by Kate on October 16, 2010
Ahh …. The English seaside in the late 1960s … fairgrounds and pebbled beaches, long piers that have since burned to ashes, and stalls selling pots of shrimp and jellied eel from tiny cups. This picture is of my mum Suzanne Gibbs, also a food writer (we wrote The Thrifty Kitchen together). I love her long heavy tweed skirt with the white shirt tucked in, and the cute little pointed and booted toe. She’s bought the jellied eel, something that was still a little out there even back then, an unusual choice compared to the much more common prawn cocktails, scampi, cockles and crabs. But the ever-adventurous foodie went for something I still have never dared try. But she regretted it hours later. The eel made her “the sickest I have ever been”, she tells me now, and the story has become family folklore. “Remember that time with the jellied eels…”
by Kate on August 11, 2010
.. Love this concept from the blogger Mom Food Project. Collect your mother’s recipes while you can, stack them away and keep them for future generations. This hand-typed version is stained and proper. Remember when those little lined cards were actually useful and recipes could actually get blobs of sauce on them?
by Kate on August 3, 2010
The contents and layout of your fridge can affect how you eat, how you feel about eating, and obviously how much waste there is. After writing The Thrifty Kitchen, and researching how the way the coolest part of the house is laid out impacts what we eat, I put together this shortlist of tricks.
- Furry cheese, shrivelled carrots, leftovers with a now greenish hue… The number one trick for keeping the fridge smelling nice is to avoid leaving food in there for too long. Your fridge should have a fast turnaround. If it doesn’t, chances are you’re buying too much, or the wrong things – or you’re not using up leftovers.
- If you’ve cleaned it out and you want to freshen up the fridge anyway, try an orange spiked with cloves, or a cotton wool ball soaked in vanilla essence (left in a little dish or egg cup). Some also swear by the value in keeping a natural sponge in your salad drawer to keep fruit and vegies fresh longer.
- Wipe the insides of the fridge down with 1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 1 litre of warm water – about weekly.
- Store cheese in an airtight box with a sugar cube in to keep it fresh.
- Store eggs pointy side down – it makes them last longer.
- Store milk and eggs in the fridge body instead of the door as it’s colder.
- Raw meat, poultry and fish should be stored wrapped in paper or in a sealed (not plastic) container so it won’t drip on other food.
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by Kate on March 24, 2010
Christine Manfield of Universal fame last night created an incredible menu in her restaurant pulled from and inspired by my book The Thrifty Kitchen. Meatloaf at Universal? Yes! Check out the menu below.. Thank you Chris, what an incredible evening. Absolutely humbling.
The meatloaf with green beans was nothing like they dreamed up in the ’50s. The meatloaf’s curry flavours, served with crisp beans in a wasabi dressing made this simple dish truly modern. As Chris herself said last night – she’s never served meatloaf at Universal before, she’d be more likely to play Meatloaf. Thanks too to my mumsie, who let me, encouraged me, to write this book with her. x
by Kate on March 17, 2010
Working on the subbing desk at Gourmet Traveller this week and last. Reading through recipes and travel stories all day is hardly a terrible thing to do with your day really. But also it’s inspired me to get more stories and recipes up here.
Even though I’ve been subbing the Italian tip-on for an upcoming issue, I’m going to give you something somewhat un-Italian. Here’s a bread and butter pudding to kick off. I love the tarty addition of rhubarb, and it’s also really lovely with left-over fruit bread. You make make this ahead – so it’s perfect for entertaining as you can put it in the oven just an hour before you intend to eat it. Because it doesn’t have whisky in (Grandma Fulton does not approve I am sure), you can serve it on the side (to keep her, and your guests, happy). This is my recipe – a variation of which you can find in The Thrifty Kitchen – you’ll have to buy Gourmet to get theirs!
Bread and Butter Rhubarb Pudding
Served 4-6
8 slices white bread
60g butter
1 small bunch rhubarb, cut into chunks to make about 2 cups
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Extra caster sugar, for sprinkling
1. Preheat oven to 190c or 170C fan. Butter the bread fairly thickly on one side, remove the crusts and cut into triangles. Arrange half in a deep buttered pie dish or shallow casserole. Top with the rhubarb and sprinkle with half the sugar and cinnamon. Cover with the remaining bread triangles.
2. Beat the eggs, until foaming, in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the remaining sugar and then the milk, vanilla essence, cream and nutmeg. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and rhubarb. Leave to stand for 15 minutes.
3. Dot generously with a little more butter and sprinkle with extra sugar. Cover with a piece of buttered greaseproof paper. Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove the paper and cook for 30 minutes longer, until the top is golden brown and crisp. Serve hot, straight from the dish with or without cream.
by Kate on December 6, 2009
The Thrifty Kitchen, my cookbook with Penguin, is now on the shelves (horray!). Written with my mother Suzanne Gibbs, the book is an offering to those who want to be more economical in the kitchen, but still eat supremely well. We write about how to entertain on a budget, while still maintaining an elegance, serving up gorgeous offerings that don’t leave you scrimping for weeks afterwards.
You can buy The Thrifty Kitchen here on Cookbooks.com.au or in any good book store.
by Kate on November 7, 2009
Much done since I last wrote. A book, The Thrifty Kitchen, was published and has been on the shelves for two weeks. Exciting and wonderful, and strange to see in the actual shops. I was in the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, today and saw it there, stacked up and surrounded by the likes of David Thompson and Stephanie, and M Fulton. Great fun. So now, to do another?
