by no means essential. The beans and scramble are stuffed into a burrito that is then served with a tomato sauce, guacamole and some yoghurt.

You can see from the long list of ingredients and many instructions in the recipe that this is no quick and simple meal. It was a lot of work, but worth it. The main effort went into preparing the fillings and assembling the burritos. I started cooking the beans and fried potatoes early in the day. All the components can be made ahead, especially if you want to have it for breakfast, but if you have the energy, the tomato sauce and guacamole can be whipped up while the burritos cook. I had a leftover burrito for lunch the next day with some yoghurt, tomatoes and cucumber if you want a simpler version.

The impression I have got of the breakfast burrito is that it is full of protein and fat. I wanted one that was healthier while still tasty. Both E and I were impressed with my breakfast burrito. It was full of complex flavours. The chipotle chilli made it rather spicy despite not much heat in the rest of the dish. I wish I could have stuffed more filling in the burritos. They were delicious but not as chunky as I had hoped. Though, I was glad not all of the scramble was used in the burritos as I enjoyed eating some of the leftovers on toast. Now I am looking forward to the day I organise myself enough to eat these for breakfast!

I am sending this to Jenny of All Things Edible who is hosting Meeta’s Monthly Mingle this month. The theme is Mexican Fiesta.

Johanna’s Breakfast Burritos
Makes 6

Refried Beans:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ red capsicum, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 chipotle chilli in adobo sauce, chopped
400g tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Breakfast Tofu Scramble:
350g firm tofu
2 tbsp oil
2 cups diced potato
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2 rashers facon (vegetarian bacon), chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
handful of spinach, chopped
1 large field mushroom, diced
2 tsp soy sauce
1 heaped tbsp chilli jam
splash Tabasco sauce
seasoning
couple of handfuls cheese (optional)

Tomato sauce:
1 tsp oil
2 onions, chopped
2 x 400g tins of diced tomatoes
generous dash each of cumin, salt, agave, oregano, Tabasco sauce

Guacamole:
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
squeeze of lemon juice
½ tomato, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
generous dash of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt

To assemble:
6 jumbo tortillas
Yoghurt (optional)
Fresh chopped parsley

To make the Refried Beans: Heat olive oil in a small saucepan. Add onion, garlic, capsicum and carrot. Stir over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes or until vegetables soften. Add tomato paste, cumin, chilli and beans. Heat through and the remove from heat. Roughly mash with a potato masher.

To make the Scramble: Start by pressing the tofu while you prepare the rest of the meal. I place my tofu in a colander and put a bowl and some heavy tins of vegetables on it. Then in your biggest frypan, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the potatoes for about 45 minutes til cooked and golden brown. Set aside. Heat the other tablespoon of oil and fry the onion for about 10 minutes til soft and golden. Add remaining ingredients except cheese and stir for 5-15 minutes til mushrooms are cooked and spinach is wilted (I didn’t note how long it took so can’t quite remember). Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

To assemble the burritos: firstly preheat oven to 180 C and prepare a large baking or roasting dish to cook them in. Place a tortilla on a flat surface and dollop a large spoonful of refried beans in the middle. Then place a large spoonful of tofu scramble on the beans. Wrap up the burrito (fold top and bottom together and then fold the sides in is the way I do it). Place in a large greased roasting dish with the folds on the bottom. Repeat with 5 other tortillas. Spray with olive oil and bake at 180 C for about 15 minutes or until starting to brown. While the burritos are in the oven, make the tomato sauce and the guacamole.

To make the Tomato Sauce: Heat oil in a small saucepan. Cook the onion a few minutes and then add the tomatoes and flavourings. Taste to check if you need to adjust the flavours. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens but still spreads easily. I did this while the burritos were cooking in the oven.

To make the Guacamole: Mash the avocado in a small bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Taste and add more salt and cayenne if required.

To serve: Spread a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce on a large plate. Place a warm burrito in the middle. Dollop on top a spoonful of guacamole and a spoonful of yoghurt. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Notes: For a vegan version, the dish would not suffer by leaving the cheese and yoghurt out or using vegan alternatives. For a gluten free version, you should leave out the facon - some smoked paprika can be used instead to impart a little of the bacon smokiness - and use corn tortillas rather than wheat tortillas.

On the stereo:
Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60s – Various Artists

NCR Quinoa, Cabbage and Corn Soup

Last year when I first tried quinoa Lisa recommended I try her Quinoa Soup with Corn. And I did. It was very good. I had some lovely colourful red quinoa. I added a few vegetables and ate it for lunch. I dug out an old photo and it felt like a journey back in time to go through some old photos.

It was a soup good enough to blog but I felt I needed to try it again. That took me almost a year. Then a few weeks ago my sister Fran and my mum were coming over for lunch. I cooked up a big pot of it with lots of lurking vegetable from the fridge the night before. It is a good feeling to wake in the morning and have lunch ready to heat and serve. Fran brought over some lovely ciabatta. We heated up bowls of soup, cut big chunks of bread and chatted over lunch.

My mum noticed that the corn was fresh and commented on what a difference that made. I agree and feel that there could be even more corn in this soup. It was a great way to use up my cabbage, which gave it heaps of flavour, although after a few days it was a bit smelly, though still very tasty. I used herbs from the garden and some baby turnips that my mum had bought me in a moment of curiosity. The quinoa added a pleasing chewy substance. I did prefer the colour of the red quinoa but I don't think the colour affects the flavour. E liked it with a handful of grated cheese but I don’t think this is at all necessary as there was enough flavour without it.

Lisa is right in advising that quinoa makes a great addition to a soup. So I am now returning the favour and sending it back to her for the No Croutons Required Event she founded with Jacqueline. This month Lisa is hosting and the theme is grains in a vegetarian soup or salad. I just know she will love it.

Quinoa, Cabbage and Corn Soup
(adapted from Lisa’ Kitchen)
Serves 8 (4 dinners and 4 lunches)

1 tbsp oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
¼ cabbage, chopped
2½ litres of water
bouquet garnet (bay leaves, rosemary, parsley, thyme)
2 tsp salt
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 baby turnips, trimmed and chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
kernels of 3 cobs of corn
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chilli paste
1½ cups (300g) dried quinoa
juice of half a lemon
handful of chopped fresh parsley, to serve
cheese to serve (optional)

Fry onions in oil in a large stockpot for 3 minutes on a low heat. Add carrots, celery and cabbage, and fry for 7 minutes. Then add water, bring to the boil and simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients (in the order on the list), placing in the pot as you go. This should take about 20-30 minutes, some of which is while the water is coming to the boil. I placed the quinoa in the pot last and turned off the heat. Then I left it overnight and when I warmed it the next day the quinoa was cooked. If you want to serve straight away, you could add the quinoa in with the water and check it is cooked before serving. Stir the parsley in just before serving. Sprinkle with grated cheese if desired.

On the stereo:
The World of Michael Nyman