Thursday, December 5, 2024

Mediterranean Eggplant and Vegetable Lasagne, without the calories

When I first made this vegetarian dish with Mediterranean ingredients and flavours, I wasn't sure if it would pass muster for my recipe blog, or be tasty and substantial enough to stand alone as our main meal. Well, it ticked both of those boxes, in fact Mr. HRK loved it. So did I, and I felt much healthier after eating it, with all that delicious vegetable within.

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Amazing Miso Mushrooms

 

Mushrooms and white or red miso paste are a marvellous combination bringing stacks of umami flavours to this dish to tantalise our palate. There are many varieties of mushrooms available these days, and I have used the standard white cap variety for this recipe.  I also used white miso paste. More about that later.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Stem Ginger and Pear Cake

This stem ginger and pear cake is so easy to make, resulting in a top layer of pear, a very moist cake texture and lots of warm, cosy spice and ginger flavours. We love using stem ginger when baking sweet things, and this cake gives a perfect result. It is now one of my favourites to bake.

Friday, November 8, 2024

In My Kitchen, November 2024

 What an action packed month October was! It was Mr. HRK's birthday so we dined out twice in one day, and why not? During October we included some essential kitchen maintenance and reorganising, some cooking (of course) and food blogging, gardening, talking to our son and grandchildren each week in Montpellier, France, and catching up with our daughter and lovely friends. We also played some pickleball a few times a week and I wrote up a few articles about our Mackay Indoor Pickleball Club for the local free weekly newspaper. How did we ever find time to go out to work?

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Baking a Round Sourdough Bread Loaf, Artisan Style

 Sourdough Bread baking is a science, and there is lots to learn. This is a high hydration bread loaf, more water is added to the dough, which suits this style of bread. My recipe is taken from my favourite bread making guide, Artisan Sourdough, Made Simple, written by Emilie Raffa, c2017. I think that this is the best book for a novice bread baker to start with, as far as I am concerned anyway.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Shawarma Meatloaf with Caramelised Onions

This Shawarma meatloaf from Yotem Ottolenghi's "COMFORT" is a departure from the Aussie style meatloaf I was used to when I was growing up.  A whole suite of  aromatic Shawarma spices and herbs such as cumin, allspice, cinnamon, mint and turmeric are used along with bulgur wheat instead of breadcrumbs. The texture is moist and fluffy thanks to the zucchini, and the burghul and eggs binding it altogether. 

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Cheesy Spinach Fritatta

 

This Spinach and Cheese frittata is perfect when served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Frittatas, omelettes and eggs, whether poached, scrambled or fried, are in general a popular choice for brekkie or brunch when we are dining out. Here we have a really delicious frittata that you can easily cook and eat in the comfort of your own home, for 4 people, and very economically. Think comfort food as well.