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Garlic Miso Soup – serves 6

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
• 1/4 cup miso
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 block tofu, any kind, sliced into small cubes
• 3 scallions (green onions), sliced

Preparation:

Heat water and stir in miso, being careful that the water doesn’t boil. It should be just below the boiling point.

Stir in the remaining ingredients and allow to heat. Stir well, and serve. Makes 6 servings of vegetarian miso soup with garlic.

Miso Soup

A traditional miso soup in Japan is  usually a thin broth made from fish stock, with only a scant garnish of wakame seaweed, small cubes of tofu and sliced spring onions.  This recipe is more hearty.  The vegetables are cooked on a low heat to create a sweet stock which is then seasoned with miso.  It can be adapted for many different combinations of vegetables.

1½ litres water
1 onion, sliced
Several slices of fresh ginger
400g pumpkin, chopped into bite-size chunks
¼ cup dried wakame seaweed, soaked for 15 minutes in 2 cups water
¼ cauliflower, cut in to pieces
3 Tbsp miso (approx.)
1 spring onion, sliced.

1)Bring the water to boil in a  large saucepan.  Add the sliced onion and ginger.  Turn down to a moderate heat and cook for several minutes.

2) Add the pumpkin chunks and return the soup to a gentle simmer.  Cook for 10 minutes.
3) Drain the wakame, and add to the soup with the cauliflower. 

4) Bring it to a boil once more and simmer until the cauliflower is cooked.
Keep the soup on a low heat.  Put about 2 Tbsp miso in a small bowl and add some of the liquid from the soup.  Mix the miso until it is a thin paste then add to the soup.  TASTE the soup.  Ideally you want a very slight salty taste to the soup, but not too strong — the dominant flavour should be the sweetness from the vegetables.  Add more miso if necessary then simmer a minute or so longer. 
5) Serve in individual bowls.  Garnish with sliced spring onions.

Miso Soup Recipe

Miso Choice: This time around I used an organic white miso, but I’d encourage you to experiment with a range of misos.

3 ounces dried soba noodles
2 – 4 tablespoons miso paste (to taste)
2 – 3 ounces firm tofu (2 handfuls), chopped into 1/3-inch cubes
a handful of watercress or spinach, well washed and stems trimmed
2 green onions, tops removed thinly sliced
a small handful of cilantro
a pinch of red pepper flakes

Cook the soba noodles in salted water, drain, run cold water over the noodles to stop them from cooking, shake off any excess water and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and remove from heat. Pour a bit of the hot water into a small bowl and whisk in the miso paste – so it thins out a bit (this step is to avoid clumping). Stir this back into the pot. Taste, and then add more (the same way) a bit at a time until it is to your liking. Also, some miso pastes are less-salty than others, so you may need to add a bit of salt here. Add the tofu, remove from the heat, and let it sit for just a minute or so.

Split the noodles between two (or three) bowls, and pour the miso broth and tofu over them. Add some watercress, green onions, cilantro, and red pepper flakes to each bowl and enjoy.

Serves 2 – 3.

OR use miso paste AND dashi (Jap stock – easiest method is to soak an 8x2inch piece of seaweed in 4C water for 20 min, heat and just before it comes to the boil, remove the seaweed, which can be sliced and eaten in another dish)

500g green beans
2 large sprigs rosemary
   Cook together

1/3 cucmber, sliced
Feta cheese, crumbled
nuts, chopped
   Add and mix

It’s just over a year since we were in Turkey enjoying thick yoghurt, mint in everything and wonderful street food. High time we replicated the experience, only this time the yoghurt is homemade and the mint comes from the garden. Almost as good as the real thing!

• 500g mince (should be lamb, but we use beef as that’s what we can get organically at an affordable price)
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup firmly packed fresh Italian parsley
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1 T tomato paste
• 35g (1/2 cup) fresh breadcrumbs (or bran)
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and form into meatballs or sausages

Fry or BBQ

Optional: dip in flour before cooking

(serves 8)

A quick trip over to the neighbour to pass on a bag of hand-me-down clothing resulted in tasting delicious fruit mince pies and admiring lovely-looking biscuits. The recipe had to come home.

125 g butter
1/2 C castor sugar
   Cream until light and fluffy

1/2 t vanilla
   Add

1 1/4 C flour
1/2 t baking powder
2T custard powder
   Sift in
   Roll out dough to 5mm thick
   Bake at 150ºC, 20-25 minutes

Tucked in the apges of my recipe book is some graph paper from Poland with a recipe written in English, but I remember the old man who told it to me in a mixture of Polish and German.

DYNIA PO WEGIERSKU

800g pumpkin, cooked
3T olive oil
2T flour
1/2 C cream
salt
sugar
paprika
dill

Quantities are all “to taste” – do smaku, if I recall correctly, but it’s been twenty years now

Once upon a time right into my adulthood, I thought beetroot came from a can. What a surprise to discover someone cooking them one day. Even more so to find a friend who grew them. Now we do both.

Cold Beetroot
Boil whole
Cool
Peel
Slice
Put in bowl
Cover with a mixture of half water in which beets were boiled and half vinegar
Season with salt and pepper
Serve cold with salads or in hamburgers

Hot Beetroot
Boil whole
Peel
Slice
Heat 1/2 C of water from the cooking and 1/2 C vinegar
Season and thicken with cornflour mixed with water
Add beetroot and cook until warmed through

Beetroot and Apple
Boil whole
Peel
Chop
Peel and chop half the amount of apples to beetroot
Chop two onions
Mix all with a lump of butter, salt and quite a lot of nutmeg in a pot
Cover and cook for one hour on a very low heat
Stir occasionally

You didn’t really think swedes were edible? Well, how about trying this recipe then?

500g swede, sliced
250g apples, sliced
1/2 C water
   Bring to the boil

1t salt
2t golden syrup
   Add to the above
   Cover and cook 30 minutes or until swede is soft
   Drain

2t butter
black pepper
   Add and mash well

FUN IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER

3C water
   Bring to the boil

1C cornflour
   Dissolve in a little cold water
   Slowly add to boiling water, stirring constantly
   Boil until thick and clear and smooth (~1 minute)

Food colouring
   Add

2C mashed swede
2T butter
2T golden syrup
salt and pepper
3/4C fresh breadcrumbs and/or bran
   Combine

2 eggs, beaten
parsley, chopped
   Add and place in a greased dish

1/4 C breadcrumbs
   Sprinkle over
   Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes

1T butter
   Dot over and grill for a further five minutes

(grated cheese on top would really make it edible!)