Mum's Projects

I don't know why I do it. I know I shouldn't. But you know what? It happens every single time. I just can't help myself when it comes to doing the kids' school projects. Not intentionally mind. It creeps up on me. As is usual, the project will have been left until the last minute. There will be a total lack of inspiration for a subject matter for the project. Once decided, there will be a distinct lack of direction for undertaking the design and construction of the project. And so somewhere along the line I will get involved to ensure timely completion. We are currently working on a Trojan Horse made from Paddle Pop or Popsicle sticks. It is a very ugly and ungainly construction, partly because of a conflict of methodology between the project owner (12 year old son) and the project contractor (me). I helped to a point to get the project off the ground then left him to it. And this is where the construction left the design path so to speak and headed off in a totally different direction. In an effort to bring the project back on course, more materials were used than originally budgeted for and the scale has increased somewhat. After a mercy dash to the craft supplies shop to get more paddle pop sticks (ooh, look! they've got big ones too; packet of those as well) I think it highly unlikely that said project will meet the designated completion time: tomorrow. Maybe that's a good thing. He should learn more about consequence of his actions anyway.

Slow Baked Lamb Shank Casserole (serve 6 with leftovers)

4 large lamb shanks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 stick celery chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 cup of white wine or sherry
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups beef stock
Pinch dried mixed herbs
Bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 170˚C. Heat oil in large oven proof casserole. Brown shanks then remove from pot. Lower heat and in remaining oil gently cook all the vegetables until soft and golden. Add a little more oil if necessary. Add wine or sherry to pan and cook for a few minutes, then add tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and herbs. Return shanks to pot, bring to boil cover and bake for approximately 2 hours. Check occasionally that there is plenty of liquid and top up if necessary. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.



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Flounder

There's been a lot of talk about Flounder on Google of late. According to Wikipedia Flounder is an ocean dwelling flatfish species that is located off the Canadian and U.S. east coast of the North Atlantic, and the Pacific Ocean, in coastal lagoons and estuaries. Flounder ambush their prey, feeding at soft muddy area of the sea bottom, near bridge piles, docks, artificial and coral reefs and have been also found at the deepest depths of the ocean, at bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest known location on Earth's crust.

Poached asian fish rolls

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 (about 150g each) John dory fillets (or mirror dory or flounder), skinned
• 100g enoki mushrooms
• 2 green shallots, trimmed, cut into thin strips
• 1L (4 cups) fish stock
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely shredded
• 2 200g pkts udon noodles
• 1 bunch baby bok choy, bases trimmed, washed, halved lengthways

Method

1. Place the fish fillets on a clean chopping board. Divide the enoki mushrooms and green shallots evenly among the fillets. Roll-up each fillet, starting from the tail end. Secure with toothpicks and set aside.
2. Place the stock, soy sauce, lemon juice, oil and ginger in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
3. Add the noodles, bok choy and fish rolls to the pan. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through and flakes easily when tested with a fork.
4. To serve, remove the toothpicks from the fish rolls. Transfer noodles and vegetables to serving bowls. Top each with a fish roll and ladle the soup over. Serve immediately.

This image comes from a flickr photoset belonging to AGrinberg and is used under a creative Commons Licence.

Meatloaf! Comfort Food.

I haven't had a chance to do my daily walk the last few days and that irks me. What I have managed is an hour in the garden as the weather has been so great. Gradually moving through the yard with a weeding fork in one hand and a bucket in the other, I wonder if I will actually remove them faster than they will regrow. Then out with a watering can and some Seasol to get all the new baby plants I just put in a good start and I'm done for the day. Yesterday I had to take my eldest back to the doctor to check on that toe. It turned out not to be broken after all, so the cast was removed and we left the surgery with him doing a dramatic casting away of the crutches for a laugh. We followed that up with a visit to our favourite coffee shop since its days are numbered and its doors will close in less than two weeks. Dinner tonight will be a simple affair. It seems so ordinary but one of the great comfort foods is meatloaf. Get a great recipe and it appeals to almost everybody. My family love the glaze that goes with mine.

Basic Meatloaf (serves 6 - with yummy leftovers!)

1kg beef mince
two thick slices white bread
1 cup milk
1 onion chopped finely
1 carrot grated
A good dollop tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper

Glaze

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 180˚C. Line a loaf pan with baking paper. Remove crusts from bread then break into small pieces and place in bowl with the milk to soak for a few minutes. Fork mash the bread and milk mixture then add to remaining meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl mixing well by hand until well combined.Place mixture into prepared loaf pan then upturn this into a roasting pan leaving baking paper on loaf. Cover with foil then place in oven. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Remove foil and baking paper. Be careful of steam. Drizzle glaze all over loaf and allow to combine with pan juices. Return to oven for about 30 minutes checking from time to time. Add extra liquid (water or stock) to pan if needed. Remove meatloaf to a warm dish. Place roasting pan on stove top and heat while stirring adding more liquid if needed until sauce is the consistency you like.

Glaze: combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat gently for a few minutes until smooth and thickened slightly.

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A Day For The Garden And Chilli Con Carne

One of the things I have always loved about living in Sydney is her mild winters. We do get cold days, but not cold like people in Europe or North America experience. We're not out there shovelling snow for instance or scraping ice off the windscreen every morning. But yesterday took the cake! I'm not sure what the temperature ended up at but it was enough to know that I spent the day in a T-shirt with Spring still at least two weeks away. I love our little local market which is held in the grounds of our local primary school once a month. You can find anything there from locally grown fresh produce to wonderful collectible items and vintage clothing. The school P&C runs a barbecue all day right next to a great coffee cart. Yesterday I came away with a box full of tube stock native plants and spent the afternoon finding spots for them in the garden. I can't wait for my new baby Banksia to like like the one in the photo!
Dinner is another favourite and one I like to give the kids occasionally as I try to get them more used to spicy foods. This version of Chilli Con Carne uses cubed beef rather than mince steak which I believe is much tastier and probably more authentic as well.

Chilli Con Carne (serves 6)

1kg gravy beef or chuck steak cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon beef stock powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water
1 400g tin red kidney beans

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil over the beef and coat meat thoroughly with. Brown beef in batches over high heat in an flame proof casserole. Remove to a bowl while continuing with remainder. Add rest of oil to pot and gently cook onions and garlic until soft and golden. Add spices and oregano and stir, then add tomatoes, beef stock powder, sugar and water. Mix well and scrape the bottom of the pot to incorporate into the gravy. Return the meat to the pot, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for at least an hour or until meat is very tender. Add drained kidney beans to pot cover and cook for a further 30 minutes. Serve with plain boiled rice, green salad and tortillas or cornbread.

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Find out how to make a living from your love of gardening.

Toeing The Line

I had a fair bit planned for the day. For one thing I was going to knuckle down and write an update for my blog which I have neglected lately. I was going to spend some time doing those tutorials I have been meaning to do. And I was going to do all the usual stuff I do on a Friday. You know, the supermarket shopping, pick kids up, drop kids off, pick kids up, make a great dinner. Unfortunately, the teenager's big toe needed my attention. You see, it had had an unfortunate encounter with another teenager's toe, or foot, or boot or something of the lower appendage type, during a school indoor soccer match. That was yesterday. We thought it was just bruised. "Just keep icing it and stop grizzling!" This morning we're thinking it probably should get looked at by someone with a little more knowledge about blue-green toes than we have. If you are anything like me, you will do almost anything to avoid a trip to Accident & Emergency. Because the pain of spending hours in the waiting room is almost as unbearable as that being endured by the patient. But an X-ray was in order and that's something I can't do myself. Actually, today it all happened fairly quickly. Three hours later, x-rays done, half-cast fitted, lessons on use of crutches completed I decided to give him some practice by going around the supermarket with me so at least I'd get that done. The remainder of the day involves racing home, unpacking shopping, collect kids from dancing, race home, get them changed for soccer training, drop kids off at soccer training, hang around park for an hour, get home and do dinner. Decide the best option for dinner is something that can go in the oven while I'm at the park so I'm trying out a Chicken Biryani recipe I came across. I can do some of it before I pick up the kids from dancing, then finish it off and get it in the oven while they get ready for soccer training. It needs to be sealed really well to keep all the moisture in otherwise it tends to dry out. It is very fragrant and tasy.

Chicken Biryani (serves 4-6)

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 whole green cardamom pods
2-3 whole cloves
Cinnamon stick
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions sliced
700g chicken breast cubed
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
juice of 1 lemon
4 tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
2/3 cup natural yoghurt
pinch saffron strands soaked in 150ml hot water
3 tablespoons toasted flaked almonds and fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Preheat the oven to 190˚C. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the rice, salt, and whole spices. Boil for two minutes then draining leaving the whole spices in the rice.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions for 8 minutes, until browned and softened. Add the chicken followed by all the ground spices, the garlic, ginger and lemon juice. Stir-fry for five minutes.

Transfer the chicken mixture to an ovenproof casserole and lay the tomatoes on top. Sprinkle on the fresh coriander, spoon over the yoghurt and top with the drained rice.

Drizzle the saffron water over the top. Cover tightly and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Transfer to a warmed serving platter and remove the whole spices from the rice. Garnish with toasted almonds and fresh coriander sprigs. Serve with natural yoghurt.