Bara Brith

So I've had this recipe in a vegetarian cook book for years wondering what it would be like...

Turns out its Welsh tea cake.

Now if you're reading this its cause you probably know me and you may even know that I'm from Argentina. What you probably don't know is that my maternal Grandmother (who passed away at 102 last year) was Irish and my family has strong Irish traditions. Argentina like Australia is very multicultural, just that it all happened at the turn of the 19th Century and post World Wars. These days not many people can readily admit they don't have an ancestor from Spain, Italy, Ireland, Wales, Armenia etc.

But back to the family traditions.... One of these has been a yearly Welsh Afternoon Tea fundraiser at the local library that my Grandmother and mother founded back in the 60's. I have no idea why it's a Welsh tea and not Irish but I will be there this year and being a chef I've been seconded into cooking Torta Galesa (Welsh Cake) for about 100 people.

I had a go at this recipe and it's delicious, better than your average fruit cake due to the fruit being soaked in strong tea (and ahem... a good dash of whiskey)! This recipe is from the North Wales Tourism website, the whiskey was my addition!

Let you know how the Afternoon Tea goes....

Bara Brith

This is literally translated as ‘speckled bread’. Once a week, the stove was lit for baking day, as the heat began to fade in the stove, so a handful of currants was added to the last of the bread dough and this speckled bread became a treat. The flavour, however, of this spiced, honey-glazed fruit bread is delicious when spread with salted Welsh butter, and it is no wonder that Bara Brith is still produced all over Wales.

450g (1lb) mixed dried fruit

300ml (1/2 pint) tea
40ml whiskey (optional)

2 tbsp marmalade

1 egg, beaten

6 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp mixed spice

450g (1lb) self-raising flour

honey to glaze

1. Soak the fruit overnight in the tea (and whiskey).
2. Next day, mix the marmalade, egg, sugar, spice and flour. Spoon into a greased 900g (1lb) loaf tin and bake in a warm oven (gas 3, 325ºF, 170ºC) for one and three quarter hours or until the centre is cooked through. Check from time to time that the top doesn’t brown too much, and cover with a sheet of foil or move down a shelf in the oven if necessary.
3. Once cooked, leave the Bara Brith to stand for 5 minutes, then tip out of the tin on to a cooling tray. Using a pastry brush, glaze the top with honey.
4. Serve sliced with salted butter and some tasty farmhouse Cheddar. Store in an airtight tin.

My final class for 2008!

In exactly 2 weeks we'll be in Buenos Aires!
Ahhh so much to do, such little time :-)

I've been reminded I should organise an "authority to travel" for the kids as my surname is different to theirs and Tony won't be travelling with us... and now that we've decided to enrol in Distance Education for Term 4 we've got to meet the teacher and get a program together for the kids. How exciting!

Then there's the packing... the dreadful thing about travelling with Aerolineas is that the luggage allowance is HUGE! 2 x 32k bags each. No wonder the private owner is offloading the airline to the Argentine Govt! I've inherited the dreadful temptation to take everything including the kitchen sink. Must resist urge to plan everything to the last outfit, last read, last stitch.

So last night was my final cooking class in Sydney for 2008: fittingly a Picnic, BBQ and Party Food class. This has been a very tight group of students, they've come a long way in learning basic kitchen skills and I barely have to be there after 6 classes! I love seeing how everybody interacts and makes room in their life for someone completely out of their day to day realm.

As you can see from the photos we had Tofu Burgers, Mini Pumpkin and Spinach Frittata and my personal favourite the Zucchini, Feta and Chick Pea Fritters w/ Tzatziki. I especially liked the creative way half of them were cooked - in neat quenelles. (If you decide to do this you will need to finish them off in the oven to cook them through).
We also had Maple Syrup and Pecan cake but that went quicker than I could snap it!
Here's the recipe for the fritters. Enjoy :-)

ZUCCHINI, CHICK PEA AND FETA FRITTERS

These delicious fritters are great as finger food or at a picnic.

Serves: makes c.16 little fritters

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

400 grams tinned chick peas, drained and mashed slightly with a fork

3 zucchini, grated and placed in a colander to drain

150 grams Greek feta, drained and crumbled

3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (parsley/ coriander/ chives/ oregano/ dill etc)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs slightly beaten

¾ cup self raising flour (may need more if mix is too soft due to the zucchini)

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil for shallow frying

To serve: Tzatziki (see separate recipe)

Method:

1. Combine the chick peas, zucchini, feta, herbs, garlic and eggs in a bowl.

2. Sprinkle the flour over the mix and lightly combine.

3. Mix should hold its shape when dropped from a spoon, if not add more flour.

4. Heat enough oil to cover the base of fry pan.

5. Spoon tablespoons of mix on to hot oil and cook for 2 minutes till set and golden.

6. Using an egg slice and wooden spoon, turn and cook on the other side.

7. Remove and cook the remaining mix, adding more oil when needed.

To serve: Serve with tzatziki to dip or spoon little mounds onto individual fritters for finger food.

Tzatziki

Ingredients

2 cups plain yoghurt (preferably Greek)

1 cucumber, peeled and grated.

¼ cup mint leaves, chopped

2 garlic cloves

½ lemon, juiced

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Place cucumber in a colander and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

2. Place over a bowl and let drain for 10 minutes.

3. Squeeze as much water out of the cucumber as possible.

4. Combine all ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings.

5. Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve.

Cheesy Scones and a Thai Stir Fry

Ok so there has been much ranting and not enough sewing of scraps nor many recipes happening here!
My Mexican quilt is still up on the design board and it was embarrassing to have to move it aside for Kerry to plough through her gorgeous Dear Jane quilt this weekend!
But I have been cooking: lots of scones, 370 of them for our school's Father's Day Song & Scone!
I didn't think I wanted to see a scone for a while but then decided to make a batch of Cheesy Scones using the delicious Greek kefalograviera in the fridge. A pinch of sweet/ smoky Spanish pimiento and they were delicious for afternoon tea with cream cheese... mmmm!

And then there's my Vegetarian Cookery Classes I teach on Mondays.
Last night the theme was one of my favourites: Thai Vegetarian Cuisine.

The hardest thing about recreating South East Asian cuisines is their heavy use of fish sauce and dried shrimp paste. Once you can find something equally as salty and "earthy" to substitute the rest is easy. I prefer to use mushroom flavoured soy and vegetarian oyster mushroom stir fry sauce.
On the menu was Tom Yum Pak (Spicy Sour Vegetable Soup), Pad Thai, Pumpkin & Zucchini Stir Fry and Sweet Sticky Rice w/ Mango and Palm Sugar Syrup.
The students did an excellent job as you can see from the photos, the Singha Beer was the perfect foil for all that spice and tartness.
One of the easiest dishes to achieve and one well liked by even those that don't usually like Thai food is the stir fry. It's delicious with plain steamed rice.

Pumpkin and Zucchini Stir Fry

400 g Pumpkin; peeled, cut and sliced into 5cm lengths

400 g Zucchini, cut in ½ cm matchsticks 5cm lengths
2 Eggs
2 Spring onions, sliced into 5cm lengths
2 Tbsp Canola oil
2 Garlic clove, finely sliced
100 ml Water

2 Tbsp Vegetarian oyster sauce

2 Tbsp Mushroom soy sauce
1 Tsp White sugar
¼ tsp Ground white pepper

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
1. Cook the pumpkin till just soft in a microwave or steamer.
2. In a wok, fry the garlic in the oil till just golden
3. Add the eggs and stir till half cooked
4. Add the pumpkin, zucchini, water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, white pepper.
5. Stir fry for 5 minute till all combined.
6. Add the spring onion and stir to heat through.

Serve garnished with coriander leaves and a sprinkle of white pepper.

Busy, busy, busy

Someone warned me we'd be busy once we got on the merry go round of activities for G&T children! And we have been very busy!


We've been to the fantastic and inspiring Science Camp at Morriset held by the NSWAGTC where the children met other like minded science enthusiasts and did workshops on probability, space, astronomy and water rocket building. The location was fantastic and we'll certainly be back next year! The kids were so proud that their "eggmonaut" survived the rigours of being blasted into the air nestled deep within "The Shaky Shark". (see picture above)


The following weekend we hosted a Lego Enthusiasts get together with a couple of new friends. There was wall to wall Lego in the lounge room as our guests brought their fabulous creations to show and tell. We didn't really play much with the NXT set as it really needs a little more structure. We'll work on that for next time.


This weekend a friend invited the kids fishing locally. I went along as I'm not really sure how the kids would cope if they actually caught something! I don't know what I'd do if they'd caught something. But as is usually the case I needen't have worried. We just seemed to be feeding the bait to the tiny schools of fish at the edge of the rock ledge, the only tugs on the line were the numerous hooks we lost to patches of seaweed and jagged rocks!

Fishing was pronounced a terribly boring exercise and we went on to watch the Snake Man who was so much more entertaining!

So with only three weeks to go before our trip to Argentina it seems every weekend from now is accounted for! Wish me luck!

Kitchen Garden Program

There is now some chance that my suggestion that our school participate in the wonderful School Kitchen Garden Program wont be dismissed! Though it's believed that we don't have the volunteer base in our school of 530+ students and that the garden would become a dilapidated eyesore we have to do something about our large and rubble strewn paddock!

This is a worthy initiative I had originally seen on Gardening Australia. It was initially set up by Stephanie Alexander in Victoria to teach kids how to grow and cook their own food.

There is an expectation that all kids hate vegetables... I can attest that this is not true! If parents introduce vegetables along with all the other staples they accept them just as well. ( I know that many parents will dispute this but how is it possible that this problem doesn't exist across cultures?)

If however, the parent grimaces and makes comments like "eat your greens or you'll get no dessert" then you are doomed to bribing and cajoling them to eat their veggies. Here is an interesting article about other things to avoid when presenting new foods to your kids.

Once kids make up their mind they don't like something it's really hard to change their opinion.

Stephanie Alexander has shown that by planting a seed, looking after a plant and the surprise of that plant providing real food, food you can eat, can sometimes convince picky eaters to try beans, tomatoes and homegrown carrots.



Imagine taking this further and teaching children environmentally aware land care practices, safe kitchen techniques, communication/ social skills, appreciation of other cultures and how to follow recipes. You've got quite a bit of the primary school curriculum covered there in a way the kids enjoy. Getting their hands dirty, actively participating in a class that is tangible and practical. A local school has already done this, visit their blog at : http://ecopond.blogspot.com/

I'd love to do this and will send along an email volunteering my services to any local school that is thinking of applying for this grant.

Olympics overdose

Seems everyone is a sport enthusiast these days. That's all the kids seem to be studying at school: Olympic themed art, research projects and even language (conveniently Chinese + Greek at our school) are all centred around this 2 week event. Lunacy!

This morning as I was going through my usual Tuesday morning ritual of strong coffee before the gym and looking over the SMH I was interrupted by a friendly stranger. He was enquiring whether I'd seen the spectacular results of the 1500m... I had no idea what he was talking about!

Now I know that to a stranger I may look like a sporty type since I am sitting here in my gym outfit but I really don't get the Olympics. But this guy was from Tunisia and he was obviously very proud of his fellow countryman, who I've now worked out must be Oussama Melloulli (who beat Australia's Grant Hacket at the 1500m freestyle event -thanks Google).

A discussion about elite sports and its funding ensued, the Tunisian telling me Oussama was completely self funded. I doubt it.

I'm curious about what it costs countries to fund each medal so I type into Google "cost of Olympic gold medals per capita Australia" and come up with this really interesting article eschewing the bias of medal tally/ capita count. By the tables here Australia comes second to the Bahamas for medals won per capita. But that's not exactly what I'm looking for.
I'm really more interested in how much it costs for Australia to fund these medals and where the money comes from and at the expense of what?

Crickey's James Conner sheds some light:

"Each Olympic gold medal in the last 20 years has cost Australian taxpayers about $40 million...

So the next time an elite athlete whines about it (drugs in sport) not being "fair", ask them how many years of assistance they have got from the Australian public purse, how many coaches, physios and sports scientists helped them, how often they get special high altitude training at Thredbo, how many times their technique has been mapped and analysed at the AIS to micro-manage it. Let’s remember the other athletes, the ones not lucky enough to be born in a wealthy country obsessed with sporting success."

$40 million per medal! Ouch, that's a lot of hospitals and schools.

Spaghetti Meat(less)balls Recipe

Although the kids have never had meatballs, burgers or sausages I know they hold a certain appeal to their visiting friends so I was always on the lookout for a good substitute.
After much experimentation I came up with the following recipe which many kids have pronounced "the best meatballs EVER!". If only they knew...

I made some of these for dinner last night and was hoping to get a photo to put here but they all disappeared. Luckily I'm teaching this to my students on Monday night so I will try and remember to get a shot then!

VEGETARIAN “MEATBALLS”

Serves: 24 medium size meatballs
Preparation: 15 minutes + 30 minutes refrigeration
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Set oven to 190C

Ingredients:
½ c cheddar cheese, grated
¼ c parmesan cheese, grated
4 eggs, lightly beaten
½ c walnuts, finely chopped in a food processor
1 c breadcrumbs, large crumb
1 tin lentils, well drained
200 gm mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tablespoon mixed herbs
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste


Method:

1. Using your (clean) hands, mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Form into walnut size balls and place on a paper lined baking tray.
4. Spray with canola oil.
5. Bake at 190C for 20 minutes, turning occasionally for an even colour.

At this stage you can add the “meatballs” to your tomato sauce or use it in other recipes.
I serve them on top of the spaghetti and sauce with parmesan cheese.

Variations:
Add tomato paste, chilli or chopped fresh herbs to the mix for a different flavour.

here's the scoop, we're going to Argentina!

I think I've found the solution to our continuing issues at school... and it involves ice cream :-)

An 12 week soujourn in Argentina should be just what the kids need to spur them on to bigger/ better/ broader things! And there's no point in having Spanish classes unless we actually use them after all.

I've always wanted the kids to have the experience of living in Argentina for an extended time. I can't think of a better time to go. The longer we leave it the harder it will be to extricate them from sporting and other commitments.

Amazingly Tony has agreed and will meet us over there for a holiday at some point.
I have a wad of forms to fill in to "request exemption from school", what a joke!
I've looked at the Distance Education School but unfortunately this doesn't apply to us as we wont be gone long enough...

I look forward to taking charge of the kids' education for a while, steering them away from the drill & repetition that seems to have stiffled their love of learning. Surrounded by loving family and amazing opportunities I'm sure they'll get their spring back.

I'm already planning what material to take, there's no way I could hope to carry enough books to feed their reading habits so will have to rely on bookstores/ libraries over in Bs As. Will load the laptop with all our sundry programs (Ultimate Maths Invaders and Kidspiration are current hits) and make sure we have access to Mathletics/ Spellodrome and of course email!

No doubt we will get course work to complete also. After the initial settling in period I'll see if the kids are interested in attending the local school I went to when I was their age.

sleepy sunday

On this sleepy Sunday that confusingly switches between sunshine and rain I begin my first blog post. Now that Jo has one we're guaranteed an audience of 1! There's something about a sleepy Sunday that inspires a new project.

Not that I need any! I've got plenty of quilts unfinished in the studio (known as UFOs or Un Finished Objects) There's even one hanging on the design wall waiting for me to perfect my 1/4" seam on my whizbang machine that does everything but the dishes!

The kids have also got their own projects to work on. Ollie is getting to know his new Lego Robot friend and Sofia is getting messy with the PVA and the make-a-doll Mermaid kit.

Going to try to keep these posts brief so I'll get back to my ho-hum laundry and organising tomorrow's cookery lesson.

The students have asked we cook Chinese tomorrow in honour of the Beijing Olympics. I'm thinking pot sticker dumplings, fried rice, eggplant & snow pea stir fry and almond cookies. I've been playing around with a vegetarian dumpling recipe and Sofia and I are pretty happy with the results :-)

So will try and post pictures and recipes on Tuesday.

Chau for now!