Dipping into summer eating

Summer brings a different way of eating. Hot weather calls for salads, stovetop meals and dips. Eating out during the day is best at a sunlit restaurant with good air conditioning. I can't stand being stuck in the dark on a summer's day. If I can't go outside I want to at least be able to see the sun. So today I will give you a taste of summer with a tale that starts with buying some delicious sourdough bread and ends with me eating it topped with homemade chutney and dip.

I went to Wholefoods in Lygon St, East Brunswick last week. It is a rare treat that I get to go there as often it depends on traffic, parking and how awake Sylvia is. Wholefoods is not cheap but it offers so many wonderful foods that I can't buy elsewhere, which in turn are full of exciting possibilities. (I can't wait to try the vegan marshmallow mix!)

After a relaxing shopping experience there with Sylvia asleep in the pram, I didn't want to wake her by putting her in the car. Instead I had a walk and ended up at Vege2Go. I had a lovely pumpkin, spinach and tofu pastie. As I sat there I noticed the child-friendly corner with a highchair and toys. I thought it would be a great place for taking kids.

Child-friendly places were on my mind as I had said I would choose a place to go with my mum, my sister Chris and her baby Dash. I also was considering CERES but finally remembered Cooper in a highchair at Hellenic Republic and realised it was the perfect place for us to go. Not only is it a place that caters for all our dietary requirements with superb food but the large windows along one wall ensure the place is flooded with sunlight.

We had fun with both Sylvia and Dash being of an age where they want to grab anything in sight. So the table had two large clear spaces in front of them. We did well in keeping the food away from the babies until Dash grabbed the clay dish with the remains of our chips and tipped them on the floor. What a waste of good Hellenic Republic chips! Sylvia was kept occupied with Dash's mobile phone.

We had a wonderful meal there. Lots of little dishes of food that we loved and I have written about before. Most memorable were the Greek donuts in honey. Both my mum and Chris decided they would be good and not have any dessert but these donuts had been so good at my last visit that I ordered a bowl. Of course mum and Chris had to have a taste and we left singing their praises.

After lunch, we went back to our place where Dash and Sylvia were able to play together. I was glad to have mum here because I wanted her advice. E had found a beetroot and chutney recipe in the Daily Mail newspaper that he had purchased when we left Scotland in December. He cut it out for me and I promised to try it.

I bought the beetroots. Sylvia had a lovely time playing with them before I put them in the fridge. It was only when I got them out that I saw the little rascal had tried to take a bite out of one. (Can you spot her bite in the above photo?) I didn't have enough so had to scale back the recipe. I have done this before so wasn't too concerned. However the recipe said to cook it for an hour til it thickened. After two hours it didn't look like it had thickened and so I put it in the fridge and wondered if it would be useable. Hence I was glad to seek my mum's advice. She liked it and took away a jarful. This gave me a little confidence in it.

After they left I decided I needed to make dip. I had made a lovely creamy tomato dip about a week before that and it had just run out. It was made up of bits and pieces of leftover dairy. I had intended to make an artichoke dip but somehow it morphed into a tomato dip that E and I enjoyed.

If I don't have dip I often am lazy and just eat peanut butter on toast. So it made sense to make Clotilde's bean dip with peanut butter in it. A healthier way to eat peanut butter! I had used up all my sundried tomatoes in the tomato dip but had some chives leftover. So I used those instead. It was quite a thick dip, and could have been made a bit more spreadable with some water, but I enjoyed it as it came. I have found that if dips are too moist they have water pooling in them if left in the fridge too long. There were no such problems with this one.

And it tasted great. I was now reconciled to the beetroot chutney and pleased with my new bean dip. After the wonderful meal at Hellenic Republic I decided a simple dinner was in order. You can see the salad I served with the chutney and dip at the top of this post. It was wonderful. The beetroot and orange chutney was particularly good with salad as it was like a posh tinned pickled beetroot.

I also discovered that the dip and beetroot went well together on the bread I had bought at Wholefoods the previous day. I had been so busy I had forgotten about it and was pleased to find it was still soft with large chunks of olives in it. Just what I need to get me though the heat of summer!

Creamy Tomato Dip
makes about 2 cups

- 125g firm ricotta
- 125g low fat cream cheese
- 70g feta
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup semi sundried tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- ¼ cup chopped chives

Blend ricotta, cream cheese, feta, tomato paste and semi-sundried tomatoes in food processor till smooth. Transfer to a small mixing bowl. Mix in basil and chives. Keeps in fridge for about a week.

White Bean and Nut Butter Dip
Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini
makes about 1 cup

- 400 g tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 dsstsp peanut butter
- 1 dsstsp sesame butter (a.k.a. tahini or tahina)
- the juice of a lime
- 1 tbsp chives
- 2 splashes of Worcestershire sauce
- a good dash each of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika

In a food processor, combine the white beans with the nut butters, spices and the lime juice. Blend until smooth and add a little water if it is too thick. Add the Worcestershire sauce and blend. Tip into a small bowl and stir in the chives. Check seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Beetroot and orange chutney
Adapted from the Daily Mail newspaper, 10 Dec 2009
makes about 4 medium jars

- 850g beetroot, peeled and diced
- zest and juice of 2 oranges
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 1 large royal gala apple
- 400g cider vinegar
- 300g raw sugar
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds (I think they were)
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt

Place all ingredients in large saucepan and simmer for about 1-2 hours until thickened – mine didn’t thicken until it cooled, hence my long simmering. (The recipe said 1 hour, I did 2 hours.)

On the Stereo:
We'll Meet Again: The very best of Vera Lynn

Millet Buckwheat Tortillas

I was excited to see Sea making Millet Tortillas recently. As you might have noticed on this blog, gluten free family and friends make me interested in GF recipes. This recipe caught my attention because I have tried millet flour and failed to appreciate it. So it seemed a good way to use it up. Then I noticed her link to Karina’s vegan and gluten free Millet and Buckwheat Tortillas. Even better because I could make the millet more palatable with buckwheat flour, which I love.

So began my GF tortilla adventure last week. Karina at Gluten Free Goddess does lots of interesting GF recipes but they are often full of flours and xanthum gum that I don’t have in my pantry. What is really helpful on her site is this cheat sheet on Gluten Free Baking Substitutions. I read it after using GF flours for a while and suddenly the penny dropped and the pieces fell into place. It explains about heavy and light flours to make it easier to subsitute.

As well as xanthum gum, Karina uses a lot of sorghum flour. I have never tried it but I already have enough other flours to dissuade me to bring yet another into my collection. So I used soy flour instead. Rather than using egg replacer, I used ground flax seed (linseed) and also put in some potato and pumpkin mash leftover from Sylvia’s dinner. I think this made my tortillas a bit thicker than Karina’s. Perhaps in future I might add a little more water. I altered the flavouring slightly too. I have never made tortillas before and found these quite similar to pancakes but denser.

I was making dinner late as usual. E was calming Sylvia. When the first tortilla came off the frypan, I tasted it and was amazed at how good it tasted. So good that I ran over and gave a piece to E to try. He was also impressed. I can see why Karina says you could just eat these by themselves. We had them with salad and chickpea burgers. Karina called these gluten free wraps and I had intended to wrap chunks of burger and salad in the tortillas but mine didn’t bend quite as readily as hers. They were pretty flexible but broke upon being rolled up - possibly as a result of being thicker.

I took note of Karina’s suggestion that any leftover should be frozen. Last night at the end of a busy weekend, I took the last couple of tortillas straight from the freezer and warmed them under the grill (broiler) and put some ricotta and parmesan cheese on the second side. I served them topped with baked beans. They were excellent. I am pleased to finally find a way to use up my millet flour and will be making these again.

Millet Buckwheat Tortilla
Adapted from A Gluten Free Goddess
makes about 7-8

1 cup millet flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
½ cup soy flour
½ cup corn flour (cornstarch)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 small garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp flax seeds ground
½ cup pumpkin and potato (about ⅔ of this was potato) mashed
¼ cup chopped chives
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey)
¼ teaspoon cider vinegar
1½ cups hot water
½ cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
oil or butter for frying

Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk in wet ingredients until it looks like a thick pancake batter. I left mine for 30 minutes but am not sure if this makes any difference as Karina didn’t.

Heat frypan with a little butter or oil – I used a silicone brush to brush on margarine but other times I have used paper towels to brush oil or butter on lightly. Karina says when a drop of water sizzles and bounces off the surface, your griddle or pan is ready. I just feel the heat by hovering my hand over the frypan and expect the first to be a disaster like when I make pancakes.

Drop half a cup of mixture onto frypan and use the back of a spoon to spread it out as thinly as possible till it is about 6 inches in diameter. Cook 1 minute or until bubbles appear and the batter is almost cooked. Flip it over and it should be golden brown. Cook another minute and there should be brown spots on the other side. (If these colours don’t appear you may need a little longer to fry it.) Keep warm on a plate covered in foil and repeat the process til you have used all the batter.

These are best eaten fresh. Serving suggestions – eat with a salad on the side, with cheese and chutney on top or covered with baked beans or chilli non carne and guiacamole. Leftovers can be frozen with parchment paper between them and reheated under the grill (broiler).

On the Stereo:
The moon lay hidden beneath a cloud: self-titled

Gado Gado with Marmalade

It was a hot couple of days earlier in the week. On Monday it was 43 C and the minimum temperature was 30.6 C overnight, which matched the hottest night on record in Melbourne’s history in 1902. Sylvia splashed about in her baby bath in the kitchen, I counted down the (4) hours til my orange and cranberry juice icy poles would be frozen enough to eat. Aren't the little jewel moulds cute!

For dinner I made gado gado, an excellent Indonesian dish for all lovers of peanut butter and vegetables. It feels right for a hot summer night. Plus, I bought a huge tub of peanut butter and was compelled to use it. I was glad that we had enough leftover for the next night because Tuesday was almost as hot. I wasn’t about to go out to the shops until the cool change arrived.

It was wonderful to throw open the windows and door later in the day to let the cool breeze in. Suddenly the languid hush gave way to the sounds of clinking plates and lively chatter from neighbouring houses. Ironically I stood in the rain that evening and hung out the washing while Zinc sheltered under the table. Being stuck inside in the heat makes one determined to go out once it is cooler. Rain will not stop us. The clothes were dry by the next morning anyway.

Gado gado is as easy as drying the washing in a heatwave. It is the sort of meal you can adapt depending on what is in the fridge. Before posting this version, I thought I should read up on traditional gado gado on Wikipedia. Simply described, gado gado is a peanut sauce over vegetable salad. Traditionally the sauce has peanuts, sugar, lime juice, chillis, tamarind and shrimp paste, and the salad has shredded green vegetables, bean sprouts, boiled potatoes, boiled eggs and fried tofu and tempeh. It also says that ‘authentic gado gado does not have carrots and tomatoes.’

It was no surprise to find that my sauce was not authentic but I had thought my spread of vegetables was fairly similar to those I have had in restaurants. According to Wikipedia these weren’t authentic because they included tomato and carrot. My addition of fried tempeh, boiled potato and beans sprouts would have got the approval but the fried eggplant and zucchini probably would not. Though I must have done something right with the eggplant because E ate it all up rather than pushing it to the side of his plate.

As for the sauce that I made, it is far from traditional. Some time ago I saw a suggestion for peanut dipping sauce made with soy, chillis and marmalade. I have a jar of my mum's marmalade that doesn’t get enough use so I tried it. The sauce was lovely but I did need to be a bit heavy handed with the soy to balance the marmalade. In future I might try to use less marmalade and soy. But I like the idea. Wikipedia suggested serving it with rice but I don’t usually do so.

I have written what I did below. However this is one of those recipes that I use what is on hand. Sometimes I add lemon juice and sweet chilli sauce rather than marmalade, or add onion at the start or coconut milk instead of water. I have added in cucumber, which I didn’t use but would have if Sylvia hadn’t eaten it all. I am not at all traditional but find it a relaxed dinner for hot summer nights. It is delicious and is suitable for those who are gluten free (if you use gf soy sauce) and vegan.

Gado Gado with Marmalade
serves 4

Peanut sauce:

• ½ tsp oil
• 1 chilli, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ½ cup unmolested peanut butter
• 1-2 tbsp marmalade (I used 2 but it was too much)
• 1 - 1½ tbsp tamara or soy sauce (I used 1½ but would like to use less if not too sweet)
• 1½ cups water – add a third of this just before serving to thin down

Salad:

• oil for frying
• 300g tempeh, sliced into 8
• 2 Japanese eggplants, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 3-4 medium potatoes, roughly chopped and boiled
• 2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
• 1 medium carrot, cut in matchsticks
• 4 lettuce leaves, shredded
• 4 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced
• 2 handfuls bean sprouts
  

Fry tempeh, eggplants and zucchini in a large saucepan in oil over medium heat. It took me a while for the tempeh to crisp up – maybe 20-30 minutes and then I fried the vegetables separately because I didn’t have enough room.

While tempeh, eggplant and zucchini are frying, make the sauce: heat oil in a small saucepan and fry chilli and garlic in it for about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and stir till creamy and warm. If not using right away, only add 1 cup water and add the remaining half cup just before serving so it is quite a thin sauce.

When tempeh, eggplant and zucchini are fried, arrange all the salad ingredients on dinner plates. Drizzle sauce generously over salad.

On the stereo:
Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand

Tetris, the Foolish Hedgehog and Brunch

I don’t like change. When I find a mesmerizing computer game, I am loyal (or addicted). When I set up the furniture in a room, I am happy for it to stay that way forever. When I have the hedgehog recipe that my mum has been making for me since I was a small, I believe it is the one. Babies, heat and a curiosity in new recipes are all great catalysts for change.

Since Sylvia has arrived, we have now rearranged furniture in all our rooms. The most recent configuration happened on this weekend when my dad, brother, Paul, sister, Fran and her partner, John all came over to help. Paul and John were amazing in moving a sofa bed with great ease. Dad helped to put a baby gate to the bathroom where Zinc’s food and cat litter is kept. They all helped with moving our bed and putting up a new cot for Sylvia.

This is major change. Sylvia now has her own bedroom. We have lost a study and gained a bigger, more crowded bedroom. Our place is so small that for us to move anything, required another piece of furniture to go elsewhere. Both Fran and Paul entered the house on Sunday morning and said it is like Tetris.

Ah, Tetris takes me back to the first computer I ever owned. An Apple Mac Classic II. It was small and clunky and grey compared to the bright, streamlined computers of today. But it got me through a Masters thesis as well as many other tasks. Being a student, I spent a lot of my time procrastinating in front of tetris, watching the little blocks fall from the sky to click together if I could run around (figuratively speaking as it was actually my mouse racing around) to organise it. This weekend, it felt like the computer game had become my reality, though fortunately I didn’t do any of the heavy lifting.

More change is yet to come before things settle, as our loungeroom is currently in upheaval with a new sofa added to the mix. Luckily I am used to a bit of a mess in our house. Here is a photo from the bedroom after the move.

I avoided all the tidying up needed for such a move and put my mind to the important matters: what to feed everyone? It was agreed that the early morning – before the heat – suited everyone so I decided to make a brunch dish. Potatoes, sausages (vegetarian of course) and tomatoes are a classic breakfast combination. I had thought about making everything the night before but we were doing all the last moment shifting stuff about so I didn’t have the energy.

When I rose the next morning I knew what I needed to do. I used this aloo jeera recipe for guidance in cooking the potatoes on the stovetop, which seemed quicker in the morning than roasting. One they were done, I could leave this dish to slowly cook on the stovetop as we ran around with measuring tapes and shifting more stuff. Once the potatoes had cooked, I just needed to stir it all occasionally.

‘Does anyone want something to eat,’ I asked. No, I’m fine, came the reply from everyone. Paul decided he would have a bit and enjoyed it. E loved it and so did I. Although not many of our workers needed feeding, it was a great dish to have on a day when I didn’t feel like preparing meals. It served us for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Of course, when they all said they didn’t need brunch, I wasn’t about to take no for an answer. If they didn’t want the potato and sausages, then I suggested they might want some hedgehog or fruit salad that I had made the day before.

My dad went the healthy route and had some fruit salad while John’s sweet tooth prevailed and he had the hedgehog. So there was something for everyone. And no one went away empty handed. I packaged up little tubs of hedgehog for all of them to take home. The feedback was that it was very pleasing.

Meanwhile at our place, E told me it was the best hedgehog I had ever made. Blasphemer! Doesn’t he know it is not the one that I have grown up on! However, I have to admit this was a very good hedgehog. I was first tempted to make it when I saw Steph post the recipe. Then Lisa brought some along to the vegan pot luck picnic and I was smitten.

But there was another reason I was tempted to make this recipe. It was an excellent way to use up some choc chips because it was forecast to be a scorching 41 C on Monday. On our last horribly hot day, one of our good blocks of chocolate was ruined. So this time I was taking no chances. I particularly wanted a recipe that did not require me to turn on the oven because the weather was already hot enough.

Steph’s hedgehog is a richer, veganised version of my mum’s. It was a lot more gooey and made more pieces than the one I know and love but tasted surprisingly similar. I found the mixture so soft that I added more biscuits and some coconut. Rather than leave it out of the fridge once set, as I usually do, I found I had to leave it in the fridge. Even the fridge could not detract from its utter utter deliciousness.

I thought that Sylvia might like to help with crushing the biscuits for the hedgehog. But she just played with her little rolling pin and wanted my big one too. I thought this photo is a good illustration of how much of a hoarder I am. I was crushing the biscuits in a paper bag I bought souvenirs in when visiting New Zealand almost 5 years ago. The paper bag resurfaced during a recent clean up.

Unfortunately, it cannot all be marvelous successes in my kitchen (I have had two failures today so I can confidently say this). When I made the fruit salad I had discovered a punnet of gooseberries that I had bought to sate my curiosity about gooseberry fool. I tried a version with yoghurt rather than cream and found it was only good as sauce for the hedgehog. The work-in-progress recipe is below and I hope I will refine it at a later stage.

So covered with gooseberry fool, I had a rather foolish hedgehog. However foolish or not, this is a delicious slice that is a great indulgence in hot weather and a wonderful way to say thank you for hard tetris work. It just proves that even my favourite recipes can cope with change.

Potato, Sausage and Tomato Brunch
serves about 6 people

2 red onions, thinly sliced
7-8 medium potatoes (I used red skinned ones such as desiree), diced
12 vegetarian sausages (I used Sanitarium)
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp seeded mustard
generous dash of smoked paprika
generous pinch of salt
dash of cayenne pepper
3 chopped tomatoes and chopped chives to serve

Fry onions in 2 tbsp oil in a large frypan over low heat for about 5 minutes and then remove to medium frypan to cook slowly. Turn up heat to medium and add potatoes to large frypan. Fry, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add couple of spoons of water and cook with a lid over them for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile grill (or broil) sausages so they are well browned. I brown them each side and then turn off the heat and shut the grill for about 5 or so minutes so they brwn evenly. When they are done, cut into 1cm slices.

Stir in onions, sausages and remaining ingredients. Tip in a little water. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes without lifting the lid. Then lower the heat and gently cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve topped with a few spoons of freshly chopped tomatoes and a sprinkle of chives.

Steph’s Vegan Hedgehog
adapted from Vegan about Town

200 grams dark choc chips
200 grams Nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)
½ cup of raw sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon golden syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
3 soup spoons of apple sauce
250 grams Nice biscuits (I used Marie biscuits which are not vegan)
1 cup of pecans, chopped
½ cup of dried cranberries

½ cup desiccated coconut

Melt the chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then add margarine, sugar, cocoa, golden syrup and vanilla. Microwave for a minute or two until everything is melted. Stir in apple sauce.

Place biscuits in a paper bag and bang and crush with rolling pin til in small pieces. Add to chocolate mixture with the pecans and cranberries. Mix well.

Spoon into a lined slice tray (18 x 28cm) and flatten with the back of your spoon. Refrigerate for at least a few hours before cutting into small squares. Keep in fridge.

Gooseberry Fool (work in progress)
adapted from Albion Cooks
Makes a small quantity – for about 2 people?

125g gooseberries
water
2 dessertspoons sugar (more?)
2 tsp honey (less?)
¼ cup thick Greek yoghurt (?)

Trim the tops and tails from gooseberries and discard. Place trimmed gooseberries in a small saucepan and cover with water. Add the sugar and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes (I did 5). Here the recipe says to drain off half the liquid. I didn’t do this and regretted it. Strain gooseberry mixture through a sieve. Taste and add sugar if too tart – I added honey but the flavour was quite dominant so next time might just add sugar. Cool. Fold yoghurt into mixture and serve in parfait glasses or ramekins. Or pour over hedgehog if it looks just like sauce.

On the Stereo:
Scott sings songs from his tv series: Scott Walker

Vegetarian San Choy Bau

Some time ago I saw Frances making San Choy Bau on her Crunchy Green Things blog. The simplicity of the Asian dish appealed to me. I had not encountered it before, no doubt because I have never found a vegetarian version on a restaurant menu. But the idea of serving a flavoursome vegetarian mix in lettuce leaves seemed like fun. I enjoyed eating it but as I am unfamiliar with the dish I found it a bit of a mystery.

I was curious about San Choy Bau. On the web I found it had featured on two television shows recently. Kylie Kwong had made it on her Simply Magic television series. She is one of Australia’s celebrity chefs. Her family is from China and apparently this dish is popular there. Tobie Puttock, another celebrity chef, also made it in Shanghai on Toby and Matt: Asia television series. They both spell it Sung Choi Bao.

When I served it, I suddenly wondered where the carbs were. I know there are lots of people who have low carb diets who might like this but we usually have some carbs on our plate. Maybe it was meant to be one of many courses or a starter.

I had thought I would be able to pick it up in the lettuce leaf and eat it with my fingers but the large serving of hot filling in a large lettuce leaf was not something I could handle easily. Too hot. Too big. The next night I served it on rice with some shredded lettuce on top. If I was to serve it as finger food I would serve each person with several small pieces of lettuce rather than all of it in one piece of lettuce.

This is a great dish for our recent hot weather. It will suit gluten free and/or vegan diets. I loved the marinated tofu and vegetables in the filling. I thought I had read that san choy bau was often made with pork. On the second night when the tofu was really full of flavour I said to E that it was just like pork. He gave me a look that suggested it is a long time since I had pork. It tasted good anyway.

So I leave you with this quote that I came across recently. It struck a chord with me. Vegetarian dishes are not about imitating meat, even when fitting in with a meat-centred banquet – but rather it is about making food taste good.

“You can't make a nut loaf taste like meatloaf but you can make a nut loaf that tastes good.” in ‘Kitchen saboteurs - Avoid pitfalls, not benefits, of a vegetarian diet’, Liz Biro, Star News Online, 7 January 2010

Vegetarian San Choy Bau
Adapted from Kylie Kwong (via Crunchy Green Things) and Jill Dupleix
serves 4

• 375g firm tofu, crumbled*
• 2 tbsp shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry (I used sherry)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 handfuls snow peas, diced
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 small carrot, grated
• 3cm piece ginger, finely grated
• 5 fresh shiitake mushrooms (I used 6 button), diced
• 1 cup bean sprouts (I used 100g or a couple of good handfuls)
• 6-8 best pieces of iceberg lettuce, washed and dried

Place crumbled tofu into a large bowl and add rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Leave to marinate while you chop vegetables. Place vegetables in bowl with tofu as they are chopped. Heat a large frypan or wok over medium high heat. Cook all ingredients except (bean sprouts and lettuce leaves) in vegetable oil for 4-5 minutes. Add bean sprouts and cook another 2-3 minutes. Serve in lettuce leaves or on a bed of rice with lettuce leaves shredded.

* January 2012 - tried this with a tin of drained brown lentils instead of tofu and it worked very well.

On the stereo:
The Detectives: The John Gregor Orchestra

Baby Food, Cookies and a Day at the Zoo

Recently I was made aware that I have blogging quite some time. I made fudge cookies and they tasted very like chocolate cookies I made a couple of years back. When I checked the post I was thinking of I found that both recipes originated from Alice Medrich in Bittersweet. I felt clever for recognising the taste, if not the ingredients list, and grateful to Sylvia for sharing some of her mashed pumpkin for a worthy cause.

I am still finding it a pain to be making different food for Sylvia to us but it is great to have mashed pumpkin in the fridge. It is really meant for her but it is so versatile in recipes that I find lots of uses. Last week my dad came up for lunch and I remembered we had some falafel in the fridge so I made some pumpkin hummus (a bit like this one) with a bit of Sylvia’s puree and it was delicious.

We took Sylvia’s highchair into the backyard and ate lunch outside. She ate well with a plate of grated carrot, grated cucumber, white beans and some bread (plus a rice cake in her bib). At first try a few weeks back she was just spitting out the bread, so I am pleased she is now enjoying it. I was surprised to find I have to buy more nectarines and cucumber because she loves them so much. She loves lots of fruit but I am still struggling to get her to eat savoury foods.

It is still quite a challenge to feed her. One day she eats terribly, the next she is biting my heels under the kitchen table because she is so hungry. Most days she wants to overturn her plate. Tips on feeding her are very helpful. Putting the just-cooked puree in the freezer to cool it down quickly (thanks Susie) and giving her another spoon when she wants to grab the spoon from me to assert her independence (thanks mum) are very helpful. I have also had good advice from here (Nicki) and Ireland (Chris and Fergal) that the Tommy Tippee sip and seal cup is the best one to take out and about without leaks.

I have started making Sylvia a simple pumpkin mash as an easy way to get vegetables into her diet. You can see that she enjoys this. (One of my most successful early puree combinations was pumpkin, apple and peach.) I find it easy to quickly mash up some pumpkin but I am hoping we will progress to greener vegies soon.

Meanwhile I have many uses for mashed pumpkin in addition to baby food. I love to include it in baking. So I was immediately drawn to a recipe that Sarah at What’s Smells So Good posted recently for Pumpkin Spice Fudge Cookies. I baked a double batch the day after I saw it. I made a few small changes including using a bit of buckwheat flour and some ginger. They were so good, fudgy and intensely chocolatey.

Imagine my surprise to find I had already made a version of these cookies. I was even more surprised because I confess this is one of the few batches of cookies I put in the freezer and had to throw out. Was it the addition of balsamic vinegar? I don’t think so. I suspect it was because I made them in the first trimester of pregnancy when I found chocolate made me queasy. Making them while breastfeeding, which makes me so hungry, is such a different experience. I can’t get enough of them.

But, despite temptation to scoff them down at home while E was at work, I was still able to share them. My family had an outing to the zoo last week so I got up early and miraculously arrived at the zoo before it opened at 9am. Unfortunately the rest of the family were an hour late and I had forgotten my mobile. I was quite impatient by the time everyone arrived. But there are some in my family who believe that having a mobile phone means never having to apologise for being late. Grrrr! ‘Nuff said!

I spent some time at the wonderful new seal exhibition which is calming and cooling. I never visit the zoo without seeing the giraffes. They were not cooperating with me when I got my camera out but one bold little ostrich was quite keen to play a starring role.

The Melbourne Zoo has had a lot of work to improve it since I was a child. My Irish brother-in-law was quite impressed with it despite his misgivings about going to a zoo. The elephants, orangutans and butterfly house were other highlights.

I had to leave early for a dentist appointment. I left Sylvia in the capable hands of my mum and she brought her home when I had finished. My little nephew came along too and it was amusing – and a little nervewracking – to watch Dash and Sylvia chasing after Zinc in unison. I was pleased to hear that in my absence, the chocolate biscuits had been enjoyed by the family over lunch at the zoo.

Pumpkin Fudge Cookies
Makes two and a half dozen
adapted from Alice Medrich via What Smells So Good

¼ cup margarine, at room temperature
¼ cup castor sugar
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup mashed pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup plain white flour
¼ cup buckwheat flour
7 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp ground ginger
⅔ cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line or grease a baking tray.

Melt the butter in a medium bowl in the microwave. Whisk in sugars, pumpkin and vanilla, until smooth. Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined into a slightly stiff dough.

Drop teaspoonfuls onto baking try and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon. NB: I smoothed some with damp hands but preferred the rough look when I kept the moulding to a minimum. Bake 10 minutes, or until set. Cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

On the stereo:
Flood: They Might Be Giants

New Year's Raspberry Punch

New Year's Eve was exhausting this year.  I spent much energy keeping Sylvia and Zinc apart.  Sylvia crawls towards Zinc with her eye on grabbing the tail or fur.  Zinc doesn't stay away as a wise cat might.  I have visions of Sylvia tugging too hard and Zinc swiping her with the paw.  Meanwhile E was poorly and when I went out to the shops, I returned to find him lying on the floor with Sylvia.  The heat was unbearable and by evening gave way to rain so heavy and loud that I couldn't hear the television.  Oh, yes, I didn't have energy to do other than watch tv.  And eat haggis nachos and drink raspberry punch.

Fortunately just before New Year's Eve that I found the recipe for Raspberry Lemonade on Cherrapeno.  It was raspberries, sugar amd lemon.  Quite similar to Kristy's Raspberry Lemonade.  Kristy had been inspired by a drink she had in London.  I was inspired by an orange and raspberry juice that I had in Scotland (M&S) to try this.  But as I am not that fond of lemon I used lime instead.  I also changed the quantities but if I had more rasbperries on hand I would make more.

I was concerned that E needed a cool sugary drink to keep him hydrated as he was off his food.  This seemed like a good option.  The recipe called for either still or sparkling water but we love our soda water so there was no question of still.

I hadn't planned to make a drink but I was glad that I was inspired by Nic.   In my days before blogging I usually just bought a bottle of lemonade or ginger beer but it is fun making a special drink for an occasion.

I also made fruit salad with a bounty of passionfruit, cherries, pineapple, blueberries, blackberries, and kiwi fruit.  The photo doesn't do justice to how refreshing it was.  E was very pleased with the punch and the fruit salad but most of all he loved the haggis nachos.  If I had time I would share these now but it is late, Sylvia wont sleep, and I am trying to use blogger's new editor which is doing my head in with the photo editing.  So I will leave you with the punch recipe.

Raspberry Punch
adapted from BBC Good Food via Cherrapeno
makes about 6-8 glasses

• 200g raspberries
• 200ml water
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 small orange, chopped
  
• 1 lime, chopped
  
• soda water, mint leaves and ice cubes, to serve
  

Place raspberries, water, sugar, orange and lemon in medium saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring frequently.  Turn off heat.  The recipe said to cool and strain but I strained the syrup and then cooled it. 

To serve, fill a quarter of a glass with syrup.  Fill three quarters with soda water and ice.  Garnish with mint leaves.

On the Stereo:
Tribute to Dead Soldiers: vol II: Various Artists