I'm not really much of an art aficionado. I often don't get what makes popular art popular, especially when it comes to contemporary art. Having said that, I am always interested in learning more and expanding the limited knowledge I do have.
I am very lucky to live in a city where large exhibitions happen on a regular basis, whether it be in art galleries or museums, so I do try to take advantage of those with the hope that I will find something I like and may be learn something along the way.
A couple of weeks ago I headed into the National Gallery of Victoria to see the David Hockney: Current exhibition which focuses on the British artist's works from the last 10 years. I guess I wasn't really sure what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised because I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibition.
I particularly enjoy seeing the way that the artist uses technology. A lot of his work is done on iPads or iPhones, and in a lot of cases he has recorded the artistic processes so that you can sit and watch the art being created from initial strokes, to redesign, to completion.
One of the series is called 82 Portraits and a Still Life because, well, there are 82 portraits and a still life. I liked that the people being featured in the portraits varied from famous friends to his hairdresser. I
I came out of the exhibition feeling like I had enjoyed it rather than having to still try and work out exactly what the heck was going on in a lot of the pieces. I would definitely go and see another exhibition by this artist, without hesitation.
The exhibition finishes this weekend, ready to make way for the next big exhibition, which I am sure I will visit at some point
And of course, no visit to the NGV is complete without the obligatory feast of scones and jam and cream.
A couple of years ago I went to White Night for the first time and really loved it but when I went last year it wasn't such a great experience. Now I could say that was because the displays weren't that great, but I think that the reality is that I was in the middle of a gall bladder attack and so it wouldn't have mattered how spectacular the displays were.
This year, though, was back to an amazing experience. We changed our strategy this year. Instead of going in just after dark, we didn't actually go in until around 11.30pm. I have to say I'm a bit old for this going out at 11.30 at night. And that's despite the fact that I had a nana nap before we went into the city. At least I'm still calling it a nana nap, but I am pretty sure that the fact that I laid down in bed with every intention of going to sleep and slept for a good 2 hours means that it was more a sleep than a nap. Not sure where that line is technically. I then didn't get home until 4.30. That would have been fine except I was going out the next morning too! More about that later maybe.
Last year they didn't have any projections on the facade of Flinders Street train station or on the buildings near the Forum so I was very glad to see that they were back this year. On the train station there was a projection with an indigenous theme talking about the fact that there are many nations within indigenous culture.
The next buildings we saw were on a stretch near the Forum building, one of my favourite building facades in the city. These buildings have a fairy tale theme which reminded me in many ways of the Fables series by Bill Willingham.
The Exhibition building is always a highlight and this year was no exception, although a little bit surprisingly, it wasn't may favourite thing this year. More on that at the end. The building really lends itself to projections. It is a beautiful building itself at the best of times, but when done well, it really is a spectacular canvas on which to paint a picture with light and sound.
One of my favourite places in Melbourne is the Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria. Normally it is a place where it is quiet, with stately green lamps filling the desk spaces but come White Night it is transformed into a canvas. This year we found ourselves under the waters of Port Philip Bay in the Sea Dragons Lair.
My highlight this year though was definitely the Pyrophone Juggernaut. We originally arrived just as a show ended so we had to wait over an hour for the next show, but it was totally worth the wait.
The juggernaut is a fire organ, where the percussionists use gas and flames to play organ pipes. That is such a meagre explanation for the experience - amazing performances of percussion on unusual instruments, drama and spectacle. Amazing!
Not everything was a hit. There were a couple of things that we saw that I was underwhelmed by and then reading through some of the news I realised that there was lots of good stuff that we just didn't see. I'm not sure that I have quite figured out how to see everything in any one night. We do tend to go to the Exhibition building and the Library. May need to be brave and venture into new parts of the city. Next year, which I am already looking forward to!
Now to work on the definition of nana nap vs sleep.
The last time I posted about going to the movies I called the post Pass the Popcorn Please, but the reality is that I don't really do popcorn. I don't dislike it. It's more that the giant buckets of popcorn you get at the movies are a) too expensive and b) too big! I do like a choc top icecream but I have usually finished eating it way before the movie starts to that hardly counts does it.
Anyway, I've been to see a few movies since my last post. Here are my thoughts on them.
I went to see this because it's set in WWII and I was also looking for a movie that would appeal to both me and a male of the species, and I think it hit the spot. Even though I had seen the trailer, it didn't really play out the way I thought it would which I guess is a good thing unless you don't actually up with satisfaction. It is interesting because there are some war related scenes in there, but it wasn't really all war, all the time. Marion Cotillard is gorgeous and some of her costumes were very nice, and Brad Pitt is, well, Brad Pitt so it was easy on the eye. I've never really got the Brad Pitt thing, or the Ryan Gosling thing either I guess come to think of it, but he was good in this.
A couple of weekends ago I went on a road trip to Canberra with a couple of friends. We did lots of very cool stuff, exhibitions, art galleries, food and sight seeing, and on one night we headed to the movies to see this. When I first saw the trailer for this I was trying to place who the Australian actor was in the lead role, so I was very surprised when it turned out that the main actor was Dev Patel. He totally nailed the Aussie accent, and lets face it, there have been some great names who have tried and failed in that regard (Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain anyone?)
One of the good things about going to the movies while on holidays is that I didn't have to drive and so I thought I would be totally decadent and have a glass of wine during the movie. Great plan....until I knocked it over when it was still 3/4 full.
So what about the film you ask? I enjoyed it a lot. It was a very moving story about a young Indian boy who gets separated from his family and ends up being adopted by an Australian family and then needs to go back and find his home. This one is based on a true story, and any film based on a true story is instantly a degree better than it would have been if it was just made up. And I'm not sure that you could necessarily believe the story if it was made up. It was very moving, and the final scenes were very emotional
Last night this was our choice to go and see, mainly because it was the main move that we both had some interest in seeing. I was hoping to see Live by Night but it looks like we may have missed it unfortunately I am just getting to know my movie watching companion and so it felt like it could be a movie that had them not necessarily enjoying it, but I think he did.
It was once again a very moving story, and Casey Affleck's performance was stellar. As the story unfurled to the point that we learned why Lee was so reluctant to return to his home town under any circumstances, no matter how much his nephew wanted to stay, you couldn't help but feel for Lee, to understand why he was so melancholy and angry all at once.
I was surprised by how humourous the film was, particularly in it's observations about life with a teenage boy who is dealing with unexpected loss the best way he could.
It was slow in parts, but I can totally see why the movie and the performances of the cast are receiving so many accolades during prize season.
So, here's a thought that I should have considered a year ago. While I am slowly getting back to reading (I think), I do go to the movies quite regularly, so I could, you know, talk about the movies I have seen. I have already been lucky enough to see 3 very enjoyable movies so far this year, and there are so many films coming out that I want to see. So many. Maybe I need to create a list to keep track.
Firstly, I saw LaLa Land. I know that it is getting mixed reviews from my amongst my friends, but I enjoyed it. I loved the homage to the magic of jazz, musicals, and Hollywood. I loved the way that the movie was shot, the colour and movement. I must confess I was a little surprised that it is a current setting. I think I was expecting that it was set in the 1950s or 60s but no. There was a particularly fun little section in the film which featured some 80s music which was amusing and enjoyable.
At first, I wasn't keen on the ending of the . The friend I went with and I both agreed that we were left feeling a little bit melancholy at the end of it, but maybe it had the effect of leaving you with something to think about rather than walking out of the cinema and just forgetting about it. Or maybe the ending didn't quite work. Maybe one day I will decide, after watching it again.
The next film I saw as A United Kingdom.
I am part of a group that meets up once a month to watch movies. It's kind of like book club, but for movies instead. Part of the reason we meet on a Monday is that the cinema we go to is super cheap on that day, but is also central for us all. One of the good things is that we all take turns to choose the movie. This means that we have on occasion seen movies that we didn't like, or that we did like despite the fact that we possibly wouldn't have chosen to see it ordinarily, some Australian films, some mainstream films, some foreign films, some documentaries. Basically, it's help broaden all of our horizons.
I really enjoyed this choice. It is the story of the last king of Bechuanaland (modern day Botswana) who fell in love with an ordinary English white girl in London just after the end of World War II. It covers the opposition that they faced both in the UK and in Africa when they decided to marry, but also the constitutional crisis that it prompted in the Commonwealth, particularly in respect to the fact that neighbouring South Africa was introducing the policy of apartheid at the time.
One of the things that I didn't make the connection to until very late in the film was that it was about Botswana, but as soon as I did make that connection it made me think of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. The main character in that book often talked about the beloved president of Botswana and it was this man that she was talking about.
One of the movies I am looking forward to seeing when it comes out here is Loving, which is another film about mixed race relationships. I think I am attracted to these stories because my ex is African, or maybe I just love a good story where love overcomes the odds, and if it's based on true life...even better.
The third movie I have seen this year is Jackie, which stars Natalie Portman, and tells the story of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of her husband, President Kennedy.
Given the subject matter, it is quite a heavy movie, but it is so well done that it didn't feel overwhelmingly heavy. Natalie Portman was excellent in her portrayal of a woman facing the loss of her husband, and to a degree her identity as the first lady.
One of the things that was a bit odd about going to see this movie was a bit of a drama around allocated seating. I know that it is pretty much normal now for cinemas to have allocated seating but I really don't get why it has to be this way. That is especially the case when the ticketing system breaks down and they still insist on manually allocating the seating. Whhhyyy. Once we got inside there were all sorts of issues as people were complaining that people were in their seats etc etc, It's not like there weren't any empty seats because there were, but they wanted their exact seats, to the point where one woman refused to move one seat over to help resolve the issues because she had paid for THIS seat. I'm pretty sure you paid for a seat, not that exact one, but never mind. One of the bonuses with all this dramas was that the movies were all running late, so they chopped out all the ads and the previews. It's not uncommon for those to go for 15 minutes or more these days, so that was a welcome omission for me.
And actually...don't worry about the popcorn. I will have a couple of pieces if someone else has some but other than that I am not particularly fussed about it.
When Sylvester, the Duke of Salford, first meets Phoebe Marlow, he finds her dull and insipid. She finds him insufferably arrogant. But when a series of unforeseen events leads them to be stranded together in a lonely country inn, they are both forced to reassess their hastily formed opinions, and begin a new-found liking and respect for each other. Sylvester calls to mind the satirical genius of a Jane Austen novel and is adored for its wit and a fast-paced plot that ranges across a myriad of settings
I first listened to this book just under 3 years ago, but I never did post anything about it, which was remiss of me but I think not really unexpected. After I finished The Passage and then another audio book, I was trying to decide what to read next. I do have a few books that I have already purchased but not yet listened to, as well as a list of books I'd like to get to someday, but none of them really tickled my fancy. And then I hit on the idea of listening again to a Georgette Heyer novel as narrated by Richard Armitage, mainly because it is my idea of aural bliss to listen to him read anything, but he does seem to be particularly suited to narrating Heyer novels.
He has the right tone in his voice that lends itself to upper class accents and his characterisation is so good that it doesn't matter whether the character is old or young, or female or male, each character is individual and recognisable.
Now, I should mention up front that this is an abridged audiobook, but it is a well done abridgement. I don't think I have missed anything through the story so it might be interesting to read in full one time to see what was cut out. That's not always the case. Years ago I listened to a novel where the abridgement wasn't quite so good. At one point the main character was regretting having kissed someone other than her husband and I was like wait...what.
What about the book itself. It is Heyer, so it is all Regency ballrooms and dukes abound, but it is a fun read. I don't want to recap the plot as such because I don't want too start to feel like I should write a full review, rather than just commentary. I will see that I did find myself wondering how much of the language that Heyer used was made up. I am sure that I heard somewhere that she did.
I fully expect to listen to more of the Heyer books Richard Armitage has narrated. It is a totally enjoyable treat.
You wouldn't think so if you so me chowing down on dumplings last night, but I am still trying to eat a bit healthier. That also means that I have gone back to doing the things I was doing when I lost all that weight before I stopped doing all those things and put it a lot if it back on.
So, what are the things that I was doing, stopped and now I am doing again.
On the food front, it is to watch what I eat (so make better food choices), how much (portion sizes) and, in theory, move more (exercise), although I am not doing so great on that one. For the other aspects, I have gone back to keeping a food diary, studying (yes, studying) food magazines and diet related cookbooks. The most important aspect is planning and preparation, having some idea of what food we are going to be eating for lunches and dinners rather than having takeaway several nights a week.
Sttudying food magazines mean getting ideas for snacks and new recipes. Sometimes it is the simplest of ideas that strikes a cord. For instance, because I was a bit slack and didn't get to the shops in time, I ended up just having egg, ricotta, spinach and tomato on toast for dinner. Simple, but tasty. And something I saw in a magazine as a breakfast suggestion. Breakfast for dinner. Yes please.
This is definitely a simple idea, and one that really should have occurred to me before. I mean, when we were kids it was a treat to have canned fruit set into jelly, but because the boy doesn't really like jelly I don't make it very often. This time instead of making a giant bowl of jelly and fruit I have made the individual serves as suggested and I am hoping that will mean that, for this week at least, if I fancy something sweet I can just grab one of these and maybe have some yoghurt with it. Or ice cream maybe.
Oh, and expect to hear more about dumplings because I had two of the best dumplings I ever ate last night and I am so going to go on a quest to eat more egg custard dumplings. You have been warned. Not part of the plan but oh, so good.
This recipe came from the January/February 2017 issue of Diabetic Living.
Triple Berry Jellies
125g punnet blueberries
125g punnet raspberries
125g punnet blackberries
4 strawberries, cut into thin wedges
9g sachet raspberry diet jelly crystals
250ml (1 cup) boiling water
250ml (1 cup) cold water
2 Tbspn strawberry liqueur (optional)
500g extra berries, to serve
Mint leaves, to serve (optional)
Divide berries evenly between 4 185ml (3/4 cup) capacity glasses.
Put jelly crystals in a heatproof jug. Pour over boiling water, stirring until jelly crystals dissolve. Stir in cold water and strawberry liqueur, if using.
Pour jelly evenly over berries. Put glasses on a tray and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.
Serve topped with extra berries and mint leaves, if using.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.
I recently went on a cruise and one of the things I realised was that if I was going to be listening to audiobooks at all, possibly I needed something a little lighter than The Passage, which I was listening to at the time.
Little did I know, that I would listen to something for a while but not quite just for the joy of the story.
I went on the cruise with my friend and her son as well as my son. The boys have just turned 18 so before we went away there was a bit of discussion about changing rooms so that they were together and my friend and I were together. Once we were on the boat pressure was bought to bear to do just that and so I acquiesced.
My friend had mentioned that she was a snorer, and so I should have been prepared, but oh my goodness..... The first night I didn't get a lot of sleep. The second night I tried to get to sleep but I was unsuccessful so in the end I decided that I would try putting on my audiobook to block out the noise.
It was a good plan. It really was. There was, however, one flaw.
I assumed that listening would block out the noise, and it certainly muffled it a bit, but not totally so I did still keep on waking up but now there was the added complication that I would wake up and hear something in the audiobook and think things like wait, who's Jack? Why is this character talking to a truck driver at a truck stop. Wait. did she just say she's married.
So then I had to contend with the thoughts in my head and the snoring.
After the second night, we swapped back. And I started listening to the book again so that it made some kind of sense.
For all that I talked a couple of days ago about starting to eat healthily and try to lose some weight (again), today I am posting about sfogliatelle - ricotta filled pastry shells - that originate from the south of Italy.
I don't remember hearing about sfogliatelle before a couple of months ago, but I have been watching a number of cooking series about baking and/or Italian cooking and it has come up a few times. I know I saw it in Paul Hollywood's City Bakes series, and I think one of Rick Stein's series. Actually, Rick Stein is to blame for a couple of cravings at the moment. The other day I was watching a show where he does a long weekend in Vienna and it showed wiener schnitzel and oh my goodness I have been thinking abut that ever since. Maybe I need to stop watching these shows, but I do like living vicariously through them.
Anyway, back to sfogliatelle.
Now, I am determined that I want, no, make that NEED to try one of these Italian treats. Luckily for me there is a famous Melbourne cake shop called Brunetti's that makes them so it was always just a question of time before I would actually try one. And try one I did. Actually, technically, I think I tried two and something very similar that I can't remember the name of. Did I like them? I was surprised that they were pretty small. In theory, you could probably shove a whole one in your mouth, but I was a bit more ladylike and ate them in two bites. The crunch on the pasty was a-maz-ing, and the filling was very nice. Having said that, the one that I can't remember the name of was probably a bit more to my taste. All the delicious crunch but instead of being filled with ricotta it was topped with a custard like blob and a piece of cherry. I would be happy to eat either one of them again though. Maybe next time I go to Brunettis!
Would I try to make some? One hundred percent, absolutely not. These things take some serious skills to make as you can tell from the video below and given that I've never made pastry, there's no way I will try to make them. I will, however, continue to try them when I get the opportunity.
Do you have something that you really want to try?
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.
Well this is a bit interesting. A book related post. I'm not sure I even remember how to do this, but I am thinking that maybe I will give this blogging thing a go but on the basis that it won't be a full on reviews. Maybe just pared back thoughts about the books I am reading. It still isn't many, but it does feel a little bit more likely that I will be reading or listening to more books this year. Not to the obsessive level of years past, but I am actually okay with that. If I can find a happy medium between the 200 plus books a year that I was reading a few years ago and the less than 10 of the last couple of years then I will be a happy camper.
I am also, once again, trying to focus on healthy eating as I have undone a fair amount of the good work I did in losing lots of weight a couple of years ago, so I will most likely be posting some updates related to that.
Really, what I am looking for this year is to have more balance in my life. So, less late nights at work making myself super tired all the time, more home cooked meals. More and less of lots of things really. Lets call that my new years resolution shall we.
So let's talk books. Or maybe book. Singular.
A few years go now (well, more than 6 but who's counting!) I read The Passage by Justin Cronin. Whilst I didn't review it, I graded it 4.5 out of 5 and so clearly finished it, and loved it. I went to a session at Melbourne Writer's Festival where the author spoke because the third book in the trilogy is now out and I realised that at some point I did want to read the second and third books but it had been a while since I read this one so it was time for a reread. Yes, I don't usually reread but things are definitely not usual in my world at the moment so why not.
One of the things that I pride myself on is that I have a pretty good memory. Normally I think that whilst details may be a bit blurry I can generally remember the major story arcs. Or so I thought. It turns out that maybe that is not the case.
When I first started listening, it was great. It was like revisiting an old friend. I remembered the story about a young girl being infected with a virus that in effect allows her to live ageing very, very slowly. I remembered how the FBI found her and took her to the army to become part of a top secret trial that goes awry in a big way and pretty much destroys the world as we know it.
Really, it was after the first third of the book and as the story moved 100 years into the future where I realised that my memory is nowhere near as good as I thought it was because I couldn't remember it. Not just that it was blurry or a bit fuzzy, but I literally had no memory of any of the characters, any of the storyline. So it was kind of like visiting a friend's house and then finding yourself at a party with complete strangers.
I decided to listen to the audiobook because I had so many credits on Audible, but it is a decision that paid off. The narrator for the majority of the book is Scott Brick and I look forward to listening to the next books in the series where he is the sole narrator. And who knows, maybe even looking for some other books that he has narrated at some point. Nothing wrong with following a narrator is there!!
Overall, it was an enjoyable listening experience. I think I will listen to something a little lighter before going back to listen to the second book in the trilogy. And catch up on The Walking Dead episodes that I didn't feel I could watch while I was listening to this! It would have been way too much to be listening to this post apocolyptic vampire novel whilst watching a post apocolyptic zombie TV series.
Well gee, it appears that I had plenty to say after all.
I mentioned last week that we had a lunch gathering to celebrate my son's 18th birthday and when I asked him what he wanted for dessert he very quickly answered apple crumble. Now, I have made apple crumble several times before but I hadn't saved the recipes that I had used to I went looking for a new recipe.
When I saw this recipe I thought "Of course!!" Why isn't this more common. I mean, most of the time when you have apple crumble you have custard too so why wouldn't you combine the two.
I found this recipe on Taste.com.au which used to be one of my go to websites for recipes, but I did take note of the comments and made a few changes to the recipes below. Firstly, I made double the quantity of custard. I also used brown sugar in the crumble topping instead of the caster sugar and I threw in a smattering (technical measurement) of oats as well to add to the texture.
And the result.....delicious! And my sister's mother-in-law asked for the recipe too which always makes me smile a bit because she is an awesome cook!!
Apple and custard crumble
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
800g can pie apple
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
100g butter, softened
Double thick cream, to serve
Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine milk and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat.
Meanwhile, whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons custard powder, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and 2 tablespoons cold water in a heatproof bowl until smooth. Whisking constantly, pour in hot milk mixture in a thin stream. Return mixture to saucepan.
Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat until custard comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Stir for 3 minutes or until reduced slightly (this cooks out the raw custard powder flavour).
Spoon apple into six 1-cup capacity dishes or one 6-cup capacity baking dish. Pour over warm custard.
Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, remaining custard powder and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine. Add butter.Using your fingertips, rub into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Scatter crumble over custard. Place on a baking tray bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with cream.
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Last weekend my son turned 18 years of age. 18! Can you believe it?
For those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time, he started out as the boy, and then was the little chef but I guess now he's an adult (legally anyway) and so I should call him something else. Maybe the young man or something.
We had a family event for Sunday lunch and it was a veritable hit list of dishes that I have posted as part of Weekend Cooking over the years but there were a couple of new recipes too.
And my sister did another amazing job with the cake.
Anyway, the title of this post is cherry tomatoes, so I guess I should talk about the delicious red orbs that are cherry tomatoes.
If there is one thing that I love the flavour of it is cherry tomatoes. I like them in salads, not only because they are so easy to chuck in a salad (I don't even chop them up) but my favourite way to eat them though, is cooked, say in a recipe like Pasta Pomodoro but especially roasted. There's something so delicious about taking a bite and have a burst of deliciousness fill your mouth as you get the full roasted flavour. I have been known to roast them just by themselves, but also as part of a bigger dish.
Whilst I did go back to some of my favouirite recipes for the barbecue I did also want to try a couple of new recipes and so when I saw that this recipe was for a salad that included cherry tomatoes, I couldn't resist. Because I was making a few other dishes I only did half the vegetables.
I was trying to be very organised and not stressed for this lunch, so in the end I roasted all the vegetables the night before and just cooked the ricotta that day but I would say if you are going to do this it is probably best to also make the dressing the night before as I suspect the garlic mixes in a bit better if it is still warm. There is a note that this salad can be served warm or at room temperature.
Roasted Vegetable and Ricotta Salad
2 red capsicums, cut into chunks (peppers)
2 large zucchini, cut into chunks (courgette)
1 eggplant, cut into chunks (aubergine)
2 red onions, cut into thin wedges (red onions as far as I know!!)
2x 250g punnets cherry tomatoes
3 Tbspn extra virgin olive oil
1/2 head garlic
200g piece low-fat ricotta, drained overnight in the fridge on paper towel, covered in plastic wrap
Olive oil cooking spray
1 Tbspn balsamic vinegar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
Preheat oven to 190C (fan forced). Line 2 large roasting pans with baking paper. Divide vegetables between prepared pans. Drizzle over oil and toss to combine. Wrap garlic in foil and add to 1 of the pans. line a small ovenproof dish with baking paper. Add ricotta and spray with cooking spray.
Roast vegetables and ricotta for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables from oven and set aside. Continue to cook ricotta for a further 15 minutes or until ricotta is golden brown around the edges. Set aside.
To serve, squeeze garlic into a small bowl. Add vinegar and lemon juice. Whisk to combine. Drizzle over vegetables and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving platter, crumble over baked ricotta and serve.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.
I am feeling very pleased with myself today! I did something today that I have never done before which is make a version of jam, and it turned out amazing. A-MAZE-ING!!
One of the things that I do quite regularly when I am feeling relatively strong mentally in relation to eating properly is spend time looking through cookbooks and magazines, specifically the ones that are for weight loss or have a focus on being diabetic friendly. Often I am looking at the recipes and seeing all the same ones I have thought I might try but every now and again a new one jumps out. In this case, it not only jumped out but I also got a hankering to actually make it and make it soon. This recipe comes from the September/October 2015 issue of Diabetic Living.
The only problem was that when I did go to make the recipe I realised that I didn't buy enough strawberries and I didn't have any lime so in the end I had to improvise a little. So instead of using all strawberries I used half strawberries and half blueberries, and I used juice from a lemon I just picked off the tree. And oops!! I also used the puff pastry I had in the freezer rather than shortcrust pasty. Only just realised this!
The other issue I had is that I have only got a mini muffin tin and a muffin tin, not the patty cake/small cup cake tin mentioned so my pastry cases were a bit littler. I think next time I am going to use bigger circles from the pastry so that I can get a more gently curved larger pastry cases. And I will be doing it again. I think I will be making these to take to work for morning tea in a couple of week's time.
The jam is actually so good, not only did I use it for this recipe, but we also had it on pancakes this morning, served with vanilla flavoured greek yoghurt. I am also thinking it will taste really good stirred through oats or through yoghurt for breakfast. The last week I have been having roasted rhubarb with oats or yoghurt. This week, it will be this jam. Luckily, there is a lot left over.
375g strawberries, chopped
3/4 cup Equal Spoonful (sugar replacement)
80ml (1/3 cup) water
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 large lime
To make quick strawberry jam, put strawberry, Equal Spoonful, water and lime juice in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a simmer over a high heat. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove lid and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 20 minutes or until mixture has reduced and thickened to a jam-like consistency. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C (fan-forced). Lay pastry sheet on a flat surface. Using a 6.5cm round cutter, cut 12 rounds from pastry sheet, discarding excess pastry. Use rounds to line 12.30ml (1 1/2 Tbspn) patty pans. Prick bases using a fork. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, to chill. Add to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cook for 10 minutes.
To serve, spoon strawberry jam evenly between pastry cases. Top each tart with 1/2 tspn of the vanilla bean yoghurt. Serve.
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I am always looking for new ideas for lunch. Whilst I can live with eating the same thing most days for breakfast, I am not so good at eating the same thing over and over for lunch and dinner. Most of the time I will have chicken and salad sandwiches, or chicken and salad, or tuna and salad or leftovers. Rinse and repeat. So when you see something that is advertised as a lunch box idea I certainly pay attention.
So it was this week when a friend shared this recipe on Facebook.
Not only does it look tasty, I made it today and I confirm that it was actually really easy. I had a friend around for lunch and they went away saying that they were going to try and make it themselves! I call that a winner.
I think that the idea is that you eat this cold but if you don't put the cheese in until last I am thinking that it is easy to reheat and eat warm as well.
And while we are at it, there's no reason why this can't be a dinner meal. Tasty, pretty quick and pretty healthy.
I do wonder how it can be a burrito without, you know, the burritos, but whatever!! Chicken Burrito Bowls
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 bell peppers, any colour, sliced
1 large red onion, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
Salt and pepper
1 jar salsa
3 cups cooked brown rice, divided
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 lime, sliced into wedges
Fresh cilantro (coriander) to garnish
PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 400˚F/200˚C.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.
3. Place the chicken, peppers, and onions onto the baking sheet and drizzle with oil.
4. Sprinkle the taco seasoning evenly over both sides of the chicken breasts.
5. Salt and pepper the peppers and onions, tossing to coat.
6. Top each chicken breast with a generous pour of salsa.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes.
8. Rest chicken for 10 minutes, before slicing into strips.
9. Add a base of brown rice to 4 food storage containers. Top each with a scoop of black beans, corn, additional salsa, cheddar cheese, cooked peppers and onions, and sliced chicken. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a lime wedge.
10. Store in the refrigerator (and enjoy any extras immediately). Can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days.
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I don't know why it is, but every time I say I am making this recipe the reaction I get from whoever I am talking to is I love curried sausages but I haven't had it for ages. And, to be fair, it was the same for me. I first made it and enjoyed it just over a year ago and then completely forgot about it. It was only after I spent some time going through all the magazines I had that I rediscovered the recipe and made it again Now, I want to share it here so that I can find it easily when I want to in future.
I have actually shared a couple of recipes from this particular issue (Pulled Pork Ragu and Green Chicken Curry Pie which is one of my regular dishes now). Just like with the pulled pork my son wasn't all that keen on the posh mash potato but it still tastes good with normal mash
Curried Sausages with Herbed Mash
2 tspns olive oil
1 brown onion, cut into thin wedges
375g packet of low fat beef sausages
2 tspn curry powder
1 tspn salt reduced chicken stock powder
250ml (1 cup) boiling water
1/2 x 400g can no-added salt tomato puree
200g carrots, halved lengthwise, diagonally sliced
8 brussel sprouts, trimmed, halved or quartered**
** I can't stand brussel sprouts so I generally use broccoli cut into florets
Preheat oven to 180C (fan-forced). Heat oil in a large heavy based stoveproof and ovenproof dish over a medium heat. Add onion and sausages to pan and cook, stirring often for 4-5 minutes or until sausages are browned. Add curry powder and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes
Add combined stock and water, tomato puree, carrot and brussel sprouts to pan. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add pan to oven and cook for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender
Meanwhile, to make herbed mash, put potato and garlic in a large saucepan. Cover with plenty of cold water Cover and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes or until potato and garlic are tender. Drain. Mash until almost smooth. Add yoghurt, herbs and lemon zest. Beat with a wooden spoon until well combined
Divide mash between serving plates. Add sausage mixture. Serve.
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So given how few posts there are on this blog, it is obvious that I am not blogging much at the moment and haven't been for quite some time. However, the problem goes deeper than that. I'm actually not reading either. Oh, I might start a book and read a couple of page then I will lose interest and just stop. It doesn't matter if we are talking about reading new books, rereading favourites, paper books, ebooks and even audio books. And this is a long term issue. My reading has become non existent over the last couple of years to the point that I haven't actually finished a book since March. Shocking I know.
I'm not sure this is a terminal problem though because even though I am not reading I am still happy to engage in conversations with people about books. Last week at work there was a conversation happening about starting a book club and I was quite keen about the concept even though I know that it is highly unlikely that I will actually read the chosen book. Luckily my actual book club doesn't really seem to care if I read the book or not. I haven't actually been to that book club for the last couple of months because I have been working late but I know when I do go back they will be glad to see me. I also know that when I say I haven't even read the synopsis the reaction will be okay and then ask if I want a party pie or sausage roll (to which the answer is obviously yes!!)
This weekend was the launch of the Melbourne Writer's Festival and despite my lack of reading mojo, I did end up buying tickets to a couple of sessions and also attended a couple of free sessions. I was reminded that bookish things are actually good for my soul and also a couple of other things.
Unlike previous years where I took copious notes so that I could blog in depth recaps of the sessions I attended, this year I have just sat and listened and just enjoyed being in the presence of authors whose books I have enjoyed previously.
The four sessions that I attended were:
Justin Cronin
YA Superstars featuring Rainbow Rowell and David Leviathan
Australia Through Time featuring Anita Heiss, Tricia Stringer and Kate Mildenhall
Wickedly Funny featuring Liane Moriarty and Rosalie Ham
All four sessions were really interesting and I have to say I was very impressed with the quality of the free sessions that were on offer. Both Australia Through Time and Wickedly Funny were free sessions and they were full houses. I only just got into Wickedly Funny even though I went and lined up half an hour before. They probably turned out away an equivalent of 50% of the crowd. The session was just that popular.
One of the things that I have taken away from this weekend is that maybe this might be a long break from reading but I don't think I am done forever and ever. Whilst I don't expect to go back to reading 200 plus books a year, I also don't expect to stay at reading less than 10 books in a year. Somewhere in the middle would be good.
I also came out of the sessions and a trip to a nearly bookstore I was reminded of a few things. Firstly, there are a number of authors who I used to wait avidly for each new book from and they have at least one and maybe two books out that I still haven't read yet. In other words my TBR list continues to grow even though I am not reading. Secondly, there were a number of books that I really wanted to read a couple of years ago that I still haven't read yet and thirdly, that there are any number of books that I wouldn't mind rereading at some point.
My reading life might be flat lining but it hasn't quite been declared dead yet. There's still a glimmer of hope. Just.
We love a good lasagne in this house, but unless you buy a pre-prepared one, it is a bit of work so it is more a weekend kind of meal, with plenty of leftovers for during the week. Making it from scratch, there's the making the meat sauce, and the white sauce and layering it up and cooking it. It is something that I do semi-regularly using a lower fat recipe which is quite tasty but I have also tried a couple of different recipes for making during the week. One was a slow cooker lasagne which I don't think we need to say much more about because it was truly awful. This recipe, whilst not technically lasagne, is a fair substitute and doesn't take too much time or effort to prepare.
The recipe once again comes from an issue of Diabetic Living, but this time is from a celebrity chef by the name of Michael Moore. Now, to be fair, I don't remember hearing about Michael Moore before, but there was a bonus lift out in the March/April issue. There weren't a lot of recipes that I could try because he used a lot of almond meal in his recipes which don't work with our allergy issues but I was impressed with how simple this seemed and then when I had made it, with how tasty it is.
I would say to make sure that you spread your sauce enough to ensure that the lasagne sheets all have sauce on them otherwise you end up with some crunchy bits. Unless you like crunchy bits of course!
No idea why there is so much talk about lasagne in this post when it really isn't a post about lasagne at all!
Open Cannelloni with Pork Meatballs
Serves 6
485g lean pork mince
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 tspn crushed black peppercorns
Sea salt
1 egg white
Cooking spray
300ml bottled Napolitana pasta sauce
350g fresh egg lasagne sheets
60g grated parmesan
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Mix mince with garlic, onion, black pepper, salt and egg white in a bowl. Dip your hands in cold water. Roll mixture into 14 even meatballs and set aside.
2. Grease a large baking dish and spoon a little Napolitana sauce over the base
3. Trim lasagne sheets into squares and place a meatball into the centre of each one. Place into baking dish; repeat with remaining lasagne and meatballs.
4. Pour over remaining Napolitana sauce to cover and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake in over for 45-50 minutes.
In other news, I had to make chocolate cake this week (yes, had to) but wanted to do something a bit different than just ice it. I made my standard chocolate cake, but rather than using icing I bought a couple of tubs of low fat chocolate mousse from the supermarket and stirred it until it was smooth and then used that as icing! Sprinkle with a crushed up Flake or grated chocolate and voila.
Have to say, I will definitely be doing that again. Easy and very tasty!!
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I am trying to be a bit more organised, and if there's one thing I can do it is to cook up something big that we can have for dinner on a Sunday night and some leftovers during the week.
Last year I made this when a friend came around for dinner, but it was only as I was looking through all the back issues of Diabetic Living that I found the recipes again. I think that this particular issue (July/August 2015) is the issue that I found the most recipes I wanted to try since I subscribed to the magazine. I have previously shared a recipe for Green Chicken Curry Pie which also came from this issue and that is a recipe that I still make regularly, and I have got another recipe that I might post later.
This week though I want to share a recipe for Pulled Pork Ragu, a perfect recipe for cool winter afternoons!! When I first made this recipe I was surprised at how simple it really is. So long as you allow enough time for the slow cooking then there is a bit of work, then leave it and when you come back you get this tasty pulled pork. Yum
The actual recipe for this is Pulled Pork Ragu which is served with celeriac, parsnip and parmesan mash but the posh mash part wasn't a hit last time, so now I just cook normal plain mashed potato. Still tasty!!
Pulled Pork Ragu
1 tspn extra virgin olive oil
1.5kg piece pork leg roast, skin removed, trimmed of fat
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 thin slice prosciutto, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
125ml (1/2 cup) red wine
400g can no-added-salt chopped tomatoes
400g can no-added-salt tomato puree
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs oregano
Flat leaf parsley leaves, to serve.
1. Preheat oven to 140C (fan forced). Heat oil in a large heavy-based stoveproof and ovenproof dish. Add pork and cook, turning often, for 6-7 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Add onion, carrot, celery, prosciutto and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add wine and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add tomato, puree, rosemary and oregano. Bring to a simmer. Return pork to dish. Add to oven and cook, covered, turning once, for 4 hours or until meat starts to fall apart. Transfer pork to a plate, reserving sauce in dish. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Using your hands, pull pork into long shreds. Bring reserved sauce in dish to a simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce reduces slightly. Stir in pork.
3. Cook mash potato
4. Divide mash between serving bowls. Spoon over pork ragu. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.
I'm not really much of an art aficionado. I often don't get what makes popular art popular, especially when it comes to contemporary art. Having said that, I am always interested in learning more and expanding the limited knowledge I do have.
