Threespoons is migrating!

Threespoons is not only migrating but also morphing into Five Flavours.

Thank you to all my patient readers who have been wondering what has happened to me as I was learning (and continue to learn) how to move my blog into a shiny new venue powered by Wordpress. From now on all the action is going to be over at Fiveflavours.com . I've already got one new post up about some luscious potatoes I've been making that have a quirky story behind them. I'd love to see you there so, please join me!

Marie

Buckwheat porridge with cinnamon, walnuts and cranberries

Considering the state of the weather outside, you may be hankering for something warming, and nutritious for breakfast. You’d think from the way I talk that I am something of a porridge addict. On the contrary, but when the weather looks like this, it is to porridge I must go!


But wait. You know I need to offer up one of my mega digressions before I carry on, so here it is. I once found myself giving a lecture at a high school in Osaka, Japan. I was part of the “International week” lectures. On my day, there was also a man from Nepal who’d brought some interesting photos of his country to share with the students. He flashed up a slide of a field full of flowers and asked the students if they could guess what it was. They thought, and I thought. Finally I started thinking of tsampa, which is fairly popular in all of the Himalayas considering the number of Tibetan refugees residing there, and thought about whether the photos might be of barley. I got lost in thought about if the word for barley might be tsampa in Nepali or if that is only Tibetan. I was way off base anyway because suddenly a student shouted out the answer, “そば!” (“Soba!”). The cultural reference part of my brain was going haywire at this point, but he was totally correct; although we associate the word soba with Japanese buckwheat noodles, it is used in general as the word for buckwheat. I entertained thoughts of noodle fields all the same.

Buckwheat is often associated with Eastern European cultures as kasha, but had it’s humble beginnings in Asia. Something about buying and cooking buckwheat is a bit old fashioned, but then with many people moving away from preparing whole foods, or even being connected to the cooking process at all, perhaps old fashioned is good.

Buckwheat is gluten free in it’s raw form (be wary of soba noodles which often include wheat flour if you are gluten intolerant), contains omega-3 fatty acids, and is full of delicious fiber. We use it as a grain, but in fact it is a seed. A bowl full of seeds, how cool!

If you toast the groats before cooking the porridge they are slightly nuttier and have more of a bite to them. It is fine to put the buckwheat straight in to the water, but it will make a slightly mushier porridge. You can also experiment with more milk or different nuts and fruits. I once made a delicious dried cherry and cocoa one which I highly recommend.

Cinnamon, Walnut and Cranberry Buckwheat Porridge

2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of unsalted butter
1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 cup buckwheat groats (toasted or untoasted)
1 handful of dried cranberries
1 cup of milk

Boil the water, butter and cinnamon and then add the buckwheat groats and turn down to a simmer. Stir them occasionally to be sure they are not sticking to the bottom. After about 10-15 minutes the groats will start to soften and it’s a good time to add the cranberries. Once the groats are no longer floury/chalky inside you can add the milk and heat it through without a lid on so that the porridge gets a bit creamy.
Serve up with agave syrup, maple syrup (my fave) or dark brown sugar.
Makes two servings

Tibetan bread

It’s cold. Is that snow? I’m starving and can’t catch my breath. I’m determined to get up this damn hill. I just want to get back to our guesthouse of choice which, for some reason, is at the very top of the hill in Darjeeling near the radio tower.

Dealing with altitude is one thing, but why did we choose the highest guesthouse in town. Maybe we thought it would be closer to the sun to help us deal with the temperature change from the plains where it was 45C. Maybe we thought the cold wouldn’t matter since we’d have steaming bucket showers heated with dodgy electric elements to slosh over our frozen bodies and warm us up. Actually I think it was because we’d heard they had good tomato soup. That sounds more like our methodology for choosing accommodation. Whatever we were thinking then, now I need some serious energy or we’ll have to set up camp halfway up this hill.

“How about that Tibetan place we saw on the way down?” My husband is a genius.

Inside the door instant warmth, calm music, the scent of incense and burning wood, wool everywhere. It’s like being nestled into the side of a cuddly sheep only there are colourful ribbons, prayer flags and thankas dotted about. A woman who manages to look sturdy, strong and gentle at the same time asks us what we’d like telling us that she has just made some fresh bread and relaying the fact that it is good with yak-milk cheese. As if we could refuse.

Although I remember this story like it was yesterday, I can’t remember what we ate with the bread. It was probably tomato soup. Tibetans seem very good at making homemade tomato soup. Perhaps it was dhal. At any rate, the fluffiness of the inside of the bread with the slight crispiness of the outside really suited a sideways slicing so that we could stuff it full of cheese.

The cheese itself was not a far cry from a nice sheep-milk feta. Slightly creamy and crumbly, but probably a wee bit gamier. At any rate, if you make this bread and stuff it with feta you will not be disappointed. The recipe itself is very basic and you could probably use any mix of flours that you have in the house.

Basic Tibetan Bread

1.5 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup white flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup of slightly warm water
Oil such as canola or soya

Mix up by adding water slowly and kneading lightly for a couple of minutes. You may need a bit of extra flour if the dough is sticky.

Leave the dough to sit, covered, in a warm place for 20-30 minutes.

Roll out four loaves to about 1.5 centimetres thick. They should look like big, thick*, flat circles.

Cook on a hot, covered pan with a little oil (more oil makes for crispier outsides). Turn once or twice while cooking.Eat immediately.


*These are not thin like chapattis/rotis but when cooked on a hot enough pan will be slightly flexible and a little bubbly.

Holidays are for eating smoked snapper

Please excuse the long absence. Yes, I am still here! I’ve been on a short teaching contract that has taken all my energy (although I do enjoy it) and have not been doing much apart from collapsing on the sofa when I get home. But, never fear! I’m still inspired and have been waiting for the opportunity to get back to the keyboard to tell you about some amazing things I’ve been eating.

During Auckland Day weekend my husband and I took ourselves down to the beautiful Coromandel for some R & R and discovered a great little place on the way back. Perhaps some of you know it already. It’s called Muddy River and it’s just before you get on the old bridge after Thames and heading toward Auckland. It’s a small place but it’s pretty well signed on the right-hand side. They do wet fish during the week, fish and chips, and also have a cafe.

We actually went in search of the local flounder that is meant to be so nice, but as it was Sunday, they weren’t doing wet fish. So we perused the smoked fish selection and came out with a gorgeous piece of smoked snapper all golden and fragrant. We could’ve easily torn into that newspaper and started eating right there and then but we vowed to make it back to Auckland and have it with some green beans and a beetroot salad. It was worth the wait!

What wonderful things have you been eating over the summer?

The scents and tastes of the season

My house is filled with the scent of dried fruit soaking in brandy. What could be better or more holiday like? That's not to mention the fact that the house is also covered in a layer of icing sugar. A white Christmas in New Zealand. That's a novel idea!

So, as I'm tying the last red bow on the homemade stollen that is the gift of choice this year, I'd just like to say Happy Christmas and New Year to all my readers. Have lots of fun and don't over do it on the pav!

Rock me avocado!

I hope everyone's still enjoying the avocadoes as much as I am. New Zealand avocadoes are just great straight or with a bit of salt and pepper, or even just a squeeze of lime. I also like the unconventional ways of using them like smashing them into hot pasta to make a creamy sauce with a few herbs and chopped fresh tomatoes.

But the most unusual use for an avocado and one that is not that common to us in "the West" is actually recognising it as the fruit that it is and sweetening it up. In South East Asian countries you can order an avocado shake, which is avocado blended with a bit of ice, sugar and condensed milk. In countries that tend to have fewer cream or milk-based desserts, an avocado shake can hit the spot for travellers. And imagine getting your Omega 3s from dessert. Bonus!

The first time I had avocado served up in a non-savoury way was in Sri Lanka. My husband and I had just eaten an amazing spread of curries and were thinking how a bit of ice cream would be a nice compliment for afters. The guesthouse owner said, "I think I know what you want. But I think it's a surprise. Do you trust me?". Since he and his wife had just served up a veritable banquet of amazingness for dinner, we knew we could trust him. "Go for it!", we replied. And off he went as excited as a schoolboy about to present his Mum with something he'd drawn at school.

He was back within 5 minutes with two ice cream dishes full of what we thought was, well... ice cream glistening with sugar on top. Looking at each other we were thinking maybe the "surprise" was that it was a special flavour he thought we'd never had before.

"What flavour is it?", we inquired.

"Avocado!", he beamed.

"Avocado ice cream", we countered.

"No, avocado!" (He was practically dancing with excitement at the prospect of introducing this delicacy to two Kiwis.)

So we were thinking to ourselves that this is avocado in a bowl with sugar on top. Uh, OK. We did say that we trusted him. As we dug in, we couldn't believe it. It was gorgeous! I'm not sure if it was just because we'd been talking about ice cream, but it actually tasted like sweet creamy ice cream, only it wasn't quite that cold.

Since then I've seen it served with the ubiquitous condensed milk, or even honey. And someone has recently told me that they sweeten avocadoes in Brazil, too, so maybe we're just missing out on this great big secret.

Try putting the avocadoes in the fridge for half an hour or so beforehand if you want it chilled. Whatever your fancy, I really recommend you try sweet avocado.

Happy Monday!!

Fried rice is one of my favourite "fast foods" because I always know I can conjure it up with very few ingredients and very little time. It's a favourite on Monday nights and we like it served Thai style round here with sliced cucumber and a wedge of lemon or some chilli vinegar. What do you make on "fast food" nights?