We are really lucky to live nearby to a really amazing Middle Eastern grocery store.
One of the first discoveries we made there many many years ago now is a dish called Mujadarra.
It is a traditional Middle eastern dish that varies from country to country but is essentially a dish of Lentils & Rice. YUM.
Comfort in a bowl.
One of my boys in particular would happily eat this dish for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
And very often does.
There is a lot to be said for the Middle Eastern diet- it is heavily based on eating grains & plants and some meat every now & then.
Super nutritious & very filling.
And BOY do they know how to flavour dishes.
Middle Eastern food is amongst my very fave style of food.
Simple good produce flavoured well with spices & loads of fresh herbs.
You cant really go wrong I don't think.
It is delicious hot or cold & makes a great basis for salads or as a side dish for roast dinners or BBQ meats.
We love it topped with a crispy edged fried egg or some pan fried chicken.
Or if you are my son- straight from it's container in the fridge!
PEARL BARLEY MUJADARRA: I have a bit of an obsession with Pearl Barley. I can not get enough of it. I started substituting the rice in Mujadarra when I had no rice & I preferred the slightly nutty firm texture so haven't looked back. Feel free to substitute the pearl barley for Brown Rice. WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
2 cups cooked Pearl Barley (or Brown Rice)
1 cup cooked French Green lentils
4 large brown onions, sliced as finely as possible
1 cup good quality chicken stock
3 tablespoons Butter
1 tablespoon rice bran oil
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Sumac
loads of fresh coriander, mint or parsley (or all)
METHOD:
Pre-cook all the grains as per instructions, drain & set aside.
In a large fry pan heat oil & butter (these are mixed together so the butter does not burn) until it melts. Heat to high & add finely sliced onions. Once translucent, reduce the temperature & continue to fry until the onions are browned- this may take up to twenty minutes. Right at the end add the cumin seeds and cook through for another minute or so until the cumin is fragrant.
Set some of the cooked onion aside to top your dish.
Add the pre-cooked grains into the remaining pan and stir well. Add a cup of boiling chicken stock and stir well until the stock is soaked into the grains. Finally add fresh herbs, stir through & serve with some of the reserved Golden Onions & sprinkle the Sumac over the top. YUM.
I always look like this when I rollerskate. Do you?
It is getting cold enough to pack Hot Lunches for the kids here in Melbourne.
The brisk days demand comfort food for lunch to keep our kids tummies filled all day long.
This easy peasy, nutritious & hearty soup is perfect for packing into a Thermos.
CREAMY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP: Use the very best ingredients you can afford to take this soup from good to outstanding! Make sure you pre-cook the noodles and add them after to avoid a gluggy soup. WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
4 chicken thigh fillets, diced into 2cm cubes
2 rashers bacon, dicd into 2cm cubes
3 bay leaves
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 leek, washed well, trimmed and chopped finely
3 large carrots, diced
4 large waxy potatoes, scrubbed & diced (leave skin on)
300g pre cooked noodles (you can just cook spaghetti that you have broken into small pieces.
3-4 cups good quality chicken stock.
a handful of parsley, chopped roughly S& P
4 tablespoons good quality cream
olive oil
METHOD:
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, garlic, leek, bacon & bay leaves and saute until translucent. Add diced chicken thighs & cook for 3- 4 minutes, stirring. Add diced carrots & potatoes & the chicken stock. Bring to a boil & immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile cook your noodles in plenty of salted water. Drain and set aside. After 20 minutes add the pre-cooked noodles and the cream and taste. Season & serve with Toast.
Have you listened to Blur's new Album yet? EXCITING! This is a super cute little vid:
Some of you may know that last year I put out the to the universe a long held dream.
That I wanted to design & make my own tableware.
I wanted to master throwing pottery on a wheel.
You may or may not know that straight after school I studied to become an Art Teacher.
Art has always been a passion.
And while I felt like I was ok at most mediums, well Pottery always had the better of me.
I could never ever seem to master that dang wheel. So many failed attempts.
I don't really like NOT being good at stuff.
It doesn't sit well with me. Are you the same?
I am learning to let go of my unreal expectations but it isn't easy.....
You know the saying 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks'?
Well I call BOLLOCKS to that.
I am an old dog & I quite like learning new tricks.
One of the things I think is super important as an adult is to keep learning.
And one of the most important & best things I have learnt as an adult is how little I know.
And how much stuff there is to learn. So much good stuff. Endless in fact.
Encouraging myself to try new things & learn new skills allows an appreciation of the world.
You get to see things in a new light. Be more humble. Be more aware of how hard stuff is.
Appreciate things more. Be more grateful.
NOT being good at stuff is actually really important. I have come to learn and accept this as I get older.
It is good that other people are better at things than me.
It is good to NOT be good at all the things- as uncomfortable as that leaves me feeling.
Not being the winner is important.
It is something I have written about in terms of parenting before. The notion that we are not doing our children any credit by not letting them experience the sting of defeat or hardship. It is one of the hardest of all things to do as a parent- to stand by and watch your child not win. None of us want to see our children feel sad but surely resilience and an ability to get up and try again and to be able to congratulate the winner is ultimately just as much an important life skill as winning? To be able to admire someone else being better at something is a pretty good thing I think. And one that brings with it it's own rewards. Being able to be joyful for someone else's success or mastery feels really good. A selfless but joyful act.
When I see it happen out there in the real world it is pretty darn special.
I think about this stuff a fair bit. The idea that consulting experts is a good thing. That acknowledging that years of expertise in any given area gives people a deep understanding of things that others skim across or could only ever understand in a superficial kind of way.
For instance- try learning another language as an adult gives you a keen awareness of how hard it is for others to learn English. We take our primary language for granted but sheesh it is SOOOOO hard. Learning another helps give us a sensitivity to the people who come here and are expected to speak our language. That is a good thing I think.
Last year, after many tries, I had the help of a friend to help teach me crochet. I am a left hander & it has been hard to learn as most of my pals are right handers. I have been wanting to learn since I was a child but it never really happened until last year.
My friend & I sat side by side and I just copied her. She taught me chain stitch and then I just experimented from there.
That was when I started my Rug. It was supposed to be a granny square but I missed the corner and it became a circle that just kept on going.
It is now a beautiful reminder of my gorgeous friendship & a reminder to try new things.
I really like how it didn't turn out at all as what I had expected but is actually more beautiful than I could ever have hoped. And as my friend has moved away *sob* , I LOVE that it will always be my smiley colourful reminder of her.
At the beginning of this year I took a Pottery Wheel class and fell in LOVE with it.
I have bought my own wheel and am busy creating bowls by the dozen.
I had a great teacher & somehow it just worked this time despite all my other failures in the past.
Another message to me to keep trying new stuff- sometimes for whatever reason it is the right time & it works.
I hope that soon I will even have some GG Coffee bowls for you to purchase. Watch this space.
All these things are wonky and not perfect. My favourite sort.
This week my new project is a Crochet Cape. It looks a bit like a rainbow at the moment & I kind of like it.
Are you learning anything new?
Or making something wonky & not perfect?
DO tell!
Until next time:
LIVE BETTER
HELP OFTEN &
WONDER MORE
While most people will agree that Hot Chips are one of the most delicious and comforting foods of all time- and surely deserving of their own food group- there is not much agreement on how to make them.
Some people soak them in water, some par boil them, some leave them once par-cooked, to dry out in the fridge overnight- the list is endless.
While there are myriad methods I think that one of the most important of all factors is perhaps NOT discussed and that is the TYPE of spud.
You see spuds are NOT spuds.
And by that I mean you need to understand a little more about potatoes before you can really have success with potato dishes.
Potatoes are divided into two main groups- waxy & floury.
For a good chip you want a floury potato to get that super lovely fluffy interior.
Save the waxy varieties for salads.
Floury potatoes have less moisture & a higher starch content than their waxy counterparts making them more suited to frying & mashing.
Waxy potatoes tend to retain their shape more than floury ones and so are the ones to choose when stewing or boiling for salads etc. If you try to mash waxy potatoes you may find it hard to get rid of lumps and it can go gluey in texture.
It wasn't until I started to shop at Farmers Markets that I REALLY learned to understand about potatoes. This is one of many reasons I love shopping at Farmers Markets- the people who grow the food are masters of knowledge & are keen to share! I have learned sooooo much about food from these people. More than google or any cookbook could ever teach me. Our producers are one of the best (and most under-utilised) resources out there.
For chips I love to use SEBAGO potatoes- they are a white skinned & white flesh potato. I think they give a great fluffy interior and are delicious and crunchy on the outside.
I use the twice cooked method- sometimes three. I am usually ill prepared and wanting hot chips NOW, so the methods that require excessive amounts of waiting time in between are not my friend.
And I LOVE mine to be crinkle cut - relying on a very old and very fave piece of kitchen equipment that was gifted to me by a very gorgeous friend. It features in one of the pics below.
I think the crinkles allow for more crispy edges. Total win in my book.
So, for me there are 3 things that are vital to making the perfect Hot Chips.
They are:
the type of potato
the temperature of the oil (and the freshness of the oil! Use FRESH oil!)
the cooking times
And whilst I love the way my chips turn out I am sure there will be people out there for whom this method will not be their favourite.
Vive le difference!
NB: Poh has a wonderful list of Australian spuds to refer to here for all you Aussie readers. If you are in other countries your varieties will be different.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT CHIP: You will get best results using a deep fryer for this. If not you will need a cooking thermometer.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
1kg Sebago Potatoes
rice bran oil
METHOD:
Preheat the oil (my deep fryer requires 4 litres of oil- if using a saucepan use enough to allow the chips to be well covered- I would say at least 2 litres) to 130C.
Meanwhile peel (you can leave the skins on if you have washed the spuds really well!) and slice your chips into 1.5cm batons. I use my trusty crinkle cut chip cutter for this job- an antique but much loved piece of kitchen arsenal.
Carefully place the cut chips into the oil being careful not to overcrowd. You may find it easier to do this in two batches. (if using a sauce pan it will be much easier of you have a mesh chip basket as you need to lift the chips out half way through cooking)
Now set a timer for 9 minutes.
After this time lift the basket up and let strain.
Turn up the heat to 190C & do not lower basket until the temp has been reached.
Once temp is 190C, lower basket and fry for another 3-4 minutes. (and again if you are doing the 3 times method).
I recommend draining on a wire tray with paper towel below to let air escape- this prevents the chips going soggy.
Salt well & let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
The symphony orchestra & choir at my big kids school performed this recently.
I - of course- burst into tears when the voices began.
Music is a very special thing. Just like Hot Chips.
I like to play this music very loud for maximum effect.
xx
Parenting five children is relentlessly busy.
And I was under the impression that it was the busiest when they were little.
I missed the memo that as they went to high school it would get busier and busier.
It's not just a physical busyness- the getting them to all the things they love to do, but it is the mental busyness.
My job is like being a corporate PA to five different executives. Without the payslip.
Dealing with the new & big things to do with parenting children as they enter the early adult years feels pretty darn big.
Negotiating friendships, first love, first heartbreak, an ever increasing schoolwork load. Negotiating the rules of social media & technology and learning ways to help that fit in with a family that prioritises time with each other while letting them engage with their friends online too.
When we were growing up we sat on our corded phones, the coiled cord pulled as far as possible stretched to it's limits in our efforts to have a private conversation.
Or maybe like my husband, there was no phone at all. All that was needed was your bike to skoot around to see your friend face to face & conduct that private conversation in real life.
We had lots of 'spare' time. Time where we did nothing, where we learnt how to do nothing at all and to be at peace.
Life now is fast & complicated & as parents we are in a generation where change is so rapid that we are having to learn to negotiate technology that we never had in our childhood. Setting rules about stuff we don't fully comprehend yet ourselves.
I am struggling with how fast it is. And I am struggling with how fast my children are growing up.
Our eldest is doing VCE.
And yet we have children across the age ranges, so we have a little one in Grade one also.
A reminder of how fast it all happens. Right there before us a physical reminder. It is very real & very confronting.
I used to think that when mine were really little, when they were toddlers and in the early years of Primary school that it was the busiest of all and that when they got to high school it would be simpler & easier.
I miss them being so little and things being so much simpler. Yet it is exciting to see my people turning into young adults.
But I feel so unsure of all of it. As a parent I have never second guessed myself so much.
Am I doing the right thing?
Am I being too strict?
Am I understanding the issue or missing it all together?
Am I too involved?
Am I helping?
I don't feel like I know the answers anymore, whereas once upon a time I just knew I was doing the right things. I felt confident.
I now know less than I ever did. Ain't that the truth.
What I do know is that there is no such phase as the 'easy' part of parenting.
Whether you are parenting one child or many;
Whether you are dealing with 'normal' parenting situations or tricky complex parenting situations;
Whether your child is fully able or has special needs;
Whether you are a young parent or an older parent;
Whether your children are little or big;
Whether you are a working parent or a stay at home parent;
the list goes on............
It is all hard.
It is all consuming.
It is all rewarding.
It doesn't necessarily get easier but it changes.
It is sometimes overwhelmingly awesome.
It is sometimes just plain overwhelming.
What I would love is if we could all just stop for a bit and acknowledge all of this. Stop & breathe it in.
It is enormous. Really enormous. The single most important thing of all. No wonder we find it takes us to the brink every now & then.
Maybe what we all need to practice a bit more is less comparison of one another and more compassion.
Everyone is fighting a battle you can not see. And as we all muddle through parenting in the way we see best works for us on any given day, let's try & practice a little more kindness to all of the other parents who are doing the very same.
For we are all just trying to do and to be our very best.
ZUCCHINI KOFTA CURRY with Tomato coconut sauce: I took inspiration from this recipe but I made several changes- (there were steps missing in this recipe & the first time I made it the koftas collapsed.) Zucchini is abundant at this time of year and lots of people having them coming out of their ears! This is a delicious way to use them. The sauce doesn't need a long time to cook & I recommend serving the sauce over the top of the kofta rather than heating through together as it tends to collapse the kofta. I recommend using a deep fryer to fry the kofta. If you do not have one you will need a thermometer to ensure your oil is at correct deep frying temp of 180C. WHAT YOU WILL NEED: for the Kofta:
2 large zucchini, grated
2 medium size potatoes, steamed & mashed
4 spring onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 green chillies, chopped finely
1/2 cup besan (chickpea) flour
3 tablespoons Rice flour
1/2 teaspoon bi-carb
1 tablespoon garam masala
3 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons coriander
salt & pepper
rice bran oil for frying
For the Curry sauce:
1 tablespoon Ghee (use oil if making it vegan)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
10 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon amchur (available at Indian grocers)
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 cinnamon stick
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1/2 can coconut cream
juice of a lime.
METHOD:
Heat the oil to 180C.
While the oil is pre-heating you can prepare the Kofta.
To prepare the kofta, simply add all ingredients listed together well & let sit for 10 minutes to help the flours bind.
Now take a small amount & shape it into a ping pong size ball. Carefully drop into the heated oil. Cook for about 3-4 minutes each and then remove & drain on paper towel.
Repeat with up to 5 at a time. Repeat until all mix is used. You can keep them warm in an oven heated to 100C while you cook the remaining Kofta mix.
In a large heavy based pan, heat ghee to medium high and add garlic & ginger.
Add all spices and fry gently till aromatic- about 2 minutes. Now add tomatoes and reduce heat to low. After about 15 minutes, when you can see the oil starting to separate, add the coconut cream & simmer for 10 minutes. Add lime juice just before serving.
