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The thread on religion and the meaning of a particular recent festival (hijacked by chocolate makers) got me to thinking.... lets get onto common ground, FOOOOOD.

Everyone likes food and lots of cultures have special foods associated with a particular festivals or times of year. If you do not celebrate religious festivals it could be a family tradition (eg enjoy certain foods for watching the grand final/superbowl)

Let's share...

I will post a recipe to share soon (svinge). In the meantime the floor is yours (and kitchen too)

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Roll call..........

Clownygirl what is your favourite dahl recipe? (I am always collecting those)

Just Beginning, you have spoken of your dad's devotion to his religion. What was one of his faves?

Tiny clanger, how about your mum's mezze

African Man you know you love food, what sauces did you make from scratch at Easter to go with the home made ravioli.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Ok wish-ga I'll start by giving you a very simple Napoli sauce. Italian food by nature is very simple and the simpler the dish the better. This is easily one of my favorite dishes despite its relative lack of complexity. Serve this with fried eggplant (I'll show you how to do that bellow), good quality imported Italian Parmesan and a crusty loaf of bread (chiabatta or pastadura are most complimentary).

INGREDIENTS

note-the fresher your ingredients and the higher the quality the better your end product!

good quality olive oil (just enough to just coat the bottom of your pot)
1 medium onion finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic either finely sliced or crushed/chopped
1-1.5kg very ripe Roma tomatoes (if not available any may do but i prefer Roma, just don't use hydroponic)
small handful of flat leaf parley, chopped
5-6 torn up leaves of basil
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 teaspoons of sugar
1 packet of barrilla pasta (i think barilla is the best personally i think this dish suits a long pasta such as fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti)
1-2 large eggplants, sliced longways about 7mm thick
1 bottle (500ml) cheap olive oil (this is only for deep frying so to use anything expensive would be criminal)
good quality imported Parmesan from the deli (even coles and safeway now stock very good quality cheeses)

METHOD

heat your oil in a large pot on a medium flame, add to this your onion and cook till transparent, add to this your garlic and stir fry till cooked (about 1 min), at this stage your onion should be slightly browned, take note! if you burn the onion or garlic you are better off to throw it out and start again, burnt onion is very bitter and will ruin your sauce.

next add the parsley and basil stir in for a few seconds and add your tomatoes. A note on how to prepare your tomatoes, this is a rustic dish and traditionally nothing is wasted, however if like me you do not like the skin in your sauce what you can do is freeze your tomatoes 1 or 2 days beforehand take them from the freezer and throw them into a sink full of very hot water, from here the skins will simply pop off very easily. chop your tomatoes into roughly 1-2cm cubes and squeeze out a bit of water being careful not to loose any flesh or seeds, pop them in a large bowl and when your other ingredients have been fried up add in your tomatoes.

bring your sauce to the boil and add salt pepper and sugar (add them carefully and slowly, it is easier to add them than subtract them) from here simmer (very slowly) until your sauce is nice and thick, min 1/2 hour- 1 hour

while your sauce is cooking you can make your eggplants!

slice into approx 7mm slices, sprinkle a bit of salt on them and place them in a colander for about an hour on top of the sink, a liquid will drain from them, this is good as it removes some bitterness.

get your bottle of olive oil pour it into a deep pan and heat on a high flame. your oil MUST! be absolutely boiling otherwise the eggplant will simply absorb the oil and taste like mush! put 3-4 slices in the hot oil and fry till golden brown turning once, place on a plate with absorbent paper, pay close attention during this stage as it is very easy to burn your eggplant!

when your sauce and eggplant is ready put a large pot of water on to boil, add to it a generous tablespoon of salt, only when it is boiling do you add your pasta. cook till al dente. (i.e firm but not crunchy, nothing will ruin a pasta like soggy or crunchy pasta, barrilla will give approx cooking times on their packets)

from here drain your pasta into a colander, put it back into its pot and add to it a scoop or two of sauce and mix it through, put your pasta into a large flat serving bowl or plate. pour the remaining sauce over the pasta and drape the eggplant over the pasta, put it on the table where everyone can help them selfs, serve with good bread, Parmesan cheese and a fine Australian red or white wine (personally i like this dish with a bottle of penfolds bin 407 or bin 23)

hey wish-ga what nationality are you?

My dad is Australian-born of Italian heritage (Catholic)
My mum is Australian-born of Austrian (Vienna), Hungarian and Czechosovakian heritage (Jewish)

So I cook in 'mixed marriage'.
That is a matzo ball soup with a spaghetti chaser.

Glad to see you salt the eggplant! We do it crumbed with garlic in the egg and basil in the crumbs. The inside goes all creamy and delicious. (can do whole button mushrooms and zucchini in the same way too)

Svinge is an Italian dessert. (like litte donuts without the hole).



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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

I dont have any recipes to share, but yours is just what I was looking for african_man! It will go with the penfolds I have in the cupboard nicely.

Nice trick with the tomatos. I am going to adjust my menu plan to have this tomorrow night me thinks. How many would this serve?

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

i Love Svinge, your family must be sicilian then right? do you guys make them with sultanas? good idea with the eggplant

i must say if i were to describe svinge i would say they are oily balls of goodness made in heaven! if you ask my waistline they are the work of the devil!

i would love some traditional jewish receipes i haven't realy had any thing jewish before! though my girfriend is ukrainan and they make a thing called veranaky, (in polish, which is where i think the jewish connection lies there called perogi) basicaly there like ravioli filled with potato or mushroom or saurkrut and served with sour cream! if jewish food is like that i would love to try.

my best mate is jewish (south african) but his parents dont cook much! so when i go to his house its takeaway! mabie they dont want me to discover the secrets of their cooking!

one of my favourie comedians is jackie mason he's jewish and one of mine and my friends favourite jokes is "i have a friend, half jewish, half italian, if he cant get it wholesale, he steals it!"

anyway wish-ga looks like you've posted an online cook off! i look forward to meeting your challenge and when you post your dish i'll post another! i'll have to think of somthing very special!

lindy i hope you enjoy your dinner! i still havent gotten around to visiting regency aquarium! will have to soon!
as for quantity id say 4 to 6? to be honest im not sure i'm one of those cooks that does things by eye not weight or measurements! generaly 1/2 a kilo of pasta is good for 6 ppl (mabie too much) there should be enough sauce to go round id say. any left over sause can be frozen, pasta cant

The recipe I have for Svinge Iolana
says sultanas and fresh rosemary is added to the batter. But I add little bitty currants as I find big juicy sultanas just too sweet. The svinge is a little softer than a donut, not as dry/cakey.

Dad's father was from Lipari (Aeolian Islands) but he passed away when my dad was 17 so I never met my nonno. But we made sure my nephew calls my dad nonno even though we all speak English.

My mum is referred to as Oma. Just a little link to our heritage.

African_man when discussing quantities you should know better. You have to say "six people from the general population or four of my family members" <joke>

Cook off. Nah, you win! I just love talking about food because it has special memories attached to it. And the religion talk was getting a bit heated at one stage, a love of food is a great equaliser.

btw what does Svinge mean????? If you solve that mystery I will give you a recipe from the Jewish side of my family.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Homemade houmous.

1 tin of chickpeas - the ones in water, not the ones in brine
2-4 tbsp of tahini
juice of 1 lemon
freshy ground black pepper to taste.

chuck it all in a food processor, mix until it's not smooth, but only has very small lumps. Add pepper to taste.

Serve on warm, freshly made Pitta or similar unleavened bread.

more to follow.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

add to this your garlic and stir fry till cooked

For garlic lovers it's really best to add it at the last possible moment-I add them last, after the tomatoes. Much better garlic flavor that way

A pinch of salt or small splash of orange juice added to the sauce takes away any bitterness the tomatoes might have.

I'm a pasta addict and am quite picky about my sauces...so much so that I won't eat at Italian restaurants, I'd rather make my own

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

In my family we have a tradition of making a candy-cane shaped pastry for breakfast Christmas morning. It's got dried apricots and marachino cherries inside (sort of folded/braided inside a cakey pastry) and then glaze drizzled over the top. Quite tasty provided it's not overcooked such that it dries out. The recipe ends up making three candy canes, so we always give one to a friend or neighbor

><>

dont quote me on this but svinge is just sicilian dialect for doughnut, hence why an italian translator wont translate it

i'll double check it with dad tonight

agree discusssing food is more fun than discussing religion (though if you discuss religion with the right people its good fun)

my closests friends (theres 4 of us) one is jewish, one is muslim and the other is prodestant/christian and i'm catholic. we all respect each others point of veiw on religion and can therefore freely discuss our faiths with each other. after a 4 hour debate on spirituality (which is a frequent discussion) we are still just as close.

funily enough the topic usualy switches to food at the end!

i disagree with the garlic coment, if you add it to the sauce it takes on a raw garlic flavour, cooking it first gives it a more subtle mild flavour.

i havent heard of orange juice in sauce but salt and sugar would have similar effect id say.

where do you live Theresa_M if your in Melb there are several restaurants (some run by my italian family friends) that produce fantastic pastas, almost as good as nonna's!

Superlion that is a lovely tradition.

Diversity is king! African-man I too have similar experiences with my groups of friends - always back to food. We are going to celebrate Christmas in July soon and I can't wait for everyone to share their family Christmas foods.

Oh, so svinge means doughnut pretty much? Yeah, check with your dad.

With regards to OJ in the sauce we add wine. Now I think about it wine contains sugars doesn't it so it may, in addition to adding flavour, act like the teaspoon of sugar African_Man adds.

I hear you TheresaM, I like to eat at Italian Restaruants but rarely order pasta for the same reason you cite. But there are dishes that restaurants do that I do not do at home.

mmmm yup that's a goodun', Tiny clanger, hoummus when it is still warm..... <closes eyes & dreams>

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Yep - going to make some for myself later today.

Ooh - family favourite - squid and chorizo stew.

You need 1 chorizo ring, chopped into medium slices, and about 5 prepared squid for 4 people
1 good spanish onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
fresh coriander

finely chop the onion, crush the garlic and then fry til golden. Add the chopped chorizo ring and continue to fry until the chorizo ring has gone reddish brown and is leaking juice. Turn down the heat, add the herbs and tomatoes then simmer for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in another pan, flashfry the chopped squid.

In the last minute of simmering, add the squid to the main mixture, add some black pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls with rice and crusty bread, garnish with a basil leaf.

This is one of my family's favourite meals, and traditionally we eat it when we're about to do something big the next day, like when I was moving out or going back to uni.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

You need 1 chorizo ring,

what is a chorizo ring??

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

http://www.marions-kochbuch.de/index-bilder/chorizo.jpg

That's a chorizo ring

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

tiny clanger - question about chickpeas in the can.

Usually for hoummus I soak and cook chickpeas myself instad of the ones in the cans. We are having 'deli dinner' - a get together we all bring a few deli type dishes (antipasto, dolmades, turkish bread etc.). Because I knew I would be having a mad week I bought a can of chickpeas. Got home and realised the can had brine - the exact thing you said to avoid.

Novice!!!! Can I wash them really well and use anyway? Or do I have to make a special trip to return them?

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

I had to wait till I went and visited my parents to post....

Our family is big on grilling, well maybe we're not, but when you live in the Maryland and dont have AC in the summer you do as much cooking outside as you can in summer. Of course I'm not sure what our excuse is during winter, or on the beach but maybe we dont need one .
Thanksgiving dinner is also big in our family, but since it's summer I thought I'd make everyone drool with a pic I shot this past weekend of all the veggies we grilled.

I did my own veggie burgers too, black beans and rice blended well, then add a sprinkle or two of wheat flour and some TVP (Textured vegetable protein for the unknowing ) Stir until stiff, add herbs and spices to taste, I did garlic and salt, then form as a regular meat patty. I found it helps if you set them in the fridge for a bit before grilling them. .



Attached Image:

Chinese Dumplings for Chineseyea....well duh, that's why they are called Chineses


anyway, ingredients: well anything you prefer
maybe not anything, ok some decent stuff, ie. meat or vegetable or mixed.
put everthing in a food processer and chop up finelly, not really puree, but finelly chopped
flour, water, mixed in a large bowl and shape it into small round wraps.
put the processed stuff on to the wrapping and make into dumpling shape.
steam or boil (depends on shape of dumpling) until cooked

serve with soy sauce and chopped up raw garlic (remember to brush up after finish)

A must have for Chinese New Year (midnight on the dot) and other important chinese festivals.

My mum has a head cold. Yesterday I went over and made her matzo ball soup:

Matzo knaedl (knaedl ounced ken-er-dell)
1 cup coarse ground matzo meal (labelled as such in supermarket or specialty deli)
2 eggs beaten
4 tablespoons butter/marg melted
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp salt

Mix all of above together and refrigerate overnight or for 1hr.

testing, testing 1-2-3
Take mix from fridge and form 1 ball that is about 1 inch. Drop it into boiling broth (chicken or vegetable). Watch to see if it stays together of starts to simmer apart. (hint once mixture is good consistency you can form balls and put back in fridge for a bit to ensure they don't fall apart once in the jacuzzi). Soup will stop simmering once you add all the knaedl but will soon come back to a simmer.

emergency measures:
Add a little more matzo meal before forming rest of knaedl if your test one fell apart. Careful not to add too much or you will end up with cannonballs.
Don't stir broth too vigorously or your knaedl will collapse.
There is a bit of a feel for it so don't get too disheartened if your first attempt is a matzo massacre they are tricky guys.

Pkts of matzo knaedl have a recipe on it too so you don't have to believe my Oma



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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~