Sour Cherries and Other Delights

I love the idea of being able to produce a healthy, nutritious and delicious bread. My Indian students who gave me their delectable fresh homemade flatbreads to try made me wish that such a tradition could be part of my daily life too. Following some video blogs such as “Show me the Curry” convinced me to begin practising at least every now & then, and I now have a small repertoire of easy favourites. This chickpea and wholemeal flour with red onion, chilli, herbs & seeds is really nutritious and quick to make. It’s good to make for immediate use with a curry or dip or for freezing some balls of dough to cook later. The chickpea flour gives the bread a lovely nutty flavour. I found this recipe in “Fresh Indian” by Sunil Vijayakar.

150 g plain wholemeal flour,150 g gram (chickpea flour),1 red onion, finely diced, 1 red chilli, de-seeded & finely chopped,1 Tablespoon chopped fresh coriander, 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon black onion (Nigella) seeds,100-150 mls lukewarm water, salt, sunflower or olive oil for brushing.

Sift both flours in a large mixing bowl. Add onion, red chilli, chopped coriander, cumin & onion seeds. Season with salt & mix together. Gradually pour in enough of the measured water for mixture to come together and knead on a lightly floured surface to make a soft dough. Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then divide the dough into 8 portions. Shape each into a ball. (You can seal in ziplock bags at this stage to freeze if you wish.)

Roll the balls out on a lightly floured surface to a 12 cm (5″) diameter disk.
Heat a large flat griddle pan till hot. Cook the disks one at a time for 30seconds, flip, brush with a little oil or ghee, flip over & cook for a minute, moving the bread around. Flip the dough again and cook on the other side for a minute or until bread is lightly browned both sides.

Remove, cover in foil, serve warm.

The flowers are dazzling and the growth of the zucchini itself defying belief… almost triffid-like … if you look away they double in size- but snatched first thing with their gorgeous flower still open they are tender and delectable.

Inspired by Silvia Collaca’s “Made in Italy” which I’ve been loving to watch recently, I just had to make Saffron Pasta with Zucchini Flowers. So simple,quick and easy,using my favourite dried pasta.

First caramellize the onion & garlic in olive oil, add the zucchini & flowers-Season & cook gently for about 10 minutes and add the saffron soaked in a little warm water. Meantime have the salted water boiling to cook the pappardelle-they only take 4 minutes. Drain, tip into the pan & stir. Add a little more oil & lots of pepper and serve with parmesan.
Delicate,fresh and delicious!

Cherry pipping is done… (time management specialist & willing kitchen helper on hand!)…last lots frozen to make Ursula’s cake in more dreary days to remind us of such a fleeting delight.

On to the apricots & peaches!
The birds have had a feast on the upper canopy, and luckily we’ve savoured a few sun-warmed gorgeous ripe apricots…but necessity meant a rescue mission of the not quite ripe to make an apricot and almond crumble (once again from “Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book”) and a peach tart- this time from Elizabeth David’s “Summer Cooking”.
I’ve loved going back to these much worn & loved paperbacks to unearth some past favourites & to think about all those untried with such pleasure…to make one day?

Actually these peaches came from Araluan…ours are not quite ripe yet. We went to Braidwood for a post Christmas breakaway…and came back loaded with beautiful white peaches and nectarines from a footpath vendor -a grower- up from the valley.

The zucchinis are from our garden though…and they’re beautiful. Had to make a side dish with them-pan-frying lightly in olive oil & garlic with thyme, some lemon zest & juice. Delicious! (“River Cottage Everyday” suggestion!)

Dumplings…we love them!
Recently we’ve been eating the most delicious Shitake mushroom mouthfulls encased in a bouncy sticky Cantonese pastry (CHANS’s YUM CHA from the supermarket freezer) for fasting day lunches.Emily has decided she likes them too.
I found a recipe from an old Delicious magazine for a chicken & shitake filling with similar sounding seasonings so tried this different non-vegetarian home-made version!

3 dried shitake mushrooms, 250 gms chiken mince,3 spring onions,( white part only, finely chopped), 1 garlic clove crushed, 2 teasps grated ginger, 2 Tbspns grated ginger, 2 Tbspns finely chopped coriander,1/2 teasp Chinese 5-spice, 2 tsps soy sauce, 1 tsp honey, 25 round wonton wrappers (from Asian supermarket freezer)