Hello!
I moved to Tasmania two weeks ago, where itās still light at 9pm and there are enormous bumble bees.Ā
The day after we arrived, Tony and I walked into town for the farmerās market. The hilly walk was worth it ā we went home with blackberry kombucha, a bunch of rainbow carrots and the most beautiful box of mushrooms.
Weāve moved here for Tonyās work (I was lucky enough to move offices with my job) and weāre renting a house for the first time. No joke, it looks like this š” and thereās even a Hills Hoist in the backyard. After a few pandemic years in apartments, it feels life changing to have windows with views of flowers and trees, and just so much space.
But letās get back to the reason youāre here ā food and recipes! I have some very special ones to share this month. I asked some friends to share their favourite (online) recipes from last year, knowing Iād be on the move and in and out of Airbnbs for most of January.
Itās a really fun mix of dishes to try!
Letās get into it.
Six favourite recipes from friends
The best thing about asking friends to share recipes has been discovering some new-to-me sites.
Hetty McKinnon
Claire Saffitzās sour cream and chive rolls + Chitra Agrawalās dalĀ
āI have been making these for birthdays and Thanksgiving and Christmas in the past 12 months and they are a total favourite. I customise them by adding grated cheese and use scallions in place of the chives.
If the rolls are too tricky I think everyone thinks they know how to make dal (including me), but it was really nice to follow a recipe, this one was delicious! And I always love cooking recipes written by friends.ā
Fun fact: Hetty was the first recipe columnist I approachedĀ for ABC Everyday and I feel lucky to now call her a friend. Thereās a line in her most recent cookbook āTo Asia, With Loveā where she describes herself as āa Chinese girl born in Australiaā. Reading it made me emotional because, same. Her lemon tofu with rice was the very last dish I made in my Canberra apartment.
Diem TranĀ
Fern Greenās sweetcorn and ricotta fritters with bacon and avocado
āI came across this recipe in Issy Crocker's Staying Home charity cookbook released in 2020 and have been making it on an almost weekly basis for dinner (and enjoying leftovers for lunch).Ā
It's a great recipe that you can mix and match ā you can leave out the bacon, or add chopped chorizo, or serve with flaked hot smoked trout. You can pump up the veg factor with chopped broccoli and asparagus. You can have elaborate toppings too ā I always add quick pickled onions (half a red onion, thinly sliced, juice of half a lemon, sprinkle of salt ā make this when you're chopping up the other half of the onion for the batter and leave to pickle while you work through everything else), some crispy bacon (if you haven't incorporated it all into the batter), half an avocado, a 'salsa' with some reserved corn kernels, diced tomatoes, chopped herbs. Condiments include kewpie and sriracha.
If you're lucky and have some left for lunch the next day ā they heat up real quick in a sandwich press!ā
Fun fact: I first read Diemās work in āNew Voices on Foodā, a Diversity in Food Media book edited by Lee Tran Lam (who also introduced me to Hetty!). Iāve discovered so many good things from her ever since, including Bagguās free (and often food-themed) desktop backgrounds.Ā
Christian HarimanowĀ
RecipeTin Eats falafelĀ
āHijazi's, in Sydney, used to make my favourite falafels before they closed down. But Nagi has managed to get her hands on some of their trade secrets in this recipe. These falafels are crunchy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. Most importantly, they're bright green from all the fresh herbs in it.ā
Fun fact: I started working with Christian in March 2020 (heās the supervising video producer at my work) but weād met before, at the MCA zine fair when I bought a copy of his zine āThe Happy Place: A True Story in 11 Recipesā. I wanted to learn how to cook some Indonesian dishes (my dad grew up in Surabaya) and discovered it was a recipe zine dedicated to his late mum.Ā
Lisa Marie Corso
Elena Paravantes Greek lentil soup
āOne of my favourite recipes to cook and eat last year was this Fakes (Greek lentil soup). This dish is on very high rotation at our place. It's so delicious and filling but for me the best bit is the addition of red wine vinegar that you put in at the end. Please don't skip this step!āĀ
Fun fact: I followed Lisaās work on The Design Files for years before we worked on a seasonal ingredients column together. I loved her short-run newsletter āFor Your Considerationā, with itās excellent recommendations for things to watch and cook.
Lucy DearloveĀ
My Forking Lifeās Jamaican Instant Pot rice and beansĀ
āI use my Instant Pot almost every single day: to steam rice, to cook delicious dried beans, to cook low-and-slow cuts of meat quickly and efficiently and ā in the absence of a microwave which I've lived without for almost a decade now ā to reheat leftovers.Ā
But it wasn't always the way! As someone who loves to cook, actively enjoys spending time in the kitchen and lives in a two-person household, I was often left wondering if it was at all for me. But when I figured out how the Instant Pot could support how I already liked to cook, rather than fundamentally alter it, everything changed. And the blog My Forking Life's recipe for Jamaican Rice and Peas was a huge part of that.Ā
I love Jamaican food, and am lucky enough to have an amazing takeaway very close to my flat in South East London (Smokey Jerky ā their jerk lamb with rice and peas is one of my favourite things to eat in the world) but there's definitely a limit to how often I can and should order from them.Ā
It's always fun to realise what is actually in your favourite foods as well ā until I started cooking it I had no idea how fundamental allspice and thyme were to rice and peas, and they're both essential in this recipe. I eat it regularly with grilled chicken (not strictly jerk as it's not cooked in a drum barbecue!) or marinated halloumi!āĀ
Fun fact: Lucy makes the excellent food podcast Lecker. Last year her special series Kitchens came out around the same time Canberra went into lockdown and new episodes were often the highlight of my week (I highly recommend the companion zine). Lucy worked with my brother when he was in London and was one of the first people to record a special audio message for a hotel quarantine audio project I made for two.Ā
To Finish
I love the name of Pip Lincolneās food newsletter: Hungry Hungry Pippo. This edition about the tastes of home popped into my inbox during my last month in Canberra. Itās about the food places that help you feel at home (for her, the spots she wanted to visit after moving back to Melbourne). It reminded me of this Bryan Washington piece about being a regular and what that means in a pandemic.Ā
In Canberra, my farewell food tour included one last rice noodle salad from Saigon Foodies, dumplings and beef hor fun at China Plate, a midday lunch in the sun at Tokyo Canteen. Plus, a burger atĀ Grease Monkey (which has a cute new laneway location), and one last Barrio coffee.
Two lovely things that came to me via Diem, including the nicest story about going for a walk with an apple pie in your pocket (New Yorker). And Lazy Baking by Jessica Elliott Dennison. Itās a cheery yellow cookbook where I can see myself actually making every single recipe, not as a feat but because they seem so doable and lovely. I made my first jar of jam using a recipe from the book (blueberry and rosemary, which only took 10 minutes!) and can highly recommend the yoghurt flatbread with crispy sage, a fried egg and lemony greens.
Finally, this incredible compliment via Helen Rosner. āHe saw it, he loved it, he ate it.ā
Thanks for reading! If you have a recipe that became a favourite last year, I hope youāll share it in the comments.
Sonya
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