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Archive for the ‘In My Kitchen’ Category

Market Colours

Posted in Food & Friends, In My Kitchen on July 7, 2010| 23 Comments »

Our trips to Flemington Markets often produce colourful surprises…

Last week we brought home a trio of small tomatoes: red grapes, yellow teardrops and chocolate tomatoes – the last being a new variety to me. The brown and yellow toms were deliciously sweet, making the red grapes taste a little tart by comparison.

Also at the markets was a vegetable known as rainbow or ruby chard.  I’ve never seen it for sale before, so we were quite excited to find it at the organic growers on our last visit.   We’ve been thinking about planting this, and were keen to  taste it before we bought seeds.

Sadly, the excitement didn’t last very long.  If you haven’t tried chard before, what you should know is that it tastes exactly like silverbeet (which is, in fact, what it is).  None of my men will eat it, although it was quite tasty baked under a bechamel sauce.

Note to self: don’t plant rainbow chard!

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In My Kitchen, June 2010

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , on June 16, 2010| 24 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…is a special cut-resistant glove, knitted from hollow yarn with a wire core. Every month, when the moon is at a particular point in the sky, I turn into a kitchen disaster.  I cut myself, burn myself, and grate the tops of my fingers off.  So I went into Chefs’ Warehouse and told them I needed a glove to wear, just for one week out of every four, which would stop me injuring myself.  After the laughing had subsided, this is what they sold me…

In my kitchen…

…are treasured gifts from our friend Moo. Incredibly generous soul that he is, he arrived with a goodie bag the last time he was over from Adelaide.   The items below are just a small sampling of his largesse…

In my kitchen…

…is Big Boy’s lunch – a large potato cake topped with smoked salmon and Italian mayonnaise.  Potatoes and salmon are one of our favourite food combinations!

In my kitchen…

…are six bottles of Pete’s wonderful vanilla syrup, made using an aged bottle of homemade vanilla extract (March 08) that I uncovered in the bottom of the linen closet.    The syrup is dotted with black seeds which you can’t quite discern from the photos (most have sunk to the bottom).

In my kitchen…

…are more pomegranates!  I won these three from Not Quite Nigella. We  juiced one of them, resulting in nearly a full cup of ruby coloured sweet juice.

So tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?

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Shades of Green

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , on June 4, 2010| 15 Comments »

Curly parsley, which is often so elusive at the markets, was out in force last week and I picked up an enormous bunch for just $3.   I was inspired to make this parsley soup – a recipe from Rick Stein’s Food Heroes programme.  It helped satisfy my current craving for green, brought on by all the tales of nettle soup I’ve been reading recently!

The recipe is easy – boil leeks, potatoes and a bunch of parsley in chicken stock until tender, then add a large amount of chopped parsley leaves at the end (to keep the colour).  Warm through and puree until smooth.  You can finish this soup with a little cream, although I found it didn’t need it – it’s rich and thick from the potatoes.

. . . . .

I absolutely adore Brussels sprouts (which I’ve recently learnt are correctly spelt Brussels rather than Brussel).  None of my three men will go near them, although I keep trying.  I love them cut in half and stir-fried in oyster sauce.

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And lastly, these gorgeous garlic chives were at the markets as well – their aroma was so potent that I couldn’t resist them.  They were too strongly flavoured for pesto, but perfect in fried rice.

It’s lovely to have some green in the kitchen during these cold winter months!

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In My Kitchen, May 2010

Posted in In My Kitchen on May 17, 2010| 20 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…are these medlars – an unusual fruit which Diana bought me from the Oberon markets. Known unflatteringly as “monkey’s bums”, these need to be bletted – allowed to rot – before eating.  During that time the inside of the fruit turns mushy and sweet, a bit like a cooked quince.  Or at least that’s what Pete tells me, because I can’t bring myself to taste rotting fruit.  But we will be turning it into medlar jelly, which I’m told is most fine…

In my kitchen…

…is this beautiful bone china mug, a gift from our friends Chris and Andrea.  It was impossible to capture how gorgeous this really is – the blue has a metallic sheen to it that’s lost in the photo.  It’s part of the Maxwell & Williams Pink Ribbon range…

In my kitchen…

…I have a wedge of cedro, candied peel from Italy.  I’d never seen anything like it, so I couldn’t resist picking up a slice when I was in the cheese shop last weekend.  A cedro is a large citrus fruit, similar to a giant lemon, with a very thick pith.  The candied version is quite sweet, and commonly used in panettone and Italian desserts.

In my kitchen…

…is this new baby Römertopf!  I was so excited to see this come up for sale at Peters of Kensington recently.  It’s 23cm in diameter, and has the same glazed interior as its larger sibling, making it perfect for smaller meals or vegetables.  Given that we use our large clay baker at least once a week, the $22 spent on this smaller version is sure to be a good investment…

In my kitchen…

…is this ruby red pomegranate.  When I mentioned to the Spice Girl that I’d entered a contest on Lorraine’s blog to win some of these, she arrived at my door with a glossy red globe in hand (I’ve actually won the giveaway too, thanks NQN!).  I realise that I’m probably the last person in Australia to try a pomegranate. The little seeds resemble glowing red corn kernels, each bursting with sweet juice.

I managed to snap a photo of Big Boy’s lunch before he wolfed it – tabbouleh salad, topped with marinated feta, San Daniele prosciutto and pomegranate seeds…

In my kitchen…

…are these blocks of Willie’s Cacao chocolate, a gift from Gillian at Some Say Cacao.  The chocolate is delicious and very distinctive, with a raw, earthy tone quite different from the brands we’re used to.  We’ve been savouring it in small pieces!

So tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?

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April In My Kitchen

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , on April 18, 2010| 16 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…are some jars of pickled garlic, made with Diana and Ian’s homegrown produce and using a recipe from Pam Corbin’s wonderful Preserves book…

In my kitchen…

…I’m sipping on a cup of hot mint tea, made with a mix of Chinese green  tea and fresh spearmint from our garden. I’m drinking out of the most beautiful tea cup which my friend Donnie bought me from T2…

In my kitchen…

…is a plate of Australian tiger prawns, bought fresh from the Sydney Fish Markets.  Big Boy and I are going to have them for lunch today!

In my kitchen…

…are two gorgeous copper bowls.  I’ve longed for beautiful copper cookware, but have always been dissuaded by the hefty pricetag.  So when I spotted these two bowls at Chefs’ Warehouse for under $20 each, I couldn’t resist!  They’re serving bowls, copper on the outside, lined with stainless steel.

In my kitchen…

…is a half-batch of these seriously decadent chocolate brownies (the other half is in the freezer).  They’re simple to make, but the large quantity of sugar makes them a nibble-only food…

What’s happening in your kitchen this weekend?

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