Books, food and dress-ups

  I  have been reading a lot lately and have just finished  Igo Ogawa's charming book, " The Restaurant of Love Regained".  It  isn't really a realistic work, but is a very magical one about a Japanese woman, Rinko, hurt by love and life, who sets up a restaurant  in a village.  There, she serves food for one customer a day only, the menu responding to the desires of the customers.  Her cooking, in her restaurant, The Snail, transforms the lives of her customers and her own.    I really enjoyed it and it confirmed my view that cooking for others is a way of giving love, of creating, of finding ones's roots, and of healing one's soul.

Her book also made me think of other memoirs and novels that I have read, where food and culture are the main protagonists:

Georgeann Brennan "A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France" ( France)
Laura Esquivel "Like Water for Chocolate" (Mexico - novel)
Eleni Gage " North of Ithaka" ( Greek)
Madhur Jaffrey "Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India( India)
Susan Looms " On Rue Tatin" ( French)
Peter Mayle "A Year in Provence" (French)
Francis Mayes " Under the Tuscan Sun " ( Italy)
Colette Rossant "Apricots on the Nile" ( Egypt and France), "Return to Paris" ( French), "Madelaines in Manhattan " (French, American).

Some of them have inspired me to cook the recipes.  After reading " Like Water for Chocolate ", for example, the family had chocolate based meals :  chicken and chocolate, churros y chocolate, chocolate mousse.  Their friends at school marvelled at a mother who thought that chocolate was okay as a meal. I cooked Gage's " Dishrag Pie" because I liked the name, and because it was a good dish for vegetarians.  My husband enjoyed Tarte Tatin when I went all French, curry and pickles when I read about India,  and sun-dried tomato after I fell in love with Italy.  This time, I didn't cook anything special - the dishes sounded unattainable-  though I was tempted to open a similar restaurant
in my house.  But......I'd have to clean up.  And, I'd probably have to ban the dogs and cats from the house.  And,  I prefer cooking what I want to cook, when I want to cook.......

Mind you, I do notice that I tend to cook a lot of Asian inspired food.  Among the meals we had this week were

Curried prawns and bok choy with brown rice.

Steak and sweet potato and plantain chips with broccoli

Rice noodles, green papaya and yam bean salad, and turmeric fish.

If you don't know the yam bean, it looks like this:

Because of its crunch and sweet taste, a bit like water chestnut, I love using it in salads, but it can also be used in stirfries, so it is a great vegetables.

Coconut rice and  fried silky tofu with Thai sauce and snake beans

Stir fry beef and vegetables with woodear fungus and rice noodles

 I do cook more traditional Australian meals, although, as I am unable to follow a recipe exactly, I do add my own twist too.

Bob is the family's  acknowledged king of traditional Aussie Anzac Biscuits.  For those who are not from Australasia, Anzac biscuits are traditionally eaten on Anzac Day, to commemorate the biscuits which were sent to the military serving overseas in World War One.  We were going to an Aussie Barbecue on the weekend , to welcome an American to the Land of Oz, and  dressed appropriately,we decided to bring along lamb chops, sausages ( though we brought smoked chorizos), beer and  and Anzacs as our contribution.  I decided to cook them, instead of Bob, and, as usual, made up my own recipe.

Pat's Aussie Biscuits.( makes 2 tins worth.  Half the ingredients if you prefer less.

Ingredients:
 2 cup Rolled oats
1 1/2 cup Coconut
1 1/2 cup Brown sugar
1 cup Plain flour
1 cup Self- raising flour
1 pac cranberries
1 cup sultanas
1 cup crushed mixed nuts
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 tablespoon boiling water
250 g melted butter 4 tablespoon golden syrup

Method:
Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Dissolve soda in water, then add butter and golden syrup.  Add to dry ingredients and mix well.  Wet hands and roll into teaspoon size balls and place on greaseproof paper on slide.  Bake in oven at 150 degrees for 12 minutes. ( I have a hot oven which burns everything.  Your might be better and you could go to 160 degrees or for longer).  I think I'll add cinnamon next time.  I like spices in biscuits and cakes.

I think Bob's are crispier, but everyone liked them.  They were a good balance for the vodka jelly shots we had!

By the way, as is usual when I stir myself to participate in a dress-up party, we were the only ones in fancy dress.  I had little koalas on my necklace and ears, a bunch of gum nut blossoms in my hair, and a pet (puppet) platypus.  Bob had on an akubra decorated with koalas and an Australian flag as a cape.  Typical of my life.  The American took pity on us though, and produced a pair of shorts decorated with the American flag and some lace. 

However, we had a great meal there.  In honour of the American, we had Louisiana hot sauce ( apparently found in the Reject Shop!) and buffalo wings with a blue cheese sauce and barbecued ribs with celery.  I also got the opportunity to try crocodile - like a mixture of fish and chicken.  Very white meat which has to be cooked quickly to remain tender.  Yummee.  Plus, muffins for dessert.

We also had a meat based paella at another meal at friends.  It was cooked by the hosts's children ( supervised by the adults) using our huge paella pan and burner and was very tasty indeed.  Great work kids!

Plus, I was taken to another of those backstreet eateries for a very nice lunch with the Ladies Who Lunch.  In spite of its out-of-the way location (14 Austin st, Newstead), Rogue is very elegant and does dinners and lunches.  I had the vegetarian option - the salad- and it was excellent.