Day 2

Of applications.

Bunkered down with the Christobel, DaVa and the Golden Ging so quiet you would swear he died in front of his computer.

There was a whole lot of feverent typing and finally...food.

The mission at the moment is making gluten free and dairy free food. Le sigh. I know...no cheese in sight.

Starting off with a French Onion soup. My crouton, as did Chrisobel's had cheese. Sadly, we could not bake it into the soup as the oven used is portable and cannot even fit a pan in.
Thank god for gluten free bread. Oh, did anyone else notice that Silly Yaks has been bought out and is now called Sacs?

And their bread, which tastes like cake is eight dollars a loaf. WTF?

5 onions caramelised and cooked in a beef broth with thyme and bay leaves. Nuttelex instead of butter. So sad. Though, I do prefer Nuttelex sometimes.


I made a broccoli cream from steaming three heads of broccoli, and throwing it in a blender with olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes and roasted walnuts.

Fried off some bacon for the bacon eaters and stirred it all together with pasta (and gluten free for the gluten free) and served with oven roasted tomatoes.

This broccoli cream lasted quite a few days and made it onto sandwiches, toasts and other things.

Who? Work? What?

Grant applications.

Yes.


Those.

This was eaten next before DOWN.

Potato mash, sausages in a tomato based stew with carrots, zucchini, capsicum and basil...and beans and spinach...mushrooms cooked in red wine.

Very, very filling. Especially when eaten in the 36 degree heat.

It's good when you're fed by other people.

Sucks to be you at Merideth, hey?

At risk of sounding like a weather report, before 9am today, we have had the most rain since February '06. Then, there is the rest of the day up until now.
I was wandering around the city on Thursday afternoon, along Elizabeth street and everyone had a pair of gumboots with them. I obviously had not put two and two together and checked the weather.
But, I am also not one for Merideth. To everyone who has asked me why, I will say it once again.

I hate nature, and nature hates me.

Apparently, by Friday morning, gumboots were sold out around Melbourne.
To that, I think a record has been set and everyone would be wearing the same footwear. It's like boot-camp without the boots, so to speak.

Funnily enough, this morning, nay, afternoon, my friend made baked eggs while I made a vegetable and lentil soup. I didn't get around to eating the soup since I had to run home, but for a change of pace, I made a stew instead.

I am sufficiently sated and full of gluten.

Mushroom and barley stew
Makes a fuckload

100g pancetta, diced
200g mixed mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 leek, finely sliced
2 ribs of celery, diced
4 stalks of silverbeet, ribs diced and leaves sliced
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
2 cups of barley
red wine
balsamic vinegar
vegetable stock

polenta
vegetable stock
parmesan


Totally prep-bowl heaven.

Saute off the diced pancetta with the mushrooms, season and set aside.
Sweat off the onion, garlic, silverbeet ribs, leek and celery and season.



Then, add the tomatoes and zucchini and turn up the heat.




When everything is done, return the mushrooms and pancetta to the pan and add the barley. Turn the heat on high and add a generous glug of red wine, a glug of balsamic and enough stock to cover.



Make a cartouche, cover with a lid and allow to simmer for about 40 minutes. Stir in the silverbeet leaves in the last two minutes and season to taste.
Make the polenta by whisking the polenta into boiling vegetable stock for 20-30 minutes, making it dryer or as wet as you want. Season with black pepper and add some parmesan to taste.




Serve the stew on top of the polenta with freshly grated parmesan and herbs if you have any.

Contrasts.

I love contrasts.

Today's weather is a perfect example. There was some sort of dry, parching heat overwhelming the city and all of a sudden, while I am outside exercising, the barometre falls and there is a thunderstorm. I like how everything is now thin and palatable and reflects the vegetables in between seasons. (And, also getting a dozen texts saying, "It's raining, honey.")

It's not confused, it's Melbourne. Before, I was drinking beer, and now I'm grabbing a bottle of red.

It makes sense, it allows us to overindulge and try everything once.

It's also why I was walking around in something thinner than a sheet this morning at work, and now I am wrapped in leather.

Also, I get to actually cook something and allow the smells to permeate the house, so it feels less like a share house and more like a home.
And in case you were wondering, yes, this morning I was in slut-bag mode and now I am a nonna.

Deal with it.



Beans and such play nice in pot
Serves 4

4 slices of prosciutto
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
3 dutch carrots, diced
4 ribs of celery, finely diced
parsley stalks from a bunch, finely diced
200ml passata
1 glass of red wine
2 cups of dry borlotti beans, soaked overnight in cold water
200g broad beans, shelled but still in their clothes
1 bunch of silverbeet, ribs removed and diced and leaves sliced
parsley leaves, roughly chopped
parmesan
lemon juice

Render the prosciutto over a low heat and then add the onion and garlic and allow to sweat. When the onion and garlic are translucent, add the carrots, celery and parsley stalks and sweat for about 5 minutes.
Add the red wine and passata and turn the heat up on high. Add the beans after you have rinsed them and cover with water. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 2 hours, or until the beans are cooked.
An hour into the cooking, add the broad beans.
When the beans are cooked, season with salt and pepper. Do not salt before this stage because it won't allow the beans to soften.
Saute off the silverbeet and season. Stir into the beans.
Serve with parsley, grated parmesan and lemon juice. Eat with oiled toast.