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Things are growing…

Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living on August 26, 2011| 50 Comments »

Remember these tomato plants?

I posted this photo three weeks ago, and mentioned how we were trying to grow tomatoes indoors this year, in our enclosed verandah…

Look at them now!  I think we may have underestimated how much space each plant will need, but we’ll know better next time…

They’ve already started flowering, and we’ve been buzzing them with an electric toothbrush to try and fertilise them.  This variety is Grosse Lisse…

We also planted a single advanced seedling in what we thought was an oversized self-watering pot…

Turns out it’s not quite as oversized as we first thought…

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For all of you who let me know that these pretty pink and purple flowers were from a pea plant, you were absolutely right.  Shortly after we took the first photos, the pods appeared…

The peas aren’t particularly good eating – I think they’re the blue peas which which are usually sold dried for boiling into mushy peas.  Nonetheless, they made a nice addition to our pasta sauce!

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Continental parsley grows like a weed in our area.

This is how the conversation with our neighbours went last week..

Mark (next door): “Hey, do you guys want any parsley?  I’m happy to throw some over the fence for you…”

Maude (across the road): “Will your chickens eat parsley?”

Me (to both of them): “Would you like any leeks?  It’s a job lot though, you have to take parsley with it…”

I’m not complaining – after all, we could be overrun with Patterson’s Curse or oxalis.  But there really is only so much parsley soup, parsley pesto and tabbouleh one can eat.

Does anyone have any brilliant suggestions for what we can do with our surplus?

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Finally, Small Girl is growing up.  She was so happy to see “her” stones on my previous post that she came over today and rearranged them.  She already knows her own mind and she’s not even three yet – we can only imagine what she’ll be like at sixteen…

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What’s growing at your place?

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Pasta Shapes

Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2011| 64 Comments »

For a long time, pasta played second fiddle in our house.

We used to view the sauce as the most important part of the dish, and would buy whatever Italian pasta was on special to accompany it.

All this changed recently when we purchased our first packet of Orecchiette (pictured above).  These delicious little morsels opened our eyes to both the diverse variety of pasta shapes available and the delightful world of pasta nomenclature.  Orecchiette, for example, means “little ear” (although I personally think they resemble turtle shells).

Here are some others we’ve recently discovered…

Strozzapreti, or “priest chokers”, were traditionally made in Romagna and Tuscany.  I’d assumed the name was a humorous take on the clerical collar, but a little research turned up its more sinister connotations, which reflected the strained relationship between the populace of the region and the Catholic church.  For the history buffs, there’s an interesting article about Strozzapreti here.  I love it when food has a story to tell…

These simple tubes are known as Occhi di Lupo, or “wolf eyes”.  We’ve been cooking this pasta for years, but I’d never paid attention to the writing on the packet before. Such a fabulous name, and guaranteed to appeal to even the fussiest young carnivore…

This pretty ribbon pasta, designed to accompany delicate sauces, is known as Mafaldine. It was created in honour of Princess Mafalda of Savoy (1902 – 1944), who died quite tragically in a German concentration camp during WWII…

Lumache, or “snails”, come in a variety of sizes…

I was quite taken with these graceful bows and their equally graceful name – Fiocchi D’Amore, or “love flakes”…

Fusilli are a familiar pasta, and may have been named after the spiral-grooved barrel of a rifle (fusile), although the term has also come to mean “little spindles” in modern Italian. Fusilli is usually an extruded corkscrew shape, but we quite like the rustic look of these ones…

Conchiglioni are large shells designed for stuffing…

…and finally, our favourite soup pasta, Rosmarino, with the rosemary leaves they’re named after!

Exploring pasta varieties is a very affordable foodie adventure.  Each 500g packet cost  just $3 – $4  and is ample to feed the four of us with leftovers.

And we haven’t even looked into the matching of pasta to sauce – the Italians are traditionally quite pedantic about this, and the texture, mouthfeel and  functionality of the pasta shape is carefully considered before deciding if it is appropriate for the sauce in question.

For my wordsmith friends, here’s a little Wiki trivia:

Italian pasta names often end with the masculine plural suffixes -ini, -elli, -illi, -etti or the feminine plurals -ine, -elle etc., all conveying the sense of “little”; or with -oni, -one, meaning “large”. Many other suffixes like -otti (“largish”) and -acci (“rough”, “badly made”) may occur, too. In Italian, all pasta type names are plural.

Do you cook with or know of any interesting pasta varieties?  Please let us know if there are any in particular we should look out for!

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Handy Chocolates

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , on August 19, 2011| 50 Comments »

Tim the Boy Wonder is studying for exams, and we thought we’d give him a hand.

Several, in fact, including the milk, dark and hazelnut praline studded ones above.  He can use them to practice his royal wave!

They’ll be a lot to remember, but hopefully the ol’ string around the finger trick will help…

An assortment of minis, because many hands make light work, and also because the Boy Wonder loves a round of applause…

At the same time, Tim’s dad PeteA is having a birthday.  We’ve made him a birthday card using Christina’s blend…

…and a hollow chocolate Ferrari.

My Pete is somewhat concerned that his car obsessed friend will feel this isn’t a real Ferrari (as this model was made after it was bought by Fiat)…

I, on the other hand, am somewhat concerned that PeteA will break a tooth like he did on the last car we made for him.  Although back then we were less practiced at moulding chocolate, and we’d made the whole thing solid.

That was six years ago – hopefully he’s overcome any aversion to car-shaped chocolates since then!

PS. All moulds were from Candyland Crafts, although the car is now discontinued.

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Haverick Meats

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , on August 17, 2011| 44 Comments »

Sydney carnivores take note – Haverick Meats is now open to the public!

I first read about this fabulous wholesaler on Not Quite Nigella (thanks Lorraine!) but only recently made the trek to Banksmeadow to check them out.  They’re one of Sydney’s leading meat suppliers, providing produce to some of our finest hatted restaurants, including Tetsuya’s and Bilson’s.

Their retail outlet is only open on Saturdays between 9am and 2pm. It’s not a huge space, but every item is of superb quality, and many are vacuum sealed in thick Cryovac packaging, ensuring a long shelf life in the fridge.

Larger cuts, like the pasture-fed striploin below, can be sliced and portioned on request…

These meat trays are the bargain buy at Haverick’s – a far cry from any pub raffle prize, and great value at $70 for over $100 worth of meat.  Each contains enough premium meat to feed my family of wolves five times over, working out at a very economical $14 a meal, or $3.50 per person.

On our last visit, we bought fresh Aylesbury Duck marylands – Haverick’s is the only place I’ve found that sells this cut unfrozen…

…some lamb mince and local diced lamb…

…and one of the meat trays for our neighbour Dredgey, who’d given us some money to spend for him.  His box included certified Angus rump and sirloin steaks, Otway free range pork cutlets, free range lamb loin chops, and Italian style pork and beef sausages…

Haverick Meats is definitely worth a Saturday morning visit.

Don’t be intimidated by the industrial setting – the shop is staffed by cheerful, approachable butchers who are extremely knowledgeable without being the least bit condescending. They patiently fielded my annoying questions about where the meat came from and how it had been reared. If you’re after a cut which isn’t on display, they’ll be more than happy to go into the warehouse and search it out for you.

We found the prices very reasonable, but what really shone through was the quality of the meat on offer.  And strange as this might sound, the outlet had a lovely vibe to it – everyone who worked there was smiling, relaxed and glad to see us.  It was a very pleasant way to spend a little time over the weekend.

If you do go, take along a cold bag and some cash or your EFTPOS card, as there’s a 1.5% surcharge for credit cards. Remember to take a sweater as well, as the showroom is basically a fridge – although there are jackets available for loan if required.

. . . . .

Haverick Meats
13-15 Green Street
Banksmeadow NSW 2019
Phone: 02 9316 8900
www.haverickmeats.com.au

Open to the public: Saturdays 9am to 2pm

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Shades of Pink

Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living, tagged , , , , on August 12, 2011| 55 Comments »

We’re having the most unusual winter here in Sydney.

A couple of weeks ago we were deluged with rain – our garage flooded, our gutters overflowed and all the fish in our little backyard pond died from the sudden change in temperature.  We had eleven inches (282mm) last month – the highest Sydney July rainfall since 1950.

A few days later we were in the midst of what appeared to be an early spring, with sunny days in the mid-20s (Celsius).  And this combination of rain and sunshine has brought out the most glorious colours in our neighbourhood.

Our street is awash with pink magnolias (below) and camellias (above)…

Our dwarf peach and nectarine trees are covered in gorgeous pink blooms.  Last year we harvested just one white peach, but it was memorably delicious…

A third of our garden beds are given over to growing chook food.  This benefits both our girls and the garden, as much of what is grown are legumes that improve the soil.  These ones grew from spilt grain mix, so we’re not sure what they are, but they’re very pretty…

Lavender was growing well in a neighbouring house…

…flowering kale from the same garden…

Bright red poinsettias can still be seen on the odd plant here and there…

Our rosemary is flowering, with tiny lilac blooms…

And remember my little friend Small Girl?  She’s still visiting every few days, and last week I watched as she carefully rearranged her dynamic stone sculpture on the steps…

Hope you all have a lovely weekend – may your gardens and neighbourhoods be filled with colour and friends too!

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