Black bean chili

October 10-14, 2011

On this work trip, I didn't just prepare driving snacks - I planned all our meals for several days. There was muesli, yoghurt and stewed rhubarb for breakfast; mango coconut rice salad for lunch; apricot delights, toast, fruit and nuts for snacking; then this black bean chili with polenta batons for dinner.

A slow cooker and a little chopping assistance from Michael kept the prep on this one to a minimum. All the real cooking happened while we slept; after that it was into a chiller bag for later reheating. It's remarkable how much texture remains in the vegetables after that much time - I always expect slow cooked dishes to turn out sludgy and sweet. Actually, it was mostly just under-seasoned. For some reason I got it into my head that salt during cooking would make the beans tough (maybe I was mixed up with the effect of acidity?). At least there was salt and pepper at the table, and avocado and lime besides.

Over the two nights I managed to perfect my polenta approach too. I'd set it into large flat rectangles and fit it into a lunch box for the ride. On the first evening I fried it in strips and was dismayed to see the outer layer lodge itself firmly to the pan, and the strips remain soft, almost gluggy. Second time round I grilled 'em. This yielded the lightly golden crust I'd been wanted all along, and plenty of soft savoury steaminess inside. It really burned through the baking paper though.

Black bean chili
(based on a recipe in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker,
by Robin Robertson)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red capsicum, chopped
1 corn cob, kernels shucked
3 small tomatoes, chopped
3 red chiles, finely chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
400g can crushed tomatoes
2 x 400g cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup water
salt
pepper

Heat the oil in a large frypan. Chop the veges in turn and add them to the pan: capsicum, corn kernels, tomatoes, chiles and garlic. Sauté them gently for about 5 minutes. Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients (light on the salt). Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Season to taste and serve.

Apricot delight

October 9-13, 2011

I spent a few days last week on the road and in the field with a colleague. Last time we set forth I brought macadamia-date balls - she's not one for sugary desserts, though she loves fresh fruit, and they seemed to hit the spot rather well. I knew just what to bring this time: the apricot delight I first saw on Green Gourmet Giraffe, which I later had the luck to taste when Mel brought it to the VegMel Picnic.

While the apricot delight commonly found in supermarkets is full of sugar, glucose syrup and oil, these sweet-and-slightly-sour squares contain nothing more than dried apricots, dessicated coconut, water, and a little honey (easily omitted or replaced with another sweetening syrup for vegans). It's no less delightful in its simplicity and wholesomeness! 

Apricot delight
(as seen on Green Gourmet Giraffe,
where it's credited to the Australian Women's Weekly)

250g dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons honey (or alternative sweetener)
1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut, plus extra for coating

Place half the apricots and all of the boiling water in a small saucepan. Soak the apricots for about an hour. Bring the mixture to the boil and gently simmer them, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. I topped mine up with another tablespoon or two of water as they looked like they were drying out. Allow the mixture to cool a little.

Transfer these soaked apricots to a food processor, add the honey and purée them thoroughly. Plonk them into a bowl and stir through the remaining apricots and the coconut. The mixture will form a reasonably thick dough.

Line a small tray with baking paper and spoon in the dough, flattening it across the base. Place a second piece of baking paper on the top surface of the slice, then refrigerate it overnight.

When the slice is set, remove the baking paper and cut the slice into small squares. Roll each square in the extra coconut to coat the sides, then serve or store as you wish.

My kind of meringue

October 10, 2011

Recently I made strawberry icecream; it left me with three egg whites. Though Duncan may goad me, I'm too lily-livered to attempt macarons. I have a few white-only recipes tucked away and tagged (David Lebovitz has more still!). The one that appealed most to me was Hannah's chocolate date meringue torte - first because it requires precisely three egg whites, and second because it reminded me of a Soulmama dessert I loved  long ago.

I find meringues a little too sweet and insubstantial but folding in some almond meal takes it to more appealing places. The crust gives way to a more satisfying chew and gentler sweetness. Dates and dark chocolate chips are the perfect accents. I'm always a little intimidated by the prospect of keeping whipped whites airy, but this cake had a lovely lightness in spite of my heavy hand.

The highest compliment I could pay this recipe is that I might find myself having to make yolk-based icecream because of this meringue cake, rather than the other way around.

My kind of meringue
(very slightly adapted from a recipe at Wayfaring Chocolate,
credited there to Good Taste Magazine)

spray oil
120g almonds
120g dark chocolate, chopped roughly or in chips
3 egg whites
110g castor sugar
120g dried pitted dates, chopped

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a cake tin (mine was ~22cm square) with paper and lightly spray it with oil.

In a food processor, grind the almonds to meal. When they've become a coarse powder, add the chocolate and pulse briefly to chop the chocolate a little more finely and mix it through the almond meal.

Place the egg whites in a large bowl. Beat them to soft peaks with an electric mixer. Gradually beat in the sugar until the meringue mixture is thick and glossy. Gently fold in the almond/chocolate mixture, and then the dates, until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, smooth over the top a little, and bake for about 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Ottolenghi's grapefruit brekky

Breakfast serial part xv
October 9, 2011

After roughly a year's break we're trying an organic fruit'n'veg box delivery again, this time from Aussie Farmers Direct. Our first one arrived on Thursday and included a grapefruit. Grapefruits weird me out. I'd never eaten them growing up - I just saw them mentioned again and again on the diet pages of the women's magazines my grandma and aunties read. This had me assuming they weren't tasty. Since then I've enjoyed a few grapefruity beverages and desserts while eating out but not ventured to do much with them myself.

Ottolenghi has a grapefruit breakfast recipe online, which I figured must be a good bet. It's pretty simple - halve a grapefruit, sprinkle over sugar and star anise, grill it to a syrup and serve with a little yoghurt. It was... just barely OK. Messy to eat. I didn't really get into the flavour combination. I'm pretty sure it's not the thing to sustain me through a weekday either.

Does anyone out there have a favourite thing to do with grapefruit? There's every chance we'll be delivered a few more.

New Day Rising

Edit 30/01/2025: New Day Rising has now closed. Their sibling cafe Zen Arcade still operates.

October 8, 2011

We've been meaning to check out New Day Rising for ages - certainly since Lisa named the coconut, lettuce, tomato (CLT) bagel as one of her favourite dishes of 2010. There's no particular reason that we've taken so long to get there, although given how small NDR is, I've been a bit wary about turning up and having to wait for one of the 5 or 6 tables. We finally took a chance on a fairly drizzly Saturday morning, turning up at around 9am to find the tiny room fairly empty. It's a cosy little place, possibly the smallest cafe we've been to, with no real separation between the tables and the 'kitchen'.

New Day Rising has a fairly extensive vegetarian breakfast menu, with coeliacs and vegans well catered for. Cindy was tempted by the grilled cheese and pickle bagel, but in the end had to sample the CLT (smoked coconut, rocket, tomato and avocado bagel, $10).

The key to this is the smoked coconut - crispy little shavings soaked in a delicious marinade based on pecan liquid smoke. Cindy was very impressed - we're going to figure out how to make this at home in the not too distant future.

I was sorely tempted by the haloumi bagel ($11), but ended up settling for New Day Rising's homemade baked beans (cannellini beans with tomato, garlic and fennel seeds, served with avocado, Persian feta and sourdough, $13).

This was an incredibly generous meal - three pieces of toast, a massive pile of beans and a good chunk of excellent avocado. The beans had a sweetness to them, along with a fairly strong fennel aftertaste. The saltiness of the feta went really well with the beans - I'd have enjoyed another big dollop of it, but that's just my greediness kicking in.

We were pretty happy with our experience - great well-priced food, friendly service and finecoffee, all in a teeny tiny package. Definitely worth checking out on your way to or from CERES.

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New Day Rising has been enjoyed by Melbourne's veg-bloggers Lisa Dempster, In the Mood for Noodles and Crosslegged on the Front Lawn, as well as by a bunch of others: Dear Melbourne, Grounded Pleasures, Bean There, Read That and Brunch with Brice.

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New Day Rising
221d Blyth Street, Brunswick East
veg brekkies $5-13

Accessibility: A small step up on entry into a fairly crowded interior. We couldn't figure out where they were hiding the bathroom.