All Good Things Issue 10
Good Lemon Ricotta Cake + Winter Negroni + Homemade Gozleme + Camellia Tree
ISSUE 10 / JULY 25, 2021Â Â
Good Morning ...
Things are starting to get real here in Australia. We have been so lucky until now but it is an anxious wait-and-watch game to see if luck continues on our side. Our lockdowns are getting tighter and longer and I hope people do the right thing by following rules to protect themselves and their families. Having acknowledged that (because we are all thinking about it all the time anyway), I'll move on to All Good Things.
I have missed so many sunrises these past few weeks. I don't wake up early enough. There are two reasons for it. The kids aren't leaving home to go to school (home learning during lockdown) so I don't have to wake up to pack lunches. And the other reason, a very important one is that for the first time in years, I have formed a nightly routine that is allowing me to sleep more. I do a face and eye treatment every night. I take my time. Often I will fill a small basin with very warm water, add drops of this divine Sodashi Cell Renewal Drops and apply a warm compress by dipping a waffle face towel in it and pressing it against my face. I practice breathing deeply. I follow up with a moisturizer, either this or this. And then roll a very cool jade roller around my eyes. I spray some lavender oil mist on my pillow and get in bed with a cup of hot water or this tea. This exercise not only relaxes me but feels very special. And I usually capture the glorious sunsets from my front yard. So it is win-win.
This week the object of my affection has been our Camellia tree. It was already here when we bought our home fourteen years ago. And it hasn't grown at all in that time. Magically, it has stayed the same shape and size and so I've never had to prune it or care for it. About five years ago, I propped a broken wooden vintage prop chair under it (when I was cleaning the garage) and over the years, some of its branches have pierced through the spokes of the chair and enveloped it in a little hug. The tree and the chair are Sympatico. Every year during peak winter this Camellia tree produces the most magnificent bright fuchsia pink blooms. A cross between a rose and peony (two of my favourite flowers that I have never managed to grow successfully). I love how it looks when the air is shrouded in mist, the bare limbs of surrounding trees mere silhouettes against the fog. This Camellia tree manages to look festive as if giant pink baubles have been strung all over it. Every year I capture this beautiful little unassuming tree. Anything that brings moments of joy, no matter how insignificant deserves to be remembered.
The chickens are starting to get noisier which can only mean one thing. They are getting ready to lay eggs. This will be a darned miracle as they haven't laid a single one in the past five months. The noisiest by far is Mango (pictured). The time is nigh where I will be yelling "Mango! Stop It!" from my study window and the back deck several times a day. Due to shopping errors, I have ended up with six whole pumpkins. Besides being a still life study for my photography, I am very excited to be elbow deep in pumpkin recipes that I will share soon. Delicious (absolutely will-work-everytime!) Veggie Samosas have been a constant in my kitchen for the past couple of weeks. I can't even remember how many of these golden triangles I have folded. Again, it's something I can't wait to share with you! And finally, a rare panned-out shot of my busy kitchen in a rare clean and quiet pre-shoot moment!
A GOOD LEMON RICOTTA CAKE
If sunshine was ever captured in cake form, it would be this gloriously sunny and beautifully tart Lemon Ricotta Cake! Lots of juicy lemon flavour offset by salty, creamy ricotta in a golden but oh so soft crumb that is literally to die for. This very good Lemon Ricotta Cake is bout to become a regular in your baking schedule.
All The Lemons Packed In One Glorious Cake
We have lemon trees. Lots of them. Amazingly, they all fruit at different times of the year. Like bright yellow Christmas baubles coming to life in different corners of our garden, these lemons are destined for bright yellow cakes. Cakes that always make me long for an adventure overseas, exploring the coast of Italy and loading up on more lemons for cakes and desserts and cocktails. Cakes like this very good Lemon Ricotta Cake.
I have baked this cake with yuzu lemons, lemonade lemons, Meyer lemons, Eureka lemons and Lisbon lemons. The Meyer and Eureka lemons are my favourites for this cake. This Lemon Ricotta Cake has to be hands down one of the most delightful cake recipes on the blog. I have baked it dozens of times over the past decade and it has blossomed from a sweet, dense almost dessert-like cake to .........
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It is Gozleme Time this weekend. Time to make and master a beautiful yoghurt-based dough for the utterly delicious Spinach & Feta Gozleme. This recipe will allow you to roll the dough into a super-thin, diaphanous sheet that you can fill up with either spinach and feta or spinach, feta and mushroom or some spiced chicken chilli and mushroom. Endless possibilities. Delicious pan-fried pastry stuffed with all kinds of yummy things! And one of the MOST popular recipes on my blog.
On my Cooking Wishlist this week
I literally cannot wait to try this Eggplant Unagi recipe! How ingenious! And this Sichuan Sticky Eggplant.
A collection of Yotam Ottolenghi's delicious Miso Recipes.
Sophie's Egg Wraps With Fresh Herb Salad And Chilli Oil.Â
Donna Hay's Fish Cakes. This No-Knead Bread.Â
Carrot Cashew & Coriander Fritters! And some Vegan Chickpea Pancakes.
And this Ginger Fig Pecan Crumble (made with fresh apples and dried figs and spices. So warming, so good!)
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Eggplant Unagi / Image courtesy : Woks Of Life
Fish Cakes / Image courtesy : Donna Hay
Ginger Fig Pecan Crumble
This week my cookbook/book reading pile is a bit more health and wellness-focused as I work on recipes that address filling the gaps in a vegetarian-based diet with the right ingredients and some extra nutrition, meditation information for stress reduction. Plus that Vietnamese book I had ordered for Jamie's cookbook club in July finally arrived with barely a few days left to go and Curate has to be the most beautiful book I have seen in a while! (from top to bottom)
The Good Carbs Cookbook - Dr Alan Barclay, Kate McGhie, Phillipa Sandall
The Art Of Wellbeing - Meredith Gaston
The Yogic Kitchen - Jody Vassallo
The Medicinal Chef Healthy Everyday - Dale Pinnock
Vietnamese - Uyen Luu
Curate - Lynda Gardener
Atypical (source - IMDB)
Nick and I started watching Atypical on Netflix recently. It is a heartwarming show about an 18-year old on the autism spectrum and his foray into finding himself a girlfriend. The brilliant acting by the lead character in this Emmy award-winning show is a joy to watch.
Last night we watched Interstellar with the boys. One of our favourite movies, we thought it was time for them to get in on the heavy discussion about space, time, dimensions and the theory of relativity. Our boys love thought-provoking movies that entail hours of family discussion after. And this one is quite brilliant!
I have bought this beautiful wok by Essteele and can't wait to stir-fry in it!
Heather Bullard writes a very intuitive article about The Art Of Weekending. With the current state of the world, people working from home, entire families cooped up in pone space during lockdowns - often boundaries between the week and the weekend, work and leisure might get very blurred. For instance, I have worked seven days and all through the weekend for the past 12 weeks. I am not proud of it. I hate it. I need more discipline and time management to not let my work spill into Saturday and Sunday because it is starting to take a toll on my health. I am using this article as a starting point to address this and I hope if you are in a similar boat, you will too!Â
If you or a loved one is having a Creativity Crisis then this brilliant article called "There Is No Such Thing As Not Being Creative" is excellent for having that much-needed pep talk. I am filing away certain important pointers in this article to encourage and motivate my youngest who always feels that Creativity needs to have a purpose (for eg, if he creates a brilliant piece of art, he will think about selling it or if he creates a spectacular clay creation, his focus will be on creating a video tutorial for others) The point is that Not All Creativity Needs To Have A Purpose. Sometimes focussing on enjoyment is far greater than on success.
Last night we had a very belated birthday celebration for our 17-year-old - in lockdown. For the second year in a row. We ordered Chin Chin's spectacular Make Me Feed Me 7-course meal for the four of us and it was mighty impressive. It was home delivered and everything arrived in two huge boxes, everything was pre-cooked, labelled and came with printed notes on how to warm it, plate it and serve it. We had Prawn Shu Mai, Vietnamese Chicken Slaw, Roasted Sweet Potato Curry, Eggplant With Chilli Jam, Slow Cooked Beef Curry, Lamb With Coconut Sesame Sauce, Rotis, Rice And Panna Cotta (I, of course, stuck to the veg dishes and prawn dumpling). It was a really special meal and they have a menu that changes every week!
And with that, I sign off and wish you a good one! Until Next Weekend :)
WINTER NEGRONI
Makes – 1
*
1oz (30ml) Campari
1oz (30ml) Gin
0.5oz (15ml) Vermouth
0.5oz (15ml) Brandy or Whiskey
1 blood orange wedge
pinch of red chilli powder
1/2 cup ice
*Â
Place ½ cup ice cubes in 270ml Whiskey tumbler. Pour Campari, Gin, Vermouth and Whiskey/Brandy over the ice.
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Add the blood orange wedge. â €
Sprinkle with the chilli powder. Enjoy
I have limited copies of my cookbook Tasty Express - a labour of love filled with over 100 of our family's most tried and tested and exciting 30-minute recipes inspired by street foods of the world. Mostly Vegetarian recipes that go from breakfast to quick dinners in a heartbeat. They make great gifts for you or a friend!
