Menemen, Ottolenghi and cultural appropriation
"something hot with eggs on it" Itamar Srulovich For Ottolenghi fans the 3rd of this month was a big day - the publication of his next book - this time with long-time colleague in the OTK (Ottolenghi Test Kitchen) Verena Lochmuller - Simple Too. For me the big day was yesterday when the book arrived here. I realise that this is not necessarily a big thing for any of you, but for me it certainly is. And this is the first recipe in the first section Breakfast/Brunch - Meneme
3 days ago
Some Charmaine classics
"I love cooking but I'm bored stiff by the idea of preparing the same kind of food day in, day out. For me, and I hope for you, the excitement of cooking is to be found in creating new dishes, playing variations of old and familiar ones, and in trying recipes from other countries." Which just about sums up my attitude to cooking too. Particularly the boredom of same old, same old, which was a bit of a thing when my sons were teenagers and I was working. Partly because of t
7 days ago
Boring - but it's Neil Perry!
Neil Perry is one of Australia's earlier celebrity chefs I guess. I don't know whether he still cooks in an actual restaurant or just manages his restaurant and business empire. But he is indeed much admired. However, somehow or other I have never really encountered him through books. Maybe he just doesn't put himself out there like Jamie Oliver, Curtis Stone and the rest. Maybe he just stuck to being a restaurant chef writing the occasional cookbook - and indeed he has
Sep 2
Invasion or evolution?
"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows." Doug Larson Nature is reasserting itself in our garden. This is our back 'lawn' - and as you can see it is very lush and green. But it's not grass - we have struggled for literally decades to grow grass here - battling drought, dogs, rabbits and just rotten soil. But now it is almost covered with oxalis which seems to love growing here - and everywhere else at the moment. N
Aug 26
A recipe, Coles and Curtis Stone - this and that
The recipe in question is from Curtis Stone, in the current Coles Magazine - Lemon-garlic fettucine with crisp chickpeas. I started out today thinking I would do a whole post on crisp chickpeas as they seem to be turning up everywhere I look these days, so when they turned up in the Coles Magazine in this very tempting recipe, from a professional chef, such as Curtis Stone - well he does have at least one Michelin star - I'm not sure how many - I thought I might look closely
Aug 23
"Live each season as it passes;
Breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each" Henry David Thoreau I'm not going to ask you to admire this painting, and I'm not even going to reflect upon it really - it's just that it's the starting point for today's post. No it's not even that - that's the above quote which accompanies the painting in my desktop diary/calendar - a new painting and quote to consider every day. The painting is by Jan Davidsz de Heem - wh
Aug 16
High-low pantry/cooking
"An extended love letter to simplicity, this book is about finding joy and satisfaction in the tiny miracles of cooking - all of the deliciousness that comes from making something from nothing." Alison Roman Yes it's another book, and this was going to be an overview/review of this wonderful book - Something from Nothing by Alison Roman - a cook of whom I was dimly aware via the New York Times I think. It has been sitting on my desk waiting for its moment for a while now, s
Aug 15
Some Delia classics
"They are not so much the recipes that people dream over; this is the stuff they actually cook." Nigel Slater Indeed they do - as I did yesterday for my older son's birthday party. I made her Piedmont roasted peppers as part of an antipasti spread. I did cut out the stems - against her advice not to because: "they're not edible, but they do look attractive and they help the pepper halves to keep their shape." Well I was cooking for twelve and had decided to cut my large Au
Aug 3
Why did Louise stop writing?
WTF Do I Eat Tonight? a daily solution to an eternal problem It's a website - WTF Do I Eat Tonight? - now apparently dead. Which is very sad, because it's the kind of website I like to read. Not that I do of course, unless I come across a post here and there. And, because, I think this one, though much more popular than mine, nevertheless was tucked away in an internet corner. It rarely pops up in any of my searches. Actually if it wasn't dead I would subscribe to this o
Jul 30
Confused by trends
“Like dogs, foodies wag their tails at the slightest sniff of new and exciting. Then bark at each other on social media. Food is fashion. If you’re into that stuff, it matters.” Perry Haydon-Taylor/The Guardian I was going to call this post two trends in one - illustrated by this Coles recipe for Fluffy Cheesecake with matcha icing sugar from their Food Director, Sarah Hobbs - the two trends being Japanese cheesecake and matcha desserts. The trends were based on the list pu
Jul 29
Subtle and not so subtle advertising - which works best?
"A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself." David Ogilvy On the left an actual ad albeit Coles promoting itself in its Magazine and on the right what looks like the next recipe(s) it is publishing but which in effect is a page advertising several different things - some in-house, some from suppliers. Yes there is a recipe - and yes this is a discreet section of pages in the magazine. But it is also an ad albeit for a number of
Jul 28
Leftover lettuce salad omelette - so many ways
"Done and dusted. Out of this world." Foodie China 888/YouTube This picture comes from the end of one of the most captivating cooking videos I have seen on YouTube. In roughly 25 seconds you are shown - complete with instructions to use either your right hand or your left hand -how to make this Rolled lettuce omelette. The pictures are very clear, the voiceover is male - he calls himself Foodie China 888 and has a slight Chinese accent I think. Halfway through, a kitsch
Jul 24
Herbs
"Herbs bypass our thinking, analytical minds and go straight to our hungry souls." Nikky Duffy Herbs have a special place in my heart - not just because they are virtually the only plants that I seem to be able to grow - something which Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall highlights in his introduction to this, my first recipe book for today: "Herbs can be the plants that make you into a gardener, even a very small-scale one, and the ingredients that turn you into a creative cook.
Jul 23
Overbalanced - ads and websites
Time for a website and this is the next one on my list. I looked at it a while ago and wondered why I had it on the list, and actually decided it wasn't worth a look. However, since then I have wondered a bit at why I rejected it as unworthy of a look, but then thought, well it's relatively popular - it often comes up in the first few results in searches that I make. So I need to think more about it. And one thing that is a thing to talk about is the massive number of ads
Jul 18
Then and now - 10 years of rambling
I don't know about being loved for ten years - in the blogging sense that is - but I suppose this is a red letter day and I should be jumping for joy or something. Maybe a glass of champagne - but no it's mid-week, so a non-wine day. Well it's a subject for a post isn't it? On this day 10 years ago I opened my fridge door to see what to cook for dinner and sat down to write my very first post - Inside my fridge and every year since I have probably said much the same things a
Jul 15
The price of lamb
This is actually a lucky dip post, and I shall have stuff to say about the chosen book and the chosen recipe - which you have now guessed features lamb - specifically lamb cutlets such as these. Now this photo, found on Google Images, with the caption 'Thanks for the bargain Coles' - it was ironic - is actually old, because the lamb cutlets in this photograph were selling at $45.00 per kg. Now they are selling at $51.00. Ordinary housewives, surely cannot afford that. I h
Jul 14
Ranch dressing - a moment in the sun
"It’s the friend of all manner of dude foods." delicious. Ranch dressing is one of those absolutely American things - well I think of it that way anyway - if I think about it all that is. But Deb Perelman in her Smitten Kitchen newsletter, directed to me to an article in The Atlantic by Ellen Cushing which told me that: "Ranch dressing has become, deservedly or not, a face of the nation during the World Cup." And I have checked - it is indeed a thing - at least in the media
Jul 9
From the big bang to apple pie
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” Carl Sagan Somewhere on this website there is the above quote with a note from me - "which is intriguing but I'm not quite sure I understand it." Well today I found the answer and castigated myself for being so dense and not seeing what was meant. I mean it's pretty obvious if you think about it. The answer came from Yotam Ottolenghi of all people - well he does have a degree in philosoph
Jul 5
A missed opportunity
A couple of days ago, this brochure arrived in our letterbox. Of course I was not excited, but I did think that it might have some information inside that would be useful for a blog. And it did but not in the way I thought it might. I should explain that Woolworths has been undergoing the same renovation process that Coles undertook some time ago, and that I'm sure is happening everywhere, with variable tweaks made according to the physical size of the store and the demogra
Jun 25
Lucky dip - Kubbeh hamusta
"A recipe that adapts to its environment, but never forgets where it came from." Elli Benaiah/Beyond Babylon There are so many tricky and just picky issues about this particular recipe. It comes from Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi's book Jerusalem - a word that evokes a whole range of emotions these days - mostly not good. Although Sami Tamimi - a Palestinian and Yotam Ottolenghi - a Jew of mixed heritage, are no longer official business partners in the Ottolenghi empire,
Jun 19