How To Fake French

I am TRYING to learn French, ok? I'm at that understanding more than I can speak stage (read: I can understand a few words here and there and can still barely string two words together). Despite living with Frenchmen, all I seem to have picked up are these 'listening noises' shown in this video. That really is how they roll!
A-puh!
Oh lala!
Oh la la la la!
Achhhhhhhh



By the way, just pretending to be French (doing a French accent when reading) helps me get the right pronunciation and also (a handy thing about English being such a magpie language) half the time I can just 'make up' French words by taking a likely English word and saying it as a French stereotype would.

And here's how to use Oh la la (so versatile!)

Gyoza in Lemongrass Broth

This soup with dumplings (the Japanese 'potsticker' kind, not the stodgy British kind) is just delicious and makes a filling meal. I always thought of 'broth' as something like watery healthful but bland meat stock for the infirm - not so in this recipe! We've been getting asparagus just recently in our organic delivery box (Australia has food in season at strange times, lucky us). If you want to make this when asparagus is not in season, use your imagination and substitute some other yummy veg like something from the broccoli family maybe.

By the way, it's easy (at least here) to grow lemongrass. I have a border of it doing well along the wall below the leaky gutter - perfect as lemongrass likes water which is a scarce resource here.

This recipe comes from a beaut book by Nicola Graimes called New Vegetarian Kitchen: Raw/Broil/Fry/Steam/Simmer/Bake. (Recipe is hers but photo is of my attempt; hers looked good too!)




1. First make the gyoza. Put the aduki beans, sesame oil and half the soy sauce in a bowl and mash lightly with the back of a fork, leaving some of the beans whole. Stir in the ginger, spring onions, garlic, cornflour and cabbage, Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

2. Put 1 heaped tablespoon of the filling in the centre of a gyoza wrapper - you want the parcels to be as full as possible. Brush the edge of the wrapper with water, top with another wrapper and press the edges to seal. Set aside and repeat to make 11 more gyoza.












3. To make the lemongrass broth, put the stock, lemongrass and lime leaves, ginger, vegetarian fish sauce, lime juice and caster sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the stock into a clean bowl, discarding the solids, and return broth to the saucepan. Add the remaining soy sauce, coconut milk and chilli and cook for another 5 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 70 degrees celsius / 150 fahrenheit and heat a griddle pan (I didn't know what one was so used a frying pan) over medium heat. Toss the asparagus in the sesame and sunflower oils and griddle it (fry) for 5-7 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender and charred in places. Transfer to an ovenproof plate and keep warm in the oven.

5. I fried the gyoza with just a little oil in a non-stick frying pan but the recipe suggests deep frying: To deep fry the gyoza, heat the remaining sunflower oil in a deep saucepan to 180 C / 350 F, or until a cube of bread turns golden in 40 seconds. Fry the gyoza, 3 at a time, for 2 minutes, turning once, until golden and puffed up. Remove, using a slotted spoon, and drain on kitchen paper. Transfer to an ovenproof plate and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining gyoza.

6. To serve, heat the lemongrass broth, if necessary, then ladle it into four large, shallow bowls. Sprinkle with coriander and put three gyoza in the centre of each bowl, slightly overlapping them. Arrange the asparagus on top and serve immediately.

One Second films

We can observe a surprising amount in one second. I remember the moment I realised I count to ten in less than ten seconds; a revelation.


Enjoy these seconds of beauty.

Seconds Of Beauty - 1st round compilation from The Beauty Of A Second on Vimeo.

So Dead Happy

You know when you're so happy you have to watch yourself for smugness setting in? Well the following song, chorused along to in the car road-tripping around the North Island, really grew on me with the lush speed of the rain-drenched NZ Spring. It's catchy. The verses turn out to be a little more grim than the impression I'd got from the song -which was soley based on its smug wee chorus - 'so dead happy'.
I was watching Seinfeld the other day (YEAH, it's related!) and it was that episode where George decides to bow out of any office meeting where he makes a joke that cracks people up. He figures (thanks to advice from Jerry) that by leaving the meeting immediately he'll go out on a a high note like a stand up comic before he can lose them again with another joke that won't hit the mark. Well that kind of 'that's it from me, folks' feeling hits me pleasantly when I hit the hay some nights - ok, not so much a feeling of WANTING that night to be my last, but just that if it WAS, I'm all happy with my life and could leave it there -je ne regrette a rien. No regrets.

I may sort of regret this long-winded introduction but for me feeling content with my life in the moment and in general brings a lot of that 'so dead happy' feeling.



Here, from the album 'The Woolshed Sessions' my sister gave me (and the only CD we had to listen to for much of our trip!) is Dead Happy performed by Andy Hummel and mates. Just try not to sway your head in the chorus!

Cave of Forgotten Dreams review

He ran away from the circus to become a scientist. One of the charming experts featured in The Cave of Forgotten Dreams was so moved by the experience of visiting the Chauvet Cave that it changed his life (he still LOOKED like a juggler though).
This film may not have outright changed my life but it did fill me with awe and inspire me to experiment with 3D cinematography - do the people have to look so flat? It also made me wonder about the ethics of inflicting confusing accents on audiences for extended periods of time. Not even so much accents as voices - the filmmaker, Warner Herzog has a distinctive slow, 'storyteller' style of narration. (Here I was thinking 'Plastic Bag' had had an affected voice for humour's sake).

For me, the experience of watching this film was like a fairytale education - relaxing in the darkness and getting absorbed in the magic of this underground world. For my boyfriend, it was a long drawn out struggle to stay awake - a real test of love! "But I enjoyed the first 45minutes" he assured me. Didn't he marvel at the last part where finally the narrator just left us to the cave to enjoy without his sleepy commentary? "Well, yeah but I was already tired by then - why couldn't they have had that quiet beautiful part at the beginning and THEN explained all about it?". The man at the theatre had wished us good luck because, personally, he hated it. "I was bagging it just now actually. The narration - how wanky!" Got to love his honesty. "But you know, you might love it if you're an anthropologist, or an archeologist or something - are you an archeologist?" I'm not but really, you don't have to be, it probably wouldn't be academically in depth enough for archeologists. I'm sure they, and most people watching this film, would love it though. If you're a movie 'buff' like our man at the cinema, you might not like it stylistically as a film, but you will be amazed by the beauty. Sparkling stalactites and stalagmites, formations I'd never seen hanging like curtains from the cave roof, the way the shapes and depth of the cave is rendered in 3D, and most of all, the grace and energy of the cave art and the powerful way the lighting was used to reveal it.

My boyfriend didn't feel he'd learnt that much but then he knew a bit about the caves already. I, on the other hand, was amazed even to discover there had once been rhinoceroses in Europe! I was also fascinated (and admittedly a bit disappointed) by the fact that there were so few signs of human life aside from the rock art. And was I the only one who couldn't see the depiction of the lower half of a woman? Perhaps none of the audience saw it - after all, my boyfriend was likely half asleep at that point and the only other people in the audience were two old and grey couples and perhaps the 3D glasses didn't sit well over their ordinary ones. Maybe I was the only one awake in the darkness, the tiny audience was as silent as the grave. I did like the end where I felt alone in the wonder of the cave, exploring by torchlight.

The part right at the end though, well! I think I'll leave you to make up your own mind what that wee director's add on was for? How shall we tie up this cave art documentary? How about dreaming doppelganger nuclear-albino crocodiles? Did the circus guy have a hand in this or is this just Herzog trying to mess with people who go stoned to 3D movies?

Soupe du jaune

It's officially Spring and the first Spring morning was all sunshine and promise- then the promise was delivered when the afternoon brought the gift of rain and the evening an impressive lot of stormy weather. So you can forgive yet another comforting meal-in-a-bowl type soup. Also, we had corn, pumpkin and cream cheese that needed eating, et voila! - a recipe is born! So I adapted a recipe from World Vegetarian Classics for corn chowder and made this rather wonderful roasted vegetable chowder - the roasting bringing out even more flavour and allows us to use heaps of garlic (entirely missing in the corn chowder recipe). The cream cheese with its richness and that touch of acidity complements and balances the sweetness of the vegetables. However, if dairy products are not for you, you can make the soup vegan by swapping the cream cheese and milk for soy milk.

Ingredients

1/2 Japanese pumpkin
3 carrots
3 parsnips
4 fresh corn cobs
1 L / 4 cups water (I may well have used more, so add more to get consistency that suits you)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 bay leaves
1 large or 2 small onions
1 bulb garlic (yes, a whole bulb, but don't worry, the roasting softens its flavour)
1/2 t dried sage
1 t fresh thyme leaves / 1/2 t dried thyme
3/4 c 200g cream cheese
1/2 c / 125ml milk
(or swap cream cheese and milk for 325ml unsweetened soy milk)

Recipe serves 6-8 (or more if served in mug-sized portions)

Directions

Preheat oven at 160 degrees celcius (my oven is quite hot but do keep temp lowish so veggies develop good flavour)

Spray a big baking tray with olive oil. Chop pumpkin into large slices (leave skin on - it will peel off easily once cooked) and place on the tray. Slice carrots in half lengthways. Dice a few pieces of carrot for chunky textures bits and set aside. Trim skinny parsnips ends off and set aside with carrot chunks. (seen here on plate with corn in a steamer. I also aded some chopped soft roasted bits, too, because I can't follow even my own recipes as I'm making them up).


Cut the bulbous tops in half and arrange these and the carrots around the pumpkin (or on another tray if they won't fit without overlapping). Place in oven and cook till vegetables are soft and roasted (with that nice caramelly chew on the pumpkin) but don't let them dry out or go hard and crunchy - we're making soup here!


While veggies are roasting, strip kernels from corn cob - like this: stand corncob upright (hold the top) and cut downwards with a sharp knife. It's a good idea to do this in a large bowl as they kind of ping off everywhere. Leave kernels in the bowl for now. To make the stock, place the stripped corn cobs and the bay leaves in a big pot. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and cover with the water. Bring stock to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. At the same time, cook veggie chunks: In a steamer, place the corn corn kernels and twiggy parsnip and carrot ends and steam these as soup is boiling. Remove steamer once kernels and vegetables are tender.Discard the corn cobs and bay leaves.


Roughly chop roasted veggies, whizz in a blender/ food processor and add to the stock along with the remaining herbs. Add the cream cheese and milk to the soup mixture and stir / whizz with handheld blender till smooth and creamy. Return steamed veggie chunks to the soup. Reheat soup and add salt and pepper if desired.

Regina Spektor

One of the newest albums I own and it doesn't even sound too modern. But it does sound good:

Silver Dagger

The other night when I was closing the shop there was at least some consolation entertainment for the late-night browsers - I got to usher them out to listen to a bunch of guys serenading someone acapella style at the next-door cafe. Ok, it could have been a proper choir or maybe a flash mob, but I like to think it was suberbly organised romancing going on!
An acapella aside: I went to a birthday party once where the birthday girl's boyfriend suddenly and his posse of mates suddenly cut the music, stepped forward and started a full-on seranade, replete with well-practiced harmonies. At first I was shocked but then burst out laughing when he got down on one knee to express the depth of his emotion. This guy was funny. ...no-one else was laughing though, in fact, they looked moved. So this was the passionate Latin American sterotype I'd been waiting for - it surpassed even my expectations.

At home, I searched online to see if any of the many phone-videographers had posted the song but my search instead turned up another acapella perfomance in the neighbourhood. I'll put it down to dodgy sound-recording equipment, but what it sounded like was a group of women enthusiastically murdering a song I love. So instead of posting the cafe pop-acapella performance, or the lynch squad, or even the Equadorian quartet, here's the a good version of the folk song I love - Silver Dagger.



and here's a version by 'White Antelope' (Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes) - beardy I know but you can close your eyes to contentrate on the music - he is!:

Angus & Julia Stone - You're the one that I want - Rolling Session#12

Yes, I love Grease, ok? This song especially is such a fun one - who doesn't love to dance to it? This version though is not as much fun and won't get you out of your seat - in fact it might make you relax back into your chair even more. But what it lacks in tight leather pants and instant gratification, it makes up for with a very promising voice - one that leaves the accompanying musicians sound like they're twiddling their thumbs in the background, knowing it's not worth competing with.

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black

Sad to hear there will be no more from this great voice.

Romain Duris And Joana Preiss In Dans Paris

After watching this all that I came up with was: "too slow, too much jazz, almost switched it off. it was very french."
But that's what lots of people like, so decide for yourself. I liked the song anyway.

Paul Ubana Jones " I need a storm"

Paul Ubana Jones is an awesome singer songwriter and fantastic live performer who I've been to see play at Bodega in Wellington and The Poverty Bay Club in Gisborne. It's amazing what he can do with just his voice and a guitar.

The Desert of Forbidden Art

Sometimes I worry that I'm not doing enough, not seeing enough of all that's creative and wonderful in the world. I feel like I'll never have the time to see nearly enough, that we have endless artistic riches to enjoy and yet we sometimes watch rubbish TV! Certainly enormous museums like the Louvre will make you feel like that - I again suffered from art saturation when I visited and only saw a fraction of their collection. I wonder how I'll feel when I get to this museum (below) I just learnt about, ironically enough, from watching TV. Yesterday I'd never heard of it, now my life feels richer for having watched this documentary and it's somewhere, even if I never get to, I'm glad exists.

Making Macedonian Ajvar with Song From Vaska Ilieva

At a friend's place the other day I was offered a wonderful snack - pita bread topped with fresh avocado and ajvar. What's ajvar? I'd never heard of it. My friend just knew it was some Macedonian relish her flatmate bought from a specialty store. Some relish alright, it was delicious - all smoky delightfulness. You can imagine my delight then when I found large jars of it for sale a couple of days later in our local supermarket - not in the least a specialty store. I of course bought some and within a couple of days of my flatmates discovering it (also for the first time) it was gone. Maybe I should learn to make it, given how much of it we could potentially get through a month. I found this video online though and, lovely and communal as it looks, I think you'll agree it may just be a bit more time consuming than anything I had in mind. (So if you see it for sale, try a jar and support your local shop).

Monty Python's Finland song

LEST WE FORGET

J'adore des stéréotypes

After a year and a half dating a Frenchman I am finally taking some proper classes at the Alliance Francais so that I might understand a word he says. No, he and my French flatmate both have very good English but as I don't speak French, they are polite and speak English all the time so I can understand. It would be great for us all to be able to have conversations in French, non?

So to celebrate my imminent mastery of the language, and a year and a half since this frenchman and got to talking croissants and Jacques Cousteau, here's a song about wonderful French stereotypes, made by Kiwis.




I love the 60's styling of the clip - an apartment we stayed in in Paris had such brilliant 60's style (as in it hadn't been redecorated since then)- massive patterned and colourful wallpaper everywhere and nothing but floor lamps for lighting. I better go learn some past tenses so I can write 'I loved it!' in French.

Leek Fritters

This recipe comes from a wonderful recipe book I bought recently - Yotam Ottolenghi's 'Plenty'. I love this book! The writer is a chef whose restaurants are famous for their fresh and original salads and vegetable dishes. Although the restaurants are not vegetarian, this recipe collection IS, which trills me so. The Guardian commissioned him to write a column on vegetarian cooking on the basis of his knowledge of fresh produce and how to treat it which he attributes to his family's recipes and the farmers markets in Israel where he grew up. The recipes from that column plus others make up this appetisingly photographed cook book. Everything I've made from it so far has been delicious and very well-received. These leek fritters are so much better than their name sounds and were all gobbled up straight away by just three of us!

Leek Fritters

Serve 4

450g leeks (about 2 or 3 leeks) trimmed weight
5 shallots, finely chopped
150 ml olive oil
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and sliced
25g parsley (leaves and fine stalks), finely chopped
3/4 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
1/4 t ground turmeric
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1 t sugar (I used raw caster sugar)
1/2 t salt
1 free-range egg white
120g self-raising flour
1 T (yes, T) baking powder
1 whole free-range egg
150ml milk
55g unsalted butter, melted


Sauce
100g Greek yoghurt
100g sour cream
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
20g parsley leaves, chopped
30g coriander leaves, chopped



Start by making the sauce.Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor until a uniform green. Set aside for later.

The boys were pretty happy to eat the bread covered in the sauce too - it makes a delish, if garlicky dip.

Cut the leeks into 2cm thick slices; rinse and drain dry. Saute the leeks and shallots in a pan with half the oil on a medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until soft.


Transfer to a large bowl and add the chilli, parsley, spices, sugar and salt. Allow to cool down.

Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold it into the vegetables. In another bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, whole egg, milk and butter to form a batter. Gently mix it into the egg white and vegetable mixture.


Put 2 T of the remaining oil into a large frying pan and place over medium heat. Spoon about half of the vegetable mixture into the pan to make four large fritters. (I actually ended up making 12, not 8 fritters with this recipe as that seemed like the fritter size I was used to). Fry them 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden and crisp. Remove to kitchen paper and keep warm. Continue making the fritters, adding more oil as needed. Serve warm, with the sauce on the side or drizzled over.

Happy Bastille Day

As many of you will know, thanks to the tour de france, yesterday was bastille day - France's national day. We didn't find any cool events happening (they're happening tomorrow) so drank French wine and watched a French movie and some tour de france. Those guys just work so hard! And we just sat and sat on the couch!

But to honour their hard work, and France, and for fun, here's a gag video from prankster Rémi Gaillard. Please ignore the ads and just enjoy the clip.

I'll do my lovin' in the wintertime

I've been hibernating a little this winter which is silly because my house is easily one of the coldest places to be - colder than sitting outside most nights! But the promise of good live music the other night lured me out of the house and down to Fremantle. The company of my old flatmate Andre and Freo friends added with the relaxed atmostphere at Kulcha and warm tunes of two local bands made for a very warm evening.

As you may have noticed, many new bands I like still sound like they are old - like they're from the 60's or 70's. This band Big Old Bear from the Perth hills sounds even older though, like an oldtime bluegrass band full of harmonies and fiddles. Here they are perfoming their version of a song that is 100 years old!



This next one is just two of them singing what I believe is one of their own songs. (I couldn't find anything else on the internet with that title).


They also did a cover of a song I love, 'Morning Birds' by the Be Good Tanyas.


I love that Be Good Tanya's video but I also love this version by Jolie Holland:


Also check out the other band that evening, The Lonely Brothers, an all-girl band from Fremantle who describe their music as having a 'folky roots-ish sorta sound with bits and bobs of jazz phrasing, pop hooks, orchestral strings and worldly rhythms, tying it all together into an old-but-new sound'. They met at highschool and are still very young and ever-so polite- thanking me personally when I went to the bar at Kulcha to buy one of their albums. The 5 track album I bought IS really rather obsessed with loneliness but has one upbeat song on it. Their website has other tracks you can listen to, too. They're very feminine, esp for brothers.

Macromantics - Jump

No video of this - just listen


That cracked me up.

Who says just because you're a white chick, sorry, a shiela, from Australia that you can't rap?

That first song is from the album Like a Version (Vol 3). These Like a Version albums are put out by an Australian radio station who records Aussie, and some overseas musicians performing accoustic covers of famous songs. They're brilliant. Whenever I listen to it at work I am doing a favour for the small record store next door as customers inevitably rush over to ask what album I'm playing - it's like this:

Americans invented teenagers?!

America just celebrated its Independence Day. As someone from an ex-colony (that hasn't got independence yet), I've always found it interesting that like America, our main language is English - not just from another continent but named after 'the mother country'. Now it's not England but just its language that's doing all the 'colonising' around the world and in turn the language has been influenced by its colonies. Since England 'gave' English to America, America has contributed more new words to the language than England has. Here's a list of some of them from Bill Bryson's geeky but entertainingly readable 'Mother Tongue':

commuter, bedrock, snag, striptease, cold spell, gimmick, baby-sitter, lengthy, sag, soggy, teenager, typewriter, radio, to cut no ice, to butt in, to sidetrack, hangover, to make good (to be successful), fudge, publicity, joyride, bucket shop (Rose doesn't even know this one), blizzard, stunt, law-abiding, department store, notify, advocate (as a verb), currency (for money), to park, to rattle (to unnerve), hindsight, beeline, raincoat, scrawny, take a backseat, cloudburst, graveyard, know-how, to register (as in a hotel), to shut down, to fill the bill, to hold down (as in to keep), to hold up (as in rob), to bank on, to stay put, to be stung (cheated), and even 'stiff upper lip'!


Now, you can put them all into a story, or, better yet, a rap?

Yes, there's so much contention with language ('a definition of a language is a dialect with an army and a navy') but let's keep it short and celebrate some variety in our amazing language. So - Another book I love for its exploration of how English has been influenced over the years is Rotten English (ed Dohra Ahmad), an anthology (vernacular poems, sections from novels, and essays) written in English as it is spoken around the world - slang, creole, pidgin etc.



From Glasgow (and back in time to 1984) here's Unrelated Incidents -No. 3 by Tom Leonard

this is thi
six a clock
news thi
man said n
thi reason
a talk wia
BBC accent
iz coz yi
widny wahnt
mi ti talk
aboot thi
trooth wia
voice lik
wanna yoo
scruff. if
a toktaboot
thi trooth
lik wanna yoo
scruff yi
widny thingk
it wuz troo.
jist wanna yoo
scruff tokn.
thirza right
way ti spell
ana right way
to tok it. this
is me tokn yir
right way a
spellin. this
is ma trooth.
yooz doant no
thi trooth
yirsellz cawz
yi cannay talk
right. this is
the six a clock
nyooz. belt up

'Magic Elf' overnight bread

After having delicious home-made bread every time we had dinner at our friends' place, I was inspired to start making my own - hence the focaccia post a little while ago. The bread my friend Johanna makes though is a round, sliceable loaf that you can use for sandwiches or just eat as is. She's perfected the art of home bread-making and so can now have much better bread than you can easily buy here, and at a fraction of the cost. She and I both have French partners so going through a loaf of bread a day is nothing unusual.

So as you can guess, I weaselled the recipe from her - and the best part is, it's SO EASY - meaning she can and does make a loaf a day. All you need to do is leave it overnight (or longer) to relax the gluten. That's why I call it magic elf bread - it's as if little magic elves have visited your kitchen at night, doing all the kneading for you! Even though I quite enjoy kneading dough, there isn't always the time. The other good thing about this recipe is that leaving it for so long really improves the flavour (through slow fermentation) and the moist dough baked in a closed pot creates a wonderful crust - C'est magnifique! (The recipe by the way is not a French one but developed by a baker in Manhattan - see video below recipe)

My first attempt: I made the dough yesterday (in about 30 seconds, no kidding, and baked it today. Here's a video of me discovering the result:


No Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery

Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour (can use 1 c wholemeal an 2 c plain if you like), more for dusting

¼ teaspoon instant yeast (that's right, only 1/4 t!)

1¼ teaspoons salt

Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 20 degrees celsius (70 degrees F).

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 230 degrees celcius (450 F). Put a 24-32 c capacity (6- to 8-quart) heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.At first it might be hard or heavy feeling but after you've left it to cool, it will have a great slightly chewy texture with an incredible crust (not too thick).
Yield: One 680 g (1½-pound) loaf.






Oh yeah, and did I mention you don't have to just make round loaves?




You can make baguettes that even the French will squeeze and nod approvingly at: separate the risen dough into three or four pieces, shape them into rectangles, fold into thirds like a letter then roll into stick shapes. With this dough it can be a bit tricky as it's very soft and wobbly, so don't worry too much about achieving a flawless baguette shape. Place baguettes on an oven tray covered with ovenproof paper (pinch up paper between each one to keep them separated when they rise some more and spread out. Cover with a clean tea-towel and leave for about 1-3 hours. When risen, pull paper flat to leave 'breathing room' in between each baguette so they'll cook evenly. Place tray in an oven preheated to 200 degrees celsius and cook for just about 15 minutes (depending on your oven). The don't need to be covered and will cook quickly because of their greater surface area - see? I learnt something at school!

Owww- Kangaroos!

After 4 years living in Perth, I finally made it to Heirisson Island where the kangaroos roam free. Well, it turns out that there's a fence across to stop them bouncing ever-so-cutely onto the road (see the road behind us in the video?). They live beside a wetland and when Johanna and I visited on our walk, the grass was lush and green and they just couldn't get enough of it. Bless. Just look at them nibble!
Yes, this is like a cute kitty video, nothing fancy, just us petting their soft, soft SOFT fur. And just look at those adorable eyes they have - so easy to be a vegetarian when animals are this cute (also easy if they are disgusting and scaly looking). Ok, so their claws are quite scary and would be at least as unappealing as chicken-feet on a plate. But forget their lack of manicures (and mine) - just look at these girls!

Australia is weird

See? Even the trees are weird. I've never seen one like this before.

Fantasia has no limits

I wish my bookstore was a little more like this. I love ours but I don't get to sit in a leather armchair reading and smoking a pipe. What I'd most like is that the little boy who visits our store to have a little imagination - kids these days: are they not creative or just not this one? OK, many of my old students were actually very creative, talented and funny. Some not only loved stories but were great storytellers themselves. Long live stories!

I just found this film for sale at the video (ok, DVD) store and watched it again for the first time in years. I hear 'they' (in this case Leonardo di Caprio's production company) are going to do a new movie which will more closely reflect the messages of Michael Ende's brilliant novel. I'm glad to hear it as there's so much in that book (not just in plot but messages, themes etc) and so little of it was brought into the films (to the point where Ende wanted them to change the name of the film or cancel production as it was not a strong enough reflection of what he had created with the novel). You really should read the book, dare I say it is 'powerful'? Hope that didn't put you off. It's also a challenging and affirming book for children - not one of these flimsy adventures but has a lot of depth.

Esau Mwamwaya

One of the musicians I've been introduced to through my workmates' musical tastes is Esau Mwamwaya. The song below is Kamphopo (official Malawi Pride Video) from the album The Very Best.

I had fun working/dancing to this 'Very Best' album in the shop today, unpacking boxes has never been so fun. Rain pouring outside, inside all howdies and gladtalk with the customers.

The Big Orange Splot

He was carrying a can of bright orange paint - No-one knows why.

This picture book was one of my favourites as a kid so after the surprise online discovery with the last book I looked for, I had a go at finding this one. Maybe it's on my mind as Australia has boab trees which before I moved here only existed for me on the pages of that book! Perth also has some awful everything-the-same suburbs which make me cringe. This story is bound to make you smile, though!

I really like the way they read this even though there's a small glitch in the middle. They also have a special way of staying Mr Plumbean's name. Maybe because all New Zealanders are on a first name basis and 'Mister!' is a novel word? Also funny that the first result I found for this book was read by Kiwi kids, eh?


The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater

Flight Of The Conchords - Jenny

As I've been a bit forgetful putting my posts up, here is a song that's about forgetfulness, from Wellington duo Flight of the Conchords, if my memory serves me well.

Tikki Tikki Tembo

Would you credit it? Would you? Genius! I had the brilliant idea to see what came up if I searched for our childhood favourite Tikki tikki tembo... Why don't we all make a song of our favourite book?




If you don't know the book then buy it! (you might need to get the store to order it in as it's really old - like me!) Or look at this version:




I could say the whole name when I was four!

Lisa Ekdahl- Nature Boy

The lovely Lisa Ekdahl (thanks again, Sweden!) sings this eerie jazz standard, also beautifully covered by David Bowie. Lisa's voice is like a hot water bottle for your ears to snuggle up to in winter.

Focaccia

Focaccia
Italy. Recipe by Martha Rose Shulman from her wonderful book 'Mediterranean Harvest'
Makes one large loaf (I made two smaller ones due to the size of my baking dishes)



This is my second attempt at this recipe. The first time I got impatient and didn't wait to read all the instructions before trying to follow them. So just be good and follow the recipe - it works! The texture of this second one was just great. It did take ages though (all that rising it needs) but you can do half of it ahead of time - see notes below.

For the Sponge
1 t active dry yeast
1 c warm water
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Dough
1 t active dry yeast
1 c warm water
3 T olive oil
3 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
2 t salt

For the Topping
2 T olive oil
1 t coarse sea salt

1. Make the Sponge: Combine the yeast and water in a large bowl and stir to dissolve. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast is creamy. Whisk in the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until bubbly and doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

2. Make the dough: Whisk together the yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until the yeast is creamy, 5-10 minutes. Add to the sponge mixture and whisk in, along with the olive oil. Whisk in 1 c of the flour. Add the salt and remaining flour, a cup at a time, folding it in with a wooden spoon. When you can, scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, until soft and velvety.

3. Clean, dry and lightly oil your bowl. Shape the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, rounded side down, then turn so the rounded side is up. (actually mine was ball-like so all rounded - just pop it in the bowl then turn over). Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

4. Oil an 11 x 17 inch baking dish (28 x 43 cm) with olive oil. Turn the dough onto the dish. Oil or moisten your hands and press the dough out until it just about covers the bottom of the dish. The dough will be sticky. Cover with a towel and allow it to relax for 10 minutes, then continue to press it out until it reaches the edges of the dish. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 45 minutes -1 hour, or until the dough is full of air bubbles.

5. Thirty minutes before baking, set a baking stone (if you have one - I didn't, I just put a metal tray and it seemed to work ok) on the centre rack of the oven and heat to 250 degrees celsius / 425 F.

6. Top the focaccia: With lightly oiled fingertips or with your knuckles, dimple the dough, pressing down hard so that you leave indentations. Drizzle on the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt. Place in the oven on the baking stone (or at least in the middle of the oven). Spray the dough three times with water during the first 10 minutes of baking (I don't have a water spray bottle so flicked it on with my fingers from a bowl of water - I figure they were making focaccia before spray bottles were invented, right? So that MIGHT have been the original way to do it), bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until the edges are crisp and the top is golden. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan at once, and cool on a rack. If you want a softer focaccia, cover with a towel when you remove it from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature.

ADVANCE PREPARATION: The dough can be made through to Step 3 and refrigerated for up to 5 days. Punch it down, oil it lightly and seal in a plastic bag. Allow it to come to room temperature before proceeding with step 4. Once baked, focaccia will not keep well but you will probably eat it up quickly anyway.

VARIATIONS

Whole Wheat Focaccia - Substitute 3/4 c of whole wheat flour for 3/4 c all-purpose flour in the dough.

Bell Pepper Focaccia - Knead in 2 red bell peppers, roasted, seeded and chopped, or scatter them over the top.

Tomato Focaccia - Knead in 1/2 c drained chopped, sun-dried tomatoes

Herb Focaccia - Knead in 3 T chopped fresh sage or rosemary or sprinkle over the top.

A Winter walk

Snapshots from this morning....before the storm.

Go Back To Where You Came From

Thank you SBS for showing something that is getting people talking about some of the issues surrounding immigration in Australia.


I like to learn something new everyday...or not - because most of what's news is crushingly depressing. This mini series didn't so much change my mind as provide some glimpses into what some refugees have been through. I did know about the war in Congo (DRC) but not actually much about it. Did you know, or do you remember these horrific basic facts:

In a country of 70 million, 5 million have been killed so far in a war that has been going on for the past twelve years. It is estimated that over 10,000 women are raped every day. I can't see how people can criticise people seeking to immigrate to safer countries than this.

Music of the streets of Congo

As Luc is in France (and I'm not) I think back to my visit there last year. As well as having a great time with him and his friends and family, I also did a little travel alone after he returned to Australia. While he was back at work I was traveling in Provence and staying with my first couchsurfing hosts.

The teenage son recommended a cool cinema in Avignon which I duly checked out. It was one of these small independent ones with a bar which everyone had clearly enjoyed before the film. I chose to see a music documentary as I don't (yet) speak French. I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend you track it down.

Benda Bilili is about a group of crippled musicians who met living and performing on the streets in Kinshasa, Congo. I've just watched the refugee documentary series 'Go Back to Where You Came From' (see post). There was a family who had fled Congo for Kenya and then maybe somewhere more permanent - so the lively man on that show reminded me of this music doco as he got the Australians dancing to Congolese music. Staff Benda Bilili were discovered by a Belgian music producer who helped bring their music to the world. These guys will amaze you.

Winter Solstice

It's the middle of winter. The shortest days are here but we're still getting temperatures of 22 degrees celsius. My friend is Finland tells me that there it's summer (that much I knew) but that the daytime temperatures on sunny days were around 15 degrees! Ay! I think when I visit her I'll do it in their winter to experience a real White Winter.
So here's a romantic wintery song perfect for snuggling up to. 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'. I like a version I can't find but this one is pretty good too. I don't watch the show but if it gets kids introduced to different musical styles that's good.

In Memoria di Me (In Memory of Me)

What gives our lives meaning and how far would we go to follow our beliefs?
One film exploring life's purpose is Italian film In Memory of Me. I kept thinking about this film after it finished and it can lead to some big questions so, although it is not a new release film (2007), I wanted to introduce it to you.


This pensive film follows Andrea, a man who decides to give up his outwardly successful but unfulfilling life 'in the world' in favour of a life of devotion in a monastery. Before committing to the church there is the trial period of the novitiate; this is the timespan of the story. The purpose of the novitiate is for the postulant (the one who wants to become a monk) to decide if such a life is the right path for them and likewise, for the church to assess if the postulant is suitable to join their community. For even here in the monastery there is a society to which Andrea and others struggle to adapt to. Their daily life, carried out in monastic silence, is full of rules, routines and scrutiny. The lack of open communication and the priests' encouragement of the postulants to watch each other and report on each other, builds a mood of suspicion and leads Andrea and the audience to doubt the monastic life and the role of the church.


Like the postulants lives, the action and dialogue in the film are sparse, allowing us to enter into the reflective and challenging journey they are going through. The uncluttered musical score and elegant cinematography support this portrayal of an outwardly measured life of a man where all the action is beneath the surface as he struggles with his most fundamental beliefs.

I wasn't thrilled by the ending but got something from it none the less. The film is easier to dwell in like you would a piece of music than expecting the plot alone to satisfy.

My advice to audiences? Although it is slow, don't talk all the way through this movie. Just observe, let it sit with you then see what discussions follow. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts - on the film and especially its themes.




In Memoria di Me (In Memory of Me)

2007

Director: Saverio Costanzo

Writer: Saverio Costanzo, based on the novel 'The Perfect Jesuit' by Furio Monicelli

Cinematography: Mario Amura

Original Score: Alter Ego

Editing: Francesca Calvelli

Cast: Christo Jivkov, André Hennicke, Filippo Timi, Marco Baliani, Fausto Russi Alesi, Stefano Antonucci, Rocco Andrea Barone, Paolo Bizzeti, Massimo Cagnina, Milutin Dapcevic, Matteo D'Arienzo, Ben Pace, Allesandro Quattro

Runtime: 118 minutes

Dos Bebidas

Instant karma got me. I only did the tiniest of favours for a friend and got the answer to my dreams. After seeing cafe photos posted online by a friend in Santiago, I remembered how much I liked the cafes there. In fact, I like the cafes here too, but not really what they serve. The hot chocolate is usually not hot and not chocolatey - just warm milk with that sugary fake chocolate syrup stuff - and marshmallows on the side to add yet more sickly sweetness. In Santiago I loved a type of hot chocolate called a Submarino. A submarino is very easy for baristas and so much fun for kids or people like me; it's a glass of hot milk served with a bar of real, dark chocolate which you sink into the milk and stir in yourself, watching the flecks of chocolate swirl through the glass. The best hot chocolate I've found so far in Perth is at San Churro, a Spanish style chain of 'chocolaterias'. Their main version og hot chocolate though I'm not a fan of - it's super thick, too thick for me, as they add flour so it ends up kind of gluey. They do have a 'couverture hot chocolate' though which is just hot milk with real chocolate melted into it - the taste and texture is perfect. Mixing the chocolate in yourself is more fun though and the price, AU$5.95, does seem a bit steep right?? -just for a decent cup of chocolate?


So I was thinking of hot chocolate, obsessing about it a little even, for most of a night, rueing that all the hot chocolate powders I find are too much full of sugar and even salt. I settled for making my own with cocoa and adding sugar to taste. Another kitchen tool, the battery-powered milk frother, gives that velvety lightness to the milk/soy milk so it's cafe style at home - but better.



The next morning before work took me just ten minutes' walk up the other end of the road I work on to collect some natural remedies for my friend. I don't usually walk up to that part of the street so after picking up the medicine, crossed the road to check out a second-hand shop. Right before the second hand shop though I found, to my delight, a new Spanish restaurant and supplies shop. At nine o'clock in the morning I was the only customer so asked the lady working there for some product advice. It turns out she was from Chile and had lived in NZ for 14 years so she was more than happy to chat with me. Hortense even taught me how to make Mote Con Huesillos, a drink I'd enjoyed in Chile. And yes, they sold the mote, and the huesillos and I bought them, as well as some unsweetened chocolate for making my own hot chocolate - a proper one :) Recipes follow! (P.S. I just read some good reviews of the restaurant part too).

Recipe for one cup of hot chocolate:

30g approx of dark chocolate
(if sugarless chocolate add sugar to taste, about 1-2 t)
1 cup or more of milk/ soy milk (depending on size of glass/mug you'll serve it in)
Heat milk with chocolate. Stir or use milk frothing whizz to combine. Serve when hot enough and frothed enough.

Additions - pinch of chilli powder and cinnamon for a more Mexican style hot chocolate.





Mote Con Huesillos

This non-alcoholic and wholesome drink is a bit stange - I mean, it's filling - it could be a dessert! But it's refreshing, surprisingly enjoyable and very popular in Chile. Read about the history of it here.

6 huesillos (dried whole peaches)
150g trigo mote (hulled wheat berries)
about 2 T sweetener like honey or sugar - I used apple juice concentrate
6 cups water
extra water to cover mote


A kiosk selling Mote con Huesillos drink in Vina del Mar, Chile. Photo from my visit there in 2004.

In a saucepan soak the huesillos in the 6 cups of water overnight. The next day add 1 or 2 cinnamon quills, the sweetener and a few pieces of orange or lemon zest. Boil for approx 25 minutes to bring out the flavours. Leave to cool.



In another saucepan, add the mote and cover with fresh water. Boil until the mote is soft. Drain, rinse under cold water and leave to cool.




Put both parts (the huesillo with 'nectar' and the mote) in the fridge until ready to use.
To serve, add a couple of tablespoons of mote to a glass, add a huesillo and top up with the nectar liquid. Often this drink is served with two huesillos per glass but it depends on how big the glasses are.
Variation: You could try pearled barley in place of the wheat. Apricots instead of peaches. This is what I initially thought it was, actually!