Author: Judith

my blog is plainandsimpleblog.com
family

Marshmallow

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toasting marshmallows

All puffy and golden on the outside, runny gooey and intoxicatingly sweet on the inside, who could pass up a marshmallow plucked straight from the toasting fork?

After adequate consumption of vegetables and accompanying protein, a marshmallow dessert was promised. This involved lighting a scout-laid fire (the responsibility of the resident 14-year-old) in our bespoke outdoor fireplace.

fireplace

Should you have an oversupply of paving stones, house bricks and a sliced up fallen gum tree, you too have the makings of cookout facility such as ours. The only purchase required was for two grill plates and a packet of marshmallows. Money well spent.

As the night wore on, flames became radiant coals, and family conversation became – just that. Far nicer than a bowl of ice-cream in front of a screen.

enjoying the marshmallows

 

gardening · recipes

Beet

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silverbeet

Just the appearance of a bunch of silverbeet radiates clues to its goodness. The squeaky, glossy generous foliage spells out in no uncertain terms, the abundance of goodness it contains. Alive with little packets of chloroplasts, the bunch almost seems to vibrate before your eyes.

Silverbeet is a pleasure to grow in the vegetable patch. Looking lustrous and leafy, the gardener’s horticultural self-esteem is given a hefty boost. Stalks can be sliced off at will, without the need to remove the entire plant leaving an ugly bald spot behind. New leaves will continue to sprout and according to ‘silverbeet experts’ these are the finest for culinary purposes. I let mine over grow for effect.

silverbeet patch

This week, a large bunch was harvested and sent across to a willing neighbour. To my delight, this is what we received in return, still warm.

spanakopita

Spanakopita.

While the crop is plentiful, it’s nice to seek out new ways to incorporate silverbeet into our weekly intake. This year, I happened upon this simple soup, which is light enough for lunch in the warmer weather.

olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 rashers of bacon, diced
bunch of silverbeet, stems removed and greenery shredded
1 litre chicken stock
salt and pepper to season

  1. Heat oil in large pot and gently fry off onion, garlic, ginger and bacon until cooked through.
  2. Add silverbeet and cook down for about 5-10 minutes until wilted.
  3. Pour over chicken stock and bring to the boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
  4. Puree with stick blender.
  5. Season with salt and pepper.

silverbeet soupPostscript: Always happy to learn new ways with these leaves. If you have tips, please share!

recipes

Chorizo

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chorizo and olive pasta

A meal drawn together from store cupboard items, with a few fresh ingredients thrown in, is financially, nutritionally and palatably rewarding.

Think of all of the delicious treats that a deli offers, and you basically have the running sheet for this dish. With a couple of chorizo sausages on hand in the freezer and a healthy patch of parsley in the garden, this is my go to on a busy week night.

The crowing glory of this pasta pull-together is that is tastes even better after a night spent sealed up in the refrigerator. So prepare it the night before, and just as you land in the door on the following evening, right before it’s time to drive away again for the night shuttle service, a sumptuous meal awaits.

300g penne pasta (or whatever is you prefer/have on hand)
olive oil
2 chorizo sausages, sliced
1/2 jar sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into strips
handful pitted black olives, sliced in half
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
small block of feta
generous bunch of continental parsley, chopped
sea salt and cracked black pepper

  1. Fill a large pot with salted hot water and bring to the boil. Add pasta and cook according to instructions on pack.
  2. Meanwhile add a dash of olive oil to a large frying pan and brown the chorizo on both sides.
  3. Add all of the remaining ingredients and pan fry for 5-10 minutes, with a liberal dousing of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add contents of frying pan to pasta and mix through. Crumble feta over the top and mix again.
  5. Serve with extra parsley as garnish.

Postscript: You’ll notice that the quantities in this recipe are a bit ‘loose’. This is how I construct it and I’m sure you will give it your own twist.

pasta sauce in the pan

recipes

Peachy

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white peach jam

Preparing a batch of jam takes you into a bubbling, aromatic, peaceful world from which you emerge with the satisfaction of having turned the season’s finest into a delicious concoction to be enjoyed throughout the coming year.

Peach season is something we only dream about in the depths of a drizzly winter. To be able to capture some of this summer magic and bottle it for those bleak days, is a wonderful thing. White peaches seem to have a flavour unique to themselves and when they are still slightly tart, they produce beautiful jam.

Having recently discovered jam setting sugar, I am reluctant to return to the plain variety. It takes the guesswork out of the setting process, as the pectin is distributed through the sugar for you. If you only have regular sugar, use it and maybe toss in a couple of sachets of jam setting powder (available in supermarkets).

To sterilise your jars, rinse them and stand them in the oven with the lids off at 100 degrees celsius while you are preparing your jam. They can be filled, straight from the oven (with care).

peach jam

1.6kg white peaches (or yellow if that’s all that is what you have)
1kg jam setting sugar
10g butter

  1. Make two long slits in the skin of each peach with a sharp knife. Pour boiling water over peaches and let stand until the skin begins to peel (about 10 minutes).
  2. Peel off skins, remove stone and chop peaches finely. Weigh chopped mix, you need 1kg.
  3. Add 1kg of chopped peaches to a large pot and add the sugar. Stir over low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.
  4. Add the butter and increase heat. Bring to the boil without stirring.
  5. Allow to boil for 4 minutes. At this stage the jam should be set – test by spooning a small amount onto a saucer that has been chilled in the freezer. If it stiffens a little it is ready.
  6. Pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal immediately. Makes about 5 standard jars.

Postscript: If you have time, package your jars with some fabric hats and paper labels – with christmas around the corner, they make a lovely gift.

jam labeling

family

Pitch

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The prospect of a night spent under canvas (in this case nylon) in the backyard with just your older sibling and the crickets for company, yields excitement so heavily charged, it could power a suburb.

Backyard camping is a fabulous adventure when you are 6 (or 14). There’s nothing like experiencing the great outdoors, knowing the backdoor is only metres away, should a possum hiss break the night silence. Lying on the foreign surface of an inflatable mattress, with some familiar bedclothes on top for security, a new range of sounds is audible, and extending from this, a new range of thoughts and ideas develop.

Spending a night in the natural world sparks an awareness of self – one that is mutually exclusive to the rest of existence, even crystallising for us, our place within this larger picture. All the while, the sanctuary of indoors provides the safety net required to promote the confidence required to make these developmental leaps. Under a crescent moon with the occasional twitter of ringtails, what better way can there be for emerging independence to take its first steps?

Small tents are very inexpensive and simple to pitch. The hours of pleasure they provide coupled with the level of self-reliance they facilitate, make them an extremely practical investment for christmas and birthday gifts alike.

Postscript: and should any danger have been lurking, we could rest easily knowing the camp was being safely watched over…

recipes

Upside-down

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If you can find a recipe that allows you to switch the ingredients according to what you have, you prefer or is seasonal, then I’d say you have a keeper.

These little upside-down cakes fit that profile perfectly. Blueberries too pricey? Replace with strawberry halves. Don’t like chocolate (what!!!) then use this butter patty cake recipe instead. The bottom line is, you decide which fruit is going to feature and what flavour cake batter will be supporting it.

Apricot halves and peaches make a delicious base and as we have just launched into the stone fruit season, they are right at our fingertips. The tender baked fruit that becomes the topping of your cakes provides the moisture and sweetness that icing would normally account for.

For those who are explorers by nature, I’m sure you will come up with some startling combinations.

Over to you.

30g butter, melted
1 tbsp brown sugar
125g blueberries
125g butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
11/4 cups SR flour
1/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup milk

makes 12

  1. Distribute melted butter evenly between muffin tins. Sprinkle brown sugar over the base of each. Drop approximately seven blueberries into each hole.
  2. Cream the remaining butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Fold in the sifted flour and cocoa alternately with the milk until combined.
  3. Spoon over the top of the blueberries.
  4. Bake in a moderate oven 160°C for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested. Cool before turning out of tins.

Postscript: Packet cake mix has come a long way in recent times. If you need these babies in a hurry, complete the fruit step and spoon the packet mix over the top.

health and wellbeing

Stargazing

Judith2 Comments

Let’s face it. There are times in life when, after mentally turning over all alternatives with no resolution in sight, the only option remaining is to resort to celestial guidance.

For someone who is the first to scoff at anything remotely esoteric, it is uncanny how often I catch myself lingering over the astrological page of my Sunday magazine. Should I favor the prediction, it is thoughtfully tucked away to be referred to at some point of the day or week when a connection can be made. If however, the forecast is grim or not the general essence of my expectation, astrology is conveniently dismissed as hocus pocus. I’m not the most loyal of disciples.

Far too often we doubt our own ability to ‘choose the right path’, when in fact, we have the map inside us all the while. This map does not appear as a series of topographical lines but instead a roll call of values – pertinent only to ourselves. This well-worn, crinkly chart that we unfold and examine when a decision or a choice must be made, is the one that is responsible for all of the outcomes of which we are proud – or that settle with quiet satisfaction within us upon reflection.

Electing to use this chart when you are standing at a perilous cross-road can seem like a gamble and it is only from a vantage point of time past that the invaluable guidance it has provided is realised.

Sometimes a glance at the stars however, can contribute to an equally important element of our lives – fun.

Postscript: I do like to indulge Jonathan Cainer, as he usually spouts a bit of wisdom. Here is my reading for today:

  ‘If you want an improved relationship with someone, try to see the world from their point of view. Get them to talk and show that you are listening, so that you can encourage them to trust you. If they say something that you don’t like the sound of, hide your reaction; don’t leave them feeling as if there are things they dare not say. And, if you in turn, want to be better understood? That is not so easy. There is really nothing you can do, other than offer so much genuine empathy that they feel inspired to return the favour.’

Ok folks, I’m ready to hear what you have to say – fire away!

recipes

Petal

Judith2 Comments

When life gives you roses – make rose petal cakes.

We are seriously in danger of disappearing into a cloud of rose petals here, as for some climatic/random reason this season has been a bumper one for rose blooming. Not complaining.

They are such perfect specimens to observe and there are only so many vases you can place around the home. Cakes seemed the obvious next choice. If you have the time, rose petals can be dipped or painted with egg white and coated in sugar. Left to dry for an afternoon, they will become frosty little treats to plant on your icing before it sets.

If, like me, you are impatient, fresh is fine but best to lay to one side of the plate before plunging in – mouth first.

125g softened butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups SR flour (sifted)
2/3 cup milk

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Place patty cases into muffin or patty cake tins.
  2. Beat the butter and sugar with electric beater until light and creamy.
  3. Add vanilla and eggs and beat well.
  4. Gradually add flour and milk alternately and mix gently until smooth.
  5. Spoon into paper cases and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden on top. Cool on a wire rack.
  6. When completely cold, top with icing and a rose petal. Makes 12

Icing
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp softened butter
tiny drop of red food coloring

Sift icing sugar and add butter. Beat until smooth. Add the tiniest drop of food coloring for a really soft pink. If the mix is a little stiff, add a few drops of water for spreading consistency.

recipes

Cookout

Judith2 Comments

Against a backdrop of sizzling choice cuts, glowing coals and the occasional flare up as drips catch alight, channel your medieval ancestor and enjoy food prepared in the rudimentary way of days long past.

Our American cousins call it a cookout, and I think that is a brilliant term for our much-loved barbeque. To me, cookout implies that it’s all happening outside, everyone is involved and essentially, that’s what I love about a barbeque – the joint effort of a social group.

Barbequed food is usually served in its simplest form, relying on basic herbal ingredients and quality oil to carry it through the cooking process. While the fire is settling to its even layer of radiant coals, simple salads of fresh produce are arranged and condiments mixed. As the meat sears and crackles, there is ample time for relaxed conversation as cook and companions cluster at the source, intermittently turning and prodding as anecdotes and observations are exchanged.

Our barbeque bears little resemblance to the sophisticated pieces of engineering that are available in stores today. Basically a coal box on a stand, this wood-fired lady has turned out a plentiful supply of succulent meat her in time. Gathering kindling from the yard and the neighbourhood  to fuel her has been part of the charm – especially for the youngest. If the weather changes its mind, she is carried undercover very easily.

We thread our big metal sticks with marinated meat (in this case, chicken and lamb with crushed coriander, garlic and basil) in dispersed with seasonal small vegetable pieces. This week we opted for our usual salad of cos, olives, tomato and feta (sprinkled liberally with oregano), dressed with oil and lemon juice.

Before enclosing an unthreaded morsel inside a piece of fresh flat bread, a dollop of yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip is doused over the top. All food groups covered, all appetites sated and a meal consumed in a tribal rather than nuclear convention.

gardening · recipes

Leaves

Judith2 Comments

If you consider yourself an entry-level gardener, then you simply cannot go wrong by kick-starting your vegetable plot with a row of verdant lettuce.

When tomatoes are barely flowering and beans are just beginning to wrap their tendrils around the rungs of their frame, at least that lovely row of lettuce seedlings that were planted at the very same time (all those weeks ago) have produced a satisfying harvest. This is my gardening impatience coming to the fore, when after daily watering and nurturing, there does not seem to be proportional output from the plot. If a lettuce can be brought to the table in the early phase of the season, that is sufficient to stave off any disquiet and fuel expectancy for the next plants to yield.

Given plenty of water, sunlight and some fertile earth, lettuce, no matter what the variety, is a sure-fire way to build a budding gardener’s confidence. For those who simply cannot wait for their crop to reach maturity, there can be sneaky snips of external leaves, to be brought inside for last-minute salads or into the lunchtime rolls. This actually encourages growth.

To keep a ready supply of lettuce, when the first row have reached adolescence, start off a second row of babies. By the time the adolescents are adult cropping size, your third row of babies can go in. This way, you will have lettuce for your brood and that of every neighbour in your street. Passing surplus vegetables onto friends and neighbours is every bit as rewarding as harvesting for yourself.

In a perfect world, everything on our plate would be grown in our backyard, but that world isn’t quite the one we inhabit right now. However, if you can sit down to a meal with at least one constituent, whose only footprint was rendered from your muddy gumboot, then that is coming close enough in my book.

Postscript: Our mignonettes have all been consumed now, and we are about to start on some crispy icebergs. Had thoughts of a caesar salad the other day, so Cos might have to be next.