8 Jan 2013

culinary resolutions for 2013

Dad's purple sprouting broccoli

I am now of the age  where I do not make new year's resolutions. However, the Kitchenmaid sparked my interest in having kitchen resolutions - what an intriguing idea! And if I record those somewhere - ie, here - I may be more compelled to fulfill them.

  1. Cook eggplant. I have tried this once and wasn't impressed, but it's one of those vegies I feel I need to know better. It's such a gorgeous-looking thing, all black and shiny, so I shall conquer it.
  2. Cook fish. Real fish - not sirena tuna out of a can. I rely on eating fish caught and cooked by dad: flash-deep-fried flathead fillets, in the lightest tempura style batter imaginable. It is the best. But I only eat that once a month, so I need to get more seafood self-sufficient.
  3. Try not to photocopy any more recipe books and instead work thru the books I already own! I'm sure some of you may understand this too.
  4. Bake biscuits, at least once a month. I don't make bikkies (bickies?) enough - I'm more of a cake gal.
  5. Make something with caramel. Quite frankly, caramel scares me. I fear I'll burn the house down get into trouble (edited 9.1.2013: I just realised how inappropriate that was right now). Time to feel the fear and do it anyway.
  6. Grow new vegies, such as purple sprouting broccoli which dad grew successfully last year, for the first time. And have another attempt at things that have failed in the past. Beetroot, I'm talking to you.
Do you have anything you'd like to achieve in the kitchen or vegie garden this year?

10 comments:

  1. Never could abide eggplant. I figure life is too short for some things...
    I would like to finally conquer codlin moth so I can eat an apple straight off the tree.
    And learn to make really good bread.

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    1. when you work out the codlin moth thing, please tell me jo! i have lovely sweet apples on my tree but i too have to cut each apple up before i can eat it. erk.
      nah, i've given up on yeast :-)

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  2. Hi e,

    I love eggplant cooked properly. Have two yummy, great recipes I can share - so never fear! Can't believe how much garden your parents lost. I was sort of imagining them in an oasis where their garden wasn't touched. Hope you're okay.

    Love
    B

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    1. Thanks B. I am sure i will be very shocked when i go down there for the first time. seeing bits in the paper and on the TV is sort of abstract at the moment.
      And yes, send thru the eggplant recipes - they may help me get it right!

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  3. Eggplant is, hands down, one of my favorite things to eat, particularly roasted. This year I want to cook more artichokes and kumquats. Their season is so short and I never take full advantage of them!

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    1. Mum had a cumquat tree where we lived in NSW (before we moved to Tas) and she made the most delicious cumquat marmalade every year. She has (had?) a tree here but it never really thrived.
      I think roasting is the way to go with eggplant. Everyone is getting me very keen to give it another go!

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  4. I want to learn to fillet a fish this year, cook a couple more vegetarian meals a week, and learn how to cook duck properly. (These have been on my new year list for the last five years or so, so time to nail them!)

    I'm mad about eggplant. There are some easy recipes on my blog if you want some inspiration. The easiest way to cook it is to slice it into rounds about a cm thick, brush liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and put on the barbie for about 5 mins a side. It's done when charred and squishy. Serve as is, cut up for a salad, blend into a dip/spread... even good as a layer in a burger.

    I never do the salt-and-drain-in-a-colander palaver. Anyway, have fun with it.

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    Replies
    1. hello sue! Thank you - i shall explore Five Course Garden when i'm ready to tackle the eggplant resolution.
      I've wondered with the salt and drain thingo - looks like an awful lot of bother and is enough to put you off it. thanks, i shall ignore any of those directions should i come across them in other recipes.

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  5. I want to learn to make XO sauce. I also want to master the yummy Vietnamese dipping sauce that you get with your spring rolls, rice paper rolls etc. I still can't quite get the flavours right. So, basically I want to learn to cook Vietnamese food! I love the freshness of it. I also want to find new recipes for my new blowtorch. Oh, and I also want to be successful in my ongoing search for lemon myrtle!

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    Replies
    1. You have a blowtorch?! i think i'd put that in the same category as caramel - likely to cause structural damage to my kitchen.
      i'm sure in melbourne there are lots of cooking courses available to master vietnamese cuisine.
      i wonder if spice world in hobart has lemon myrtle? i'll look for it next time i'm in hobart.

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