Ring the Changes, Olympically

 Read more from Gerald

One of the great pitfalls with food at home these days can be boredom, mainly through eating the same dishes if not day after day, then week after week. Whether this is for reasons of finance, lack of time, disinterest or simply because it’s easier, it can destroy one of life’s great pleasures. It isn’t too difficult to ring the changes even if the situation necessitates using the same ingredients all week, all it needs is a bit of imagination (or help from a cookbook or two) and a plan…or serendipity!

I don’t know whether it was merely serendipitous or because of the current Olympic fever but when I looked over our dinners for the past few days I realised that each was based on the cooking of a different country. None of them were lavish or expensive but together they gave us a variety that could never be boring.

One of the cheapest ones was Potato and Cauliflower Curry, needing only a few basics and giving a good excuse to build up a stock of spices; don’t be frightened by the list of ingredients…the spices need to be fresh but are easily and cheaply available from any Indian food or spice shop; in Wellington, the wonderful Asiana Foods in Newtown is my choice.

Potato and Cauliflower Curry

2 medium onions – peeled and chopped
5cm piece of fresh ginger – peeled and chopped
5 cloves of garlic – peeled
½ cup oil (I used rice bran but peanut, corn or soy would be fine)
400g waxy potatoes
500g cauliflower florets – cut into 3cm pieces
A big pinch of asafoetida or hing
½ tsp whole cumin seeds
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
200g (or ½ tin) chopped tomatoes
1½ tsp salt – or to taste
3 or more to taste fresh green chillies – whole but with slits in each of them

Peel the potatoes, boil until just cooked, then cool and cut into 3cm pieces.

In a processor blend the onions, garlic and ginger with a scant half-cup of water until smooth.

Pour the oil into a large frypan with a lid, non-stick is good and heat it over medium heat. When hot, add the potatoes and cauliflower and fry, stirring gently from time to time until they are just browned. Remove and set aside.

Drain half of the oil from the pan (keep it for other dishes if you wish) and return the pan to the heat. Add the asafoetida and then a moment later the whole cumin seeds. A few seconds later add the blended onion/garlic/ginger mix. Fry for 4 minutes then add the other spices. Stir to mix then pour in the tomatoes and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and cauliflower together with about 600ml water, the salt and the fresh chillies. Bring to a boil, put the lid on and simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes or so. Check the seasoning and serve with yoghurt and pickles. You can serve with rice if you must but this is much better with naan, chapati or other Indian bread either homemade or easily bought. This can be made with kumara, parsnips or carrots instead of potatoes.

Serves 4-6

Another night with some beautiful dry-cured bacon on hand our menu went to the USA, for something that strangely I always associate with my visits there… a bacon sandwich. Not just any bacon sandwich but the sort I always got from hotel room service. A double-decker, made with toasted wholemeal bread; all slices buttered, with a heap of crisp bacon and sliced gherkins or dill pickles on one layer, spread with Dijon mustard and on the other, crisp lettuce and slices of tomato and sweet onion with a spread of garlic mayonnaise. Serve with heaps of serviettes.

I had been reading Dean Brettschneider’s latest book pie “Pie” earlier in the week and it’s the sort of cookbook that makes you want to cook everything in it. We happened to have some chicken thighs in the fridge so one day I made his Spanish Chicken Pie. Fragrant with garlic, saffron and paprika, rich with vegetables and all cooked in red wine, it was fantastic! If you are fond of a good pie then I do recommend that you put this book on your wish list or at least get it from the library.

On yet another cold and wet night we watched the Games, cosy in front of the fire, with a platter of olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and warm pita bread and a big bowl of garlicky homemade hummus…Lebanon, I thought.

I made flour tortillas for Mexican burritos one night and Donna ended the Olympic week with suitably Greek spanakopita.

Who knows what the rest of the games will bring…Team GB roast beef; French onion soup; a spicy Sichuan dish from China or perhaps even a Pavlova…from NZ of course but in any event we will go for Gold and try to make all our dishes as varied and as exciting as the games themselves.

Pie by Dean Brettschneider
Published by Penguin Group
RRP $54.99 hardback