Poached Oranges with Vanilla Ricotta.

Some of you long-timer friends from the other platform will remember foodie Kathryn and foodie photographer Lucy.

Kathryn was a naturopath and Lucy a foodie working in bookshop. Today Kathryn is doing other things down the coast from Sydney and Lucy is doing arty things and growing their own food in rural Victoria. I am still in touch with Lucy on occasion, and it is always delightful to receive a Hi from her.

Anyway, all those years ago, Katherine and Lucy got together to produce a regular food e-magazine, An Honest Kitchen, ages before e-mags were a thing. It was such a good read. And one day they had a recipe for poached oranges with vanilla ricotta.

I had been wanting to try the recipe for a while during Winter when the oranges hung large and gorgeous on the tree. But it was one of those times when the recipe sat on my kitchen bench for weeks before I finally made it. Originally I had considered making it as a stand-alone dessert, but finally made it as a topping for a very special sweet congee of oats and quinoa.

After that, I also topped our favourite rice pudding with these poached oranges and ricotta, as well as serving them as-is, as a delicious dessert at the end of a long cold day. It really is divine, incredibly quick and easy to make, and can be served warm or cold.

I'll share the recipe shortly, as I know they'd be chuffed that some of the recipes from the magazine are still in use. I modified the recipe only a little from the original.

#Food #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #Oranges #Winter #Dessert #Vegetarian

Almost time to get ready for my first meeting of the day, so let's talk #food first.

There are four different ways of making Lime Rasam according to the Queen of Tamil Food, Meenakshi Ammal. This is the first of her methods.

Lime Rasam, made with green chillies and a base of toor dal for that slightly silky texture.

The green chillies give a fresh green taste with the lime juice. There is no tamarind in this recipe as the lime adds sufficient sourness. In this version very little spice is used beyond the chillies, some asafoetida and mustard seeds. It is deliciously hot and tangy. Very refreshing and perfect for a hot day.

#Rasam #IndianFood #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Vegetarian

I think that is enough work for today, so let's talk food 😄

Across India there are many versions of rice cooked with lentils, called various names such as kitchari/khichdi (and other spelling variations) and pongal (in Tamil Nadu).

In Andra Pradesh, it is called Pulagam and is made with short grain rice and mung dal. It is a very pared-back version of pongal, without any tempering and with only turmeric as spice. But it is surprisingly delicious, mixed with a little ghee and well seasoned.

It is often used as naivedyam in festival such as Sankranti and Varalakshmi Puja.

#Food #IndianFood #Vegetarian #Khichdi #Vegetarian #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives

Congee is made from slow and long cooked grains and lentils. Chinese rice congee is the best known around the world, but Korea and Japan also have congees, and India has kanji. The macrobiotic movement even adopted congee as a delicious and nourishing dish, easy on the digestion.

It can be eaten at any time of the day and is very popular for late night snacking and for breakfast. They say that the longer congee cooks, the more powerful it is.

It is best to cook congee on the lowest possible heat, so it is barely simmering. Use a heat diffuser, especially for the second half of cooking, otherwise it may stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. I prefer to cook it in a Chinese clay pot – I believe the flavour is superior, and I used to kee my pot for congee only.

These days it is harder to find the clay pots that don't crack easily. So I've sadly had to change my cooking methods. Still, all sorts of congee are delicious. This one is Barley, Millet and Mung. It is topped with Chinese Black Vinegar, soy sauce, cucumber, tomato, sprouted mung beans and daikon miso fermented pickles.

#Food #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Congee #AsianFood #Vegetarian.

Ah, the lovely dishes of winter.

#Food #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #Turnips #IndianFood #Vegetarian #KashmiriFood

When I first shifted close to a whole lot of Indian and Asian groceries, I explored all the numerous gourds and melons available, ones that were not commonly seen elsewhere (some of them are more available now, but not all).

It led to very delicious dishes.

#food #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #IndianFood #RidgedGourd #Vegetarian

Spinach, Potato and Feta Pie

If feta makes everything betta, then adding filo makes it a dream come true 😂

Over the years of my blogging (1995-2021), there were a number of recipes that were stolen dozens if not hundreds of times. The Dal Makhani recipe given to me by a chef in Bangalore was the most used by others, and surprisingly, this recipe for Potato, Spinach and Feta Pie was a favourite too. There were exact reproductions, and in some places small alterations were made. Even high profile publications seem not to mind using both photos and content and claiming it as their own. It was so common.

I first posted the recipe for this pie in 1998 in the blog that in those days was a hand coded newsletter-style monthly publication without images, where I kept the details of followers in a spreadsheet and emailed them when it was updated. Later I updated to wordpress.

So this truly is a retro recipe. But the pie is still as terrific today as it was then.

You can see I am no master craftswoman with filo pastry tho.

#FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Food #Pie #Vegetarian

Minestra di Pasta e Fagioli Borlotti - Italian Borlotti Bean and Pasta Soup

The son of a friend once had a neighbourhood restaurant in Prospect called Minestra. It was great! The menu changed daily, depending on their produce and the things the people in the area brought in. It was a favourite place to meet my friend, of course, but also a great place to sit and while away the time, or take work to do when I was sick of sitting at my desk.

What is a Minestra? Minestra predates zuppa (another type of Italian soup) by a few centuries. Derived from the Latin ministrare, meaning to administer, the word reflects how minestra was served from a large bowl or pot by the figurehead in the household. Minestra was traditionally the principal – and often the only – dish served in a meal.

Today it is a rather umbrella term referring to a first course of vegetables, legumes, pasta or rice cooked in a stock. Minestrone is one of many minestra soups. Regional variations abound but a minestrone always includes a vegetable that will thicken the soup, such as fresh or dried beans, potatoes or pumpkin. It must also include pasta or rice.

This soup is a type of Minestrone (Minestrone di Fagioli or Minestrone di Pasta e Fagioli), one that does not include a large variety of vegetables. You will find similar soups under many different names as your browse the internet.

#ItalianFood #Food #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #Vegetarian #Soup #Minestra