In My Kitchen, March 2025

 

Hello, welcome to In My Kitchen from HRK, which is about my cooking and kitchen antics based on what is fresh and in season, what is available and healthy if possible, and always delicious. I am excited it's the beginning of Autumn, bringing cooler temperatures to the tropics and the promise of more beautiful fresh produce. It's almost soup weather.

 During February, we were at the height of the wet Monsoonal season here in North Queensland. It was  a challenging time. Empty supermarket shelves caused by non-supply from the delivery trucks, due to flooded roads, and very limited market produce caused challenges, but when I look back at what we I cooked and ate, sometimes creativity wins the day.

February is my birthday month, and funnily enough, I was also born during the February floods in the Tannachy Hospital in Rockhampton, many moons ago. My Mum used to love to tell the story of the flooded Fitzroy River rising up the outside walls of the hospital building when I was born. We were in Cairns for much of February with our daughter, and in Cairns when fresh fruit and vegetables are scarce, it is a sure thing that bananas will always still be available, for only $2.00 a kilo at roadside stalls. We were given some ripe Sugar Bananas by a neighbour, and they made a beautiful cake. I enjoy them more than the Cavendish banana. This is the Banana cake recipe I used. When I baked it, it wasn't planned as my birthday cake, but that's what it became. It was also delicious when toasted as well. The recipe of this Banana Cake  is one of the earliest I ever posted on my blog, I still love it. It's my simple go to Banana Cake recipe and never fails.

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 and unites all of the keen bloggers and cooks around the world.

When we returned from our holiday in Cairns, our Japanese eggplant bushes had 600 g of fresh, usable eggplants ready to harvest and cook with. There were also many still on the bush that had turned yellow and were too old to use. They fed the worms and went in the compost heap. I found a Pork Fillet in the freezer, and this is how this very tasty dish developed. I've called it Pork, Eggplant, and Capsicum Miso Stir-Fry. Mr. HRK loved it because the eggplant was so flavoursome, and the pork succulent and tender, but I would have liked more sauce with the dish. The eggplant soaked up a lot of the sauce, and I also thought the umami flavours could have been more pronounced. But then I like strong flavours sometimes. This dish is a work in progress. I also realised that a photo of the dish needs to be taken before the green capsicum cooks right through, much more colourful then. Always learning. 

This Duck Breast, Red Cabbage and Soba Noodle Salad with White Miso Dressing continued my current love affair with umami, and was delicious.

During the recent flooding crisis, when the supermarket shelves were bare I managed to buy a whole red cabbage. Regular readers of my stories will know this one, but it started a little obsession for me with red cabbage dishes.

This slow-braised Red Cabbage was sweet and tangy thanks to the magical alchemy of balsamic vinegar, orange juice, cinnamon and allspice.

 

I also discovered on a wet and windy evening when I had made a batch of my Scottish Red Lentil soup, that a garnish of Braised Red Cabbage took the soup to the next level. Don't you just love experimenting with flavours?

My batch of Blueberry Muffins disappeared very quickly. Who doesn't love a muffin straight out of the oven? The high fruit content and use of wholemeal flour, made them quite suitable for breakfast. I adapted Donna Hay's recipe for this lot.

Donna's Raspberry, Oat and Cinnamon Muffins are also delicious, and can be found on a previous post of mine. Muffins should be quick to make, and can be adapted from any frozen berries you have on hand.

Sometimes I just crave the tanginess and texture of this White Cannellini Bean Salad. When fresh foodstuffs were difficult to find at times just recently, a can of white beans, a can of chick peas, a few radishes and a couple of spring onions enhanced by a delicious vinaigrette dressing were a wonderful accompaniment for the main meal. Fresh Capsicum is a tasty and colourful addition as well if you have it.

Mr. HRK has a new kitchen toy to play with, a Kitchen Aid Pasta Making machine. So far he is very happy with it. Our old one has seen better days, and has left the building.

This photo is of a simple meal made from Mr. HRK's first batch of fettuccini style pasta, with some fried Aussie only bacon, tomato, home grown basil, good quality olive oil and parmesan cheese. It was delicious. He seems to have the ratios right, for making the perfect pasta, so fresh and delicious.

I made another batch of these Cheesy Broccoli fritters, so easy, with a dipping sauce of Sweet Chilli sauce. Who doesn't like eating a fritter, and when they are healthy, well even better. These are baked not fried, so much easier than slaving over a hot frypan to cook them. And we are getting all that cruciferous goodness, full of fibre and antioxidants, from the green broccoli.

Here's the link to the original recipe on HRK. I can't get enough of these little beauties.

I received a query from a reader the other day, asking whether cauliflower could be used in these fritters instead of Broccoli. I really don't see why not, but to add a little more colour, I would add some chopped parsley as well. 

These groovy Pickleball Paddle shaped serving dishes were my Christmas gift from our son who lives in France. They arrived in a very large box from the USA, and were the perfect gift. They will be such fun to use.

Warm wishes,

Pauline