

Aubergines on top of yoghurt
"the composition is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s unbeatable formula of flavoured yoghurt base + roasted aubergines + vibrant toppings." Ixta Belfrage This is Ixta's Aubergines with lime yoghurt and tomato, cinnamon and chilli oil - a recipe from I'm not sure where. Anyway I thought her words might be an opening into a post - most likely I thought - about how everyone was copying the technique. You know the one - I talked about it recently - a base of something creamy. yo
Nov 1
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Hawaij, spice mixes and marketing
The other day I bought this expensive jar of Ottolenghi hawaij paste. It was on a special, I was just filling in time waiting for David for some reason I cannot now remember, wandering around Woolworths when I spied it. I had noticed Hawaij a lot here and there, or so I thought, and I was feeling a bit down, and so I thought 'why not?' and put it in my trolley. I feel a tiny bit cross at myself, because there are lots of recipes online for a hawaij spice mix, and it's not
Oct 23
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It starts with the plate
"I am so obsessed with my serving platters that before I decide on what to cook, I first select the platters I want to serve it on ." ...
Oct 10
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Contrasts and a bit about layers
"Sweet meat must have a sour sauce" Ben Jonson (1572-1637) Opposites attract they say, although I'm not at all sure that this is true...
Sep 17
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First day of spring - time to think about salad?
"Choose one hero ingredient and let it lead the way." Ottolenghi I'm really not a salad person. There I've said it, as my son would say....
Sep 1
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Lessons from a recipe
Yesterday we celebrated my older son's birthday here with the now almost traditional and compulsory spaghetti and meatballs - and a cake...
Aug 4
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Sfouf cake
Working my way through my email newsletters and looking for something relatively quick and simple I came across the above in a newsletter...
Jul 14
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Jottings
"Jottings: Quickly written short notes" Cambridge Dictionary I'm making a batch of marmalade because David has run out. It's time...
Jun 18
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Upping my sandwich game
"No offence, but I find sandwich recipes pointless. Who needs a recipe for making a sandwich? It’s like looking up a manual before taking...
Jun 2
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Carrot salads
"Creative freedom is a huge carrot." Adam McKay I don't think Adam McKay meant, what I have taken to mean from the above quote. I think...
May 30
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Granules
"granule - a small piece like a grain of something" Cambridge English Dictionary "a small particle; especially : one of numerous...
May 12
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The seasonal divide
"I momentarily forgot that not all Spring celebrations are about Easter, that, for many, Easter isn’t a thing at all, and that not all...
Apr 23
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Saturday's 5 star Ottolenghi crêpes + ...
"My freezer is stocked up with cooked crepes (an ingenious idea I nicked off a friend) that take minutes to warm up from frozen in the...
Mar 2
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Green beans in a salad
There are few ingredients that can do anything for a french bean ... but a little chopped shallot, melted butter or a crushed clove of...
Jan 4
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Gravy soup? Why didn't I think of that?
"This is the fridge's finest hour" Nigel Slater I've given up for now ignoring NIgel and Yotam - it's just too hard at this time of the...
Dec 27, 2024
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Sundries
"various items not important enough to be mentioned individually." Oxford Languages Christmas approaches and begins to dominate, so life...
Dec 21, 2024
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Nigel and Jonathan's onions
"There is no point in hurrying an onion – other than those you dip into batter and dunk into bubbling oil. They need time." Nigel Slater...
Nov 10, 2024
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Tonight's dinner - me or Ottolenghi?
It's one of those fridge challenge days, and I also haven't been able to tick off my new recipe challenge this week as yet. The...
Oct 25, 2024
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Party time in the wilds of Nillumbik
Nillumbik is our local council area. It calls itself 'The Green Wedge Shire' - because over 90% of it's 431.94 square kilometres of land...
Oct 21, 2024
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Cool as a cucumber
"Pert as a pear-monger I'd be, If Molly were but kind; Cool as a cucumber could see The rest of womankind" John Gay 1732 I was going to...
Sep 26, 2024
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