Author: Allspice & Olive
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Japanese home style chicken curry
If you’ve never tried Japanese curry bricks you’re missing out. I learned about these flavour-bombs recently and lucked upon them at a specialty food store. They are packed full of flavour but not at all spicy and disintegrate very quickly into a soup or broth. Granted it’s not stew weather here but this was an […]
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Herbed Lebanese zucchini fritters (Ijje)
Many summer evenings were spent observing my aunt cooking up a batch of these greasy, crunchy little fritters. I cannot vouch that this is my aunt’s recipe however. Traditionally, you would make ijje as a way to use up the remaining squash from a batch of Koosa. Koosa are basically stuffed zucchini, however they are […]
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Beautiful Burger Buns (King Arthur Flour)
Sure burgers are tasty, easy and a quick weeknight meal. But making your own burger buns elevates them to a level of magic. While it may be easier to pick up some supermarket rolls and call it done, I am an epic believer in amplifying one’s suffering if given the opportunity. And this is your […]
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Dippy eggs at The Paddock Bakery
Woe betide me for having “discovered” dippy eggs only weeks ago. The breakfast pictured here is pretty much the epitome of perfection: dippy eggs, labneh with fennel, minced parsley and crispy bacon bit. With sourdough toast “soldiers” on the side. Available at The Paddock Bakery here on the Gold Coast. It’s your choice whether you […]
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Japanese style Miso-ginger dressing
Warning, this dressing is full of zing. It could be used on steamed veggies to amp up the flavour but stick with an iceberg lettuce if you’re dressing a salad. Once you make this I guarantee you’ll ditch traditional vinaigrette. Hopefully you have all these ingredients in your pantry (I always have miso paste as […]
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Labneh (strained yogurt)
I grew up watching my mum dig into huge vats of the thick, sour, incredibly thick Lebanese yogurt they call Labneh. I remember her dipping thick pita crisps into it – thick crunchy crisps which she had toasted in the oven and which were strong enough to withstand the heaviness of the yogurt. You must […]
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Charred Cauliflower Quinoa salad with feta
Serve this hearty salad warm or cool – it can be a meal in itself or a great side dish. A side of spiced yogurt, tzatziki or bread would be a great accompaniment. To get the charred effect, the cauliflower needs to be cooked in a hot oven until it’s almost burned at the tips […]
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Buttermilk Rosewater Panna Cotta
I’ve been wanting to make milky-jello for a long time but just lacked the motivation. I was all excited to find that Samin Nosrat has a buttermilk panna cotta recipe in her book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. I always have buttermilk in my fridge about to go off so I jumped at the opportunity to […]
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Chicken Jambalaya with kangaroo sausage
Suffice it to say, I cannot find andouille sausage in Gold Coast, Australia – I really didn’t try. Maybe if I made the trek to Brisbane I could chance upon something similar at a Farmers Market. The best I could do was this “kanga banga” which I’ve wanted to sample since moving to Australia 4 […]
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Thyme Pizza (Manouche)
No, I have not successfully fed these to the kids, but who cares? Life’s too short to only eat kid-friendly. I received an exciting present in the mail this week from my Mum in Canada – a Cookbook called “Rose Water & Orange Blossoms” by Maureen Abood. Of course, I got straight to work making […]
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Chocolate gingerbread people
When an almost-7-year-old asks you to make him gingerbread people for his classmates on his birthday , you make him gingerbread people. These would not have been possible were it not for the snap cold spell we had yesterday after weeks of 30C+ temperatures. Making pastry is a very cold-weather endeavour. The addition of cocoa […]
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Lebanese pita bread salad (Fattoush)
The addition of sprouts really adds a superfood kick to this traditional salad. Pita bread fried in olive oil adds crunch, along with the mint, parsley and sumac which lends the characteristic taste. The kids always enjoy pulling crispy pieces of pita chips out of the salad, but if you can wait and allow the […]
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Massman lamb shank curry with cauliflower
Since I’m on a jar-sauce kick, I dug out a forgotten jar of Massman curry paste I had in my pantry and put it to work. Massman paste is a lovely cinnamon flavoured blend of deep curry richness that creates a dark yellow sauce when mixed with coconut milk. Lamb shanks are my cut of […]
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Gado Gado
With another full weekend of insatiably hot and humid temperatures, a cold salad really hit the spot. Plus I figured out how to make my own satay sauce after buying some kecap manis (think treacle mixed with soy sauce). Definitely give this one a go – the veggies were so delicious with the accompanying sauce […]
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Coconut Satay Chicken bake
Malaysian cuisine is definitely not one I am familiar with being from Canada with a Lebanese background. My husband however, being from the South, waxes poetic about Laksa, and has taken me on missions around his hometown of Sydney to find that epic bowl of Spicy, tangy, noodley goodness that he craves. So when I […]
Allspice & Olive 