Happy 2012

I've spent this morning preserving some produce. Despite the coolish summer so far, and probably as a result of the heavy rain, everything has just been so productive except for the tomatoes which are yearning for some heat. I have been eating spinach and leek pie, zucchini slice, eggplant bake, miscellaneous quiches etc constantly for weeks! And still can't get rid of everything in the garden!

This morning I preserved some zucchini strips in olive oil and pickled some beetroot. To do the former, I degorged the zucchini overnight in salt and cold water, then drained and pressed out the excess water. I brushed the strips with olive oil and grilled. Then tossed them in some cider vinegar, lemon thyme and garlic, packed into jars and topped with olive oil. These will good for antipasto, pizza toppings, pasta sauces etc throughout the zucchini-less months.

This is my favourite project of late ..... a cute little bag made from Ruby charm squares a Secret Santa gave me.

These fabrics are just so fun and lively. I used some ribbon that came on one of my Christmas presents for the drawstring, but I think I'll look in my stash for an appropriate fabric to make some more dainty ones.

I've also put together a small lap quilt made from 80 charm squares and a couple of other fabrics. The fabrics are from the Bittersweet range, a lovely autumny collection. I love the way they appear so radiant and jewel-like when set off by a neutral background.

I'm handquilting this one, and not doing a very good job of it. I'm not using a frame, but even though my stitches are sometimes a bit too taut and the fabric isn't quite flat, I really like the antique, puckered look this is giving it.

Pea Soup with Cheesy Potato Damper

Oh look, I am getting artistic with my photos!

You will need:

1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
500g split green peas

2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 litre vegetable stock (approx)

Juice from one lemon

Handful of mint leaves

Salt and pepper

Olive Oil

Rinse the split peas under cold running water and remove any discoloured ones.

Heat about two tablespoons of good olive oil in a big pot and add the onion and carrot. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and fry a minute longer. Add the stock and split peas and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas are soft and mushy (about an hour). Keep an eye on it and add more stock/water as needed.

Puree with a stick blender. Add lemon juice, mint leaves and plenty of salt and pepper. Give it another quick mix with the blender. And it's ready to serve with crusty bread.

Cheesy Potato Damper

This recipe isn't my own, it is from Basics to Brilliance: Potato Recipes by Murdoch Books.

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

30g melted butter

1 cup mashed potato

1/2 - 3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to moderate 180 degrees. Grease a 2ocm sandwich pan with melted butter and line with greaseproof paper. Sift flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Add butter, mashed potato, egg, milk and cheese and mix until well combined into a firm dough.

Place dough in pan and score wedge shapes into the top of the damper. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until hollow sounding when gently tapped. Turn out onto a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Potato and Pea Curry (Aloo Matar)

I haven't posted any recipes for a while and I'm in a bit of a cooking frenzy today so I thought I'd share some tasty dishes. I have the day off work, and my back is a bit sore to do much sewing (or housework!), so I thought I'd cook up a few dishes to reheat over the next week for dinners.

So, on to Aloo Matar ....

You will need:

3 large potatoes, diced

1 large onion, chopped

Small can peas

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground chilli

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon salt

Good squeeze of lemon juice

Handful of roughly chopped fresh coriander

Vegetable Oil

Steam or microwave the chopped potatoes until just tender (about 6 mins in my microwave).

In a small bowl, mix the tomato paste, ground coriander, ground chilli, garam masala, garlic, tumeric, salt and lemon juice.

Heat enough oil in a large frying pan to be a couple milimetres deep, then fry the potatoes quickly to give them golden edges. Remove potatoes from pan.

If necessary, drain off a little oil to just leave a spoonful or so in the pan. Add the onions and cook until starting to brown. Add the tomato paste mixture and fry for a few minutes, stirring, to release the flavours. Add the peas and potatoes and heat through for a few minutes.

Stir through the fresh coriander and serve with rice.

Lentil & Sausage Curry

Yum, this is one of our favourite meals! Like most of my favourite recipes, I tend to make it a little different every time so my instructions are very dodgy as to quantities! This is a vegetarian recipe, but liking it so much, J made a meat sausage version one day and said it was just as good if not better! If making a meat version, it is probably a good idea to grill your sausies first.

You need:

* A little vegetable oil
* 1 large onion
* Vegetarian sausages (I use 1 packet of Vegie Delights Hot Dogs, Traditional, or BBQ flavour)
* Half jar of curry paste (any will do, I like Korma or Rogan Josh)
* 1 can chopped tomatoes
* 2 vegetable stock cubes
* About 1/2 pack (200g?) red lentils
* 4 cups Water
* (Optional) Thickened light cream

Heat the oil in a large pot or saucepan and add the chopped onions. Fry until translucent. Add the curry paste and stir for a few minutes until nice and fragrant. Add the can of chopped tomatoes. Mix the stock cubes into water and add this to the pot too. Bring to the boil and then add your lentils and sliced sausages. Bring back to the boil then lower to a simmer. Stir every few minutes to prevent sticking and to check it does not dry out - I don't measure my lentils, so sometimes put in too much and find I have to add more water. Simmer for at least 20 minutes. I like my lentils mushy so I normally simmer for about 30 mins. Taste the mix now and see how you like it. Depending on the curry paste and your own preference, you may want to add more water to lighten the taste, or add a little curry powder or ground chilli to intensify the flavour. If your mixture is quite runny, you might want to add a little cornflour to thicken. When done, for a creamier curry, you can stir in 1/2 - 1 tub of light cream to your taste but this is optional.

NOTES:

* Serve with steamed rice if desired, although I like a kind of soupy curry, so I eat a big bowl of it on its own without rice like a chunky soup.

* I usually add whatever vegies need using up to this curry. Green beans, mushrooms and capsicum are all good added to this.

*When I can't be bothered standing over a stove, I make this by putting ALL ingredients at once into a big casserole pot and putting it in the oven at 180 degrees. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to cook and you need to take it out every half hour or so to stir. But it is so much less energy than the saucepan version, and tastes even better!

Tortilla Stack (or easy Sunday dinner)

J calls this dish Sunday Special because I often make it on a Sunday when I can't be bothered cooking! It is soooo quick and easy. I used to make it as a special dinner and make my own refried beans and salsa (which took all day, well, hours), but now it is my stand-by "fast food" and I use packets and tins and jars of everything. It takes less than 5 mins to put together and about 20 mins to cook!

If you don't put much cheese in and skip the sour cream, it is pretty healthy too because most cans of refried beans now are almost fat free, whereas years ago they used to be made of lard (yuck!). And the salsa and tortillas are virtually fat free too.

You will need:

* 4 flour tortillas
* 1 jar of ready-made salsa (the hotter the better)
* 1 can of refried beans (you can use two and make a thicker version, which will serve 4 - 6 easily)
* Grated Cheese
* Sour cream to serve

Spray a 23 cm round cake tin with cooking spray. Lay your first tortilla in it. Then spoon in 1/3 of the can of refried beans (if only using one can, 2/3 if you have two cans!) and spread evenly. Top with salsa. Add a little grated cheese. Lay your next tortilla and repeat process. And again. (A bit like making a lasagne!) Lay your last tortilla on top, then top with remaining salsa and grated cheese. Put in 180 degree oven for about 20 mins or until cheese is melted and all looks hot and smells good.

Serve cut into wedges with a dollop of sour cream and a green salad.

* Note: I have skipped the cheese between the layers before without sacrificing any taste, so to lower the fat content, you can just put a little cheese on top if you like.

* This serves 4, but if you are not serving with a side salad, a hungry person can easily eat 2 quarters and hence will only serve 2 (and in this house, this is often the case!). If you make it with 2 cans of refried beans it is really filling and I would challenge anyone to eat more than 1/4.

Zucchini Pickles

I found a similar recipe on the web and have adapted it to my needs - which came about when I had a bumper crop of zucchini in my vegetable garden. After an unusually rainy summer, I was getting zucchinis which grew from normal size one day to about 2 kg each the next!

This pickle is like a sweet mustard pickle and I have made several batches this summer. Because the amount of zucchini you need to use up varies, I have just put down proportions of ingredients, not quantities.

1. Finely dice your zucchini and place in a large bowl or vessel, salting each layer well. Also slice up an onion or two and add. I would add an onion for each 500g - 1kg of zucchini. Cover with cold water and leave to stand for at least an hour or overnight.

2. In a large saucepan dissolve sugar in white vinegar (although I am going to experiment with malt vinegar next time). You will need equal quantities of sugar to vinegar. 1 kg of zucchini will probably need 2 cups of vinegar and 2 cups of sugar to be enough to cover the vegetables as they boil. For each cup of vinegar, add 1 tsp powdered mustard and 1 tsp tumeric.

3. Once the sugar has dissolved, add your drained zucchini and onion. The vegetables will shrink a little on cooking, but you need to ensure you have enough of the vinegar/sugar mix to cover. You can add more vinegar and sugar at this stage if you need to, just stir until the sugar is dissolved.

4. Bring to a good boil, and boil for at least 45 mins. Depending on the size of the chunks of zucchini, I have boiled for up to 1 1/2 hours to get a good consistency.

5. At the end, you may want to dissolve a tablespoon or two of cornflour in a little vinegar and add this to the pot to thicken the mixture.

6. Spoon into sterilised jars and seal.


NOTES:

* If your jars are well sterilised this will keep for months in the cupboard, indefinitely in the fridge.
* I sometimes add a generous pouring of curry powder to this recipe to get a slightly "bitier" pickle.
* This is good served with cold meats, cheese and salads!
* Mustard pickles can be made with any other vegetable you might have a bumper crop of, such as cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber. It is nice to add some red capsicum for the colour.