Quick(er) Zucchini and Potato Fritters

Juggling work and the daycare drop-off is tiring, and when I get home I'm less than inspired to cook. I have tried saving myself some hassle by ordering a vegetable box online, but was really disappointed with the first one I tried. Even though it's the middle of summer, I was given loads of potatoes, onions, and carrots, and only small amounts of interesting veg. (What do you do with eight mushrooms? EIGHT!)

Amongst my kilogram of potatoes was a single zucchini. What to do, what to do... fritters! But I couldn't face cooking the potatoes, mashing them, etc etc. And I vaguely recalled totally failing to make a swiss dish involving frying raw potatoes. So I figured someone else must have gone through this before. And someone had! So here's something loosely based on their ideas -- the main thing to mimic was thoroughly squeezing the liquid out of the potato (not so much the zucchini, surprisingly) before you start.

Ingredients

• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 zucchini
• 4 spring onions
• 50-75g feta cheese
• 1-2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp paprika
• a handful of finely-chopped herbs, especially mint and parsley
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Grate the potatoes using a tower grater. Put in a colander or sieve and squeeze the liquid out: I find using my hands is the best way to do it. Shred the zucchini in the same way. Finely dice the spring onions and crumble the feta cheese. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Fry dollops of the mixture in olive oil, pushing down with a spatula to make them no more than 1cm thick, so the potato cooks well; fry 3-4 minutes each side, until golden and cooked through.

Parathas

It's the day before I start my little boy in daycare and go back to the office full-time. How to prepare? Cook the entire week's dinners, of course! Since I find the flavours develop in the fridge and it's easy to mix and match what I want, I made three different kinds of curry, and sealed them up in tupperware. None of them were particularly amazing -- Rick Stein's aloo gobi is rubbish compared to mine --- but I did take a little time out to make parathas for the first time. Skipping chapatis: go straight to the flaky version!

I was a bit nervous because the only time I made decent naan, I did it by accident. So I expected these to come out terribly. Fortunately, they are really really easy, and they came out totally deliciously! They also were easy to make ahead and then fry quickly just before serving. I bet they would freeze perfectly as well. I think next time I make them I will enlist a helper, and then the process would be really fast. Otherwise you're constantly switching back and forth between rolling (floury) and brushing (buttery) and everything gets a little sticky. The following quantity serves four people with curries.

Ingredients

• 250g chapati flour (finely milled wholewheat flour), or half wholemeal, half plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp melted butter, plus ~5 tbsp for brushing
• 120-150ml warm water

In a bowl, mix the flour with the salt, then add the melted butter and 120ml of the water. Mix together, adding a little more water if needed, until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Knead in the bowl for a minute then cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Set out a ramekin of the ~5tbsp melted butter with a pastry brush, a ramekin of plain flour and a rolling pin, plenty of kitchen paper (great for mopping up butter spills), and a plate with a wet tea towel to cover your parathas as you make them. Lightly flour a surface and the rolling pin, and give yourself plenty of room. (mis-en-place is super important here!)

Divide the dough in half, then each half in half again, and again, to make eight pieces. Roll out a piece of dough to a circle about 13cm in diameter. Brush the top thinly with butter, dust over a little flour, then fold in half over the butter to form a half-moon. Repeat the brushing, sprinkling, and folding again, to form a triangle. Roll the triangle out so that each side is about 13cm long. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Heat a heavy-based frying pan and fry each piece of dough 1-2 minutes each side; they should become golden, slightly singed, and puff up a little as they cook. If you like you can brush the sides with yet more butter as you do this! (I didn't, and they were still yum.) Remove them to a warmed plate, cover with a (dry) tea towel,
and serve as soon as you can.

Spiralizer Week: Day Three: Avocado-Basil Zucchini Noodles with Chilli-Lime Prawns and Corn

Wow, what a mouthful. In both senses! I really liked the cold sauce for this dish. It was interesting how it affected the texture of the zucchini noodles. The prawns were OK, but not that great; I think I'd rather serve this with some jerk chicken or fried fish. The corn was luscious, and I liked how its heat softened the zucchini noodles just a tad. For some reason, this is the only dish in months that has provoked my lovely SO to spontaneously exclaim how much he liked it. So -- a win!

Ingredients

• juice of one lime
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 ripe avocado, skinned and stone removed
• 1/4 cup yoghurt
• 12 basil leaves
• 1/2 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 corn on the cob
• 2-3 zucchinis, spiralized into noodles
• seasoned, barbecued fish or chicken, to serve

Method

Whiz the lime juice, salt, pepper, avocado, yoghurt, basil and garlic together in a blender. Barbecue or grill the corn until golden and tender. Cut the kernels from the corn and then mix with the sauce and zucchini noodles. Would serve really well with some freshly barbecued chicken or fish.

Gazpacho

I was first served gazpacho by my family in Provence, a couple of years ago when I visited after a conference. Naturally it was achingly hot outside, which is the perfect time, perhaps the only time, for cold soup. But this gazpacho is far tastier than that sounds! I could not believe how refreshing and zingy it was, and now I've finally replicated it down under, I'm looking forward to whizzing it up whenever I need a light and refreshing lunch.

Ingredients

• 500g fresh tomatoes
• half a cucumber
• a red pepper
• a slice of bread, preferably stale
• a clove of garlic
• 1tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 50ml wine vinegar
• 50ml olive oil
• a fresh chilli (optional)
• basil leaves, Tabasco, pepper, olive oil to serve

Cut off the stem bits of the tomato, pepper, chilli if using, and skin and crush the garlic. Chuck everything in a liquidiser and pulse until well blended. Serve in little glasses with little spoons, topped with basil leaves, and with extra olive oil, black pepper and Tabasco on hand to add to taste.

Butternut Squash and Red Onion Galettes

Frozen puff pastry is a wonder for making the simplest meal look super-fancy. These were a whiz to make and you could leave them in the oven after assembly, ready to switch it on half an hour before you want to serve them. My recipe was inspired by this page.

Ingredients

• Four sheets of frozen puff pastry
• olive oil or butter
• Three red onions
• Half of a large, or a whole small butternut squash (about 600g)
• a large handful of fresh sage leaves or 2 tsp dried sage
• 50-100g blue cheese (to taste)

Method

Defrost the pastry, preferably slowly by leaving it out on the counter, while you do the rest of the cooking. Thinly slice the red onions into rings, or if you're in a hurry, half-moons. Peel and chop the butternut squash into bite-sized pieces. Finely shred the sage leaves. Gently fry the onion and squash in 2-3 tbsp of oil or butter, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, and the squash is golden and just barely beginning to break up. Turn off the heat and stir through the sage leaves, and season very well with salt and pepper.

Heat the oven to 180 C. Lay out a couple of large baking trays and cover with greaseproof paper, then brush with melted butter or oil. Lay out each piece of puff pastry on the lined tray and spoon a quarter of the mixture into the centre. Roughly fold up the sides -- I find it's easiest to fold up each corner, then crimp the new small edges to stop the corners unfolding again. If you like, you can brush the pastry with oil, milk, butter, or egg, but I find the frozen stuff is fine without. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and risen, and cooked where it is in contact with the tray. Remove and top with crumbled blue cheese, and serve with a simple salad of bitter lettuce dressed with a splash of red wine or balsamic vinegar.

Pumpkin Chilli

Finding myself with a surfeit of pumpkin from the garden, and a craving for chilli, I searched around until I found this recipe. It really is a delicious combination, and you won't even notice that this is not a 'con carne'. That said, I love to throw in a little chorizo or bacon to smoke things up a bit. I modified the ingredients slightly, since I don't know what was in their 'chilli powder', but I assume you wouldn't want an Indian-style chilli powder, and that's all that's available here. You can leave this in the fridge for a few days and the flavours will keep developing.

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 red or green peppers, chopped
• 750g butternut squash or eating pumpkin, peeled and chopped
• 100g of smoked bacon or cured chorizo, finely diced (optional)
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• 1/2 to 1 tsp chilli flakes (up to you)
• 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 can diced tomatoes, including the liquid
• 2 cans kidney or black eye beans
• 300-500ml vegetable stock
• 2 avocados
• sour cream (optional)
• crispy tortilla strips
• fresh leaf coriander (optional, for garnish)

Method

In a large Le Creuset or sauce pan, sautée the chopped vegetables (onion, pepper, squash, garlic) and bacon or sausage, if using, in one to two tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add all of the spices canned ingredients and stock, and stir. Don't use all of the stock if it looks like it will make the chilli very runny, but feel free to top up as it cooks if it looks too dry. Cover for about one hour, stirring occasionally.

By the time your chilli is done, the butternut squash should be nice and tender and the liquid should have reduced a bit, producing the hearty chilli consistency that we all know and love. Serve the chilli in individual bowls, topped with diced avocado and sour cream, if using. Use the strips to eat mouthfuls of chilli!

Quick-friend Coconut Beans and Carrots

Nom, at last a vegetable-based Indian side dish that I can make in just under 10 minutes! Stein suggests using fresh or frozen grated coconut, but I find that adding dried shredded coconut just a minute before the cooking time is up soaks up the remaining water, and is a lot less hassle to keep in the cupboard. You could easily vary the vegetables based on whatever you have to hand, and the spices to complement whatever else you're cooking.

Ingredients

• vegetable oil
• 2 small chillies, finely chopped (keep the seeds if you like the spice)
• handful of curry leaves (fresh or dried)
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• large handful of green beans, topped, tailed and diced
• one medium to large carrot, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 75 ml water
• a large handful of dried shredded coconut

Bruise the spices in at mortar and pestle then fry with the curry leaves and chillies in a frying pan for a minute. Tip in the vegetables and salt, stir to coat, then add the water and immediately cover, turning the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 5-6 minutes, until the vegetables are just done, then add the coconut, stir, and re-cover, turning off the heat so the coconut can absorb the cooking water.

Perfect Pilaf Rice

Not so much my own recipe, as the first time I tried out the summary recipe from this excellent Guardian article on the perfect pilaf. I followed the instructions exactly, despite having misgivings about boiling the rice in so much water, and leaving a tea towel near an open flame. The rice came out fragrant, fluffy, perfectly-cooked, and where the butter had fried it, just a little decadent. I think next time I will ever-so-slightly increase the heat, so as to get more of a seared base, but such adjustments will be vary individually depending on your own hob. I could also see topping this with some sultanas and almonds, but as it stands the flavours are subtle yet fantastic.

Ingredients

• 300g white basmati rice
• Salt
• Generous knob of butter
• 3 cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 2 strips of lemon zest
• Pinch of saffron (optional)

Rinse the rice thoroughly and tip into a large saucepan of boiling, salted water. Stir, bring back to the boil, and cook for 7 minutes. Drain well and season to taste. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a clean pan over a medium heat then add the spices and lemon zest. Cook for a minute, then add 2 tbsp water and a layer of rice. Heap the rest on top in layers, making sure not to push it down. Make 5 air holes in the surface with the handle of a wooden spoon, wrap a lid of the pan in a clean tea towel and cover. Cook over a very low heat for 30 minutes.

Stuffed Zucchini or Pumpkin Flowers

I made these just before I left for a trip to the US, abandoning my veggie garden just as it was bursting into flower. Fortunately there were far more pumpkin flowers than we could ever keep alive to turn into pumpkins, and making these was surprisingly simple. I have no idea where you would get them in Australia if you're not growing them yourself. If you do have a vegetable garden, it's worth growing a pumpkin vine just for the flowers. They're incredibly hardy vines with surprisingly good tolerance for heat, and will happily produce flowers from late spring all the way to early autumn. I've had less success with courgettes, although their flowers do work a tiny bit better for this, because the base of the flower (where it joins the stem) is less likely to be bitter.

Ingredients:

• 12 courgette or pumpkin flowers, picked just before they split and open
• 100-200g ricotta
• generous handfuls of basil
• zest of 1/3rd a lemon
• salt and pepper
• an egg, lightly beaten
• a couple of slices of bread, blitzed to breadcrumbs
• olive oil

Clean the flowers of any insects and dirt. Finely shred the basil and combine with the ricotta, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Combine the basil and lemon zest with the ricotta. Make a small hole in each flower, usually wherever they are about to split lengthwise first. Stuff each flower with ricotta, then press the flower petals back together. Dip in egg, then breadcrumbs to coat. Either bake for 12-15 minutes at 200C or deep fry for 2-3 minutes (in batches), depending on how decadent you're feeling.

Yasai Cha Han

This weekend was chore-tastic but also really hot, so I wanted something nourishing but not too heavy. I'm still working my way through the vegetarian section of the Wagamama cookbook, and this recipe called for things I mostly already had in the fridge. A quick cycle to the local grocer (and a quick swim when we got back to cool down) and I was able to pick up the rest of the ingredients. It was super-fast to prepare; easily a new weekday meal for me. You'll want really good fresh ingredients for this, as there are no other flavourings beyond soy sauce, so the vegetables need to speak for themselves. The rice instructions and the sheer amount of salt were both a shock to me, but I followed the recipe and they did work out.

Ingredients

• A ladleful of Thai fragrant rice
• Four ladlefuls of boiling water
• two king oyster mushrooms, cubed
• 250g firm tofu, cubed
• 8-10 baby sweetcorn
• 15-20 sugarsnap peas
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and cut into 4cm pieces
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 eggs

Cook the rice in the boiling water on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until softened but not done. Drain and refresh under cold running water; set aside. If you have wobbly tofu (which I usually do), fry the tofu in a little oil in a hot wok, turning carefully and occasionally until lightly seared on a few sides. Scoop out and set aside.

Turn the heat up, add a little more oil, and stir-fry the mushrooms for five minutes, until golden and bouncy. Throw in the vegetables, rice, salt, and soy sauce, and stir fry for a further 2-3 minutes, until the rice is cooked and the vegetables are bright. Add the egss and stir fry until they are just cooked. Divide between two bowls and serve with miso soup on the side.

Pasta with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Walnuts

One of those spontaneous flavour combinations that occurred to me, and, minutes later, was confirmed as a perfect balance of warm and nutty, rich and earthy, and green and grassy.

Ingredients

• pasta for two (200-300g)
• a generous handful of walnuts
• two king oyster mushrooms (or 10 chestnut mushrooms)
• a bunch of asparagus (about 8-10 stalks)
• a few stalks of curly parsley
• 4 tbsp sour cream
• 1/4 tsp mustard

Cook the pasta according to its packet instructions. Dry-toast the walnuts in a small frying pan until crisp and golden; remove and set aside. Cube the mushrooms and fry until golden; cut the asparagus into inch-long lengths and add to the pan; stir-fry until cooked. Finely chop the parsley and combine, turning the heat off. Drain the pasta, mix well with the sour cream and mustard, then tip in the fried vegetables and give a last toss about. Season to taste and serve.

Asparagus Shiraae

Asparagus is in season, and I have a Japanese food craving. Irreconcilable? I do not think this word means what you think it means! I went out on a limb and tried the most unusual (to me) recipe from The Guardian's Top Ten Asparagus Recipes. This definitely isn't for everyone... I can imagine the texture would really be off-putting for people who don't like jelly. But if you know you like soft tofu and sesame, give this a try. The recipe said serves four... well, that was total nonsense. Served two of us, with plain boiled rice and nasu dengaku to go with.

Ingredients

• 300g soft/silken tofu
• 200g asparagus
• 4 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted and ground
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp miso
• Salt

Drain the tofu from the packet, wrap it in plenty of kitchen paper, put it on a plate and place a weight on top of it to squeeze the water out. Leave the tofu for 30 minutes, until it weighs around 180g. Remove the woody part of the asparagus, then cut each spear diagonally into thirds.Bring some water to the boil in a saucepan, then add a little salt and lightly cook the asparagus for a few minutes. It should still be firm when drained. Cool the spears under cold running water and pat them dry.

Put the tofu in a bowl and add the ground sesame seeds, sugar, light soy sauce and miso and mix thoroughly. Add the asparagus to the bowl and mix into the dressing, seasoning with extra salt if required. Serve!

Caponata (Aubergine and Tomato Stew)

The title is totally unprepossessing, and I'm sure memories of poorly-cooked ratatouilles are sending you scrolling away from this screaming. HOWEVER! I implore you to stay. Try this recipe! Particularly in summer, when aubergines and tomatoes are in plentiful supply. The capers and olives make a fantastic contrast with the fresh vegetables, and it's amazingly filling as well. Yes, it's Jamie Oliver. Yes, olive oil must be glugged. But you won't be disappointed with a new away to jazz up those med veg.

Ingredients

• 2 large aubergines, cut into large chunks
• 1 heaped tsp dried oregano
• 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and stalks finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed, soaked and drained
• 1 handful green olives, stones removed
• 2-3 tablespoons best-quality herb (or at least wine) vinegar
• 5 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, lightly toasted, optional

Fry the aubergine and oregano in olive oil on a  high heat for around 4 or 5 minutes, giving the pan a shake every now and then. (Depending on the size of your pan you may need to cook the aubergine in batches.) When the aubergines are nice and golden on each side, add the onion, garlic and parsley stalks and continue cooking for another couple of minutes. Feel free to add a little more oil to the pan if you feel it's getting too dry.

Throw in the drained capers and the olives and drizzle over the herb vinegar. When all the vinegar has evaporated, add the tomatoes and simmer for around 15 minutes or until tender. Taste before serving and season if you need to with salt, pepper and a little more vinegar. Drizzle with some good olive oil and serve sprinkled with the chopped parsley leaves and the almonds if you like.

Mega Veggie Breakfast: Hash Browns

I prefer to shop once a week, since I just don't have much time in the evenings, and the challenge of extending the same shop through the week often prompts me to try different meals in order to use up the food while it's at its best. However, I also like starting my weekend with a proper cooked breakfast, rather than the bowls of cereal we have through the week. Sometimes it's toast, often it's pancakes or waffles, but every so often I want a proper English breakfast.

This week, I had the craving, but hadn't really done anything to justify pigging out on... well, pig. Also, the fridge was at Peak Bareness. So, I put together this Mega Veggie Breakfast :) The dregs of buttermilk were enough for pancakes from The Joy of Cooking, beans came from a tin, avocados I'd left ripening on the counter all week finally got sliced, there were leftover fried mushrooms from dinner, I poached eggs in the microwave (only one explosion), and made my first home-made hash browns. I used this recipe, modifying it for the two golf-ball size potatoes I had left in the fridge. Despite the tiny amount of potato, it made four hash browns - enough for two people as part of this breakfast. So you'll really make loads if you follow their instructions and use six medium potatoes!

Ingredients

• 6 medium (about 1.2kg) desiree potatoes, peeled
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• Pinch of salt
• Vegetable oil, to shallow-fry
• Select all ingredients

Coarsely grate the potatoes into a colander. Use your hands to squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible -- this is really, really important, so give it some welly!

In a large mixing bowl, combine the grated potato, flour, egg and salt, and stir until well-combined. Make flattened cakes with the potato mixture -- the thinner you make them, the faster they will cook, and the less oil you will use.

If you're feeling fancy, use a deep fryer to cook the hash browns. If you're feeling like you want to live a few days longer, use as much oil as it takes to cover the bottom third of the hash browns, and flip them once the underside is golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel and serve as quickly as possible, dusted with a little more salt.

Tarte au Chevre (Goat's Cheese and Onion Quiche)

Shamelessly stolen from the February 2011 issue of the Observer Food Monthly, where they share some excellent French recipes. I cheated and used store-bought pastry, and it wasn't as good, but I didn't have time to make it myself. I also had the wrong size tin so had to scale the recipe up by about 40%, and it worked fine, with 5 minutes extra cooking time.

We served this with their baked fennel (shown in the background of the photo), but I didn't find it a sufficient improvement on braised fennel to actually warrant bothering in future, unless I already had the oven on and felt like using the spare energy to heat something up.

For the quiche, you'll need a round 22cm tart tin at least 3.5cm deep with a removable base and beans for baking blind. I was extremely sceptical of their instructions for greasing the tin, but they really worked! One layer of butter, then another of flour.

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 200g flour
• 100g butter
• 1 egg yolk
• a little milk

For the filling

• 400g onions (usually 2-3)
• 25g butter
• 2 tsp thme leaves
• 2 eggs
• 200g creme fraiche or sour cream
• 200g full cream milk
• 180g goat's cheese

Blitz the flour and butter together in a food processor, until it forms tiny breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk and enough milk to make a pastry dough. Pat the pastry into a flat round and roll out large enough to line the tart tin. Lightly butter the tin and dust it with a small amount of flour, shaking off any excess. Lay the dough into the tin and push it right into the corners without stretching. Trim off the overhanging pastry and repair any holes. Chill for 20 minutes.

At 200C, pre-bake the pastry case, using greaseproof paper (or foil) and baking beans to hold down the base. After 20 minutes, remove the case from the oven, pour out the beans, remove the paper and bake again for another 5 minutes, until the base is dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and turn it down to 180C.

While the crust is pre-baking, you can finely slice and fry the onions in the butter and thyme for a good 20 minutes, over a low heat, until they are totally falling apart, golden and tender. Beat the eggs and creme fraiche together, then slowly add the milk. (It will look like way too much, but the volumes do work out!) When you have blind-baked the pastry shell, put the onions in a layer on the bottom, crumble over the goat's cheese, then pour over the rest of the filling mixture. Bake at 180C for 40 minutes. The centre should quiver when gently shaken. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes, so you can serve it warm.

Apple Turnover

One of my colleagues at work regularly buys enormous decadent pastries for "lunch dessert", from the local patisserie. He let me try a bite of his apple turnover, which was taller than it was wide! It consisted of a puff pastry base, then inch-thick layers of pie apple, custard, and whipped cream, topped at least with a puff pastry hat. It was amazing.

I knew that sitting at home was a bag of extremely cheap apples, which had not turned out very good for eating. I resolved to make apple turnovers to use them up and satisfy my craving for such an awesome dessert. While you could add custard and cream to these, they're more of a simple quick dessert that you can serve hot, with an added side of ice cream. I've written instructions for just two turnovers, but they're easy to make in large batches, as long as you have enough oven trays.

Ingredients

• two eating apples
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• a sheet of ready-made puff pastry

Core, peel and dice the apples, dropping into the lemon juice as you go, to prevent browning. Stir in the sugar and cornflour, then microwave for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apple has softened and the cornflour has thickened the juices.

Preheat the oven to 200C and lay out a greased or silicone-lined baking tray. Cut the sheet of pastry into two rectangular halves. Lay out one half and spoon half of the apple mixture onto one side of it. Fold the other side over the top and press the edges together all around, so the pastry sticks together. Prick the top a couple of times with a fork. Do the same for the other piece of pastry, with the rest of the mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes or so, until risen, golden and crispy. Serve immediately, with vanilla ice cream.

Yasai Itameru (Stir-fried tofu in coconut noodles)

I went back to the Wagamama cookbook for this one, and it wasn't half bad. I think the recipes still lack focus, having too many different kinds of vegetables, and the quantities are all over the place. However the sauce was very tasty, if a little rich. I also think it's silly to try to stir fry tofu at the same time as your vegetables: you can get a nice crispy skin if you do them separately, as shown in the photo. I'm posting my amended recipe rather than their original.

Ingredients
For the sauce

• 1 garlic clove
• a thumb of ginger
• two lemongrass sticks
• 100ml hot water
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp sugar
• 100g in of coconut milk or cream (depending on how fat you feel)

For the stir-fry

• 75g rice noodles
• 1 red chilli
• 1 red onion
• a bunch of Chinese vegetables, like pak choi
• 50g sweet potato (about an inch from the middle)
• 200g firm tofu, cut into cubes
• a bunch of fresh coriander
• juice of half a lime (or lemon)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

Crush the garlic, peel and grate the ginger, and finely shred the lemongrass. Cook in a small saucepan in the hot water until the garlic has softened. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook gently for a few minutes, but don't let it boil or the coconut milk can separate.

Cook the noodles according to their packet instructions. Peel and (if you like) deseed the chilli, then finely chop. Finely slice the red onion. Julienne the sweet potato. Clean and separate the pak choi. Stir fry the sweet potato and red onion until becoming tender, then add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry until just barely cooked, then remove from the pan to free it up for the tofu. Stir fry the tofu until golden and crispy, then return the vegetables to the pan and squeeze over the lime juice and soy sauce. Combine the noodles with the coconut sauce, and serve the vegetables over the top of them, topped with the coriander and a lemon or lime segment.

Lemon Cheesecake

I had a sudden, inexplicable craving for lemon cheesecake. Not just the kind where the cheese has some lemon in it, but the kind with a delicious layer of lemon curd on top. I haven't made a cheesecake in over a decade, and had a minor panic when I found out there are actually two kinds: a "no-bake" version that you simply chill, and a baked version, which when I considered I decided was the kind I had bade before, and roughly knew how to do. I googled around until I found a good recipe, and ended up following this one, from a supermarket website, no less! I used block Philadelphia though; I've found the supermarket versions here have a weird plasticky texture, which is probably so they remain unmelted even when it's 40 C outside.

Ingredients:
Cake

• 200g plain biscuits
• 125g butter, melted
• 500g Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Zest of a lemon
• 2 eggs

Curd

• Zest of a lemon
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup Caster Sugar
• 40g butter, cubed
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin. Pulse biscuits in a food processor, or bash with a rolling pin until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and add the melted butter: stir until combined. Spoon biscuit mixture into prepared cake tin and press evenly on base and sides. Cool in the fridge for at least 30 min.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until combined. Pour mixture into tin and place on a baking tray. Bake for 25-30 mins, or until just set in the centre. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in the oven with the door ajar for a couple of hours or until oven is completely cool. Chill in the fridge for two hours.

For the lemon curd, combine lemon zest, juice, sugar, butter and eggs in a saucepan or double boiler over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5-10 mins, or until mixture thickens. If you like, strain through a fine sieve onto a dinner plate or flat tray -- I usually don't bother. Pour the curd over the cheesecake and chill until ready to serve. Scatter with a little more lemon zest if you like.

Kale and Apple Salad

One thing I'll say about no frost here is that it makes kale a premium, exotic ingredient. Instead of being a huge prickly vegetable so tough you either need to boil it or feed it to a pig, it's packed up like salad and is so tender you can eat it raw. A rather tasty way of doing so is to combine it with some mandolined apple and a handful of chopped dried fruits and nuts (e.g. raisins and almonds, as we did) and dressed simply with lemon juice and olive oil.

You still have to shred it finely, and it takes more of a chew than lettuce, but it's pretty filling, especially with a couple of boiled potatoes to give the sharp salad a contrast. If you want a bit more protein, feel free to shave over some feta, goats' cheese, or even parmesan.

Walnut and Parsley Pesto (with Beetroot Pasta)

We have soooo much parsley this week. I picked up a huge bag for just a dollar, and now we're eating it with everything :) This was a yum and cheaper version of the classic basil pesto. We used it to jazz up some cooked beetroot and al dente pasta.

Ingredients:

• A large handful of walnuts
• half a bunch of parsley
• 25-40g of Parmesan
• olive oil
• black pepper

Toast the walnuts either under the grill, or in a dry frying pan, until crisp and fragrant. Clean the parsley and discard any tough stems. Finely grate the Parmesan, then whiz it together with the parsley and walnuts in a blender. Drizzle in olive oil until it takes on a pesto-like consistency, and season well with black pepper.