Snadra

I was in Germany in May a couple of years ago and it was Spargelzeit! everywhere. Every single food-related place we visited or passed advertised fresh (usually white) asparagus. At restaurants it was always provided in the same combinations (at the moment I can only remember Spargelsuppe and Spargel mit Schinken), served with either hollandaise or browned butter crumbs. There appeared to be no variation according to the ethnicity of the restaurant either, it was always the same 6 or so dishes. What I can say is that we ate a fair bit of it (who could resist?) and it was almost uniformly delicious. My father, who grew up in northern Germany, remembers that the traditional spring meal was always asparagus, new potatoes and a thick piece of schinken. Snadra

We put a new kitchen in last year, replacing all the appliances. The old oven (a Chef installed under counter) drove us crazy, although it was probably only purchased just before we bought the house seven years ago. It leaked heat outrageously (not pleasant in a hot climate). When we pulled it out there were dark heat scars on the cabinet walls around it. Heating was completely uneven (it was fan-forced only), the fan frequently broke down and we spent about $400 in parts for it. If it had been an OLD oven, we might have overlooked these faults, but it was modern, and gave us trouble from day 1. The new oven (built into the wall) is a Bosch, and I love it. Quadruple glazing on the door, excellent heat protection (we don't notice the extra heat from it at all), good temperature control and heat distribution, some handy functions, etc, etc.... we also got a Bosch 'light speed oven', a microwave that also has 'normal' oven functions, and it's fantastic too. My only issue is that we mounted it a bit high, and the door doesn't open sideways (my mistake!). Based on our current experiences, I could definately recommend Bosch.

Oh how I feel your pain. We are in much the same boat, with the added complication of late weeknight arrivals that mean we try to avoid meals that are too heavy and unpredictable work schedules. It's summer here, so my mind is going in that direction.... Salad meals are great if you have a few stand-bys prepared ahead of time: potato salad, carrot salad, pasta salad, lentil salad, cucumber salad are all great and keep well, and are only enhanced by some salad greens, avocado, tomato, etc. Some grilled meat or a couple of devilled eggs are a good addition. Speaking of eggs, we're big fans of variations of 'breakfast for dinner'. I grew up eating variations of omelets with veggies, bacon and eggs, crepes and maple syrup (this last is hard on the cook because they get eaten as quickly as they get made!). We like a simple open omelet with some sliced tomatoes cooked into the top, served with some green salad and boiled potatoes (scrambled eggs are even faster). We often also sautee a variety of veggies (eggplant, capsicum, zuchinni, onion, left-over potato), and top with an egg fried in olive oil for each person. This is nice with some green bean/brocolli, pita bread and hummous or tzatiki, for a vaguely mediterranean meal, and a can be adapted to all sorts of left-over veggies. Pancakes are very fast, and if served with fruit they can make a nice ocassional winter meal. Slightly stewed apples are nice, but so is any other berry (I especially love blueberries and raspberries, and frozen works perfectly). The fruit also takes the place of any syrup, and you won't get asked for dessert. For a more north american touch serve with fried ham or bacon. YUM. We've also gotten great ideas from Nigel Slater, especially serving sausages with baked sweet potato topped with chilli butter. I find that if I pick slender enough sweet potatoes, and cook the sausages alongside them in the oven, we can have a very warming meal very quickly, and with little mess, fuss or attention (you can prepare and freeze the butter ahead of time). I also like to make pierogies every winter. It's a bit of a project to make them, but the ones I make use only the most basic ingredients, and by freezing them on sheets, then transferring to freezer bags when frozen, you can have a freezer full of last minute meals. Cooked in boiling water, and served with sour cream (or really thick full-cream yoghurt), fried onions and bacon they instantly transport me to a northern Canadian prairie town.... (yes, yes, I know they're eastern european!) Snadra

Tuesday's Good Living from the SMH had an article on Martinez Bros Deli Cafe, Shop 1, Spencer Street, Fairfield, Ph: 9727 5509 It says they sell a big range of items from all over South America (flours, hot peppers, dried potatoes, malt drinks, beans and fruit pastes), as well as the 'usual' deli items. Snadra

Another vote for the Malaysian place in the bottom of the Hunter Arcade (I love the Hunter arcade for lunch!). The Indian takeaway next door is also very good, and as a bonus they're open until 7pm on weeknights (they cook fresh at around 4pm). My question is: Is there a truly good Hainan Chicken Rice in the city? I've not yet found one I like as much as at F&L Gourmet in Macquarie Centre - the chicken is silky, the rice flavourful and the sauces are perfect and so more-ish. They used to do a Green Bean Starch Sheet dish once a week too that was the ultimate summer meal. I need to get out there more often. eta: That Indian place also cooks fresh Naan to order.

Flathead (battered, never crumbed) and chips is my favourite. Plain salt please and extra lemon (unless there's malt vinegar). Our local is decent and the owners friendly, if you excuse the lack of salads, and they only do fish, so the turnover is good. Being a foreigner I've never understood the allure of the chiko roll, which taste the same as the dimsims, which taste the same as the spring rolls - cabbage with pepper and salt! For me suburban Australia is the beckoning flourescent flicker and oily smell of a take-away on a hot and humid night. There's a great fish and chip shop in Bathurst (as of a couple years ago). Simply buy nicely laid out, with a funky glass room divider. All that way in-land and they did great fish in a light crisp batter with perfect chips, leafy green salad and HOMEMADE tartare sauce - I never touch the stuff, but this was lovely. The only thing lacking was flickering flourescents, random handwritten specials on bits of torn-off paper and the extra bit of floorspace with the disused cold-case - once meand for some grand use but now used to keep ancient packs of cleaning materials.

I have now planted a large pot of sage thanks to this idea....how long to germination? Our favourites fasties include: Angel hair pasta: while cooking grate a tablespoon of parmesan, drain pasta then stir through parmesan, cracked pepper and enough cooking water to make it slick. Not heavy or greasy and fantastic when you're under the weather or just in the mood for extreme simplicity. Short Pasta: while cooking saute half a sliced onion, a smashed garlic clove and some green beans cut into thirds in some olive oil. Season with oregano (dried or fresh), then stir in the pasta, some tinned tuna, some halved cherry tomatoes and a good squeeze of lemon. Also nice with sauteed red capsicum (peppers) in the mix. Short pasta: To the pot of drained pasta, add slightly crisped bacon/speck/pancetta/smoked pork product of your choice, toasted pine nuts, a big handful of chopped parsley, and a much smaller one of chopped mint. Stir through unsalted butter, some parmesan and a good squeeze of lemon. Sense a bit of a lemony theme?

I have had an unsurprising failure, and an unexpected success. The failure: baked a loaf on Saturday, using bread flour and pre-head Le Crueset, but had neglected to print out recipe prior to baking, and didn't have computer access, so underbaked severely. Still, the crumb looks good, and I'll dry it out and use it for crumbs. The success: mixed a second batch of dough Sunday, around lunchtime, using plain (all purpose) flour. This time, after about an hour when the dough had started to "ooze" I slicked some olive oil over the top. I'd experienced crustiness on the surface with my first batch, probably a result of the heat (30+ celsius, no aircon). At 7 (yes, less than 8 hours later), I split the dough in 3, and patted out pizza disks on 3 sheets of baking paper strewn with polenta, and allowed them to rise for 15 minutes or so. I pre-heated a Le Crueset frying pan at 250 celsius, then transferred the topped pizza, paper and all (dough was too soft to slide off) into the pan. The first one took just over 15 minutes, remaining on the paper all the time. The next two were just under 15 minutes. After 10 I slipped the paper out from under them and let them continue cooking directly on the pan. If I were to try it again, I would probably bake each disk for 5 minutes or so on the paper, THEN top them and return to finish baking for 8-10 minutes without paper (they should have firmed up enough by this point). I will also try baking one with the lid on for the first baking. The hardest thing is getting the pan out of the oven - the pan is large and heavy, but the handle is rather short. Fantastic flavour and texture though - the absolute best base I have ever made, and better than most I've paid for. I had been thinking about getting a pizza stone, but now I don't think I'll bother. I wonder how it would be if it had been allowed to rise for 12-18 hours? Snadra

I realise this is a bit late now, but I spent one christmas in Denmark, where the traditional meal started with pickled herring, and was followed by roast pork (with delicious crackling), brown potatoes (small potatoes in a caramel sauce, oddly delicious) and cabbage, all served with beer and aquavit. Dessert was a lovely rice and almond pudding, with cherries. Here in Australia the weather tends to dictate the meal, which is generally a lunch. The ideal espoused in the media seems to be a seafood barbie (grill!), but most people I know (city and suburbs) have a cold lunch and have for many years now. There's seafood - invariably cold boiled prawns (purchased that way at the fishmarket), often oysters and smoked salmon - ham (sold cooked) and salads and often a turkey or chickens, which most people cook the night before. A very few people still have a 'traditional' hot meal, but it's not so common. Interestingly though, most people I know still have a steamed pudding of some kind at the end of the meal, whether it's a barbie, cold lunch or the 'traditional hot'.... I don't think this approach would translate so well to a snowy clime though! Snadra

I have made English Muffins twice, from (I think!) the New York Times Cook Book. These were made from a stiffer yeast dough, rolled and rounds cut-out. The dough wasn't kneaded much - just enough to pull it together, which kept the texture quite rough. They were very simple to make - the hardest thing was getting them to the right size and thickness. After cutting, they were allowed to rise, then cooked on an ungreased griddle. While I wasn't thrilled with the results, the taste was excellent, and approaching them in a less slapdash way might make my next attempt a little better. Snadra

For my very first post(!), could I also suggest Fire Works Foods, which I haven't used yet, but appears to ship from Sydney (North Rocks). They seem to have a pretty varied product list, including masa for tamales. I saw hominy on their product list, as well as cuitlachoche (all tinned, of course). They've also got a huge range of seeds for chiles and a few kitchen tools, like a comale and a tortilla press. If your friend has the time/space/inclanation for gardening, Eden Seeds sells tomatillo and Jicama (yam bean?) seeds, as well as some chiles and a pretty big variety of maize and sweetcorn. Snadra edited to add: Some time ago I also saw a short spot on TV with (I think) the chef from the Mexican embassy in Canberra. She said that the correct type of corn husk for tamales is difficult to find here, so she used banana leaf instead. Even in Sydney a lot of gardens have bananas, although it's too cold for them to fruit, so your friend might be able to cadge some banana leaves if she's interested in making tamales.