The Soup Challenge

Winter is coming.

The air is different. The light is different. The garden starts changing. This past week I have dusted off my coral ugg boots and found that salads are not really cutting it as 'go-to' quick and easy meals. I am craving meals that are heartier and warming, so I have turned my attention to soups. I can whiz up a batch quickly, easily and with little clean up; freeze it and a la peanut butter sandwiches!, I have a meal that is ready in a few minutes for lunch at work or for dinner during the week. Not to mention that you can cram them full of your favourite vegies and top them with fresh herbs, chilli and a dollop of greek yoghurt so it is full of flavour but with nothing to get all bloated about!

My last post was a Zucchini Soup recipe, and this week I have called upon the greeny goodness of Broccoli. I've always felt sorry for Broccoli. It has long been one of those vegetables that is un-loved and mistreated. I don't really remember being a broccoli or vegie hater as a kid, but I certainly wasn't going out of my way to eat them! As I have grown, my palate has changed and as I have focused more on clean eating, I am discovering just how good they can be.

Broccoli Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
1 x garlic clove, finely sliced
2 x eschalots, finely diced
1.2kg (approx 3-4 heads) of broccoli, cut into small florets
1L chicken stock
140g greek yoghurt
zest of 1 lemon
chopped chives

Method:
1. Bring stock to a boil in a medium saucepan.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Add eschalots and garlic and cook for 2mins until soft. Add broccoli and cook, stirring until bright green.
3. Add hot stock and bring to the boil. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until broccoli is tender. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove pan from heat and whiz with a stick blender until you reach your desired consistency*.
5. Combine yoghurt, zest & chives in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve hot soup in bowls with a dollop or two of yoghurt.

* Personally, there are few soups that I like pureed until they're completely smooth, and I prefer them thick rather than liquidy, so I leave a few bits un-blended to give it some texture.

All this talk of soup has inspired me to launch another challenge - a soup challenge. Each week I endeavour to find and create a new delicious soup recipe. The good news is, this can include some of my all time favourite asian dishes - laksa and pho, that I have never attempted at home before. Think dumplings, tortellini, chunky-garlicky croutons vegies, seafood stews - the list is endless and I can see this will certainly keep me occupied! If you're keen to participate, please send me some ideas for recipes I should try and I will give it a go and post the results!

Happy souping!

AMAZING RECIPE ALERT!!

As Autumn gets settled in and the weather has become crisper in the mornings and evenings, my attention has turned away from fresh, vibrant salads and onto more humble and heart-warming fair. I stumbled across a zucchini soup that I thought would ease me gently into the full swing of slow cooking, and after catching up on one of my new favourite foodie shows, Ottolenghi's Meditteranean, I felt inspired to jump into the kitchen and knock up a batch. My oh my, this soup is sooo delicious I had to share it straight away! Not only that, but it's super quick and easy, even for Tuesday night cooking and very inexpensive to make. Now I call that winning! And I got to use some mint from my balcony garden, which made this even more exciting.

I made a few changes based on what I like so I'm sharing my version of the recipe here.

Zucchini Soup with Mint, Harissa and Lemon - Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1-2 tsp Harissa paste
1kg zucchini, diced
700ml hot chicken stock
Mint leaves, to serve
Lemon wedges, to serve
Greek yoghurt, to serve

Method:
1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and Harissa paste and cool, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 mins until soft. Add the zucchini and cook for 2-3mins until bright green.
2) Add the hot stock, turn heat up the high and bring to the boil. Return heat down to medium and simmer for 5-6mins until zucchini is soft.
3) Season with salt and pepper and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Check season and adjust to taste.
4) Serve soup with a dollop of Greek yoghurt, a drizzle of olive oil, mint leaves and a lemon wedge. If you like it spicy, you can stir through some Harissa into the yoghurt before adding to the soup for an extra kick!

The lemon and mint really make this so don't skimp on them!

GoodGod! Simpsons Trivia!

Tonight we ventured out with JamOrla Corp to Goodgod Small Club for a few drinks, a bite to eat and Simpsons trivia.

If you're into dude food, it's worth a visit. We all ordered hot dogs with a side of salsa fries. The hot dog was worth the bloating I am currently experiencing, the fries so-so.

Simpsons trivia would have been a lot more fun if we were sitting closer to the front. We could hardly hear the questions and admittedly gave up at the end of round two.

The jugs if cocktails though, were the surprise of the night. It's rare you find yourself ordering jug after jug and enjoy all four variations AND feel the lock of booze without feeling like you've swallowed a mouthful if metho. Black Sangria and Chevy Chase were my favourites.

Would happily head back but will certainly be better prepared and book a decent table ahead.

Herb Garden - take 1

At the moment I am working part time whilst looking for a full time job. This week has felt super productive, I have applied for 5 jobs so cross your fingers for me!

I also decided it was time to properly start a balcony herb garden. I say properly as previous attempts haven't had the commitment and I've ended up with a dried herb garden instead! So on Sunday we went to Bunnings and picked up some mint, sweet basil and flat leaf parsley, a trowel, gloves and potting mix. Yesterday was a brilliant day, 25° and sunny, so I took advantage of the opportunity to plant the herbs. Now when I walk past my balcony I feel a great sense of pleasure seeing my green babies up there soaking in the sun! I can't wait to start using them. I am thinking coriander, chives an chilli will be next.

Any tips?

Easter Long Weekend

How was everyone's long weekend?

I took the time to get as much R&R as possible and started watching the first series of Game of Thrones - which I must say is amazeballs!

I am also proud to say I managed to get through the entire weekend with verry little chocolate consumption - this may be a first! I did bake some indulgent Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies for B-man though, which are so rich even he is struggling to polish them off! I am much more of a hot cross bun girl myself, and although I try to eat clean and gluten free 90% of the time, I always end up on a 5 day bun binge over the long weekend.

In a Pre-Easter moment of weakness I stopped by one of my favourite sweet shops, Sweetness Patisserie, to check out their range of bunnies and accidentally ended up leaving with a sample of their tasty delights. My mixed bag consisted of chocolate Easter bunny pops, lime & poppy seed shortbread (gluten free), caramel apples *squeal!*, handmade marshmallows (for the record, I would like to buried on a bed of these light, soft, fluffy & totally delectable delights), lemon curd and chocolate dipped candied orange slices. If you can't already tell, the caramel apples were my fave, and I can never go past a cheeky 2-pack of their marshmallows, particularly the passion fruit ones. The choc oranges went to my Mum, review pending!

I also tried my hand at a moorish salt & pepper chicken that B-Man loved so much he said it was one of the best dinners I've ever cooked him. So, of course, I had to share it with you.

Salt & Pepper Chicken with Thai Dipping Sauce - Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 x chicken breast fillets
2 x eggs white
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup plain flour
3 tsp sea salt flakes
3 tsp Chinese five spice
3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Rice bran oil, to deep fry
Shredded iceberg lettuce, curled shallot tails and sliced red chilli, to serve
Thai Dipping Sauce
60ml (1/4 cup) fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs sweet chilli
1 tbs fish sauce

Method:
1. Cut chicken, diagonally, into 5mm thick slices.
2. Use a fork to whisk egg whites in a bowl until foamy. Add chicken & toss to coat. Place combined flours, salt, five spice & pepper in a bowl.
3. To make the dipping sauce, whisk lime juice, sugar, sweet chilli & fish sauce Ina bowl.
4. Heat oil to 180°C in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 of the chicken to the flour mixture & toss to coat. Shake off excess & add to the oil, 1 piece at a time, & cook for 2-3 mins or until golden & cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat in 3 more batches.
5. Arrange the lettuce on a serving platter & top with chicken. Sprinkle with shallots & chilli. Serve with dipping sauce.

What long weekend baking did you get up to? Where do you stand on the choc v hot x bun divide?

The Week That Was...

Another crazy week down!

I was invited to go and see Fun. with one of my good friends on Thursday night. Despite not really being a fan, or knowing more than 3 of their songs, I had a really good night and was quite impressed!

After a big weekend, I was anything but prepared for my week ahead. Even more apparent by the fact that I haven't cooked dinner all week! With no lunches sitting and waiting in the fridge, I have been buying it every day. Not only does this'd an spending money, but massively cheating on my healthy food plan. This has lead me to discover that white rice effects me in a way I have never noticed before. My week of sushi binging led me on a path of research as to why it makes me so sleepy and I will certainly be skipping out on white rice from now on... That is after tonight!

Tonight I found two recipes I thought would work well together. Both turned out to be Spanish, but that was completely by accident!

Arroz con Pollo, using arborio rice with chicken and chorizo, slow cooked in tomatoes, white wine, sherry and herbs. It's definitely an autumn casserole type of meal that could do with a bit if spicing up so I thought I would have a go at serving with a Tom Kime recipe of Chorizo, asparagus & roasted kumera salad with green chilli and lemon. This salad is fantastic, and I think the dressing really made it. That said how can you resist the combination of sweet potato, lemon and asparagus? As I enjoyed it so much I thought I would share here.

Challenge #3 - Figuring It All Out

In my second post Challenge Accepted I wrote of the desire for a career involving food, but not knowing where to go next. On the road to discovery I created this blog, have tried to post regularly and am setting myself goals or "challenges" along the way that will help me work it out. I have spoken of a foodie education, learning about different cuisines, how to source and prepare food.

I have recently discovered another piece to the puzzle. This is a story, so bear with me!

Once upon a time, as a young girl, it was a thrill to visit my parents at work. My father was a mechanic and on occasion I would be allowed to go and spend a day with him at work. The first thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a mechanic. I think initially I was drawn to this as I loved spending time with my Dad and day at the workshop also meant an early trip on the train to Sydney (we lived on the Central Coast), followed by a chocky milk and pastry from the cake shop for breakfast. My Dad is no longer a mechanic, but I still love the smell of motor oil and grease as it reminds me of him.

As I got older and became more interested in growing up as quickly as possible, I wanted to work at the hospital where my Mum worked in the research and human resources department. I was still young, but desperately wanted my Mum to be at home with me (in fact, there are times when I pleaded with her to not go to work the next day so hard which, in hindsight, must have made her feel so guilty!). Again, the draw card of being with her teamed with the prospect of wearing 'mummy noise' or 'clip clop' shoes and dressing up to go to an office seemed pretty good to a 7 year old.

I fell in love with the sea around 10 and thought marine biology would be amazing... until I got to high school, worked out how long I'd need to spend at uni and the results I would need in science to get there changed my mind.

At 15 I settled on journalism and even did work experience on one of the popular teen magazines, staying with my relatives in Sydney and eating lunch by the bridge. I already knew which university I would apply to and topped the grade in English. Unfortunately my work experience consisted of filing old issues of the magazine in a dingy store room and sorting mail and painted a very different picture of what journalism might be. I did get sent to a photo shoot with Billie Piper, a fleetingly popular British pop starat the time, but given my favourite bands at the time were Nirvana, Offspring, Metallica, Blink 182 and Korn I had to feign my interest. Now I understand these are the kind of jobs that get given to work experience kids but it really didn't give me any concept of what it was about and how it all worked.

Feeling lost and with no sense of direction I decided to leave school at the conclusion of the first term of Year 11 and pursue a career in... well... um... retail? I had an after school job at a bakery that I adored. I loved dealing with the customers, helping make/prepare the cakes, bread and slices and was quite taken with the lady I worked with who's parents owned the bakery. She was younger than I am now at the time but married and 'so cool!' (for any gen y-ers that translates to 'totes amaze'). My parents weren't overly convinced at this desire and, whilst my Mum was furious and distraught that I was leaving school, my Dad was much calmer and agreeable on the basis that I learnt a trade or did some sort of course that would give me a qualification. So off to TAFE I went to study Business Admin.

From there I have spent the last 10 years working my way up from an office junior to where I am now - feeling lost with a vague sense of direction. I have lots of great experience but minimal qualifications. With the responsiblity of bills, groceries and putting a roof over my head the moves I make now are much bigger decisions that unforutnately involve bringing in a certain income as a minimum. The hospitality scene is ruthless and businesses, even the successful ones, open and shut almost as regularly as I change my underwear. Discussing this over tea with my Aunt, she mentioned having read something that suggested to open a restaurant you need $1 million to put towards your first year. Scary? Definitely. Risky? Certainly. Achievable? Yes, but not in the near future.

I have been saying for so long that it is the sharing aspect of food and hospitality that I love. I love cooking for other people. Bringing people together for a meal, homecooked or out. I love discovering new places to eat and drink, and when I find them I want to share it with the world so others can enjoy as well.

'GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!', you say.

I have decided to study online ... Journalism, including photography, styling and maybe graphic design as well. Not just to become another food blogger and instagrammer! I have a grand master plan to work to now (and no I'm not sharing just yet, you'll have to stay tuned!), and it feels really good!

B-Mans Birthday at Mejico

On Wednesday it was B-Mans birthday. Usually he organizes a night out with his friends, but for one reason or another this year it became a little difficult and no plans eventuated. So I decided to do a little secret squirrel business and organize a surprise dinner out with his closest friends. B-Man is a big fan of Mexican food, and it features most weeks in our home cooking, so it seemed fitting to try out Mejico, the latest addition to Sydney's Mexican food scene.

Most of our party had arrived by the time we showed up, and as our table was not yet ready, we were directed to the bar for chilli infused beer (not as odd as it sounds) and cocktails. I started off with "An Easy Read", basically a pineapple margarita. After all that secret squirrel business I needed the soothing hit of tequila! I definitely recommend this if you're not massive tequila fan or are trying to ease your way into the night, as it wasn't overly tequila-y.

I'm a tequila girl from way back so it lacked the sour punch I was looking for, but was enjoyable nonetheless.

As a fan of tapas and share food (why choose one meal when you can have several?) I was quite pleased to see that Mejico have structured their menu and servings this way as well, even their mains! Given that we had 15 people's tummy grumblings and taste buds to satisfy, I enlisted the help of our wonderful waitress to help me devise an order that had a good variety of dishes and didn't leave anyone hungry. It went a little bit like this...

Market Fresh Guacamole with avocado, spanish onion, coriander, lime juice, pistachios and serrano chilli, served with golden plantain chips. What was best about this is that they make it to order at your table in a molcajete (mortar & pestle).

Salsas - Pico de Gallo and Rodriguez Farm Chorizo (with Persian feta, Pedro Ximinez Sherry, black beans, smoky paprika and charred serrano chilli salt)

Pacific Scallop Cerviche with avocado, pomegranate, jalapeno and crispy eschalots

We tried each of the tacos - Braised Lamb Shoulder, Smoked Pork Belly and Grilled Ocean Trout. All were amazing but the lamb were my favourite.

We decided upon a selection of 3 mains - Archiote Chicken with pumpkin puree, roasted garlic and ancho chilli; Glazed Pork Ribs in a Chipotle chilli marinade with blackened corn and polenta chips; and Chargrilled Black Angus Sirloin with quinoa, black beans, pumpkin, pepitas and green chimichurri. Again, I really cannot fault any of these, but the ribs were a favourite not just with me, but with everyone on the table! Finger licking good and worth the sticky smile you will be left with!

We also had a vegetarian at the table who ordered his own main of Portobello Mushrooms & Croquetas with tomatillo salsa, black bean puree, ancho chilli, sweet potato, cumin, onion & manchego. I didn't try this - didn't want to rob the man of his main meal whilst we were all being cannibals! But he assured me it was very enjoyable.

By this stage we were all as full as googs, so we ordered a last round of drinks (I moved on from tequila to 'The Devils Advocate' - rum, lychee, grapefruit and campari) and one plate of the Agave glazed carame fudge, complete with a candle for the birthday boy, and shared it around.

This was by far one of the best meals out I have had in a while. All of us enjoyed the food immensely and are making plans for a return visit, the bill came out at around $35 per person + drinks and we were all satisfied with how much we ate. The service is friendly and know the menu, making good recommendations. I think we may just become regulars!

NB: B-Man was totally and utterly surprised - he had no idea and was astounded that not one person let anything slip. We came home & shared a special birthday dessert of Peanut Butter Pie. Hopefully, although it is the last of his 20's, it was a memorable day.