Gorgeous Mother's Day

I had a gorgeous Mother's Day.


Mother's and Father's Days around here normally concentrate on sleep-ins and breakfast in bed made by the kids.


This last year both girls have done a lot more cooking and it really showed how much their skills have improved in the meal they produced yesterday. Makes me wish I'd kept a record of what they made each year. I do remember a few tea and toast years, some french toast, and quite a bit of Dad help but can't remember much more.


Anyway this year there was a cup of tea followed by a delicious banana and oat smoothie in bed. 
After leisurely getting up and ready there was a brunch of pumpkin, fakin (vegetarian bacon) and caramelised onion mini quiches and salmon, dill and cream cheese finger sandwiches,    

lemon and cardamon bun and chocolate pastry swirl with a latte to go!

Finally an early afternoon sweet course of lemon and cardamon buns and chocolate pastry swirls with coffee. 


Fabulous! 

And done with no help - (and all went smoothly except the spilling of milk all over the laptop with the recipe on it which was sitting on kitchen bench!! We need to rethink this habit!! Insurance claim in, fingers crossed!)






I suspect you may see their recipes if you follow Mia's Blog. 

In the afternoon friends lent us their season passes to the netball and we saw our first professional level netball match - NSW Swifts vs Melbourne Vixens. What a game! Swifts won - just - and it was very exciting with a great atmosphere. Always good to try something new. Ian even one a lucky door prize at the after match members event. 







Thank you Gorgeous Girls and Lovely Husband. It was a great day!
Nicola / Mum

Around the world in 18 Fridays- Week 9- Latin America

You can tell I'm starting to run out of countries, can't you?


Not that it's a bad thing to be discovering new and ususual cuisines. In fact, I guess that's the point of this whole thing!


This week, I made empanadas. They were really, really good! 

Maybe not entirely authentic...


but they still tasted amazing!


They had black bean, corn and cheese, which is a great combination, and beans are high on protein for all us vegetarians.


The original recipe called for empanada dough, but quite frankly there wasn't time.


Instead I used shortcrust pastry, and then I ran out of that, so I used puff. Just that frozen stuff you buy at the supermarket!


If I had time in future I would probably make the proper dough for a more authentic flavour, but these tasted just fine.


Shortcrust was slightly more like the real thing than puff though, so I'd recommend using that if you've got a choice.

So why not try something a bit new this week?


Black Bean and Corn Empanadas
Based on: http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/snacksstreetfood/r/cornempanadas.htm

• Empanada Dough (here), or a packet of frozen shortcrust pastry
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5-6 scallions, chopped fine
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, drained or 500g prepared black beans
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 225g Tasty cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 egg

1. Prepare the empanada dough and place in the refrigerator to chill, wrapped in saran wrap.
2. Pour boiling water over the golden raisins and let soak for 10 minutes, then drain. Set aside.
3. Add the vegetable oil to a heavy skillet and place over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, cumin, garlic salt, and aji paste, and sauté until the onions are very soft and translucent, about 5-8 minutes.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, the green onions, and the sugar and sauté, stirring, for about 5 minutes more, or until excess liquid has cooked away and tomatoes are beginning to stick to the pan.
5. Add the black beans and sauté, until excess liquid is cooked away, about 5 minutes.
6. Add the corn, raisins, and lime juice, and cook for five minutes more.
7. Remove mixture from heat and scrape into a heat proof bowl. Let cool to room temperature, then stir in the cheese cubes and the cilantro.
8. Chill mixture for 2 hours, or overnight.
9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
10. If using pastry, divide each sheet into 4 and skip to step 12
11. Divide the dough into 20 pieces (for large empanadas), or about 40 pieces (for small, appetizer size empanadas). 
12. Roll each piece of dough into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. (Circles will be about 6 inches in diameter for the larger empanadas, and about 3 1/2 inches for the smaller ones).
13. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle of each piece of dough (1 teaspoon for small empanadas).
14. Fold the dough over the filling to make a semicircle or triangle. Press the edges together firmly to seal.
15. Fold the edge over itself and crimp decoratively.
16. Brush empanadas generously with beaten egg. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.
17. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.
18. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Around the World in 18 Fridays- Week 7- South Africa

This week I was starting to run out of ideas for international meals I've cooked before, so I decided to choose a country and just find something random that sounded good to cook!

Well, I chose South Africa because I had no idea about their cuisine, and I don't regret it!

A lot of the recipes I found contained meat, and that's why I was so excited when I discovered all the vegetarian versions of Frikkadels out there! A 'Frikkadel' is like a tomatoey spicy meatball, but there were all sorts of vegetarian recipes out there using either soy protein or lentils in the place of meat!

I chose lentils, since it's what we had in the cupboard, and they were AMAZING!


I've really missed meatballs since becoming vegetarian, and although these weren't the same, they were better!


I know I probably sound incredibly vain right now, but I'll just point out the recipe is heavily based on this one.


Though I did have to do a few substitutions because Australia doesn't really have a lot of South African cooking supplies!


Oh, and do make the yogurt! It's simple, but incredibly delicious! Especially if you mix everything on your plate up (after taking photos, of course)!

Lentil Frikkadels
Based on: http://blogs.food24.com/aspoonfulofsugar/2011/12/12/spiced-lentil-frikkadels/


Ingredients

250g Brown or Green lentils
750ml Cold water
2 Organic stock cubes (vegetable or chicken, whatever you like)
5 tsp Worchestershire Sauce (or 1 tbsp and 1 tsp, whatever suits)
50g Tomato paste
2 tsp Cumin powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Chilli powder
2 Cloves of garlic
2cm Thumb of ginger, grated
1 Green chilli, chopped finely
1 Small red onion, chopped finely
60ml Lemon juice
Flour for dusting
300ml    Canola oil for frying

For the yoghurt dressing
1 cup Plain smooth yoghurt
1 tsp Cut mint
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp Fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tsp Brown sugar
1/4 tsp Salt

1. Add cold water, lentils and crumbled stock cubes to a pot. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and cook for 30-50 minutes, or until lentils are very soft.
2. Once lentils are cooked, drain off any excess water and mash with a potato masher until the lentils take on the form of a thick paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the oil and flour, and mix together. Taste and test the seasoning. Adjust if necessary.
4. Mix and shape into small rounds, approximately 3cm in diameter. Roll each round in flour, just lightly covering it, and dust off excess flour. Then heat oil in a heavy-based pot or pan.
5. Fry rounds in oil, about four at a time, leaving for approximately 1 minute on each side. Turn only once.
6. Drain on paper towels and once cooled, cover and refrigerate.
7. Mix all the ingredients for the yoghurt dressing together, and serve! I recommend putting them on pasta with a basic tomato sauce and the yogurt, but they'd be fine on their own!


Mia :)

Around the World in 18 Fridays- Week 6- India

Namaste!


This week we'll be stopping in India for an (if I do say so myself) incredible potato curry!

It's based on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and it's vegan (unless served with a large amount of raita. In that case it's most definitely NOT vegan)!


In my defence, it was a little hotter than expected, so the yogurt was necessary! The original recipe has 4 teaspoons curry powder, but I cut that to 3. It was delicious, and not unbearably hot, but if you're not so fond on chilli I'd recommend cutting it even more or using a really mild curry powder.


You've been warned!


I also added cauliflower, which was great, but if you're not so keen I'm sure it'd be just as nice without.


Or, if you happen to have excess of some other vegetable, why not add that?


We ALWAYS have excess potatoes, which is why this recipe is so good!


But if you don't belong to a fruit co-op who give you insane amounts of potatoes each week, I still say try it. Potatoes aren't exactly hard to come-by!


Indian Potato Curry
Based on: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-vegan-potato-curry/

1. Ingredients
   1. 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
   2. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
   3. 1 yellow onion, diced
   4. 3 cloves garlic, minced
   5. 2 teaspoons ground cumin
   6. 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
   7. 3 teaspoons curry powder
   8. 4 teaspoons garam masala
   9. 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
   10. 2 teaspoons salt
   11. 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
   12. 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
   13. 1 cup frozen peas
   14. 1/4 of a large cauliflower (1/2 a small one)
   15. 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
   Directions
1. Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.
2. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. 
3. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt; cook for 2 minutes more. 
4. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, cauliflower and potatoes. Pour in the coconut milk, and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
5. Serve with rice, pappadams, raita (unless you're vegan!) and mango chutney.

Mia :)

Around the World in 18 Fridays- Week 5- Russia

This week I tried something completely new- I've never eaten Russian food til now, let alone cooked it!


But so far, I'm liking it!

This dish is called 'Slovanka' and it's a sort of cabbage and potato casserole.


It's pretty yummy, and full of veggies!

Plus I served it with an amazing beetroot salad that's also Russian!


But if you're making the salad, I'd reccomend going easy on the garlic- 3 raw cloves is enough to have your breath stinking for days!


Both the recipes are from 'Moosewood Cookbook' by Mollie Katzen, which has sat accumulating dust on a shelf for far too long.


It's an amazing book- we were leant it by a friend a few years ago and fell in love, then by some incredible coincidence we found it at a second hand shop for, like $5!


Sometimes I wonder how these things happen!


But if you're ever stuck for yummy vegetarian recipes, I'd highly recommend it.


And I doubt this'll be the last you hear of it round here!


Solyanka with Odessa Beetroots


Based on: The Moosewood Cookbook By Mollie Katzen


4 medium potatoes
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup firm yoghurt
1 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups chopped onion
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 small head green cabbage, shredded
2 medium carrots, grated
4 to 5 medium cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp dill
Black pepper, to taste
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
Sprinkling of Paprika


For Salad:
5-6 medium beets
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
8-10 prunes, pitted and thinly sliced
2-3 medium cloves garlic, minced (I'd actually recommend either cooking this slightly or using a bit less- you've been warned!)
1/2 tsp salt
Black Pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pineapple (tinned or fresh)


1. Set the oven to 200˚c (400˚f). Lightly grease a large casserole. Put the beets, wrapped in foil, in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until tender. Remove and turn oven down to 180˚c (350˚f).
2. Cut up the potatoes and boil from cold until mashable. (You can do steps 4 & 5 while they boil) Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Mash the potatoes while still hot, adding cottage cheese and yoghurt.
4. Melt the butter or margarine in a large, deep pan. Add onions and salt, and saute for about five minutes. Add caraway and cabbage, and saute about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally and covering in between.
5. When the cabbage is tender, add carrots garlic and dill. Cook about 5 more minutes, and remove from heat.
6. Add the sauteed vegetables, the mashed potatoes, pepper and cider vinegar to the casserole. Mix until well combine, then sprinkle with sunflower seeds and paprika.
7. Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes, or until heated through and lightly browned on top.
8. Meanwhile, to prepare the salad, rinse the beetrootsunder cold water and remove their skins. Trim the ends and coarsely grate. Transfer to a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well.
9. Serve and enjoy!


Mia :)

Around the World in 18 Fridays- Middle East- Couscous Salad

Today we're visiting the middle east with a salad for Autumn.

Yes, I know it's not Autumn yet.

But it sure does feel like it!

This beautiful Middle Eastern Couscous salad is perfect for this unusual weather- not too hot and not to cold!

It's amazingly fast and easy- just what we need now schools back!

The only thing that takes a while is the roasting of the vegies, but once they're in you can do whatever you like for half an hour- homework, housework, blogwork!


Warm Roast Vegetable and Couscous Salad


Based on: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/26536/warm+roast+vegetable+couscous+salad

Serves 4

• 6 carrots, peeled
• 2 parsnips, peeled
• 2 sweet potatos, peeled
• 2 red onions, quartered
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup (200g) instant couscous
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/4 cup (40g) sultanas
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Handful each flat-leaf parsley and coriander leaves
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes into even sized chunks, and, along with the red onion, place on the tray. Drizzle with oil and vinegar, season, then toss to coat. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender and browned.
2. Meanwhile, toss couscous in a heatproof bowl with spices, sultanas and salt.
3. When the vegetables are almost done, stir 400ml boiling water into the couscous until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and stand for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
4. Add oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs and lightly toss. Stir through veggies and serve.

Enjoy!

Mia xo

Around the World in 18 Fridays- Week 4- Malaysia

This week I was craving something hearty.


Yeah, I know. Hearty means meat, meat, meat.


But not to me. To me it means tasty, flavoursome and warm.


So these Malaysian Noodles (Char Kway Teow) sounded perfect.

And delicious.


My original recipe called for 1-2 TABLESPOONS of Sambal Oelek.


But I ignored it and only put 2 teaspoons, and i was still too hot for Eva!


Perfect for Mum, Dad and I, though.


So if you want an authentic, whole mouth on fire sort of experience, feel free to add more than my recipe.


But don't pretend you haven't been warned.


Char Kway Teow


Based on: http://www.whats4eats.com/pastas/char-kway-teow-recipe


2 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp Sambal oelek (chilli paste)
300g firm tofu
1/4 of a wong bok
500g fresh rice noodles, cut into strips and separated in boiling water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup Mung bean Sprouts
4 shallots, chopped

Method

1. Heat just enough of the oil to coat the bottom of the wok. Add the egg, and cook until just set. Remove, and cut into small strips.                                                       

2. Heat the remaining oil, and add the garlic and sambal 

oelek. Stir fry for about 30 seconds, then add the tofu and wong bok.

3. Stir fry until the wong bok begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and toss through the rice noodles. Add the soy sauce and brown sugar and stir to coat. Add the sprouts and shallots,  and stir fry until soft.

4. Remove from heat and serve alone or with some stir-fryed asian greens.

Enjoy!

Mia