In My Kitchen: May 2020

After the initial spike of cases, I have been so grateful that it has really slowed down in the last few weeks. Paradoxically it has been a wonderful time for me to rest and restore energies - I am by nature an introvert and I love solitary activities like reading, baking and playing the violin.

I have killed many, many plants over the years, including even cacti that "cannot be killed". Covid-19 has led me to discover the joys of digging in the garden. I feel like it's a jinx to share any pictures or they will stop growing, but maybe just a little one...

Hello Mr Pea! I am watching all the Mr Peas everyday.

My dad's purple garden weed has taken over this pot. A grasshopper ate 90% of the leaves a few weeks ago, but it's amazing that they have grown back.

Onto the sourdough adventures.. I am a long time sourdough baker (Barney will be 3 very soon) and the flour crisis has been awful. For 6 weeks or so the shelves were totally bare, but I was so chuffed to receive donations of flour from friends and work colleagues.

This batch of apple cinnamon hot cross buns was made with flour donated by Lauren and glazed with Canadian maple syrup that Em had brought from Canadia just before Covid. Soft and scrumptious! I forgot to cross some of the buns and my love hearts melted! 

A couple of handsome loaves for friends, one of them was for my dear friend B!

Sourdough banana bread is so delicious I can't believe I'd never tried it

Sourdough English muffins are my new favourite - dusted with a bit of semolina, they are just perfectly soft inside and toast up really well the next day.

There's something about a repetitive lunch. I ate this for a whole week in a row - my own sourdough with smashed avo, a drizzle of Hunter valley EVOO and a smattering of seeds, along with a cob of local organic corn and a little bit of cheese.

There's also something about the ritual of baking day, where I take Barney out and feed him. The discard always goes into pancakes for the morning - here I made it with the last little bit of buckwheat flour we bought in Hungary last year from a market. I ate this with toasted coconut, tahini and a drizzle of maple syrup.

An exceptionally beautiful rye loaf, one sunny afternoon.

With more time on my hands than usual, I tried making Chinese style thick noodles again - so delicious!

 
It is simply a flour and water dough with a few hours of rest, kneaded intermittently, and cut into ribbons.

Finally, the Food and Music series has been on a pause whilst we were in lockdown, but after NSW lifting its restrictions last Friday we decided to have an impromptu gathering to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of my string quartet (though the violist couldn't make it, so we were 3). We have been together through so many ups and downs, and it was a true celebration of friendship, delicious food and music.

As our anniversary date is actually on Anzac day, we have a Turkish theme and I made these spinach, mushroom and cheese pides.

We pretty much always have a feast but this one was really spectacular with a slow cooked spicy lamb, the pides, zucchini flowers stuffed with haloumi, dolmades and salad. We had an amazing musical rendezvous also with Shostakovich's 5 pieces for 2 violins and piano, a few Bach trio sonatas, Beethoven String trio Op. 3 and Schubert's Piano trio in E flat.

I'm sending this to Sherry who hosts the In My Kitchen series - how wonderful to participate in this tradition, thanks for hosting Sherry!