Category: Plating Up

I normally like to write about fun stuff and things to make folks laugh but today I can’t, today I must honour my friend Joanne Harvey and tell you about her. Jo was my local lady who worked at the Dry Cleaners and I wondered why she seemed a bit sad and maybe a tiny bit grumpy? So I set out to make friends with her. And lucky for me she liked me. She wasn’t sad or miserable at all although some might say she may have had reason to be.
This amazing lady lost the love of her life in a truck accident when she was 35 years old and bought her three kids up on her own. She moved to the Gold Coast and then had a bout with Breast Cancer, she won the first round. Her adorable Grandson was born and was the ‘Light of her life’, another reason why Grandma’s should not be given IPhones. Many a day I have watched videos and photos of her darling ‘Teddy’, I didn’t mind it made her happy.
She loved Country and Western, I hated it but even that didn’t stop us being friends. We went to Broadbeach one Sunday to watch her friend of 30 years play in his band. He had written a song for her late husband which he played for her and we all cried. We drank far too much, found some pasta joint on the way home and ate far too much! and then thought it was a good idea to hire a poor young man on a bicycle with a cart behind to take us home! Boy did he earn his money that night! Sorry about throwing up in your garden Jo!!
Thanks for being my friend, thanks for showing me what real toughness is really like and RIP with your beloved husband.

#joanneharvey#myfriend#missyou#beautifulsoul

Yesterday a lovely friend of Skinny Bitch needed some help to empty a container of Nappy Wipes for the company she works for and then do some warehouse work. Sounds easy enough? Boy was SB mistaken! 24000 packets of nappy wipes in 1333 boxes each weighing 8.5 kilos. Skinny Bitch and two others lifting every single one of them to stack into a warehouse miles high and if that wasn’t fun enough then had to unstuck mile high piles to take down to other warehouse where they were taped together making the weight now 17kilos and placed in more huge piles really to be posted out to customers. It was during this process that one of the lovely owners gave SB a homegrown beautiful pumpkin, so clearly She had plenty of time to imagine what She would do with that sweet little baby when She got home. Should I make soup? No it was far too pretty for that! Roast? No boring! How about a stuffed one? Yes! Perhaps chicken mince and garlic? No sick of chicken! Maybe quinoa , red onion and feta? yes that’s it! Now just tape these remaining 30 odd boxes and home She trot’s to cook! That was until after 8 hours of lifting and moving SB I did finally arrive home sunburnt, sore and could barely blink! So unfortunately the Pumpkin gave way to Latino Pasta and sauce and Pumpkin will have to wait until Skinny Bitch’s can move her arms again.

However as a footnote two days later SB did cook that Gorgeous pumpkin up and here’s the recipe!
Baked Pumpkin with Quinoa, Red onion and Feta cheese

Ingredients
1 pumpkin: Butternut or similar shape
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 tbs olive oil
1 red onion chopped
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup Quinoa ( Cook as per instructions, it cooks same as rice so 1/2 cup Quinoa boil in 1 cup water for 15 mins, I use Tupperware rice cooker it’s easier.)
1/2 tbs African Spice ( I bought mine in Coles from Table of Plenty, but you can use Cajun or Nepalese)
1 tin organic diced tomatoes
1 tbs tomato paste
1/3 cup water
Salt and pepper
100g Persian Feta cheese

All pumpkin flesh diced
1/2 capsicum diced
1/2 Zucchini diced
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup corn kernels (use any or all of the vegetables or find your own)

Method
Preheat oven to 180C
Cut Pumpkin in half length ways and discard seeds. Remove half the flesh and put aside. (To scrape out use a spoon or I used a pizza cutter and then scooped out.)
Place both halves on tray and drizzle with half the olive oil, sprinkle with Nutmeg,salt and pepper and place in oven for 20 mins.
Meanwhile prepare filling.
Place rest of oil into frypan and heat on medium heat add onion and garlic and cook until soft (approx 2 mins) add African spice, stir 30 secs , add pumpkin flesh diced, capsicum, zucchini, corn, spinach, quinoa (cooked) and tinned tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Cook for 5 mins. Remove from stovetop.
Remove Pumpkin from oven and place on board, fill pumpkin cavity with quinoa mixture. Sprinkle withFeta cheese and bake for further 20. Mins.
Serve immediately …… Yum

Have you ever had a few let’s say… Refreshments? And then proceeded to cook dinner found out an hour later that you just created a masterpiece and then promptly  forgot what you put in in! Hummm I have done a few of these (maybe quite a few?) so the other night after having a wine or two with my sister came home to cook dinner (yes I walked home it’s not far!) and instead of doing the usual! Cooking something and forgetting what I did I wrote it all down to share with you and I must say the meal was fab! And here is the recipe for you.  It’s called Tiddled Prawn Pasta!!

Ingredients

1 tbs Olive oil

2 Garlic cloves chopped

1/2 red onion chopped finely

15 raw prawns

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 lemon squeezed

2tsp lemon zest

150 ml cream

2tbs spring onions chopped

1/2 cup pasta water (from cooked pasta)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

black Pepper to season

Method: Cook pasta as per instructions and save 1/2 cup water from cooking.

In a frypan heat oil cook onion until soft then add garlic, cook another minute and then add prawns and white wine, cook further minute add lemon, zest spring onion and take off heat.

Drain Pasta and remember to reserve a 1/2 cup of pasta water. Return pasta to pot, on medium heat add prawn mixture, cream, Parmesan and pasta water stir through until hot. Season with Black Pepper and serve with salad (if you can find the lettuce!) Bon appetite.