Sunday Night Eggs

I am a big fan of eggs, unlike the hippie vegans I used to live with.  Mr. Tree (he was hitting 2 metres tall!) loved to tell me and anyone else who would listen that they were chicken abortions!  He lived on seaweed, tofu, potatoes, honey, peanut butter, soybeans and bread.  He was always hungry, let me tell you!  Frankly, I just think eggs are so delicious and useful.  Sorry to all the chooks out there.    

I do a bit of cooking for our neighbour, and I like to give her a 3-egg omelette each week.  I figure all that protein is fabulous for aged bones.  Mm, I guess I need to eat more eggs ...  

This recipe is from Belinda Jeffery's book In Belinda's Kitchen; it calls for chorizo with the eggs, but as Mr P. and I don't eat a lot of meat, I decided to go for mushrooms.  You gotta be careful with the 'shrooms these days; there have been several deaths here recently due to eating poisonous ones.  They were foraged, and deadly, and one woman is in jail accused of murdering her ex-in-laws!!

lots of flavour here

Serves 2 generously:

ingredients:

2 Tbs EV olive oil

2 medium red onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 small red chilli, finely chopped

2 large red capsicums, chopped into small pieces

1 Tbs sun-dried tomato pesto or tomato paste

2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4 tsp sugar

1-2 Tbs red or white wine vinegar

200g./7 oz of mushrooms, diced small, or of chorizo, sliced thinly

3/4 tsp sea salt flakes

black pepper, to taste

2 Tbs green or black olives, sliced

4 large eggs (about 60g./2+ oz) 

basil or parsley, chopped, for garnish

Method:

Grab a medium frying pan, chuck in the oil and onion, and let it cook up for about 10 minutes over medium heat, giving it a stir now and then

In go the garlic and chilli, which you cook for a couple of minutes

Turn up the heat and throw in the capsicum/peppers, and stir for about 5 minutes

Whack in the pesto, tomatoes, sugar and vinegar; stir it in and cook for a few more minutes, with the occasional stir

Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and let it cook away till the capsicum is tender (Belinda says 8-10 minutes)

Your diced mushies go in now, just for a few minutes till tender

Now stir in the salt, pepper and olives - add more vinegar if you wish

So grab a big spoon and make 4 egg-sized dents in the mixture, then break the eggs one by one into each of the dents

And cover the pan again, and let 'em cook gently away to your desired eggy-ness  (I like my yolks a bit runny, tho they ended up fairly set) - once again, Belinda says this will take about 8-10 minutes, though a bit less if you want 'em runny-ish

Throw on the chopped herbs, and serve with bread or as is!

Notes:

After squeezing out the seeds and juice from the tomatoes, I shove it all into a plastic bag, and into the freezer it goes for stews etc

Cook up the chorizo separately in a frying pan for 5 minutes if using, and place them into the veg. mixture at the end of cooking

squeeze out those seeds!

do some chopping

fry up the onion

and the capsicum

add the mushies

on go the eggs and the herbs

and down the hatch it goes (i.e. - ready to eat!)

(Joining in with Min from Write of the Middle blog for #WWWhimsy)

c. Sherry M.

In My Kitchen - May 2024

Did I miss a month or two somehow?  Did I fall asleep like Rip Van Winkle, and wake up 20 years down the track?  Yep, I must have.  'Cos it's May already.  We've had the Autumn equinox and Easter, and Mr P.'s birthday and Anzac Day ...  Which means Winter is nearly here.  I've had to bring out the dressing gown and the Oodie pyjama pants, and my infinity scarves will become de rigueur each day.  Yay!  I bloomin' love Winter :=)

May is going to be a very busy month for us, with lots of social events and various activities, so I'm girding my loins and taking a deep breath.  Mm, what a picture that conjures up ...  Now that I am officially the archivist for our local Historical Society, and I'm going to sign up as a transcriber for the National War Memorial, I have even more things to fit in.  Retirement is very busy, my friends!  

Hope everyone has a fabulous month.  And please join in for In My Kitchen - all welcome.  Come young, come old, and in between!  And wherever you're from; we want to see you here.

In My Kitchen:

I bought delicious dried apricots - no chemicals!

and some more Japanese goodies (I go thru so much Kewpie!)

a new Italian bakery has just opened up nearby so I bought this!

a few Tasmanian goodies for Mr P.'s birthday

and a few goodies from our trip away for Mr P.'s birthday

and another book; not a cookbook but an anthology of food writing

I made roast ghee potatoes for cookbook club

I bought this cute kitchen hand towel in Tenterfield

and I ordered this online from Tasmania - I love a spiral-bound book

Mr P. bought me a print from Elke Gill.  We love the Northern Rivers area!

My curveball for this month.  I have a couple of Elke's prints already, so when this one came up, Mr P. kindly bought it for me.  We were actually heading down there one weekend, so we picked it up from her personally.  She is so young and talented!

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Options for adding your post to IMK:

1. Add via the Add Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the Add your IMK link OR:

2. Comment on this post, providing a link to your post so I can add it manually to the list below OR:

3. Email me: sherrym1au@gmail.com, with your link or any queries about the link process, or if you would like it to be added after the 13th ('cos I'm happy to add it for you later)

 c. Sherry M.   

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Weekend Away!

Mr P.'s birthday has swung around again!  I won't even mention how quickly that happened :=)  So off we went for the weekend, to the Southern Darling Downs and New England areas, a few hours west of Brisbane.  It is such a change from the sub-tropics where we live, to the Granite Belt where the climate and geography are completely different.  It even snows on occasion!

The township of Stanthorpe is the main town in the area; it started off as a tin mining town in the 19th century, but became an agricultural hub when tin prices fell.  Now the area is famous for grapes and apples and vineyards.  I bought a few of the local varieties including one called Envy!  They were crisp and sweet and delicious.  

You can walk off the wine tastings, and climb the rocks at the nearby Girraween National Park if you feel energetic.  We have climbed them all in our younger days!  But nowadays we just relax, eat and read.  Sadly the olive farm that we always used to visit has been ripped out and turned into a tomato farm.  What the??!!  All those beautiful olive trees... 

Anyway my friends, here's a quick photographic journey for you of our brief trip:

we stopped off for tasty treats at Aratula Bakery

and checked out the historical cemetery
behind the old Lutheran church, now a private home

 

we checked out the cheesery

The figures represent soldiers and sailors, as this area was a major resettlement area for those suffering from mustard gas exposure after WW1.  Many of the streets are named after battles and place names in Western Europe.  There is a historical cemetery in the area, listing those who left to fight in the war, and did not return.

and found (Jersey) cows on a roof - she looks so real :=)

we stayed in a cottage at Cypress Ridge Garlic Farm

and Mr P. kept the fire going at night

we had lunch at a cosy pub in Tenterfield NSW
 - The Commercial Boutique Hotel, restored to its Art Deco glory

the rainy day courtyard for another time

I ate panko-coated fish and chips - see, salad!

while the fella had a beef burger with chips

gotta love a country café sign
 - mum used to make us rissoles when we were kids

look at these fabulous old 44 gallon drums cut down for seating!

there were hilarious hay bales

and cranky cows

and a Mr P. in the wild

and a drop dunny in the mist - spooky!

and a glorious sunset after the rain - that cloud looks like a fish!

We had a lovely time away, enjoying the misty rain and the cool weather.  Mr P. ended up with a big splinter in his finger after hauling in big bits of wood for the fire - ah the sacrifices ...  It was almost a full moon, and the moonlight shone in through our bedroom window all night.  Our wee break was so peaceful, and rejuvenating for the spirit.  Can't wait till our next getaway!

Bill Granger's Famous Scrambled Eggs

As Australian foodies will be aware, the lovely Bill Granger died recently from cancer.  He was the man we can all acclaim/blame for smashed avocado on toast for breakfast.  Remember how millenials were being blamed for paying too much for their avo on toast breakfasts rather than paying a mortgage?  So funny! and crazy.

Mr P. and I have actually had breakfast at Bill's restaurant in Bondi more than once on trips to Sydney.  And yep, they are fabulous.  So this latest time, I had his famed scrambled eggs which are made with pretty much equal parts egg to cream.  I went a bit more healthy and used evaporated milk rather than cream in my version - but still delicious!

We last visited bill's at Bondi in January 2023, when we drove down to attend our dear friend's wake.  She was 91, and we had known her since we were youngsters in our twenties.  It was a wet day when we turned up at bill's, so they took our mobile number and texted us when there was a spare table.  The food and service were great as usual.  Bill is sadly missed by the Aussie food scene, though he and his family had been living in London for some time.

delish! +smoked salmon, pickled cukes, sweet potato fries and kewpie mayo

Serves 1:

ingredients:

2 large eggs per person

6 Tbs cream (or use milk or evaporated milk)   see Notes

a big pinch of sea salt

(I tripled the recipe so I used 6 eggs and only 300 mL/10 oz evap. milk)

2 tsp butter per person (per 2 eggs)

lots of freshly-ground black pepper

herbs of your choice, chopped (optional)

Method:

Whisk the eggs with cream and salt in a mixing bowl

Melt the butter in your non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat

Once the butter is bubbling, add the eggy mixture

Let it sit for 30 seconds, then ever-so-gently stir it around with a spatula, folding them over one another a wee bit  (check the photo)

When the eggs are almost cooked, take them off the heat and out of the pan onto a plate

Sprinkle with black pepper and herbs

Serve with toast (and avo), or as I did, with smoked salmon, pickled cucumbers (see Notes), sweet potato fries and kewpie mayo

Notes:

Aussie tablespoons are 20 mL/0.7 oz. rather than the U.S. size of 15 mL/0.5 oz., and a large Aussie egg is around 60g./2 big oz.-65g./2.3 oz.

I quick-pickled my cukes in vinegar, water, 1 tsp sugar, some sea salt and chilli flakes for a short time before dinner

ingredients gathered

pour the eggy mixture into the bubbling butter

soft tender curds!

add on the smoked salmon and pickled cukes

tasty and flavourful

Vale Bill Granger!  Thanks for the memories, and the great food.

image from Wikimedia Commons (author: Alice.jessica.north)

(Joining up with Min from Write of the Middle blog for #WWWhimsy)

c. Sherry M.

Spiked Brown Cherry Cake

This is very similar to another German sour cherry and chocolate cake that I've been making for years (also on the blog).  This one is from Kindred by Eva and Maria Konecsny, two sisters who along with their mother founded Gewürzhaus, a spice shop in Melbourne.  Their cookbook has many family recipes that they are now sharing with the world.  

I made this one for Cookbook Club a while ago.  I love sour cherries, though I am feeling a bit dubious about them now, after having read a chapter in The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo.  Apparently, they are made with lots of dyes and chemicals to make them look plump and red in the jar!  Eek!  But I will keep using them, I reckon.  I just like 'em too much to stop.  She also discusses how she uses the kernels of apricots or cherries to make an 'almond' extract - which contains cyanide.  She is either brave or stupid - you pick!

looking very edible :=)

Serves 10:

ingredients:

140g./5 oz. salted butter, at room temp.

50g./a scant 2 oz. coconut sugar    see Notes

4 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites

3 Tbs maple syrup

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

a pinch of ground black pepper

90g./3.2 oz. dark chocolate, grated    see Notes

150g./5.3 oz. almond meal/ground almonds

50g./1.8 oz. dried breadcrumbs  see Notes

1 x 680g./24 oz. jar of pitted morello (sour) cherries, drained but KEEP the liquid

cream, to serve

Spiked syrup:

cherry juice (from above) - I ended up with 350 mL/12 oz.

2 Tbs raw sugar

1 cinnamon quill

8 black peppercorns

pinch of sea salt

Kirschwasser or liquor of your choice - I used 20 mL/0.7 oz. of spiced rum!

Method:

Whack on the oven to 170C/340F to heat up

Butter and flour a 23cm/9 inch round springform tin

Grab your electric beaters and cream the butter and sugar in a medium bowl

Now beat in the egg yolks, one yolk at a time, beating well

Keep beating while you add the maple syrup and spices, then fold in the chocolate

Now grab another mixing bowl, and beat the egg whites till stiff

You now fold half the egg whites into the batter, then half the almond meal and half the breadcrumbs

And do it all again with the other halves :=) i.e. the egg whites, almond meal and breadcrumbs

Pour/spoon the batter into the tin and make it smooth

On go the cherries across the top of the batter; press them gently into the batter

Try to get some of the batter over the cherries; you want 'em just a wee bit drowning and submerged in the batter (hehehe)

Put the cake tin on a baking tray, and bake for 25-30 minutes (tho' my cake took closer to 40 mins.!).  I do have a recalcitrant oven tho'.

Once the skewer comes out clean, you know it's done

Leave it in the tin, on a wire rack till absolutely cool - the sisters suggest you leave it overnight in an airtight container so it gets all lovely and cured and juicy

Syrup making:

Don't forget the syrup, which you can make and leave in the fridge till you're going to eat the cake, or make it the next day after you've allowed the cake to 'cure' for a day - yeah, what the?! :) when the cake is screaming out: "Eat me now!"

The cherry juice and sugar go into a small saucepan over low heat; stir till the sugar dissolves

Now add the spices and salt, and increase the heat till the syrup starts to boil

Reduce the heat, and let it simmer away for 15-25 minutes (mine took 20 mins.) until lightly thickened

Let it cool down for 15 mins., then add your liquor of choice - I ended up with 125 mL/4 big oz./½ cup of syrup before I added the spiced rum

Serve with the cake!

Notes:

I used light brown sugar as I had no coconut sugar, and some panko breadcrumbs

I use Lindt 70% dark chocolate as it is very easy to break up with your fingers, and you get big chunks!

fold the chocolate into your batter

spoon into the tin, and smooth over

cherries in, and smoothed over before baking at 170C

and baked!

and eat!

c. Sherry M.