In My Kitchen, April ’07
March been a busy time in my kitchen. I experienced an enormous rush of cooking creativity after promising a feast of Indian veg recipes in last month’s IMK post. This autumn’s tomatoes, corn, eggplants, potatoes, pumpkins, green beans have been wonderful so it was an easy task. Check my previous eight posts for the veg curry recipes I shared.
sweet corn on the cob
The local sweet corn has been especially abundant and cheap. We’ve eaten sweet corn tart, fritters, salsa and corn charred on the cob. I’ve thrown sweet corn kernels into paella, frittata, soup and stir fry and it will come as no surprise that I also made a delicious sweet corn in coconut milk curry.
homegrown basil
While I’ve had to rely on the markets for produce my potted basil has been going crazy, loving the humidity which causes most of us to wilt. My basil plants are now 18 months old and still looking youthful and vigorous. Having basil in my garden year round is a big Brisbane bonus, and consequently so is pesto. The batch of pesto I made with this basil was used immediately to anoint our dinner of potato gnocchi.
baby beets
I’ve been loving young baby beets too, steamed, slipped from their skins, cut into wedges then lightly moistened with a little good quality balsamic vinegar, my 21st century version of good ol’ Aussie vinegary pickled beets.
hot cross bun development
In My Kitchen I’ve been refining my Hot Cross Bun recipe in preparation for Easter. Last year I was reasonably new to sourdough baking. With a mature starter and a much more assured approach I’ve been testing and tweaking to come up with my ultimate bun. I cut the sugar back a bit too far in this batch and made the buns way too big. Luckily Mr PPTR loves sticky buns. He’s set for morning tea for a month or two as he wades his way through the trial batches stashed in the freezer.
Fresh India by Meera Sodha
In My Kitchen I have a library book I want to keep. While I was deep in my Indian vegetable cooking frenzy, Linda, AKA Mrs Portly a UK based blogger buddy recommended Meera Sodha’s “Fresh India” a visually beautiful book full of Indian vegetable recipes made over with a deft hand, adding lightness without any loss of authenticity. It’s right up my alley.
kitchen flops
In My Kitchen during March I had flops. I scrapped plans for a cabbage curry post after the greens collapsed into a soggy mess. It was totally off the mark. The recipe for chocolate hazelnut sandwiches which I made verbatim from a well known magazine entity were just too dry to be enjoyable although the chocolate filling was good enough to eat with a spoon.
I’m linking this post to In My Kitchen, a worldwide community of bloggers hosted by the lovely Liz at Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things. It’s fun, it’s free and anyone can join in. Write a post and create a link to Liz by the 10th of the month to be included.
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27 comments on “In My Kitchen, April ’07”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
Sandra – I love all your photos. It is amazing how you make the prosaic veg look so inviting and fresh. Glad you posted kitchen flops. It is good to know that everyone – including fantastic cooks like yourself – experience failures in the kitchen. We all do! The book, Fresh India looks fantastic and I must look it up. Blogging certainly increases one’s book buying. I see you’ve now posted the HCB recipe. My husband also wades through all my trial recipes. I consider myself very lucky.
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Hi Sandra, thanks for sharing on the Indian cookbook.x
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I’ve got Fresh India on my Book Depository wishlist at the moment! I’ll have to bump it up… I’ve been enjoying corn a lot too, I used it charred as well in a charred corn and zucchini taco, delicious, and makes such great noises when it cooks! I’ll definitely have to try your corn in coconut milk though 🙂
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Hi Sandra
I will have to try your idea of having basil in a pot The garden is a no go zone due to turkeys and possums and bugs Clever you those Easter buns look great I must say I have not been using corn but it is a great idea to have it fresh So glad the humidity and heat is dropping off after the cyclone We were in Canberra where it was quite chilly at night for poor Queensland types.
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Keeping basil in a pot in a protected spot ensures it will flourish continuously. It likes plenty of sunshine, water and food. I’m pleased the temps have dropped a little, it was time IMO.
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Wonderful to hear about your “failures”, looks like there were many success stories as well.
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That’s true Liz many more successes than failures, but I like to keep IMK real
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What a glorious kitchen this month! That glistening corn!
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thanks Jo, the corn has been amazing
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Hi Sandra. It is so annoying when recipes made exactly according to a recipe in a book don’t work. It makes you doubt whether they have even been tested.
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Hi Glenda,
This is a conversation that could on until the end of time, I just hate getting caught out
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I’, so pleased you put me onto Meera Sodha, I haven’t been able to btaina library copy here so may have to do a purchase. In the meantime, there are heaps of her recipes online. I read about her recipe for coconut prawns that she first tried in Casa Linda in Kerala. I also tried Casa Linda’s coconut prawns and so I know I am hooked.
Your fresh ingredients look alluring- nice to have fresh basil all year. And those buns would suit me fine. Lucky Mr Man.
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We only learn from our kitchen failures. The boys certainly remind me of my failures, especially a german poppy seed cake. I’m looking forward to my basil popping up soon I hope, I recently started it from seed. Unfortunately it doesn’t grow year round here. I’ll be making hot cross buns soon, my first time ever. They are only now becoming more popular around here. I’m sure I’ll have some willing taste testers.
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Hot X Buns are synonymous with Easter here in Australia and there are some horrors in the supermarket. Being able to make great sourdough buns is a blessing.
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You just have such a great hand with photos! Amazing. Thanks so much!
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Thanks Cecilia, glad you like them.
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Those hot cross guns looks tops, I need to get a copy of that book too. Another enjoyable IMK post. Love the flops section too!
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Thanks Cheery. Cheapest $$$ by a country mile for Fresh India was the Book Depository online, half the price of elsewhere. I nailed the buns in the end, standby for post…
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Thx for the tip, the Yak orders quite a bit from the Depository. 🤗
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Sandra, I admire your unabashed honesty for including flops as well as fortuitous turn-outs. “Real life IMK!” Way to go on keeping your basil crop thriving, and thanks for sharing your version of Australian pickled beets. (My hubby & I love those… although I make mine from “scratch” w/a cheater version using canned baby beets, lol.) I KNOW I’ll love your balsamic-flavored ones. I’ll also be looking for “fresh” when the farmers’ markets open here. Something to look forward to. Gorgeous buns, BTW. 😉
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Thanks Kim. Even with the best of care, sadly not all the food I cook measures up to the taste test. My Mum used to say if you’re not failing you’re not learning. The failed buns looked the good, but the ugly batch tasted the best.
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I have loved following your Indian feast. everything looks so easy and inviting. Now that the busyness of March is over I will have time to actually do sensible things in the kitchen. Some of those recipes are on the menu planner.
The basil looks so fresh and lush, I can see the goodness bursting out of the photo!
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Thanks Ann, I hope you enjoy the veg curries too, we had some delicious dinners during March
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Thanks for the shout-out, delighted you like Meera’s book. Lxx
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You’re welcome Linda. I did return the copy to the library, but not before buying a copy..
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your successes really appear to outnumber your rejects by a wide margin! The hot-cross buns look delicious.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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Thank you Sandra for that lovely shout out. Your hot cross buns look amazing! xx
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