These are a few of my favourite things.
As Julie Andrews so beautifully sang in The Sound of Music:
“When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad”
‘Favourite things’ can be people, places, items, tastes, sights even sounds… here is a snap shot of mine.
- My favourite place = home
My favourite place to be in the whole world is my home. I love to travel (you may have noticed 😉 ) but the best bit of travel is always getting home. We have lived in this particular house for just over seven years, and I just love it. Obviously it’s more than just the building, it’s the fact I feel very at home here. When we bought it I was looking for a few things: A really workable kitchen, a deck with an outlook, enough space (without too much) and the main bedroom located near the front of the house, which has always been my preference for some reason.
My absolutely favourite spot in the house is the main bathroom. I liked it from the moment I saw it and to make it even better about five years ago we had a new bath put in with spa jets. There’s rarely a day goes by when I don’t have a bath. It’s one of the many ways I take after my mum – being a bath lover!
2. My favourite thing to do = Cook
This is very debatable, and my answer can vary on any given day, but it will be no surprise to you all that I love to cook (and eat!). People often ask me what I like to cook the most, or what ‘sort’ of food I like to cook most. This is not an easy question to answer. I prefer savoury over sweet cooking, but that’s more about what I like to eat. I certainly prefer to make up a recipe as I go, over following a recipe closely, like you need to with baking. I cooked breakfast just for me this morning (recipe later), but always for me the most pleasure is gained from cooking for others. Dave is getting fed better at the moment than any stage in his life, but I so wish I could be cooking for others as well. The smile on Ethan’s face when I bring out a cake or something else home-made for ‘tea’ at cricket is the best thing!
My favourite vegetable this week is cabbage, but normally I really love spinach, with peas coming a close second. My favourite meat is beef, although is there anything better then the smell of bacon at breakfast time? My favourite fruit is passionfruit; cake type is anything with coconut; snack is cashews; breakfast cereal is porridge. My favourite soft drink is soda, or if I am drinking, then it’s vodka, lime and soda. It dawned on me yesterday that I hadn’t had anything alcoholic to drink since we got back from holidays. I’m saving myself for our post-virus get together Steph, Ros, Claire and Vicki!
4. My favourite sport = Cricket
This is much easier – without a doubt the answer was always going to be cricket. AFL and netball come a tie for second. Both are especially good when watching the kids play. That’s what I should be doing right now on a Saturday afternoon 🙁
5. My favourite place to visit = Spain
I’ve only been there for one single day, a few years ago, and it was love at first sight. It’s been on my mind ever since. The trip we were planning for later this year has been put on hold until 2021 🙁 Closer to home, visiting Elvina Bay is right up there. Not only is it an amazingly beautiful and peaceful place, it’s also Dad and Pamela’s home, meaning when I’m there I’m with some or all of my family. Family times = happy times.
6. My favourite person
We have a running joke in my family about being the ‘favourite’. I just put this heading in there to stir you up fam. Obviously, I don’t have favourites!
Todays Recipes
As I said, I made breakfast for one this morning. Well actually two x breakfasts for one. Are you also the sort of person who starts thinking about their next meal, the moment you finish the last one?
Last night once I tidied up after dinner, my mind turned to tomorrow. It has been a hectic week and by Friday evening I had started contemplating what the weekend may entail. Obviously not the usual things, or going out anywhere, but I did start to think about what I might cook. The sourdough starter should be ready early next week, so that will have to wait.
The usual starting point for my decision is which ingredients I want to use. In this case I was motivated by yesterday’s gift of saffron from Sandy (see yesterdays blog). On the theme of favourites, my breakfast of choice whenever I see it on a menu at breakfast time is Shakshouka. It’s a North African dish where eggs are poached in a spicy and aromatic tomato sauce. So that’s what I decided to make myself this morning for breakfast. Dave is not a lover of cooked tomatoes – so I made scrambled eggs for him. That is definitely his favourite breakfast, if not all time meal.
Sara’s Shakshouka
Ingredients
- A few strands of saffron, soaked in ½ cup of hot water
- 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra to serve)
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 red chilli, sliced (optional)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds, either toasted and crushed, or already ground
- 1 teaspoon smoked hot paprika
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup pasta sauce (or tomato puree)
- 1 x 400g whole tin tomatoes
- ¼ bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- 4 free-range eggs
- 50g feta, crumbled
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Soak the saffron in hot water. The saffron packet says to toast it first – so I did that in the frypan before I started. Possibly not necessary, but I wanted as much flavour as possible!
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Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and season generously with salt and pepper. Caramelize the onions over low-medium heat until very soft, for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and chilli (if desired) about half way through (it burns more easily)
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Sprinkle in the cumin, paprika and sugar. Stir in the pasta sauce and saffron (with water) and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and crush with the spoon (I always use whole tinned tomatoes).
- The pasta sauce is my version of the ‘secret’ ingredient. I use a local one from Griffith that is already a bit spicy and adds a delicious well developed flavour.
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Simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste after five minutes and add a little more sugar or spice if you think it needs it. Add a little water if it is getting too thick. When ready, stir in the parsley, reserving a little for garnishing.
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Make a well in the sauce and break an egg carefully into the well, then repeat with the remaining eggs.
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Either cook for a few more minutes with a lid over the pan, or place into a hot oven, to cook the eggs until the desired doneness.
- The other alternative is to remove the sauce into another container for cooking with the eggs, which is what I did since I was only cooking for one. The rest of the sauce will be great to either keep, or to use in something else, like pasta.
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TO SERVE: Sprinkle over the crumbled feta, extra parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
As with all recipes, add or remove things to make it your own. Use ingredients that you happen to have in stock, or are in season, or you prefer the taste of. For example, you don’t need to have saffron. Basil or coriander rather than parsley would also be tasty. Some red capsicums in with the onions would add colour and flavour. More or less chilli can be added to suit your taste, and accompaniments can of course vary too. I had mine with sautéed silverbeet and a slice of toast. It would be equally nice (or better) with Lebanese bread and I’ve also seen this recipe topped with chorizo.
First step: Mis-en-place
Pictures in approximate order:
And Dave’s scrambled eggs. I have hints for that too!
Before I started this morning I gave the kitchen a good tidy:
My plan for the rest of the day is more cooking, and after that, probably more cooking! I’ve already made a batch of cupcakes, started with the dough and filling for home-made spinach and feta Gozleme, using a recipe my sister-in-law, Lee, shared. By mid-afternoon I’ll get the lamb shanks ready to finish, and some mash and greens to go with it.
How good is a day, filled with so many favourite things!
Take care everyone, and if in doubt STAY AT HOME!
Sara x
