tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50567796639613858642024-02-18T19:11:17.928-08:00the lazy life of mekohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-48358858465037478012010-07-25T19:07:00.000-07:002010-07-25T19:07:51.528-07:00The Garden: The Chicken House Begins... i thinkWith my trusty old lawnmower (thanks dad for passing it down to me) not working at all, i decided it was a good idea to start thinking about the chook house for the future addition in the garden.<br />
<br />
luckily i didn't have to fork out $100 on materials (just for the timber as well) instead finding the remanence of one of my old beds in my parents shed to use.<br />
<br />
After adjusting the dimensions i set out to the shed to make sure all bits of timber were good to go. Turned out some of these pieces were not only screwed together (free screws) but also glued together as well...<br />
<br />
A hammer and scraper quickly fixed this and soon i had beams of timber ready for the go.<br />
<br />
It wasn't much that i could do with the short time i had in the morning to do so, but it is a start. All i need now is to cut up the timber into the right length and start putting it together... I need nails...<br />
<br />
That's all that's been going on in the garden today.kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-26272787772595825482010-07-18T21:09:00.000-07:002010-07-18T21:09:21.485-07:00The Garden: Not Enough DiggingI may have killed some of my vegetables by accident. I hadn't worked the soil well enough and the horse poo killed a bunch of my brussels sprouts and lettuce.<div><br />
</div><div>So saturday was spent digging ad working two of my patches. I will have to do the same thing on a couple more of them during this week... My arms are starting to get sore from this...</div><div><br />
</div><div>I have also worked out the right Origami box to make my newspaper seedling pots. with no sticky tape holding the boxes together, all i'll have to do is cut the bottom of them open and place the whole pot into the ground come planting time.</div><div><br />
</div><div>With a new batch of seeds freshly planted into them, it's now the waiting game.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I also worked out my gift carrots (something that had just appeared out of no where) were actually part of a second year crop. flowering and taking up excess space. Seeing as i didn't know what the deal with them actually was the came out of the ground. Suddenly all my spinach and silverbeet are growing better than ever.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Permission for the chickens has also come through. This is good. As long as we can get the chicken house up and running... and maybe a duck house as well...</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-22426696401516632652010-07-12T22:06:00.000-07:002010-07-12T22:06:21.804-07:00The Kitchen: Bacon Experiment with TrotterAfter careful consideration (well, not really) i decided it was time to take down one of the trotters.<div><br />
</div><div>It spent 2 weeks in brine, 3 days in salt and approximately 6 weeks hanging outside.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Pulling back the muslin cloth i found there was no nasty bits growing on it, and after cutting away a portion of skin to reveal some (the only) bits of meat i found a nice, slightly salty but tasty bit of pork goodness.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I ended up turning this into a sort of cassoulet thing with tomato, mushrooms and a whole lot of white beans.</div><div><br />
</div><div>With the trotter cut up into small pieces (after being used to create the stock for the dish) it provided a good dosage of extra flavour and texture running through the beans.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Trying this has given me a new hope in the belly bits working out for me... soon they will be had...</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-85421778558944104212010-06-23T19:23:00.000-07:002010-06-23T19:23:37.251-07:00The Idea: Not Eating Meat? Still Thinking?So, how ethical is it to not eat meat?<br />
<br />
I'm not a vegetarian for one reason. I love eating meat. But in the process i have made it my mission to try to my best eat meat ethically.<br />
<br />
This involves not only trying to eat Organic, and/or Free Range animals, but also practicing Head to Tail eating. The point of this is to make sure that no part of the animal went to waste.<br />
<br />
But what about vegetarians?<br />
<br />
Sure they don't eat animals, so they shouldn't have to worry about the ethical issue of a beautiful (and tasty) creature getting slaughtered. But what about the fruit and vegetables that they eat? Do they really meet Ethical Standards that justify the production?<br />
<br />
This was just something that i had on my mind. I was curious as to how selective vegetarians were about the produce that they buy and if like me they spend hours wondering if what they are buying is really that good for the planet or my health...<br />
<br />
It's just an idea...kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-25347824727671944242010-06-23T18:05:00.000-07:002010-06-23T18:05:53.241-07:00The Garden: Compost ManiaForgot my camera so there's no pictures, but today was the day i organised my compost heaps (yes it's plural)<div><br />
</div><div>With my fantastic girlfriend finding cheep horse poo for sale at a farm i was lucky enough to end up with the opportunity to create a new compost heap. Essentially i combined the horse poo with the almost ready portion of my old compost pile to create a super compost pile. I'll let this combine over the next few weeks or months (depending on my mood when i'm in the garden really) and i should have something good for my summer plants.</div><div><br />
</div><div>This has also helped reduce the stress that was being put onto my wonderful little euro design hopelessly crap compost bin that seems to fall apart every time it starts to get a little bit full.</div><div><br />
</div><div>My collection of seedlings are developing nicely as well. I am hoping they'll be strong enough in a week or two to be planted out into the garden, although there have been a few frosty days so this may not happen right away.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Now to decide where i'll plant all these seedlings...</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-61558379037876324752010-06-20T20:35:00.000-07:002010-06-20T20:39:13.199-07:00The Food: Death by Popcorn<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Popcorn.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Usually consumed at the movies with large doses of melted butter and salt to induce thirst thus requiring the consumer to purchase a large bucket of soft drink to accompany it...</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Well, I'm not talking about that death by popcorn.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">I'm talking about dessert popcorn that you can have. The final result after consumption is much more satisfying than the movie variety, although you will feel the 'why did i just eat all that popcorn' thing in your mind.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">There would have been a photo of this wonderful thing if i hadn't eaten it all up. It's just so tasty.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">As usual, nothing here is accurately measured. It's all guess work and feel and how it'd taste in the end (except for the popcorn. i followed the directions for that one just in case)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Ingredients</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">1/2 cup of popping corn</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">dash of oil</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">1 cup brown sugar</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">1/4 cup water</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">couple of slices butter</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">cream</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">dark cooking chocolate</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">1. start by making the popcorn. heat the oil up in a pan, add the popping corn, place lid on top and let it rip. shake occasionally to prevent the corn from burning. once cooked transfer to a grease proof paper lined tray.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">2. place sugar water and butter in a new pot, bring to the boil then simmer till reduced by half. pore over popcorn</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">3. place cream into saucepan. bring to boil then reduce to a simmer. add chocolate to melt through. once silky pore over popcorn.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">4. cool mixture in the fridge for a couple of yours</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">5. try and get it into a plate to serve. chances are you'll eat most of it straight from the tray because it's just too good.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">I have a feeling that it'd be a good idea to cover the popcorn with the caramel mixture, leave it for a couple of hours in the fridge to harden up then cover with chocolate. Just something to think about i guess...</span></span>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-46320753828428491852010-06-20T20:21:00.000-07:002010-06-20T20:21:19.117-07:00The Kitchen: Sourdough Banana Bread<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">With my Sourdough mixture working so well and with not much of a failure to make bread, I decided to get a bit adventurous.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I decided to make an attempt at Sourdough Banana Bread.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rather than making a dough with the bread consistency I decided to create a batter that incorporating an egg, some starter, honey, a banana and a bunch of flour. After leaving it for a while in front of the heater to get the starter a little more active it was a simple transfer into a bread tin and into a hot oven.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All the measurements were guesswork so there’s not really a set recipe for this.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The final result was bread with a hint of banana and honey. Not too sweet in a sugary way but dense with a nice crust.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It still needs work but for an afternoon coffee this is perfect.</div><!--EndFragment-->kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-22253705863358926292010-06-14T20:05:00.000-07:002010-06-14T20:05:45.947-07:00The Garden: public holiday is garden day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFSxHrfpQBLyvOYOe9PSdpiSpS-YHz_q3-rdp4UURBVZTUVpc_y-gbApEFlUb6qht5bZB54bDTBVCXO3wkopBHtd3lQjN1zqDQrkcxl6fz542Z1aHd8y1zTRoiSawVfgKyc-YDS7P4Xc/s1600/broad+beans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFSxHrfpQBLyvOYOe9PSdpiSpS-YHz_q3-rdp4UURBVZTUVpc_y-gbApEFlUb6qht5bZB54bDTBVCXO3wkopBHtd3lQjN1zqDQrkcxl6fz542Z1aHd8y1zTRoiSawVfgKyc-YDS7P4Xc/s320/broad+beans.jpg" /></a>with the queens birthday holiday, my girlfriend and i decided on garden day.<br />
<br />
it wasn't really a hard day. we just went out and did what we though needed to be done in the garden.<br />
<br />
i started by stearing at my broad beans. wondering what i'd do with them all. i think there's 60 plants in all...<br />
<br />
i found that most of my day was spent making new beds for my collection of carrots, transplanting the winter spinach to the front yard, and making an extension to our herb garden.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RP6AM4mV3Czl8pTF-YTfURLUWvrdmUTqwF-DV_lu5Fq2AwPA6XTvsJIjO3iB-O-zH-YzDq2qhiHsqWn2eUlxhtG_rcMRZNmygN_85HAbUavpPYn4sA89l-RvVbXqvgL_nI6po8Y4EUE/s1600/herb+garden+extension.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RP6AM4mV3Czl8pTF-YTfURLUWvrdmUTqwF-DV_lu5Fq2AwPA6XTvsJIjO3iB-O-zH-YzDq2qhiHsqWn2eUlxhtG_rcMRZNmygN_85HAbUavpPYn4sA89l-RvVbXqvgL_nI6po8Y4EUE/s320/herb+garden+extension.jpg" /></a></div><br />
i also started my new designer spring onion patch (only designer in name and the 'fancy' rows i planted them in)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2o55DMh8yRSWrXpymiB-qCaM6TrpdK9Syp_sDC7IZeddBWxzJoabLDJnpuPSeOVhPF8EgzWXyQQE4-MHz5aCA7QSEyaTq36FM88OupDGi_k3uT0D-G2bKBAVVzRznspcdPXZiweoT6Q/s1600/spring+onions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2o55DMh8yRSWrXpymiB-qCaM6TrpdK9Syp_sDC7IZeddBWxzJoabLDJnpuPSeOVhPF8EgzWXyQQE4-MHz5aCA7QSEyaTq36FM88OupDGi_k3uT0D-G2bKBAVVzRznspcdPXZiweoT6Q/s320/spring+onions.jpg" /></a></div><br />
my girlfriend also worked a little further on our coffee table by stripping away a large lot of the paint.<br />
<br />
kind of a long day but maybe not.kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-87327450511567959942010-06-14T19:54:00.000-07:002010-06-14T20:06:14.217-07:00The Kitchen: hanging meatI found a nice constructed little building next to my house that doesn't get much sun on it. This to me means it won't get too hot and would be great to hang my meats.<br />
<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4imleubo5vWJy39u3NKuSya3WHJcyWMpTluNGvFpuUJ-DVtk3A7oiVIlSblkluFRdhy5yD_eUBADF87zytWgpocsfMP4isij2cFsxjtwTAdDUv06bqijfuPRGUWH6wrvzQEeuvG1CPmY/s1600/hanging+meat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4imleubo5vWJy39u3NKuSya3WHJcyWMpTluNGvFpuUJ-DVtk3A7oiVIlSblkluFRdhy5yD_eUBADF87zytWgpocsfMP4isij2cFsxjtwTAdDUv06bqijfuPRGUWH6wrvzQEeuvG1CPmY/s320/hanging+meat.jpg" /></a></div><div>so wrapped up in muzlin cloth is my dry cured pork bellies and my brine and dry cured pork hocks. so far things are going well. but they need to hand for a good two to three months so things could turn ugly.</div><div><br />
</div><div>all i can really do for the time being is hope. hope that the rot doesn't set in, and hope that the nothing jumps up and rips them off the string.</div><div><br />
</div><div>i'm also going well with my sourdough breads. i've begun getting a consistently good loaf out of each attempt and have gotten to baking a loaf every two days.</div><div><br />
</div><div>the idea of mixing in some fruit has been floated. i just need to work out how to do it without destroying the fluffiness of the dough.</div><div><br />
</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-19970469845699290022010-06-08T22:14:00.000-07:002010-06-08T22:14:25.848-07:00The Food: Bread Butter Chocolate and Nut Pudding<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">I had a bit of left over bread, there were only two eggs left in the fridge, we’d just been given some really tasty honey and I had a new batch of mums sweet pickled chestnuts (I still need to get the recipe for this one)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiOycI5hZzHUF_-NUeRHQNJNCyBMtWzbXR68kNUcwmwg7LvZ_5oMRpGd_bXsvY1j3KMrgcpOaM34mxa4Ks_SDGDIAY-lWkxINHkNY-yKGv2S0GXaT3dHqZrRB3QkW9YAZilpHuCerJf4/s1600/BBP+with+choc+nut+honey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiOycI5hZzHUF_-NUeRHQNJNCyBMtWzbXR68kNUcwmwg7LvZ_5oMRpGd_bXsvY1j3KMrgcpOaM34mxa4Ks_SDGDIAY-lWkxINHkNY-yKGv2S0GXaT3dHqZrRB3QkW9YAZilpHuCerJf4/s320/BBP+with+choc+nut+honey.jpg" /></a>So I did the obvious and made a bread and butter pudding kind of thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Ingredients</u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Slightly old bread torn up and buttered</div><div class="MsoNormal">2 eggs</div><div class="MsoNormal">Milk</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cream</div><div class="MsoNormal">Brown sugar</div><div class="MsoNormal">Grated chocolate</div><div class="MsoNormal">Pickled chestnuts crumbled</div><div class="MsoNormal">Honey</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Turn oven on to 200C</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Put the bread into a baking tin and drizzle with honey</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Beat the eggs with sugar, milk and cream. Make enough to cover the bread half way</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Cover the bread with chocolate and the nuts. Drizzle some of the juice from the pickled nuts as well</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Pour over the egg mixture</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Put baking tin into a larger tray filled with boiling water. Cover mixture with foil and bake for 20-30mins</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Take the cover off and cook a further 5mins to make the top a bit crispy if it isn’t already</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Serve hot with cream</li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-68073206501805086052010-06-08T22:11:00.003-07:002010-06-08T22:11:58.255-07:00The Garden: is there ever such a thing as too much garlic?<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday I started planting out some of my seedlings. Well, two of my seedlings.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Garlic and snow peas shoots were the order of the day.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I had a fairly good idea of where I wanted to snow peas to go. So I peeled back the plastic on my small garden bed and started planting.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once finished I looked across and noticed that the tray of seedlings was still half full. What to do… I found another spot for the rest. Up against the back wall of the big corner garden bed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After planting some there I noticed there were still a few of them floating around in the tray. So off I went to find the self watering pot and put them by the front door. (that way I’ll get a nice little snack when i’m on my way out)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The garlic wasn’t going to be as hard as the snow peas. They already had a dedicated area in the front yard from the first batch that I put in last month.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, that’s what I thought until I noticed that I was about ¾ of my way through the new batch and was halfway into the bed that we were going to save for some other vegies…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Back to thinking about plant placement.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then I vaguely remembered something about garlic being a good plant to keep slugs and snails away. I have no idea if it’s true but I decided to plant some close to my asian patch that has been under constant attack by the hungry little buggers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With the daikon starting to pop up I’m keen to try anything to keep them away.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So with this abundance of just two plants I started wondering if I was over doing any of my other vegies.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After about two seconds I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t. it could all be justified by the fact that I don't’ want some novelty garden where I get enough peas for one stir fry.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I want to be able to walk out every day and get something fresh from the garden for the bulk of the meal. I want to walk through my garden and think about what I’m going to do for dinner. Not the supermarket isles.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m starting to become a little obsessive…<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></div><!--EndFragment-->kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-49784218708063731982010-06-08T22:10:00.000-07:002010-06-08T22:10:50.983-07:00The Kitchen: Preserved fish experiment<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">With my girlfriend home and both of us a little hungry I’d been put on to lunch duty (who am I kidding. I rule this kitchen and I would have done it anyway)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Both being pre-occupied with other work we still hadn’t gone out to do the shopping. So I decided to pull out something that I’d been saving for a couple of weeks.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My fish preserved in oil was done after watching the Gourmet Farmer (SBS) and seeing them preserve their own tuna. I decided it would be a great idea and started an experiment with some bay trout.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXxYB4ZvEsOfH1Kb7-UacPeSYLERtLpewpI5qsNuESU0yvRYTm42CBlVewjox7i07oT8eAZ5Fdoyp8H8RkMKxX2ELIe19ZMJUCradMuVJHTpQTZAFzGomz6B8gVWAuzA1J4sNdQJSRdQ/s1600/preserved+fish+in+oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXxYB4ZvEsOfH1Kb7-UacPeSYLERtLpewpI5qsNuESU0yvRYTm42CBlVewjox7i07oT8eAZ5Fdoyp8H8RkMKxX2ELIe19ZMJUCradMuVJHTpQTZAFzGomz6B8gVWAuzA1J4sNdQJSRdQ/s320/preserved+fish+in+oil.jpg" /></a>After a good hour of boiling in salt water then breaking up in to small pieces it was crammed into a sterilised jar. A couple of peppercorns and a top up with olive oil and it was good to go.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once the jar was sealed to perfection I left it in the pantry and tried to forget about it… that was the hardest part.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But with nothing left to eat for lunch it’s come out and going in some pasta.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I tried some of the fish on it’s own as well, just to check that it was actually all right to eat.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Best thing ever. It was just good. In all sorts of ways. Creamy, salty, fruity from the oil, ahhhhhhh. Trying is believing I’d say.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next step for this experiment is to try it on some bonito fish. That way I’ll bet about 5 or 6 jars out of it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also hung the bacon experiment today. But I’ll go into that with a little bit more detail later.</div><!--EndFragment-->kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-18554354711747435382010-06-06T18:52:00.000-07:002010-06-06T18:52:10.054-07:00The Garden: Seeds are coming thorough<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">A large number of my seeds are now poking their head through the ground with green leaves. I think I may have overdone it in some of the departments.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I can see a glut of broad beans coming on this year with about 52 shoots coming through (I’ll dry a large bulk of them and keep them for soups next winter). All the snow peas are looking healthy with except for one seedling that seems to be growing upside down…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nothing’s at a size to be planted out yet, but so far they are looking good.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I did have my first garden casualties though. By brocoletti seedlings were attacked by some slugs and snails… the pain. Oh the pain…</div><div class="MsoNormal">After flipping some of the rocks over I found the culprits and they were eradicated in a swift and painless (I hope) manner. Since that day the remaining brocoletti has been going strong.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With all the seeds starting to shoot, I’ve come to my next conundrum. I need to plant them out in the garden. But without any complete garden beds, or the finances to bring in some kick ass top soil, I’m needing to figure out the best possible way to give these plants a shooting chance at filling my stomach with good food.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m thinking of trying a method were I only use compost and manure around the seedlings (I a little mound) and when they reach the ground they can break up the earth their self. I’ve no idea if this’d work but it seems the most logical and time saving way with what I’ve got to work with.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll think about it a bit more and get back to it. the seedlings still have a week or two till they’re ready anyway.</div><!--EndFragment-->kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-20866739980662250872010-06-06T18:51:00.000-07:002010-06-06T18:52:30.080-07:00The Kitchen: Sourdough experiment a success<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezh2QhEyNznqoxg8v4vqZdf0sjU2N1zVdXu5X9Szkr-QHkgifbDGM9H5uhqPheal9EwEkquUP3gibYUQjxa8tvToDzcSDxENl9RqWpBkFYWmSjil0enn9PIWaJYDGr8nqJLrawlkCLCE/s1600/sourdough01" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezh2QhEyNznqoxg8v4vqZdf0sjU2N1zVdXu5X9Szkr-QHkgifbDGM9H5uhqPheal9EwEkquUP3gibYUQjxa8tvToDzcSDxENl9RqWpBkFYWmSjil0enn9PIWaJYDGr8nqJLrawlkCLCE/s320/sourdough01" /></a>It’s only one loaf that I’ve made, and it took ages, and I’m a bit obsessed about my starter. But I have successfully completed my sourdough (after many failed and disheartening attempts in the past)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The trick seemed to be waiting around and let nature do its work. And I guess I’d have to thank the book that made it all happen a little easier as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">About a week ago I found the book “wild sourdough: the natural way to bake” by Yoke Mardewi in my local library. I got it, I read it and it made it all work for the better.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It seems the first handy trick is to measure everything by weight and not mass.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I put this theory to practice and made my starter from equal weight in water and flour (organic white and about 20% rye) and kept feeding it every couple of days as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The crazy thing keeps bubbling away and asking for more food. And I keep giving it to the sloppy looking thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After waiting for about 5days I decided there was enough activity for bread to be made. So out came the book again and the basic recipe was followed, with success.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I made the best looking loaf of bread I’d ever made with the texture and flavour to match it. It did take hours and hours to make though. That was a bit of a pain.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Basic bread theory in this book’s told me that it’s all about maths. If the flour was at 100 then you’d use 55-70 water, 15-30 of the starter and about 2 of salt. (ripped off and modified from the book)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess the best thing for someone to do though is find the book. It’s got some really good stuff in it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkT5ZTERcxMwB6g3D35mMT-DL6pfs1BpEEMNe-6O3yCl0QBachCO_D-w-iYhNeiHkN2-4qTjm5-W-FLSaEV3IW9K9zAw_HVCxwUSIw0NpQf217yWeav_U3gVs4OxVIe8r4g-JOZ3Ussg/s1600/fat+making.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkT5ZTERcxMwB6g3D35mMT-DL6pfs1BpEEMNe-6O3yCl0QBachCO_D-w-iYhNeiHkN2-4qTjm5-W-FLSaEV3IW9K9zAw_HVCxwUSIw0NpQf217yWeav_U3gVs4OxVIe8r4g-JOZ3Ussg/s320/fat+making.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">By the way, I also made a whole batch of pork fat for my ham, bacon and preserving experiments. Got a whole lot more than I was expecting. It stank the house out a little bit though so maybe next time I’ll do it outside with more pork fat…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-72607868947785878602010-06-02T21:27:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:28:50.673-07:00The Kitchen: Sourdough experiment<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHcm-xLW_OHeShuKgPPgOy5X_UPMC5DucD17aQh0KfDMjpkNjU_Tca248bymMMqOX7UDESOe1hy64F4Mo2vAkdGHgWtwY3N1xzE7I9XVk3fXWxBJ77FxT-yhLeQvUd4emiPl6UTsFG6s8/s1600/sourdough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHcm-xLW_OHeShuKgPPgOy5X_UPMC5DucD17aQh0KfDMjpkNjU_Tca248bymMMqOX7UDESOe1hy64F4Mo2vAkdGHgWtwY3N1xzE7I9XVk3fXWxBJ77FxT-yhLeQvUd4emiPl6UTsFG6s8/s320/sourdough.jpg" /></a>After three days of being left alone, my sourdough starter seems to be working the way it should.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This morning most of the crust that had developed over the top had been swallowed up by the sponge consistency of the rye and flour starter. And being three days after the initial mix I gave it a bit of a feed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">100g of warm water and 100g of organic white flour and my starter was bubbling happy. So it was back in front of the heater for the starter to keep growing further.</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-55670840594353179112010-06-02T21:25:00.001-07:002010-06-02T21:28:33.071-07:00The Food: Beetroot and Chickpea Soup<div class="MsoNormal">The fun with making soup from Beetroot is the amazing magenta colour that you end up with.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Fresh Beetroot has an incredible sweetness that escapes if you over cook them. The colour can leach out quick as well leaving the Beetroot with a tinge of grey if you’re not careful, so make sure they don’t get over cooked.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s also a soup that only looks good when served straight after it’s been made. If you leave it for too long (over night is already too long) everything in the pot will change colour to red. And there’s something un-easy about that. And it don’t look too pretty…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Note on chickpeas. I used dried ones that I soaked overnight then boiled. If you’re feeling lazy you can skip this and use a tin of chickpeas. Or you could just boil through some dried ones without soaking them (not as nice though)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Ingredients<o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Onion diced</div><div class="MsoNormal">Potato cubed</div><div class="MsoNormal">Beetroot cubed</div><div class="MsoNormal">5 cloves garlic smashed</div><div class="MsoNormal">Carrot cubed</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hand full of chickpeas (soaked over night)</div><div class="MsoNormal">A bit of pearl barley (soaked with the chickpeas)</div><div class="MsoNormal">Boiling water from chickpeas</div><div class="MsoNormal">Olive oil</div><div class="MsoNormal">Butter</div><div class="MsoNormal">100ml cream</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rosemary</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mustard powder</div><div class="MsoNormal">Salt and pepper</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Pour the chickpeas, barley and carrots with the soaking water into a pot and bring to a boil. Cook till chickpeas are soft</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Heat up a pot and cover with oil. Add onions and garlic and sweat (putting the lid on seems to make this work better)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">3.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Throw in mustard powder to coat the onion mix. Add butter, rosemary and potatoes</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">4.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Once the butter has melted add the cream as well as the boiled chickpea mixture water and all</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">5.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Top up water to be 2~3cm above the vegies</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">6.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Once the potatoes are soft add Beetroot</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">7.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>When Beetroot is heated through season with salt and pepper, take of heat and serve</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Throw a bit of yoghurt or sour cream over the top and maybe a little bit of grated cheese.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A word of warning: Do not spill this soup on anything white. It’ll stain it and do bad things.</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-30056010887650470882010-05-31T20:09:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:29:16.447-07:00The Food : Spinach and Potato Tart<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The other day we made a spinach soup for dinner. But with the leaves being the only part required we had an abundance of stalks and roots left over.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also had some puff pastry that I made a couple of days ago sitting in the fridge (it was used for a quince and pear tart) that needed to get used as well as some pot steamed potatoes from last nights dinner.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So with my mum and brother coming around I decided to put together a savoury spinach and potato tart.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWQjWH4nUr45Vmlazp7QdElEn2Z0hufZAYHprtPxIcOy5EjHmMhlCsUntLv9yxO-CDPdZqUjZdAZb6hUprHPL2uuXTWuFtqLXV_t-bymUzhQquoewgASnwbAHVdh6rEYJlMHSR9hgpfo/s1600/spinach+tart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWQjWH4nUr45Vmlazp7QdElEn2Z0hufZAYHprtPxIcOy5EjHmMhlCsUntLv9yxO-CDPdZqUjZdAZb6hUprHPL2uuXTWuFtqLXV_t-bymUzhQquoewgASnwbAHVdh6rEYJlMHSR9hgpfo/s320/spinach+tart.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>Ingredients<o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Spinach stems</div><div class="MsoNormal">Steamed or boiled potatoes squashed</div><div class="MsoNormal">Couple of garlic cloves</div><div class="MsoNormal">Milk</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cream</div><div class="MsoNormal">3 eggs</div><div class="MsoNormal">Thyme</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rosemary</div><div class="MsoNormal">Salt and pepper</div><div class="MsoNormal">Puff pastry</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cheese</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Boil garlic (shells still on) in a pot of water till tender</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">3.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Pinch the sides of the puff pastry to create a box shape. Fill it up with the spinach stems and squashed potatoes</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">4.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Mix the eggs with enough cream and milk to just help break it down and give it a tinge of white. Then add the thyme, rosemary and boiled pieces of garlic.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">5.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Pour the egg mixture over the spinach and potatoes</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">6.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Throw it in the oven and cook for 25mins or till the crust is golden brown and eggs are cooked.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">7.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Throw some cheese over the cooked tart and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice over the top</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-56834741512461064422010-05-31T19:59:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:29:37.281-07:00The Kitchen : Not For Cooking. For Experimenting<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our kitchen is a little bit of all right. Once you get past the issues of space, light and the silly oven that gets way too hot and destroyed two tarts and a cake in one day. (This issue has been fixed by the introduction of an in-oven thermostat thing)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the first month of being here I’ve already started off with my experiments. Well, I’ve started off the smaller experiments to see if they’d be worth doing as big experiments.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Currently I have three long-term experiments going. This will probably change in the next day or two.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first is my testing of preserving fish in olive oil for long term keeping in the cupboard. With all the supermarket tuna being tinned in Thailand and all the Salmon coming from Canada, I decided it was better to buy my own fish and preserving them. This way I’d be getting a variety of fish, and they’d be much more local than what is in a tin.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So with my leftover half of bay trout from the other night I made a jar to see how it is all done and to see that it tastes good after being kept for a week or two.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Experiment number two is a simple test to see how I’d make cured pork products. Rather than getting a nice bit expensive chunk of belly to try this, I’ve decided to use some pork hocks. These are cheep (at $1 each you can’t go wrong) and if they work would do well in my soups during the colder days.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After days and days of reading (that’s what makes you an expert apparently…) I decided to start by resting the pork in a brine of salt, pepper and a touch of brown sugar. Depending on how patient I am this should be rest for a good 7-12 days. There’ll be updates along the way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The third and most challenging experiment is producing good sourdough bread. In the past I’ve failed at this really well. I could never get that perfect loaf in the past.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Only on day two I’m waiting for the started to get bubbling. This one could take a few days as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So now that the experiments are up to date as well things should probably get shorter and much more to the point.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-31721765734956353792010-05-31T19:57:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:29:57.844-07:00The Garden : Catching Up<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll start off with The Garden by bringing things up to date. A bit happened over the last month and this is the shorter version. Well, here we go.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This block has more garden than house.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we moved in there was already a few garden beds around the house.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some of the were good and some of there were bad. And there weren’t enough of them for what I had in mind as a kitchen garden.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After getting the go-ahead by the landlord with a ‘you can dig up the whole backyard and plant vegetables if you want to’ (in a very thick Italian accent) I got to work.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First was getting a compost heap happening. There was a large pile of cut grass in the back and all I started to do was add my food waste to it. Covered with a blanket I thought it was doing okay, but after a couple of weeks we invested in a compost bin thing just to keep it all in check.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next was the introduction of the most basic of kitchen gardens (as all those professional new-age kitchen garden chef people say, and what the old schoolers have kept saying for years and years)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRe0dbaGtqJTgEf5GmNpQw5buDTwISrkcWcaQezFgRb1GUYT82mkr37UxQnKJl_X8c9iXd02mkHnzRiMxyLCK_D-7VIHk0xFFAFJYn8MzSSuBpTPvHrry_ZEIYoI85XVD18t7bS9MlvVY/s1600/thyme+shelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRe0dbaGtqJTgEf5GmNpQw5buDTwISrkcWcaQezFgRb1GUYT82mkr37UxQnKJl_X8c9iXd02mkHnzRiMxyLCK_D-7VIHk0xFFAFJYn8MzSSuBpTPvHrry_ZEIYoI85XVD18t7bS9MlvVY/s320/thyme+shelf.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The herbs went in around the front door. There a couple of raised garden beds by the front porch with the most hideous plant, and after the eradication of said plant we filled them up with thyme, sage, oregano and curry plant.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We also started out our attempt at a hedge outside the front of the house consisting of rosemary and lavender as well as a section dedicated to garlic (we use so much of it that it was decided it would be a good idea to grow loads of it)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After all of this it was onto the garden beds in the back yard. Although there already was an existing bed in the back corner, I decided to add to it by introducing three more nice rectangular beds.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With winter coming along and not having much to plant yet they were covered with damp paper and black plastic to get it ready for the warmer months. The old bed got some clover seeds put into it to git it healthy again.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">About two weeks after moving in I planted my first set of seeds into the back garden. Close to the back fence I started my broad beans. It’s now been two weeks and most of them are poking their heads out now</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also stated a large number of seeds in trays. My list is simple. White carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas, brussel sprouts and a few other things that just need a bit of a boost before they hit soil outside.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9S-UboaulTqpImqtKgu_xSb4obqnI6-XghW32VaS_N4PvWQcoA-cLkWEhbqLPCq_hyphenhyphenPn6v7c9hC1A6KBqkcrYO8WlauYUTu5RwYpaOWV5ie4yCQldel0ws2T3ODJe2V5SCci264Umnic/s1600/starting+seeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9S-UboaulTqpImqtKgu_xSb4obqnI6-XghW32VaS_N4PvWQcoA-cLkWEhbqLPCq_hyphenhyphenPn6v7c9hC1A6KBqkcrYO8WlauYUTu5RwYpaOWV5ie4yCQldel0ws2T3ODJe2V5SCci264Umnic/s320/starting+seeds.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> The picture only shows a small amount of what I got going. Seeing as now I have ran out of space to put them.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Over the last weekend I went out and started our collection of asian vegetables to go in by the side of the house. Some seedlings of broccoletti and seeds of chinese kale, bok choy, daikon, and mizuna went in. I just hope the spot is warm enough for them to come through.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So now things for the garden are up to date in a very rough way and I can now focus a little bit more on what really is going on.</div></span></span>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-5667282774576917672010-05-31T19:50:00.000-07:002010-05-31T19:50:22.403-07:00re-introduction<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">With the beginning of winter announced, I’ve decided it was time to started using this blog thing again to keep a record of my garden and food adventures.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After my failed attempt at a job-hunting in Japan over February and March I returned back to Australia with more fucus on my food (I found it really hard to find local produce in Japan, and the quality was a bit disappointing for some things)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Japan made me realise how important food is to me. And after getting back to Australia I decided it was time that I really started thinking about my food a bit more.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I came up with a list of values that I would attempt to follow with my eating. These are not rules set in stone. Not yet anyway. But one day I would love to live as close them as possible.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Eat seasonally and from the garden</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Respect the animal and eat it Head to Tail</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Don’t let anything go to waste. There’s always the compost bin if needed</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">If they can make it to sell it then you can make it to eat it</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;">Sharing is caring</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With this in mind I wanted to move to the country. However, my girlfriend worked close to the CBD of Melbourne and this would not go down well with her.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A nice compromise was made.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My girlfriend and I found a nice little house in the suburbs with a garden taking up most of the block. It was the perfect compromise. A 25 minute drive from the city (even less when there’s no traffic)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We’ve been in the house for a month now and some changes have already been made through out the garden to get us started in eating better food. I’ve been cooking like crazy as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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o:title="sage bed"/> </v:shape><![endif]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxRI6iaObGaiU3cIR4oBsouX39VqO1tr8cI0-0fQHnuQYx6wt2IKc8hhvH8insufD1COkf-0mR_BjakV-at3T77AZ1dfRUZaKZiS7zWRExEiJTBo7kBb2zbwe-moQ5Az5VP9BzBWU8sk/s1600/sage+bed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxRI6iaObGaiU3cIR4oBsouX39VqO1tr8cI0-0fQHnuQYx6wt2IKc8hhvH8insufD1COkf-0mR_BjakV-at3T77AZ1dfRUZaKZiS7zWRExEiJTBo7kBb2zbwe-moQ5Az5VP9BzBWU8sk/s320/sage+bed.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Getting these herbs in was a great idea. Straight off the bat they were going into a whole bunch of things I was cooking. And the house also started looking a little less like someone else’s and a bit more like our own.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, I let a lot happen over the month without recording any of it so I have too much information and not enough time or space to get things sorted now. I’ll get through everything eventually.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, the way I decided to work this blog from now on is fairly simple. I’ll have three elements</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Garden</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The garden section will consist of simply that. Anything that happens outside my house will be logged in the garden section. Things like my vegetable patch, compost, trees, and hopefully one day some chickens.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Kitchen</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">For the kitchen section I’m going to focus more on the experiments that I’ll be carrying out. Things like working with my peculiar oven, getting a steady sourdough happening, and curing meats.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Food</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">It’ll be just some recipes and ideas of food that I’ll make along the way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I hope that this will help keep me going with my aspirations in eating better and more creative food in a smarter way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-11196382718074699232009-05-21T01:54:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:06:28.022-07:00banana rum and sultanasanother banana cake this time with rum and sultanas. it seems that bananas are always going crazy in the fridge in this house so i have to use them. and seeing a rum fruit cake being made on TV made me do it.<br /><br />125g butter<br />125g self rasing flour<br />125g brown and white sugar (more brown makes it caramelize on the out side)<br />2 eggs<br />2 dead bananas<br />hand full of sultanas (if you're not in a hurry soak them in some rum. i was too lazy)<br />dash vanilla essence<br />30-50mls dark rum (nothing like using the good stuff for cooking)<br /><br />first things first. turn the oven on to hot.<br /><br />cream the butter and sugars. once they're combined add the eggs and flour.<br /><br />add in the rum, vanilla essence, sultanas and banana. get it going.<br /><br />get the baking tray done with flour and butter and pour the mixture in.<br /><br />throw into the already hot oven and cook it for anywhere between 25mins to 45mins depending on how good your oven is.<br /><br />when you stick that stick thing in and nothing comes out with it it's ready<br /><br />the cake should have a fairly moist pudding like texture. well, it did when i ate it while it was still hot. it might change as it gets cooler.<br /><br />you can add other dried fruits as well for more richer flavors.kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-42239601639770544502009-04-20T21:23:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:06:43.697-07:00orange tiramisu is good<div style="text-align: justify;">i'm tight. so i'm not going go spend my hard earned cash on a tub of mascarpone cheese unless it's for sale at a clearance price because it's going to go bad in a few more days.<br /><br />luckily there was some that was going to go bad in a few days at the shops so i got some to make some tiramisu.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OOVxT-XJPZpUU-fJVwFCqEGR2e_mEZaG2-sGmR4Jvpv_q0UqNlV65sCRehbVbe_BlTfyrTcKi7j0fB83IzZ2CrIBgKt6CCpF50QBbG2jwS3I2TjMlR99eN8DYVPYSvTbpNgHUBsOfsY/s1600-h/IMGP1098.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OOVxT-XJPZpUU-fJVwFCqEGR2e_mEZaG2-sGmR4Jvpv_q0UqNlV65sCRehbVbe_BlTfyrTcKi7j0fB83IzZ2CrIBgKt6CCpF50QBbG2jwS3I2TjMlR99eN8DYVPYSvTbpNgHUBsOfsY/s320/IMGP1098.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326999923428799554" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />this one's an orange/coffee/port variation that's, putting it simply, amazingly good. all i can say is try making this one, or buy the ingredients and make it for me. also try it by substituting the port with some cognac for a more adult indulgent kinda thing. honestly i don't think you can go wrong.<br /><br />5 eggs seperated<br />170g caster sugar<br />300g mascarpone cheese (this'll probably be one and a half packs. use the left over with some baked figs)<br />strong cup of real coffee<br />zest from one orange and half its juice<br />dash of port<br />pack of sponge finger things<br />dark chocolate for garnish<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqK8ENGC52OWo_fha87ywh53vhnLwDwuZyWSiVuYc3Whn8vu8CXSOF3l-CemactJdpxDbXCJ4-H1_h8XSmE3Cw7U2UFL8YsuHBdTBVputLuNEr5w9ZQNiBTQarR8YdTRYAToPazdOaN34/s1600-h/IMGP1080.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqK8ENGC52OWo_fha87ywh53vhnLwDwuZyWSiVuYc3Whn8vu8CXSOF3l-CemactJdpxDbXCJ4-H1_h8XSmE3Cw7U2UFL8YsuHBdTBVputLuNEr5w9ZQNiBTQarR8YdTRYAToPazdOaN34/s320/IMGP1080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326998316175336786" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />start by beating the eggs yolks with the sugar and orange zest. once the sugars dissolved add the mascarpone cheese and beat it till it's all smooth<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3K9XD4Tmhb89uruql9_E3QLuIsHSfY862YLNIATtbI2ZyyT5vk8URVohxyGBiChu6RSsW_CiPxwi9FVY-5Kq7lm6LJSGux1yfnHlTUikFluz23jdZhQEu6uL4eTbSrZMrouanynHqc7A/s1600-h/IMGP1082.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3K9XD4Tmhb89uruql9_E3QLuIsHSfY862YLNIATtbI2ZyyT5vk8URVohxyGBiChu6RSsW_CiPxwi9FVY-5Kq7lm6LJSGux1yfnHlTUikFluz23jdZhQEu6uL4eTbSrZMrouanynHqc7A/s320/IMGP1082.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326998322415282466" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />in a second bowl whisk the egg whites till it's all stiff and peaky then fold it into that first mixture<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5on9l_1Cp3benaFZWGM9rxEmfgnSUGB92pV4kvnmCsySWiemTBciZIIo4SXd0X9HOrZoTewclHubdL0LuUDV50UQYl8soaTv7K7kQ9vhIduGpxqLA6LxGaZ414TWb9_C78vdJNVMCvD0/s1600-h/IMGP1085.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5on9l_1Cp3benaFZWGM9rxEmfgnSUGB92pV4kvnmCsySWiemTBciZIIo4SXd0X9HOrZoTewclHubdL0LuUDV50UQYl8soaTv7K7kQ9vhIduGpxqLA6LxGaZ414TWb9_C78vdJNVMCvD0/s320/IMGP1085.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326998327977634946" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />get a spoon and taste the mixture. now you'll get an idea of what you're going to be getting<br /><br />pure the coffee into a bowl with the orange juice. add the port to flavour (i think i put about a shot in there)<br /><br />soak the sponge fingers in the coffee mixture and start layering it with the mascarpone mixture in a big bowl. (or you could do it in a whole bunch of smaller bowls if you want to be that way)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqau3Dx5PMxi-LHU6wolW96D2R7nEOssUTLkRuLrb_Hes-bByaVIsRZPhxklFi11BEBNuS8B5X0-h2khjeGlEp_rFQJ27E9c3su7Pe5mBTGVSmOPlLqgeu_yolLjvyXMhNxKm0msjMcM/s1600-h/IMGP1095.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqau3Dx5PMxi-LHU6wolW96D2R7nEOssUTLkRuLrb_Hes-bByaVIsRZPhxklFi11BEBNuS8B5X0-h2khjeGlEp_rFQJ27E9c3su7Pe5mBTGVSmOPlLqgeu_yolLjvyXMhNxKm0msjMcM/s320/IMGP1095.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326998335237696418" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />keep layering till you run out of the mixture or till you get to the top<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJW5KONn1NgXXltnJmJ1kKZdSm254biJps3KyyRgXClfumfAN6JhaOxscvKWPqXAvLP14bZRzPoEDwfxlkUk3lh2SUx-3QzC2uCfx7_wG0pfbuYmjngiF-TI__fnR_DPyRQ3O-uyGPrgo/s1600-h/IMGP1096.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJW5KONn1NgXXltnJmJ1kKZdSm254biJps3KyyRgXClfumfAN6JhaOxscvKWPqXAvLP14bZRzPoEDwfxlkUk3lh2SUx-3QzC2uCfx7_wG0pfbuYmjngiF-TI__fnR_DPyRQ3O-uyGPrgo/s320/IMGP1096.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326998339121779202" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />grate the chocolate over the top of it and let it chill in the fridge<br /><br />start licking the bowl. by now you should know it's good<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YBJKshwiCuqc4uHvDGAHAXqTwJM9ICcnSCUuaGfLOeVg9_3EyY6cRPF3DyZF6Nj7jLxzY_vthmF13tChE-Iv7OWMHGmsft9f7zn1PGu2yHgcSbohwyKwPWklHh4dsZfSUNVVnC5kmU8/s1600-h/IMGP1099.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YBJKshwiCuqc4uHvDGAHAXqTwJM9ICcnSCUuaGfLOeVg9_3EyY6cRPF3DyZF6Nj7jLxzY_vthmF13tChE-Iv7OWMHGmsft9f7zn1PGu2yHgcSbohwyKwPWklHh4dsZfSUNVVnC5kmU8/s320/IMGP1099.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326999924098734914" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />eat this with a good hot cup of coffee<br /><br />this is probably one of the most easiest desserts that you can make<br /><br /></div>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-55981878457469368842009-04-17T19:37:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:11:53.596-07:00easter's over so i went out and got the rabbit and made a stout roastone of my friends used to have a pet rabbit. we'd torment him about how we were going to eat it. for hours and hours we did this, till one day the rabbit died (of natural causes) the funny thing was, during this time i didn't eat any rabbit at all.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OEUN4VaZiAvAJMhRLePKYa-qyByMuzUl2dNpQbu_6y5e2zdFSbGgItYuMchk5VLCuWa4u64vaqAKxIBFKHAqEFpJlC3BqzLy2e6wDk-69fFvXfFF5sL6hr6iMw1EyUF9_iNU-ijipTo/s1600-h/IMGP1136.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4OEUN4VaZiAvAJMhRLePKYa-qyByMuzUl2dNpQbu_6y5e2zdFSbGgItYuMchk5VLCuWa4u64vaqAKxIBFKHAqEFpJlC3BqzLy2e6wDk-69fFvXfFF5sL6hr6iMw1EyUF9_iNU-ijipTo/s320/IMGP1136.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325857486161970914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />why i didn't take in a rabbit stew into work to make him feel uneasy i will never know (am i getting soft?) but after watching a story on ABC about wild and farmed rabbits i decided it was time to get things going.<br /><br />so it was off to the market to get a rabbit and some other bits and pieces.<br /><br />as usual everything in this is substitutable with anything you want.<br /><br />1 rabbit<br />1 leek<br />2 onions <br />2 shallots<br />7 cloves of garlic<br />3 carrots<br />2 potatos<br />2 turnips<br />5 big mushrooms<br />3 roma tomatos<br />1 bottle stout (i used abbotsford stout but i think coopers would have been a better choice. it's taste isn't as over powering)<br />1 tin tomatos<br />1 tin beans of your choice<br />bunch of marjoram<br />butter<br />flour<br />salt and pepper<br /><br /><br />so, the butcher offered to section the rabbit for me. but i had to look tough so i refused and bought it as it is. all you have to do is cut off the leg bits then crack the rib and cut the body into three or four bits. not hard at all.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj177Iph7ac57jvwIMjMYD1-Gv1A8yVbIq5GBkG_upxAEbqYL_DASG7jjN6kE1PBVUhl2P2NZNmyeyke5rk8K4m9xSg1JxMxLO2_NYz7PYPDYPbZpcShfTnEWm0WE3vSudFYP7LjGdJ4sg/s1600-h/IMGP1140.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj177Iph7ac57jvwIMjMYD1-Gv1A8yVbIq5GBkG_upxAEbqYL_DASG7jjN6kE1PBVUhl2P2NZNmyeyke5rk8K4m9xSg1JxMxLO2_NYz7PYPDYPbZpcShfTnEWm0WE3vSudFYP7LjGdJ4sg/s320/IMGP1140.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325857488563991938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />now season it with salt and pepper then coat with seasoned flour. i use a plastic bag to do this. much easier if you're lazy<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43eCG4yXjy1LWvlBLGKD6iKgr2kJLxyAVct49a_J71BDtH_2Q_VwtfG7qiVVkYxWNH-M4J5XdYUXDO60rhXBxmWPUozMP9gtm_Cb3Q-PdnqhjmpBqGfRqEz5V3cMhdcYE5PJ1M6QdGWU/s1600-h/IMGP1141.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43eCG4yXjy1LWvlBLGKD6iKgr2kJLxyAVct49a_J71BDtH_2Q_VwtfG7qiVVkYxWNH-M4J5XdYUXDO60rhXBxmWPUozMP9gtm_Cb3Q-PdnqhjmpBqGfRqEz5V3cMhdcYE5PJ1M6QdGWU/s320/IMGP1141.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325857495642956482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />before you start cooking anything get the oven on and also get the vegies ready. dice the potatos, turnips and carrots and lay them at the bottom of the oven tray, get the onions, shallots, garlic and leak thinly chopped and thrown into a separate bowl (bowl A) and the tomato and mushrooms roughly cut and put them into bowl B. this tends to make life easy later on.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVigKLwuw2DuhG-cTFPC7_daAtJI6iV9atDY4WAOrhZwEv4qOGVl-wMkCsxKkb5ljJ2E6gF7SP4uMZnjypcrRD_GuomW5NJak4uOm4sEdz0gfKBzvSp7fFhEL3Q0e0Uhc2g1PdQ9gfWI/s1600-h/IMGP1147.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVigKLwuw2DuhG-cTFPC7_daAtJI6iV9atDY4WAOrhZwEv4qOGVl-wMkCsxKkb5ljJ2E6gF7SP4uMZnjypcrRD_GuomW5NJak4uOm4sEdz0gfKBzvSp7fFhEL3Q0e0Uhc2g1PdQ9gfWI/s320/IMGP1147.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325857501447868114" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicasCGMzTd-zxx_hb442mmX-e2lQMSGo7y2g1487toqLvAjN5-HgbOtl7JYy1cECCcTBXr7KNmRNuQS2raTxDGxeO2lHJxAKJ7R7m-cKwDuzZxe43YjwVD9cqU1G9vk7dfVHGhDrsaoFY/s1600-h/IMGP1145.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicasCGMzTd-zxx_hb442mmX-e2lQMSGo7y2g1487toqLvAjN5-HgbOtl7JYy1cECCcTBXr7KNmRNuQS2raTxDGxeO2lHJxAKJ7R7m-cKwDuzZxe43YjwVD9cqU1G9vk7dfVHGhDrsaoFY/s320/IMGP1145.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325857497654900066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />now it's time to use fire. heat up a frying pan and melt the butter in there. once it looks good throw in a few bits of the rabbit to seal it. do it bit by bit to keep the pan hot and put the sealed rabbit ontop of the bed of root vegies in the baking tray.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7ZdP-3EoZsm9ovGmpYAqYGm8zF_s0S44BqbqzrMnIEcba_EA04MkusSHDFnsDDHyxMIdaFUT7BlFDE2xV9BqQ7ywdM7oeDj326DRx5veMAJxTi4M_5wyzr0YSz48ZRq75yMNi5IWrCg/s1600-h/IMGP1149.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7ZdP-3EoZsm9ovGmpYAqYGm8zF_s0S44BqbqzrMnIEcba_EA04MkusSHDFnsDDHyxMIdaFUT7BlFDE2xV9BqQ7ywdM7oeDj326DRx5veMAJxTi4M_5wyzr0YSz48ZRq75yMNi5IWrCg/s320/IMGP1149.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325860275623753522" border="0" /></a><br /><br />once you're done with the rabbit add a little bit more butter in there and cook up bowl A in there. once it's all sweating and a little cooked throw it over the top of everything that's already in the baking tray. now throw Bowl B over the top of all of this stuff.<br /><br />next make the sauce stuff to throw over the top of everything. throw the marjoram into the frying pan with a dash of butter and get the flavour going. throw in the stout and the tin of tomatos and mix it a little then pour it over the top as well.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXWbjh_uFuQURuledjm8jwGJ2kdpUhIVFemeW6ARqA_honV6p4ALBPZd9TPlEsXdzKPsnztNqPbPmf_-xaK3enSv7DyX7TnJBNyvkqEer1IFBByoudinOZUgy6RKtC2nFfdcHVeMTD9I/s1600-h/IMGP1154.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXWbjh_uFuQURuledjm8jwGJ2kdpUhIVFemeW6ARqA_honV6p4ALBPZd9TPlEsXdzKPsnztNqPbPmf_-xaK3enSv7DyX7TnJBNyvkqEer1IFBByoudinOZUgy6RKtC2nFfdcHVeMTD9I/s320/IMGP1154.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325860279267979842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />now it's time to throw this into the oven that should be nice and hot by now. put some foil over the top of the baking tray with a couple of holes in it to let a little bit of the steam out. cook this for about 3hours at 160-180C<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtZK3Lfbeo2IXWztVdDtvvNmQayS7Q-KmHB1UxqJOcLwUJJCJzw7YQPMxvzt2u5PBApmAOi_YxRi6B4iu3qxQVwQ7lREk4QH7UQXMc5RMrA9Wa9I20KtxE_WZoqLDlToD-vkdGrlDpNs/s1600-h/IMGP1155.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtZK3Lfbeo2IXWztVdDtvvNmQayS7Q-KmHB1UxqJOcLwUJJCJzw7YQPMxvzt2u5PBApmAOi_YxRi6B4iu3qxQVwQ7lREk4QH7UQXMc5RMrA9Wa9I20KtxE_WZoqLDlToD-vkdGrlDpNs/s320/IMGP1155.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325860280001384418" border="0" /></a><br /><br />once it's cooked throw in the tin of beans and heat up for a further 30-60mins<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23LL4zYHkNZOCTkzsD6Rs9t0PcmGMlKrDoAc7Aorc4eY8-U7RNYWRODKxiAn1NMAxXbJ4ZYr63JZehxk8f9dDNc4I479ymQnIsdWTxz2VVbZQhqwl4847_h1RTYu0nHngRMNYxLFSrW0/s1600-h/IMGP1161.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23LL4zYHkNZOCTkzsD6Rs9t0PcmGMlKrDoAc7Aorc4eY8-U7RNYWRODKxiAn1NMAxXbJ4ZYr63JZehxk8f9dDNc4I479ymQnIsdWTxz2VVbZQhqwl4847_h1RTYu0nHngRMNYxLFSrW0/s320/IMGP1161.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325860295151673746" border="0" /></a><br /><br />i decided to have some couscous with my rabbit. all i did was boil some water with some small bit's of pumpkin and garlic till it was all soft then add the try couscous and warm through till the moisture's all gone.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYvfpuMmHKO2VeHrSqx2tfZWnVpOGKpz20fh0UpfO2YWNH8G_-Rn6Vz4yNRZGsiIYMvY6U-Via61nq0qZN_BqgEgU4L-zkccBlmpL-JUM-2gSfjSsU0-5Es-_129vOTnrWIjUJKsWzyk/s1600-h/IMGP1159.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYvfpuMmHKO2VeHrSqx2tfZWnVpOGKpz20fh0UpfO2YWNH8G_-Rn6Vz4yNRZGsiIYMvY6U-Via61nq0qZN_BqgEgU4L-zkccBlmpL-JUM-2gSfjSsU0-5Es-_129vOTnrWIjUJKsWzyk/s320/IMGP1159.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325860290219312722" border="0" /></a><br /><br />i really need to work out how to take good photos of food. but this is the end result. the sauce should be reduced by about half by now and should be thick. it might even be a good idea to throw in a cup of stock to the stout mixture at the start to give it more flavour<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmSZYB3Uor4_v8mMF6TblUVlsjze7UjR8unCouxk1RidfMLwaXIH8SZNZ2dHZP1ExD8BLqHTzD7St0JTUBbWpnwTJgmO3fCgiWt2kZGbS3-y_HA_QmK6knqVH_2Upig58dQfADVVYGqY/s1600-h/IMGP1163.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmSZYB3Uor4_v8mMF6TblUVlsjze7UjR8unCouxk1RidfMLwaXIH8SZNZ2dHZP1ExD8BLqHTzD7St0JTUBbWpnwTJgmO3fCgiWt2kZGbS3-y_HA_QmK6knqVH_2Upig58dQfADVVYGqY/s320/IMGP1163.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325860815251008914" border="0" /></a>kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-61763023002007392862009-04-15T23:47:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:07:29.352-07:00banananana cakethat's right. banananana cake. i like the stuff and there just happened to be over ripe bananas (someone left them out next to some over ripe pears causing chemical reactions. they were only bought 2days ago) in the fridge and i have been stuck at home for a week with nothing to do but cook (yep, got the flu. probably shouldn't be cooking for other people but they don't seem to care) so i decided to get this thing done.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEao76OX_APWXcWiEXu840IdYMD5O1yYy32llNRQLGLpBuLqEtZR4xhi53qlKyax7GOx5-hmi2KidqwLQMAPFPE1-pRCQwQp8HSW4wfkepjIXY46vix57WuriJoYamuGQAh9yH4L0Df64/s1600-h/IMGP1131.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEao76OX_APWXcWiEXu840IdYMD5O1yYy32llNRQLGLpBuLqEtZR4xhi53qlKyax7GOx5-hmi2KidqwLQMAPFPE1-pRCQwQp8HSW4wfkepjIXY46vix57WuriJoYamuGQAh9yH4L0Df64/s320/IMGP1131.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325179246387086354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />step one was to find a basic recipe that i can rip off and use for my cake. i found<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/recipes/2009/04/14/2541975.htm"> this one </a>on the abc website that looked good so i changed a few things and got cooking.<br /><br />here's an outline of what i used to cook the damn thing<br /><br />1 1/2 cup of self raising flour<br />1/4 cup white sugar<br />1/2 cup brown sugar<br />2 eggs<br />125g butter<br />dash of vanilla extract<br />2tbl spoon milk<br />1tsp bicarb soda (i don't think i've ever used the stuff in cooking till now)<br />3 bananas (i like my banana cake to tast like banana. none of this "hint" of banana on the palate nonsence)<br /><br />step one's easy. cream the sugar and butter. the only reason i didn't use 3/4 cups of brown sugar was because i didn't look properly in the pantry and missed the second bag of the stuff. next time it'll all be brown sugar. it gives a little bit more of a caramely aroma and flavour to the cake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2fIKHeSx6J-fc7eSiJTH4-P-OwJLsD9pi3twoNEId0RH6BtAsSXv905qBCT-fQIWa2KHfrXdcW9plQO-8ERG8DlfjHJhHL9JiecU3Mq8xcsYSsnBa_GHFXmA_A8p36SeFQcG8Oo6YFc/s1600-h/IMGP1115.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-2fIKHeSx6J-fc7eSiJTH4-P-OwJLsD9pi3twoNEId0RH6BtAsSXv905qBCT-fQIWa2KHfrXdcW9plQO-8ERG8DlfjHJhHL9JiecU3Mq8xcsYSsnBa_GHFXmA_A8p36SeFQcG8Oo6YFc/s320/IMGP1115.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325179230008493186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />once it's creamed add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix some more. i went nuts here and made it as smooth as i could just because i could.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZZZUL3Oz-tcU112flB0ghENOOUaibbKeymR1hYXaK77dr5ewsbg21-WkMr-vwkZ1DJJkGYNqVy4L7qlaMpqfjAWn5ESGUlS10_45QAddYbafm_OydPI0Su37fnovbs51OWCBOSkeaRA/s1600-h/IMGP1118.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZZZUL3Oz-tcU112flB0ghENOOUaibbKeymR1hYXaK77dr5ewsbg21-WkMr-vwkZ1DJJkGYNqVy4L7qlaMpqfjAWn5ESGUlS10_45QAddYbafm_OydPI0Su37fnovbs51OWCBOSkeaRA/s320/IMGP1118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325179231476007618" border="0" /></a><br /><br />yep, it's now time to add bananas. i think the normal thing to do is to mash the bananas up before you add it into the mixture, but i'm lazy so i just threw them in and got to work with the blender instead. making this as smooth and evenly blened is probably a good idea to help with a consistant tast of banana through out the cake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0gGkepdeyHlVbcvLBqC-CucSvtErrlaLlkLLv4LZT9bERF6YVEcho8-wRIQNFV5GDbIUDRDNxwTcnT1Rg5LLgLzoL1il-M8vo946uCkn5xuleRNKg4MXiu3-NXWyvfsTFZ3rO3Kyq8o/s1600-h/IMGP1122.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0gGkepdeyHlVbcvLBqC-CucSvtErrlaLlkLLv4LZT9bERF6YVEcho8-wRIQNFV5GDbIUDRDNxwTcnT1Rg5LLgLzoL1il-M8vo946uCkn5xuleRNKg4MXiu3-NXWyvfsTFZ3rO3Kyq8o/s320/IMGP1122.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325179237038222002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />the next bit's easy. sift the flour in and mix it. not hard at all. the fun part is here though. chuck the milk into a small pot and get it boiling. once it's hot take it off the heat and throw in the bicarb soda. (yep i forgot to take a photo of this bit) it'll start to bubble up once you mix it through. add this into the cake mixture (i don't know exactly what this process does but i'm assumint it's something to do with helping the self rasing flour actually rise up)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjweFVt8tjbEnnpkVKr5v_lBKJGIk_T6NBkbs9z9LG8hj8gj9L94Coq2eAFniY0LWEfrmhG6PHP3MB35MPDYoVe3TqEVkU1Dq1D0ttJKKjEGV1MR9aoHFG3poesMzcBq_HfGACjkgDsk/s1600-h/IMGP1126.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjweFVt8tjbEnnpkVKr5v_lBKJGIk_T6NBkbs9z9LG8hj8gj9L94Coq2eAFniY0LWEfrmhG6PHP3MB35MPDYoVe3TqEVkU1Dq1D0ttJKKjEGV1MR9aoHFG3poesMzcBq_HfGACjkgDsk/s320/IMGP1126.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325179243561934082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />almost finished now. prep a cake or bread tin with butter and flour and pour the cake mixture into it. throw it into a heated oven and cook it till it's cooked.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7O8U3WCUdCJLbj4fLILOZHzUCY2EDvU0FsjEhqWjSddvqk2vPSh6UU04gWY7Vg2L_CM5fnK5D4ycO-rQNNEZmXI0sPerX7ofnRRRM04mTDbAi2I-Wmp0BqR0x11UV38WGpqhLltHPFj0/s1600-h/IMGP1128.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7O8U3WCUdCJLbj4fLILOZHzUCY2EDvU0FsjEhqWjSddvqk2vPSh6UU04gWY7Vg2L_CM5fnK5D4ycO-rQNNEZmXI0sPerX7ofnRRRM04mTDbAi2I-Wmp0BqR0x11UV38WGpqhLltHPFj0/s320/IMGP1128.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325253325714351874" border="0" /></a><br /><br />the original recipe said about 20-25mins, but every oven is different and just as i predicted it took about 45mins to cook in the little oven at my house.<br /><br />once it's cooked do the usual cake thing of cooling, racking and eating.kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5056779663961385864.post-8146297432698136782009-04-03T11:23:00.000-07:002010-04-15T19:07:44.205-07:00bread plus bread equals goodnessi always had a love heat relationship with sandwiches. i'd never just go to the fridge, look at what's there and make one if i'm hungry. i know that i'd rather starve than make a sandwich.<br /><br />however, if i plan to make a sandwich it's a different story. there is nothing like going to the shops and picking out a whole bunch of different fillings for that special sandwich.<br /><br />today was one of those days. i woke up in the afternoon and decided that it was the day for a sandwich. i went down to the shops and got many things from liver spread to alfalfa right through to the bread (there was bread at home but it's just not the same. at the end of the day the bread makes or breaks this)<br /><br />i don't think there is such a thing as the ultimate sandwich. all i know is that when i want one i have to have one.<br /><br />a sandwich isn't a boring thing for lunch (thanks mum for making my lunch during my school days, but you did help in giving the sandwich a bad image) it's a great feast conveniently placed in between two pieces of bread.kohta bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745355725758217962noreply@blogger.com0