I adapted this recipe from the one I found on the Celtnet website. Continue reading
Steamed mussels in white wine
17 Jun
I’ve always found the idea of cooking mussels a bit scary, but they were the obvious choice for our Belgian World Cup dinner. (Either that, or a jumbo box of Leonidas…) Turns out they were pretty straightforward and quick to prepare, even though I bought twice as many as we needed – especially as Lyra ended up eating dinner at a friend’s house, and Nova ate only one… Expecting to be tied up with the mussels, I opted for oven chips – which were a bit meh. Continue reading
Chicken fessenjoon with rice
16 Jun
Tonight’s dinner comes from Iran – chicken fessenjoon (chicken cooked in a pomegranate-walnut sauce) – served over steamed rice. While I was seeking out dried golden plums at the Persian grocers, I picked up some dried limes as well. I broke a couple up in the mortar before steeping in boiling water to make a delicious lime tea. This recipe is from the Food 52 website (with minor adjustments). Continue reading
Bircher meusli
15 Jun
Easier to eat than regular meusli, and a cold alternative to porridge in the summer months.
Apparently it was “invented” by the Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a pioneer of holistic health, who served it to patients in his sanitorium. Continue reading
Welsh rarebit
14 Jun
Welsh rarebit, should possible have gone for something with a more clearly English, but I didn’t… This Guardian article on Welsh rarebit was a good source of info, and I mostly followed their recipe. Couldn’t believe we could need as much cheese topping as the recipes suggested, and even after cutting it back quite a bit, I had more than enough. Served it with a watercress and avocado salad that I found on Epicurious. Continue reading
Introducing World Cup food 2014
2 JunAbout a month before World Cup 2014 started, Adam became obsessed with collecting Panini stickers of all the competing teams. He engaged Lyra in his pursuit, and I eventually got drawn in as well, helping him maintain his own/swap/need lists for the Facebook trading group, posting envelopes, and feeling a worrying sense of satisfaction when we finally received a Ben Halloran sticker in the post from a man in Monmouth and completed the Australia team.
Our older daughter Nova was completely unmoved by the football fever gripping the rest of the house. Thinking about how to make the World Cup a whole family event, I came up with the idea of cooking something from each of the 32 competing nations over the course of competition.
In the group stage, we will try to eat a country’s food on the day they are competing. I’ve made some predictions about which teams are likely to advance, but no doubt we’ll end up eating some meals dedicated to teams after they’ve gone out.
We’ll be scoring the dishes as we eat, to award our own World Cup winner for 2014…
Refried beans
13 Sep
Refried beans are very easy to make, and taste so much better than the tinned ones you can buy. Continue reading
Andrea’s salsa
5 Aug
This recipe evolved through my attempts to recreate the salsa served at the Topanga Cafe in Vancouver. Continue reading
Watermelon feta salad
14 Jul
This is very tasty and dead easy – one of those dishes that are almost too simple to be called a recipe. Continue reading
Chickpea pasta soup
26 Apr
If there’s one recipe that stands out as a clear family favourite, it would definitely be chickpea pasta soup. I’ve been making this soup for years, and we haven’t tired of it yet. It’s easy to make, smells wonderful while it simmers, is delicious to eat, and tastes even better the following day.
It’s a great dinner to follow a big Sunday lunch, but filling enough to be the main event as well. It’s vegetarian, and popular with most kids I feed it to (aside from the odd garlic hater). I clipped the original recipe from the newspaper a good ten years ago, but it’s evolved into our own version. Continue reading
Ten More Bites 