Oh wow. It has been a really big month here. I have virtually not had time to cobble posts together so I am grateful for everyone that has commented and visited My Kitchen Stories. I have had a very full plate with cakes, catering, and a rather large car accident with a bit of renovating that I didn’t expect to happen. Travelling is taking a bit more time to add to the issues as I can’t quite afford a car yet. Anyone need a cake made?
As always it is great to be sharing an In My Kitchen post thanks to Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for gathering everyone together. Have a look here.
A couple of weeks ago I put a call out on Facebook for anyone who wanted to try some organic Farro couscous to give me a yell. Well about 4 people did that and I set off to the post office to send out those parcels. Each bag cost 1.90 and then the postage 2 x to Victoria, 1 x to Tasmania and another to Neutral Bay , Sydney cost me $53!. I got such a shock. I am not quite sure how the Australian post office is going broke. To top it off one of the packages returned to me a week later. I checked the address and it was correct. If you are out there Karen Crawford…I tried!. I also had 4 x SuperFoods Kitchen Cookbooks to send out to some lucky readers but haven’t been able to do that at the moment because I am just helping the post office come back into the black. Hold your breath.
I have been having a great time getting into roasted winter vegetable salads . The best thing about winter is roasted vegetables. Don’t you love them?
I have also been trying out some new season, delivered to your door food bags. I promised to do a review of them last week and that is still on the horizon, when I have some more time, but this is the sort of food you can expect to get delivered to your door. This is a pan fried Snapper fillet with roasted Mediterranean salad (yes those vegetables again).
And now for Pizzoccheri. A northern Italian winter dish . Have you seen this pasta before. I haven’t come across it before now. It’s a pasta made with at a large amount of buckwheat flour. That means it’s a very hearty pasta, perfect for the cold winters in the north near the Swiss border where buckwheat grows in abundance. Pronounced Pizz- occ – ery, it’s a cheesy, potato fest. It’s traditionally made with a crumbly cheese called Bitto, Parmesan and Spinach or Cavolo Nero and cabbage. I used Silverbeet and some really crumbly Mersey valley cheddar because we don’t have Bitto here. It’s a very interesting dish where all of the ingredients are boiled in the pot at approximately the same time. Then they are layered with the cheese and some freshly melted butter with garlic.
I took inspiration from this recipe here . I haven’t actually given you a recipe because I would make it a bit differently next time. We decided that we would prefer a cheesy bechamel sauce over the top without the garlic butter. Then we’d like to pop it into the oven to bake for a 1/2 an hour. So if you would like to give it ago have a look at the link. In the meantime we will work on some other recipes using Pizzoccheri. We counter balanced all that richness with a freshly melted tomato sauce and it was good.
Now, I must get back to trying to pull my house back into some kind of May shape and start cooking up some more goodies. It’s slow cooking time! I’ve had the pressure cooker out already.
Oh I hope your May is wrapping up better than it started! That couscous is still staring at me from the counter… I keep wanting to give it the attention it deserves and the days keep flying by, yikes. Yeah, the post office is shocking (but thanks again, or perhaps thanks as I’m not sure if I said it the first time, sigh). xx
Your dish looks delightful Tania. Buckwheat is friendly for so many people to eat, it makes sense that a pasta is made from it – although I have never seen it to buy in Australia. This certainly is hearty – not so your wallet after all of that posting. Good karma awaits you 🙂
Wow – I really hope things are settling down for you now.
I wonder how Australia Post is doing so badly, too. Their costs are exhorbitant and, while snail mail might be down, we are all ordering things from the internet all the time so parcel post must surely be up.
Sorry to hear about your car accident, hope you didn’t suffer much physically. The pasta sounds great, I haven’t heard of that one before. I guess I shouldn’t complain about American postal prices anymore!
Tania, I do hope you get your car back soon, but mostly I hope you’re ok! That Pizzoccheri looks like it would go a long way to help ease your troubles. Take care!
You have been busy. I recently went to the post to send a few items I almost turned on my heal and left at the price. Yeah yeah it costs a fortune, I went through with it in the end. Your pizzoccheri sounds interesting and I reckon I want to give it a go. Have a great one, hope you get some more cake orders.
Tania, firstly I just like to say that the Farro couscous was amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I steamed it, traditional Moroccan style with blue cheese – amazing! Secondly, how good is Winter & baking vegetables – I love roasted potatoes especially. Bring on the slow cooker too 🙂
Sorry to hear about your car and thankfully you are ok. Your hearty winter dishes look delicious and very homely… my kind of food. Thanks for sharing 🙂
A seriously delicious post.
Postage in Australia is ridiculous. Every time I send something it doubles the price of the present. I’m sorry to read you’ve had a bad streak of it lately I hope May is starting to look up for you. That osso bucco (? maybe) looks damn fine x
I LOVE LOVE LOVE roasted veggies, esp. the root veggies. That snapper filet looks absolutely divine!
You catered a large car accident? :O And I know what you mean. I sent off four books and I paid $100. Three were overseas but really, I think the postage was not too far away from the cost of the books!
It is definitely slow cooking time of the year! Your photos make me hungry! Love roast salads!
Postage is beyond ridiculous these days!
Thanks for this month’s IMK view too!
You have been in the wars!!! Lets hope this next month is kinder to you 🙂 I’m the same with wanting to send/giveaway books but it’s so bloody expensive – ouch $53!!!!
The pizzoccheri looks scrummy and yes absolutely lovely roasted vegetables at this time of year. Cheers, Jan
When you say you’ve been catering a large car accident, I’m assuming you didn’t set up a table and dole out muffins to emergency services workers ; ) I hear you on Aus Post. I sent a tiny packet to a sick little girl a few suburbs away and because it was 2g over 150g, it cost $7.50! I could have walked it over, saved the money and given myself some exercise. They give you all these ‘extras’ such as tracking which are now included in the price. I’d rather no tracking and cheaper post. That veal or lamb shank at the end looks very inviting. More to come no doubt! xx
It’s very definitely slow-cooking time. I’m so sorry to hear you don’t have any transport! What a time you have had. I do hope a well-priced very reliable car turns up soon. Postage is so expensive these days; it’s gone beyond being reasonable xx
Golly hon, you have been in the wars! I’m so sorry to hear about the car, are you ok? Aus Post rates are astronomical. As always, even when all else is chaotic, your food always looks amazing.. xxx
I like the sound of that pasta…. buckwheat is okay for me to eat, I think… off to google it now. Thank you for the peek into your very busy kitchen xo