Mushroom and Barley Soup

I was inspired by this Hungry and Frozen post to make mushroom soup the other night. It was very easy to make and ended up being so delicious I thought I'd share.

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic (I like things super garlicy, you might want to only use one clove, up to you!)
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 2 slices chopped bacon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• a generous splash of white wine
• grated parmesan and chopped parsley to serve (also optional)

To cook:

• Heat olive oil in a heavy pot and add garlic, then mushrooms, bacon and sage. Get it all nice and sizzling, then once it's starting to get a bit sticky deglaze the pot by splashing in your wine. Lower heat and leave for a few minutes to reduce and cook.

• Add stock and barley and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 20 minutes until the barley is cooked through and softened.

• Once it was cooked I used a stick mix straight in the pot to blend it up slightly to create a half smooth, half chunky texture. Now you're ready to serve it up, with plenty of parmesan on top, and some chopped fresh parsley.

I managed to prepare all this while Ray was having his dinner. Then I left it simmering while doing his bath, I put him to bed, then I jumped in the bath, then it was ready to eat! Not that I ate it in the bath. I got out and ate at the table, then spent the rest of the evening on the couch. A most peaceful and relaxing Saturday evening!

Winter Recipe

I've spent a lot of this year feeling sleep deprived, and generally on the verge of sickness, so trying to eat some healthy meals has been a top priority. Now that winter has arrived, I'm sure there's a lot of you out there feeling a bit sniffly and miserable too. Might I suggest this super immunity boosting dish? Adapted from Marion Grasby's Beggars Chicken recipe, this is a meal to help you get back on your feet if you're feeling rundown.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch coriander
• 10 cloves of garlic
• few cms of ginger
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 6 x chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 5 star anise
• ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white sugar or palm sugar 
• 1 litre chicken stock or water 

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 head of broccoli
• one bunch of spring onions

Method:

Cut the leaves off the coriander, and rinse the roots and stems. Chop into a fine mush, along with the garlic and ginger. Use a pestle and mortar if you have one big enough.

Heat your oil in a large saucepan and add the coriander-garlic-ginger, heating through for a minute or so to create a fragrant paste. Add the whole chicken thighs and cook for a few minutes until slightly browned.

Pour over soy sauce, fish sauce, and stock or water to cover your chicken.  Add the star anise, black pepper, and sugar, then simmer the lot for about 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, and you have a delicious broth.

While this is cooking, get your brown rice on. I use one cup of rice, to two cups water. Or pour enough water over to sit two centimetres above the rice. Cover, then once the rice is boiling away keep an eye on it until it looks like the water has just about evaporated, and then turn it off. If you keep the lid on the rice should just steam itself cooked in about 20 minutes. This is my fullproof rice cooking method.

Add your chopped broccoli to your pot of rice, and it will all steam up nicely together.

Before serving, add chopped spring onions to your chickeny broth, and the shredded coriander leaves. Pull the chicken out and slice into bite sized pieces, to make it extra nice and easy to consume. Layer up your rice and broccoli in bowls, and cover with your chickeny broth. Delish!

Easy Eats: Busy People's Bread

Although I love cooking (and eating!) I never really attempt anything too complicated, or that will have me stuck in the kitchen all day. So when I heard about Annabel Langbein's 'Busy People's Bread' I thought it couldn't be more perfect. I have made bread before, and I love it, but what with all the rising and kneading, you need to be at it all day to accomplish such deliciousness. With this recipe you can have homemade bread on your table in around an hour!

The recipe says to use seeds but you can modify this to taste, or just use whatever you have on hand. I've made it before when I had no bread at home and I was too lazy to go out and buy any, and I threw in fresh basil, and grated up the hard end bit of a block of parmesan that had been lying around the fridge for months. The result was pretty bloody good. With this latest loaf I used sunflower seeds and poppy seeds, and ate it with lashings of butter and Melbourne Rooftop Honey.

Hamuary

I love the idea of starting your own traditions. For Mr Meet-Cute and I, our Christmas tradition is to get a massive ham which we eat for weeks afterwards. The first two weeks of January we were eating variations of ham for pretty much every single meal. Hence, the season of 'Hamuary'. After way too many meals of ham and quinoa salad I tried to get a bit more inventive.

We finished up the last of the ham with Nigella's homemade oaty rolls and a platter of cream cheese, cornichons, and these marinated mushrooms from foodie blog Hungry & Frozen. So. Good.

See you next year, Hamuary!

{recipe video here}

{recipe here}

Calendars (already)

Two new and pretty calendars, both produced in Melbourne.

The Design Files 2012 calendar. I got last years Neighbourhood's calendar and will probably be getting this one too, seeing as some of my favourite artists such as Dawn Tan and Becky Orpin are involved. This years Creative Clutter calendar comes out next week, but you can pre order here.

Trotski & Ash's 2012 calendar has recipes for seasonal yummies for every month. Last years calendar sold out within a week! Get in quick with ordering here.

Chai Time

A few years ago I went to an Indian cooking class taught by my friend's Mum. We made paneer from scratch, saag paneer curry, raita, ghee, dhal, chappatis, pulao rice, halwa (semolina pudding), and chai tea. It was all so delicious and amazing and actually easier than I'd thought. I got so excited about how great cooking classes were and vowed to take more. Of course, I haven't taken any since! But I have been getting right back into making chai - which would have to be one of the easiest things we learnt.

This chai is so spicy and peppery, it's perfect for drinking on cold Winter evenings. And once you have the spices the only fresh ingredients you need are ginger and milk (which can be substituted for soy, btw). Cheers!

Weekend Yummingtons

I spent a large part of my weekend cooking and eating. Maybe due to the cold weather that's set in, or perhaps a little bit inspired by the new season of Masterchef, which is HUGE here in Aussie. In past years I've resisted getting too addicted to Masterchef, last year I felt like the only person in Australia who wasn't watching it, until eventually getting sucked in during the last month. And the year before that I'd only just moved here and didn't have a telly. This year, one week in and I'm hooked already! The 'Green Eggs and Ham' dish from the other night, complete with homemade crumpets looked so amaaazing… so obsessed with homemade crumpets. Yum!

My own cooking style is a bit more basic, such as this rustic beans n' mushrooms dish - yeah pretty far from Masterchef, but satisfying nevertheless! Eaten with olive bread rolls from the vege market, and with lots of fresh neighbourhood rosemary. I'm also tempted to try this rosemary with icecream idea, if only it weren't so cold here at the moment. It's just not icecream sandwich weather.

I also tried this Roast Chicken recipe, which was very easy to follow and soooo delicious. Pictured below is 'Step 9) After 30 mins, tear up basil leaves, add to roasting pan.' I don't have any pics of the finished roast as once it was done I was too greedy and had to tuck in right away, but you get the idea, no? Twas delish!