Share, a cookbook by Women for Women International

Women for Women International provide support and training for women whose lives have been impacted by war, working in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Southern Sudan and Rwanda. Through a one-year program, women who would otherwise be socially excluded are provided with job-specific skills, business training and education on their rights, enabling survivors of war to become strong leaders in their communities. 

Share (available through Oxfam) is a cookbook produced by Women for Women International. It features dishes from each of the countries it works in, along with recipes from chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Maggie Beer, humanitarians, including Emma Thompson, Christiane Amanpour, Sir Richard Branson, Dame Judi Dench, Annie Lennox, America Ferrera, and Livia Firth, and even Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. I bought a copy last week, and have started working my way through some of the recipes. I'm guilty of often using recipe books as an inspirational 'starting point' when I'm cooking: sometimes I purposely deviate from the script, experimenting with different ingredients and tastes, while other times I'm simply constrained by what's in the fridge and I have to adjust recipes accordingly. However I've found that with Share I'm keen to follow the recipes to the letter, particularly when trying the dishes from the Women for Women International countries.

The book is sectioned into 'well-being', 'nuture', 'community', and 'celebration', with recipes aimed at healthy dishes, meals for the family table, and recipes for sharing. The instructions are logical and easy to follow, an despite a heavy leaning towards international dishes, there aren't too many ingredients you'd need to hunt down in a specialist store. The spicy chicken casserole from Rwanda (pictured below) is a new favourite, and is likely to make its way onto the table several times this winter: it's a light and fresh dish with a nice kick to it.

I'll be adding occasional recipe book reviews to the blog - if you'd like to recommend a recipe book that you swear by, please do let me know.

#10: Pasta with roast asparagus, prosciutto and pesto

Things are a little busy in the 52 dishes household at the moment. I've been pulling a few long hours here and there, and as a result dinners have been a bit simpler and easier, aimed at getting me and my husband fed rather than something I linger over. Don't get me wrong, I'm nothing silly like an investment banker or a newborn mother, and I've still been able to make time most days for my daily dog-walk-on-the-beach, but things have been a just a little bit more hectic than I'd like.

This is just a slightly fancier version of pesto and pasta - which, let's be honest, is a student dish - making it perfect for a busy weekday night. We get fresh pasta and pesto from a local Italian grocery shop which also has the best deals on seasonal fruit and vegetables, so we typically throw in whatever is going cheap. However, this was my first time cooking asparagus: I've historically been a bit afraid of it, as I've had some tough and rubbery asparagus before and therefore assumed there was a bit of magic to getting it right. This recipe worked really well though, relying on some oil and white wine to keep it nice and tender (you could substitute lemon juice if your white wine is precious, which it probably should be).

Serves 2. 40 minutes preparation & cooking time.

 

400g pasta

1 onion

8-10 stems of asparagus
Half a cup of white wine

4 slices of proscuitto
4 tablespoons of basil pesto

Flaked parmesan to serve

1. Slice the onion and put in the oven (180-200C) in a small and shallow roasting dish doused in olive oil. Give the onions around 10 minutes to soften before adding the asparagus.
2. Chop the asparagus into 'bite size' chunks and add to the onion dish and pour on a large splash of white wine. Add black pepper and put back in the oven for around 15 minutes.
3. Bring a pan of water with salt and oil to the boil. Add the pasta and simmer for 20 minutes (or according to the cooking requirements of your choice of pasta).
4. Drain the pasta and stir in the pesto and sliced proscuitto.
5. Add the onion and asparagus and serve with flaked parmesan and black pepper.

This goes fantastic with Riesling. We drank Taylors Estate Riesling which is really crisp and citrusy - a great complement to the asparagus.

#9: Homemade mini tortillas with chicken and pico de gallo

The hardest thing about starting and blogging this 52 dishes challenge was always going to be honesty. In particular, honesty about failure. Having made the commitment to cook each week and write a post about it here tied me in to sharing even some of the dishes which went a little bit awry. On a good week I get in the kitchen more than once, giving me a bit of margin for error, while during busier periods I've got no leeway. This last week was one such week.

The weather is turning here in Perth. Autumn (or at least, what passes for autumn here) is around the corner, and before long I'll be able to bust out my casserole dish and eat out of that for the brief period that can loosely be described as 'winter' in Perth. The days are getting shorter, I have to wear a jumper on my trips to the beach, and we've put the duvet back on the bed. All this means one thing - I've got to make the most of light summer cooking while I still can.

That was the driving force behind these tortillas, or 'faux tortillas', since I'm being honest. I've never made tortillas before, and as a result I made the amateur mistake of thinking cornflour is an adequate substitute for masa harina . It's not. It wasn't a complete disaster; I supplemented the dough with plain flour until I could had something malleable and workable (cornflour plus water makes a great, and messy, game for a little child, it doesn't make tortillas). These were then grilled for around 1 -2 minutes on each side. They puffed out slightly (hello cornflour!)  but this made them sturdy enough to be eaten flat with food piled up on top. Messy finger food - perfect for a night in with someone who loves you even when you've got food down your front!

If you'd like to make tortillas, I recommend you follow this recipe from Gourmet Traveller, and learn from my mistakes. The chicken marinade, however, was pretty lovely, so I'll just share that instead.

I'm nothing if not honest.

2 Chicken thighs

1 lime

1-2 small red chillies 

1 tsp paprika

Black pepper

Dice the chicken, chop the chillies finely and add to chicken. Add the juice from the lime, paprika and pepper and leave to marinade for an hour or so.

Eating out in Bondi Beach

Alongside my regular weekly recipe updates, I thought I might begin a highly irregular series of 'eating out in...' posts. Less of a 'where to eat' guide, but rather a 'where I ate' rundown. One of the perks of my current job is that sometimes I get to fly off somewhere new, and as a result, I get to try the local cuisine. Eating out is one of my favourite aspects about being away from home - it almost makes up for the time I have to spend away from my husband and dog - and I will happily spend an hour each day wandering between menu stands which line the streets, making the choice of where I'll park myself that evening.

I tend to eat in cafes. I have something of a homing device for finding spots with free wifi (particularly if I'm away for work), and I'm a big fan of sitting outside. I peer into a bustling cafe and check out what's on everyone's plates, and I love a good wine list.

So here's an overview of some of the places I ate during my time staying in Bondi Beach, Sydney.

Dinner

Cafe Bikini

I loved this small cafe situated under a dirty awning on Hall Street. It housed a simple drinks menu and a short list of dishes, but eating here twice I was really impressed. A slow roasted lamb and feta salad was probably my favourite meal of the trip. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, and - I might be biased - but anywhere that doesn't shove you on the worst table just because you're eating alone always gets extra points from me!

Mad Pizza E Bar

A family-friendly pizzeria that turns into a nightclub halfway through your meal? Why not! Happy hour starts at 9.30pm until close. Dancing permitted.

For breakfast, brunch & lunch

Gertrude & Alice

A bookshop-cafe is probably my idea of heaven, throw in the 'lucky dip' book boxes and the divine toasted pear and raspberry bread, and this is a level beyond even that! As books go, they stock both new and secondhand books, and will also buy books off you. I sat here for a good few hours working my way through Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall with a cup of tea, and overheard at least three different groups discussing how amazing the halloumi salad was (I might have to book another trip to Sydney just to try it!). Icing on the cake: they're licensed. Need I say more?

Lyrebird Corn Fritters

The corn fritters stall at Bondi Farmer's Market is apparently something of a local favourite, and you're lucky if you don't have to queue for a good ten minutes before ordering up your breakfast. Served up with bacon, sausages and homemade relishes, they're worth every second you're in that queue! I got a plate of fritters on my last morning in Bondi - a lovely way to finish off my time there.

Le Paris Go Cafe
*cash only*
Apparently also great for dinner, this place is heaving at pretty much any hour of the day. It's worth squeezing in here for a cup of coffee or some french toast, although not ideal if you're in a hurry.

Coffee & drinks

Chapter One
Coffee by day, wine by night. If one venue ever summed up my life, it would be Chapter One. There are a few seats outside with a great view over the ocean for watching the sunset and the surf (or just the surfers). Inside its cosy - perfect for when the wind picks up. They also do breakfast and lunch.

The Living Room
Upstairs at the Corner House on Bondi Road. Great drinks list, fun bar staff and quirky furniture. What more could you ask for from a Sydney bar?

Things to note: lots of places in Bondi Beach seem to be cash only, and to make things worse, this is explained only in the small-print at the bottom of a menu. I had to leave one or two places after being seated for this reason as the ATM was the other end of the street - it's worth keeping an eye out for this!

#8: French toast with caramelised pears

I'm playing catch up at the moment, having been away from my kitchen for three weeks in February. So now I'm trying to make up for lost time, which I suppose can only be a good thing. I collected a few recipe ideas I'm keen to try out after eating in some great cafes while I was away. This is one such recipe - I had breakfast at the Tricycle Cafe in the Salamanca Arts Centre while I was staying in Hobart. It was a lovely and relaxed cafe, and a nice hideaway from the busy market in Salamanca Place on a Saturday morning. The poached pear french toast they served was enormous, dished up with a vanilla syrup, cream and currants - it was beautiful but a little too rich for me to be able to finish. I therefore tried a simpler version for a sunny Saturday morning brunch.

I used a soft ciabatta loaf from a local bakery for this recipe, and it was perfect. I'd steer away from anything harder, like sourdough or crusty broad bread, but that's my personal preference. I also used Packham pears, as they're in season in my area, but I'll be playing around with differen varieties and different fruit in future.

serves 2
20 minutes



For the pears:
1 large pear, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon of honey
A generous splash of rum (amaretto might also be lovely)
A teaspoon of vanilla essence

For the toast:
4-6 thick slices of soft white bread (depending on the size of the loaf)
6 eggs
A teaspoon of vanilla essence

Over a low heat, mix the honey, rum and vanilla essence in a pan.

When you have a smooth mixture, add the pear slices and put the lid on.

Check the pears regularly, turning them as required. They should become noticeably soft. The sugary rum mixture will also become tacky.

When soft, remove the pears from the pan and place on a plate at the side.

Melt some butter in the pan with the remnants of the sugary rum mix.

Crack and mix together the eggs and another teaspoon of vanilla essence

Cover each slice of bread in egg and place in the pan. The bread should be turned once or twice, and served up when the egg is cooked.

Place the pears on the french toast, and serve with icing sugar and maple syrup

#7: Twice-roasted lamb shanks with mint mash and carrots

This dish, I'll be honest, was a dual-effort. I love cooking with my husband - glass of wine in hand, sharing the details of our respective days. We don't do it as often as either of us would like: football practice, work and social commitments get in the way. But when we do get together in the kitchen, I relish it. 

This is a much simpler dish than the convoluted name implies. For people who work all day, the concept of slow cooked meat is a little abstract - it's just simply not possible! (Edit: as Annika points out below, it is possible with a slow cooker, but we've currently not got one of these.... maybe that needs to be an upcoming purchase) We got around this by roasting the lamb on a low heat for a number of hours on the Tuesday night before cooking it again on the Wednesday night - slow roasted meat on a working person's schedule.

serves 2


2 lamb shanks
1 onion
A few sprigs of rosemary
6 cloves garlic
Half a bottle of red wine
3-4 medium potatoes
4 carrots
Sprig of mint
Knob of butter

DAY ONE:

1. Slice onions into rings and place these, with the cloves of garlic, in the bottom of a heavy casserole or roasting dish (ideally with a lid, otherwise use foil).
2. Place the shanks on top, pour in half a bottle of wine, some large sprigs of rosemary, and some cracked pepper.
3. Roast on a low heat (around 100^oC) for three or four hours. Keep the meat, onion and gravy mix in the dish overnight.

DAY TWO:

1. Put the meat back in the oven at 150^oC for 1½ hours, then put the heat up to 180-200^oC for the final 30-40 minutes.
2. At this point, you should:
• put the potatoes on to boil - they should boil for 20-30 minutes, until a blunt knife slides into the flesh easily. For this meal, we didn't peel the potatoes first, making a mash with a bit of rustic appeal.
• put the carrots (similarly with the skins and tips still on) in the oven to roast for 30 minutes, doused in olive oil and plenty of black pepper.
3. Remove the meat from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes while you make the mash.
4. When the potatoes are ready, drain them and mash them with diced mint and butter. If the mash is dry, scoop some gravy from the meat dish in to moisten it.
5. Serve the meat up with the rosemary and the soft onion/gravy mix. Remove the carrots from the oven and serve them up with the mash.

I recommend this with a hearty red wine. We went for a Willoughby Park Cabernet Sauvignon, one of my favourite bottles from one of my favourite vineyards here in Western Australia.