Food & Thoughts

"Zarah's left for vacation with her Dad and Stepmom - I think she'll be back Friday, but don't worry, I'll take care of the television-watching and blog-reading meanwhile. I'm really good at that, I found plenty of new food blogs for her . Remember, the round-up for IMBB's TasteTea version will be up at Clement's shortly, and SHF, this time with coffee , is just around the corner! Tea and Coffee, people!? Carrots I tell you, carrots!" ;-)

Homemade semi-dried tomatoes, chopped up. Applied to toasted sourdough bread, topped with goats cheese. About 5 minutes under the grill (or 10 in a hot-hot oven), finishing touch with a blow torch to give it that nice scorchy look. Tastes remarkebly well with a bit of leftover pea purée. Mmmmm...

Revisiting another grand classic - Baking by Flavor. I'd bought blueberries for a bargain, and had a couple of bananas turning to that exact stage of ripeness where there's nothing you can do but use them for baking. Or make a smoothie , but the weather here definitely screams cake more than smoothie - SIGH! It is a gorgeous cake - loaf - whatever. The very best (berry best??) blueberry muffin I've ever had was from miss Yockelson too, and had you accent the delicate blueberry flavor with nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon. Oh my. This time, there was only nutmeg and banana doing the accenting, and I have to say, it's a marriage made in heaven. The dark, somehow caramelly taste of the bananas together with the slight acidity and flavor-burst of the blueberries is an amazing combo. Do make. Easy to put together and with a moist and delicate crumb. It wont be the last time it has visited my kitchen. Blueberry-Banana Tea Loaf - from Baking by Flavor 9 by 5 by 3 inch loaf pan, ...

So I think we all know that guy by now - his big, boyish smile, his brightly colored cookbooks. Yes, it's Bill Granger again. I've made these a dozen times, and I've loved them each and every time - and I'm not that big a fan of corn, I might add! I like fresh corn, maybe a grilled corn on the cob - but please, spare me of the frozen/canned variety. Do not like. Sorry! Last Sunday, I had two of my girlfriends coming for brunch, and I whipped a batch up - there was a couple left, so I thought I had plenty of photographing opportunities. Then Martin came home and swish-swish - all I managed to save was what you see in the picture! Sweetcorn Fritters - from Sydney Food by Bill Granger, p. 29 The veggies 2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob (the equivalent of 2 cobs in my world) ½ cup diced red pepper ½ cup sliced spring onions 1/4 cup mix of parsley and basil, both chopped Mix it all up! When you're ready, make up the batter (you could actually make the batte...

You know what? Apart from the new design, there's another thing I think my site needed. I've been keeping this blog for almost a year now, and still I've managed to tell you only a tiny bit about ME - I mean, apart from all of the food hooha, of course. At first I think I just didn't feel comfortable writing a lot about myself. Now I've gotten waaay past that point - I mean essentially, that is what I do every time I post something, isn't it? And while it may seem terribly self-absorbed, I've felt lately that I actually owe it to the "regulars" (and also to people popping by every now and again) to tell a bit more about myself, just like I've promised to do a formal introduction of Le Guinea Pig. The memes going around have helped me share some more, but I think there's some truth to a blog being more interesting if you fairly easily can tell who the person behind it is. When I find a new blog, I always check the "about" section o...