Shiitake, Swede and Soba Noodle Soup

With bones saved from our roast bantams I had a big pot of fresh stock sitting on the stove.  After having left over risotto for lunch I felt like something lite for dinner so a Japanese type broth was in order.

Again, dinner came in under $5 with the help of home made stock and free self-seeded tat-soi from the garden.  Soaking the mushrooms and seaweed gives the soup a more authentic Japanese flavour.

Shiitake, Swede and Soba Noodle Soup Recipe
Serves 4-5

3L Chicken or Vegetable Stock
1 Large Swede, peeled and diced to 1cm cubes
10 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
10cm Strip of Dried Kelp (optional)
3 Bundles Soba Noodles
1T Soy Sauce
2t Sesame Oil
2 Big Bunches Tat-Soi or Pak-Choi, divided and rinsed well

At least 1 hour before meal time pour 1 litre of warm water over shiitake mushrooms and seaweed and leave to soak, weigh down mushrooms with a small plate if needed.

When ready to prepare the meal set a large pot of water to boil and throw in the soba noodles.  If the water looks like it's going to boil over add half a cup of cold water to slow it down, this is called 'Surprise Water', a Japanese trick I learned a few years ago.  When noodles are done (usually 3 'surprises') drain and rinse well under cold water.  Set aside.

Meanwhile strain stock from mushrooms and add to chicken stock with the seaweed strips.  Rub any grit off the mushrooms and cut into halves or quarters, add these to stock too along with the swede.  Put stock over a high heat and just before it begins to boil remove the seaweed and discard.  Add soy sauce and sesame oil - and maybe a little salt, mine need it because there was very little in the stock I'd made.  Boil for 5 minutes until swede is tender and then add the tat-soi and cook for another 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the soba noodles to warm and serve.  This would be nice topped with sliced spring onions too.

Risotto Verde

After having fluorescent orange corn chips in the house and feeling pretty gross a good dose of kale was in order.  This was put together really quickly and disappeared just as fast.

Using homemade stock and kale from the garden the risotto worked out to be only $3.50 and there's enough for 2 meals.  We had little bantam roasts on the side too - yum!

Risotto Verde Recipe
Serves 6 - 8

4T Olive Oil
Big Bunch Kale, stripped and stalks finely chopped
1 Large Onion, peeled and diced
3 Cloves Garlic, peeled and minced
Salt and Pepper
350g Rice, short grain or risotto rice
1 Litre Chicken or Vegetable Stock
150ml White Wine (or extra stock)
1½C Green Beans, chopped
Parmesan to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180°c Bake.
In an oven proof pan heat half of the olive oil over medium heat.  Add kale and cook till wilted.  Pour in half a cup of the stock and simmer for a minute or 2.  Remove from pan and blend to a puree (I used magic bullet).  Keep to the side.
In the same pan heat the remaining oil, add onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook till soft and clear.  Add in rice and cook for another minute.  Pour in remaining stock and white wine, turn up the heat and bring to a high simmer.  Sprinkle over green beans, cover and transfer to the oven.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed and rice is just tender.  Stir through the kale mixture and serve topped with parmesan flakes (use a vege peeler to make these).

Potato and Chorizo Frittata

As I sit all the lights in our house are flickering from the storm outside.  I'm hoping that we don't get a power cut!  I went the bed last night wondering if my beans and chicken would survive the storm - I will see when the sun rises.

With spring on the way my chickens are laying more reliably so quick, easy and cheap (cheep?) egg dinners are on the menu nearly twice a week.  A couple of weeks ago I snapped up our favourite chorizos at a bargain price (I usually get one for $4-5 but on special I got 6 for that price - I would have got more but that's all they had left).  Chorizo are great, if you get good quality ones they go a long way to jazz up a meal, be it a risotto, pilaf, soup, salad or frittata.

This tasty meal was a bargain, with home grown coriander and lemon, and eggs from my hens it cost about $4.  For a dinner party version swap the milk for cream and stir crumbled feta in with the chorizo.

Potato and Chorizo Frittata Recipe
Serves 6

4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced to 1cm (about 350-400g)
1 Large Onion, peeled and diced
4T Olive Oil
8 Eggs
½C Milk
1t Salt
Pinch of Pepper
Few sprigs of Thyme or Tarragon
1 or 2 Chorizo, diced (I used one because I'm cheap)
Handful of coriander
Lemon Wedges to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180°C bake.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, drop in diced potato and cook for 5 minutes or until just tender.  Drain well.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat and sauté onion till clear.  Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk eggs, salt, pepper and milk.  Add in potato, onion, herbs and chorizo.
Heat at 25cm pan oven proof pan over medium high heat (use the pan from frying the onion if it's oven proof).  Add remaining oil and when hot pour in the egg mixture.  Transfer to the oven and cook for 25-35 minutes until set in the middle.  Leave for 10 minutes before cutting.
Sprinkle with coriander and serve with generous wedges of lemon - the lemon brings the whole things together, trust me.

Serve up with salad or greens, we enjoyed ours with a mountain of steamed broccoli with a dressing of lemon juice.

Loads of fresh broccoli spears from the garden - from garden to plate in 10 minutes, sweet and delicious

Getting Ready for Spring

August is a busy time in the garden.  We have been pruning trees and shrubs that blocked valuable sunlight last summer from the lawn and vegetable garden.  The last of the roses have been cut back and weeds are starting to appear thick and fast.

The work re-laying the vegetable garden is pretty much finished, I just need to find a use for the old garden edging that is cluttering the fence line.  Seeds are being sown to get a head on spring, today Luke and I planted spinach, silverbeet, lettuce and tomatoes.  The leafy greens have gone into our handy little grow house and the tomatoes (called Big Red) are going to get started on the sunny kitchen window sill.



Flower hut - a good use of pruning till we get time to cut them down for the wood heap

Over the weekend we cut down one of biggest camellias from about 8 metres tall to just over 1.5 metres.  It was the biggest culprit for blocking morning sun in the vege patch.  If it survives the rather brutal attack we made on it, it should bush out nicely to make a nice wind break for the lemon tree.  I made a little hut for the kids with the branches - lots of fun.


Recycled pallets make an excellent compost system

Vegetable garden coming along nicely - so happy to have more space!

I've recently planted out loads of leeks and spring onions in the new vege garden.  I used an upturned rake handle as a dibble for planting the leeks (a dibble makes a hole, around 10cm deep, to drop leeks into - the extra depth gives nice white stems).  To plant nearly 80 spring onions in just 20 minutes I used a garden fork.  I pushed the prongs about 10cm down and gently rolled the fork around till the holes we're 2cm across.  Using the fork gave me 4 evenly spaced holes at a time.  Then with the help of a pencil I pushed the seedlings and their roots into the holes.  The is no need to cover the seedlings, a good water drops enough soil in to cover the roots.  Eventually the hole is filled while watering and stems covered for soft white growth under ground.



View from the lounge door - a lot tidier than last year



My little helper in the garden -the broad beans will out grow him soon

 

Parsley happily growing in the shadow of the broad beans



I can see lots of bees in the garden at the moment - I'm sure they'll visit my broad beans - they smell amazing.

My Red Sprouting Broccoli has been going strong all winter

Pretty much zero maintenance flowers have appeared again - Euphorbia

Simple Fish Pie

It's funny how life changes.  Nowadays I find myself running by the seasons, nearly oblivious to what the date is.  The first 2 months of Winter rolled by, mornings sitting by the fire, a nearly dormant garden and the family needed nursing with coughs and colds.

Now that Spring is nearly here things are changing.  Bulbs have quietly appeared and among their long slender leaves buds are nearly ready to burst.  Blossoms are starting to appear on fruit trees and seeds need sowing in my grow house to get a head start on the season to come.  This is the kind of rhythm I never imaged living by when I left the city, but I love it.

Simple Fish Pie Recipe
Serves 6

5 Medium Potatoes, Peeled and Quartered
2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2C Milk
1C Water
2 Bay Leaves
10 Pepper Corns
750g Hoki Fillets
2T Butter
1 Large Onion, Diced
3T Flour
Small Bunch Parsley, Finely Chopped
Salt and Pepper
¼C Grated Cheese

Start by covering potatoes with cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until tender.  Drain.  Meanwhile heat the milk, cup of water, bay leaves and pepper corns over medium high heat.  When the milk mixture is steaming hot poach the whole fish fillets for 4 minutes.  Gently remove fish fillets from poaching liquid and set aside.  Strain the poaching liquid.  Add about half a cup of poaching liquid to potatoes and mash with olive oil and a pinch of pepper.  Rinse the poaching pan and return to medium heat - turn oven on to 180°C Fan Bake.  Melt butter in pan and add in onion, cook till onion is soft.  Stir in flour and cook for a minute longer.  Slowly stir in 2 cups of warm poaching liquid and continue stirring over heat till thickened.  Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper.  Now to construct the pie, gently flake hoki into base oven proof dish.  Cover fish with white sauce and then dollop over the mashed potatoes.  Smooth surface of potatoes and sprinkle over a little grated cheese, bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes and cheese are golden.  Serve with salad or vege.  My kids devoured this recipe.