Quinoa makes a come back.

Nothing much to say, more kitchen-bitching.

Quinoa Salad
serves 8

2 cups of cooked quinoa
1 bunch of parsley, leaves only, roughly torn by hand
1/3 bunch of mint, leaves only, shredded
2 bunches of broccolini
500 g fresh peas, podded
2 bunches of baby asparagus, sectioned
2 handfuls of almonds and walnuts, roasted and chopped
goats curd
1 lemon
salt
pepper

Mix the quinoa and herbs together while warm. Blanch the broccolini, peas and asparagus and add to the quinoa mix and toss. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Dollop goats curd over the top and top with the nuts and serve.

I Just Can't Stay Away

However, there are no photos in this round.

Lots of wine was had and much of a discussion followed.

This is just what happened in between.

Pea pesto Pasta Alliteration
750g fresh peas, shelled
100g romano, grated
1 lemon
1 handful walnuts
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

2 leeks, whites only, sliced
1 spanish onion, sliced
rice bran oil

100g rigatoni
100 ricotta

Cook the peas in salted boiling water, drain and transfer to the food processor, add the walnuts and cheese, as well as a little oil. Pulse. Add the lemon juice to taste (I used a whole lemon) and oil, season and pulse again. Taste and adjust till it suits.
Meanwhile, saute the onion and leek in a pan on a low flame with a generous amount of oil and cook the pasta in a heavily salted pot of water. Reserve some of the cooking water of the pasta when it is almost done. A minute from the pasta being ready, season the leek and onion mix and drain the pasta, add the pesto to the onion mix and stir the pasta in till evenly distributed. Add some of the pasta water to slacken the mix, if need be. Season with salt and pepper, and lemon juice if need be. Serve with ricotta broken over the top and eat with a good friend.

My Lute Came Home!

One of my dear housemates (Lute) just came back from a week in Perth. God knows why, but he's glad to be back. Our other housemate(Nek)and friend was at the Hotel Lincoln last night and I saw him on my way home, from another beer-filled/fuelled afternoon.

Ahem.

We figured that Lute had gone straight to work and he thought I would be on the Greyhound so, I called him telling him I left him a present behind the bar. As he was crossing the street to retrieve the non-existent present, I hid under the table outside as Nek watched Lute's embarrassment through the window. Then, we crept up behind him and rectified the situation with hugs.

So, after quite a bit of booze, I cooked. The meal didn't really make sense in its running order...as they don't really compliment each other, but it was "damn tasty." Oh, who's my favourite medieval string instrument?

Pea Risotto
Serves 6 as starter, or 4
I managed to pick up a kilo of fresh, organic peas at the market for five dollars and had stock left over from when I made a fresh pea and ham soup...so this only made sense to me at the time.

50g butter
1 brown onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1 1/2 cups Carnaroli rice
1 splash of white wine
3-4 cups hot stock (recipe follows)
200g freshly podded peas
Zest of 1 lemon
50g grated Romano cheese

Melt the butter in a pan and saute off the onion and garlic over a low heat. Add the rice and turn the heat up when the onion is translucent and coat the grains in butter. Allow them to become translucent. Pour in the wine and allow the alcohol to burn off and add the stock a little at a time, when it is absorbed and the lemon zest. I didn't salt it yet because the cheese is coming and the stock I made was with a smoked ham hock, so was already quite salty.
When the grains are almost al dente, add the peas and allow them to cook. When it is all done, stir in the cheese and check for seasoning. Serve with lemon to squeeze over, if desired.

Stock

I usually collect all my vegetable off-cuts in the freezer and make big batches of different stocks when I feel the need to be a grandma.

1 carrot, cut into 3 pieces
3-4 stalks of celery, cut to same size as carrots
1 onion, cut in half
the green part of leeks
1 broccoli stalk (just cos I had it)
3 black peppercorns, crushed
2 fresh bay leaves
1 smoked ham hock

Place all ingredients into a pot and cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 3-4 hours, skimming the scum when it rises to the top. drain the liquid and discard the vegetables. Eat the ham hock as you wish. I put it in a soup after separating it from the skin, and in sandwiches once it had cooled. Freeze remaining stock.

Tofu Scramble
Serves 4
For some reason, I felt the need to cook tofu not like a slant eye in my tipsy state.

1 block of firm tofu, cubed
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 spanish onion, sliced
1 leek, sliced
2 heads broccoli, diced
2 red chili, diced
balsamic vinegar

Fry off the tofu till it is golden and the moisture has come out. Set aside.
Saute off the garlic, chili and onion in a neutral falvoured oil, like rice bran, and add the leek and broccoli, seasoning to taste. When almost cooked, return the tofu to the pan and splash a generous amount of balsamic over it and let the vinegars cook off and allow to caramelise for a few minutes. Check for seasoning again and serve with a heavy, grainy toast.

I didn't take any photos, because by the time this was all cooked, we were drunk.