Tulips and tigers

About 90km as the crow flies east and inland from here, Nannup has a frosty winter suited to plants from the northern hemisphere and each year holds the Nannup Flower and Garden Festival. The old timber town is also the home of the 'Nannup Tiger' the elusive beast featured in Tim Winton’s scariest novel, In the Winter Dark. The animal, believed by some to be a thylacine, is sometimes glimpsed or heard at night on the lonely forest roads. 

It was a delightful day with displays of tulips and daffodils, ‘tigers’, local handicrafts, photographs and vintage cars, a market and open gardens. The whole community had contributed in some way, from the kindergarten’s emu to the ladies from the CWA with their morning teas. One proud young man was showing his mothers’ friend his rather wonderful photograph that he had on display and children were mesmerised by a fairy grotto that had been created by other children amongst the displays in the Town Hall. There were many people with walkers and wheelchairs, they were able to easily enjoy the many bulbs within their reach in planter boxes along the roadside.

I have never experienced an event like that here. It is rather sad that this timber town has gone the way of the winery and the cashed up tourist. The Margaret River brand aims for the posh and trendy top dollar tourists. The locals are surfers, aging hippies, craftspeople and dairy farmers along with a transient community of casual workers and many young families. This leaves the community splintered into groups with differing agendas. The fantastic community spirit that had created the event that transformed the sleepy little town now abuzz with families enjoying the winter sunshine might exist here; I’ve yet to see it - Maybe we’ve got a ‘bit big for our boots.’

On and on...lifelong learning

My life has been taken over by a voracious beast. The more I tend to it, the more it demands. The tasks it sets are many and varied, each demanding a different skill, some of which I don’t have and never realised I needed.  Just as I think I am maybe just starting to understand, the rules change and I despair that for every piece of learning I attempt there are twenty other things I need to know beforehand.

I know there is growth in challenge, in reaching beyond boundaries. A wise lecturer told us recently that the biggest hurdle to learning as an older (!) person was that of putting aside the ego.  We wear our many life skills proudly as a badge of achievement. There is nothing wrong in that, we do have a lot of experience to draw on. It is arrogance that gets in our way.  My personal challenge is to avoid letting my perceived stupidity erode my hard won self confidence.

I have known the beautiful young boy in the picture since he was born. He is about to leave school but for now each Friday he sits across from me in the Photoshop class. This is a world in which he is comfortable and familiar. The average age of the class members is probably fifty and all but two are women. The youngest, he generously answers our questions, silly and otherwise. His life challenges are different from mine. I hope that during his life there is someone to help him when he needs it.

Meanwhile, I’ll make the cake!

Opening windows

By this stage of winter we have usually had a run of bitterly cold, windy days. The type of day that I have to resist my normal routine of flinging doors and windows open wide. The house has become decidedly musty with smoke and cooking smells and I don’t have time to constantly refill and monitor oil burners or clean up after incense.

Going through the filing cabinet (another winter job) I came across some old craft articles I hadn’t seen for years and a reminder of the winter pot pourri.

Winter pot pourri is a wet pot pourri that uses the woodier dried herbs, citrus peels and spices. It can be used hot or cold. I often use dried flowers for their colour, looking into a wet pot pourri is rather like gazing into an aquarium!

BASIC RECIPE

Take a handful of dried material, place in a heat proof container or jar and cover with hot white or cider vinegar. There are no strict measurements, just make sure the vinegar covers everything. Cover and leave until cool. The full aroma will develop after a week.

You can enhance the aroma by adding essential oils.

Air freshener: Simply remove the lid from your container to release the aroma or strain the vinegar, add a few drops of essential oil and place in a spray bottle.

Ironing: Use the spray diluted with an equal amount of distilled water in a spray bottle or in your steam iron to freshen your clothes.

Cleaning: Use undiluted on glass, stainless steel, tiles and non porous surfaces. Do not use on waxed or oiled timber.

SOME COMBINATIONS:

There are no rules to this, try whatever you like. I started with a few ideas and then got carried away as I walked around the garden and dug into my pantry and my cosmetic making cupboard.

Baking Day

Cinnamon sticks, a piece of vanilla pod, allspice and a strip of fresh orange peel. Boost with cinnamon leaf, coffee essential oil or vanilla essence.

Christmas

A sprig of cypress or pine needles, a pinch of myrrh or frankincense gum, a cinnamon stick, sandalwood shavings, a swirl of orange rind and allspice or juniper berries. Boost with orange essential oil, it makes you happy!

Blokey

Bay leaves, allspice, cloves, black pepper, lemon verbena, fresh lemon peel. Boost with petit grain, lemongrass or lemon scented gum essential oils.

Pink! Don’t be tempted to use this as a spray on fabrics, the hibiscus flowers produce a wonderful pink dye.

Rose petals, lavender, hibiscus, whole coriander seeds, lemon balm, a piece of vanilla pod and fresh mandarin peel. Boost with jasmine, frangipani, lavender or ylang ylang essential oil.

STOVETOP HEALING

The strength of the wet pot pourri is enhanced by simmering the mixture. A Pyrex or ceramic casserole can simmer gently on a wood stove or fire or sit in front of a gas heater. Not only will it help prevent the air in the room becoming too dry, the oils given off by the pot pourri can have a therapeutic effect. I like to use cider vinegar for therapeutic blends.

Place dried material in a heat proof casserole, cover with hot vinegar and put lid on. Leave on top of your wood burning stove, away from the hottest part of the fire .Remove lid when the fire is lit to release the fragrance. Top up with half vinegar and half water as needed and add extra dry material weekly.

Sickroom

This is a great blend to ward off winter colds. Cinnamon sticks, eucalyptus leaves, dried thyme, whole cloves, tea tree leaves, half an inch of root ginger, a whole chilli and 2 garlic cloves. Boost with eucalyptus, tea tree or thyme essential oil.

Headache (remember Jack and Jill?)

Use  dried or fresh rosemary sprigs, lavender and cloves with cider vinegar. Boost with rosemary or lavender essential oils.

Tukmaria update

Just a quick note...

I have discovered that it is possible that Tukmaria seeds and their mucilaginous gel can line your stomach, blocking the absorbtion of fatty acids and possibly other substances, I would advise that you do not take it within an hour of taking medication or vitamin supplements to be on the safe side and to use it in moderation.

PS I went out to dinner a few nights ago and was served Falooda from my own recipe! It is one where the fatty acids (and the calories) could well do with blocking

Bridges and bastards in the bush

While there was a break in the weather I took time out to check out our new bridge. Many years ago there was a lovely circular walk up one side of the river, across a log bridge up the northern bank of the river, across the weir and back along the southern path.  A few years ago the old log bridge was deemed unsafe and pushed into the water, making the circular walk impossible. It hasn’t been replaced, but we now have a new bridge across the top weir where we used to have to cross a narrow concrete wall in summer and carry our bikes across the gaps at either end, including the day I was famously lost. This was nothing compared to the two lives that were tragically lost here one winter by people trying to cross when the river was running strongly. One was a man who was trying to save his dog who had been washed off the wall.

As the burbs are filling up on the southern side of the river, the new bridge has been made wide enough to accommodate push bikes and people, and the timbers are laid cross wise so our wheels won’t get stuck like they tend to on the lower weir. It is a fabulous addition that gives us easy access to the many kilometres of good trails we have here. I still miss the old log bridge but a lovely new lookout has appeared there, you just can’t get there as part of a circuit anymore.

Our walk was spoiled only by discovering some illegal clearing in front of a house set back from the river that the owners had obviously done to give themselves clear views and access to the water. We It turns out that the person involved is a local, not a holiday home owner, which makes it seem worse as I would have expected a bit more respect as we  pride ourselves as  being a conservation conscious community.

new vandalism

old log bridge

With the floods occurring all over the world from deforestation, a few metres of vandalism on a small river in a small town may not seem a big deal. The need for a river crossing arose because people enjoy the amazing diverse flora and fauna this area has to offer, many of which are only found in this far south west corner of western Australia. Lampreys, hairy marron and giant karri trees are only a few of these unique treasures. Many people give their time freely to keep this reserve free of weed species and rubbish and the trails are maintained well enough to provide wheelchair access along much of their length. To wantonly destroy the fragile water edges that many of the water dwelling species rely on for the sake of one selfish bastard is not only deplorable, it is a slap in the face for everyone who cares for the place we so much enjoy.

That’s my rant for the week, remember to look after where you live.

Playing Indian

In India I became besotted with Masala Dosa, a crispy rice pancake, often filled with spicy potato and served with a small bowl of soup and coconut chutney and served as a snack or for breakfast. Ever since, it has been a misson of mine to be able to replicate the recipe.

Wild Fermentation  by Sandor Katz contains a recipe for the dosa batter, which is also used to make Idliis, a steamed dumpling. So a new jar appeared on the work bench, it was pink in colour and over the next few days began to bubble. The coconut chutney recipe, which can also be fermented, or not, was on the following page. Was I excited! I had been making the masala potato recipe for years as a side dish to curries, so we began to experiment cooking dosa with our crepe pan which is flat like a tava. The results were tasty, but not as crispy, or a large as the real thing. The chutney was fabulous but I had no leads on making the soup.

In an Indian supermarket in the city, not only did I find a non stick tava, but a spice blend for making the soup, or rasam. Another dosa making session, this time larger ones but still not crispy. I tried oil on the pan, oil brushed around the edges and thinning the batter which made lovely lacey dosas. The only crispy ones were the ones left next to the wood stove overnight. They were much appreciated by the chickens! 

The quest continues.

Here’s the recipe for the chutney which I have adapted slightly from the original...

Coconut Chutney

1 C dessicated coconut, soaked in ½ C warm water to soften.
3 Tbsp chickpea flour, toasted in a frypan till it begins to smell nutty and turn golden.
2 Tbsp tamarind puree

1tsp salt
1tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander
1Tbsp honey or sugar
1Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds                     

1 C kefir or yoghurt

In a blender process coconut, chickpea flour, spices, tamarind and honey.
Fry the mustard seeds in the oil until they begin to pop and stir in half the yoghurt and stir to combine.
Add to the blender with the rest of the yoghurt and process until combined.
Add extra yoghurt or water if the mixture seems too dry.
You can eat it now, or cover with a piece of cheese cloth and let it ferment for a couple of days before storing in the refrigerator.

Serve with dosas, samosas, curries, on toast....on everything...I love this chutney!
 

Masala Potatoes

2 Tbsp oil

1tsp black mustard seed

10 curry leaves, preferably fresh

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp grated ginger

2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 crown onions, diced

500g peeled potatoes, cut in even 2cm cubes

1 Tbsp tamarind puree

Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, cooking until they pop.

Add the rest of the spices, chillies and onions and cook until the onion is soft.

Add the potato cubes and a cup of water to the pan, bring to the boil, cover and simmer until the potatoes are cooked and the liquid has vanished.

Add more water if you need to in order to cook the potatoes until soft.

Stir in tamarind and season with salt.

A quicker method is to pre boil your potatoes but frying gives a more authentic flavour.

Add yoghurt to any cooled leftovers to create a tasty potato salad.

If anyone has a tip for crispy dosas, please let me know...

Enjoy your cooking.

Grandma's undies

My grandparents never owned a washing machine and had probably never imagined a clothes dryer. As a child I remember tea towels and nappies would be boiled (separately) in the copper and my grandfather would do the rest of the weekly wash in the bath tub.

We lived in a very damp part of the Home Counties. In summer the washing was hung on ropes with hand carved wooden pegs we bought from the gypsies who visited each year and propped with long  forked sticks. In the winter, the washing was hung on a clothes pulley above the kitchen which boasted an electric oven and an open fireplace and was the warmest room in the house. The pulley loaded with wet washing was hauled up into the air, resting near the ceiling where it dried in record time.

When I first moved here, I was delighted with the fact that my Raeburn wood stove in the kitchen and high ceilings meant I could have a pulley of my own. It was cheaply constructed from timber off cuts of 630cm of 40mm x 20mm timber salvaged from old garden chairs and 7 x 180mm lengths of 10mm dowel. A chain was attached with screws at each end and used to hang the builders twine that was then threaded through two small pulleys attached to the ceiling. The cord is knotted to prevent it from coming away and is hitched onto a firmly secured hook set into solid timber.

Please take care that the cord and all other cords are kept out of reach of children. I recently found our ancient poodle with it round his neck, walking around in very confused circle. If he had managed to pull the cord off the hook, the weight of the washing would have strangled him. 

I can put a full load from my washing machine up in the rafters in the evening and most of it is totally dry by morning. My visitors, the ones that notice it, are hugely entertained by it but most people don’t notice it. I do try to remove the underwear from it each morning and to not load it up when I am cooking anything with a strong smell. The dogs may love me smelling of lamb roast but it’s not a great perfume for supposedly clean clothes!

This simple solution to clothes drying uses the heat from the stove, which also heats our hot water (and the house) and there is no tripping over clothes horses or rushing in and out as the rain comes and goes. Spread with a towel, it dries my felting. In summer it can dry herbs and chillies in bunches or lay on fly wire. When not full of washing, it airs the bathroom towels. My ten year old grandson insists he’d like to sleep on it!

Can your clothes dryer do all that and not cost you an extra cent on your power bill?

http://www.nirala-naturally.com/

Phone Wars

It is Thursday afternoon. In the last ten days, I have made what seems like a thousand phone calls, had messages left by Indian voices I cannot understand; spent hours on hold, listening to muzak and have had no internet or phone line. I have even thrown myself in front of the local Telstra technician’s truck to plead for help.

Three weeks ago it was requested that the second phone line to the granny flat be connected. It finally happened on Monday morning when Telstra in their wisdom, decided to disconnect the house line and connect the new line and number to mine. That meant I had lost my phone and Internet. I would have to wait until my number was reconnected and then request the Broadband be reinstated. My phone company told me it would take 1-2 days to reinstate this line and I would be liable for a reconnection fee.

Telstra meanwhile assured us that all was sorted and the phone to the back would be turned on overnight, freeing my line. Telstra said the tenant would not have to pay a connection fee, to compensate her for the problem. As for me, I wasn’t a customer so they couldn't help me.  I lodged a formal complaint which they said would be dealt with within two business days. I had another call from someone trying to contact the tenant and explained this was not her line. Did I mention I had an active line that is not my number or account and needs to be disconnected so that my provider can reconnect me? I can’t get it disconnected as it’s not my account!

The second phone line was finally connected on Friday morning. The house line was disconnected at 4pm, far too late to do anything about a reconnection. It took my phone provider and Internet provider a day and a half to reconnect me...amazingly fast compared to Telstra.

Living in the country and running two online businesses, we are vulnerable to any communications meltdowns. Telstra still owns the lines, it seems they can disconnect you at will and take no responsibility for their actions. There is still no word about my formal complaint which is `waiting for a case manager to be assigned.’  I have spent hours each day trying to sort the problem, become stressed, angry and frustrated talking to a different voice each time that promised to help and appeared to do nothing. Everyone I speak to have a similar story to tell. Is this what free trade does to business or is it merely incompetence? I had better stop boring you with my woes and get to work. Now I am up again there are a hundred emails to deal with!

Tukmaria: diet seed?

We have a three and a half hour drive to the nearest international airport, so when one of us is about to travel, it is a great excuse to spend a couple of days in the big smoke. Apart from visiting family and friends, shopping and eating are my favourite city pursuits. Staying in the inner city meant new food shops to explore and as always, I came home with some weird and wonderful things.

I was thrilled to find ready to drink Basil Seed Drink (with honey.) Since I discovered tukmaria seed http://frompotionstopesto.blogspot.com/2010/01/tukmaria-sacred-seed.html  I have been on the lookout for more recipes. I opened it yesterday. It was very sweet, thanks to the 12 % sugar and the honey flavour (!) and I needed to add some lime juice to it to make it palatable. The interesting side effect was that come lunchtime, I wasn't hungry. Checking the label further I found it contained a small amount of dietary fibre, calcium and iron and was 20% carbohydrate. So what are the healing properties of tukmaria?

The mucilaginous gel that forms around the soaked seeds acts as a demulcent, soothing the mucous membranes, and is used to relieve constipation and diarrhoea. Like chia seed, which also forms a gel when soaked, it is possible that it slows down the speed our bodies' convert carbohydrates into sugars. This would account for the feeling of fullness lasting longer and could be useful for weight loss and diabetes.

In Asia, where  basil seed is also known as sabza, subza, takmaria, tukmaria, tukhamaria, falooda, selasih (Malay/Indonesian) or hột é (Vietnamese), Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine both recognise the health benefits of tukmaria. Other reputed benefits are a more active digestion, removal of toxins from the gut and the ability to help prevent heart conditions by lowering cholesterol  although I have not found any scientific research to back this up.

I feel that tukmaria has great potential to replace slippery elm, an endangered rainforest tree that must be killed to harvest its inner bark, as an easily grown, safe remedy for stomach complaints.

Just before lunch today, I stirred half a teaspoon of seed into a glass of cold water with the juice of a lime. An hour later, I still felt quite full, even though the amount of seed I drank was much less than was in the drink yesterday. It was a very pleasant and refreshing drink that didn't need sweetening. It can be added to hot drinks, herb or black teas, or to warm milk. If you don't like the slippery texture add it to soaked Bircher muesli or stewed fruit. It has very little taste of its own.

 I am on a mission to lose weight at the moment so maybe fate is at work again. I'm going to stick with drinking tukmaria for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

What nonna never told you

I am a firm believer in fate. I hadn’t read, let alone reviewed the book for Monday’s deadline for the local paper. Seeing a new cover sparkling at me from the cookbook section with proscuttio and other yummy things on the cover, I grabbed one to take home, thinking it would be easier than reading another 200 pages of a novel.

What a wonderful surprise! How come I hadn’t seen this book before? It had first been published in 2006 and 16,000 copies later it is in its fifth incarnation. Being self published, in another state, we had never heard of it until a customer asked us to find her one. Postage being expensive, we ordered a few extra.

I wish I had discovered this book earlier in the year when we had an abundance of summer vegetables and olives.  Stepping into the pages of Pietro Demaio’s book is like being invited by a neighbour for a hearty lunch accompanied by good red wine and conversation.  In the 60’s Pietro began collecting traditional recipes from his family and friends, and still does, each edition larger than the first as he incorporates recipes and food stories sent to him by readers.

 Drying, salting, bottling, pickling, preserving in oil are some of the method preserving that also includes  sections on cheese and salami making, preserving fish, and making wines and liqueurs. There are eighteen different ways to preserve olives, how to make bread and build the oven to bake it in. The clearly laid out recipes are interspersed with hilarious stories and traditions, including a section on avoiding the evil eye!

 My enthusiasm for the book must have been obvious, we sold all copies and had orders for two more within 24 hours of the review being published – the most successful review ever! 

It felt like you should have been given a jar of something to take home with you when you reach the end of the book...that didn’t happen and unfortunately  I have to wait for the next lot to arrive before I can have a copy to take home so I can dive into a preserving frenzy.

You won’t have to.

Here’s the link to his site:

http://preservingtheitalianway.com.au/my_weblog/home.html

Happy preserving, I have another review to write!

Mooving on....

Since March, the shire has been invaded by cows – hefty, life size cows crafted from fibreglass and decorated by various artists.

I was a Cow Parade sceptic. Why take on a project that was originally created so that cows could appear on the streets of major cities? After all, we have plenty of the real things here and the idea of attracting even more tourists during the busy times of Easter and vintage seemed a bit silly.  The ‘local ‘artists included famous names from hundreds of kilometres away while artists who lived here were overlooked. The cows, modelled on a Swiss variety, were made in China , so not much local input there either. It all seemed a bit silly, not to mention expensive. There was subversive talk of quarantining them for foot and mouth and of arranging a similar event with an Australian native animal and much admiration was shown for the man in Brazil who brought in some fibreglass  bulls to service their cows one night. 

The cows will disappear at the end of this month, to be auctioned for charity. I will miss sniggering about the reports of cows getting people arrested for vandalism or climbing the water tower, of cows being ridden, stolen or going for a swim out to the pontoon; the delight and amazement on the faces of the children who find the cow outside the chemist shop:  the tourists asking ‘What is it with this cow thing?’; the comments by the retired farmer, worried that the cow might not get back up on her feet; the old ladies chatting to the cows while the Japanese tourists queue for a photo opportunity; by my being surprised to see yet another one lurking in an unlikely spot.

They are to be auctioned for charity at the end of the month; I hope some of the charity stays here. I’ll miss all the people watching!

The locations of these pictures include the local hardware, a street verge, the roof of the tavern, the water tank and my favourite, Rump on a Stump ( a spoof on a golden diver at one of the posh wineries), in a local park.
Life can be silly sometimes, can't it?

Cold weather dipping

The promised birthday fondue happened this week, with a minimum of traditional style fondue eating guests in attendance. The quandary I had was what to serve as appetisers and desserts. My old fondue book, published in 1970 (in Australia) recommends cherries ‘a la kirsch,’ and various other fruits in combination with other types of alcohol. No mention of appetisers but it is recommended that you drink a glass of kirsch halfway through the meal. Only in the 70’s could you get away with thinking that bread cheese and alcohol was a balanced meal! Knowing Amita would heartily endorse this philosophy, I quickly hid the cookbook.

Poking around in the pantry, I pondered that as fondue was a cold weather meal, it would make sense to pair it with seasonal produce. Pecans, olives and Granny Smith apples are abundant at the moment. Warming food seemed to be the order of the day so I started with olives baked in red wine - a recipe I posted here this time last year. With the pecans I tried a recipe I had been told about by my friend Tova. It was one of those that had been enjoyed by her family for years. It didn’t really have quantities or times but sounded easy.

Here is what I did:

Roasted pecans in their shells

Pecans in shells

Sea salt

In a mortar and pestle or with a rolling pin, gently crack a split in the shell of each nut while preheating the oven to 180C.

Dissolve about 2 tsp of sea salt in a litre of warm water. You need enough brine to cover the nuts.

Soak the nuts, in their shells, in the brine for 5-10 minutes.

Drain.

Place the nuts on a baking tray.

Bake until the nuts have begun to toast, they will give off a nice toasty smell. Shake them once or twice during cooking.

Serve warm and let people shell their own.

These are really delicious as the nuts are soft, sweet and warm. Next time I would add a little more salt but you could have some on the side for serving.

For dessert, I stuffed some of the apples with some more pecans, processed with butter, home dried figs and brown sugar with cinnamon, baked and served with double cream for those too weak to refuse it!

It was a lovely meal and quick to prepare, the longest job was washing the greens for my salad which I had to make to reassure myself that everyone had eaten wisely as well as generously. I am happy to report there were no fondue fork injuries suffered!

Eat well,

nirala

Something fishy going on

It is a family tradition that if you are at home for your birthday, you get to choose what we have for dinner. Amita is predictable as his favourite meal in the whole world is fondue. He likes to eat it in the traditional Swiss way, simply bread and cheese. After cracking two ceramic fondue pots, one birthday I bought him -  a smaller Le Creuset (son of the blue pot)   that fits perfectly on the burner.

I threaten to fall into a swoon if I can’t eat something green at every meal and contaminating the fondue with any vegetable, except possibly potatoes, is frowned upon. The other serious problem is inviting guests for a fondue as he loathes sharing it. So that is one: an unhappy cook (not recommended) and two: guests duelling with fondue forks over a hot pot (also not recommended.)

After some delicate negotiation, he decided to choose something else – Bouillabaisse, a traditional fisherman’s soup from the Mediterranean cooked in one pot. I had never cooked it before and dived into Elizabeth David who in two and a half pages of text, gave stern warnings about not overcooking the different seafood but no indications of specifics. I eventually found a recipe from a well known chef on the internet and set off to buy about a million dollars worth of seafood. When I began to follow the recipe, I realised it had been posted without checking and was very hard to follow

At least I already had the pot and as we have been having cold nights, the wood stove is lit every evening and is perfect for a long slow simmer.

A good fish stock is absolutely critical to a good bouillabaisse and is expensive to buy as it comes in 375ml containers.

This is my version:

Fantastic Fish Stock

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1 stalk of celery, leaves included, finely sliced

1 leek, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

One wing of barramundi, a large fish head, some prawn heads, whole cleaned fish or a combination of what you have.

A whole fish, head on, cleaned and chopped up roughly (I used perch)

3 large tomatoes, diced

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 handfuls of flat leaf parsley

2 bay leaves

1 orange, zested (with a peeler into strips) and juiced

1 lemon, zested (ditto) and juiced

½ C olive oil

1 tsp black peppercorns

Sauté the vegetables, except the tomatoes, in the olive oil over a medium heat until they begin to colour.

Add the fish and brown.

Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, orange, lemon and parsley and cook till softened then add the tomato paste.

Cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for a minimum of two hours or longer. If cooking the stock over a couple of days, make sure that it is bought to a rolling boil each time before reducing the heat to a simmer.

If you are making soup, leave the lid on to retain the maximum flavour. If you want to freeze it, you can reduce it by simmering without a lid after straining.

Strain through a sieve and add salt to taste.

Freeze in 500ml containers until required.

Happy cooking,

nirala

Ps. The soup was amazing. I dished it up before bringing to the table so we managed to avoid any disagreements over the number of prawns and mussels and other tasty bits in each bowl. I was far too busy to take a photograph of the finished dish!

I have a blue pot too

Like Tresna, I have a blue pot. It is French and heavy and sits on the top of the kitchen cupboard. In the summer it gets a little dusty because this is my winter pot. Almost too large to use on the gas, it simmers quietly on the woodstove, puffing steam. It takes its summer holidays out in the pizza oven, creating delicious roast meats and cooking huge pots of beans and has even starred in a cookbook!

Ten years ago we had a spell of very cold wet weather while I was catering for a residential retreat. It looked like the food would be lots of thick soups, hearty casseroles and warming curries. In the afternoon break, I had been relaxing with the weekend papers, ogling the advertisements from kitchen wholesalers who were offering Le Creuset at half price. I was mentally adding the larger casserole to my ‘must have’ wish list when someone in the room asked what colours they came in.It was soon time to start dinner – in a stainless steel pot that somehow didn’t seem as wonderful as before.

At the end of the job, the participants presented me with a heavy parcel containing the coveted pot which they had ordered from Sydney via express mail, as a thank you gift. It was an overwhelming surprise.

My pot has become a treasured old friend. It takes some looking after, as do all precious objects. I make sure it doesn’t get too hot on the stove top while empty and in the oven when it has its lid on, guard it against extreme temperature variations and never clean it with a metal scourer. It must be dried carefully before putting away so its iron rim doesn’t rust. If it ever does, I oil it. In return, it has given me many hours of long, slow and gentle cooking.

The pot lives up high in a place of honour with the remnants of my grandmothers’ dinner service.  I hope that like the china, it will survive long enough for me to pass down to the next cook in the family to use and care for and hopefully feel some of the warmth and generousness of the many meals they have served together.

Read about Tresna’s pot on her fabulous blog: http://www.tresnalee.com/

Happy cooking, nirala

Dizzy!

I nearly fell off the chair laughing at the doctors’ the other day when I was told I needed to fling myself sideways and backwards onto the bed, lie there until the dizziness passed and repeat five times each side, three times a day. The doctor even handed me a printed sheet with the full instructions on the Brandt and Daroff exercises.

I had been feeling dizzy for a couple of days, a feeling of being drunk or sea sick. The diagnosis was benign positional vertigo. I had suffered from a cold the week before and apparently ‘debris’ had collected in my inner ear and was affecting my sense of balance.

This all seems to be a bit witchy.  It pleased me too in that if a little bizarre, it was a simple solutionlike banging the salt cellar so you can shake out the salt. The only herbal remedy that I thought to  administer is ginger for the nausea. As it is the inner ear that is affected, I don’t think ear candles would help much although I have found them useful after a cold.

The more I share the stories of the dogs leaping on me to play some strange game, the near misses of the head and the wall and the hysterical laughter from the unsympathetic partner, the more people fess up to having had the same condition and being given the same exercises. It is like a secret society of people who do crazy things.

Dizziness can be a symptom of many serious conditions (see the picture at left for another occasion) if you suffer from it regularly, don’t ignore it. And please, don’t be one of those people who deprive others of a good laugh.

Share the madness!

nirala