Student kitchens
Easy, delicious, healthy(ish) recipes that won’t own your budget.Archive for sides
More miso, less misery
So…I went overseas for about a month and forgot to say anything about it, and then I realised wordpress is blocked in China (where I went). Let’s not get into the political frustration of that right now. Personally, oops, and sorry, and if you bought miso due to my rapturous recommendation last post, then here’s another way to use it. Just as fast and easy, quite a bit more delicious. Before I get down to the recipe (miso glazed noodles with sesame oil and spring onions, plus an optional green salad on the side with a super simple soy and rice wine vinegar dressing), let me show you how ridiculous my 5 square meter garden is right now, after 4 weeks of me being gone:
Planted in my precious 5 square metres: sage, thyme, oregano, carrots, leeks, celery (2 types), 4 types of lettuce, kale, snow peas, mesclun salad leaves (my favourite being mizuna red coral), radishes and spinach. In the pots: leek? onion?, flat parsley, chives, garlic chives, blue cornflowers, blueberry bush, rhubarb, and Bob has half a dozen kids of berries.
That’s after I pulled out about 5 carrots whose tops had grown about a metre high. The front pots do contain some of Bob’s achievements, such as the boysenberries, but other than that, there are very few weeds, and Will didn’t even water the vege garden once (to his credit, he didn’t forget, the plants just kept…growing…). I used some organic fertilisery stuff before I left, but the nitrogen fixing from the snow peas staked at the back must have given the plants around their roots a bit of a boost. I have so much vegetable.
In this section: mesclun salad leaf mix (kale, mizuna, mizuna red coral, mustard streaks, some magenta coloured thing, and a whole bunch or other things I dunno the name of…maybe raddichio?), spring onions, carrots, unhappy (ok, dead) purple beans, and flat parsley. In pots: Marigolds and blue cornflowers, plus some more mesclun salad in the big tub…although maybe I shouldn’t grow any more for a wee while…
This is the second 5 square meter vege garden I dug up, but it doesn’t get nearly as much sun, so the spring onions (which is in the same family of onions, which wards off slugs) surrounding the mesclun mix got a bit weed choked. So far the companion planting seems to be working wonders, as this garden has very few bug bites or problems. Let me know if you’re interested. Before you think I’ve lost my mind gardening, let me show you who I feed some of the scraps to:
Bob and Emily’s rabbits! Adam says the left one looks like a Panda rabbit.
Anyway, onto pressing issues such as how to use up that miso you bought!
Miso glazed noodles
per person
A bunch (about 2cm diameter) of soba/buckwheat noodles (see photo below)
3/4Tbs miso paste
approx 1 Tbs chopped spring onion
approx 1 tsp sesame oil
approx 2 tsp canola or cooking oil
Bring about 2-3c unsalted water to the boil in a saucepan on medium high heat, add noodles. Stir occasionally for about 3-5 minutes, until noodles are softened. Drain, but retain some moisture. Immediately add the rest of the ingredients, and stir until thoroughly combined and evenly distributed. Serve.
These buckwheat/soba noodles are my new version of 2 minute noodles, but healthier and just as versatile. They taste different to 2 minute noodles, but not enough for them to be off putting. They aren’t as cheap, however, with this 1.3kg packet costing about $10 at Kosco on Blenheim Rd (most Asian supermarkets, particularly Korean or Japanese ones, have several varieties in stock). Still…1.3kg is a lot of noodle.
Onto the green salad, which consists of mesclun salad leaves (easy find at the vege section at supermarkets, you can pick as much or as little as you like. Growing is easy too, even in containers) and chopped or shaved cucumber. The dressing is just 1 part good Japanese soy sauce (such as Kikkoman), 2 parts rice wine vinegar or white vinegar, 1 part sesame oil and 1 part canola oil. Use about 2 Tbs dressing per serving for good measure.
I’ve had this for dinner and lunch already, and I’ve only been home 2 days! If you want you can add nuts or chopped hard boiled egg to the salad to add even more protein, but remember miso is relatively high in protein anyway. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
PS. Anyone notice that I didn’t use my DSLR camera? I got a new point and shoot, and thought I’d try it out. Lightroom did wonders too.
How I like my veggibles…
…cooked, but still pretty crunchy, never boiled, brightly coloured and brightly flavoured, not drowned in sauce (except maybe…cheese..sauce), but seasoned enough to bring out the individual flavours and complement them well.
If you like your vegetables this way too, but haven’t yet tried doing so on your own, then this is your lucky day. Gather round, for I be sharing my super simple, highly versatile, top secret way of getting stir fried vegetables perfect.
Zo’s guide to getting to the peak of vegetable perfectiondom.
Ingredients needed:
Veges
Cooking oil
salt
possibly a splash of water or two, depending on what veges you use
extra optional additions (just some suggestions, don’t use the lot obviously):
seeds (esp. sesame), flavoured oils (eg. chilli, garlic, or sesame oils), pepper, light sauces (eg. light soy sauce, oyster sauce, or even a light chicken stock), freshly roasted nuts (these go in the oven while you’re cooking the veges), herbs, spices (eg. cumin), finely chopped garlic…
Equipment needed:
cast iron or regular frypan, or a wok with fitting lid (no need for non stick, unless you’re adding meat to the mix)
a heat-proof cooking spoon or spatula or large wooden spoon (never use metal on non stick pans)
a decent chef’s knife or cleaver, and chopping board
The basic method I use is a combination of steaming & stir frying. The only bit of stir frying you really need to put a thinking hat on for is the order in which to put your veges in the pan, and also how well you like certain vegetables done. This is why frozen vegetable mixes are not Zo’s friends (among other reasons). Individually, frozen veges are fine. They will need a little adjusting in terms of cooking time though. Below is a rough guide on the order of things, vegetably speaking:
Put in first:
anything cut larger than a walnut, especially things like broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes (which I generally avoid in stir fries, but if using, I wouldn’t cut them any bigger than small, 2cm cubes) etc. Also, onions. Unless you like your onions “just cooked,” in which case you can put them in last or second. Generally these ingredients want about a minute or two in the pan (maybe partially covered) before moving on to second base.
Put in second:
Anything thicker than 1cm, but less than walnut sized. So if you cut carrots into cubes, for example, you put these in earlier than if you cut them into thin matchsticks. If you like your cabbage softened, throw them in here rather than at the end. If you like them really soft, throw them in at the beginning. Generally these ingredients want about a minute or two in the pan (maybe partially covered) before moving on to second base.
Put in last:
Anything less than 5mm thick, or anything you can pretty much eat raw. So, even if you cut spinach into huge leaves, you’d put these in last, because you can eat spinach raw. Most leaves follow this rule, except for cabbage (although raw cabbage doesn’t exactly taste bad, y’know?). You want them JUST wilted, and then everything should come out of the pan, pronto. The heat retained in the vegs will mean they keep cooking even after out of the pan, so that’s why you should be taking them out even if they’re not totally wilted. Capsicum/bell peppers always go in last. Mushrooms can also go in last, if you don’t want them thoroughly cooked. Peas also go in last, although maybe half a minute before leaves. Generally these ingredients want about thirty seconds in the pan (NOT covered) before serving.
Now, there is a reason Chinese take outs can do fresh vegetable stir fries to order in the amount of time it takes McDonalds to serve up a hamburger. This is because it’s meant to be a fast cooking process, because most of the time is spent on prepping the ingredients. However, to cut time here, you can prep ingredients that go in later while the “big” veges are cooking. So for example, you can start with just chopping your onion, throwing it in the pan with some oil, and while it’s cooking, chop the next ingredients to go in, and so on.
If you like bits of your veges a little “seared” or “charred,” all you need to do is put the pan on a medium high – high heat and leave your veges alone for about 30 seconds so the bottom gets a little brown touch. Don’t do this for every side, or your veges will be overdone. However, if you can get only one side browned, they will taste AWESOME. Think seared meats. Yeah.
The process as a whole requires a little common sense on your part. If stuff looks a little too wet (there’s water surrounding the veges where they touch the pan), leave the pan uncovered. If things keep going brown faster than you’d like, turn the heat down and add a little splash of water.
Meat, eggs, tofu, nuts or other nice things
Before I begin, just a note about seafood: it generally does not like being in a stir fry. Squid is okay, but considering the amount of effort required, generally I don’t add seafood to my stir fries. Nothin wrong with a fillet of fish on the side (if you’ve overcome the overfishing argument), but avoid it in stir fries.
Par-cook your meat (preferably marinated beforehand in some sort of sauce) before even starting the veges, and set aside. Same with eggs and tofu. Eggs should not be wet but should have lmost no golden brown spots. Tofu should be stir fried in some sauce.
With nuts or seeds, roast at 180C for about 3-7 minutes until the nuts are golden or seeds are slightly puffed up and darkened a touch. Remove, cool on a cold plate, and mix in just before serving veges, after you’ve removed the veges from the heat.
Sauces
I generally use light, liquidy sauces that stick to the veges but don’t coat them in a slimy layer of excessive sauce-ness. To each his/her own, but I promise you, less is more. Add sauces near the end of cooking, because otherwise most will burn. You can add half at the middle of the process, but generally, don’t add it at the very beginning. If you want to use store bought sauces, try using half the reccommended amount and you may be pleasantly surprised (assuming you use fresh, not frozen, veges).
Add a pinch of salt with the onions, but otherwise, add salt and pepper at the end.
Here are my top five favourite sauces/additions:
1. Light soy sauce (get an Asian brand, at an Asian supermarket) – about 1 tsp per cup of veges
2. Oyster sauce (ditto above) – about 1/4tsp per cup of veges
3. Sesame oil – drizzle a little over your veges after you’ve plated them. Sesame oil brings out the flavours of most veges, and tastes delicious on its own. Use sparingly.
4. White vinegar – for cabbage, about 1/2 tsp per cup of veges
5. Butter – a few tiny cubes of butter are amazing to top your hot veges with if you’ve used oil sparingly. Or cook your onions in butter. Works great with cabbage.
I have yet to try teriyaki sauce, but have heard it is great for marinating meats.
Happy vegetable-ising!
Oven fries, tried and true.
You’d think something like oven baked chips would be a simple process. If not, a simple google search would surely tell you how to solve the dilemma of getting your chips not to stick, or someone will have posted why they never come out all crunchy like the pre-fried, frozen packeted stuff. Even if you want to bombard me with links confirming your convictions in the food blogosphere, I will tell you this much: every trick that I’ve picked up from google searches and otherwise perfectly likeable food blogs have not made me a happy oven chip maker. Why? Well, even if I wasn’t too lazy to boil the potatoes first for the exact right amount of time, then coat them in chickpea flour to make them crunchy, and somehow on top of that remember to preheat the oven with the pan and oil in…would I? I can say right now that I’ve never done all three, and pretty much never intend to. You know why? Because, GODDAMNIT, they are oven fries. If I wanted perfect fries, it ain’t hard to find them in less time and effort. If I was in the mood for finicky business, I’d make a filo pie or something, right? With caramelised onions, just to up the potential for screw ups (do not ask me about screw ups, by the way, unless you’d like a lengthy rant about the perils of whisking your own mayo or the importance to always use common sense, no matter what a recipe tells you…oh, wait, too late, I seem to have expelled a lengthy sentence within brackets already).
It’s okay…the need to insert a picture has somewhat distracted me. Basically, I thought it was high time for me to post the method I finally figured out that didn’t involve much effort, had a total cooking time of only 30 minutes (even frozen fries require about that much time, except maybe for shoestring fries), and were acceptable to the palate. Of course, I didn’t manage this all on my own, and credit must be given to Emily, new flatmate addition, for making chips one night. There I stood, disbelieving, and now here I am, converted. I may use two to three times as much oil as Emily does, but really, if you’re going to punish me for that, you’re evidently just a nit picker. Nit picker.
One thing I will say about the oil quantity: Loads of oil will mean the chips will end up softening as they cool. On the other hand, if you skimp on the oil, your chips will be relatively hard but drier, which is fine if you plan to drown them in aioli, but I figure I should mention these things. At the end of this post I will also provide some tips should you one day decide to take on the task of making the perfect oven chips/wedges, you nutjob. Heh. Only kidding. Also, I know the guide looks long, but really, I’m just giving you very detailed instructions and tips throughout so that there is pretty much no way you’ll screw this up, unless your oven explodes unexpectedly or something.
The guide to EASY, no-anguish oven fries/wedges
potatoes
oil
salt
pepper
herbs (optional)
Preheat your oven to 230C (450F), with one rack arranged on the VERY bottom, and one rack arranged on the VERY top of the oven. Grease 1-2 baking trays or flat bottomed roasting dish with about half as much oil as you intend to use (see above my note about oil quantity and how it affects chip texture). Cut your potatoes into chip shapes, about 1cm wide and 1cm thick, or wedges about 2cm thick. Place them on your greased tray(s) as you go, all on a single layer, leaving enough space between the chips. This bit is key to the not sticking part of the process – make sure you leave at least a 1mm gap between every chip. Corners can touch, but not sides. Drizzle the potatoes with the second half of the oil you intend to use, and brush with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to coat the chips in oil (unless you like hard, leathery chips). Remember to maintain that 1mm distance between the chips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and herbs if you want.
Now, you can do two trays at a time with this method, or one tray (I think one tray serves one relatively student as lunch on its own), but the rotation halfway is essential. Once your oven is up to temperature, place trays in, one on the very bottom, one on the very top. If you’re only doing one tray, start the chips on the bottom rack (they stick the least) Set your timer for 15 minutes (although I’d check at 10, just in case). Once the 15 minutes are up, swap the trays over, or move your single tray from the bottom to top rack. Let bake another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven once the tops and bottoms are golden, or have golden patches. Wedges may need a few extra minutes. Let cool on trays for a minute before removing with a heatproof spatula or tongs.
Serve with your favourite sauce, or on their own.
Tips & Tricks
Crunch
Instead of putting the potatoes straight onto your tray, put them in a large bowl and add 3/4 of the oil, some chickpea flour, and any herbs/spices you like, plus salt. Toss to just coat the chips/wedges in the mixture, and then spread out on your oven trays.
If you want the chips to be as not-soft as possible, place a napkin/paper towels/serviettes in your serving bowl before putting them in the bowl.
Flavour
Check out my simple cajun spice mix. For a really simple flavour boost, you can use garlic salt (sprinkle onto chips 15 minutes into cooking when rotating so the heat doesn’t zap the flavour), mixed herbs, or simply a pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli powder to add a spicy punch. Lemon pepper always goes well with any sort of seafood.
Check out my sauces and dressings page if you feel like whipping up a really simple dipping sauce while the chips are cooking. Personally I’m a big sucker for tartare, but of course, it all depends on your mood and the day.
Functional quiche
I’ve done quiche recipes in the past, but there are a few things about this one that are worth a mention. The tart dough is what’s leftover from making a Frangipani tart (that’s an almond-y tart), and it’s completely different to the shortcrusts I normally whip up in ten minutes (check past quiche recipes for the fast crust if you’re short on time).
The dough I used is super flaky, very much like using puff pastry, yet doesn’t require nearly as much folding. I made a very thin crust, so the edges were even crisper. You can of course use any pastry dough you want, but this one will be a winner on my list for a good long while. Meanwhile, the filling is the sort of thing you wack up in ten minutes, with whatever veges you have lying around, some eggs, and salt. So really, it’s like an egg & vegetable tart. No added cream makes it really easy to decide to whip up on the day without really needing to pop out for extra ingredients (especially if you make the pastry ahead of time and freeze it…or I suppose you could use store bought…sigh). Perfect for lunch the next day, reheated or cold.
I also got to use my brand new non stick quiche pan, which has higher sides and bigger folds, making it super cute and pretty. What can I say – I’m a sucker for kitchenware sales ($10 from Stevens, down 50%). Bring on the quiches and tarts with a decent heft of filling, I say!
For this particular quiche I used some small broccoli florets and onion that I cooked up first, plus some mushrooms and peas – a strange combination, I know, but it makes a decent lunch with the inclusion of all that greenery, you see.
Super casual, functional yet delicious vege quiche.
makes one 9″ quiche, just under 1″ thick (serving 4 as a large side)
Crust (makes 2 lots, I say make it all and freeze half for using later)
from Manggy’s blog No Special Effects
150g unsalted butter, chopped into 1 inch cubes and frozen 20 mins beforehand
225g (1 1/2 c + 1 Tbs) flour
1/2 tsp salt
75ml (approx 1/3c) super cold water
First thing to do is put your cold water in the freezer. Meanwhile, cut butter, flour and salt together with two knives, two forks, a pastry cutter or a food processor. Do not do this with your fingers, as the heat from your hands will soften the butter and it will not turn out flaky. You want the largest chunks of butter to only be about 2cm at the greatest length, and the whole thing to look like breadcrumbs with some small lumps of butter in. Remove water from the freezer and add gradually to the flour & butter mixture, using a spoon to bring it together into a dough. Only add as much water as is needed to get the dough to come together. Here you may need to use your hands to incorporate the last bits of flour (best to rinse hands in cold water first). See, cold kitchens can come in handy!
Divide the dough in half, form a ball with each half, and flatten into a disc. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. If you want to make the quiche as a speedy dinner, it’s best to prep the dough the night before.
Filling
4-5 free range eggs
1c broccoli , cut into small walnut sized florets
1 onion, chopped finely
approx 1/3c frozen peas
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
pinch dried oregano
cooking oil
optional: 1/2c grated strong cheese
Heat about 1 Tbs oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add onions, oregano and broccoli to the pan, and cook, stirring every 2 minutes, until onion is golden and translucent and the broccoli has changed colour to a much brighter green. You’re only half cooking the broccoli at this stage remember, as it will cook further in the oven. Remove pan from heat, and add frozen peas to the hot pan, and let defrost in the pan.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and salt until slightly frothy. Set aside.
Construction
This bit requires you to work speedily, so the pastry stays cold (and turns out flaky). Preheat the oven to 190C (375F), with a rack in the center. Grease a 9″ cake tin, quiche pan with removeable bottom or 9″ springform cake tin (unless they’re nonstick). Make sure all your filling ingredients are ready to go. Flour a working surface, and roll one portion of your dough out to a 13″ circle (you want just under 2 inches of overhang on each side to be the edge of your quiche). Fit into your prepared pan (if using a cake tin, you may need to press the pastry to the sides).
Pour the whisked eggs into the crust, and scatter the broccoli and onion over evenly. Scatter over the mushrooms, and then the cheese. Finish with freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the center of your oven for about 30 minutes (check at 20 minutes), until the sides are golden and the egg filling is just set. Remove from tin and cut up to serve on a chopping board or similar. Enjoy with a fresh salad. 
Fast flatbread, in the pan and out in 15 minutes
No yeast, no rising, no proofing, but still springy, soft with a crunch, and bread-y – not like a cracker-like flatbread, or the base of thin and crispy pizzas. Yes, I know, hardly an inspired opening line, but honestly, that sums this up – it’s unfussy, without need for extravagant investments or dilly-dallying, highly functional, yet fantastic. The best thing around when it’s too late to make rice, or you want a change from pasta and noodles, or when you’re out of yeast, or when you simply can’t, or don’t want to, wait hours for your dough to rise.
For dipping, for serving with soup, alongside a quick lunch-y salad, or just as a snack, this is so easy. I’ve a few tips, as the first time I made this it was a disaster, in more ways than one. I had expected it to come out perfect, and was crushed the way you get crushed when your parents tell you a a kid that there was a last minute call from the office and they won’t be taking you to Disneyland anymore. But no matter – let’s focus on the dozens of perfect flatbreads I’ve produced since then.
Tibetan flatbread, from Fuji Mama (great pics)
makes one 22cm round flatbread, 3cm (just under 1″) thick
3/4 c wholemeal flour*
3/4 c plain white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. water, separated
2 Tbsp oil
*If you have no wholemeal but have wheat bran and germ, you can use 1/4c of each plus 1/4c of white instead of wholemeal flour.
Mix flours, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Make a well in the center, pour in 3/4c water, and mix (preferably with spatula) until you get a very wet dough – almost like a cake batter, adding the last 1/4c water if necessary. Avoid over mixing.
Add oil to a COLD frypan, and spread it out a little. Scrape the dough into the pan, and spread it out with a spatula or spoon to the edge of the pan. Dribble 2 Tbsp water around the edge of the dough, cover the pan, and turn heat to medium, setting a timer for 10 minutes. Try to use a cooking element that covers the whole base of the frypan. Let cook for 10 minutes, then uncover, and flip, then set the timer for another 5 minutes. It MAY stick when you try to flip it – if this is the case let the pan cool on a cold element for about 30 seconds, then try to dislodge the bread.
Remove the bread from the pan to a chopping board, and cut into wedges to serve (I like to cut it in half, then cut very long, thin wedges). Enjoy!
Winter greens – bok choi with mushrooms, soy and oyster sauce
I searched Tastespotting and Foodgawker recently for winter recipes, and I was finished looking in under half an hour. Most of the recipes involved things like “injecting some spring into your winter,” or using summer veges preserved from the summer. Unfortunately, my tomato harvest only just covered my summer appetite, and buying spring veges is expensive. However, I do have plenty of bok choy in the garden, and because it’s a winter vegetable, there are plenty of cheap bok choy options at the green grocers, asian supermarkets, and even regular supermarkets. Obviously, the Asian route will be cheapest and freshest, plus there are heaps of little varieties that are perfect for this dish.
This is my favourite way to have bok choy now. It’s a little more effort than simply flash-cooking it in the pan with some oil and salt, but ZOMG it is so worth it. Plus the mushrooms soak up all the saucey flavoury goodness and taste phenomenal. If you use little bok choy, they look soo cute and pretty too! Especially arranged in a circle with the bok choy acting as petals, and the mushrooms in the middle…and sauce drizzled all…over…*drools*
By the way, before I divulge the recipe, if you have any space for growing bok choi, it grows fine in winter (you may want to start the seeds off inside and then transplant them to speed the process up) and is actually improved by frosts once slightly matured. It’s soooo much nicer home grown, and you can always peel off the outer leaves and it will keep growing quite happily. Slugs are more of a problem in summer, so now or early spring is a great time to plant them. Kings Seeds offer the best selection (search Pak choi) – if you want to save the seed, remember not to get hybrid varieties. Other names this goes by is: Pak Choi, Bai Chai (Mandarin), “Asian” Greens.
Bok Choi with mushrooms, soy & oyster sauce.
makes one plate serving two as a side dish
one medium sized bunch (about 400g) small bok choy, halved vertically (along the stem). If using just leaves, cut in half horizontally (across the stem), or if using fully mature bok choy, quarter each one vertically. Make sure to wash the dirt from in between the leaves (do this by peeling back the leaves gently without detaching them).
6 button mushrooms halved, or 2 portobello mushrooms, cut into sixths, or shiitake mushrooms soaked overnight, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbs cooking oil
4 Tbs light soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
pinch salt and pepper to taste
sesame oil for drizzling
Mix soy sauce and oyster sauce together until oyster sauce is fully dissolved in a small bowl, and set aside.
In a large frypan, heat cooking oil on medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, throw in garlic and mushrooms, and cook until one side of the mushrooms has changed colour to be slightly translucent looking. Add all the bok choi stems first, and let cook for about 15 seconds before flipping with tongs. Add soy and oyster sauce combination, turn off heat, and stir sauce in. Let bok choi leaves wilt (you may want to leave some slightly unwilted, as they will wilt further once plated) and stems go slightly translucent and greener, and plate with tongs, arranging however you like (they look prettiest with the middle showing, as pictured below. Drizzle over sesame oil, add a sprinkling of black pepper if desired, and nom.
Thin and crunchy crust quick fix pizza
Zomg. I whipped this up in a jiffy for lunch, and basically felt sick from overeating for several hours afterwards. To be fair, I was the only one home, okay? It would have been a waste of really good ingredients (caramelised onions, hello?). Don’t give me that look. Do, however, make this. Lunch or dinner. Nom Nom.
The base doesn’t require ANY rising, but does have a little yeast in (I guess for flavour because there’s very little rising). I think I did my base a little too thin, but this just made it quicker to cook and crunchier. I ain’t complaining. My only gripe is that I personally didn’t have more topping ingredients – I’d run out of my gooey white goat’s gouda from the cheese shop, so I had to use dobs or cream cheese. You can use pretty much any good cheese, but even just one relatively creamy cheese would be good, like feta. Instead of rocket, any mustardy green leafy thing should do. In fact, you can experiment with plenty of other toppings, just remember not to use things that will release too much water or you won’t get crunchy crust, but rather, a hard-chewy-soggy mess.
Caramelised onion, rocket & goats cheese pizza
makes two large pizzas
2 T butter
pinch salt
1 large onion, sliced very thin
2 large handfuls of rocket
about 150g goats cheese (white gouda or feta), crumbled
black pepper, to taste
1 T extra virgin olive oil
In a medium sized frypan on medium heat, cook onions in butter and a pinch of salt. Stir every now and then, and let cook for about 10 minutes, until deeply golden brown. Once cooked, let cool and set aside.
Crust
3/8 c water
1/4 t dry active yeast
1 c all-purpose flour (or half and half white and wholemeal for super crispiness)
1/4 t salt
Preheat oven to 250C (500F), arranging a rack in the centre. Mix water and yeast, let sit until yeast dissolved. Add flour and salt, and mix through to form a soft dough. Scrape dough onto a lightly floured surface, and form into a ball. Halve the ball into two portions. Roll out each portion until super thin, almost translucent when you hold it up to the light. Transfer to a lightly greased baking tray.
Bake for about 3 minutes until the edges are lightly golden. Remove from oven, top with half the rocket, cheese, and onions, and drizzle with half the olive oil. Return to oven as quickly as possible for another 5 minutes or so, until the edges are properly golden. Remove from oven, and repeat the process for the the other portion of dough.
To serve, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, slice, and crunch away.
Easy peasy vinegar squeezy
If you’ve never had cabbage sauteed with a splash of vinegar, you’re missing out. It’s one of the best flavour combinations, partly also because it’s not fancy or expensive, but still bloody fantastic.
Turns out the splash of vinegar also pairs well with kale. Kale is sort of like…dark coloured cabbage, but it’s more leafy rather than tight ball of leaves all crammed together, if you get my drift. In any case, you can totally use cabbage in this recipe and get away with it. If you’re keen to try kale out though, wander on down to a farmers market, as they’re in season (in New Zealand) and very affordable. They also last ok in a bag that’s not in the fridge, although having said that our kitchen is probably just scraping two digits in the temperature department… Ah, winter.
I highly recommend the parmesan/three cheese mash that this is sitting atop, by the way. I was sick with the flu when I made this but it was easy enough to whip up and to eat without thinking about the fact that I was consuming dairy (does anyone else find they can’t eat dairy when they’re sick? Even the thought of yoghurt conjures up imagery of oral excretions). On that happy note, I present garlic and red wine vinegar sauteed kale n mushrooms perched atop a parmesan potato mash.
Sauteed kale bit
serves two, as if you are on some whimsical diet
lots of kale (chop it up, and you want about 3-4 cups worth) or cabbage
lots of garlic (about 4-5 cloves)
shallots or half an onion, pretty much minced
some white button mushrooms, quartered
about 1/4c red wine vinegar (or white if you have it, esp. with normal cabbage)
cooking oil (extra virgin olive oil works wonderfully)
salt and pepper to taste
Heat some oil in a pan, and throw everything in except the vinegar. Cook on medium high heat until the mushrooms are taking on that translucent sheen and the kale is nice and wilted. Add vinegar, toss it around a bit, and remove from heat. By the way, I suggest you have your potatoes cooked before your start this, and the cheese all ready.
Parmesan/three cheese mash
serves two
4-5 medium potatoes, chopped to 1cm dice, plus enough water to keep ‘em submerged
large handful finely grated parmesan & gouda, plus a little sprinkling of another strong cheese (I used goats gouda). Tbh any strong cheese will do, but use STRONG cheese, or you won’t really taste it
salt and pepper to taste
about 30g butter, chopped into little bits
Boil potatoes plus a generous sprinkling of salt (or stock buillon) on medium high heat until fork tender (as I said, cook your other veges while doing this). Drain, reserving some liquid (depending how mushy you like your mash), add butter and cheese, and mash. Add further salt and pepper if desired, and serve up.
Soo hot right now…rosemary garlic baked mushrooms
THE most delicious thing you can add to you roast meal? Rosemary and garlic mushrooms. Even ordinary white button mushrooms.
These go in the last 15 minutes of roasting at about 200C (400F), or 20 minutes at 180C (350F). It’s super simple. Once all your other thing shave gone in the oven, brush your mushrooms (or clean them your way). Finely chop some garlic with fresh rosemary (or dry), about one small clove per mushroom. Place the garlic and herbs in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil (just enough to coat) and some salt and pepper. Mix it all up, and let it sit until it’s ready to go in the oven. Throw in with the rest of your veges, toss/mix, and let cook until the outsides are dark brown. So moreish and versatile, I used an entire half bag of mushrooms on these babies. Enjoy! x
PS. some fresh or dried thyme also works intead of, or in addition to, the rosemary.
Super simple tomato soup
I know, I’ve been failing rather miserably lately. While I may only have one exam looming (on the 22nd, too), and it’s a multi-choice exam, I know a lot of students out there are slogging it away, with barely any time for sleep, let alone making tortellini from scratch. I know, I know. This is where I make it up to you. I’m sharing my method for making tomato soup. It’s ridiculously easy and versatile, thus its one of the few things I use canned food for (that and green curries are my weak spots).
As you can see, I’ve gone a little crazy with dairy (and Adobe Lightroom*) at the moment. There was the last of my buttermilk in the soup (optional), and I got a bit happy with the Parmesan I got at Canterbury Cheesemongers. It’s such a wonderful place, by the way – it’s so nice being able to taste a sliver of whatever you’re contemplating spending over $10 a slab for! Their recommendations have been brilliant so far. Anyway, I served this alongside some brie sliced up with home made bread rolls. In any case, this soup makes a great dip for any heading-for-staleness bread you have left.
* Yes, I did get carried away with making the red the perfect shade of hot, sexy, fiery red. Admittedly the actual soup did not hurt to look at nearly so much :P
Before I proceed, I know everyone has different methods of making their tomato soup. Share your tomato soup prowess with a comment, go on.
Quickie tomato soup
serves 2
1×400g can chopped tomatoes (preferably plain. You can use flavoured ones if you reeeaaally want to, but plain gives you more versatility. Also whole tomatoes chopped up by you are perfectly admirable)
2 stalks of celery, chopped finely (optional, but I like celery and texture in my soup)
1 onion, finely chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt & pepper to taste
dash red wine vinegar (optional)
enough water to make it soupy (to your liking)
any herbs and spices you feel like. Good ones for tomato soup:
oregano, basil, thyme (herbs – about 1/2 tsp dried each if using)
cumin, curry powder, cayenne pepper, chilli powder, (spices – about 1/4-1/2 tsp each if using)
splash of cream or buttermilk, or a dollop of greek yogurt or sour cream (optional). Creamy dips work okay too, just ensure the flavours will gel with the rest of your seasonings.
parmesan for grating on top, or a nice cheese to serve alongside bread.
butter or olive oil (approx 2 Tbs)
In a medium sized saucepan, heat oil/butter on medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic, along with salt and pepper, herbs and spices, and cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly golden. Thrown in tomatoes, bring to a boil, and add water to bring to your desired consistency. I like mine thick, so sometimes I just throw in another can of tomatoes! Bring to a simmer, turn heat to low, and partially cover, letting slowly simmer for five minutes or so.
Uncover, taste, season further (add vinegar here if you feel the soup lacks acidity), and add your creams. Let simmer another 2 mins and serve. Grate over parmesan if using, and add another sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper, fresh herbs or a pinch of cayenne if you have them. Serve with some sort of crusty bread (if it ain’t crusty, make it crusty by toasting it first), and maybe more cheese if you’re that way inclined!
