In My Kitchen, October 2024

 It's been a while since I posted an In My Kitchen, but we are now home after 3 months away in Cairns in Far North Queensland, so grab a cuppa and make yourself comfortable, I have lots to tell you. It was really lovely to be away and with our family, but there's no place like home.

 Firstly, 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. Thanks for hosting this event once again Sherry, it's a lovely initiative.

Delicious vegetables everyday are a must for me. They don't need to be expensive, just as fresh as possible. Growing your own fresh herbs can be easy and convenient, and I used my home grown parsley and mint for this Cauliflower dish. During our North Queensland Summers, herbs are one of the easiest crops to grow, and can take a dish to the next level.

Warm cauliflower salad with sweet potto puree

I really enjoy cooking with Cauliflower, it loves to be the hero of the dish. A Warm Cauliflower salad with a Sweet Potato puree and feta cheese was a simple, nourishing and flavour-packed recipe. Recipe still to follow with this one. I decided that after eating tasty leftovers for a couple of days that it is a keeper and suitable for my HRK blog.

Cooking up leftovers into a main meal can be so amazingly tasty and simple and stretches the food budget as well. This meal of my favourite foods comprised leftover cooked burghul, pumpkin, chorizo, shallots, Lebanese eggplant, which absorbed all of the chorizo flavours beautifully, and a handful of finely chopped herbs from the garden. Any herbs will do. There are always leftovers in my refrigerator needing to be eaten. Are you the same?

Do you ever have trouble opening the stubborn lids of  bottles of pickled vegetables, condiments or jams that we sometimes buy? Or even bottles of home preserves sitting in the pantry with obstinate lids?  Normally when I can't open them, I whack the lid a couple of times with a spoon handle, and place the jar under a running tap of hot water. That generally does the trick. That "technique" is no longer necessary here, since we bought this One Touch bottle opener. It's a game changer. I opened this bottle of chargrilled peppers very easily with our new appliance that Mr. HRK bought. We also have one for smaller bottles.

I used the easily opened jar of Chargrilled Peppers in Oil when I baked Nigella Lawson's recipe, Chargrilled Peppers and Potato. It's a delicious and easy way to cook potatoes, and is great for feeding a crowd. This is just a quick photo of some leftovers.

Orange and Fennel infused Chicken traybake was delicious again. The photo on the original recipe I posted is better than this one. Fennel is in season, and I really recommend this recipe to you. I added pumpkin as well to this recipe. So simple and tasty.

This creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake was delicious.

Baking sourdough bread, is one of life's simple pleasures for me. When we arrived home, I was concerned that my Sourdough Mother would be suffering because of lack of attention, however she was still residing happily in the refrigerator ( if she still smells good she is ok). So I scooped some out of the bottle to start fermenting for a loaf of sourdough rye bread, and I fed her with flour and water. I made a large sandwich loaf, which is pictured below, and also a small artisan style loaf which disappeared quickly. 

A plate of homemade muffins or scones brings a more casual vibe to morning and afternoon teas, and is quite economical as well, as a batch is generally around a dozen. Who doesn't love eating a delicious home cooked scone or muffin? I made these savoury chorizo scones to celebrate International Scone Week this year, which Tandy from Lavender and Lime hosts, and I've also made the Apple and Cinnamon muffins a few times now. This photo of the scones was taken in Cairns when I cooked them for Mr. HRK and our daughter Shannon. Everyone needs a couple of easy scone and muffin recipes in their baking repertoire.

Cheese, Chorizo and Chive scones

Sweet Treats

Apple Cinnamon Muffins were popular with everyone.

An  Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake, a family recipe with nostalgic memories, was another delicious treat we enjoyed. Apple and Cinnamon are meant for each other.

I made this delicious chicken traybake dish in Cairns with chicken fillets stuffed with a mushroom filling,  and a medley of coloured capsicum and red onion. 

We enjoyed a lovely escape to the picturesque Yungaburra village on the Atherton Tablelands West of Cairns. This Tivoli Cafe no longer exists but the original name plaque is still there. 

Enjoying a morning coffee and croissant in Yungaburra, in the new cafe next to the Tivoli cafe sign.

Cheerful hanging baskets full of flowering begonias and other flowers always adorn Yungaburra.

This colourful lush vine just next to the cafe where we were sitting is a showstopper.

My beautiful Brassia orchid was flowering in the garden when we arrived home, and still is, two weeks later. Three years ago, I attached it to a tree branch, and located it where our handsome Chocolate and White Border Collie dog Locky, used to love to laze around, as a memorial to him. This orchid is always flowering on the anniversary of his very sad departure from this world. Today is his anniversary. We're still thinking of you Locky.

Folks, here's my curveball. A harmless python snake spotted on the way home from Mahjong recently. Our Mahjong hostess that week lives on a beautiful rural country property and on the drive home we spotted this python slithering across the road, and into the grass, Yes, it's Spring and snakes are on the move. Pythons are generally quite harmless, however if antagonised or threatened, they are capable of striking and biting, and if large enough can consume small animals and chooks, and be dangerous to very small children. In the scheme of things, this one isn't that big, quite cute really, ha, ha.

Warm wishes,

Pauline