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’s always a last minute open-the-fridge-what’s-the-first-3-ingredients-I-find sort of meal for me. I do have a bit of rhyme to my reason – I try to incorporate:

 a serve of protein

a serve of carbs

a couple of serves of veg

But apart from that, it’s really up to the Fridge-Fates.

This is what happened today. This sort of meal works because my daughter LOVES peas and will point to the freezer and beg for them. It’s handy that at that age the 2 words PEAS and PLEASE sound rather similar. Ah…On second thoughts, she’s probably hankering for icecream.

I want to teach you THE easiest way to cook peas because it saves you a heap of time and it’s like you’re not even cooking. To most well-versed cooks it’s going to sound like I’m pandering to you here but bear with me – novice cooks will thank me!

Grab a small high-walled bowl and a little strainer.

 Fill bowl with frozen peas and then with hot water from the tap then strain the peas and do it a few times until the water runs warm.

Then put hot water in the bowl until just covering the peas and put them in a microwave on high for 1 minute.

Ta Da! Cooked, plump, delicous peas.

While I was doing this I put an egg on to fry on a low heat. Then I mixed a bit of grainy mustard and parmesan cheese through the peas, toasted a couple of tortillas and chucked the fried egg on top of it all.

So, what did you eat for lunch?

When I visited Finland there was always lots of rye bread to nibble on. The rye bread there was so moist and dense, hopefully I’ll be able to make some like that soon!

Ingredients I used today….

this was enough to feed 2 of us.

Dark rye bread, toasted or fresh (I got this rye bread from the Kelvin Grove Markets on Saturday)

1 stick celery, sliced

2 swiss brown mushrooms (or any mushroom)

small amount of red onion, sliced thinly

a few sweet spiced pickled gherkins, sliced

a few pickled onions, sliced

2 hard boiled eggs

some radishes from the garden

a few lettuce seedlings from the garden

a few sprigs of fresh dill

I made a ‘fake’ sour cream with:

3 parts no-fat greek yoghurt

1 part whole egg mayonaisse

1 part grainy mustard.

Then all you do is stack it all onto the pieces of rye whichever way you like, dip the celery and mushrooms into the creamy sauce and crunch down on the radishes.

Mexican Food Boffin list - The 5 rules to makin’ Mexican.

1. It’s either gotta be fresh…straight from the ground right into your mouth. OR it must be stewed, fried and simmered for a minimum of 48 hours.

2. If you want something to look like Mexican food, follow the ’Mexican Flag Rule’ - red, green and white.

3. Loads of limes, bucketloads of chilis and lots of heart and soul

4. Cook with love and attentiveness

5. If in doubt, chuck some chocolate in it.

This jewel of a poached egg was gifted to me by my husband who kissed me on the cheek, banished me from the kitchen and 20 minutes later presented me with this yummy lunch. It sounds silly, but food surprises are my favourite kind of surprises, especially when Darren does it. When we’d first moved in together, Darren presented me with a piece of pavlova (he’s pretty darn good at them!) and my first ever taste of fresh raspberries. I savoured each one. 

Poached Eggs on Toast

Chop up tomatoes, avocado, red onion and mix together. Dress with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Heat  a couple of inches of water in a frying pan with a tablespoon of vinegar. Heat until there are bubbles clinging to the base of the pan. Swirl the water with a spoon to create a slow whirl-pool. Crack an egg and very gently slip it into the water. While this is happening toast some bread under the salamander. Once the bread is done, the egg should be done.

Cut a piece of garlic in half and rub it all over the bread. Put a couple of leaves of kale and spinach on top and finish with the salsa and poached egg. Crack some pepper over the top and some Cholula.

Yes. Yes she is. Forget Tabasco Sauce people. Cholula is the one for me. To quote their website, “Cholula’s blend of piquin peppers, chile arbol and signature spices enhances food flavours without overpowering them. It’s a combination that has defined Cholula as The Flavourful Fire” I couldn’t agree more. There is more to Cholula than just heat, she’s sweet too. You won’t just have the best night of your life, she’ll make you breakfast in the morning. And that breakfast will be delicious!

Cholula just shooting the breeze with Mexican Lime Water and Guacamole

Cholula goes with everything. Eggs, Meat, as a salad dressing, nachos, soups, pizza, rice. And therein lies the problem. Mr Mexico was running out of Cholula! His parents would send him care packages from Mexico every once in a while, so he had to start rationing it out. I was lucky to even try it. A few weeks later, I mentioned Cholula to my mum and how I was planning to import some myself. And she casually said. “Oh, is it this stuff?” and proceded to unveil a bottle of the prized elixir from out of her pantry.

YOU CAN GET THIS STUFF IN COLES!! GO THERE NOW!!!

(Just realised this may look like I love Coles – but really…I just love Cholula. )

So Cholula for everyone! It’s just lovely. My sister made some Nachos with Guacamole and a simple salad for lunch this week and we drizzled some Cholula over the corn chips. I’ve had it with eggs on toast, I added it to a sauce to go atop of Chicken Parmagiana and I just made a salad with a Cholula-based salad dressing.

Viva La Mexico!

Also, I’ve finally (almost) perfected puff pastry! That oven thermometer that I purchased recently certainly opened up my eyes to my ridiculously hot oven. Now that I know 180 degrees really is 230 in my heat-happy oven, I’ve managed to create edible puff pastry treats by bringing the temperature dial down to a measly 130 degrees.

Ingredients

3 chicken Thighs
4 tbsp Flour
4 leeks, trimmed of green end and root end
Salt
Pepper
1tsp Grainy Mustard
cornflour
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Chicken Stock

Method

1.Remove excess fat and sinew and chop the thighs up into different sizes. Large chunks, smaller chunks and finely diced bits (this will give the pie a bit more texture, without being all chunky. – The small bits fill the spaces between the big bits)
2. cut the leeks down the length of them and wash any grit from between the layers. Slice.
3. In a large pot, sweat out the leeks and garlic until they are a little brown. Set them to the side.
4. In the same pot, chuck in the Chicken and get some colour on it all. About halfway through, throw in the flour and brown it off well. (This is an important step, as the more colour you get in this step, the better the pie filling will look. Personally, there is nothing worse than a pasty albino chicken pie filling. Icky.)
5. Pop the rest of the ingredients and the leek back into the pot. Pour in about a cup or two of stock. Put the lid on and simmer on a low heat for about 1.5hours, checking every 10 minutes or so. Add more stock if needed, but remember, it should be quite dry. For the last 30 minutes, take the lid off to let the moisture evaporate.
6. At the end, check the consistancy. It should be thick and sticky. If it’s still a little wet, add a little cornflour (1-2 tsp) and mix in.
7. Let the mixture cool completely, separate into 2 containers, and freeze.

To make the pie

Try different things with the pastry – there are so many ways you can fancy up a pie!

Use 2 sheets of Puff Pastry or Shortcrust pastry.

Egg Wash (1 egg and a dash of milk, whisked)

1 container of defrosted pie filling

Method

1. Grease a pie dish  – we often use one of those retro glass dinner plates – it’s the perfect size for 2 big serves, or a little Gratin baking dish.
2. Put one sheet down, fill it with the chicken and leek filling, and pop the other sheet on top. Seal the edges, and trim the excess
3. Brush a little egg wash on top, and put in a 180 degree oven until golden brown (about 20-40 minutes, depending – keep an eye on it!)

Serve with vegetables.

The original recipe is from a fabulously 80s cookbook book called Fresh Food Cooking for Finger Foods, and features other such brilliant recipes as  Salmon Mousse, Walnut Apricot Chicken Ball and Curried Trim Lam Vol au Vents.  Seriously entertaining stuff! However, nestled in amongst the iceberg lettuce salads and other Aussie-French culinary mish-mash lies a delightful little recipe for Ham and Egg Pies.  They’re simple, quick, extremely adaptable, and absolutely delicious.

I’ve nicknamed them my Little Baby Quiches, partly because of their 80s origins, and partly because of a particularly entertaining line from the Kath and Kim TV series — “little baby cheeses (little baby jesus)” — which always makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.

The best things about these “Quiches” is that they’re accommodating to any palette. The original recipe features only ham, parsley and cheese, but I tend to add whatever I’m in the mood for: olives, feta, spring onions — but you could easily throw in any little morsel.  I’m keen to try caramelised onion and goats cheese next.  It’s easy to split a batch to include half vegetarian quiches, which means it’s easy to cater for any vegos in the crowd.  And finally, with prep and cooking time taking less than 25 minutes total, they’re a cinch to whip up.

Ingredients

• 2-3 sheets puff pastry
• 2 slices shaved champagne ham, finely diced
• 25g feta
• 25g olives (green or black), finely diced
• a handful of tasty cheese, grated
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Method

1. Using a scone cutter (or a small cup or glass) cut out 24 rounds of puff pastry to fit small patty cake tins.
2. Divide the ham, feta, olives and cheese amongst the pastry-lined patty tins as desired.
3. Beat together the eggs, milk and parsley, and pour or spoon a small amount of this mixture over the ingredients in the patty tins.
4. Bake at 200oC for 15 mins or until puffed and golden.

Serves 24, warm or cold

Adapted from Fresh Food Cooking for Finger Foods

I have used Almond Meal in this recipe. I make my own Almond Meal by pulsing whole almonds (with the skin on) with a stick blender. This is the cheapest way to get almond meal, as you can buy whole almonds for about $10kg, whereas the meal can be $5 for 50g! If  you want them with the skin off, you can blanch them in boiling water for about a minute or two, then put them into a ziplock bag for 10 minutes. Then, while they are still in the bag, squeeze them and the kernel will pop out of the skin. It’s lots of fun!

In this photo, I served it with an icing made of yoghourt and icing sugar that had chopped beets soaking in it. It looks cool, but I don’t recommend it, it was a little icky tasting. I’d serve it with Chocolate icing, or vanilla icecream.

Don’t worry about getting the beetroot stain on your hands, most of it washes off straight away, and unless you have a hand-modeling job to get to the next day, it’s really not a problem. And it’s so much fun, it takes me right back to my childhood, playing with poster paint and squelchy mud!

Ingredients

300g Finely Grated Fresh Beetroot

3 eggs

1/4 cup Cocoa

160g Plain Flour

1 1/2tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

35g Dark Chocolate, melted

50ml Olive Oil

60g Almond Meal

 Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, grease and lightly flour a cake tin (I used a Kugelhopf tin… I love it!)

2. Sift all the dry ingredients into one bowl

3. Add the Beetroot, Oil,chocolate, and eggs and mix to combine

4. Pour into the cake tin, and place in oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until it springs back when touched AND when a skewer is inserted into the middle, it comes out clean.

5. Rest on bench for 10 minutes in tin, then invert onto a cooling rack.

6. Serve.

2/3 cup Wholemeal Flour
2 eggs
3 cups Cabbage, sliced thinly
1 med onion, sliced finely
Salt
Pepper

Toasted flaked almonds
Chives, Chopped

SAUCE
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1tbsp Kecap Manis
1tbsp Soy Sauce
Knob of ginger, finely julienned
1/4tsp mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp vinegar

For sauce combine all ingredients.

Pancake

1. Mix all ingredients together until you get a very stiff batter.
2. Heat a frying pan and spray with olive oil. Pour the cabbage mixture into the pan, and with a spatula that has been sprayed with oil, press the mix firmly down into the pan.
3. Keep pressing the mix down into the pan to keep it firm.
4. Once cooked on the bottom, slide it out onto a plate, re-oil the pan, and flip the pancake into the frypan again to cook the other side. Keep pressing with a spatula.
5. Once cooked, serve with the almonds, chives and a drizzle of sauce.

2 slices white bread

1 egg 1tbsp milk

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp raw sugar

Butter and Oil for frying

Frozen mixed berries

Crumbly low-fat Ricotta (from the deli)

Honey

1. Remove the crusts from the bread

2. To thaw berries, pop in microwave for 10 seconds, then leave on bench while cooking.

3. Whisk egg, milk, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl until sugar is dissolved

4. Heat a frypan to medium heat and add a small knob of butter and olive oil (the olive oil stops the butter from burning)

5. Dunk the bread into the eggy mix until fully drenched.

6. Fry until golden on both sides

7. Arrange on plate with berries, and bit of ricotta and a drizzle of Honey.