In My Kitchen, July 2024

What is the secret to cooking healthy, delicious and fast dishes in someone else's lovely kitchen, when you find yourself there responding to an emergency family situation? 

You might have noticed if you are one of my regular readers that I have been quieter than usual on the blogging front during the last couple of weeks. Whilst Cairns in Far North Queensland is very familiar to us, we were contacted nearly two weeks ago by a friend of our daughters who told us that she was in Intensive Care in the Cairns hospital after a serious accident. In shock ourselves at this point, Mr. HRK and I hastily packed up and drove up there that afternoon arriving the following day and drove straight to the hospital. She was moved from Intensive Care to the ward, and was managing just on pain relief for nearly two days before she had surgery, pending a special metal plate  being sent up from Brisbane,  and then two days after the surgery she was home. Amazing. Thankfully a week later she is recovering quite well and has become quite independent on crutches, and with her daily activities, despite her leg being in a moon boot. The medical staff at the hospital were wonderful, and she really had the best care whilst she was in there. 

After a week caring for her at her home, we managed to drive home yesterday, whilst our daughter spends some time with a very good friend, as our son and grandson arrive from France this week. We have been excitedly planning this for months. As they say, it never rains but pours. 

So I was "chief cook and bottle washer" once again as Mum used to say, and whilst cooking in my daughter's kitchen is easier for sure than in a friends or a stranger's  kitchen, I still needed to have respect for how she has organised her pantry and for where pots and pans and utensils live. I knew she had reorganised everything only a couple of weeks before, so the pantry and cupboards were looking spick and span.

A quick shop to a local fresh fruit and vegetable supermarket, and I spotted this sign. Local bananas are generally a good price in Cairns.

I didn't need to do a quick audit of her electrical kitchen appliances for cooking with, as I would in another kitchen plus I am familiar with all of the other basic essentials that she owns.  I know that she owns a slow cooker, pressure cooker, air fryer, and Kitchen Aid. In this situation simple is best and I was keeping in mind when planning menus, that protein based meals are very important for the mending and healing of broken bones. I cooked my Beef and Red Wine stew in her slow cooker, which is a much older model than mine, but it did the job. This is an older photo from my original blog post, but I promise you I cooked this using local Cairns chuck steak from the Marsh butchers at Stratford, which was expensive but beautiful meat. Shannon was very appreciative.

Mr. HRK made pizzas last Wednesday night, for the important 2nd State of Origin Rugby League event, which were delicious. However let's not dwell on the final result. We are optimistic that Queensland will win the third and final match against NSW. Bring it on. The Maroons versus the Blues, we sjupport the Queensland Maroons by the way.

During the process of getting ready to prepare the stew, I reorganized the bottles in her three drawer spice cabinet into alphabetical order, so that I could really assess what herbs and spices she had, and find any duplication. Ok, so I used to work in libraries. It's important to know what flavour bombs are in the pantry before planning a dish, including the sauces. Sometimes herbs, spices and sauces in a recipe can be substituted with something else, but I hate having to rush up to the shop mid-stream to buy an important ingredient. Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce are essential ingredients in the Beef stew and just cannot be substituted for something else.

What we actually ate for meals while my daughter was in hospital is still a bit of a blur to me, but I think I raided the freezer a couple of nights and we just heated up frozen meals like soups and curries, which I had cooked for her on a previous visit to Cairns. It is always so handy to have a few frozen meals on hand in case of emergencies.

I baked this batch of Damper scones one morning very soon after she came home, when I knew a lovely friend was coming to visit her. Whilst I don't find whipping up a batch of scones difficult to manage at all, I am always surprised by how much younger people really appreciate a batch of freshly baked scones straight out of the oven for morning tea. Homemade strawberry jam and whipped cream topped up the  warm scones beautifully.  No pretty  photos though of the dressed up scones unfortunately as there was  lot going on, with a gorgeous small puppy also visiting us.

Before the dramas started, I was given a lot of lovely limes. Mr. HRK dehydrated some of them at home. 

They should be lovely in drinks. Any ideas?

The Friday night before we were called away, we hosted our tennis/pickleball friends for dinner, all 13 of them. I cooked Nagi Maehashi's Middle Eastern Chicken Shawarma, which is straight out of her Dinner recipe book, however I also looked the recipe up online, as sometimes there is extra information to be found. This dish my friends will knock your socks off. I tripled the ingredients, marinated the chicken thighs overnight, which Mr. HRK then cooked on the BBQ after our guests arrived, and honestly the chicken was unbelievably succulent, charry and delicious. The smell of the chicken cooking was unreal. Yoghurt sauce with garlic, cumin and lemon juice is the essential accompaniment. To any of my friends reading this post, you can be assured that one night when you dine with us, I will be cooking this again. I could become addicted to it.

I also made Mejadra, a very tasty Middle Eastern Spiced Lentil and Rice dish, which was the perfect grain partner to serve with the chicken.

We went all out and cooked some easy flatbread on the BBQ that same day, also Nagi's recipe.  One day when our lives settle down, I'll write all of this up in a recipe post.

For dessert, I dressed up this Carrot and Cream Cheese Bundt Cake, with Cream Cheese frosting and walnuts and pretty dianthus flowers from our garden. It was the perfect finish to the meal. Doesn't she look so pretty?

Mackay Lime Tart or Key Lime Pie was a lot of fun to make. It seems a long time since I made this but it was only in June, and was delicious. The limes have been superb this Winter.

During June, we managed to harvest our ginger crop and dehydrate it for our annual supply of ginger spice.

When we were in Cairns it was misty and rainy a lot of the time, and I never tire of these pillows of cloud which cloak the mountains in the distance. Cairns is surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains which more often than not are covered in cloud.

 I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by the 13th of the month. Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens and see some of her lovely art work. Thanks for hosting this event once again Sherry.

Warm wishes

Pauline