Guest post by Christy of "Ellice Street Galley Kitchen" - Chickpea, zucchini and herb fritters recipe review

I’m Christy Harcourt. I live in Wellington, New Zealand and write Ellice Street Galley Kitchen, a food blog enjoyed by readers far and wide, including such personalities as my mother, sister, and aunties. I like many different foods, and am currently reviewing Rowan’s latest book, with quality testing services provided by my ever-patient and exceedingly lovely boyfriend, Josh.

I'm so lucky. I don't know if you've seen Julie & Julia (if not, you should - Meryl Streep is bloody fantastic) or read the book, but if you have - you'll know that Julie faced the following - ah, impediments - in her endeavour to work through an entire recipe book in order to learn about cooking:

* the recipe book was inordinately, unfeasibly long (524 recipes)

* she only gave herself one year to finish it (that's at least 1.5 recipes every single day)

* the book, while brilliant, was somewhat dated, involving a fair amount of obscure and archaic French recipes, including such delightful instructions as "boil this pigs hoof for 36 hours" (or something)

* the author of the book, when informed of her efforts, thought it was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.

In contrast, Rowan Bishop's Vegetarian Kitchen is a mere 180 recipes (pfff - a snap, I hear you say!), I've given myself loosely a year to finish (read: if I don't finish by next June, I will probably just give myself an extension), the book is imaginative, modern, and simple to follow, and last but certainly not least, its author not only didn't think it was stupid, but actually invited me to write about it on her own blog. Win? I think so.

So here I am. I'm so glad I chose this recipe for Ellice Street Galley Kitchen's little field trip to Rowan's blog. It's a perfect demonstration of what attracted me to Rowan's book - simple, cheap ingredients, quick and easy to make, healthy, and yum. It's also, of course, vegetarian. I'm not a vegetarian myself, but I like to eat meat in moderation, and there are too many good reasons for that for it to be worth going into here.

It was also another case of just letting go and trusting Rowan's recipe, which to her credit seems to be always worth the effort. I struggle with fritters as a concept, because although they are often quick, it's so hard to avoid ending up with something that isn't somewhat reminiscent of an oil sponge. I also would never have thought of grating zucchini. Shows what I know. These are astonishingly fast to make (in summary: blitz chickpeas, grate other stuff, mix, and fry). The chickpeas and other ingredients hold together beautifully in the pan, and somehow produce fritters that are not oily, but crisp and dry.

The chickpeas give a delightful, wholesome texture, and the zucchini and coriander complement their mild flavour. We ate them with supermarket thai sweet chilli sauce, which was good - though I mourn for the loss of my home made chilli jam which we finished last month. That would be even better, if you have any.

On the whole, a great success. I cooked up the leftover mixture for dinner the next night, and it was just as good, if not better. I have a feeling it would also freeze quite successfully. I’m only a quarter of a way through this book, and I can already unreservedly recommend it. Everything in it tastes awesome. Nothing in it is expensive, particularly hard to make, or boring. What more can I say?

Thanks Rowan for another inspired mid-week meal. And thanks for not thinking I am completely bananas.

Ka kite,
Christy

Click here to visit Christy's blog - Ellice Street Galley Kitchen

Feeling the pulse

I've been thinking about pulses quite a lot recently, as the French value them and use them a lot. I sometimes think New Zealand, along with quite a number of English speaking/Western countries are out of step with the rest of the world in that (apart from baked beans in tomato sauce), pulses are not regarded highly at all - either as a cheap source of protein or as a delicious, versatile and nutritious addition to meals. Throughout France the cassoulet is a traditional dish, and French green lentils - especially Puy lentils, are highly prized. (More on Puy lentils here).

The other day I bought an 800g tin of green flageolate beans - not well known outside France, but regarded as the king of beans here and  very cheap. I tossed some prepared onions (2) and eggplant strips (300g eggplant) in some oil, and started them roasting together while I finely chopped lots of garlic, (6-8 large cloves) which I added to the roasting onion/eggplant with about 350g sliced courgettes and two sliced red capsicums. Salt, lots of pepper, roast until cooked then add about 1/3 cup of tomato paste mixed with about  2 cups water,  plus some mustard mayonnaise (1/4 cup). Add 4 chopped tomatoes and the drained, rinsed beans  and bake, covered, at 180 C for 30-40 minutes until heated through. Adjust seasonings.  Very tasty! (And if you have to have some meat, chop a small amount of some tasty and good quality sausage into it - chorizo, for example).

Don't overlook other pulses such as beans and split peas  in your cooking either, like lentils they are cheap, versatile, sustaining and nutritious.  They have a high protein content, especially when eaten with grains.  They also contain carbohydrates and fibre, but are low in fat, and are important sources of some ‘B’ vitamins. They are available tinned, but these seem outrageously expensive compared to buying in bulk and cooking them yourself.  You don’t need a pressure cooker, but if you’re likely to forget to soak them overnight, a pressure cooker certainly makes life a lot simpler as there’s no need to soak and cooking time is usually more than halved.  Cook in 3-4 times water to beans.  Don’t add salt until after pulses are cooked, as this can toughen the skins.

If cooking in a slow cooker, pulses must be soaked overnight and boiled for 10 minutes as slow cooking does not reach the temperatures required to destroy some toxins.  Cook more than you need at one time, as all pulses freeze well and defrost quickly.  Pinto beans are not quite so ‘earthy’ as kidney beans but either can be used in dishes such as chilli beans, refried beans or fritters for tasty, nutritious and inexpensive meals that can be prepared very quickly.  Baby lima beans are great for adding to stews and soups, and of course we need chickpeas for making falafel, hummus and various salads as well as curry dishes etc.

                                   Soak/Boil                              Pressure Cook

Chick peas                  2 1/2 hours                           30 minutes
Pinto beans                 1 1/2 hours                           30 minutes
Lima beans                 1 hour                                   25 minutes
Kidney beans              1 1/4 hours                           25 minutes
Split peas                   30 minutes                            10-12 minutes
Soya beans                3 hours                                 50-55 minutes

Image credits:   Put lentils from wikipedia, jar of pulses from Microsoft clip art collection

Mexican Chowder

This is the first of a series of a few sample recipes from my new book Rowan Bishop's Vegetarian Kitchen that I'll post over the coming weeks. It's an all-time favourite that captures attention and lingers in the memory. 

The chilli should make it's presence felt but not be overwhelming.

It works well as a main course accompanied by wholemeal bread or hot crusty rolls, cheeses and fresh fruits.   Serves 6.  May be frozen.

4 Tbsp oil
3 medium-sized onions, peeled and finely chopped
2-21/2 Tbsp minced fresh green chillies, with seeds*
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp ground cumin
4 cups diced potatoes (if thin-skinned don't peel)
2 cups peeled and diced kumara or pumpkin
3 cups water
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 large red capsicum, seeded and diced
2 medium-sized tomatoes, diced
1 cup whole-kernel corn; frozen, fresh or tinned (drained)
4 Tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 cup grated tasty cheese
finely chopped coriander or parsley for garnish

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a low-medium heat.  Saute the onions, chillies, garlic and cumin until the onions soften.  Add the diced potatoes and kumara (or pumpkin) to the sauteed onions with the water, basil and salt.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the capsicum, tomatoes and corn.  Simmer, covered, for a further 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Transfer 4 cups of the mixture to a food processor and add the cream cheese and the milk.  Process until smooth then return to the saucepan with the grated cheese.  Stir to combine and check the seasoning balance.

Reheat gently and garnish with coriander or parsley before serving in heated bowls.

* Discard some or all of the seeds if your chillies are small and especially fiery, but keep in mind that this soup should have a bit of 'bite'.

Image from 'Rowan Bishop's Vegetarian Kitchen'

Welcome to my blog!



Photo by Chris Hillock published courtesy of Foodtown Magazine



It's with a great deal of excitement (and a good bit of trepidation too!) that I start on my blogging adventure.  I'm certainly more at home in the kitchen than in front of the computer but I am looking forward to sharing my passion for food, my creative experiences in the kitchen, my travels and general delights of life with you all.  I'm also looking forward to discovering something about you!  So far my relationship with my readers has been largely a 'one way street' but I do hope that you will leave comments and ask questions here on my blog or by email (there's an 'email me' button on my sidebar). 

In a way this is not an ideal time to start a new project (is there ever such a thing?) as life at my house is pretty much a whirlwind  at the moment with all the activity relating to the recent release of my new book Rowan Bishop's Vegetarian Kitchen as well as preparations for travelling to Europe in a few days.  There are the usual 'what shall I pack??' dilemmas, preparing to settle in house sitters and so on and  numerous newspaper columns to prepare in advance so there's not a dull moment around here!  However, I will do my best to post a few recipes while I'm away and I hope to share some of the highlights of our time in France and Italy  - no doubt there will be new taste sensations to discover as well as old favourites to enjoy again.  It will be wonderful to be able to share it all with you!  

(Click here to visit Chris Hillock's website)