This recipe is a little more time consuming, as the stuffing can take a while to prepare. To save time, you could pre-cook the barely, or even make the stuffing in its entirety the day before. It’s worth the effort and the stuffing makes a great salad or lunch on its own. It is quite similar to a recipe I have published before, from Smitten Kitchen, for a Mediterranean barley salad. You could also substitute another grain – rice, quinoa or bulgar would all work here.
For some reason, I love to stuff vegetables. I’m not sure why I feel this way – it just seems like such a nice way to present a meal. I’ve used capsicums in this recipe, but you could easily stuff eggplants, tomatoes or zucchini. We ate these as a meal in themselves, but you could also prepare them in advance and serve with a protein – steak, fish, prawns, chicken – almost anything would work. They would also be a lovely, impressive-looking dish for a dinner party – and I know many of us probably have several of those in the upcoming weeks!
Details
15 min
65 min
1 h, 20 min
Ingredients
- 2 cups Stock (chicken or vegetable)
- 1 cup Pearl barley, soaked
- 1 Onion, diced
- Olive oil
- 1 small Eggplant, roughly chopped
- 2 medium Zucchini, roughly chopped
- 1/2 Red or green capsicum, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, diced finely
- 1 teaspoon Ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli flakes (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon Tumeric
- 1 cup Natural or Greek yoghurt
- large Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- large Handful kalamata olives, halved
- 1/2 cup Feta, crumbled
- Handful Parsley and mint, to taste
- 4 large Red capsicum, hollowed
Directions
- Preheat oven 180*.
- Cook your barley in the stock for 35-45 minutes until it is cooked through but still chewy. Add more water while cooking as necessary.
- Meanwhile, splash some olive oil in a large frypan and bring to medium heat.
- Cook your onion until it starts to become translucent, then throw in your eggplant, zucchini, capsicum and any other veges you want to add. Cook until they start to soften slightly.
- Add the garlic and stir briefly, then add your spices - I used cumin, coriander, oregano, tumeric and red chilli flakes.
- Stir well and cook until fragrant.
- Add the cooked barley to the pan, stir well and then add natural yoghurt.
- Finally, add your cherry tomatoes, olives, herbs (parsley and mint) and feta. Stir to combine.
- Stuff mixture into hollowed out capsicums. Sprinkle with a little more feta if desired.
- Cook on trays in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the capsicum starts to soften slightly. Serve as is, or with any leftover barley.
Last year was the first time I attended the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show. I was pretty excited this year when I was contacted by the PR team and offered a free double pass plus a free double pass to give away on the blog. Deb was the lucky recipient of the pass – hopefully she had a good time!
So, Saturday J and I (together with his family who bought earlybird tickets) took a train into Southbank (unfortunately South Brisbane is closed at the moment) and joined the crowds.
The Show this year aimed to focus on local producers, particularly those affected by the Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi. For the first time, the Show also had a large number of ‘gluten free’ producers.
We spent several hours wandering around, trying lots of delicious samples – highlights were the cheeses and yoghurts (Barambah Organics, Kingaroy Cheese and Yarra Valley Dairy) and that one tiny spoonful of Movenpick (Meringue and double cream icecream)!
I glued my teeth together with a sample of brittle from the Feast Magazine demonstration stall.
I also loved the food mural (pictured below) – very clever.
Thanks so much for the free tickets Square One PR!
We’ve launched headfirst back into renovating our “fixer-upper” post war home. It’s all good fun, but it does mean my creative outlet is occupied elsewhere, and leaves limited time (and motivation) to cook exciting meals.
But then, I was thinking tonight, perhaps I should show some of what we eat on those nights when I don’t feel like going to a big effort? We still eat well, after all. And usually the meals are reasonably nutritious and certainly easy.
So, here it is. Our simple dinner.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Pasta (or as many servings as you require)
- 1/2 head Broccoli, chopped into florets
- 2 small Zucchini, sliced into rounds
- 1 medium Onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves Garlic, sliced
- 400 grams Tin chickpeas, rinsed well
- 1 medium Lemon
- 1/2-1 cup Greek yoghurt
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Parmesan/Pecorino to serve
Directions
- Place a large pot of salted water on to boil for your pasta.
- Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables.
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium to large frypan.
- Add your onions and reduce the heat to medium/low.
- Cook the onion gently until it starts to soften and turn translucent. You don't want it to get too brown.
- Put your pasta on to boil.
- Add your sliced zucchini to the frypan. Alternatively, you can remove the onion and fry the zucchini up separately in the same frypan with more olive oil. This will give the zucchini a lovely golden colour and great taste. However, I was feeling lazy.
- Stir gently, letting your zucchini get some colour - 5 minutes or so.
- Add your garlic and stir until fragrant, but be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add your chickpeas and heat through.
- Reduce heat to low, cover until your pasta is cooked.
- In the last couple of minutes of your pasta cooking, add the broccoli florets to the pasta water.
- Pluck out before you drain the pasta and blanch in cool water.
- Reserve about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of pasta water, then drain your pasta.
- Squeeze half a lemon over your zucchini/chickpea mixture.
- Add the yoghurt and broccoli and stir through.
- Taste your sauce, then add a bit of pasta water to dilute. Add salt and pepper to taste and more lemon juice if you want a bit more tartness.
- Finally, stir through your pasta and grate a generous amount of parmesan or pecorino over your dish.
- Finish with more cracked pepper.
- Enjoy with a side salad.
Ratatouille always makes me think of this movie, which in turn, makes me think about my childhood pet rat (Foo). From there, it’s a leap into memories of our old house, my much missed dog Rusty and the enormous frangipani tree that stood in our front yard…
Of course, that has nothing to do with this particular recipe!
Orangette was blogging about food long before I had any idea that there was such a thing as food blogs, and probably about the same time I was living on such culinary delights as two minute noodles and Pizza Hut pizzas (what? I was at uni!). She’s written one book: A Homemade Life, and is in the process of writing another. This recipe is adapted from her Ratatouille recipe in A Homemade Life. It’s slightly different to the one my Mum used to make, which basically just cooked all the vegetables together. This one requires a bit more effort – but you can successfully multitask to save time. Alternatively, you can cook the eggplant the day before which allows you to save on a few minutes.
The finished product was served with a runny fried egg and chunks of crusty bread. Then I enjoyed it again for lunch – it’s one of those dishes that improves over a couple of days. In fact, I may have some more for lunch tomorrow!
Ingredients
- 3 medium Eggplants, sliced into 2cm thick rounds
- Olive oil
- 4 medium Zucchini, liced into 1cm rounds
- 1 medium Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large Red capsicum, chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 Tin diced or whole tomatoes
- Handful Cherry tomatos, in half
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 3 Sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/4 cup Chopped basil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200*.
- Line a baking dish/tray with baking paper and spray with olive oil spray (or coat eggplant in oil in a bowl).
- Arrange the eggplant on the tray in a single layer. Spray tops with olive oil spray.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. The eggplant should be soft and slightly browned.
- Meanwhile, warm 2 tbs of olive oil in a large deep frypan or dutch oven.
- Add zucchini rounds and fry on a medium high heat until golden on one side. Flip and continue frying on the other side. This should take about 10-12 minutes all up.
- Remove the zucchini from the pan and put to one side. There should be some oil remaining in the pan, but add more if you wish.
- Reduce the heat to medium, and add the onion to the pan.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, being careful not to brown. The aim is translucent - it should take about 6 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, salt, thyme and bay leaf. Stir to combine.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, your eggplant should be just about done. Pull it out of the oven and cut into small pieces (if you wish - I didn't bother).
- Add the eggplant and zucchini back into your pan, stir, and cover and cook on low until everything is tender (15 to 20 minutes).
- Discard the bay leaf and stir in the basil.
- I served with a fried egg and a side of crusty bread. It also makes a great side for meat (particularly lamb sprinkled with cumin) and a great pasta sauce.
Spring is teasing us at the moment – one day the weather is beautiful, the air is crisp but it’s warm in the sun. The next, it’s blowing a gale, bitingly cold (for Brisbane) and overcast and rainy. I shouldn’t complain too much, at least it’s not sweltering hot yet!
At least spring means fresh produce and one of my favourites is fresh asparagus. Did you know, for the longest time I thought I didn’t like asparagus? Turns out I just don’t liked tinned asparagus (abomination! No offense Mum!).
I was perhaps slightly overzealous when I saw it at the markets and bought up several bunches. I was browsing the internet with a vague idea that I wanted to make a savoury bread pudding (half a loaf of slightly stale sourdough to use up). My searches turned up this, from internet superstar blogger Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks.
I made a few changes (no surprises there) and here is my take on her recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 medium Loaf crusty bread (sourdough)
- 3 cups Milk
- 1 cup Stock (vegetable or chicken)
- 3 large Eggs
- pinch Salt
- Cracked pepper to taste
- 2 cloves Garlic, diced finely or crushed
- 1-2 Sprigs thyme
- 1 bunch Asparagus, wooden ends cut or broken off and cut into 3-4cm pieces
- 100 grams Mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium Leek, washed and sliced
- 1 cup Cheese, grated (I used combo cheddar and parmesan)
Directions
- Preheat over to 180*C.
- Grease a 25-30cm baking pan or casserole dish with butter or oil spray.
- Roughly cut the loaf of bread into 2-3cm cubes.
- In a bowl whisk together milk, stock, eggs, salt, pepper and thyme.
- In a fry pan heat the butter, leeks and garlic over a moderate to low heat (so you don't burn the garlic).
- Throw in the mushrooms and fry off slightly - to make delicious garlic mushrooms!
- Add the mushrooms, bread, asparagus and milk mixture together and fold through.
- Spoon into the baking pan and press down well with the back of the spoon.
- Sprinkle cheese on top.
- Bake for 45 minutes. You want the cheese to be melted and brown on top and the pudding should not be too liquidy (but still moist).
- Let set out of the oven for another 10 minutes and serve with a side salad.
UPDATED: After a bit of a false start, the tickets were eventually won by Deb! Hope you have a great time at the Show!
This is such a novelty! I have a double pass to the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show to give away to one of you, my valued readers (all 3 of you!).
The Good Food and Wine Show is happening at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 4th, 5th and 6th of November 2011. This year the Brisbane Show will be showcasing lots of Queensland producers, particularly those who were affected by the floods and cyclones earlier in the year. Some of the affected producers include The Peanut Van (Kingaroy), Barambah Organics (Oxley), Ballandean Estate Wines (Ballandean) and Clovely Estate (Red Hill).
Some of the Show highlights include:
- Riedel Decanter Bar – savour speciality wines with a panel of wine experts.
- Riedel Wine Theatre – get your tastebuds tingling as you sample top drops and master the art of wine/food matching with Australia’s finest viticulture experts.
- CheeseMatters Discover Class – cheese experts step you through a cheese tasting, matched with a glass of fine wine or beer and other accompaniments.
- Sunbeam Academy – cupcakes and coffee, the essentials of life. Tie on an apron and learn to master the making of both with tips from the pros.
- Oxford Landing Estate Restaurant – be transported to South Australia in an instant and enjoy dishes prepared with the best SA ingredients and perfectly complemented with a glass of Oxford Landing Estates wine.
- Barilla Pasta Class – enter the interactive ‘Casa Barilla’ to learn more about pasta – taste it, and try to make the perfect pasta dish yourself.
- Chef Book Signing Sessions – we all have our favourite – and this is your chance to meet them and have your cookbook signed.
Each ticket is valued at $23.50 and can be used on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday (4-6 November 2011). The Show is held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and runs from 10-6 on Friday and Saturday, and 10-5 on Sunday. The competition is open to anyone in Australia, but you’ll have to make your own way to Brisbane for the Show.
To enter, all you need to do is a leave a comment on the blog telling me what local produce you love (only one entry per person please). Make sure that you leave an email address so I can contact you if you win (no spam I promise!). I will leave the competition open until 25 September 2011 and I will announce the winner on the blog.
Good luck!
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