We still had the chook-pen out the back and decided to re-furbish it a bit. We started looking around for places to buy chickens. I read on another blog that the girls’  parents used to keep chickens and would get the older chooks from battery farms. I thought we’d give this a go too.

I found an organisation that rescues hens from battery farms before they are… made into fertilizer. I contacted them to find out more. Within a few days they were back in touch and had a batch of hens ready for us. We went out to only get 2 hens, but we decided on 3, after some not-so-gentle persuasion from the rescuers.  When we picked them up from the lady’s home, they all looked a little worse for wear. A few were rather featherless and had had their beaks cut short, a very common practice in Battery farms.  When we got them home we placed them in the chook-pen and kept a good eye on them for the first few days. They often would hold their feet up off the ground, more so than usual, probably because they weren’t used to having solid ground underneath them, since they had been in cages up until then. 

They took a good week to come right after such a life-changing experience, and now they are very friendly and even calm around our little one – who often wants to give them cuddles! They happily eat our kitchen scraps and grains, and surprisingly have left our little garden mostly alone! Often when I weed the garden they’ll peck at my toes, buttons and my wedding rings, it’s kind of strange having chickens wanting to hang around so much, but I’ve come to enjoy it – my own little piece of rural Australia in the inner suburbs.

 The eggs at first had awfully thin shells and pale-coloured yolks. Now after a couple of months the shells are much thicker and the yolks are golden yellow and delicious.  So, since that first day, we’ve been averaging less than 1 egg a day from the 3 of them, which is less that what we’d hoped for. However, we have taken into account that it has been winter the whole time we’ve had them and their bodies would be focusing on re-feathering and getting used to the cool environment.  Hopefully they’ll start laying a bit more over summer. I think next time we get chickens we will get younger pullets so we are maximising egg production.  Whatever happens,we’re very happy that we were able to give these three ladies a life outside of the cages.

It got me thinking. Most of the food we eat that tastes brilliant is the food that has love stirred in. Simple food is turned into mega-stars by giving it some love and energy. That’s why a lot of fast food really just sucks. It could taste great. A home-made hamburger can be to die for and I can imagine some southern deep-fried chicken the way momma used to make would have been super tasty. But the ‘Evil Clown and Feckless Chicken’ just don’t care, and as a result it tastes like cardboard soaked in kerosene.

So stir in a little love, a little magic and reap the rewards.

Spiced Chicken and Chickpea Individual Pies

Ingredients

2 Chicken Thighs, chopped

2/3cup each diced celery, carrot and sweet potato

2 medium red onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 thumb of ginger, grated

1 can tomatoes

1 can chickpeas

2 tsp grainy mustard

sprinkle garam masala

1 tsp paprika

2 tbsp flour

1 cup stock

handful of herbs from the garden - savoury, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley etc.

Method

Use a “sticky” pan – i.e. NOT a non-stick pan. This is the secret to making a kick-arse pie filling. You want it all to stick to the bottom and go brown so you can scrape it up and add the flavour to the pie filling. It adds SO much flavour!

1. Caramelize the onions with some olive oil on medium heat until they’re nice and brown

2. Add the celery, carrot, sweet potato, ginger, garlic and cook on a high heat, stirring until looking cooked.

3. Add the chicken thigh and cook again, get it all nice and brown, scraping the bottom of the pan

4. Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas

5. Add the spices, mustard, and fry off for a bit then add the flour and mix and scrape the pan until the raw flour taste is cooked out. You want it to be nice and brown. (seeing a theme here? Nice and Brown!)

6. Add the tomatoes and stock and herbs, stir through and then let simmer until really thick. It will stick to the bottom, keep scraping it off as you go. Let it get nice and thick.

This makes enough for 4 big individual pies. I halved it and put the leftovers in a zip lock bag in the freezer – it’s like a free meal a month later!

7. Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the pie filling in a dish and pop a puff pastry lid on top. Brush with egg wash and bung it in the oven. Serve with steamed vegetables (we served it with sauteed kale from our garden)

Ingredients

Serves 2 (and a toddler)

4 chicken legs
1 tin chopped tomatoes
50g tomato paste
1/2 capsicum, chopped
100g mixed olives
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic
1 heaped tsp Dorrigo Pepper
DO NOT ADD SALT – there is enough from the olives.

1/2 cup Risoni (Rice-shaped Pasta)- cooked to packet instructions, to serve

Method

1. Put a little oil in a pan and when it’s at a high heat add the chicken legs and cook to get a little colour on them
2. Add the onion and garlic and fry off a little
3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, capsicum, olives, and dorrigo pepper and stir
4. Cook on the stove top until you are ready for dinner.
If you want it straight away – keep the lid off, keep the heat at medium/high and cook for about 20 minutes, just until the chicken is cooked through
If you’ve got a little more time pop the lid on, let it simmer at low and cook for up to 2 hours.

I don’t usually keep ready-made salad dressing in the house, I wish I did sometimes when I’m being lazy, but it forces me to be a bit creative instead of just reaching for the good ol’ french dressing.  Often it’ll just be Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, but other times I’ll go nuts and use all sorts of condiments.

The best way to make a good dressing is use approximately equal parts of oil and an acid, perhaps lemon juice or a vinegar. Then just chuck in whatever you have in the cupboard. Maybe some grainy mustard, or some herbs or spices. As we’re all on a Mexican Kick this month, and I am going crazy for Cholula, I’ve gone down that road.

Ingredients

1 cup canned chickpeas
1/2 cooked chook (chicken), shredded roughly
10cm cucumber, sliced
handful of Baby roma tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red capsicum
Coriander
Parsley
1/3 red onion, sliced finely
Mixed salad leaves
Handful of snowpeas, cut into strips diagonally
1/2 avocado, diced

 
Dressing
1cm cube of fresh ginger, cut into very thin slithers
Juice of 1/2 a very juicy lime (or 1 lime)
1 tbsp Cholula Hot Sauce
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika

Chuck it all together in a big bowl and serve.

However, even on a lazy mid-week night, they’re still swiftly moving you through service. 

Their menu’s read like a lonely planet guide, with definitions for ingredients or techniques used in their meals. I started off with a glass of apple, mint and lime juice ($4.70) – I always love how it separates into 3 distinct layers. We started off with a round of deepfried zucchini chips and salted edamame (soy) beans. The zucchini was moist and moreish, which was balanced out by the beans. They were quite tasty and fun, once I’d realised that you aren’t supposed to ingest the bean and its outer casing (that’s right, I’m an edamame novice). I always love interactive foods – when you have do a certain action to eat it properly. I had fun squeezing the husk until the bean popped out into my mouth.

For main I ordered the chicken katsu curry ($19.40) and all my dining companions ordered the same thing - Kare Lomen, a spicy coconut milk based soup ($21). The soup looked and tasted delicious. It was a massive serving of creamy soup with lots of prawns or chicken and beansprouts.  My meal was tasty but ate more like it was from a German beer house than an asian ramen diner. A huge serve of rice (pressed into a football shape) with crispy and perfectly cooked “chicken schnitzel” with panko breadcrumbs (my favourite!) and a green salad.  With my meal we received a complimentary kids meal for my daughter. Again, it was enough for a hungry adult! but quite tasty.

For dessert we all had a humungous serve of icecream with flavours including lychee, coconut, black sesame and green tea. The black sesame certainly was the standout!

Wagamama is perfect for a quick lunch or dinner when you’re on the run. Speaking with the other girls in i8b, together, our recommendation would be to lessen then serving sizes and in turn lower the cost.

When reviewing restaurants and products for this site, usually we will focus on local Brisbane establishments. Although Wagamama’s is a successful worldwide corporation operating in no less than 15 countries, it’s still local, with local produce and staff.

Wagamama, Chermside

http://www.wagamama.com.au/

My old housemate, “Uncle” Darren, got me into Kamiil’s Kebabs several years ago, when he dragged me kicking and screaming at about 500m up Brunswick St at 1am, much to my protestations that we visit the more generic kebab store right near our apartment. “Kebabs are all the same grease, no matter where you go!” But as usual, Uncle Darren was right, and I was wrong, and Kamiil’s was in fact very good kebab.

Now I’m not going to be audacious enough to claim that a Kamiil’s Kebab will change your life.  All I’m saying is that as far as a bunch of meat, sauce and salads wrapped in pita goes, this stuff is good. Kamiil’s is just a whole lot fresher, and a lot less greasy, than your usual junky kebab shop.  Their wares are assembled with care, and you’re not left with kebab goo dripping out the bottom of the packaging, only to gum up your hands – not to mention the upholstery of your car.  

I had a chicken kebab, with yoghurt garlic sauce and tomato sauce (the favourite combo of the charming young man who served me), tabbouleh, salad and cheese (oh I love the cheese… please don’t judge me). The price range is fairly standard (coming in at around $8 each), but treat yourself to the extras: the Turkish Delight is amazingly soft and tender (I’m constantly surprised by how much tough, flavourless Turkish Delight there is in the world) with a container of 8 huge pieces only $5; and the baklava (handmade on premises) which is so sensationally crisp and sweet, is only a measley $3, and boy oh boy is it ever good. Like the “oh-I-was-watching-Glee-and-all-of-a-sudden-my-plate-was-clean” kinda good. I may or may not have lapped up the pistachio and honey dregs as well.  Just between you and me. 

So why the Fellowship of the Kebab? Because Kamiil’s is a bit of an institution to those in Brisbane who know of it. Each time I’m there, I’m always meeting people who’ve heard about it from someone, or go want to go that extra distance to get their fix.  At one of my more recent visits, I met a mother of 6 who uses it as her backup plan for her army of boys when she’s rushed for dinner, because it satisfies all her main criteria: healthy, tasty, filling and cheap. 

Kamiil’s: make the pilgrimage. 

Kamiil’s Kebabs
Shop 5, 660 Brunswick St
New Farm QLD 4005

It is with great pleasure that I say to you that I will NOT be boycotting Mecca Bah! Huzzah!

I went there a few weeks ago with a gaggle of girls for my sister’s birthday. The place is open and airy, but with a warm, sensual ambiance, using stylised Islamic motifs and geometric patterns to cover the floors and ceiling. Each chair is adorned with ornate cushions, and the table dressed with Moroccan tea glasses as votives.

We gathered in the outdoor area before being shown to our table – which was not reserved as they do not accept reservations, which I think is pretty cool – First in best dressed, and no “reserve sign” deserted tables!  We were given our menus and ample time to work out what to eat. The meal arrived shortly after, each dish looking as delectable as the next. This is when I usually get a bad case of Meal-Envy – I just want to try everything! Vine leaf wrapped fish fillets chargrilled with parsley, artichoke and olive salad ($22.50) was passed to the lady to my left, and Turkish Pizza with Spit roasted lamb, rocket, yoghurt & sumac ($19.80) to the lady on my right. I ordered the Garlic chicken kebab, mjaddarah (lentils and  rice), yoghurt sauce & tabouleh. ($21.50). It had a perfect balance of spices, the combination of chicken, rice and tabouleh complimented each other well. It was a light, but comfortably filling dish. I nabbed a piece of pizza crust from my sister, just to taste – it was a crunchy and light, perfectly risen dough.

After much deliberation over the dessert menu, I settled on Middle Eastern Halva Icecream and a Pistachio maa’moul. Halva is made with sesame seeds, the flavour was distinctive and texture creamy. It matched well with the maa’moul. This arrived in it’s own rice-paper packaging (obviously not baked in house, but that’s ok!) – a crumbly oval-shaped biscuit filled with nuts, flavoured with rose water, and dusted liberally with icing sugar. The icecreams are sold 3 scoops for $9, however, I asked for 1 scoop for $3 and they gladly sold that to me. To take home, I grabbed a couple of pieces of Turkish Delight. Mmmm.

Right at the end of the night, when there were only a few tables of people left, the kitchen and wait staff appeared and gathered around a table and ate together after their shift had ended. I suppose this is probably not a very ‘professional’ thing to see, but you could really tell that they were enjoying the meal they had prepared themselves. It was great to see that they liked it as much as we did.
Mecca Bah 19-21/1000 Ann St, Fortitude Valley
www.meccabah.com

If I have any bones left over from something like chicken legs or wings (unchewed of course), or even a store-bought barbeque chook carcass, I’ll make it again. It was quite easy, and it can be frozen for months. Also, it’s a lot cheaper than buying store-bought stuff – literally just cents!

You need bones – uncooked bones for a light coloured stock, cooked for a darker stock, water, some herbs and the ‘french trinity’ of vegetables – Mirepoix – Onion, Celery and Carrot.  I always start off stews with these 3 vegetables, it bulks it up, giving you a good whack of your daily veg, and these vegetables release a lot of their natural sugars to sweeten up the dish.

I will give you the recipe I found in a french-standard practical cookery book from a chef course my husband did, first published in 1961. I always refer to these sort of recipe books for recipe standards like stocks and gravies. This of course, doesn’t mean I’ll always follow them to the T!

Ingredients

2kg raw bones (or cooked – it will just change the outcome slightly)

4 litres Water

1/2 kg vegetables – onion, celery, carrot, leek

Bouquet garni – thyme, bay leaf, parsley stalks (not the leaves, it will make it turn green!)

12 peppercorns

Method

1. Chop up the bones (I whacked mine with the blunt side of a heavy blade – seemed to work the best), remove any fat or marrow (I left mine in – It worked fine, just skim off the fat that rises to the top. It may not last as long with the fat in though.)

2. Place in a stock pot, add the cold water and bring to the boil.

3. If the scum is dirty then blanch and wash off the bones, recover with cold water and re-boil

4. Skim (the foamy stuff on the surface), wipe round side of the pot and simmer gently

5. Add the washed, peeled , whole vegetables, bouquet garni and peppercorns

6. Simmer 6-8 hours. Skim and strain

During the cooking a certain amount of evaporation must take place, therefore add 1/2 litre cold water just before boiling point is reached. This will also help to throw the scum to the surface and make it easier to skim

I made only about a quarter of this amount, and didn’t add the leek or the bay leaf. I know! Blasphemy! But it’s always good to work with what you’ve got.

I try to like it, I really do. It just sounds so sexy when Italians say the word, with the soft dentalised T, the kitchen getting hot and steamy while stirring those translucent pearls of rice over the stove, the super fresh ingredients just picked up from the market . Yep - it should work. But it doesn’t.  I’ve had risotto at restaurants, and made it at home, and I just can’t see what all the fuss is about.

So, in a vain attempt to try to win myself over and join the cool and sexy risotto-lovers, I made it again yesterday. I followed instructions, I did a nice simple combination of flavours – Chicken, mushroom, pea and asparagus. I even made my own stock (after forgetting to buy it at the shops!)  But still no win. The flavours were there… but the texture is just not my bag. Also, if I ever try it again, I won’t be using large field mushrooms - they turned the brew into a fetching shade of “Tracksuit Grey”.

RISOTTO FAIL.

But Behold! Arancini to the rescue! These nifty little balls of deliciousness saved the day… well… the left overs the next day at least! Arancini Balls (or, as I have coined them Gruel Cubes, but we’ll get to that later) are another ‘very in’ thing at the moment, they originate from Sicily. Essentially, they’re crumbed balls of leftover Risotto. So, maybe that 2 kilograms of risotto I have frozen in the fridge won’t go to waste!

Ingredients

A serve of leftover Risotto – I’m not even going to bother giving you my recipe… please find one that works for you.

Plain Flour

1 egg, lightly whisked

Breadcrumbs

finely grated parmesan cheese

Olive Oil spray

Olive Oil

Method

1. take some risotto in your hand and shape it into a ball
2. roll in flour
3. roll in egg
4. roll in breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese
5. repeat for next ball
6. spray with olive oil (this just makes sure all sides are covered in oil)
7. add a bit of oil to a heated pan and fry balls on all sides until golden. (they kinda turned into cube shapes while cooking this way, hense the nick name – Gruel Cubes. Arancini Balls sounds a lot more fancy)
8. or deep fry
9. or bake in the oven

I forgot to add the pinenuts and basil to mine, but added it in the recipe – they’re important.  I was obviously a little scatterbrained while making this up!

I used Julia’s technique of caramelising the onions, as per her caramelised onion tartlets recipe - it worked perfectly! I used to use a similar method, but never rested the onions throughout. The addition of this step makes the onions gooey and delicious. So a big thank you to Julia! 

Also – a shout out to Heinz Pure NZ for making THE coolest frozen peas packaging in the world. Of course, I’m always going to be partial to a bit of Kiwi humour (my adorable husband is a kiwi) but it’s not just the witty words – it’s the clear pack that makes me very happy. Why? Because I can see that I am just getting peas, and nothing else! I’ve noticed a growing trend of companies adding a little water to the frozen peas to bulk up the weight. I don’t want to sound like a trashy Today Tonight ‘journalist’, but seriously: vegetable packers – Cut it out.  Ooh! Just checked out the website – very nice Heinz! They have a bio of the farmer who grew the vegetables and a gallery of the actual farm! Now that is slick marketing!

And a quick word on vinegar – Vinegar is a really good way of injecting extra flavour into foods without adding salt and oil. It still contains a fair whack of sugars, but it’s not as calorific as oil! So, I use it quite a bit to enhance my meals.

Ingredients

2/3 cup couscous
2/3 cup water
1/2 chicken stock cube

1/2 small butternut pumpkin
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 big handfuls of leafy greens – baby spinach, lettuce, baby beetroot leaves, endive, rocket etc
1 chicken breast
1/2 Tomato, diced
1 spanish onion
1 brown onion
handful of pinenuts, dry-toasted in a fry pan
handful of basil leaves, ripped.

Malt and Balsamic Vinegar
Pepper
Olive Oil

Method

1.Chop up the chicken into inch sized bits and marinade in about a 1/4 cup of malt and balsamic vinegar while doing everything else.
2. Cut the pumpkin into thick slices, toss with oil and pepper and put in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a little brown
3. finely slice the onion, reserve a little handful of the spanish onion
4. Put the onions slices in a pan with a little oil and heat quickly and stir around for a few minutes, then take off the heat and pull them all into one corner. Then repeat approximately 4 times until the onions are very dark brown and sweet and gooey.
5. cook the couscous as per packet directions with the added chicken stock cube.
6. Boil the frozen peas and drain
7. Drain the chicken of the vinegar and panfry the chicken until cooked but still tender.

8. Put everything in a bowl, with a drizzle of oil, balsamic vinegar and a crack of pepper and toss carefully.