Every time I look at Celia’s In My Kitchen post I think to myself, “I need to shop more.” She’s got the best stuff in her kitchen. Then she began encouraging others to do an In My Kitchen post and now I look at them all and think, “I REALLY need to shop more.”
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The problem is, I’m a crap shopper. I didn’t inherit the shopping gene from my mother who could happily shop the entire day just looking around, touching this, gazing at that and maybe come home with one or two things. I make a list, go to the store most likely to have what’s on the list, buy it and come home again.
By not enjoying the whole shopping experience, I miss out on lots of nifty things – obviously. So what you get today are things in my not very exciting kitchen. However, at the end (if you get that far) you’ll find an excellent way to use leftover veggies for a perfect lunch.
Okay, I lied just a little bit. This is native Australian pepperberry and it won’t be found in heaps of kitchens anywhere. Why? Australian pepper is fickle. Some years it fruits beautifully, like it did this year and other years, not so much and some years not at all. It’s not always a sustainable crop for farmers but if you’re like Peter Wolfe’s brother in Tasmania and you have these trees on your property, when it fruits well, it’s a big year.
You might remember me mentioning Peter Wolfe in the Nose to Tail Cooking Class. He’s the professional chef AND professional butcher who taught the class. He’s a remarkable man, so full of knowledge about local and native produce as well as a soldier in the fight for ethical farming of animals for food.
I met up with Peter at the Noosa Food and Wine Festival this year and he gave me these pepperberries. It’s wonderful! I’m going to share how I used it soon.
Who doesn’t love truffle oil? I use it quite often and while it only takes a few drops to enhance a dish, I use it often enough to need more. Imagine my surprise when I got this bottle in a goodie bag from Hello Fresh after my lunch last week. I really like Pukara Estate products.
They specialize in Australian extra virgin olive oil but they also do vinegar. I think I’ve bought one of everything they make. I especially like their red wine liqueur vinegar as the sweet and tangy nectar makes my sweet tooth happy.
Now most Australians have heard of Bill’s Beetroot Marmalade. It’s legendary and it’s expensive and we all buy it anyway. I wrote about Bills beetroom marmalade last year after I’d tasted it the first time.
This year when I was at the festival there, sitting proud as punch, was Caroline’s Caramelised Onions. Knowing how much I loved the beetroot (beet) marmalade that Bill made, I could only imagine what his wife Caroline did with the onions.
Then, when I got home I looked up the Tasmanian Gourmet Kitchen website and Caroline’s caramelised onions aren’t yet sold through the site. What a winner! These haven’t been opened yet as I still have some of Lorraine Elliott’s spiced beetroot relish AND my sister will be here in less than 3 weeks and I want her to taste these.
Some of you know I went to my friend Ranee’s place recently for a tasting of Mauritian foods. She lives in Brisbane and when her daughters came along, she put her career as a lawyer on hold and then needed something to do when the kids were in school. She loves food and cooking so she did what she knows – taught people how to cook her favorite meals.
Next came the products to go along with the classes. She teaches the classes in a dinner party fashion in private homes around Southeast Queensland and offers the products during the classes for those who want to go home and make the same dish.
I had one of her samosas with this wonderful tamarind sauce. The flavor was sweet and complex and was just what the crunchy veggie samosa called for. I ate two. I would have eaten three but I thought I would look like a pig.
And now for that recipe I promised you. Do you end up with several small bowls of leftover cooked vegetables in the fridge and there isn’t quite enough of any one of them to serve at another meal? I’ve got the answer.
On my very first visit to Australia I had this in a restaurant and loved it. I know it’s probably not orgasmic to talk about leftover veggies but when you try this “newover” you’ll thank me.
It’s really quite simple to make. Toss all the little bowls or containers of leftovers in a mixing bowl, add sour cream, grated cheese, an egg and seasoning and your filling is done. Butter 5 sheets of phyllo dough and place the veggie mixture at one side and roll it up. Then with a sharp knife, cut into rolls and place in a greased baking pan and bake until the cheese is melted and the pastry is golden brown and crunchy.
Served with a salad, it’s a great lunch. The plate above was served to my friend Di who was here getting help for her website. She loved it and went back for seconds. It might seem like leftovers to you but to anyone else, it’s a very swish meat-free meal.
- Carrots
- Butternut pumpkin (squash)
- Broccoli
- Roasted onions
- Roasted garlic
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- ½ cup sour cream (or as much as you like)
- ¾ cup grated cheese (or as much as you like - I used cheddar)
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper to taste
- Add all the cooked vegetables into a mixing bowl and gently mix in the sour cream, cheese and egg. You don't want mush.
- Butter 5 sheets of phyllo dough
- Place veggie mixture on the edge of the long side and roll up. (or put one row of mixture, roll and place another row of mixture and roll the rest of the way)
- Cut roll into slices - mine were about 1½ to 2 inches wide.
- Place cut side down on a greased baking pan
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese has melted.
- Serve with a salad for a perfect lunch
