Pumpkin and Goats Cheese Muffins

A few weeks back I had my first swim since Sylvia was born. I’ve missed swimming. I love the smell of chlorine. I love being in the water. And I realised I have come to love the peaceful time while tootling up and down the lap lanes when I can think about recipes.

During this swim I thought about pumpkin and goats cheese muffins. I have not been a big fan of goats cheese (ever since encountering some distastefully strong goats cheese in a café some years back). Then my mum recently brought me some delicious goats cheese that I used to top my mushroom and lentil ragout.

I envisioned chunky savoury muffins with fresh herbs from the garden. Almost a meal in themselves. Just like the ones at Arcadia Café in Gertrude Street Fitzroy. I thought the web would be littered with this sort of recipe but I couldn’t find any such thing. All the pumpkin muffin recipes I came across were sweet. So I looked at some recipes and cobbled together the muffins I had dreamt of.

I love the depth of flavours that roasting imparts to pumpkin (and all vegetables). On the day before baking my muffins, I roasted the pumpkin with seasoning and olive oil for 30 minutes at 200 C and left it in the oven while it cooled. The pumpkin was stirred into the muffin batter in chunks.

I baked in a rush to make the muffins before feeding Sylvia. In my hurry I used white flour instead of the wholemeal flour I had intended and I forgot to add oil. So I found the mixture a little stiff and just added a bit more milk. I was surprised at how soft and moist they were without oil. Everything tastes fantastic straight out of the oven but they also tasted great cold the next day.

E told me the muffins were too wet with pumpkin chunks. He would only eat them warm out of the oven or heated up in the microwave. I thought the pumpkin imparted a wonderful flavour to the muffins. We both enjoyed them as an accompaniment to broccoli soup. In fact, I can recommend them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Pumpkin and Goats Cheese Muffins
Makes 9-10 muffins

2 cups self raising flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1¼ cup milk*
8 semi-sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
120g goats cheese, chopped
⅓ cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 heaped cup of roast pumpkin cubes

*Or you can substitute ¼ cup oil for ¼ cup of milk which was what I originally intended.

Place paper muffin cups in a muffin tray. Preheat oven to 200 C. Lightly mix all ingredients in a medium-large bowl, except the flour. Gently stir in the flour till it is just combined. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

On the stereo:
Legend and Lore: Dark Folklore and European Myths - Various Artists

Plum Chutney

I rarely eat plums. Why? It’s a mystery. I love stone fruit and think plums are gorgeous to look at. Maybe it is because I have fond memories of blood plums that I ate as a child. Now I rarely see them in the stores and, when I do, they are soft and too sweet rather than tart and crisp. But I do love plum jam. So it was no surprise to find a plum and apple chutney recipe that delighted me.

I saw the recipe in the Australian BBC Good Food Magazine that my mum lent me (I promise I will return it one day, mum). I bought some plums that looked a pleasing hue. But then I struggled to find time and energy to make it. Not just the time to make sure I stirred it enough so it wouldn’t stick but also to prepare the jars.

I finally made the chutney when my plums had sat in the fruit bowl a couple of weeks and I was beginning to worry they would go mouldy before I got a chance to preserve them. Isn’t it strange the things that motivate us! I only learnt to ride a bike when I was young because my mum told me if I didn’t use my new bike it would be given to my younger sister. I learnt to ride quick smart!

I made it on the weekend when E was about and my dad was visiting. This was useful as I was able to ask them to help with frequent stirring when I was occupied with Sylvia. I hadn’t checked the weight of plums needed for the recipe so I needed to adjust measurements from the 1.5kg to my 600g of plums. I also found that mine took half the simmering time suggested by the recipe.

The resulting plum chutney was a dark and brooding sauce (a little neofolk, said E) with spicy flavours that were not so strong as to obliterate the plummy taste. I have a photo of the inside of the plums because it is a mystery to me how such light flesh becomes such a deep purple colour. Maybe it is the dark skins with the blue-purple colour of a bruise? Whatever the cause, that is what I love about plum jam and plum chutney. Who can resist such a hue!

When it was first made, I tasted the chutney and found it a bit rough textured with the finely ground spices. But once the chutney had sat for a bit, this odd texture disappeared. I found a recipe for plum chutney by Rita Erlich on the web. She suggests placing whole spices in a muslin bag while you simmer the chutney for a smoother texture. She also says to keep a couple of months before using. I am sure this is good advice but I am too impatient or disorganised.

The recipe suggested it would make a fine accompaniment to venison. Not in my kitchen. We ate it with gusto with everything from cheese and bread to vegetarian sausages to the spanikopita that my mum made for us. It improves any food. We are on to the second and last jar now. I wish I had bought more plums so we could have oodles of bottles in the pantry for our pleasure and to give away for gifts. Maybe next year.

Plum Chutney
(Adapted from Australian BBC Good Food, March 2009)

600g plums, stoned and chopped
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 granny smith apple, peeled and grated
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp chilli paste
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 – 60 minutes (the recipe said 60 minutes but mine took only 30 minutes) till slightly thickened and syrupy.

I poured some hot water over jars (using tongs to empty them in the sink) and let them air dry. I spooned hot chutney into the dry jars and sealed them straight away.

I wasn’t too bothered about sterilisation because I knew it wouldn’t last long. (If I thought the chutney would sit around longer I would boil the jars for about 10 minutes in boiling water.) I made two jars and when I opened the second jar (which had been in the pantry) after 3 weeks (in which we ate the first jar) it was fine. Keep in fridge once opened.

On stereo:
The hill for company: Sodastream

PPN Cavolo Nero and Chickpea Pasta

I had told E that I would make pasta bake for dinner. But with a small baby, sometimes I have to be flexible. Sometimes I just can't find the time when I spend all afternoon settling Syliva. And sometimes an ingredient leads me down the path of whimsy. In this case it was Cavolo Nero.

Kale is not common in the shops where I buy my vegetables. I have seen it a handful of times in the trendy fruit and vegetable shop in Carlton where I used to shop in lunch breaks while working. But we have no such fashionable shops locally. So I was very excited to see the dark leaves with the sign Tuscan Cabbage in a local fruit and veg shop. ‘Is this black kale?’ I asked when I paid for it. The woman at the cash register shrugged and showed no interest. When I got home I read the label and found it was indeed black kale or cavolo nero. Much more romantic names than Tuscan cabbage.

Once purchased, I had to use the cavolo nero but wasn’t sure how. I didn’t have time for a pasta bake but decided to use it for a pasta dish. It had to be something simple so I could taste the unusual leaves. I cooked the vegetables in my large frypan like a stir fry. It was a lightly seasoned dry sauce with lots of olive oil and parmesan cheese.

While I had been cooking the cavolo nero, E had looked on at its darkness. ‘It looks a little neofolk’, he said in approval. But he wasn’t so keen on the taste of it. Unlike me. I really liked it. A little like cabbage in needing quite some time to cook but even stronger tasting.

I was pleased with this pasta because it was so different to my usual pasta dishes and tasted fantastic. E kept asking about how I had cooked the pasta. Boiled with a little salt as usual. Then I told him that I used more olive oil than usual and he thought it had made a huge improvement. He did need a generous splash of Tabasco sauce for his pasta but I enjoyed the plainness of the dish.

I am sending Cavolo Nero and Chickpea pasta to Tigerfish of Teczcape who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Nights (#112), an event that was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Cavolo Nero and Chickpea Pasta
Serves 4

½ onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, cut into thin batons
1 zucchini, cut into thin batons
1 bunch cavolo nero (12-14 leaves), shredded
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp maple syrup
¼ tsp smoked paprika
100g parmesan cheese, finely grated
250g pasta, dried
black pepper to serve

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in large non-stick frypan. Place onion, garlic and carrot over low to medium heat and fry for about 5 minutes. Add zucchini, cavolo nero and chickpeas. Fry for about 10 minutes over medium heat and 10 minutes over high heat, stirring frequently. Meanwhile cook and drain the pasta. Add 3 Tbsp oil, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, smoked paprika and pasta. Stir over medium heat for a couple of minutes and then stir in parmesan cheese. Check seasoning. Serve with freshly ground black pepper on the pasta.

On the stereo:
Boy Child: Scott Walker

Ricki’s Tempting Truffles

I read blog posts so often and get inspired by the wonderful recipes. I drool and swoon. I bookmark and plan. Then life gets in the way of good intentions. I get distracted. It can take months or even years before I actually make the recipe. So today’s recipe is unusual because within 15 minutes of reading about Ricki’s Carob Coconut Sweeties I had made my version of them. Why? Let me tell you:

1. The recipe is so simple and quick to make. I can make it in the amount of time it takes a baby to take a deep breath between cries. Well, almost!

2. My version is made of ingredients in my cupboards. No palaver of dressing Sylvia in a cardigan and hat, putting her in the pram, crying on the way to the shops, battling my way through the supermarket, queuing behind some arrogant old man arguing with the check-out chick, and rushing back in time for another feed.

3. It is as gooey, chocolatey and coconutty as my favourite grubs but with less processed ingredients. It feeds the inner child in need of comfort food but with an adult’s appreciation for nutrition.

4. Ricki understands that sometimes we need to make ourselves food that gives instant gratification but will not linger temptingly once the urge passes. This recipe has mercifully small quantities.

5. It comes from Ricki’s wonderful Diet, Dessert and Dogs. I love her recipes which are always inspiring and interesting.

I have been reading Ricki’s blog since late in 2007 when her recipes started inspiring me. It is always a pleasure to see her posts pop up in my blog reader. She is creative, entertaining, and generous. Diet, Dessert and Dogs is written with humour and poignancy and always has something interesting to offer. Whether it is a new word (such as chillaxing), a new ingredient (such as coconut oil) or just a recipe that I know I must try (such as these these heavenly truffles), I can be guaranteed to find it on DDD.

Ricki also has a fine appreciation of dietary restrictions, having faced many of them in her own life. She has lots of interesting recipes suitable for vegan and gluten-free diets. So refreshing after the same old recipes in magazines and cookbooks. And Ricki is always up for a challenge. Most recently she has been on an anti-candida diet (ACD). Her list of what she must not eat on this diet shocked me but it is admirable and amazing how many delicious creations she continues to enjoy despite this.

One of her recent ACD recipes were the Carob Coconut Sweeties which I mentioned above. They were just so good I have now made them 3 times and on one occasion didn’t even both making balls but just ate the mixture straight from the bowl. They have that sort of informality. I was even happy that E wasn’t interested in it. All the more for me.

Ricki sometimes has ingredients that are beyond my reach. In her recipe she used carob, chia seeds, stevia liquid and hemp seeds – none of which have ever graced my kitchen. So I substituted using what was about. I tried using less cocoa in the first batch (see photo below) but they do need the 2 teaspoons that Ricki instructed. They are both vegan and gluten free. I think these would be nice healthyish snacks for children and I have wondered about trying a nut-free version with just coconut, tahini, cocoa and maple syrup or honey. The other substitution I would be interested in trying is different nuts and nut butters. I have finished my ground almond stash but have some chopped peanuts and have wondered if they could be substituted.

There are many more of Ricki’s recipes I am keen to try (chocolate pate, vegan molten chocolate cake, and pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce, to name just a few). Her tempting photos make you forget about dietary restrictions. These recipes will have you drooling whatever your diet. Ricki has spent many valuable hours getting her versions of the recipes just right and even ran a baking business for a few years.

But there is exciting news. Ricki has a new sweet cookbook which will be released on 15 May 2009. I can’t wait to get my copy. As you will see above, I love her recipes and highly recommend them to any reader who has not yet discovered her charms. The book is called Sweet Freedom and you can see some preview photos at Ricki’s cookbook blog. Ricki describes the book as featuring ‘delicious, foolproof recipes for baked treats and other sweets designed for those of us with dietary restrictions’.

If you like the sound of her sweet treats that I have described here then this could be a cookbook for you or even for your friends and family. If you are interested, I encourage you to look at this post for information about how to purchase it. Ricki has also invited anyone to leave a comment on that post to go into a draw to win a free copy. I told you she was generous didn’t I?

Coconut Almond Balls
(Adapted from Diet, Dessert and Dogs)
Makes 5-6 balls

¼ cup desiccated coconut
1 heaped tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1 heaped tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp ground almonds (or coconut)
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp cocoa
1 tsp cocoa nibs (optional)

Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir until combined. Use your fingers to roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into walnut-sized balls. Ricki advises to place in fridge to firm up but I like them a little soft.

See Ricki’s post for an anti-candida version.

On the Stereo:
The Best of Brahms

Surprising Beetroot Risotto

Here is a tale of frustration and discovery. For a long time I have wanted to make beetroot risotto with walnuts. I thought it was because I saw a recipe on a blog but when I started looking I couldn’t find the one in my mind. Finally I found Wendy’s Hazelnut and Fennel Risotto. I think this is where it all began.

Before I rediscovered the source of inspiration, I went on a lovely journey around the web looking for beetroot and walnut risotto recipes and found all sorts of fascinating recipes. Here are a few of them:

- Beetroot with Goats Cheese and Walnuts – Taste.com
- Beetroot and Blue Cheese Risotto – Nami Nami
- Beetroot with Watercress and Goats Cheese – What’s the Recipe Today Jim?
- Red Beet Risotto (with pinenut and orange zest) – La Tartine Gourmande
- Beet Risotto with Lemon Marinated Tofu – Tofu for Two
- Beetroot and Fetta Risotto – Pettavel Winery and Restaurant
- Beetroot Risotto (with vodka or sherry and lemon zest) – Growing Communities
- Beetroot, Ginger and Chocolate Risotto - Just Cook It

Inspired? Moi? Oh yes! Blue cheese, vodka and watercress! Oh my! But I could not go past the idea of chocolate in my risotto. I have made a chocolate rice pudding before and swooned over it. And anyone who has had chocolate beetroot cake knows the flavours go together brilliantly. But Just Cook It had made a savoury risotto with chocolate. Frustratingly there wasn’t a photo. I had to see this. So I not only had to try it, but had to give the internet a photo of the phenomenon. My photo is not that great but at least it gives an idea.

When I started making it, Sylvia was having a cranky day. She is sleeping about 7 hours a night at the moment (although she doesn’t get to sleep til late, just like her parents!) so I can’t complain about being sleep deprived. On the day of the risotto revolution she had had a bad night and slept a mere 3 hours before waking. Perhaps this was why she was so hard to settle. Luckily E did his bit in soothing Sylvia.

Risotto is not ideal for when there is a crying baby distracting you. It requires constant attention so I was trying to stir, make notes for the blog and help E when I could. I think I have made beetroot risotto before but can’t quite remember. Most recipes I found said to roast it first but I didn’t have the time or energy. The beetroot in the risotto was only just cooked when I served it the first night. The second night it was a lot better cooked, quite possibly because it had cooked while the risotto cooled in the pot the first night.

I served the risotto with grated parmesan, chopped walnuts and grated 70% dark chocolate. The small smattering of chocolate lent a slightly sweet taste. I loved it. (However I don’t advise you get some excited by the idea and add a small handful of choc chips to the savoury risotto – it really doesn’t work! Although grated beetroot in a sweet chocolate risotto still sounds quite interesting). I thought I added quite a bit of stock powder but the risotto still seemed on the sweet side.

E was less enthused. He didn’t like the beetroot but he did like the rice. He ate around the beetroot - perhaps because it was not cooked enough. Since making it I have thought perhaps next time I need to roast the beetroot for about 30 minutes first. I have also wondered if I could microwave the beetroot for a few minutes before adding to the onion and rice or cooking it with the onion for a good 10 minutes before adding the rice. I love the colour of beetroot so much that I am sure I will add it to risotto again so will be experimenting with this.

Finally, I went to write up the post today. I have spent much more time cooking than writing up blog posts recently. I have notes on many recipes to write up when I get time. Some of my recipes I have made are written on scraps of paper as I cook and then float around my computer til they are typed into my computer. It is not terribly organised. To my horror, I couldn’t find the recipe for the beetroot risotto today. It will probably surface somewhere unexpected as soon as I post this.

In the absence of my notes, I have had to recreate the recipe from memory. I think it is fairly accurate. But risotto is a dish where a bit of intuition is necessary so you might need some small adjustments. But I highly recommend this for a delicious risotto. It will amaze your friends and give them something to discuss around the water cooler!

Beetroot Risotto with Chocolate and Walnuts
Serves 4

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1½ cups Arborio rice
2 large beetroot, peeled and chopped*
½ cup white wine
5½ cups boiling water
1 tsp orange zest
3-4 tsp stock powder
¼ cup of parmesan cheese

To Serve:
4 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
4 tbsp walnuts
10g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely grated

*You may want to roast beetroot for about 30 minutes or microwave a few minutes first to soft it up or to fry a bit longer as mine could have been cooked more

Heat butter and oil in large stockpot. Fry onion over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Add beetroot and garlic and fry for about 3 minutes. Add rice and fry another 3 minutes. (While you are frying boil the kettle so you have boiling water on hand.)

Add wine and stir til absorbed. Add orange zest and stock powder with about half a cup of boiling water. Stir until water is absorbed. Repeat adding half cups of hot water and stirring til absorbed. Do this until rice is cooked through. It took me about 5½ cups and about 25-30 minutes but may vary slightly each time it is made.

When rice is cooked, remove stock pot from heat. Stir through ¼ cup parmesan cheese. Serve hot with a spoonful of grated parmesan cheese, a spoonful of walnuts and a sprinkling of dark chocolate.

On the Stereo:
Don’t’ try this at home: Billy Bragg

GYO Bill’s Broccoli Salad

About a month ago we had wild thunderstorms in Melbourne. The sort of day in which E took 2 hours getting home from work rather than the usual 45 minutes. The drought makes it hard to complain about rain (Melbourne’s water storages are only 27% full at the moment so rain is desperately needed for dams, farmers and gardens), although I am not sure why it falls in the wrong places. In February, when we had the terrible bushfires of what is now known as Black Saturday, up in Queensland they had widespread flooding.

In a similar way, it seems as soon as we get rain, the plants in the backyard do ok but the weeds absolutely thrive. The one pot plant I have which really laps up the rain and spreads like a weed is mint. In fact it has jumped into the parsley pot and completely taken over.

I found a Bill Granger recipe which I think I found in Delicious Magazine some years ago. It had barley, broccoli, Asian seasonings and mint. I was intrigued. A new way to use mint. I made a few small adjustments to the recipe. I didn’t have barley so I used brown rice instead. I changed the vegetables slightly, including some leftover leeks from the previous night's Mushroom and Lentil Ragout instead of spring onion.

The seasonings were very subtle but gave the rice a lift. The first night we had it warm with polenta chips and ragout. The second night I added some spinach and served it with vegetarian sausages. I even had some cold for lunch. Delicious! Not E’s favourite but I loved the interesting flavours in the combination of an Asian dressing and mint. It is hard to resist a salad with lots of substance, protein and green vegetables.

I am sending this to The Daily Tiffin who are hosting the Grow Your Own Event, which was created by Andrea’s Recipes. This event encourages bloggers to share recipes using produce from their garden or from gardens of friends and family.

Bill’s Broccoli Rice Salad
(adapted from Delicious Magazine?)
serves 4

1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 large head of broccoli, chopped
½ cup cooked sliced leeks
1 corn cob
couple of handfuls of spinach, shredded
½ cup mint leaves, torn
⅓ cup cashews, roughly chopped

Dressing:
1 tsp sesame oil
1½ tbsp tamari
1½ tbsp mirin
1 tsp ginger, finely grated

Cook the brown rice in boiling water for 30 minutes (or using your own method). Meanwhile steam broccoli florets and corn. Cut the kernels off the corn cob. Make dressing by whisking (or shaking in a jar) all the ingredients. Place broccoli, leeks, corn and mint in a salad bowl. When rice is cooked and drained add to bowl. Toss through with dressing and sprinkle with cashew nuts. Serve warm or at room temperature.

On the stereo:
Island: Current 93

Mushroom and Lentil Ragout

It is a wintery day today. So it seems quite some time since I made this mushroom and lentil ragout. Ironically when I made it, it was so hot that I was trying to avoid using the oven, but this stovetop meal was so hearty that it would be perfect for today’s cold weather.

In fact it is so long since I made the ragout that I had to think back to if it served us for one or two nights. Finally I remembered that I had served it with soft polenta (made in the microwave like I did here) and goat cheese the first night because my mum had given us some delicious goat cheese marinated in olive oil. But the second night when I served it with polenta chips and Bill’s Broccoli Rice Salad, unfortunately I forgot about the cheese.

I can’t remember where I got the inspiration for the recipe but I suspect it might have been the huge Portobello mushrooms. I love how they will impart dark deep flavours to any stew. They were so large that I photographed them with my hands (which are on the small side) to show their size.

But I do know that I put in a bit of this and a bit of that and ended up tasting fantastic. So it has gone into a new category I have just added to labels (including tagging posts retrospectively): ‘original recipes’. It is a label I have noticed on Where’s the Beef and always admired. Not my original idea, but it is a good one if people like looking at labels like I do.

When I go to a new blog I like to check out the labels as one way of checking out what sort of food they cook. I particularly look for if omnivores have a ‘vegetarian’ label because I like to see if there are lots of interesting veg dishes. I also love to look at archives or indexes. But I appreciate that these aren’t as straightforward as it seems they should be.

One of the things I hate deciding is categories for labels and my index. I remember working in an office once and thinking my filing system was so obvious until a new staff member came in and started scratching her head when she tried finding a file. In the same way, I am aware the readers have different needs and different ways of thinking about recipes. So at the end of the day, because I can’t please everyone, I try to please myself. Even this is not easy because I need different ways of searching depending on my day and my mood.

Once I have made a decision on what to name a label, I then need to work out what to file under each category without continually making new categories. But the ‘original recipe’ category interested me. Firstly, what constituted an original recipe and secondly did I really make many? One of my former housemates used to say, ‘everything is derivative’. Ricki recent posted about creating Curried Pumpkin Hummus and then discovering other people’s recipes for it on the web. Bearing this in mind, I use the category quite loosely to refer to recipes which I have not taken from an existing recipe on the web or in a cookbook or magazine. However, quite often my recipes are inspired by other recipes, whether consciously or not. And like Ricki, I suspect you would find similar versions of my ‘original’ recipes around.

So here is ‘my very own’ Mushroom and Lentil Ragout recipe. I did a quick search of the web and found lots of mushroom ragout recipes but not so many mushroom and lentil ragouts. I imagine ragout to be dark and substantial but when I checked Wikipedia it said that ragout was a French word for stew or sauce for noodles or starchy food (whereas the Italian ragu refers to a sauce for pasta). Mine was a dark and flavoursome stew. Served with mushy polenta and soft goat cheese, this is a hearty winter meal I would recommend.

Mushroom and Lentil Ragout with Goat Cheese
Serves 3-4

1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp margarine
2 leeks, washed and sliced
2 large Portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 x 400g tin brown lentils, drained
1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
½ a 400g tin of water
1 tbsp fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tsp promite (yeast extract)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ cup goat cheese, to serve (optional)

Heat margarine and olive oil in a large saucepan. Gently fry leeks for about 8 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms and fry about 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except goat cheese) and simmer for 40 minutes. Serve topped with goat cheese.

On the Stereo:
Wide Open Road: a trip through Australia’s musical landscape – Various Artists