Tapas Extravaganza – Onion & Mushroom Salad

Would it be rude of me to say that I loved tapas long before their onslaught increase in popularity on the Melbourne bar/ restaurant scene? I can’t even remember the first time I enjoyed this casual, relaxed way of dining, where you get to taste a bit of everything. I feel that it was before my trip to Spain though. What I do remember, however, was the first garlic prawns dish I had in Madrid.

My sister and I arrived sometime in the late afternoon, and, after getting settled, found a small restaurant close to where we were staying. The staff didn’t speak any English, and we certainly had no Spanish skills, but after much gesticulating and consulting of phrasebook, we ordered glasses of wine and some food. The smell (and taste) of that garlicky, seafood-y goodness made two travel-fatigued girls very happy.

So I’ve always wanted to make tapas at home, but never quite got around to it. Recently however, I bought The Book of Tapas by Simone & Inés Ortega, which eventually motivated me to give it a go.

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Thai Chicken with Chilli & Basil

When Mr. Z got me the Red Spice Road cookbook, we made a deal that I would make him two dishes from the book, at the very least. Given the number of fabulous recipes that are in this book, he needn’t have worried about me keeping up my end of the bargain (not that I would have reneged on him anyway).

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A Tale of Two Salads

Grand Final day. Take 2. Our graciously hospitable friends were hosting us yet again, and I thought I should bring some salads so it doesn’t fall upon our hosts to provide all the food. I wanted at least one that had a fresh taste and would stand up well to the heaviness of the meats; I decided on the mint and cabbage salad that was in the Red Spice Road cookbook (they recommended it as an accompaniment to this lovely lamb dish. For the second salad I chose to go with something that’s a regular standby, something that everyone would be comfortable with; good ol’ potato salad.

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IIP September - Egg Covered Rice (蛋包飯)

I didn’t have a lot of time to contemplate what to make for the International Incident Eggs party, co-hosted by Jeroxie & Trix in September (my fault entirely, see below).

This is a Japanese dish that works really well as a quick meal or for a packed lunch. Essentially you’ve got a thin, sort of crêpe like egg cover over the ketchup flavoured fried rice. Because of the ketchup factor, I think kids would enjoy it too, despite the veggies you might want to sneak in there (I certainly love this when I was a kid!)

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3 Things You May Not Know About Tofu

What’s there to know about tofu? It’s just bland and boring right? Wrong! Tofu is a versatile, nutritious ingredient that soaks up all the tasty flavours that it comes across. Hopefully this will inspire you to try and incorporate tofu into more of your daily cooking :)

Supposedly invented in China in 164 BC, tofu is made from beans – i.e. soy beans, mung beans etc. Most of the tofu you see in the shops should be made from soy beans. The beans are washed and soaked in water for a period of time, then blended with more added water. Soy milk is extracted from the grounded beans and then boiled. At this point, you can drink the soy milk (after flavouring it either as sweet or savoury), or you can add a coagulating agent to create bean curd. The curd is pressed to create tofu. When I was little, I remember going to the traditional markets with my mum and seeing stacks of tofu pressed between wooden boards, just waiting to be bought & made into something yummy.

Things you may not know…

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