A Simple Vegetable Garden ~ So Important in History

How many of you learnt about genetics at school? I was so amazed today when asked to type out some information for my son about Gregor Johann Mendel from our encyclopedia so he could use it in his project. He isn't near the book hence the typing.

Gregor Johan Mendel (1822-1884), an Austrian botanist and monk, formulated the basic laws of heredity. His experiments with the breeding of garden peas led to the development of the science of genetics.

Mendel was born in Heinzendort, Austria. His parents were poor peasants. Mendel was an excellent student, and he decided to become a teacher. Many teachers at that time were priests. Therefore, in 1843, at the age of 21, Mendel entered the monastery of St. Thomas in Brunn, Austria. He came a priest in 1847.

The monastery was a scientific as well as a religious centre, and Mendel was exposed to many scholars there. In 1851, the monastery sent him to study science and mathematics at the University of Vienna. He returned to the monastery in 1853 and taught biology and physics at a local high school for the next 14 years. Mendel's fame came from his research in the monastery garden during those years.

In his experiments, Mendel studied the inheritance of seven pairs of traits in the garden pea plants and in their seeds. These pairs included (1) rounded or wrinkled seeds and (2) tall or short plants.

Mendel's results were published in 1866, but they remained unnoticed for 34 years. (World Book Encyclopedia)

Recipes using Pork Mince

I started this post in the middle of February. It ties in with the post I started today as follows:

My son found some pork mince in his freezer that he shares, or rather it is his brothers, today. He bought it in March and it has to be used up. I thought of one of his favourite recipes. I linked to it a lot last year when we were making it regularly, he was still doing his VCE and lived with us then. The link from the New Idea magazine site is gone now and I was worried, but found my paper copy. Lovely recipe. I even have a can of champignons in the cupboard ready to make it. Sadly I have been to a shop that sells pork mince with an eski or cooler lately. But soon, hopefully.

Here is the recipe I sent him followed by what I wrote earlier.


(Pork) Mince Stroganoff

500g pasta
2 tblsps oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
300g pork mince (ground?)
40g packet French onion soup mix
2 tblsps tomato paste
1/2 cup water
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (we used the can of mixed vegetables)
400g can whole champignons, halved
200g carton light sour cream (about 6-7oz?)
Fresh parsley leaves, to garnish, optional

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water until tender. Drain. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and crushed garlic. Cook, stirring, until soft. Add mince. Cook stirring, for 5 minutes, or until browned and cooked through.

Combine soup mix, paste and water in a small jug. Stir into mince mixture. Bring to boil. Add vegetables and champignons. Cook, over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in sour cream. Remove from heat.

Serve stroganoff over pasta. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Either beef or chicken mince can be substitued for the pork mince in this recipe. Stroganoff can be made up to two days ahead. Keep covered in fridge. Reheat before serving.



I had collected up my favourites, but lately found some much better.

Japanese Pancakes

My son brought be some Kewpie mayonnaise to try next time I make this, but normal mayo works just as well, well so far anyway. I loved the real packaging. You can see it on this blog.

Stir Fry Noodles with Pork & Boc Choy with extra wombuk

Pork Chow Mein Noodles (we had them already) are absolutely gorgeous even without the special Chinese wine in the sauce, and with more plain vegetables. They have a similar taste to each other.

One of the old favourites below:

Pork Chow Mein

No more beans?

There are still some left, so no, I am being cautious and trying to cut down the food bill just in case I need the money.

Tuesday ~ Smoked Cod & Broccoli Curry (using up the Dutch Curry & Rice packet in the pantry) I'll have to buy the cod in Coles as I am going there yet again (1 1/2 hour drive)
Wednesday ~ Mung Bean & Vegetable Soup using wombuk stalks & extra corn cob
Thursday ~ a meal for the deb night that everyone likes, quiche and chips?
Friday ~ tabouli with pita and chicken after our small pay next Tuesday
Saturday ~ Tuna & Avocado Rice Paper Rolls
Sunday ~ Pumpkin Dahl with Cucumber Salad
Monday ~ Tomato & Borlotti Bean Soup
Tuesday ~ Spicy Beans (pinto bean chilli)
Wednesday ~ Chinese Egg Noodles
Thursday ~ Pasta e Fagioli
Friday ~ Curried Green Pea Soup (uses green split peas)
Saturday ~ Italian Soup with Cheesy Damper (Italian soup mix)
Sunday ~ pumpkin pancakes or pumpkin miso soup
Monday ~ pies, chips & gravy
Tuesday ~ paella (buy chicken and kabana)
Wednesday ~ Red Curry fish
another thought something with vermicelli noodles

Baking: Polenta Cake with Citrus Syrup

Recipe for left-over tuna: Potato, Tuna, Olive & Caper Salad

Swap recipe:

Roast Pumpkin & Black Lentil Soup (haven't had it yet, it was a swap in another menu)
Lebanese Rice & Noodles
Mexican Potato & Salsa Salad
Potato & Egg Salad

Someone gave us chestnuts so possible could make this soup

Chestnut Soup with Rosemary Pesto

Rice paper recipes.

I am ordering the bread, eggs, fruit and vegetables this week, including nibbles for the deb ball. I have the list, a very small one for Coles (2nd major supermarket?). Have an appointment at the regional centre to drive to, hopefully get last minute deb ball stuff while I am there. I don't want to bring eski/cooler but it may be a good idea.

"Trying to Unconfuse Me" Menu

Last week I was going to do a menu until Wednesday and I ended up doing the whole thing to Monday past Wednesday. However, I only shopped for until Wednesday until I had some more money. I also had to change my expectations on what I could buy so put in some swap recipes. So this post is to sort out where I am up to. How? I'll start off removing what we have already eaten and go from there. However I think this is going to be very tricky. One of the ingredients was accidently used up as well. Coles had eftpos go down when I was in there and I couldn't buy all that I wanted to the first time. Luckily tonight we are starting with left-overs.

I am going to make this into a $21 challenge it will make things easier.


Tuesday ~ Left-overs
Wednesday ~ Tomato & Borlotti Bean Soup
Thursday ~ Pea Fritters & perhaps Chickpea Salad with Yoghurt Dressing
Friday ~ Aduki Beans
Saturday ~ Mung Bean & Vegetable Soup using wombuk stalks & corn cob
Sunday ~ Chinese Egg Noodles
Monday ~ Spicy Beans using pintos

Ingredients to work with: canned potatoes & champignons

I may still use some of the recipes I planned depending on the fine details of the budget that I will go over with my husband tonight.
Pasta e Fagioli
Red & Black Lentil Soup by Tobie Puttock using French Style Lentils
Italian Soup with Cheesy Damper (uses Kraft Cheddar)
Black eyed Beans/Peas & Vegetable Soup
Pumpkin & Split Pea Soup
Wombuk & Mushroom Chow Mein I'm using egg noodles

Swap recipes that I found last night that may work:
Spicy Cannellini Beans with Creamy Polenta
Lemon & Pesto Spaghetti
Rice Pilaf
Herbed Vegetable Noodle Soup with crab
Tomato & Olive Linguini

Interesting recipes:
Rice Vermicelli Spring Rolls (uses chicken mince)
Fragrant Thai-style Green Curry (uses chicken fillets 700g)
polenta recipes
Pumpkin & Walnut Pasta (uses canned champignons)
Weight Watchers Aduki Bean Salad

Aduki Bean Chilli

Mixed Bean Chilli Soup

My girls loved this, used it as they would chilli made with mince or ground beef. Yes, we had it on Wednesday and we had chowder this week too.

To cook adzuki beans:
Soak overnight (in fridge) 1 cup adzuki beans and 5 cups water.
Cook with 1 dried chilli and 1 teasp of salt and 1 teaspoon sugar for about 40 mins
Remove chilli, drain (reserve liquid) and blitz adding some reserved liquid for thick paste
Add to cooking ingredients below and mix in properly.

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
125g button mushrooms, sliced (much more- about ½ paper bag)
1/4 tsp chilli powder, or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
400g can Butter beans (don’t drain juice OK)
400g can chopped tomatoes (whole tomatoes mashed)
600ml tomato juice (not needed)
300ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (not needed)

TO SERVE: 4 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche, try also Corn Chips
fresh coriander sprigs (not needed)

Preparation method
1, Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and peppers and fry them gently, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms, chilli powder and ground cumin and cook gently, stirring, for about 30 seconds

2, Tip the mixed pulses and tomatoes into the saucepan. Add the tomato juice, stock and chopped coriander. Stir well, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Partially cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.

3, Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each portion with 1 tbsp of crème fraîche and some coriander sprigs.

Recipe adapted from here. They use: Canned mixed pulses contain soya, pinto, black-eye, red kidney and aduki beans, and chickpeas.

Menu Musings

In 1968 I could have been eating this soup. I love black bean soup, but sadly it was never sold here.

I was going to post a picture of Old Mother Hubbard, but that was very depressing, a dusty looking wooden cupboard.

So here is my pic, of black turtle beans, for those Australians who haven't seen them. They make everything black, but I love them!

Still using the things we have on hand for the base for each recipe. Hopefully next fortnight will be easier. However, the recipes have been lovely so far.

Tuesday ~ Pea & Ham Soup with Kranskys
Wednesday ~ Black eyed Beans/Peas & Vegetable Soup
Thursday ~ Pea Fritters & perhaps Chickpea Salad with Yoghurt Dressing
Friday ~ Chinese Egg Noodles
Saturday ~ Mixed Bean Chilli Soup Aduki Bean Chilli recipe on this blog soon
Sunday ~ Nachos with pinto beans or Pinto Beans with Chorizo & wraps
Monday ~ Fish with red or green curry from a can
Tuesday ~ Red & Black Lentil Soup by Tobie Puttock using French Style Lentils
Wednesday ~ Seafood Chowder I'm using canned prawns this particular time
Thursday ~ Mexican Macaroni Cheese
Friday ~ Wombuk & Mushroom Chow Mein I'm using egg noodles
Saturday ~ Italian Soup with Cheesy Damper (uses Kraft Cheddar)
Sunday ~ Pasta e Fagioli
Monday ~ Pumpkin & Split Pea Soup

Swap recipes:
Chilli Bean Casserole with Herby Dumplings
Roast Pumpkin & Black Lentil Soup

Possible Baking:
Polenta Cake with Citrus Syrup (I need eggs)

Successful recipes from last week:
Lucy's Adzuki Croquettes & Spicy Sesame Sauce

Interesting recipes:
Gula Melaka with Lychees
Hot Pot Soup with Basil Dumplings (uses kranskys)
Hearty Chicken Soup

The big question is, is aduki bean chilli a legitimate use for aduki beans? It seems so, going on this recipe called Mixed Bean Chilli Soup. We tried it last night, and yes, yummy.

A little more strange until I have tried it, aduki bean feijoada, Adzuki Bean & Cabbage Stew, I like feijoada, so I am curious. Going on what happened with the Mixed Bean Chilli Soup, yes it is like feijoada. Sour cream would have gone with it very nicely.

Anyway, I liked the cans of mixed pulses in the first recipe. They include soya, pinto, black-eye, red kidney and aduki beans, and chickpeas. They are available in the UK. It is used in this minestrone soup. It went well as a minestrone too. Aduki beans seem very versatile, for Italian, like black beans from the south and beyond, Japanese and like chilli, similar story to the black beans.

$21 Challenge Explained

I thought I had put this video on my blog before. But it doesn't look like it.

Mung Bean Soup

Above is red kidney, pinto, mung (green), black turtle, aduki and haricot beans.

We had this soup tonight. I admit I was putting off cooking the mung beans that I have had for ages dried in the pantry. This soup had a better texture than lentil soup. Similar, but nicer and seemed very healthy. We used vegetables we also didn't want to deal with. Absolutely delicious. Good way to use up marrow and beetroot from the garden. Don't be put off by the spices. You can't taste them, they just do something to the ordinary vegetables and make the whole thing work. The recipe comes from this blog and has been adapted.


Mung Bean and Vegetable Soup

Rinse the mung beans under cold running water. Soak overnight, mung beans, (1 ½ cups mung beans well covered with water) the beans swell to about 2 ½ times volume. Soak in fridge in warmer temps.

1 cup dried mung beans
1 to 2 cups chopped vegetables
(used 2 beetroot cubed small,
small celery chopped,
3 garlic chopped small,
2 small onions chopped roughly,
Piece of Japanese radish, chopped small,

2 pieces of large zucchini chopped into smallish cubes…all vegetables fried in oil in batches

In order of cooking times, starting with onions and garlic cooked with spices

Water will need to be added depending on quantity of vegetables and how thick you want the soup to be

1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Drain and rinse the soaked beans and add to a medium saucepan. Cover with 3 cups of fresh cold water and bring to a boil and cover. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the beans are soft, stirring occasionally.

Season with salt to taste, and serve hot or warm. Serves 4.

All Out of Lentils

This picture is called Pantry, Green Gables Home, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Monday sees some left over bacon that we made into soup Cabbage, Bacon & Potato Soup

A bit rough this menu, but also a pantry challenge. We had some things left over from last week, which is amazing really. Probably something to do with the gifted turkey and having left overs again after going back to a five person family this Monday after our son went back to the city after his break. I may buy mince and small amount of steak for the Japanese pancakes and the canned corn, eggs and ham, or go through the menu again and fine tune it.

Tuesday ~ Tuna Casserole
Wednesday ~ Left-overs
Thursday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise
Friday ~ Mince Chow Mein
Saturday ~ Possibly Mediterranean Grilled Polenta with fish & salad
Sunday ~ Red Onion & Green Pea Fritters with Braised Beans needs fresh tomatoes & lemon juice or wombuk salad
Monday ~ Japanese Pancakes (uses cabbage)
Tuesday ~ Cabbage with Split Peas if not having chow mein and Japanese pancakes or Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce
Wednesday ~ Mushroom & Caper Pasta
Thursday ~ Mung Bean and Vegetable Soup
Friday ~ Tomato & Borlotti Bean Soup
Saturday ~ Possibly Noodle Omelettes uses canned corn, eggs & 100g ham or cauliflower
Sunday ~ Lucy's Adzuki Croquettes & Spicy Sesame Sauce
Monday ~ Spicy Azuki Bean Risotto

Swap recipes: Greek Bean & Silverbeet Stew
Italian Vegetable and White Bean Soup
Sweet & Sour Fish Sticks & Rice

Have tabouli mix for salad if we have a tomato in the garden.

Successes from last week:

Red Onion & Green Pea Fritters
Lentil Burgers with Tahini Sauce
Asian Bean Cakes
Pistou Soup

All very nice.

Interesting recipes: Spaghetti with Garlic Butter, Bacon and Prawns
Roasted Chipolatas with Creamy Polenta
Spaghetti with Tuna, Peas & Borlotti Beans
Sausages with Lentils & Polenta
Vegetable Slice with Asparagus Salad

SBS Podcasts : Podcasts: Gourmet-farmer

I was visiting Renata at Sunnyside Farm Fun today. She has a post there about Gourmet Farmer, which you can visit here. I thought I would dig around to find the show she recommended and have a look. I found it is about Sydney food critic named Matthew Evans, now based in country Tasmania.

SBS Podcasts : Podcasts: Gourmet-farmer

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Thankful

I found this song while doing my Thankful Thursday post on my other blog, I looked it up on the ads while doing the post. Lovely song.