Cuban Beer-Infused Black Beans

As soon as I saw Janet's Cuban Beer-Infused Black Beans recipe I was sold.  We had beer in the house that I earmarked for the recipe, limes on the tree (most went into limeade), poblano chillis that bemused me, and a love of spicy bean stews.

Janet highly recommend the roasted hatch chillis in the recipe that she made but I have never found there here in Melbourne.  However for a short time, our local Coles supermarket had a huge range of chilli peppers.  I bought some poblano chillis on a whim.  I was wooed by the lovely deep green glossy skins.  It was a relief when I got home and looked them up on Wikipedia to read that it is quite mild, with only an odd rogue spicy one.  Finally I have met a chilli pepper I can love.  Sadly it was just a passing phase of Coles and I haven't seen them again.

It has been a long time since I made a "chilli non carne" (aka chilli con carne without meat!).  When I was first blogging chilli non carne was the basis of every Mexican dish I made.  Since then I have tried it in many ways - with cocoa, carob, dried apricots, bulgar wheat, hominy, silverbeet and of course a mole sauce.  More recently I have used rapid refried beans in tacos and nachos because it is so quick.  But it lacks the soupy comfort factor of a good chilli non carne.

This recipes is actually a Cuban recipe and probably not technically a chilli non carne.  However it is similar enough to be closely associated with it in my mind.  I love it with its creamy coconut milk sauce and depth of flavour.  It seemed very soupy so I added extra tomato paste and simmer it an extra 10 minutes.  I also worried that the soy sauce would overwhelm the other flavours but it didn't dominate once simmered.  We ate it with tortillas, tangy silverbeet and cheese.  Leftover were a delight.

I made these beans a couple of months ago.  It was on a serendipitous weekend.  I decided to go to Fairfield Farmers Market and we were passing Sylvia's kinder friends on the way home so we dropped in.  The following day we caught up with one of her school friends (A) and went to the park.  While another school friend (D) turned up who had been on an overseas trip.  The little girls were delighted to catch up and huddled under one of the large oak trees doing secret little girls business while the parents all caught up.  Eating a good bean stew was an excellent end to a lovely weekend.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Dolly's birthday cake
Two years ago: NCR Oranges history, trivia and a salad
Three years ago: Easey Cheesey Scones
Four years ago: Nutella Blondies
Five years ago: Sour Skon
Six years ago: Pumpkin soup and history
Seven years ago: Eight plus eight - recycling tags!

Cuban Beer-Infused Black Beans
Adapted from Meatless All Day via the taste space
Serves 4

1 tbsp rice bran oil (or other neutral oil)
1 small onion, chopped
2 baby carrots, peeled and diced
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
2 fresh poblano chilli peppers, diced
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup beer
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup water 
2 x 400g tins (3 cups) black beans, rinsed and drained
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp stock powder

Fry onion and carrots in oil over medium heat for a few minutes while you chop the capsicum and chillis.  Stir in capsicum and chillis and fry for about 5 to 10 minutes.  The vegetables should be softening.  Add the garlic and cumin and stir for about a minute.  Stir in the tomato paste until it starts to brown.  Deglaze with the beer for a minute or two.  Add remaining ingredients.  Simmer uncovered for 15 to 25 minutes until mixture has thickened and flavours meld.

On the Stereo:
Blue: Joni Mitchell

Waterfront Kitchen, 2 Little Birds cafe and Zen Bakery, Geelong

With some birthdays and school holidays, we have spent a bit of time recently eating out in Geelong.  In most cases I have been pleasantly surprised at the vegetarian options.  Over the past decade, Geelong has developed some cosmopolitan eating spaces, especially in Pakington Street and the waterfront.  Today I will share with you a couple of snacks at small cafes in the suburb of Belmont and an impressive lunch at Deakin University's Waterfront Kitchen.

Let's start with our lunch at Zen Bakery in Belmont.  This is a nice space with a fairly basic menu of sandwiches, foccaccias and pies and pasties.   I enjoyed a vegetable pastie but barely made a dint on the huge dish of chutney.  Sylvia's order went awry and she was given a vegemite and cheese sandwich rather than a toasted cheese sandwich.  She loved the white bread and wanted some of the cute flower shaped biscuits.  Zen also sells loaves of sourdough bread but I wasn't sure what bread was at my parents' house.

My family has raved to me about 2 little birds so I was pleased when my sister Fran suggested afternoon tea there.  It is far bigger than the small door off Roslyn Road would suggest.  Inside the door is a shop area selling clothes, homewares and jewellery.  Through the back is a gorgeous cafe.  A large table sits under a huge chandelier in the middle of the room, while around the sides are tables and benches with cushions and quirky touches like a ceramic cow's head on the wall.

The cakes were really interesting.  Sylvia immediately decided upon the raw strawberry cheesecake ($8.50) and I had trouble deciding between the raw hazelnut chocolate cheesecake and the gluten free dairy free chocolate cake ($6.50).  I went for the latter and loved it.  (I was curious to know what nuts or flour was used!)  Sylvia wasn't keen on her cheesecake.  I liked hers but it was quite rich and not quite as smooth as I expected.  The sweet potato and lentil soup also sounded great.  It was good to catch up with Fran and Paul, and Sylvia had a lovely time with her cousins, Stella and Grace.

The next day after a fun swim with more of Sylvia's cousins, my dad took us to the Waterfront Kitchen at Deakin University's waterfront campus.  It is housed in the old Dalgety's warehouse (top photo) between the city shopping precinct and Corio Bay.  I remember going to a National Celtic Festival there in 2000, presumably before Deakin took it over.

The cafe is spacious with high ceilings hung with white cloths.  I assume these are to dampen the sound, given that it was not that noisy considering how crowded it was when we arrived.  (The below photo was taken at the end of the meal.)

There is a cafeteria service and a waiter service area.  Sylvia had chips, as usual.  My dad chose soup from the cafeteria but I was tempted by the pumpkin fajitas ($18.90) on the menu.  My dad's soup arrived last and he thought it might have been forgotten as it wasn't piping hot.  However it was nice that there was no problem about serving us from both areas.  And he enjoyed his soup.

My fajitas had chipotle roasted pumpkin and mexican rice on two corn tortillas, topped with corn chips, cheese, peppers, onions and sour cream, with some guacamole on the side.  The pumpkins weren't large chunks with some chipotle powder on them but not as tasty as I had hoped.  The meal as a whole, though, was very filling, interesting and satisfying.

I am always fascinated by university buildings and I think it is great that the cafe opens this old warehouse to the public.  There are also some spaces to just sit and read or relax.  Geelong, like Melbourne, has moved towards a greater appreciation of its waterfront recently.  If the weather was fine, I think I would enjoy sitting outside the cafe and looking across the road to the Bay.

I was quite full after my meal.  Sylvia and my dad were up for an ice cream despite the cold weather.  We walked across the road to the ice cream van and bought chocolate covered soft serve ice creams. Even in the chilly afternoon the soft serve melted quicker than Sylvia cold eat it.

There is a great playground opposite the Waterfront Kitchen.  Young boys were scrambling up to the top of a pyramid rope climbing frame.  Sylvia preferred the water dragon and the swings.

I really like the little memorial to the Poppykettle.  It was a book that everyone seemed to know in Geelong when I was young though I can't remember if I ever read it.  I think I liked the name and the little people.  As an adult I find it quite fascinating that they are Peruvians.

We parked at the edge of Cunningham Pier.  This pier dates back to the 1850s but in recent times has been the home to New Year's Even celebrations, Smorgy's restaurants and planning proposals.  I know the name there but don't think I have ever ventured down the pier.

Finally we also wandered past some of the iconic bollards that give the waterfront colour and history.  They are always a delight to stumble across.  In fact the Geelong of today delights me far more than the Geelong that I knew as a child.  Even despite all the job losses with the closure of Ford and Alcoa, there is still a lot of vitality about the place.

Zen Bakery
153 High Street, Belmont
Tel: (03) 5244 1488
http://www.zenbakery.com.au/

2 Little Birds
46B Roslyn Road, Belmont
Tel: (03) 5241 2726
https://www.facebook.com/pages/2-little-birds/189998857823643

Waterfront Kitchen
Deakin University Waterfront Campus
Western Beach Road, Geelong
Tel: (03) 5227 8641
http://food.deakin.edu.au/outlets/47

Pot Pie with Lattice

It was the lattice that sold Chez Cayenne's broccoli cheese pot pie to me.   It looked so pretty.  Yet I didn't have the broccoli or the desire to use vegan cheese.  Instead I used vegies that were on hand and made a vegan cheese sauce with cashews and nutritional yeast flakes, based on the Vegan Yum Yum Hurry Up Alfredo cheese sauce that I love.  I felt all thumbs with the lattice but I was proud and E wanted seconds. 

I made the pie on a wet night on which I remembered why you don't awkwardly balance a saucepan of water on a piece of tofu to squeeze out the water; on which I had to battle with a child who wanted to play with my strips of puff pastry; and on which a keen buyer came to test ride my worn old bike in the rain and purchase it for a pittance.

My sauce seemed much drier than Chez Cayenne's.  I think it was not as creamy as traditional pot pies, which are not something I grew up eating.  The sauce worked fine but I wonder about using more milk in future.  I also would have loved some green in it but I ran out of time.  (Green peas would be an easy addition,)  I did manage to use some tofu that had been the freezer for months.  I haven't frozen and thawed tofu before but it did make a big difference.  It was far more chewy and meaty that regular tofu.

The pie was ready late.  We ate it after Sylvia had eaten her dinner.  It was worth a bit of effort.  This was great comfort food.  Pastry, cheese sauce and potatoes.  Yet a bit lighter than a traditional cheesy pie. I even made a lattice pastry topping by weaving the pastry in and out of the strips as I laid it.  I am not sure it was the easiest way to do it.  No matter.  What matters is that it was pretty - and tasty too!

I am sending this to Jacqueline for Bookmarked Recipes.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: PP Cheeseless Cheese Sauce, Birthdays and Boyd
Two years ago: Patatas Bravas and Spanish memories
Three years ago: Mulled wine and chocolate cake
Four years ago: Rhubarb and apple sponge pudding
Five years ago: Breakfast Burritos – My Way!
Six years ago: Miss Marple’s Tea Room – cosy charm
Seven years ago: Full Moon Cupcakes

Pot Pie with Lattice
Adapted from Chez Cayenne and Green Gourmet Giraffe
Serves 4

Cheese sauce:
1/2 cup soy milk (or more*)
1/3 cup raw unsalted cashews - soaked a few hours
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tbsp vegan margarine
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp seeded mustard
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 shake cayenne pepper
1 clove of garlic, crushed
black pepper, to taste

To assemble pie:
200-300g tofu, frozen and defrosted
1 potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 butternut pumpkin, diced, roasted in oil, garlic, smoked paprika and salt til soft
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
handful of parsley, finely chopped
1 sheet of puff pastry, approximately
soy milk to glaze pastry

Preheat oven to 200 C.  Grease a medium square or rectangular casserole dish.

Squeeze as much water out of the tofu as possible.  I wrapped mine in a tea towel and pressed it under a saucepan on a colander.

To make the cheese sauce, blend all ingredients.  (*I think I would use 1 cup of milk because the sauce thickens once mixed with the rest of the filling.)

Simmer the potato for 10 minutes and then add the carrot and simmer for another 2 minutes.  Check vegies are cooked but not mushy.

Meanwhile to make the filling, crumble the pressed tofu into a large bowl.  Add roasted pumpkin, spring onions, parsley and mix well together.  Once potatoes and carrots are cooked, stir into mixture and then stir in the cheese sauce.

Tip the filling into the greased casserole dish.  Cover with puff pastry.  If you want to be fancy, cut the puff pastry into 1 inch wide strips and starting at one corner, lay down a strip at a time, lifting up strips to weave them in and out.  Brush with soy milk.

Bake for 30 to 50 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown.  (I started baking mine at 180 C and thought it too low but if your pastry is burning then you could turn down the heat to 180 C.)

On the stereo:
Live in Concert: The Whitlams and the Sydney Symphony (freebie in The Weekend Australian)

Mashed potato chocolate cake

There are cakes I dream of making again.  Cakes from long ago.  Cake I still remember with delight.  Take for instance a cake I made soon after leaving school.  A mashed potato chocolate cake.  It made my siblings shudder in horror.  That amused me.  I found that the mashed potato gave it a lovely soft texture.  These days I make many fancier cakes.  Yet I have dreamt of this cake for age.  It should be the cake that stands tall and proud in a photo rather than falling flat on its face.  However it seems fate has a sense of humour too.

Earlier this week we had a lovely dinner of spaghetti squash, veg spag bol sauce, steamed broccoli and mashed potato.  It reminded me of the meals my mum used to serve us as kids.  High on comfort.  I made lots of mashed potato.  It seemed the perfect time to bake the mashed potato cake.  So yesterday while our paintings were still drying, I got out my old Women's Weekly cookbook.

The cake is made in a 20 cm ring tin.  I don't use my ring tin often these days.  It got more outings years ago when I had less variety of cake tins.  I might have bought this cake tin many years ago but I have a feeling my mum just found it in her kitchen and gave it to me.

The icing was runnier than it looks on the photo in the cookbook.  Perhaps it was because I used margarine or couldn't be bothered washing the electric beaters to make the icing.  We decorated the cake with M and Ms.  My sister won a year's supply of M and Ms recently so all the family has been rolling in them.  Well, almost!  My brother-in-law says he would have needed far more M and Ms than she got to have a year's worth.  Sylvia loved decorating the cake.

Then I had a great idea to put the plate on a cake stand and photograph it outside.  I put the cake by the table and propped it up because the table was on a lean.  Suddenly the table lurched.  It knocked the cake.  The cake flew threw the air and landed wrong side down.  Sylvia and I laughed hysterically.  Then she screamed when she realised that it was on the ground.  I picked up the car crash cake, took a photo and ate a slice.  It tasted so good.

Last night Sylvia and I drove down to Geelong for dinner for my nephew's birthday dinner.  We took him some cake.  I mentioned to my sisters that the cake had mashed potato in it.  They shuddered.  Seems my family's tastes haven't moved on as much as I thought it had.  Ironic really, given that the cake reminded me of my mum's chocolate cake.  I didn't mention the mashed potato to my brother.  Thought it best not to. 

Meanwhile Sylvia thought I was joking when I first said that I was adding mashed potato to a cake.  It didn't take me long to convince her.  And my mashed potato only had carbs, margarine and salt.  Nothing you wouldn't usually put in a cake.  I thought pepper might be a bit too much for Sylvia.  Luckily she is more open minded than most of my family.  (Well she does see lots of different dishes even if she rejects most of them.) 

Today we got back from a day of craft with her friends at the Immigration Museum.  It was really cold and windy.  We were tired.  That cake tasted so good.  I think we were both sad to finish it.  E got home and asked if there was any left.  Nope and the rest of the mashed potato went into potato scones.  I must make that cake again soon.

I am sending this cake to No Waste Food Challenge - hosted by Anne's Kitchen and coordinated by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Turtles and Pikelets - with gf buckwheat option
Two years ago: Sam Stern's Lancashire Burgers
Three years ago: Cookie wands
Four years ago: Falafel for E, Pizza for Sylvia
Five years ago: Slideshows, Nostalgia and Hedgehog
Six years ago: Curious Chipotles and Bonza Burritos
Seven years ago: PPN#19: You say tuna, I say tempeh!

Mashed potato chocolate cake
From Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices Cookbook

125g butter (I used margarine)
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup mashed potato
1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk (I used soy)

Frosting:
90g softened butter (I used margarine)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 heaped tbsp cocoa
1-2 tbsp milk (I used soy)

Grease and line a 20cm ring tin.  Preheat oven to 180 C.  Cream butter and sugar (I used electric beaters), then beat in eggs one at a time.  Fold in mashed potato, cocoa, 1/2 cup flour and half of the milk.  Fold in remaining flour and milk.  Evenly spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth on top.  Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly.  Rest 5 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the frosting cream the butter, beat in the icing sugar, cocoa and 1 tbsp of milk to make a spreadable mixture.  Add extra tbsp of milk if required.  I did this by hand but electric beaters are best to get a creamy icing.  Spread icing over cooled cake.  [Decorate if desired.]

On the Stereo:
The Weavers at Home: The Weavers

Papa Gino's - old school Italian restaurant, Lygon St, Carlton

On Friday, E and I took Sylvia out for a movie and dinner.  It felt like an old fashioned kind of night.  The movie - Ernest and Celestine - was hand drawn and was wonderfully sweet and innocent compared to the fast-moving, knowing, in-your-face movies that often assault kids' senses.  Dinner was at a pizza and pasta restaurant in Lygon Street called Papa Gino's.  It has been there since long before my student days and still draws in the crowds and delivers great pizza.

There is something comforting for me about going to Papa Gino's.  I always went to Papa Gino's or neighbouring Il Gamberos for cheap pizza but Il Gamberos burnt down a few years back.  (It doesn't seem as cheap now at $11.50 for a small pizza or $9.50 for a margherita.  I guess it is better value to buy a big pizza for $20 if everyone can agree on one.)

I have been to Papa Gino's many times with housemates, with work colleagues, with family.  I don't think the menu has changed in the 2 decades I have been going there, except that they now have gluten free pizza bases.  I love to sit at the front, when ordering a takeaway pizza, and watch the guy making pizza.  I included the blurred photo of the portrait on the wall in the photo collage above because I have stared at it many times. (All the photos are from my phone and not the best quality.)

The interior doesn't seem to change either.  The dark brick walls with lots of curved archways and travel posters on the walls are very old school.  (1970s?)  They pack the tables in closely and most of them are filled.  The place bustled with chatter and laughter on a Friday night.  (The empty table in the above photo did not stay vacant for long.)

I always order the vegetarian pizza - tomato sauce, capsicum mushrooms, cheese and olives.  When I first started coming here it was quite a revelation to have a pizza that wasn't covered in melty cheese.  The cheese has a bit part here rather than being the star of the show.  If it hadn't been so long since I last visited I might have remembered that I like to have pineapple as an extra.  The base was quite thin and crisp without any of the sogginess that sometimes occurs when vegies are piled on a pizza.

I am not sure I have ever had pasta here but there are a few basic vegetarian options - tomato sauce, creamy mushroom sauce, and garlic and olive oil.  The other vegetarian options seem to be a green salad and chips.

I have thought that pizza might be a good option for Sylvia.  The tomato sauce in the magherita was slightly spicy but even so I had thought she might eat it.  But she is getting fussier with her pizza and no longer so happy to have any tomato and cheese topping.  She scraped off her topping and ate one quarter.  She was more interested in drinking apple juice, playing with loom bands and singing Let It Go.  Not that anyone noticed.  It was so noisy that no one would hear you scream in Papa Gino's!

After we had finished our meal, had Sylvia's leftover pizza packaged up to take home and paid the bill, we visited the Original Lolly Shop.  It amused me to see their chocolate pizzas.  This is a lolly shop so their chocolate pizza was a large disk of chocolate covered in 100s and 1000s and lots of lollies.  Cute idea.

As it was the end of the first week of the school holidays, I thought I would share a few photos of some of our activities.  Lots of parks, playdates and puddles as well as doing a swimming intensive for 5 days.  We have been taking it easy this weekend in readiness for another busy week ahead.

Papa Gino's
221 Lygon Street, Carlton
Tel: 03 9347 5758
www.papaginos.com.au

Oat and Seeds Sourdough Bread

I mentioned recently that I have been playing with Dan Lepard's White Levain Loaf from The Handmade Loaf.  My mum borrowed my copy of the book and tried it.  She raved to me about the silky texture of the dough.  So I tried it and then she was over following all that timing.  I persevered and started to experiment with adding seeds and oats.  Today I bring you this variation.  Not as fluffy and white but very good and even packs a little extra nutrition.

I have made this recipe on quite a few occasions.  It is different every time.  At first I tried wheatgerm and, once the packet was finished, I moved onto oats.  I keep the seeds small because the last time I bought a loaf with sunflower seeds, Sylvia managed to pick them out.  It is enough for the moment that she is eating the seeded loaf.  I have found that Dan Lepard's White Levain can be a bit sticky so I have tried slightly different amounts of flour and water. 

[On the weekend I bought a soft wholemeal loaf from Bakers Delight.  Sylvia was so excited at how soft it was; even the crusts.  She told me how much nicer it was than the bread I make.  That may be so.  However most of the time she doesn't have a choice about which bread she is eating!]

Most of the time I have been making the loaf throughout the day and it comes out of the oven too late to eat.  The loaves are ready even later with it being winter and the dough struggling to rise on some of the chilly day.  Even with the heater on, the dough knows it is winter. 

This loaf is amazing when warm out of the oven, but nevertheless, it is a beautiful thing to wake to a fresh loaf of bread.  We eat it for breakfast and I make everyone lunch.  Fresh bread doesn't need much to make an incredible sandwich.  E likes chutney and cheese.  Sylvia is over her horror of eating sandwiches like everyone else and has vegemite and cheese.  I love salad if the sandwich is eatent fresh.  (The salad at top is avocado, grated carrot, sun dried tomato, tofurky and mayonnaise.)

It would also be possible to make this bread in the early evening (maybe even after work) and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight in the tin or even rise at room temperature.  Though on a cold night it sometimes feels like the fridge is the warmer place!  Then it can be baked in the morning.  That would make for a

For anyone familiar with Dan Lepard's White Levain Loaf, this loaf is quite different when weighed down by seeds.  It doesn't rise as brilliantly or come out quite as soft.  If you love a seeded loaf though, it will appeal. Then all you have to have is a bit of time around the house.  It is worth it.  [Sadly it does not fit with our busy school holidays so it might not be appearing over the next week or so.]

I am sending this loaf to Alphabakes.  This month Ros of The More than Occasional Baker is hosting and the letter chosen is R: that is R for rolled oats.  I am also sending it to Susan of Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting, the regular round up of all things yeasty online.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Overnight no knead focaccia
Two years ago: Zucchini and tomato quiche with wild garlic
Three years ago: CC Orange, Lavender and Almond Syrup Cake
Four years ago: Lemon Slice and some Nostalgia
Five years ago: A Tale of Carrot and Feta Dip
Six years ago: Sparkles the Rabbit Cake
Seven years ago: The Worcestershire Sauce Puzzle

Seeded sourdough bread
Adapted from Dan Lepard's White Levain Loaf in The Handmade Loaf
Makes 1 loaf

200g sourdough starter
325g water
1/2 cup seeds (I use 2 tbsp each of sesame, poppy, linseeds, chia)
1 1/2 salt
100g oats
375g plain white flour
extra flour or olive oil for kneading and greasing
extra seeds for tin

• Mix starter and water in a large bowl.  Stir in seeds and salt.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well with a spoon.  (Dan says use your hands but I don't fancy that!) 
• 10 minutes: Cover with a teatowel and rest for 10 minutes. 
• 5 to 10 minutes: Knead for about 15 seconds, using a little flour if too sticky or a little olive oil if not sticky.  (I usually "pummel" my dough about 20 times.)  Rest on floured surface and cover with a teatowel.  Meanwhile wash and dry the mixing bowl.  Grease with a little olive oil.  This will usually take 5 to 10 minutes.  Knead dough and return to greased bowl.
• 10 minutes - Cover dough and rest for 10 minutes.  Knead for 15 second.
• 30 minutes - Cover, rest 30 minutes and knead.
• 1 hour - Cover, rest 1 hour and knead.
• 1 hour - Cover, rest 1 hour and knead.
• 2 hours - Cover and prove for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.  Grease a bread tin and scatter with seeds of choice.  Stretch and fold the dough on a lightly floured or oiled surface.  I fold the square of dough in three to make a long shape which fits my tin well. Arrange dough, seam side down, in bread tin.
• 4 1/2 hours - Cover with a greased piece of clingfilm.  Allow to prove 4 and 1/2 hours until almost doubled in size.  Preheat oven to 220 C about 30 minutes before the bread is ready.  Place dish of water in the bottom of the oven while preheating to fill it with steam.
• 50 to 60 minutes - Remove clingfilm [, slashing is optional - I don't do it[ and bake bread until a dark golden brown and the crust sounds hollow when tapped.  (It usually takes me 50 minutes.)  Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.  Wait at least an hour before cutting and eating bread.

On the Stereo:
Woody's 20 Grow Big Songs: The Guthrie Family

In My Kitchen July 2014

In My Kitchen I have just finished this amazing jar of honey flavoured coconut chunks.  We bought them along with the strawberries at Geelong Fresh Foods when I visited my parents recently.  I expected chewy chunks but these shatter in your mouth and are very addictive.  I thought of adding them to muesli or slices.  There was nae chance.  They went too fast.

In my kitchen I have some of this Sail and Anchor's Cat's Shank kolsch from Fremantle, Western Australia.  I bought it to try the beer soaked sweet potato fries in A Vegan Dinner Party e-book that I reviewed recently.  I soaked them for 1 hour rather than 15 minutes and they tasted very strongly of beer. 

I wasn't sure what to do with the leftover beer and stuck it in the fridge.  I used it for a second batch of fries.  The first half was too soft because we were in a hurry to eat and the second lot were forgotten.  I have been wondering about baking something like beer bread with the last of the beer.

In my kitchen I also had some leftover eggplant skin from a tamarind eggplant and chickpea dish from A Vegan Dinner Party.  It seemed a shame to waste it.  I used a similar marinade to our favourite tofu bacon one - some tamari, maple syrup and smoked paprika - and fried it up.  It made a lovely crisp facon in a salad sandwich.

In my kitchen we have been enjoying Cheeseybites.  Little packet each have a mixture of vegemite and cream cheese and some dipping crackers.  Sylvia loves them.  They are great for school lunchboxes or snacks after swimming lessons.  I quite like them but would not recommend them to anyone who didn't have a fine appreciation of vegemite.

In my kitchen we have another huge batch of Herman the German apple cake (see a photo of the previous batch) in the freezer.  This time I added ground almonds instead of some of the flour.  Then I remembered our school was nut free.  Fortunately around this time someone mentioned that it is not actually a nut free school - though they encourage nut free food.  (Which may be why I got it wrong!)  So I was able to send Sylvia to school with a piece in her lunchbox.  A policy on nuts is being considered so this may change.

In my kitchen we have been eating a lot of peanut butter.  I bought a jar of Tom's fresh peanut butter at the Fitzroy Market this month.  So soft and delicious.  It is far too long since I had fresh peanut butter.  What a joy. 

I have always loved peanut butter (and my mum recently told me that it was my dad's side of the family who loved it) but we do have to exercise some caution with Sylvia's peanut allergy (sob!)  Thank goodness it is not severe enough to cause anaphylaxis.  It would be lovely if we could get a date at the Royal Children's Hospital to get her allergy retested.  We have been waiting 7 or 8 months for an appointment for a test.

In my kitchen are goodies I bought at Coburg Farmers Market when I visited with Veganopoulous.  I have already made nachos with the tortilla chips.  I am still planning to make some barley soup with the vegetables but yet to decide what to do with the spaghetti squash and the choggia striped beetroot.  Eating the mint chocolate will not be a chore.  We always have to go there to taste and purchase chocolate from the nice lady at Cocoa Rhapsody.

The 5 and dime bagels from the farmers market are superb.  I could just live on them.  When we got home from the market I made E and I up some salad rolls with the bagels.  E had one with mixed seeds and onion on it.  I had the dill and onion bagel.  Inside was mayonnaise, spinach, grated carrot, red capsicum, swiss cheese and tofu bacon.  It was so so good.

In my kitchen we have been making birthday cards.  We've been to a few parties lately.  I have been collecting some pictures of Sylvia's - her drawings, colouring in and wrapping paper.  A picture and some washi tape around the border make for a quick and colourful birthday card.

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