AUTUMN HARVEST

I've bragged about our backyard organic cherry tomato supply - now not looking so hot after a lot of rain, a drop in temperature, a lack of sun and perhaps under-nourished soil.

However, now that the tomato plants have calmed down, the aubergines and peppers are getting a chance.

I was amazed to return from a ten-day holiday to find a large aubergine/eggplant and several smaller neighbours, mostly on the same laden plant. One is looking very purple and ready for vegetarian moussaka.

Aubergine Feast

One Yellow Pepper

But only one pepper/capsicum has materialised from a handful of fairly large leafy pepper plants. Not sure what went wrong there - research required.

Overall though it's been very satisfying growing all this food from seed. Billie has been a fantastic little helper throughout.

I've been waiting patiently for this sole pepper to turn red, but today Billie and I noticed the garden fauna was not being quite so patient. An ant was nibbling away inside a hole presumably left by a worm.

So Billie did the honors and appeared to get great satisfaction from pulling the yellow capsicum off the plant.

I only wish she would show so much enthusiasm when it turns up on her dinner plate tonight.

Billie pretends to eat our freshly-harvested pepper

DESERT INSPIRATIONS: SANTA FE BLACK BEAN SALAD

Santa Fe farmers' markets

Get ready for some superb Southwestern-inspired food. But first, Santa Fe is kind of the Disney Land of New Mexico. You wouldn't know this if you didn't venture further into the desert, to the mountain town of Taos say. Or even better - little Las Vegas - a town frequented by Billie the Kid and now a popular film set for Western-tinged films by the Coen Bros etc.

Santa Fe's New Mexico Museum of Art uses the faux-dobe made popular by the town's planning laws

But for wide-eyed tourists such as myself fresh off the train, it's hard not to fall for Santa Fe. Town planning laws dictate that all buildings must pay some homage to the traditional Adobe, invented by the Pueblo people - the traditional land owners. So you play the guessing game of which is the faux-dobe and which is the real mud brick. At least it all looks nice. Even the petrol stations.

Real adobe or faux-dobe?

Shell gets into the dobe-mode

It's not just the mud bricks that tourists flock to Santa Fe for. The town has become an eating destination, with it's own cuisine reproduced in many cookbooks and famous restaurants. Unfortunately I cannot report that our dining experience was anything to write home about  - probably because all the good ones were booked out or had queues longer than Billie could possibly stand. 

The best food we ate in Santa Fe was found right here on the plaza

However, we ate well throughout the rest of New Mexico and the US South West. It's a blend of Mexican, Native American - such as fry bread, corn and beans - and some other stuff tossed in.

Getting hungry? This fabulous salsa salad is easy to make and will impress most palettes. Last night I took it to Skye's birthday beach picnic, and there were enough recipe requests to pass the test.

And yes, Billie loves it. Nine-month-old Fig enjoyed a few mouthfuls last night too - although she preferred the beans to the corn.

I pinched this from my current favorite, Feeding the Whole Family, by Cynthia Lair. I've only made a couple of small adaptations. She suggests serving with tortillas or polenta but I have always used corn chips.

This recipe brings together some of my favorite ingredients: black beans, lime, corn, fresh coriander/cilantro and red pepper/capsicum. Served with a bowl of corn chips, it makes a fantastic dish to share. It can be prepared a few hours ahead of time, so good for outings.

SANTA FE BLACK BEAN SALAD

2 cups cooked black beans  (1 1/2 cups dried or one 400g tin = 1 1/2 cups)

1 red pepper

1 corn cob, steamed (or 1/2 cup frozen/tinned corn but use fresh if you can)

1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander/cilantro

plain corn chips, to serve

Dressing:

3 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 Tablespoons lime juice = one lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use 1/4 if not serving to any kids)

Soak and boil/pressure cook the black beans. They only take 15-20 minutes in pressure cooker if been soaked a few hours. About three times as long if you regular boil in a pot, after soaking. Or open a can or two.

Next, roast red pepper/capsicum to char the skin for easy removal. You can do it under a grill or directly over the low flame of a gas burner. Turn until skin charred on all sides. Place inside paper bag and close to allow pepper to sweat - this will make skin easier to remove. After about ten minutes - or longer if you can wait - the skin should slip off. Slice pepper into thin strips and then chop strips in half.

Meanwhile, steam whole corn cob - again only takes 5 mins in pressure cooker, 10-15 mins probably in regular pot. Let cool then place sideways on board and slice kernels off in strips. Place strips in large bowl with beans, coriander and pepper. Mix gently.

To make dressing: Mince garlic and salt to a paste, either in pestle and mortar or on bread board with a knife. Place in small bowl and whisk in oil, lime juice and cayenne pepper. Pour over salad and toss gently.

Serve with corn chips. If you go for the more spicy option, a bit of yoghurt on the side works well. And if you are feeling energetic, or you want to make the meal go further, the salad partners very well with guacamole. 

My suggestions for making this work for all ages:

BABIES AGED SIX MONTHS AND OLDER: Make a little extra corn and puree

BABIES/TODDLERS AGED NINE MONTHS AND OLDER: Set aside a little beans and corn

TODDLERS AGED ONE YEAR AND OLDER: Serve as is - check seasoning

 

And now, I can't resist a little garden update. 

Just two weeks on, and we have several small green tomatoes and one little courgette. 

The tomato plants are topping their stakes, and the aubergine plants are getting huge too. The poor lettuce, spinach and basil are getting a bit overwhelmed by the growth of their neighbors, losing a fair bit of their sun. Next time I would put tomatoes in their own patch I think.

UNUSUAL AUBERGINE AND SUGAR-FREE ORANGE AND DATE MUFFINS

I have a thing about aubergine/eggplant that's not crispy. When it's soft and soggy I usually turn up my nose.

So when I saw this recipe involving POACHING the aubergine I was a little suspicious. But as it came firmly recommended by New Zealand chef Julie Le Clerc, via her cousin living in Italy, I decided to keep an open mind.

Not only is this dish delicious, but poaching is in fact a great alternative to oiling and grilling/baking. I would still stick to those crispy slices for certain other recipes, but here poaching is perfect. It's healthier and much quicker too.

The recipe for Lemony Ricotta Eggplant Layers follows below. And good pictures to come but my camera batteries are flat...ughhh.

But first you need to check out my most creative endeavor so far this week: Sugar-free Orange and Date Muffins.

Now you may say 'sugar-free, get away!' and I usually would too. But there's two reasons to pursue sugar-free creations: It makes the muffins a decent healthy lunch or breakfast or snack. Most importantly for us it makes them Billie-biteable. We're doing our best to keep her off processed sugar for as long as possible, and she devoured these. In fact, she displayed some very bad manners by begging like a seagull for others' muffins once she had demolished her own.

I was very pleased with the results here as it was one of those making-it-up-as you-go-along recipes - quite risky when baking.

SUGAR-FREE DATE AND ORANGE MUFFINS

220g self raising flour - 1/2 wholemeal and half white

60g plain flour 

1/4 t baking powder

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup dates, chopped

2 oranges

Grease 12 muffin trays with butter. Preheat oven to 200-220c. Sift flours and baking powder into large bowl. Add dates and rind of one orange. In smaller bowl whisk eggs, oil and milk together. Add juice of half of one of the oranges. Peel rest of oranges and chop into smallish pieces. Add to liquid and then gently but swiftly combine with dry ingredients. Divide into muffin tins and bake for about 25 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Turn onto wire rack to cool.

LEMONY RICOTTA EGGPLANT LAYERS

This is from Julie Le Clerc's 'Cafe@home' cookbook.

Poaching the eggplant in water removes its thirst for oil. Another good tip from Julie is to use a serrated knife to cut the aubergine - much easier on the arms.

2 medium or 1 large eggplant/aubergine, sliced into 1cm thick rounds

1 cup ricotta

1 egg, lightly beaten

zest of one lemon

salt and black pepper

2 roasted red peppers/capsicums, thickly sliced

8-12 anchovies (optional - but very good)

Cut peppers into fat strips - quarters - and wipe with oil before placing in oven on tray until well done.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil and poach aubergine slices for 5 minutes or until softened. I found it best to do in several batches, as they float. Place on clean tea towel to dry off. 

Mix ricotta with egg and lemon zest, and season to taste. 

Lightly oil baking dish and layer ingredients to form several individual stacks - about four. Start with aubergine, spoon over little ricotta mix, then cover with red pepper strip and an anchovy. Repeat layers until mixture used up.

Bake at 200c for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with broccoli or other greens.

Foul with Fresh Eggs from the Backyard Fowl

Foul/Ful with poached eggs

I'm pleased Billie's first encounters with chickens has been watching them peck around friends' backyards. At least she won't be shocked when she finds out where the white fleshy stuff on others' plates comes from. Her dadda loves to recount the story of freaking out his nephew in Chicago many moons ago, when Miles informed young Justin of the roots of the food on his plate. Justin promptly ran off and told his mama Millicent that uncle Miles was telling tales.

Keeping a few chooks in your Sydney backyard has become popular with the rise of rent-a-chook schemes. A New Zealand newspaper recently proclaimed it as 'the new black'.

Unfortunately our landlord won't let us keep chooks in the shared hallway, so we have to make do with visits to Toni and Tim's Petersham chicken coop and Miream and Chris' Kingsford egg-layers.

Of course the best thing about having chickens roaming your yard is the constant supply of fresh, organic eggs on your back-doorstep. It's more than one family can get through, even if you eat frittata every day. Yesterday Miream sent us home from brunch clutching half a dozen spare eggs.

And what a brunch it was. Miream's Palestinian-Canadian mother is a chef in Toronto. We feasted on her fodder in December when she came out to cook for Miream and Chris' wedding. She was there to bless the couple too but her kitchen skills came in very handy.

Miream re-produces her ma's foul medammas

Yesterday Miream produced her mother's Foul adaptation and served it with fresh poached eggs and toast. Unfortunately for me, Miream is one of these cooks who doesn't measure or write recipes down. I did my best to transcribe her mum's special Foul. It's pronounced 'fool'.

MIREAM'S FOUL MEDAMMAS

Fava beans - Miream used 2 tins or you could soak and boil 2 cups dried fava

1/2 lemon, juiced

green chilli -mild (depending on who serving to)

about 4 fresh tomatoes

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed 

bunch of parsley, finely chopped

1 green and 1 red pepper/capsicum, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil to pour on top at end

Mash beans and heat up in small pot with garlic, lemon, chilli. Blend and then stir through chopped vegetables. Serve warm with toast and poached eggs.

From wikipedia:
Ful medammas (Arabic: فول مدمس‎ fūl mudammas), also known as foul medammas, is a Middle Eastern dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic and lemon juice. It is often served for breakfast.

And yes, Billie enjoyed it spread on toast. It's beans, after all. There's something very cool about chomping on poached eggs while the chickens peck under your feet.

EXTREME FOODS, HEALTHY MONDAY AND A SUPERIOR SALAD

Since stepping off the Sydney-Chicago flight on Wednesday night, there's been a lot of pancake and burrito-eating. Family reunions tend to be centred around food, and here that means the local diner. Or the favourite diner in the neighbouring suburb. Or the fast-food outlet trussed-up to look like a fancy family restaurant.

But when an order of vegetable omelet comes with hash browns, a side of blueberry pancakes and toast for Billie - in other words our family of three can split one meal that costs $US6.75 - why would you bother cooking?

Well, after a few days you just do. You crave fresh vegetables and fruit, cheese that's not melted and a salad that's not sweet. (Why, oh why, do Americans put sugar in everything?)

The balance of the not-particularly healthy ubiquitous diners and fast food outlets are farmers markets - such as Oak Park's 34-year-old one where we picked up affordable organic vegetables on Saturday - and the impressive Whole Foods Market franchise.

On my previous visit to Oak Park (an 'urban village' on Chicago's western fringe) I was taken to Whole Foods a few hours after landing. It blew my mind.

So on Healthy Monday, this organic/healthy/sustainable/fair trading/locally produced but MASSIVE and CHEAP supermarket was the main destination for Billie and I.

In Australia, I buy bits and pieces of organic food - milk, yoghurt, teas, breads etc but it's often too darn pricey.  As usual, today I studied the price tags of every item before it made its way into Billie's stroller/shopping cart.

A dozen organic large free range eggs for $US3.99? Organic raspberries at $US.300 a punnet? A block of organic tofu for $US1.69? And apparently the big regular supermarket chains offer some organic lines even cheaper.

Oh, and fresh organic mozzarella for $US3.99 - several large pieces. So that became the protein in our vegetarian Healthy Monday Superior Salad tonight:

SPINACH, MOZZARELLA, ASPARAGUS  SALAD WITH CRANBERRIES

Fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and picked
Three ripe tomatoes, quartered and then cut again
1 orange pepper/capsicum, cut into chunks
1 large round of mozzarella cheese, chopped in smallish pieces
Handful Brazil nuts, chopped in half
Handful dried cranberries
Bunch asparagus, chopped into thirds of quarters and then lightly steamed
Vinaigrette

Assemble all ingredients except dressing and asparagus. As soon as asparagus is cooked, add to salad, dress and serve. This is a light meal - serve with bread perhaps. Or corn chips, guacamole and salsa as we did (only because we had leftovers in the fridge).

Yes, this is not really a baby recipe, but Billie would love mozzarella given half a chance.
Sorry - no pics as using mother-in-law's computer...