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Archive for September, 2009

Splats

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on September 12, 2009| 15 Comments »

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This clever recipe that I first read about on Jill Dupleix’ site has been renamed “Splats” by my friend Jenise.  It’s a recipe for smashed baked potatoes – dead easy and quite cathartic, both in the smashing and the eating.  You’re supposed to use small potatoes, but I had a glut of Bintjes and King Edwards left over from the gourmet potato tasting that needed to be cooked, so that’s what I used.

Scrub the potatoes, prick the skins, then place them in a pyrex casserole dish. Leave the smaller ones whole, and cut any really big ones in half. Microwave the spuds until firm but cooked through.  Preheat the oven to maximum – in my oven, that’s 250C.

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Place the potatoes on a parchment-lined tray, skin side up, then splat them with a potato masher so that they’re broken, but not falling apart.

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Drizzle over the top of each potato with extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle over a generous amount of salt and a pinch of Italian herbs.

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Reduce the oven to 220C (so that you don’t burn the parchment paper), then bake the potatoes for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown and crispy.  Enjoy!

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Vanilla Icecream

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on September 11, 2009| 5 Comments »

Here’s a really easy recipe for icecream, providing you have an icecream maker.

Step 1: make microwave custard.  Chill in the fridge, with a piece of clingfilm or parchment pressed against the surface to stop a skin forming.  When cold, add half a cup of heavy cream and stir to combine.

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Step 2: add flavourings (here we’ve added vanilla syrup)

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Step 3: pour into icecream maker and freeze!

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Note: this icecream freezes very solidly (at least in our stand alone freezer), so you might need to allow time for it to thaw a little before using it.

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Whimsy

Posted in Musings on September 10, 2009| 9 Comments »

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We are incredibly blessed with lives that are full of laughter and gentle whimsy.

Perhaps it’s a byproduct of slowing down – when life was frenetic and chaotic, it was hard to see the funny side of things.

Perhaps it’s a result of having truly offbeat, quirky kids with their own distinct personalities and eclectic tastes. Small Man has a passion for old show tunes, magic tricks and Mr Bean; Big Boy has a razor wit, writes  prolifically and plays a mean french horn. One morning, when Small Man was very young, he climbed out of bed, sleepy and scruffy-headed, and greeted me with, “Good morning, Mum.  Can you make me some prosthetic hair?”

Perhaps it’s the way Pete has taught us all to view the world, with appreciative, attentive eyes (I’m not nearly as good at this as the boys are).

Perhaps it’s a gift from my wonderful, crazy parents – particularly my father, who  in his late 70’s rang to say he was buying a chainsaw to prune his “shrubbery”.  Or my beloved, truly bonkers sister, who gave us a fossilized mammoth’s tooth as a gift (she haggled down the archeologist who brought it back from Siberia) and once tried to catch a five foot catfish in a swimming pool. With her hands.

Perhaps it’s the result of watching too many Muppet Show reruns (our favourite is the Harry Belafonte episode).

Whatever the reason, I’m incredibly grateful.  I hope you all have a moment today when something puts a smile on your face.  If you’re struggling to find that something, perhaps one of our favourite Muppet clips can help!

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Birthday Yoghurt Cake

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , on September 9, 2009| 2 Comments »

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I made this for Dot’s birthday,  using Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful yoghurt cake recipe.

Instead of a loaf tin, the cake was baked in an 8″/20cm round cake tin at 160C (with fan) for 40 minutes.  Once cool, it was split in half and sandwiched with a generous serve of Pete’s strawberry jam and some  fresh cream, whipped with a little vanilla syrup.

This is such an easy, versatile recipe to have up your sleeve, particularly when you need a cake in a hurry!

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Apulian Flavours

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , , , on September 8, 2009| 1 Comment »

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As you’ve probably figured out by now, I adore trying new flavours.  It’s my way of keeping my brain active (never could stand Sudoku), and I’m always excited when I come across something unusual to taste.

These jars of Italian pastes are definitely different to anything I’ve tried before!  The Purè di Fave is a fava bean paste, made from 95% beans, mixed with onion, olive oil, celery, salt and laurel.  The label tells me that it’s an Apulian tradition to serve this warm with boiled chicory.  We didn’t have any, so we tried it on toast (as you do).  It’s quite delicious – with a definite bean flavour and a consistency somewhere between loose mash potatoes and hommus.

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The second jar, Paté di Lampascioni, took me completely by surprise.  The label describes it as a wild onion paté, with the ingredients list boasting 66.5% wild onions, combined with olive oil, garlic, capers, chilli, vinegar, parsley and salt.  But instead of the smooth, sweet onion flavour that I expected, the spread was bitter, in a manner reminiscent of rocket.  If, like me, you’re a fan of those flavours (rocket, bittergourd, witlof, I adore them all), then you’ll love this.  Pete, of course, won’t touch it with a barge pole.

When I goggled lampascioni, I discovered that the “wild onion” is actually a wild hyacinth bulb, native to Puglia, Italy, and renowned for its bitter flavour. There’s more information about them here.

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As I said, I love trying new flavours! I can almost feel the synapses forming in my brain…

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