Sicilian Stuffed sardines

As I mentioned in my last post- the kids were on a seafood cooking bonanza.

It started as a result of Mr.11 making a request to go shopping at Vic Market with his dad.

Hubby G came home with a few extras.......as always when he shops at the market, but I am soooo not complaining!

This time it was a kilo of sardines- with the explanation that "They were only 5 bucks a kilo!" Let it be noted that I love a bargain- and I love Hubby's surprise market purchases so I was not unhappy!

What it did make me think about as a result of Mr.9's  somewhat surprising reaction was "At what stage do we starting getting the "ooks" about food and the preparation of it for eating?"  And by preparation I mean the whole process- from the slaughter,  to the butchering,  to the table.

I was mulling over this because I was a little taken aback by Mr.9's enthusiastic request to gut and fillet the sardines.

A couple of days before we had watched the Italian Food Safari.   Mr.9 had watched it too and had obviously taken in every last bit of information about how they hand filleted the sardines to make Sicilian stuffed sardines.

I was lucky enough growing up in a family that took a great interest in eating lovely food- and for reasons much like mine now- as a celebration of life.  Although I grew up in the suburbs of Adelaide we had our own chickens, ducks, guinea fowl and quails in the back yard.  We used the eggs and we also slaughtered the chooks for eating.

I remember this (the slaughter that is!) as being such fun- sounds gruesome perhaps!  It didn't seem like it to me as a child.  It was just what happened when you wanted to eat a chook.  Dad would do the honours wielding an axe and then us kids would watch in hysterics at the way the chook would run around after with no head!  Perhaps not an act for the squeemish - but we loved it!

The carcass would then get dipped in the boiling copper to loosen the feathers and we would pluck away contentedly........the family together doing these jobs laughing together.  I remember it very fondly indeed.

I suppose growing up doing this helped me have an appreciation and an awareness of the reality of what it means to eat meat, poultry etc.  I guess I took it for granted then,  but now as I watch children who are asked simple questions such as "Where milk comes from?"  and they answer "the supermarket", I realise that I grew up within an extraordinary situation in this sense.  I have never been "ooked" by food.  We used as much as possible which meant eating offal too.  But it wasn't disgusting as it is often thought of but just another part of the animal to eat.

So here we are living in a society where our kids think money comes out of walls and milk comes from the supermarket......hmmmm concerning? Yep, I think so.  And perhaps as we have become more dissasociated with most things we have also become more dissasociated with the preparation of food we have also become more "ooked"- for want of a better term!

I am all for rewinding the clock on a few things such as these old traditions- all the while I am all for modern conveniences such as the dishwasher! Oh hail the dishwasher! I simply would DIE without it.....!!!!!

I have mentioned before that I am all for SLOW childhood a bit like SLOW cooking.  Simplifying life a little and getting back to some of the basic joys we have lost touch with.

It is the simple things like food preparation that I believe bring a family together.

And so it was that I took great joy in Mr.9's enthusiasm to recreate the Sicilian stuffed sardines he had watched on Italian Food Safari.

Hubby G took the whole fish out of the bag and Mr.9 got to work.  He was the one who explained to his dad and hten to his little brother how to do it.

"You rip the head back and then slide your thumb in to the hole.  Then push you thumb along the bone and open it out.  Then take out the guts.  Then you put your thumb under the back bone and slide it along to remove the spine.  Flatten it out and put it on a dish". Well couldn't have said it better myself!

His enthusiasm was infectious as Mr.7 was very keen to get stuck in also.

Hubby and I helped make up the stuffing but the hardest job was done!

Hubby then stuffed one butterfly fillet with the mix of fresh breadcrumbs, lots of parmesan cheese, parsley and garlic and then placed another butterfly fillet on top (a la a sandwich) and dusted them in flour before shallow frying them.

Sooooo more-ish!  And it totally cured me of my winter ills I had been suffering from.  Mr.7 who is usually the least adventurous of all our tribe tucked in and devoured them- much to Hubby G's dissapointment!  He was hoping for more.  Well take a look- how good does that look!!!!!!

Best of all was the fun everyone had working together to prepare soemtihng that we all sat and enjoyed together.  And not one mention of "ookyness" - not once!  Not bad....

For the recipe click here to be taken to the Food safari website.  It's worth the effort guys!

And today's song is one the kids will love!  (Thanks Kiki)

Kids weekend seafood fiesta

After 3 solid weeks of winter illness that knocked a couple of us flat (Mr.9 and me) I am back!!

I realised how attached I have become to my blog in such a short time!  I have really missed writing it......happy to be back in action!



Towards the end of last week Mr.11 asked Hubby G to go to the market.  We live in Melbourne and are so lucky to be blessed with several fantastic fresh food markets.  But Queen Vic Market was on Mr.11's mind.


Hubby G used to treat us all with his weekly dawn trip to "the Vic".  It was like winning the lottery for me every Saturday morning.  He hasn't been doing it for a while but Mr.11's request has him back in the swing!


He would dissappear in the dark with his double trolley to fill it with wonderful loveliness of all sorts. When he came home, the kids and I would eagerly await what treasures he had found for us all hidden in lovely crunchy brown paper bags!  Then I would busy myself with ideas about what to do with all of our bounty.  My idea of heaven!

I just loved the surprise of finding out what I would have to play with that week! A bit like a mystery box challenge really- only without the judges breathing down your neck and with time on my side to do a bit of research!


 So it was here that Mr.11 wanted to accompany his dad.  


Shopping without a list is not for everyone- as a tragic bargain queen from way back I love it!!  I am happy to make something up from what I have available and take great joy in 'buying a bargain'.  Equally there is nothing at all wrong in shopping with a list.

Mr.11 loves to have a list.  He was ready armed with his list to cook - OCTOPUS! That was what he really wanted to cook.  And I certainly wasn't about to argue! Funnily enough in the midst of Mr.9's terrible illness two weeks ago he asked me if "we had any octopus?"- as you do! I don't know what it is with my kids and octopus.....


Mr. 11 had done some research and found a recipe for Octopus cooked in red wine- which my lads renamed 'SQUIDWARD STEW' - being big fans of Spongebob Squarepants obviously.  The recipe looked great- simple ingredients, simple method and we chatted about how we could make it even simpler.  It was a one pot wonder- MY FAVOURITE!

So off trotted my little piggies to market to market to buy a baby octopus........


They came home with beautiful bounty! A kilo of beautiful opalescent baby octopus, some beautiful fresh whole sardines (more on that later......), one bulging ruby pomegranate- just because we love them, some beautiful puy lentils , fetta cheese, some glorious blue cheese (surprising tasted and chosen by Mr.11) and some amazing fresh organic Royal Gala apples and some fresh bread from Franks bakery. So so good. Simple, delicious, quality fresh produce.  That's what it's all about.    And although these are beautiful exotic seeming ingredients- the seafood was well below $10 per kilo each- you can't buy any meat for less than that, so we weren't talking about bank breaking eating here- just delicious and unusual.


So Mr.11 was keen to get started.  He read the recipe through and get out what he needed.  For my kids cooking I usually always replace the bit where it says - finely chopped/diced onion- with an instruction to 'blitz baby blitz'!  It takes away the problem of finely diced fingers being added to your beautiful food and it is just as effective- if not more!  SO when you read that in any of my recipes for kids you can assume we are doing a 'blitz baby blitz'!

So here is the recipe.  I can say it was an ABSOLUTE pleasure to watch him cook so confidently and competently! And the result was DIVINE!

GOURMET GIRLFRIEND'S OCTOPUS IN RED WINE

What you will need:

• 1kg baby octopus (make sure they are debeaked before cooking)
• couple of tablespoons on olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic 
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups of red wine
• 1/4cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup tomato passata or equivalent canned chopped toms
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 tsp sugar

Method:

Firstly 'bltiz baby blitz' the onions, garlic and fresh herbs.  So easy!!!! You may never fine dice again!

Mr. 11 harvested the herbs fresh from the garden- these are added into the blitz mix.

Add olive oil to heavy based pan.
Add blitzed mix.

Stir till caramelized slightly.

Then add baby octopus and stir.

Cook for a couple of minutes and then add all other ingredients.

 And then stir with love- it makes it taste better I promise!

 Simmer gently for 2 hours- or until octopus is tender.  Mr. 11 left it for 3 hours- just to be sure!

And the final dish was mindblowingly DELISH!!!!
Check it out!!!!

 My sole contribution was a salad.  I used the puy lentils, pomegranate and fetta cheese together with coarsely chopped cucumbers, tomatoes and loads of basil.  Then tossed it all with a dijon mustard vinaigrette.  It went very well with the unctuous rich octopus as it was crunchy and fresh.

We also served it with HAIRY MASH- our family term for mashed potatoes cooked and smashed with the skins on.

What a meal! SO I dare you to get your kids in the kitchen. Mr.11 has only been cooking for a couple of years and that is what he can do- if he can you can too!

I'm happy that my kids are growing up understanding about where food comes from and how to treat it with love.  Cooking for them is exciting and fun and through it their palates have become quite adventurous.  And their very busy mumma gets to have a bit of a break and enjoy the fruits of their labour- I ain't gonna argue with that!

Next time I will tell you what Mr.9 and Mr.7 did with the whole fresh Sardines......AMAZING!

And to cook with love you need to be listening to music you love- Mr. 11 chose....

Being picked last......

On Masterchef a few times this season we have witnessed the picking of teams by a team captain.

And as is often the case in our house it started a family discussion.

This time it was a discussion of what it feels like to be picked last for sport teams.  

If you have watched Masterchef you would have witnessed how it doesn't hurt any less as an adult as it did as a child to be standing there last when you are automatically delegated to the remaining side.  It's a kick in the guts- no two ways about it!

Do you remember your school days and how it was always the same kids who endured this awful humiliation time and time again?   Cringe inducing......

Why do teachers still put children through this ordeal?  I would have hoped that we have progressed enough in our emotional awareness to realise that NO good comes out of this exercise.   We sat at the table and invented all sorts of other ways to delegate teams without the humiliation.  The kids had lots of great ideas.

In our house of 5 young boys we have a mixture of talents.  We have children with differing passions and very different talents.  Thank goodness for variety.  I love it!!

It is a valuable reminder that gender does not determine much. And that as parents I reckon it is our job to make our precious lovelies feel proud of what they love and what they are good at regardless of whether it fits the stereotype.

But the pressures are very strong.  And the schoolyard does not help children who are a little outside the fit.

I get comments all the time about how much sport must be played in our house.  There are also the inevitable comments about the untamed physical energy.  And the noise............people assume that our house is sooooo noisy.

I guess it is sometimes but only so much as the mama is blasting out loud music- again! Yep I put my hand up for that- I am most likely the noisiest of the lot of us....ah well!  I love my music. GUILTY your honour!

The kids are noisy I suppose,  but it is lovely noise- the noise of kids.  I will miss it when I don't hear it anymore.  That is the kind of noise that fills the soul and we oh so often forget to remember that. 

 Mostly I answer "no" to the comments about sport and how all the boys must be "so" into it..........because on the whole my lads aren't like that.

They are not the same- they are all very different both in character and looks.

Mr.1 & 3 are too young to know yet whether they are interested in sport.

Mr.11  plays footy for our local club but he doesn't really have a passion for it.  He has a passion for music and plays the drums and particularly Jazz drumming.  And I don't really find the drums loud- it's music!  (can you tell yet that I have a passion for music????)
 
Mr. 9 is probably the only one who loves sport and loves all things footy including playing for his local club and would be very happy kicking the ball non stop outside or inside for that matter! But he is not a 'boofy' boy.  He is extremely kind, generous and sensitive.  Yep he enjoys his sport but it is not what defines his success.

And Mr. 7 has no interest and no idea- I don't mean anything bad by this AT ALL!  Believe me I am very proud of him and his ability to stay true to himself.  He has a passion for art and has said since he was 3 that "When I grow up I am going to be an artist.  Actually.... I already am one!"  (He is my child responsible for all manner of magnificent philosophical statements as mentioned on an earlier post.)

Check out Mr.7 proudly dressed up in an outfit for his kinder concert that I had sewn for Mr.11 when he was 4 and was invited to a girl's dress up disco party.  His request was for "Elvis in the Vegas years".  I was so proud that my son knew who Elvis in the Vegas years was let alone wanting to dress up as him! I had a lot of fun sewing that outfit but not as much fun as seeing them both lovin' it!

How fantastic to have such inner self confidence and conviction.  I can only hope as his mama that he can maintain it till adulthood despite all the social pressures.

After all we all just want to be loved and feel like we are good at something.   All too often it is the desire to 'fit in' that is what makes children give up what they believe in.   Peer pressure is strong.  So sad isn't it.......

So the discussion re Masterchef teams began as Mr.7 said in response to one of the adult contestants talking of how horrible it was to be picked last.  "I always get picked last for teams at school" he said.  I felt AWFUL for him....those that know him well know that at this point his drooping shoulders were touching the floor.  It is just too horrible to think of the awful sadness he must feel every time.  I wanted to scoop him up in my arms and make it all go away and never happen again.

And if given the choice as team Captain would you choose someone who isn't really that good?  Tough choice huh!

Long may Mr.7's individuality last- you only need to take a look at the pic at the top of the post of his self selected outfit on Sunday to get an idea of his individuality in action- we weren't going anywhere, it was just his 'formal hangin' out at home' outfit- MAGNIFICENT!   So maybe he's not that great at sport but he's darn good at being a beautiful person and for that I would pick him on my team every time! 

 Reeking of favouritism I hear you say.....ppphhhhht to that I say!  Here's a big hooray to individuality!!

UPDATE: The lovely MATT PRESTON himself read my blog yesterday and sent a message to me saying "What a stylish lad!"- so Mr.7 is now walking shoulders held so high they touch the moon and couldn't wait to go to school to tell everyone!  And I'm just a little bit over the moon too!!!! (read JUMPING UP & DOWN IN HYSTERIA!!!!).

 ________________________________________
                                               
GOURMET GIRLFRIEND'S RICOTTA CHOOK.

And on the table this week is another of our family favourites -RICOTTA CHOOK -via my dearest friend who is a fantastic cook (you know the same one who is always rescuing me from disasters!)


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 whole chook ( FREE RANGE or ORGANIC)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 fresh red chilli (go for long ones not short as you want it for flavour not heat)
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• l lemon (we'll be using rind and juice)
• 10 sage leaves
• thyme
• extra virgin olive oil 
• 500g ricotta cheese

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C.


Using a mortar & pestle grind the garlic with a little sea salt and then add chilli, sage leaves and thyme.  (Note that you can use as many or as few herbs as you like here- my herbs change depending on what I have.)  Grind to a paste.  Then add the rind of the lemon and juice and the fennel seeds.  Then add the ricotta and about a tablespoon of olive oil and stir through.  I like to add white pepper as well.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  And of course you can change any or ALL of these ingredients to whatever you like- no rules here!

Now you want to get your hands under the skin of the chook!  Don't be shy here.....just separate a little of the skin at the neck of the bird and manipulate your hand all the way around to separate the skin away from the flesh.  We don't want to take the skin off we are just making a cavity to put the ricotta mix into.  But don't be too concerned about holes etc.....I am so not about perfection!

Once you have the skin sorted.  Use a spoon to guide the ricotta mix all the way around the chook (under it's skin).  Be generous!  This takes a bit of practice but it doesn't matter how messy you are.

Whatever I have left over I out in the cavity of the chook.

My kids love the drumsticks so I often buy extra drumsticks and stuff them too.

Then drizzle a little more olive oil over chook and some salt.

Place on an oven proof dish and cook for about an hour an a half- it will be delish and golden.

I like to cook roast cauliflower (cut into generous florets)in the same dish to take advantage of the cooking juices.  The cauliflower caramelises and is so UNBELIEVABLY delicious.  Squeeze loads of lemon juice and roughly cut Italian parsley all over.  I dare you cauliflower sceptics not to LOVE it!!!

And listening pleasure this week is the magnificent Cat Power singing 'the Greatest'.....what a voice!

Join me on my journey........

Sick bubba, tired and emotionally wrung out!

I haven't been able to write anything this week until now.

One sick child.....

It's all it takes isn't it to throw you totally out of whack!

We are on to day five of high fevers now and I am hangin' out for the immune system to kick in- like NOW! It's not a nice thing to watch your littlies suffering so.

I remember that feeling of being a sick kid in the early hours of the morning,  woken by fever and feeling as if your world was ending as you knew it and that all you wanted was for your mumma to hug you till it all went away and life returned once again to normal.

For me this week Mr.9's illness has reminded me that my life as a parent of 5 is always running on a finely tuned wheel and it only takes the tuning to be out by millimetres for it all to run off kilter......

This week it's soooooooo out of tune the wheels have fallen off!

I am so aware that I am totally over committed and that when everything is going ok I have got things generally running well.  Well enough that most of the time being in our house is pretty fun for me and for the kids.  But it doesn't take much for that to all go to mush!

This week I can't wait for bed time to come along for all the kids (sick or not) to go to bed, so I can take my first deep breath of the day.  What is that I hear you say?- a 5.30 bedtime is unreasonable for Mr.11, Mr. 7 & Mr.3.  Well  Mr. 1 goes to bed then anyway so it's not like I am punishing him. Bonus!

Well let me tell you it isn't unreasonable when otherwise they will be faced by a totally dysfunctional, overtired, emotionally wrung out mumma! And anyway you can get a lot of quality reading done when you go to bed early!

Jeez,  I certainly wish at the moment it was me going to bed at 5.30!

Yesterday I had to call in a friend to rescue me- rescue me by coming to sit with the little kids while I made my 4th trip to the Doctor this week and to the supermarket.

The fridge was bare and I NEEDED to be cooking restorative soups!  I normally take the kids shopping with me but I just couldn't face doing that this week.  So my beautiful friend (to whom I am eternally grateful for EVER & EVER for always rescuing me when I need it most!) came so I could go out alone!

Came back and cooked about 4 soups all at once so I could just sit down with Mr.9 and cuddle him.  I have told you before how being in the kitchen gives me respite- so I felt better after being able to do some cooking.

And..........today I am trying to remember that going forward I need to stop over committing myself.  Managing my family is huge and sometimes it all falls apart.

So there is no recipe on today's post- just a reminder that we don't have to "do it all" to be doing a good job.

But I will post a song that I've been playing this morning.....

Little Dumplings

Yesterdays post got me thinking.......

It got me thinking about my Green Grass- metaphorically speaking. 

As you know I am the mother of 5 young boys.  Alot of the time it's a pretty full on gig.  But on the whole I am very very happy with my job. Corny as it sounds- I am doing exactly what I envisaged myself doing right about now.  I studied Fine art and early childhood teaching but really what I wanted was just to be at home with my own kids doing finger painting!

 And although my only critics are my 5 boys who perhaps aren't the best judges (unconditional love and all that) I would like to think that I do alright at fulfilling my job description. 

My life is essentially being the old fashioned stay at home mama.  My three big'uns go off to school everyday and I am home with the two yung'uns.

I feel lucky to be able to be around while I watch them go through all their milestones.  I totally get that this gig is not for all mama's but for me - it works.  

There are plenty of times I feel overwhelmed by my job.  The days when the kids are still not dressed and ready for school when they need to be and I turn into that awful alter ego- "shouting mama"- who I swore I would never be but just couldn't seem to shake come the arrival of child number 2!  (on this note- a very good friend of mine (also mum of 5) said to me when I felt like a failure at becoming a shouting mama of 2 : "Yep welcome to the world of being a mother of more than one child, get used to it and get over feeling guilty about it!" - BEST ADVICE EVER!!!)

In December last year our precious littlest Dumpling had a fit that he did not wake from.  We were rushed to the Royal Children's and he was sedated heavily and we spent the next week in intensive care not knowing whether he would wake up.  It was easily the most horrific time in my life.  I don't find it easy to think about- still.  I have tears as I write this.  I'm not sure that I will ever really recover in some ways.

Our family spent Xmas day in hospital- not really what you dream of as a "perfect family Xmas day". 

Our baby eventually recovered and to anyone who saw him today you would have no clue.  There are no lasting effects. Thankfully.

No words can explain the feeling I felt when I held my baby in my arms when he finally woke up. 

What did happen in this time though was nothing less than extra-ordinary.  My best friend in Melbourne was waiting at our door so that Hubby G could follow me to hospital straight away. She spent the next 3 days doing the day shift.  Another beautiful friend came in the late afternoon so my other friend could go home to her 3 children. We weren't allowed to stay overnight so we came home and had no sleep at home instead. 

Then one of my dearest friends in Sydney left her family of four boys with her mum so she could come and have mine!  Work out how genuinely amazing that swap is- "yeah no worries I'll leave my entire family in Sydney so I can fly down and have yours in a crisis!" (Medal is in the post!) . And then my sister spent the ENTIRE Xmas day driving over from Adelaide with her family to rescue mine.  I wasn't the only one who didn't have a great Xmas.  And the beautiful nurses in Intensive care who are just the mostest amazingest people you will ever meet. Big love to you guys! 

These people will never really understand just how much their love helped us through this time.  It's what friends do- but it's sooooooo much more than that in reality and words will never be able to make this clear.

Looking back at this- as I do pretty often- I am sooooo blessed with such special people in my life who do such amazing things for me.  I really am very lucky.

I'm thinking about this because I have become ever so aware since this episode that things in your life can change so dramatically out of the blue and that we forget to stop sometimes and be thankful for what good things we have in amongst the daily crapola.

It was a horrible time make no mistake but on reflection there were amazing things that took place too.  It really forced Hubby G and I to think very very hard about the things in our life that matter.  It's a one word answer folks-PEOPLE!

We cancelled our to-do list on the house and tried ever so hard to just savour every moment of being home with all of our family.  Everything except our family seemed trivial.  We really wondered if we could ever go back to feeling normal ever again.  Time has passed and on the whole life has returned to normal.  I  hid in my cave for about 2 months but I am peeping out ever so slowly!

On our return from hospital our kids asked for a re-run of Xmas on New Years day- the term "NEW-MAS" (combining New Years Day and Xmas)  was coined and it may well become a new family tradition. 

So thinking about my Green Grass today I am thankful that I have all my little Dumplings around me,  especially my littlest who I am ever so thankful for..........

SO on today's menu is of course.....DUMPLINGS which all my real life dumplings LOVE.  (click here for a link on how to make them).

And I will be listening to :