NMAA Banana Loaf :: from NMAA Cooks

125g butter
2/3 cup raw sugar
1 egg
1 cup wholemeal plain flour plus
1/2 cup wholemeal self raising flour mixed with a pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup yoghurt or 1/4 cup milk mixed with some lemon juice (to make buttermilk!)

Grease a loaf tin and heat your oven to 375f

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Now mix the mashed banana, vanilla and yoghurt/buttermilk together. Add this mix and the flour alternately to the creamed butter until all is mixed in. Pour into a greased tin and bake for 40 - 50 minutes! Cool for ten minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

I sprinkled the top with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar before I baked it - for a bit of a spicey crunchy top!

:: Super Delicious Super Simple Pot Roasted Potatoes

A simplified version of Nigel Slater's spuds. My kids don't like Taleggio :( I do!


You Need ::
1kg of peeled potatoes, sliced into fairly thinnish slices
30g butter
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed

Melt the butter and the olive oil together in a big frypan with a lid- over a medium high heat. Throw in the onion, fry for 30 seconds. Chuck in the garlic. Fry for a few seconds.
Now plonk in all the sliced potatoes and toss them really, really well until they are coated in butter and oil (!) Season with salt and pepper and put the lid on.
Turn the heat down to very low. Leave for 20 minutes, simmering away on the low heat. Now open the lid and toss them. Add any fresh herbs you might like. Nigel Slater puts a few bits of Taleggio in. You could put some brie... or whatever cheese you like at this point in there.
Lid back on - still over the low heat. 5 or 10 more minutes. Check for tenderness. And serve when tender. Sometimes they get a little brown and crunchy on the bottom. But I like that!

:: Warm Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Illustration : Joseph Giordano


1kg of pumpkin - cut into 1" chunks or thereabouts
1 onion, chopped roughly
1 cup of frozen peas
2 cobs of fresh corn, kernels removed (just cut them off roughly with a knife)
1 clove of chopped garlic
some sprigs of thyme or whatever fresh herbs you have
a good slosh of olive oil
salt and pepper
a teaspoon of sweet paprika
juice of a lemon

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Plonk onto an oven tray, slosh on some more oil and cook in a medium oven for half an hour to forty minutes (or until the pumpkin has a bit of colour and is nice and tender)

Serve warm - or let it cool and serve cold. You could throw some chopped pinenuts or cashews through this and it'd be nice too!

:: Yummy Tofu with Edamame Beans

We made this after seeing it on the Telly. It was delicious. Click the link right down the bottom for more recipes from this program.

For the bean curd stir-fry

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 400g/14oz firm fresh bean curd (dofu/tofu), drained and cut into rectangles 1cm/½ inch thick (I like to use deep-fried tofu here!)
  
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinkiang black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

For the rest of the stir-fry

• 1 tablespoon groundnut oil
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 75g/3oz fresh or frozen edamame beans, defrosted
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Chinkiang black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 large handful of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks, finely chopped

• Make the bean curd stir-fry. Heat the groundnut oil in a large flat-based pan over a medium heat, add the bean curd and cook for 2 minutes. Add the light soy sauce and cook until the sauce has reduced and the bean curd is browned on one side. Using a small palette knife or fork, lift and turn each piece (careful not to break the bean curd) and cook to colour the other side.
• Add the dark soy sauce and vinegar and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Season with the dried chilli flakes. Transfer the bean curd to a serving plate and put to one side.
• Cook the rest of the stir-fry. Heat the pan and add the groundnut oil. Stir-fry the chilli for a few seconds, then add the edamame beans. Add a sprinkle of water to help create steam and cook for less than 1 minute. Season with the light soy sauce and vinegar and then stir in the chopped coriander.
• To serve, pour the beans over the bean curd and serve immediately.
• Tip: For a fuller meal, serve with steamed rice.

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Simple Crunchy Winter Salad

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Ingredients
500g sugar snap peas, cooked for 30 seconds in boiling water - then cooled completely by running under the cold tap or plunging into very cold water.
3 punnets of cherry tomatoes - halved
200g fetta, diced
1 cucumber, halved and seeded, then cut into thin slices
1 red onion, finely diced
1 bunch of basil, roughly torn

Dressing - put in a jar and shake the bejeezus out of:
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp seeded mustard
1 clove crushed garlic
6 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method::
Cut the cooled, blanched sugar snap peas into smaller pieces (cutting them in half or into thirds - depending on what you like!). Now in a big mixing bowl, toss the sugar snap peas, the halved cherry tomatoes, the cucumber, the red onion and the basil. Mix well. Then add the fetta. Dress with the shaken-and-nicely-mixed-up dressing and toss well. Plonk into a serving bowl and VOILA!

Serves 6

'The Brown Owl' :: Mulled Wine for Teetotallers (or Not!)

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Brown Owl Mulled Wine

Makes 3 Litres - enough for 6 people!

1 litre of non alcoholic dark grape juice
1 litre of cranberry juice
1 bottle of red wine*
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
2 star anise
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced

Mix all ingredients in a large pot whilst stirring - heat until nearly boiling - but don't boil it! Set aside for a couple of hours for the flavours to develop. Reheat gently until nearly boiling again and serve. Delish! (Be sure to cool it a little if you're giving it to kids!)

*Note - You can make this WAY boozier if you like - or you can omit the alcohol and add another litre of grape juice and the kids can partake too. That's a nice idea, huh?

Pip's Tomato and Fish Curry

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Please note :: you can substitute steamed or roasted pumpkin for the fish if you are not fishy! Or even tofu would be good! ALSO this is a really mild, gentle curry, perfect for everyone in the family - but you can heat it up if you like by adding lots of fresh or dried chilli!


Ingredients:
1kg of roughly chopped tomatoes
1kg of trevally fillets - cut into generous bite-size chunks (no bones please!)
200 grams beans, topped and tailed and cut into small pieces and steamed for just a couple of minutes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped finely
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped finely or grated
1 tsp of mild curry powder
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of mild paprika
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
a slosh of soy sauce
1 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of stock (fish, chicken or vegie is fine)

1. Heat the oil and fry the onion until golden brown (this takes time!) Meanwhile - make a paste with the rest of the spices, the soy sauce and 1 tbsp of water.
2. When the onion is nice and golden, throw in the ginger and fry for 30 seconds, then the garlic and mustard seeds and fry for another 30 seconds or so.
3. Next add the spice paste you just mixed up and fry for a minute or so, stirring as you go.
4. Add the tomatoes and give it a good stir. Put a lid on the whole schmozzle and cook gently for 5 minutes.
5. Now blend this tomatoey and spicy base until pureed (use a food processor or a stabby mixer or even a good go with a potato masher). You want to get a nice even sauce - no big lumps allowed. No need to strain it though - rustic is good.
   
6. Now back on a gentle heat with the blended curry-tomato base - add the coconut milk - and the stock. Slowly heat the mixture until it's nearly boiling. Do not let it boil though!
7. Add the fish pieces and the beans, pop on the lid and turn off the heat. Let the curry sit for half an hour or so so the flavours develop - or overnight even in the fridge - and then reheat it gently and serve - the fish really doesn't need much cooking at all - the residual heat and the gentle reheating will do the trick - taste a piece to see!
8. Serve with rice or roti or naan even! YUM!

Serves 4 - 6 people

xx Pip