bastardised Kedgeree

Just to emphasise, this is *not* Kedgeree. I call it Kedgeree, and it’s based loosely on my memory of first making and eating Kedgeree, at 11 or 12 years of age, as taught by my Intermediate School Home Economics Teacher, (I think it was Mrs Chandra, but that may have been the sewing teacher, it was a really long time ago!).

I have no idea if this bears much resemblance to Mrs Chandra’s recipe, except that I do remember her’s had boiled egg in it, and I rarely bother (if I had kept them, I could have looked back at my school book and checked what else she prescribed, but I don’t think I did, besides, they would be in Kaitaia, and I’m not sure it’s worth going all that way to check a recipe). It has evolved since then into an extremely comforting, warm and delicious way to use up leftover rice. I sometimes crave it. I really shouldn’t call it Kedgeree…

NOT Kedgeree

finely sliced/diced onion, garlic

finely sliced/diced celery, cauliflower, carrot, corgette, broccoli or whatever veges at hand

cold, leftover rice (you could most certainly use freshly made, I’m sure, but cold does give excellent separated grains)

dry curry powder (yep, like Keens. the yellowest, most British generic curry powder. this is the only thing I ever use that curry powder for, but it makes the cupboard look homely)

some ginger (fresh), salt, pepper, lemon (fresh!), coriander, parsley

fish. traditionally this should be something smoked, dry, flakey.. haddock or hot smoked trout or something chunky and flavoursome. NOT thin cold smoked salmon (gravalax style). honestly, I most often use tinned tuna. plain, chunk style tuna in olive oil.

fry off the onion, garlic, grated ginger, celery and/or whatever other veges you have, then chuck in curry powder to taste - I coat the veges in a good powdering. you can be a bit more upmarket and add panch phora, fennel seeds, nigella seeds, anything tasty. toss through rice, herbs, then when cooked through, turn off heat and stir though the fish, (and hard boiled eggs if you’ve bothered), serve with lemon wedges (for squeezing juice on top)… and a dollop of mayonnaise.

enjoy!

just an aside: if you’re not going to eat the best whole egg mayonnaise you can buy or make, do not eat so called “mayonnaise”. fat free “mayonnaise” is chemicals and water, held together with preservatives. wouldn’t it be better to only eat real mayonnaise, only occasionally?? don’t mean to be preachy, but this is MY blog…

don’t you make a bastardised something, that you still call the original something? share!

a not so food-blogging friendly week

so, I’ve been detoxing.. and I’ve been eating, um, nothing. unless you count 3-4 ltrs of water and regular clay and psyllum husks as food (I kinda don’t), it has not been very exciting for food blogging, that’s for sure! it certainly does not lend itself to pretty photography.

but I broke my fast on Tuesday afternoon (6th day), with some vege broth, and although it may not seem very exciting, a bowl full of fresh vegetables and their cooking liquid gave an indescribable pleasure. when fasting, many people find that their sense of smell is heightened, and I certainly do. I could smell all the individual veges, tastewise the sweetcorn was amazingly sweet, and the parsley almost meaty. it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten!

although I was not truly hungry until the nighttimes of day 4 and 5, I started to crave (like really crave, not just think how nice it would be to eat) veges. I thought about them, and could almost taste them.. needless to say, I was very happy to be eating this steaming bowl!

fasting is not for everyone, but I think truly taking the time to appreciate the taste of food is so important, and sometimes the simplest, most unadorned things are the most pleasurable.. and I hear you say why, pray tell, did I need detoxing? here’s proof: me pigging out on chorizo at an Italian festival at Five Dock the other weekend!

a few of my favourite things..

for the first time since, like, ever, I am eating lunch at home nearly every day. it is such a rare treat - you can make anything. no planning ahead and carrying containers of this and that to work. I have to say, I think I am pretty adept at cooking from minimal ingredients, using only a urn heater, microwave and toasted sandwich maker. but here’s what I’ve been delighting in, pottering about at home…

mashed potatoes. serious comfort food, and it has been cold here! I like my mash super mashed and smooth, and pretty simple. potatoes, salt, pepper, a splosh of milk (soy for me) and if feeling bad, a nob of butter. here’s lunch mash, with pepper, goats fetta and a drizzle of olive oil. a handful of parsley would have been lovely mashed through too.

and here is another fav comfort foods - well a food combo actually. My Aunt Kim makes a pasta with these ingredients (give or take!). it is still one of my favourite combos, and so easy and fresh.. here it is, without the pasta:

Cauliflower and broccoli florets, courgette, pinenuts, garlic, salt, pepper, capers, olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice and some crumbled fetta (this was a Greek goats fetta from the deli). sooo tasty! try it with pasta, or without, or with grilled steak, fish or chicken. or just make a batch like this and eat it all. enjoy!

IMD III - challenge yourself!

many may not be aware, but August is the International Month of Domination. why? and how? well… we’re not too sure. 3 years ago Dr Tom (who was just plain Tom back then) decided that August would be the month in which to challenge oneself, to set some goals and work one’s little everything off to achieve them, if just for one month. the month to DOMINATE ! (click for more details). IMD is now a growing phenomenon, and an institution amongst our crazy group of friends. and yes, that is the team Dominator singlet.

in the past I have fobbed off IMD, claiming that working 60-80+ hours a week at full time university and a nearly full time public service job was quite enough domination, thank you very much, and I’m quite dominant the rest of the year, if you must know.

but, I have come to realise that even the super-busy can benefit from IMD, even if your goal is to dominate your schedule and take a bit more time for yourself… plus, well, I’m not that busy just now!

so my IMD challenges are as follows:

• at least 30 mins exercise every single day. got to get ready for knee surgery in september
• meet the neighbours. T, B & I will host a ‘hello, neighbours’ drinks, w some snacks, of course. meeting your neighbours is good.
• things I never cook, b/c they always seemed to hard/finnicky, but I’m going to try:
  - croissants
  - bagels
  - creme brulee (I’ve had a blow torch for 3 years. time to use it!)
• blogging on the puku about the above, + more, more frequently, all IMD. not daily, but more frequently.
• sending my project proposal off to prospective honours supervisors, and hopefully getting a positive response, by the end of IMD.

my cooking challenges are among so many of the recipes and dishes I keep putting off trying, because despite my very appropriate name, I am not much of a baker - I don’t follow recipes very fastidiously, and it’s so much easier to do something you know how to do, than try something different!

so, Puku readers, I challenge you to challenge yourself this month. Join the IMD movement and come up with something or somethings you want to dominate, and go for it. comment your IMD goals, and I will do a round up at the end of the month, with all our IMD achievements. head points and shouts of “come on!!” optional.

mmmm.. sushi

mmm.. I just love sushi. and I just love love love sushi that is 5 mins walk up the road! the Rayners + Baker (me) went to Sushi Fusion on Saturday, where we consumed a ridiculous amount of sushi and a bit of red wine and beer. we then rolled back down the road for fresh scones with jam and double creme, and the final time trial of the Tour (go, Cadel!).

for us down this end of the globe, The Tour means staying up to 2-3am every night for three weeks. really, we work just as hard as the riders… so we are all still recovering proper sleep patterns a week after the tour ended. we are still all bright awake at 12, feeling an odd sense of *waiting for something*. anway, it’s a very social time, we watched with the whole gang, taking turns to host in our small apartments; make dessert, tea, coffee and chocolates, and providing heaters, blankets and pillows for the occasional nap. thank god it’s over for another year!

and yes, that is 32 sushi plates in one sitting. there was 5 of us!!

duck and coffee

we ate duck, then went to the rocks coffee festival (not all at once!).

it was good. so good, in fact, that all I have to show for the duck is the remains. this was also because we went for Joelle’s birthday, with a bunch of her friends, and I didn’t want whip out my camera and tripod at the dinner table and start snapping away when I’d only just met the people.. it is kinda weird behaviour, especially in front of strangers, right? do you sometimes feel a bit sheepish taking photos of your food?

the coffee festival was also gooood, BUT: it’s bloody crowded, and there are looong lines (check out the photos on the site - linked above). to add to this insult, they were handing out free pastries to the line next to ours, but we were already committed… we only made it through one 10 min line, and then in rained a bit and we were the only people in the WHOLE OF THE ROCKS without unbrellas (or babies for that matter).. we decided to cut our losses and go to a real cafe. next year: having a coffee before we go, and, ummm, going with my patient brain?