Sunday, February 04, 2024

Pasta & chickpeas in broth
with preserved lemon & chilli

January 15, 2024

   

Meera Sodha published this recipe around the same time that I noticed we had preserved lemon in the fridge, so I got onto it pretty quickly. Pasta is up front in the dish's name, and there's also more broth than I expected so I've brought that into the title as well. The recipe is probably better suited to autumn, but the weather turned cooler and broth-worthy as we were eating it.

I made a few substitutions for convenience. Having never encountered sun-dried tomato paste, I used regular tomato paste. I used some orecchiette languishing in the pantry instead of buying macaroni. I spooned out a little chipotle in adobo sauce instead of purchasing chiptole flakes. I think it's a recipe that can handle plenty of improvisation.

The result is comforting but light; liquidy while offering plenty to chew on; it's very warming and a little tangy, a little savoury. We'll wait until the season really changes before we go back for more.



Pasta & chickpeas in broth with preserved lemon & chilli
(a recipe by Meera Sodha in The Guardian)

olive oil
4 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, including liquid
1 preserved lemon, seeds removed and finely chopped
160g macaroni (or, in my case, orecchiette)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle in adobo sauce
20g nutritional yeast flakes
3/4 teaspoons ground black pepper

Make some rosemary oil. Pour 80 ml of oil and the rosemary into a small saucepan over low heat until bubbling, then turn off the heat and allow it to infuse while you cook the soup.

In a large saucepan, pour in 5 tablespoons of olive oil and set it over low-medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring, until softened. Briefly stir in the garlic and tomato paste, then add just one of the tins of chickpeas with their canning water. Mash the chickpeas to form a rough paste.

Stir in the preserved lemon and the second can of chickpeas with its water. Add the pasta, salt, chipotle, and 1.5 litres of tap water. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer until the pasta is cooked (see what's recommended on the packet but note that it could take a little longer).

Stir in the yeast flakes and pepper and simmer for a few more minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle over the rosemary oil to serve.

Thursday, February 01, 2024

Carrot peanut satay ramen

January 14, 2024

   

We're still working our way through the recipes that Cindy has bookmarked in Tenderheart and we used a quiet Sunday evening to take a crack at this carrot satay ramen. I'm always apprehensive about noodle soup dishes, but the prep is remarkably simple here: you make a big pot of peanutty stock, cook your noodles separately and then combine in a bowl with some extra condiments. 

This was superb, the carrots provide a bit of sweetness, but the peanut butter is really key - what dish is not improved by a few big globs of peanut butter? It definitely works here. I even whipped up some jammy eggs to really finish things off. Add a bit of crunch from some roasted peanuts on top and you've really got yourself a treat. We will absolutely be making this again soon.



Carrot peanut satay ramen
also published in the Sydney Morning Herald)

2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
250g of carrots, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
200g peanut butter
1 litre of vegetable stock (or vegan dashi if you can be bothered making it - there's a recipe in Tenderheart)
350g ramen noodles
1 bunch of bok choi, roughly chopped
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
4-6 soft-boiled eggs

Seasonings
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chilli oil
2 tablespoons tamari

Heat the sunflower oil in a large saucepan and add the garlic and ginger, cooking for a minute until fragrant. Throw in the carrot, salt and sugar and cook things down for about 5 minutes, until it's nice and soft. 

Add the peanut butter and stock and stir things together. Bring it to the boil, stirring often, and then cover and simmer for five minutes. Add the greens when it's done and you're basically ready to serve up.

In the meantime, prepare the noodles as directed in a separate pot - ours were just a few minutes in boiling water. Drain them and start to build your bowls! 

Add a teaspoon of sugar, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, chilli oil and a couple of tamari to each bowl and whisk together. Pop a quarter of the broth into each bowl and combine with the seasonings, add a quarter of the noodles, top with peanuts and your egg and serve.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Small Axe Kitchen IV

January 5, 2024

   

It's been a while between visits to Small Axe Kitchen, though we always think of it fondly. We made time for breakfast there during our summer break, and easily secured a spot at one of their outdoor communal tables. The menu has changed a lot though it retains the same Sicilian inspiration that sets it apart from other brunch-centred cafes. There are plenty of egg-based dishes, but also lots of meats and vegetables that we don't typically see before noon. Small Axe is still most well-known for its breakfast pasta, which now comes with a vegetarian option. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are well-marked throughout.

I vacillated between the chilled rice pudding and the tiramisu pannacotta, ultimately settling on the former ($25, pictured above). Inevitably the rice had that firm, starchy texture it gets when chilled yet there were so many other textures to enjoy with it: a spoonably-soft baked apple, finely diced fresh apple, pureed apple and dehydrated apple frills, creamy custard and crunchy almond crumble. No two mouthfuls were quite the same, and all of them were lovely.

   

Michael continued on his chilli-scramble habit: this Sicilian egg-based one ($24.50) was served on toast with pecorino and chives. He rated this as one of the better ones going around, with excellent toast and a pleasing slow burn.

It's great to see Small Axe Kitchen succeeding, both sticking to its unique Sicilian style and switching up its specific offerings over time. We should circle back more often.

   
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You can also read about one, two, three of our previous visits to Small Axe Kitchen. Since then it's received positive coverage from ElectroBoi Eats.
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Small Axe Kitchen
281 Brunswick St, Brunswick
9939 6061

Accessibility: There's a small step on entry. Tables are densely packed with a clear corridor through the middle. Tables outside have small backless stools, high benches in the front room have tall backless stools, and tables in the back room have ordinary backed chairs. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Thursday, January 25, 2024

where's the best in 2023?

   
Vola Foods

With another calendar year's posts wrapped up, I've reviewed and updated our where's the best? page and noticed a few themes along the way. Firstly, we've bid farewell to too many beloved veg*n businesses! Kale MaryThe Origin Tales, Fina'sPower Plant and Sable all shut up shop in 2023, while Transformer is pending transformation. We're also sad to lose the veg-friendly neighbourhood nook, Theodore's.

The sandwich trend I noted in 2022 has continued into 2023 and I couldn't be happier, blogging Take Two BagelsEgglabGood Days Hot BreadBanh Mi Nights, and current fave Pickles Milk Bar. For the weeknights that we couldn't be bothered cooking dinner, we leaned on two Master Lanzhou Noodle Bar venues, Shimbashi SobaVola Foods, and Eat Pierogi Make Love. We're lacking a go-to vegan brunch, but had noteworthy morning meals at Tyler's Milk BarTwo:Bob and Fenton. It's also the year that Michael acquired a car, and that has enabled adventures to Midori by Tao'sVegie BowlEasy Vegan and Mietta. For 2024 I've put Gloria back on my to-blog list: we're regular customers, their menu has evolved, and I reckon they're selling the best vegan desserts in Melbourne right now.

   
Darwin

We did our share of air travel as well as car travel in 2023, visiting HobartDarwinBrisbane and Sydney. If all goes well in 2024 we'll be venturing even further.

In our home kitchen, there's been lot of Hetty Lui McKinnon recipes and a few family favouites. Crispy caper & slow-roasted tomato pappardelle and vegan bolognese take a while to come together but the rewards are high; Michael has made double-batches of the bolognese countless times to share with sick friends. A gnocchi broccoli tray bake with lemon & cheese or artichoke roll is much faster to pull together and just as satisfying to eat. My champion sweets were oaty ginger crunch and lebkuchen.

I did a big cookbook clear-out in 2023, giving away what I could and donating the remainder, and I've still got a dozen books on notice for me to focus on in 2024. And then, of course, there's the hundreds of online links I've bookmarked! Hopefully it'll make for a fun mix of retro recipes and new approaches on the blog this year.

   
An artichoke roll

Monday, January 22, 2024

Lebkuchen

December 28, 2023

   

Michael had a driver's license for the first time in 2023, and we had access to a car for much of the year too. This ramped up our adventures outside of Melbourne and we did a lot of regional second-hand shopping. Two excellent acquisitions were a copy of The Australian Women's Weekly The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits and some heart-shaped biscuit cutters.

My mum has had this book for decades and many of its recipes are very familiar to me. Lebkuchen are probably my all-time favourite, and I found time to bake and share them between on my summer holiday, just a smidge after the Christmas time that they're traditionally made for. They perfectly capture my own heritage - Germanic origins filtered through 1980s Australia. 

The biscuits use golden syrup instead of honey, a modest dose of warm ground spices and mixed peel in the dough, then they're embedded with a dot of raspberry jam and slathered with dark chocolate on the other side. The spice level is just as I remembered but I'm of the inclination to double them all now. My mum always skipped the mixed peel (I can think of a couple of family member who wouldn't've liked it) but I'm up for adding that to a future batch too. I consider the heart shape, raspberry jam and dark chocolate backing to be canon.

I notice now that Lebkuchen would be easy to veganise, and I can't imagine they'd taste any different. I'll report back! And hopefully I'll be reporting on many other recipes from the book, both nostalgic faves and ones that weren't a fit for my family of origin.


Lebkuchen
(a recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits)

60g butter
2/3 cup (160ml) golden syrup
1 3/4 cups (250g) plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cocoa
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup (40g) mixed peel, finely chopped (I haven't included this yet but I will!)
2 tablespoons raspberry jam
185g dark chocolate
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Place the butter and golden syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted. Bring them to the boil, then remove them from the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Sift in the flour, bicarb soda, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and cocoa, then the milk and peel. Cover the saucepan with a lid and allow it to rest for 1 1/2 hours. My mixture went from oozy to sticky dough in that time.

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line two trays with baking paper.

Prepare a clean surface and lightly flour it. Drop the dough onto the surface and knead it until it's firmer and less sticky. Roll the dough out to 5-8mm thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut shapes from the dough and place them onto the baking trays - a heart shape is the classic!

When your trays are full of biscuits, make a little indentation in the centre of each one (I used the handle end of a small sharp knife for this, and a wooden spoon is recommended in the original recipe.) Use two teaspoons to gently place a teensy portion of jam in each biscuit indentation. Bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

When the biscuits have cooled, melt the chocolate using your preferred method and mix it together with the oil. Gently spread the non-jammy side of each biscuit with chocolate and allow them to set before serving.