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Cooking with Trix
Apr. 17th, 2006 10:16 pmThe only memory I have of bonding with my mother as an adolescent was watching Julia Child programmes on TV. She (JC) was absolutely hysterical, especially as the level of the sherry bottle went down (not that she was obviously tippling per se, but she certainly did sample a lot of the "cooking wine"). The best episode ever was when she dropped the lamb roast on the floor. She simply whipped it back on the roasting dish with a florid "Whoops!" and stuck it in the oven. Heh.
Anyway, I quite like cooking, when I'm sufficiently motivated. There are a whole bunch of chunky little Aussie cookbooks called (Something) Food, and I found a nice recipe for a chickpea salad in the Bowl Food book. Of course, it was lacking a wee bit, so I modified it. I present to you my Chickpea and Squid Salad (you can call it "calamari" if you want to alliterate the other way round; however, "Chickpea and Calamari Concoction" sounds just a wee bit suss):
This is all for one person.
1/2 a Lebanese cucumber (although a normal one will do, I like the Leb cucumber texture much better)
1/2 a tomato
1/2 a small red capsicum (or red pepper, for the English speakers among you)
2 spring onions (sorry, I forget what you yanks call them. Scallions?)
A couple of big leafy stalks of flat parsely, destalked - enough to be a small handful roughly chopped
A small tin of chickpeas - you can do them from scratch if you have no life, about a cup
1/2 a squid tube - slice it longitudinally, not across the middle
1/2 a smallish lemon
olive oil
a small clove of garlic (one of those bitty ones that are often at the top of the head)
salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika (I actually like more of both spices, it's up to you)
Roughly chop the first five ingredients to whatever size chunks you fancy. Mix in a sufficiently large eating bowl with the chickpeas.
Get out an old Vegemite jar (or whatever you use for mixing your dressings) and juice the half lemon into it. Add twice as much olive oil, so you're essentially making a classic vinaigrette with lemon. Typical quantities could be 2Tbl lemon juice and 4Tbl olive oil. Add the spices with salt to taste (I use nearly a tsp, I have low blood pressure) and shake it all up.
Score one side of the squid tube in crisscross patterns about a cm apart (you know what I mean if you've eaten Asian-style squid). Don't cut it through yet. Mash the garlic clove with a little salt and rub it on the scored surface of the squid. Stick your (clean!) fingers into the Vegemite jar and scoop up some of the dressing on them. Slather it on both sides of squid. You could use a pastry brush if you feel like washing an extra item. Allow it to rest a bit while you get a grill or frying pan piping hot. Once it's hot enough, throw the squid on and cook it until the edges start to slightly curl up. Flip it over and finish the other side.
Cut the squid into 1 1/2 by 3cm chunks (or whatever, who cares?) and chuck them into the salad. Pour the remainder of the dressing over and toss a bit. Scoff it down. Wash five items (jar, bowl, knife, chopping board, fork), if you're like me and grill things on a chunk of aluminium foil. Have a nice cuppa.
( Pretty pic )
Anyway, I quite like cooking, when I'm sufficiently motivated. There are a whole bunch of chunky little Aussie cookbooks called (Something) Food, and I found a nice recipe for a chickpea salad in the Bowl Food book. Of course, it was lacking a wee bit, so I modified it. I present to you my Chickpea and Squid Salad (you can call it "calamari" if you want to alliterate the other way round; however, "Chickpea and Calamari Concoction" sounds just a wee bit suss):
This is all for one person.
1/2 a Lebanese cucumber (although a normal one will do, I like the Leb cucumber texture much better)
1/2 a tomato
1/2 a small red capsicum (or red pepper, for the English speakers among you)
2 spring onions (sorry, I forget what you yanks call them. Scallions?)
A couple of big leafy stalks of flat parsely, destalked - enough to be a small handful roughly chopped
A small tin of chickpeas - you can do them from scratch if you have no life, about a cup
1/2 a squid tube - slice it longitudinally, not across the middle
1/2 a smallish lemon
olive oil
a small clove of garlic (one of those bitty ones that are often at the top of the head)
salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika (I actually like more of both spices, it's up to you)
Roughly chop the first five ingredients to whatever size chunks you fancy. Mix in a sufficiently large eating bowl with the chickpeas.
Get out an old Vegemite jar (or whatever you use for mixing your dressings) and juice the half lemon into it. Add twice as much olive oil, so you're essentially making a classic vinaigrette with lemon. Typical quantities could be 2Tbl lemon juice and 4Tbl olive oil. Add the spices with salt to taste (I use nearly a tsp, I have low blood pressure) and shake it all up.
Score one side of the squid tube in crisscross patterns about a cm apart (you know what I mean if you've eaten Asian-style squid). Don't cut it through yet. Mash the garlic clove with a little salt and rub it on the scored surface of the squid. Stick your (clean!) fingers into the Vegemite jar and scoop up some of the dressing on them. Slather it on both sides of squid. You could use a pastry brush if you feel like washing an extra item. Allow it to rest a bit while you get a grill or frying pan piping hot. Once it's hot enough, throw the squid on and cook it until the edges start to slightly curl up. Flip it over and finish the other side.
Cut the squid into 1 1/2 by 3cm chunks (or whatever, who cares?) and chuck them into the salad. Pour the remainder of the dressing over and toss a bit. Scoff it down. Wash five items (jar, bowl, knife, chopping board, fork), if you're like me and grill things on a chunk of aluminium foil. Have a nice cuppa.
( Pretty pic )