Category Archives: Perfect Picnic Food

Quiche Not Lorraine & a Menulog offer!

I know a lot of people hate their names. I’m not really one of them. I have to admit though that I don’t really feel like a Lorraine if you know what I mean (my parents were going to name me Selina which I think suits me better). However it’s not a bad name-I could have had worse inflicted upon me. However as a consequence, I’ve been called Quiche Lorraine quite a few times which didn’t bother me as much as that Australian-ism “Lozza” which just made me cringe.

I didn’t particularly like Quiche Lorraine growing up, only because the Quiche Lorraine that I tried was the frozen type found in the freezer section of the supermarket. So I dismissed Quiche Lorraine as something watery and eggy and not particularly nice. Until I tried a good one.

This quiche is not your typical Quiche Lorraine with egg, bacon and cheese but a version made with whatever I had in the fridge before our move which happened to be leftover roast chicken, grilled eggplant and a few cheeses. So please feel free to use whatever you have to hand that you think would go well together. I’m hoping that by making Springtime and picnic friendly dishes that the weather will continue to be gorgeous. Sydney-siders be sure to enjoy the fabulous 28 degree day predicted for tomorrow perhaps with this quiche and a picnic!

And if you’re feeling like a night in I have some good news – an offer for Not Quite Nigella readers! The people at Menulog are offering you a $10 off coupon! The Australia wide website has over 600 restaurants in their delivery database delivering you food to your door so all you have to do is cue up Dexter or Mad Men on your DVD player. And how do you get this offer? Just use the coupon code “4D64FD” when making your order oneline. This is available for participating restaurants that display the “accepts vouchers” sign and is valid until November 2009. Minimum purchase $20 and for first orders. Have fun and happy feasting!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like or dislike your own name? And have you changed your mind about it once you got older?

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42 comments | August 15, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella

Bougatsa – Custard Filled Filo Pastries

Every cuisine has their late night food. The food that whilst perfectly good during the daytime, tastes even better after a long, late night and is best enjoyed when your memory of it and whoever you kissed is fleeting and when your stomach craves something buttery or greasy to balance the alcohol within it.

Greece’s late night food looks almost too damn pretty to give it a tag of “late night food” (click here for an example of a late night monstrosity I had in Finland called the Kannibal). No greasy kebab or pie, it’s a delicious custard filled filo pasty parcel. I first heard about this from a Greek friend and my interest intensified when I started talking to David Tsirekas from Perama restaurant, a restaurant that I visited only the other night. He’d twitter tempting things such as “making mandarin bougatsa” and I’d be urged to bump this to the top of my “to make” list, a messy scrawled piece of paper that I’ve clipped to my teapot wall calendar. I knew of course that I wasn’t going to make the filo from scratch and my version wouldn’t be as amazing as his but I persevered.

These were very, very good. I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to say that they were as good as the ones at Perama but if you want to make your own version at home, say late at night when the clock strikes midnight, these will certainly do. I loved the crunchiness of the buttery, light filo and the softness of the oozing vanilla and lemon custard.

And yep you guessed it. It’s Wallpaper Wednesday! How about some Bannoffee Peanut Butter cups?  I’m sure we’ve all made a quick version of this late at night with a spoon, some chocolate and a jar of peanut butter!

So tell me Dear Reader, what is your favourite late night food either at home or when you are out? A kebab? A pie? A friend used to get the urge to make wedges at midnight. What’s yours?

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43 comments | June 24, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella

Red Curry Vegetable Pies

There’s something I know for certain: it’s pie season. The cooler temperature and shorter days signal to me, the need for comfort food and even thought the temperature itself hasn’t dipped that much, it’s low enough for me to yearn for the heat of the oven. I’m a different creature in Winter. During Summer it’s all about salads and water but in Winter, it’s a pastry and soup fest.  And this comparatively cool Sydney evening made me hanker for some pies.

We try and eat vegetarian a few nights a week for health reasons and to reduce our reliance on meat. That’s not a sign that I am about to go full time vegetarian – I tried that once and it wasn’t for me but it feels healthier and better for the environment to do so three to four nights a week. It also lightens our grocery bill which is a nice bonus for my husband who tears his hair out at the things I like to put in my trolley.

If you’re a hardened carnivore, you could certainly add some chicken to these but I do think that they are perfect as is although by all means substitute it with whatever vegetables you have to hand – 3.5 cups will do. One thing that I never really saw any point to was making your own pastry. That is, until I found an amazing Pâte Brisée shortcrust pastry recipe. I will say that if you are not so inclined to make your own, you can use store bought but this Pâte Brisée pastry is to die for. But don’t worry I haven’t lost the entire plot, I still bought the puff pastry. That would probably signal a descent into utter madness if I were to make my own puff pastry. Feel free to call the authorities to pick me up should that ever happen.

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46 comments | May 5, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella

Salt & Pepper Potato Chips

I’m a  chip fanatic from way back. The idea of a perfect lunch for me as a kid was a chip sandwich, made with crinkle cut chicken chips. Forget fancy Kettle or Red Rock chips, we didn’t have those growing up. Nor do I remember Thins, which I’ve never really gone for (they’re just too… thin?). Crinkle Cut Chicken chips were my weapons of choice. And because my mother rationed me on chips, pouring a small amount out of a large bag I’d eat them crinkle by crinkle slowly until every last piece was gone. And you can bet that as a kid I ran my finger along the bottom of the bowl to catch any stray flavour flakes.

I still love crinkle cut chips but more recently I like the thickness or Kettle or Red Rock deli chips. They’re said to be just like home made so when I was munching a packet of salt and vinegar chips (not my favourite flavour but I was hungry) I wondered why hadn’t someone made Salt and Pepper flavoured chips? There’s Salt and Pepper Squid and Salt and Pepper Tofu and they’re both delicious. How about some Salt and Pepper potato chips?

I took out my V slicer and sliced them on the second setting – I don’t like my chips too thin as they aren’t as earth shatteringly crunchy, and drizzled a couple of tablespoons of oil on top and then baked them. After baking them, I sprinkled the salt and pepper mixture on top and tasted them. They were wonderful indeed and very Kettle Chip/Red Rock like too. And somehow I felt more virtuous that these were baked rather than deep fried. And yes I did put these in a sandwich-white bread with butter which is the only way really to eat these in a sandwich.

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48 comments | April 5, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella

Rose & Pistachio Browned Butter Baklava & A Persian Feast for the New Year

My friend M had her birthday recently. What I didn’t realise was that her birthday is the same date as my our wedding anniversary so when we booked our trip to New Zealand months ago I didn’t realise that we’d be missing out on her birthday. She is such a good friend that she postponed her birthday celebration until we returned. She was having a celebration where a friend of hers Sara, a lovely lady that makes all manner of fantastic Persian delicacies, was making the food for her. So in turn I offered to make dessert for her and I have been dying to try and make a Baklava. I was inspired by Alejandra’s delicious Orange Hazelnut baklava and adapted her recipe.

I adore this dessert, it’s so sweet, sticky and delicious. I wanted to make something that fit the occasion and a flavouring such as rose and pistachio immediately sprang to mind. It’s one of my favourite combinations – if you’re a regular reader you’ll see evidence of my obsession with rose. While I was clarifying the butter I wondered if somehow browned butter would work. Browned butter is wonderfully aromatic with its nutty aroma so what better way to enhance the nutty flavour of a Baklava than using browned butter instead of regular melted butter.

I was nervous, this was my first time making baklava properly. I don’t usually do unusual things for events such as this where other people are tasting my food-certainly I felt out on a limb making baklava for the first time already but when you’re out on a branch, you may as well enjoy your time on the edge. The key to not having a soggy baklava is that the syrup and he pastry must be at opposite temperatures. Either you pour cold syrup over the hot baklava or warm syrup over the cold baklava. I chose the former as the timing suited me to make the syrup the night before and store it in the fridge.

Zereshk Polo Ba Zaferon: Saffron rice with berries

Tadige Nan: crunchy bread

Today is also the day for Persian New Year (at 10pm to be precise) which is what I learned from talking to Sara. We were lucky to try these fantastic dishes which she painstakingly made over 2 days. We were dining with Sara & Shahram; Dean and Penny; Esan and Ellie, Laura and of course M and her boys.

Khoreshte Gheyme Bademjan: Eggplant and lentils with tomato

Shirin Polo: Saffron rice with meatballs

Sara made Persian rice studded with berries, saffron rice with mini meatballs, a delicious eggplant bake with a lentil-ey bean, a rice, egg and chicken layered dish and gorgeously crunchy bread. We feel absolutely spoilt by all of the delicious food. “Sale No Mobarak” or Happy New Year in Persian!

Tachine Morgh: Rice layered with chicken and egg

And did the baklava work? Thankfully it worked a treat. The baklava was crunchy with a light aroma of rose and the ultimate compliment came from the Persian and Iranian guests Sara and Ellie who were very complimentary about it. And like an actress drawn to the drama, or a moth to the flame I am a ham when it comes to food and compliments like that only spur me on and encourage me to enjoy my time out on the proverbial limb.

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53 comments | March 20, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella