I have been muttering about Bahn Mi Rolls at work for a long time – trying to find a space in the work cabinet to fit these tasty Vietnamese/french rolls. Counter intuitively it would seem, I didn’t make them when I had a Vietnamese chef working with me – mainly because I suspected – probably rightly – that he would be appalled at the cafe twists I had in mind for them. I think, for me it is the idea of adding these simple pickles to brighten up a sandwich, wrap, or roll that is the genius of the Bahn Mi Roll. Keeping it simple, healthy and affordable I am using them to add some bright notes to my Salads Lettuce wraps Bau buns Wraps Lunch rolls Tacos Nachos Roti roll I’m was planning to use tofu for the protein component today but have leftover chicken from last night so for the first photo thats what I am using. I will come back to the tofu though as tofu is an ingredient that hasn’t always been in my repetoire but with increasing numbers of reliably produced brands, and as always with a desire to mix up the variety of foods we eat I am having some fun experimenting and definitely enjoying the results. Jack fruit is another simple affordable and under used ingredient that works well in this format. After a little experimentation I have come to this interpretation which can be eaten within fifteen minutes of putting together […]
Condiments
Simple Parmesan Salsa
Welcome to Fresh Kitchen 2020. something about that number sounds great doesn’t it – I love new beginnings and a new decade seems like a great chance to set some audacious intentions. At the very least I hope to continue to attempt to live my best life and aim to put a positive spin on everyday. I love it when there is time and energy for creating and eating good food, and even more so when I can be sharing it with family and friends old and new. This Salsa is the perfect way to start any evening – simply served with fresh bread it is amazing, and if you are feeling a little more industrious or your bread is a day old then char grill it and continue to spooning the salsa on to your crostini or dipping in to it. As usual though with any great condiment it doesn’t stop with one use, use it as … As a great dip with fresh bread or char grilled sliced crusty bread crostini. As part of an anti pasta platter with some juicy olives to balance all that cheesy goodness. Spread on a ciabatta or a long sliced french loaf and grilled for a cheesy take on garlic bread. Spooned over your favourite caesar or hearty salad with a splash of good vinegar as well…. With tomatoes and basil. Spooned over hot grilled corn. Tossed through vegetables and roasted…… At the moment Parmesan Salsa feels like a taste of summer […]
My Japanese Ponzu Sauce
Home made summer inspiration coming right up. This cooling Japanese condiment while delicious at any time is particularly suited to hot summer days when you are wanting to do little more than some quick chopping and mixing to achieve dinner. I was initially motivated to make this having had a delicious Beef Tataki at a local restaurant. Inspired, I decided to pair it with Ponzu Sauce and some of Eds venison fillets. This worked really well, but over the next few weeks it came into its own making big entertainment salads with venison Shitake mushrooms, Mushroom House-Crispy Oyster Mushroom Chips (worthy of a mention on there own for there utter deliciousness)…., simple salads for one – namely me – with a piece of salmon, tofu or beef over the top, and more Tataki inspired dishes. It turns out though that this amazing and complex sauce lasts well in the refrigerator – up to six months as long as no water is added and it it works over and beside a huge number of meals. Use it – As a simple salad dressing with a Japanese twist. Make a great big family style salad Over raw or cooked fish such as salmon, tuna, oysters… Beef thinly sliced. Tofu. Potstickers or dumplings as a dipping sauce Shabu – shabu Noodles Poke bowl Buddha or grain bowl Steamed sautéed or charred vegetables Tempura. Crumbed fried or baked meats or vegetables… I am sure there are many other ways just waiting to be tried. […]
Mimosa Sauce and Spring Asparagus
We are enjoying the beginning of the asparagus season here in my world – delicious, crisp, young spears to let us know that spring is really here. I have been celebrating its arrival with an old world sauce that is new to my repetoire, but one that I am sure will become an old favourite. At the start of the season I like to savour my first bunches of asparagus, serving them simply, lightly steamed or blanched with some good butter, salt and pepper and relishing the taste of each slightly salty buttery spear. It is week two now and I am ready to add a little something more, that said I am still looking for clean fresh flavours to enhance but not overwhelm the asparagus. Enter Mimosa sauce, a traditional accompaniment to asparagus that I had somehow missed. Eggs and asparagus are a traditional combination always rich and delicious, and although I will never say no to hollandaise sauce, this delicious Mimosa sauce – which is almost an egg salsa – is somehow fresher and lighter for the start of spring. With the red wine vinegar, capers and mustard this is a punchy sauce that offers lots of umami goodness. Mimosa Sauce is conveniently made up of ingredients that are easy to come by, and often in our refrigerator anyway. Parsley is one of the herbs that hopefully survive the winter somewhere in the garden, and although I haven’t done this I am sure you could sub the shallot […]
Polenta
Such a simple cupboard staple with so many variations. A block of cooled polenta is great fridge food for busy lives, the polenta can be made in minutes and refrigerated ready to snap to action. Best of all it goes with almost anything and makes it better. Most of these photos have been taken over the summer but as we transition to winter I am looking forward to teaming it with the likes of – buttery mushrooms with loads of garlic and parsley or roast pumpkin, maybe some chorizo, spinach, walnuts and cheese, or a slow cooked juicy ragout – mmmmm. Sliced into “chips” and baked or fried polenta is never a bad choice and will make the most conservative palates happy. Set it like a trivit under a stack of roast vegetables and olives or a whole cauliflower drizzled in a spicy paprica oil, or for meaty options – think chicken pieces, lamb fillets, chops, rumps or racks, or a steak on the bone to roast and catch the juices – any of these choices will never be wrong and if you want to test its versatility just crumble it and bake or fry to use as croutons in your next salad and you will be equally happy. Another great feature is that although like most foods polenta can be richly enhanced with any amount of butter cream and cheese, the polenta can be equally delicious when made with fresh herbs, olive oil and or spice mixes such as […]
Zucchini/Courgette and Goats Cheese Butter
Zucchini – courgette whatever the name they are definitely a part of summers bounty, in the stores they are plentiful and affordable and if you have a garden chances are you have a constant supply of them. This is one of my favourite ways of using them, it hits all those exciting flavour notes with chilli, garlic, lemon and basil. It is great on croutons for a party or a snack, spread on flat breads with a bit of salad on top, or spread on your wrap as well as or instead of hummus or mayonnaise, and, it is an especially useful way of using those crazy courgettes gone rogue that look more like marrows. It makes a little bit of good quality goats cheese go a long way and it can make a large quantity of courgettes aka the marrowlike version of courgettes shrink down to a more manageable volume when necessary. When you are preparing the courgettes for this, you can use one of two methods, firstly with young firm courgettes you can simply grate them and add to the pan, but with the larger or watery marrowlike versions, I grate them on to a tea towel and then twist the towel with the courgette well enclosed, over the kitchen sink to wring as much of the liquid as I can from them ( I am sure this liquid is very nutritious and would be great added to smoothies or soups). This squeezing of water from the […]
Labna Yoghurt – Everyday Delicious
Welcome to 2019, I wish you all well and I hope it holds everything good for you. I did have a momentary panic as I sat down at the computer this morning, wondering if I would even remember how to open this blog — it feels it has been a long time since I have sat myself down and written anything, being busy and being creative it would seem do not go hand in hand for me. Luckily life seems to be in some sort of order now (an optimistic view of my normal state of semi controlled chaos) and with the madness of Christmas behind me I am looking forward to some slightly more considered and creative eating and cooking. As always for me it is condiments that star in my cooking and the main player the last few weeks has been strained yoghurt called Labna or Labneh. Labna is a Middle Eastern staple made by straining yoghurt to remove excess whey and resulting in a thickened slightly sour spread. Inspired by both some delicious Turkish eggs eaten at a local cafe, and a recipe from Ottolinghi s new book – Simple – for “Hot charred cherry tomatoes with cold yoghurt”. I was ready to make again that staple I have talked of before Labna/Labnah. While both these recipes use greek yoghurt I wanted to make my own version of this thickened greek style yoghurt in order to control the thickness. With Labna you can choose how thick you […]
Miso Mustard Dressing and Black Bean Noodle Salad
Todays recipe forms the base for a simple weeknight meal for one, or a crowd, but can also be a delicious salad in its own right. Miso meets mustard and comes together in this surprising and delicious dressing/sauce. Miso it seems is a very versatile ingredient which can be used in surprising and different ways apart from all the wonderful Japanese recipes we know and love. With its strong umami flavour, its fermented gut health qualities and its very long shelf life, it is a great addition to the refrigerator. Its longevity works really well for me – with my impulsive food buying nature, I like to know I don’t have to use it all now, and risk my family becoming thoroughly sick of one particular ingredient. No chance of that today though as I ended up making supper for one on this occasion as flight plans were unexpectedly rescheduled. Luckily this is one of those meal plans that can easily fit around the needs of the moment for the masses or the few. I have been working on extending my repetoire for simple meal plans for weeknights. We have been making some amazing ready meals at work and I like the idea of extending this idea to some of my home meal prep. I haven’t made this “one pan” – but still the dishes are not onerous with a blender or jar for the dressing, a pot for the noodles and vegetables and a pan or sheet tray for […]
Carrot Top Pesto
Todays pesto combines the mild flavoured, fresh green goodness of carrot tops, with some punchy flavoured Peccorino cheese, garlic, chilli, lemon juice, olive oil and toasted cashew nuts. Carrot top pesto was not my intention for the blog today, but having bought the lovely baby carrots to go in a salad it was immediately apparent that the tops were almost more vibrant than the carrots. This reminded me of my frustration in seeing people throwing carrot tops like these in the rubbish bin and so here I am making peace with my own carrot tops and making pesto today. I could just have easily have used these lovely greens to made a herb dressing, a salsa verde, or used then in another batch of last weeks sassy salsa / ravigote sauce. Carrot tops have a mild slightly parsley / spinach like flavour making them ideal for my pesto today. You can, of coarse, use this method and list of ingredients to make what ever pesto you like – basil, parsley, rocket … This loose recipe offers another quick and tasty option to use up those spare ‘herb’ greens that you have either taken the trouble to grow or purchased. I have used cashew nuts in my pesto as in this part of the world they offer a more cost effective option than the more expensive pinenuts. The cashews will still give the same buttery texture, but as always you should feel free to use what you prefer. This pesto, or […]
My Chunky Ravigote Sauce
I am ready for spring eating and entertaining with this super simple little sauce in the refrigerator now. The 1st of September marks the first day of spring for us so we aren’t quite there yet, but having had a mild winter it is not far off. I have read this sauce / salsa described as “wake up sauce”, which is the perfect description of this sassy little salsa. Just what is needed to perk up last weeks “fish-in-chips” or a butter basted piece of fresh fish, steak or schnitzel or jazz up a burger. Don’t feel that meat is the only match for this sauce either – it will work just as well as a dressing for – a potato, bean and tomato, or egg salad, on the side of your Spicy Pumpkin and Possibly Feta, Fritters …or fish fritters such as my New Zealand Green lip Mussel Fritters and these are just a start on for ideas for my Ravigote sauce. Think fresh asparagus with minced hard boiled egg dressed with this sauce spooned artistically over……. For the ravigote sauce fresh herbs are combined with a punchy mustard, some red onion and gherkins then brought together with a gentle extra virgin olive oil. No gadgets needed just a little chopping and mixing and you have the perfect sauce which will stay stable in the refrigerator for a good ten days. Whats better you can use what herbs you have on hand at the time, and at the end of winter […]