Snadra

When I put all that effort into ensure I take the stones and other bits of debris out of pulses before I cook them, why would I want to put stones into my whisky? And anyway, I actually prefer the slight dilution that an icecube or two provides. Or is that because I'm drinking cheap stuff? Can't be long know before the four horsemen come riding into view, whinging about the unwanted rock flavour in their apocalyptic cocktails...

When I've seen the 'single piece' splashbacks installed they are always glued/siliconed across the back surface, so having the colour on the glass means you can't see the glue. ETA: In splashbacks here you can usually colour match as well, so you can match your wall or accent colour if that's what you like.

Colour-backed glass splashbacks are the way to go in Australia at the moment. I don't have one (we couldn't decide what we wanted when we had the kitchen done a few years ago and just have painted walls for now) but I've seen them in a number of kitchens and definately like them. They are apparently easy to clean, especially as there are no/few joins, and they look beautiful and modern. I haven't heard of any problems with them.

Asparagus, known as spargel in our house after a trip we took to Germany in May a few years ago at the height of the asparagus season (every restaurant had exactly the same 6 or so asparagus items on their menu, including the chinese restaurants) is always refused. I can sneak it into a a stirfy, but he finds out eventually, and comes out of the bathroom all accusing! It turns out he only knew it out tins growing up and enjoys the taste if it's fresh and lightly cooked. But he'll still refuse to eat it if he knows about it in advance. I used to try harder to get it past him, but these days I just figure: more for me! (edited to fix punctuation)

Nice one Miranda, which reminded me, I came across a few more suppliers the last few days (I have not tried them): Tasmanian Wasabi: http://www.shimawasabi.com.au/ Organic Garlic (from Bellingen): http://www.melodycreekorganics.com/buy-organic-russian-garlic.html Organic Garlic (from Tenterfield): http://www.rochfordorganicgarlic.com.au/

I'm curious about any difficulties you face getting foodstuffs through customs. I've never tried getting anything through Australian Quarantine other than cans of maple syrup. I keep going to the Rancho Gordo site and drooling, but the thought of the likely AQS hassle puts me off. I was checking Australian sites that I thought might be useful to you, but they only seem to ship in Australia. However, it might be worth asking them directly. I've used Santos and Honest to Goodness for a few things. I really like the beans and flours from Santos, but I haven't been as happy with the small amount of dried fruit I tried. Personally, I find that I actually get better prices and quality when I order these sorts of bulky things online than when I try to find them in a shop. Generally I prefer organic, but I'm a sucker for heirloom. And either way, the prices still have to be reasonable (granted my definition of reasonable changes despending on my modd). These sites and a few others are mentioned in the online shopping thread in the Aus/NZ forums.

I never would have thought of sesame seeds on apple cake, but now it sounds like a lovely combination, especially with a dark brown sugar. As a rule I prefer a north-american style apple pie to cake, but I have really liked the apple cake in Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. I find it a bit unusual in that melted butter is mixed in as the last step, but it makes a lovely cake and is full of apples. I often add cardamom and a few sultanas to it. There's also a recipe for Rhubarb Cake posted by Chufi in Recipe Gullet (hopefully this link works). It's wonderful with rhubarb, but I've also used apples in it when the rhubarb isn't cooperating and it's been delicious. And just perfect for a small household too.

I am not a huge lover of seafood, so my shelf-stable fish products are limited to anchovies (too many uses to list!), tuna (for sandwiches, pasta salad and the occassional warm pasta) and salmon, for very occassional salmon cakes. And speaking of salmon cakes/patties, they seem to mentioned a few times on this thread. How do you do yours, and what do you serve them with? Mine evolved from a potato-topped salmon loaf my mother used to make. She served it with a chunky-tomato based sauce that had large pieces of peppers/capsicum and zucchinni and was quite heavily spiced with chili. Now when I make them they have well-browned onion, spinach, lemon zest and dill or oregano in them and are lightly crumbed on the outside. We have them with rice or mash and the same sauce my mother made.

Annachan I haven't seen roo tail at the supermarkets, although I'm sure it's got to be available somewhere. I was looking for something else today and was amused to come across this Wallaby Shanks recipe on the Australian Women's Weekly site. Now, I always thought that AWW was aimed squarely at the everyday sort of cook, with easily accessible ingredients. Can anyone tell me just how accessible wallaby shanks are if you don't live on a property? And Nick: I must try roo with dark berry sauce. How do you do your sauce? I have some raspberry vinegar hanging about and was thinking it might give a nice acidity to some sort of raspberry sauce with chargrilled roo fillets.

This doesn't help much with the original question, but it looks like the Auburn site in Sydney is getting closer to opening.

The blanquette de veau is a brilliant suggestion! Lemon risotto is white and lovely with something slightly bitter - maybe you could do something with pale Belgian endives? Turnips are white, and depending on your location, you might be able to access white strawberries/raspberries and white carrots. As far as dessert goes, you could also try an asian-style tapioca with sugar syrup and coconut milk. This actually sounds like it could be a bit of fun!

We don't have one but have been keeping an eye out for a deal. Our stove is gas and I'm not thrilled with its performance at low levels (I'd especially like to try candying some fruit and peels), so the thinking is a crockpot would be really good, but with summer on its way here it's gone out of my head again. But the non-heating aspect was something I never considered. Brilliant! You've renewed my interest for a summer purchase!

I think I know the flavour you're talking about. I have wondered if it's something to do with blanching, as in maybe it wasn't properly covered as it was growing (they still do that, right?). Paler celery doesn't seem to have that weird bitterness, if we're thinking of the same flavour. My other thought was that it's simply old produce. I have noticed an unpleasant flavour change the longer it sits in my fridge, even when it's been well-stored.

The comments about checking pineapples are interesting. A few years ago we visited The Big Pineapple (yeah yeah yeah Australia is full of big stuff - I think the giant prawn is the scariest) and one of the things we were told was that the decision about when to pick is made by sampling mature fruit for sweetness, then picking that growth cohort. They also said that pulling bits of the crown off is not a good way to determine ripeness/sweetness, but that all pineapples are essentially picked at their peak, as far as the growers are able to tell. So now when I look at pineapples, I no longer try to work out which might be the sweetest/ripest, because my assumption is that I won't be able to tell. Instead, I look for what I think is the freshest fruit: no wrinkles or soft spots, but it smells good, feels heavy for its size (there's that again) and has nice plump eyes. This page has more info from a grower.

It depends so much on your personal circumstances, doesn't it? I've done my 8 years without a crockpot - but I don't have kids and I do have a job that can have me staying back until all hours at a moment's notice. I don't want to come home to a meal ready to go at 7pm because when I leave the house I don't know if I'll be home at 7pm or 11pm, so I find it easier to just have the makings of a reasonably healthy super quick meal around. Plus, I can barely get myself out the door in the mornings so best intentions and all, I know I'd never pull off putting the right things into the crockpot as well, not to mention the fact that in this climate you probably wouldn't want to eat what came out of a crockpot for 9 months of the year. For those in the right circumstances though, I can see the boon it must be. One thing we do have though was a luxury purchase when we renovated our kitchen: a 'light-speed' oven. Now we can bake/roast all sorts of things without waiting for the oven to heat up, or creating much heat in the kitchen. This is especially good for things like roasted potato/sweet potato (and potato gems/tater tots...). The main issue is getting the right size/shape equipment, as it uses a turntable. Obviously this is something to think about only if you are renovating and/or replacing a microwave.

For just over 8 years now I have had a commute/job combo which sees me leave the house just before 7am and get home just after 7pm – and that’s on a good day where I haven’t been asked to stay back at the last minute, the trains haven’t stuff up etc, etc, etc. My husband gets home at the same time I do. One thing we did was to rethink supper (or whatever you call the evening meal in your neck of the woods – here it’s often called ‘tea’). Breakfast foods have already been mentioned and are great. An omelette served with green beans or broccoli is a healthy and very quick meal. We’ve also found a light main followed by a more substantial dessert works well and is satisfying. Say soup followed by a something like self-saucing puddings, eve’s pudding, crumbles, baked custard, etc that don’t take too long to put together but do take a while to bake and can do so while you eat. You can have the soup prepared, or do a last minute one from frozen veg (corn or green pea are our favourites). We regularly take the German Abendbrot approach: a variety of cold meats, cheeses, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and hearty breads eaten with a knife and fork – that’s a dinner that’s basically an exercise in table setting. Of course, you’re not getting a lot of veg there, so we like to follow it up with a bowl of homemade applesauce (nice with some granola on top) or fruit with a chocolate sauce (cream + dark chocolate melted together – holds for ages in the fridge). As summer approaches we also like to keep a rotating variety of salads in the fridge (potato, pasta, lentil, cabbage, cucumber, etc) that hold well and can be quickly put on a plate with either some freshly grilled or cold meat (especially the never-ending Christmas ham). The trick is to have a variety and make them in small enough amounts that you’re only seeing them a maximum of three times in the week – because you’ve got a variety on your plate, it’s not like eating the same meal over and over. On a really hot evening (and I know you’re looking forward to winter right now, but we’re about to hit summer) veggies, pita triangles and dips are also fantastic, and no cooking required. A couple other ideas: Pierogies. I make homemade ones in large batches which I then freeze. They cook from frozen in no time and the ones I make have a soft dough and are lovely eaten just boiled. Lately we have taken to topping them with greek yoghurt and those asian fried shallots. Potato pancakes with applesauce. Again, quick prep, using things (potato, onion, eggs) you are likely to have on hand with long storage times. If you make enough apple sauce it can accompany pork chops later in the week or serve as dessert. Grilled chicken, rice & ‘asian’ coleslaw. We thinly slice chicken breast (or pork or beef fillet) then marinate in soy, garlic & ginger wine, then grill in a ridged pan – the meat should be thin enough that it only needs a minute or two per side. The meat is cooked almost before the rice is. Fried Rice. Someone above noted it’s never the same twice and it’s super quick. We always bulk the veg content by serving sliced cucumbers, and lettuce/cabbage salad with it. A fried egg is a quick addition if there’s no protein in it. Recently with leftover basmati rice I've been making a spiced fried rice using butter instead of oil with dried fruits and nuts, topped with yoghurt and fried onions. Parmesan Chicken. From one of Nigel Slater's fast food cookbooks. Essentially cheesed & crumbed chicken breast cooked under the grill and served with a sauce of parsley, anchovies, capers, dijon mustard & olive oil. Quick & delicious and no frying. Actually, I’m leaving my job early next year to finish up a degree and move onto a new phase of our lives, so expect a new topic soon titled “Help me learn how to cook slowly again”.

A proper look-through might prove me incorrect, but I have noticed that in my (limited number of) French cookbooks, a quiche is generally a shallow thing, probably 2cm thick maximum. There are quiche-like objects in many modern Aussie cookbooks, but they all seem to be called tarts rather than quiche and are quite thin, while the things called quiche that I see in cafes are quite thick. I've experimented a small amount with thicker and thinner versions, and have come to prefer the thinner version of a quiche, where the crispness of the pastry is a more direct contrast to the filling, rather than a minor accoutrement that gets lost in the richness of the filling. Ideally, about 1.5cm of filling, to a thin crust. My feeling is if you want savoury custard, eat savoury custard and dispense with the crust, because by the time a quiche becomes 4cm or more thick, isn't the crust is nearly pointless anyway? Also, quiche strikes me as a dish that should be served in small portions, and I think a thicker quiche makes this problematic.

Would they be too spicy to use in a condiment like in this recipe? Shredded lamb shoulder with salted chilli

I'm intrigued. I understand it's classified as an invasive weed here, but there are a couple of large stands of prickly pear just down the road and the local fruit shop has the fruits for sale when they're in season. Are the nopales seasonal as well? I'm sure I could get my hands on some and try them out.

Yeah.... I've said that before, and then immediately proceeded to remove yet another chunk of thumb (additional note to self: thumb tucks behind curled fingers when using knife, not off to the side to stop blade from slicing all the way to the cutting board, because it slices all the way anyway!). On the plus side, my husband is now able to differentiate between 5 different tones in a sharp intake of breath, and has halved his response times where appropriate.

Gah! I completely mis-read that part of your earlier post and thought you meant a mini-prep processor... I'm glad to hear I'm not far off on my assessment. Shame they're not sold in the US anymore though.

This is more by way of an online equipment source, however I think it's worth including anyway. Redback Trading Company I haven't ordered from them, but as far as I can tell they are one of the few sources of north american style preserving jars (ie Ball, Mason) with the two-piece lids, as opposed to the Quattro Stagioni with one-piece lids that you generally see here (if you are lucky enough to see them at all), or the Fowlers Vacola (which also seem to be fairly rare). They also sell some ingredients for meat curing, pressure canners and the beautiful Weck preserving jars.

Hi Helen, I was thinking about this yesterday. What sort of applications were you thinking of? If you want a lot of even vegetable slices, then an adjustable mandoline like dougal mentions (not forgetting a protective glove in preference to a guard) might be the most useful - maybe something like this one from Oxo. Of course you will still need to do some pre-prep of things - ie peeling & chunking carrots, potatoes, onions, etc, in which case the board that Andie described strikes me as really useful. With regards to a food processor, again, I think it depends on what you're trying to do, and how you can store it. If it's always on your counter, and is quite stable, then you ought to be able to manage it one-handed, depending on how the bits fit together. For example, I have a 10 year old Moulinex, and the knob bit in the bowl that the blade and other parts rest on is a two piece thing that you really need two hands for, and I could not imagine inserting the slicing and shredding blades without two hands (or maybe even two pairs of hands - it's that idiotic). Different processors will have different systems, so it's important to check them out. The one thing I do have, which gets a fair bit of use and I think would be easy to manage one handed is this pumped-up stick blender. I have a slightly older one which comes with just the whisk and mini-processor, but it looks like newer versions come with a shredder blade as well. They need a bit of a pull and a push to get the blade in and out, but it's something you could do by gripping it against your body with your elbow, or between your knees just to give a bit of resistance. This is the machine I take when we go away, and it works great for lots of applications: pesto, salsa, cakes, ground nuts, etc. I have even made a small amount of pastry in them. They're not perfect, but they are pretty good, and easier to store (just keep all the bits together in a basket under the counter). It's not as powerful as a proper benchtop processor, but it might be easier to manage one handed. And if you already use a stick blender you know how useful they are. I'm looking forward to others' ideas. ETA: should have properly read previous post!

Roo has been on and off the shelves at Woolies & Coles the last few years, but lately seems to be more reliably on, for a fair bit more than a couple of years ago. I've only seen the 'Macro Meats' brand on the shelve, and I avoid the pre-marinated/seasoned stuff, and stick to the fillets (not steak as it has more silverskin on it) and mince. I've only used the mince for bolognese-type sauce, but am thinking of expanding into new territory. We generally have the fillets grilled or panfried to medium rare and haven't done anything very exciting with them. They do go nicely with a roasted beetroot, parsely, walnut & goat cheese salad, or on garlic toasted turkish bread for a steak sandwich. Do you cook roo? How? What do you serve it with?

I sliced them thinly on the diagonal, in fact very thinly because I used my v-slicer. I did have problems with them sticking together, and the dressing not really getting in, which is why I think matchstick might work better. I don't recall it calling for any wait time. It sat for about 15-20 minutes before we ate it, but like you say, longer makes a lot of sense. Next time I might double the dressing as well, as it could have used a little more. I would also add don't go too heavy on the green onion, as it overpowers - or at least it overpowers substandard carrots! It's worth making again and it certainly strikes me as a do-ahead dish. I'll have to look that one up in the book! I find pomegranates quite variable. We had a tree in our yard for a while, and it produced quite sour ones, but when I've bought them from the shops they've been much sweeter. I can imagine that salad would be quite sharp and refreshing. What did you have with it? We ate the carrot salad with my first attempt at karaage and plain medium-grain rice. It was quite a nice combo.