In My Kitchen June 2014

Hello to you all. This is my first time at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial’s In My Kitchen party and I’m so excited! This is a fantastic way to make new friends from all over the world, which not only share the love of food but love sharing stories of what’s in their kitchens – there’s some great inspiration out there and something for everyone – what’s in your kitchen?

This month In My Kitchen . . .

 

 . . . I found Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Nation cookbook at a book sale while I was walking around the city one afternoon. It was on sale (bargain price of $10!) and I held on to it so tight so no one else could take it from me! I have been looking for this cookbook ever since Curry Nation TV series started. Not all her recipes from the show are on her website or on the BBC’s recipe site, so now I have them forever. Great kitchen addition. PS. I love cookbooks! My collection is growing every week – happy days!

 

. . . A bunch of baby beetroot. It took me a week to decide what to make with it. I ended up making this Lamb & beetroot curry, served with turmeric rice, inspired from my Curry Nation cookbook – of course! Delicious!

 

. . . One large homegrown pumpkin. Not from my garden – I live in the city & our balcony’s not big enough for a veggie patch! This came from my mum’s sister-in-law’s farm – thank you. I decided to make a slow-cooked pumpkin soup and a Thai-style coconut pumpkin soup. My sister makes a pretty mean pumpkin soup, but prefers using Butternut pumpkin.

 

. . . The leftover pumpkin seeds are now roasted! I normally throw them out but I’ve been told they’re very beneficial to your health. And they look good added to curries or just eaten by themselves. Still haven’t figured out what to use them in yet – it will come to me!

 

  

. . . I found these at Aldi a couple of weeks ago. Each design were only $19.95 for one large dish and $19.95 for two smaller dishes. When the catalogue came out, I marked it in my phone to remind me to buy them, that’s how excited I was about them! I almost freaked out as one Aldi store had already sold out! But my amazing sister drove me to a second Aldi store to get the last set of bowls! She’s awesome! How beautiful are they! And they are actually made in India and have proper copper bases!

 

. . . Strawberries, another bargain. I wish I could say they came from a Farmer’s Market but I was desperate for strawberries to finalise my dessert. A fruit and vegetable store in Belmont, Geelong called Fruit Shack were selling them for 49 cents per punnet! Perfect – way cheaper than Coles or Woolworths!

 

. . . I’m adding a little colour into my crockery this month – joys of having white crockery, every colours works well! I saw these Moroccan-inspired mugs on the K-Mart ad. My sister bought some and they looked pretty, so I had to have some too (we do that quite a lot!) I also found this serving plate for 50 cents! I love bargains!

 

. . . Thank you to Cam for some yummy macarons – they travelled from Sandringham to home, in my husband’s pocket which is why they’re a bit crumpled. They were delicious and not too sweet! Not a big fan of overly sweet macarons. There were two chocolate, one pistachio and the orange one I couldn’t tell the flavour but it was still yummy!

 

  

The last item In My Kitchen this month is Poh’s Same Same but Different cookbook. I love Poh (Masterchef Australia series one) and have been following her cooking shows since she left Masterchef. I haven’t had the opportunity to cook anything from it yet but I’m very inspired with a few of her recipes – need to find some quail for a recipe on page 4. We went to Poh’s cookbook launch and came home with a signed copy! Very happy 🙂

Contact Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial to join us and see other kitchens from around the world.