Cheesy Baked Broccoli Fritters

Yep, another cookbook and another recipe for our online Lambs' Ears Cookbook Club (on Facebook).  This is from Dinner by Nagi Maehashi, a very popular Japanese-Australian cook, blogger and author.  Her blog Recipe Tin Eats is a big success (her Insta account alone has 990k followers, and her Facebook page has 3.5M!).  

So here we have one of her recipes that I made recently, as I had broccoli to use up.  This is my adaptation of her recipe, using my pantry and fridge, so not exactly like hers.  I love broccoli, unlike a certain former world leader.  And it's so good for you.  

But I don't like dried garlic powder, or onion powder, or dried Italian mixed herbs (eek!) - all things which Nagi says to add to this recipe.  Nuh uh, no thanks!  So I strongly suggest using fresh as I did, and regular onion rather than spring onions/scallions.  She also says to spray the fritters with olive oil before baking, but I didn't!  I am terrified of frying, so this baked version is perfect for me!     

golden, herby and spicy ...

Makes 18-20:

ingredients:

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets - see Notes

250g./9 oz cauliflower rice, boiled in the broccoli water for 1 minute

1/2 large onion, or one small (red or brown), finely chopped or grated

2-3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped, or 1 tsp dried garlic granules (not powder)

30g./0.5 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 packet (250g/9 oz) pre-cooked brown rice and quinoa - see Notes

200g/3.5 oz/2 cups vintage tasty cheese, grated

75g./0.5 cup of wholemeal self-raising flour (use a bit more if your mixture looks too wet)

1-2 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

1-2 tsp gochugaru or chilli flakes of your choice (optional)

4 large eggs, lightly whisked

a few happy handfuls of herbs - chives, parsley, oregano, etc.

1 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp cracked black pepper, or more if you like

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 220C/430F

Line two baking trays with baking paper

Boil or steam the florets till very tender, cool for a few minutes then mash or chop them till you have marble-sized pieces

Now grab a huge mixing bowl, and chuck EVERYTHING into it

I get Mr P. to mix it all up for me by hand, but use a big spoon, or your own hands if you don't have a Mr P.

Spoon on 3 Tbs amounts onto the trays, pat them into fritters, and flatten with an egg-lifter (these babies are thin!) so they end up about a fat 1 cm/0.5 inch thick

Bake at 220C/430F for 18 mins, then flip the fritters over, swap trays around, and bake for another seven minutes - though you may need another five minutes to get them all golden and crunchy if you have a sad, skittery old oven like mine

Serve with the sauce of your choosing - a yoghurt one, or just some mayo, or a chilli sauce ...

Notes:

Nagi's recipe calls for 350 grams/12.5 oz of broccoli florets (about 2 heads/5 heaped cups); I only had one head (tee hee) so I used the 250 grams of frozen cauliflower rice in my freezer (you can buy fresh cauli rice - i.e. not frozen - in our supermarket so try that 

You could do a cheat, and use 350 grams of frozen, thawed broccoli!  And why not, my friends? :=)

Use 260g./9 oz cooked white rice, or brown rice or just quinoa if you prefer

Nagi says to bake these at 240C/470F, but I found the lower temp. just fine

ingredients ready for mixing

half-baked; ready for flipping

and baked!

just as delicious cold the next day

time for a cappuccino and a read at a local café

Broccoli and a cheese grater

Hunza Pie - The Australian Women's Weekly Way

You may remember that I'm in an online cookbook club, and also as of this month, a new, real-life one too.  Our book last month was any of the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks - of which there are many!  This recipe is from the Cooking Class Cookbook (no publishing date but from the '80s I think).  I chose to make this Hunza Pie, which was popular in my student, vego days.

There's a version of this recipe on their website, which fancies it up for the modern cook, adding in chicken and other goodies.  So I decided to fancy it up a wee bit, too.  The recipe in the book is very spartan though, just the way I remember it :=)  This pie is named after the Hunza Valley in the Himalayas (supposedly), where people are said to live till well over one hundred!  So give this a try, my friends, and longevity will be yours.

slather with relish if you fancy

Serves 6:

ingredients:

For the pastry:

280g/2 cups wholemeal plain flour

1 tsp sea salt

100g./1 cup wheatgerm

1 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder

250g./8 oz cold butter, chopped into chunks

1/4 cup (62 mL) cold water (+ 2-3 tsp more if needed)

2 Tbs milk for glazing the pastry

Filling:

300g./10.5 oz chicken tenderloins 

720g./25 oz washed potatoes

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds (optional)

150g./5.5 oz baby spinach leaves, snipped into pieces

180g./6.5 oz fetta, chopped into chunks

1 tsp sea salt

2 Tbs EV olive oil

2 tsp dried chives

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1-2 Tbs lightly dried (or fresh) parsley, chopped roughly

Method:

For the pastry:

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl

Whisk the wheatgerm, yeast flakes and stock powder into the flour mix

Rub the butter in with your fingertips till your bowl looks like it's full of breadcrumbs (or use your food processor)

Add in the 1/4 cup of water, and mix (by hand) or process till you have a firm dough (use the extra water if needed)

Knead lightly on a floured surface, pat into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for twenty minutes - I suggest you get onto the filling while you wait!

After the twenty minutes, grab a 23cm/9 inch pie plate/tin, butter the base lightly, roll out HALF of the dough (I had 2 halves x 350g.), and push it gently over the base and sides of the pie tin

And back it goes into the fridge for another 20 minutes to settle down

For the filling:

Cook up the chicken by baking at 185C/365F for about twelve minutes, then put aside 

Peel the spuds (potatoes), cut them into large chunks, boil till tender, then drain them

Let them cool for a few minutes, tip into a large bowl, mash lightly and add the chicken

And in goes the mustard seeds, spinach, fetta, salt, olive oil, chives, pepper, oregano and parsley

Give it all a firm but kindly mix till well combined

Spoon the filling into the pastry case, give it a bit of a gentle press down, roll out the other pastry half,  place it over the top of the filling, seal the edges with your fingers or a fork, and brush the pie with milk to glaze

Oh, don't forget to cut a few slits in the top of the pie so it can breathe while baking

Bake at 200C/390F for fifteen to twenty minutes, then lower the oven to 180C/355F and bake for another fifteen to twenty minutes till golden brown (mine took 25 mins. at 180C 'cos my gas oven is soooo slow)

Serve with relish - as in, tomato relish etc, and as much gusto as you like, and maybe a salad

Notes:

I am going with their measurements, even tho' modern day ones are a bit different! as in - 250 grams is really closer to 9 ounces, etc

Use chicken breasts if you prefer, and slice them thinly

I actually baked the chicken the day before!  And I whizzed the pastry in my food processor till it formed a ball, then tipped it onto the bench to press into a ball

Back in the day, we used silverbeet (Swiss chard) as English spinach was not really a thing then.  I suggest you buy pre-washed baby spinach as it is soooo much easier, as you just snip and tip into the filling

bake @185C for around 12 minutes

potato and chicken

snip your spinach

push half the pastry into the tin

and fill the pastry with your healthy mix

glazed and ready for baking

golden brown and gorgeous

thin, crispy pastry and a hearty filling

This pie really brings back the memories!  Of living with many and varied people, in houses that had no locked doors, where we lived on cheap foods like mountains of potatoes and huge tubs of yoghurt.  Where feral possums would climb into the kitchen window in search of fruit, where the lawn was cut with kitchen scissors and knives (no mower!), and nudity, and a lively sex life was the norm.  Not me, not me! :=)  Tee hee...

potatoes and baby spinach

In My Kitchen - November 2022

Will I say it?  Will I say it?  Yes, I will - just under eight weeks till Christmas!!  OMG!  This year flew by, didn't it?  I won't be sorry when it ends; it has not been a great year for the Pickings' household, or for various friends.  But the least said about that the better.  You know the old saying: "Least said, soonest mended?"  So my lips are sealed :=)

Am I the only one who doesn't like Octobers and Augusts?  I mean, I don't like them in general.  Am I nuts?  Mr P. said 2023 has to be good because it's a prime number!  Well, interesting - here's hoping.  Anyways, onwards, my friends.  Let's take a look back at October, the month that was.  Please join us, my virtual, global friends.  All welcome.

In My Kitchen:

yep a garlic crusher and a cute little cup

I quite like the garlic crusher, but I think it will work better on fresh garlic rather than the frozen cloves I use.  Love the little cup from Pottery For The Planet!

there was another big batch of tomato and capsicum relish

and another Japanese tumbler for my morning coffee

I can't resist Japanese foods or homewares.  I bought this miso cup online from a store in Sydney.  It's by a Japanese ceramicist Mr. Kotsuji.  I love drinking my morning coffee from its smooth, beautiful surface.

a purple-tinged handmade Murasaki glass tumbler

This is handmade in Japan by Toyo-Sasaki Glass; a beautiful lead-free crystal enhanced with a Japanese violet colour.  So lovely.

and organic lemons and a lime from Tassie friends

Our mates from Tasmania were up, bringing organic lemons (Meyer I think) and a lime from their trees.  I have made preserved lemons and a chicken with lemon dish.  So wonderful with their soft, pliant, thin skins.  Yep, gotta say it - the fruit, not the friends :=)

and a surprise gift from my oldest friend

This was a marvellous gift from my oldest (longest-known) friend who lives over one thousand kilometres away.  We usually catch up once a year but due to the global pestilence, we haven't seen each other for quite a while.  Soon I hope ...

lemons preserved with bay leaves and peppercorns

And into the fridge they go, to mature.  I added some native pepperberries too for a bit more flavour.

and finally my curveball - a sculpture by John Shaw

This wonderful piece by John Shaw (a former pilot with Royal Brunei Airlines) is carved from a piece of maranti driftwood that he found on a beach.  I call her Twiggy!

So please join in everyone!  And here's how to:

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 a 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)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Blood Orange Vinegar

Blood oranges are still in season - just.  Though you can use pretty much any fruit or berry (or herb) you fancy to make this.  It's a very simple concoction, where you soak fruit in vinegar for a week or so, then strain and bottle.  I was inspired to make this when I saw an ad for a French passionfruit vinegar.  I can't buy it here, so it came to me that I could make it myself, but use blood oranges instead.

Blood orange season is short and sweet, so I've been using them while they're available.  I've also made raspberry vinegar in the past; such a glorious colour, as is this!  I was also inspired by a couple of recent blog posts with similar recipes - one from Angie's Recipes blog, and another by ...  Sorry, I can't remember whose blog, but I think it was for blueberry vinegar.  If it was you, please remind me, friends.   

so pretty, tangy and fruity

ingredients:

350 mL/12 oz vinegar - use a good quality white wine vinegar

4 blood oranges - use the peel of 3 blood oranges, and zest of 1

flesh of 2-3 blood oranges

the juice from 1-2 of the oranges

2-3 Tbs caster sugar

Method:

First scrub the fruit with a potato brush, then pat dry, and peel and zest away

Pour the vinegar into a small saucepan, and heat gently till just about boiled - when you see a bubble or two on the side, take it off the heat

Place all the fruity bits and pieces into a glass jar, pour over the hot vinegar, stir in the sugar, seal the jar and place in a dark spot for a week or even two

Shake every second day, till you're ready to finish it off

Then strain out the bits by tipping the mix into a sieve/strainer lined with a piece of muslin (don't squish the fruit through the muslin as it will go cloudy)

Leave it for an hour or two to finish straining, then pour/ladle into a sterilised jar or bottle

Best placed in the fridge where it will keep for up to six months

Use in vinaigrettes, or maybe even with sparkling water like a shrub drink 

Notes:

I've read recipes for this where they say to use room temperature vinegar, but you may then need to leave it to infuse for 2 weeks rather than one in order to get the full flavour out of the fruit

You can double the recipe if you feel the need for lots of the fruity stuff

ingredients gathered

start peeling and zesting

chopping up the flesh, and into the jar

ready for the hot vinegar

vinegar and fruit ready for steeping for a week

and a week later - ready for filtering

a muslin-lined sieve/strainer sitting over a large bowl

pour the vinegar into a jug, then decant into bottles

and end up with pretty bottles

love that colour!

C. Sherry M.

Amarena Cherry Cake - À La Alice Zaslavsky

I met the lovely Alice recently!  I made two of these cakes for her book launch at our wonderful new local indie bookshop The Quick Brown Fox.  Phew, that's a lot of adjectives.  Alice was a Masterchef Aus contestant some years ago, and now writes cookbooks, is on tv and radio, and so on.  Her cheery smile is ubiquitous.  

I love cherries - so luscious, so round and sweet.  They remind me of our backpacking travels through Europe; of buying huge bags of them in Belgrade, a city full of young soldiers in uniform, carrying rifles.  Of our many times in Tasmania, picking them off our friends' tree in their backyard overlooking the Derwent River.  Of happy summer feasts, enjoying them in their short season.  Cherries make me think of Christmas, 'cos that's when we see them in the shops.  Don't buy those imported ones, my friends!  Stick to the season.

oh so moist and delicious

Recipe by Alice Zaslavsky:

Serves 8-10:

ingredients:

180g./6.3 oz almond meal (ground almonds)

60g./2 big ounces dessicated coconut

1/2 tsp sea salt

250g./9 oz caster sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp amaretto (optional)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract (see Notes) 

200g./7 oz butter, melted and cooled 

Nicely rounded handful of flaked almonds

240g./8.5 oz jar of amarena cherries, drained (see Notes)

icing sugar for dusting (optional)

extra fruit and mascarpone for serving (optional)

Method:

Turn on your oven to heat to 180C/355F

Grease a 20 cm/8 inch springform cake tin, and line with baking paper - see Notes

Whisk the almond meal, coconut, salt and caster sugar together in a medium bowl

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together, add the extracts and whisk them in well

Pour the cooled butter into the egg mixture, and whisk till everything is well combined 

Now scatter the dry ingredients over the wet mixture, and whisk in well - Alice says this makes a very runny batter, but I didn't really find this, so I think you'll be fine whether it's super runny or just a  normal batter

Bake for 20 minutes, then take out of the oven, cast the almond flakes and cherries over the top of the cake, and back into the oven for another 20-25 minutes (mine took the extra 25 mins. both times)

Let it cool in the tin, sitting on a wire rack, then serve with icing sugar and extra cherries if desired

Notes:

Alice suggests 1/8 tsp bitter almond aroma but honestly, who has that in the pantry? :=)  Not me!  And she does say it's optional ...  

I bought a tub of Amarena cherries at our local deli, which I think were better than the jarred ones.  I drained them, and kept the syrup as a cordial

I used a regular cake tin, with lots of baking paper up the sides so I could just pull the cake out of the tin - it worked fine

I made this cake two separate times, and neither time was the batter very runny; the first time in fact it was rather dry, and the second time just a normal batter - perhaps it depends on the freshness (or not) of your almond meal and coconut :=)

ingredients gathered

whisk your eggs

whisking dry into wet

et voilà - a lovely batter for cake number 1

the second cake batter - a bit runnier than the first time

first one ready for the oven

second batch heading to the oven

and ... baked

enjoy with fruit and cream to increase the joy

the lovely Theresa with my cakes for the book launch/morning tea

almonds and cherries

Braised Ginger Chicken

I think I've mentioned before that I'm in an online cookbook club called Lambs' Ears Cookbook Club.  Last month's book was Chinese-Ish by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu.  I chose to make this dish - braised ginger chicken.  I'll be honest - Mr P. and I were not big fans of this one.  We ate it one night, but left heaps which I blinged up the next night.  

So this recipe is more my version of it, rather than straight out of the book.  And isn't that what cooking is all about?  Tweaking a recipe your way so you love it!?  As much as I appreciate the appellation contrôlée kinda foods, I think recipes should be your guide, not your master or mistress :=)

And speaking of ginger - Mr P. tells me of a time where his dad (who liked to brew his own) tried to make homemade ginger beer, but with glacé ginger rather than fresh (by mistake).  Yep, with all that sugar, it blew its stack and ended up all over the shed.  And that reminds me of the time I made homemade ginger beer, which literally exploded and blew out our dining room wall!  Oh, that Summer heat we have in old Brisbane town.  I must try to make it again in Winter :=)

ready for eating - with steamed veg.

Serves 4:

ingredients:

40-60 mL/1.3-2 oz sesame oil

6 cm piece (c. 80g./2.8 oz) old ginger, skin on if you wish, finely finely sliced and then each slice quartered (or not) - see Notes below

650g./23 oz chicken thigh fillets, chopped into large chunks

150g./5.3 oz mushrooms, roughly chopped (optional)

100g./3.5 oz baby corn, chopped (optional)

100g./3.5 oz red capsicum/pepper, roughly chopped (optional)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

1-2 Tbs water

1 tsp Mirin or mirin seasoning, or dry Sherry

1 Tbs Chinese rice wine or dry Sherry 

chopped herbs of your choice - I used parsley, chives and fresh coriander (cilantro) 'cos that's what's usually in my pantry and fridge

steamed rice or egg noodles for serving

Method:

Heat up the sesame oil in a wok or large frypan over medium heat

Tip in the ginger and stir for several minutes till tender and fragrant

Add your chopped chicken and stir for 4-5 minutes till starting to brown and cook through

Now add the mushroom, corn and capsicum if using, and stir in the salt, sugar, soy, and water

Whack on a lid, and let it simmer for 7-8 minutes

Check that the chicken is cooked through, then stir in the Mirin and Chinese rice wine 

Cast the chopped herbs over the top, and serve with rice or noodles

Notes:

We preferred a lesser amount of sesame oil, so I used less

Apparently you can find old ginger at Asian food stores but obvs. you can use regular ginger like I did!  I first made this dish with the sliced, unpeeled ginger which we did not like (an unpleasant mouthfeel and taste), so I made it again with small pieces of peeled ginger, which was much better for us, but you do you

The recipe calls for 6-8 thigh fillets, cut in half, but we prefer smaller, bite-sized chunks

The optional veg. that I suggest are not in the original recipe, but Mr P. and I much preferred a bit less chicken and lots of veg.!  So add another 150 grams or so of chicken if you are not adding any (or much) veg.

ingredients gathered (plus a few steamed veg. for my original side dish)

slice and chop your ginger

stir-fry your chopped ginger

add the chopped chicken

looking juicy :=)

dinner is served!

and we had it again as a stir-fry with rice the next night

(Joining in with Marg from The Intrepid Reader and Baker for Weekend Cooking.)

ginger root