5 Minute Food Fix

JENNIFER WONG joins me as guest host again (don't worry Simon, we miss you!) - and we talk about her amazing book 'Chopsticks or Fork?' - discovering where the name comes from! (It's pretty funny.)

I have an opinion on where some of the truly buried treasures might be found in cookbooks and we unearth one from Belinda Jefferey's 'MIX AND BAKE'. (I said I'd post a link to buy it but unfortunately it's out of stock everywhere! My local library has it - good luck.)

BELINDA JEFFEREY'S SUNDRIED TOMATO NO-KNEAD FOCACCIA
THE DAY BEFORE:
Mix the flours: 250g plain flour and 250g spelt flour, 1tsp salt, 1/4tsp dried yeast
1tbs honey
Stir through 500ml water and 3tbs olive oil. It will be a wet, shaggy dough. Do your best to mix well.
Put it into a clean, oiled bowl, and leave in a calm spot for 12 hours.
Knock it down by kneading and folding it a couple of times and then stretch out the dough to fit a baking tray. Set it aside for 2 hours.
When ready, pre-heat the oven until it's properly hot 200C.
Dimple the top of the dough with your fingertips, drizzle it with good oil and flaked salt, rosemary and olives (or sundried tomatoes).
Bake for 30 - 35 mins.
Eat on the day!

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Simon takes a break from Food Fixing and so I rope in Jennifer Wong, host of 'Chopsticks or Fork?' on ABC, a show about food, that is also a book.

Jen is funny and literate about food, especially Chinese food, so I thought: Great! Let's absolutely drag this online trend of making dumplings without actually bothering to wrap the filling in the wonton skin. You can see what I'm talking about here.

It's not all ridiculous, though. From Tony Tan, we have a fantastic vegan mushroom dumplings recipe here, which also has the Curry Oil Jen was talking about.

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Simon's Creamy Bean Gratin

METHOD:
2 tins of white beans, drained well, or 300g flageolet beans soaked overnight then cooked for 30-40 mins the drained and dried out well

In a bowl, mix together these things:
8 anchovy fillets
4 tbs garlic oil (from last episode)
1 head of garlic (from last episode)
300ml cream
salt, pepper and a light grind of nutmeg
splash of milk

In a gratin dish (smallish, around 25cm), lay out the beans then top with the creamy mixture and some sprigs of rosemary.

Optional: Top with gruyere cheese.

Bake for 15 mins and use the broiler if the top isn't going all bubbly and brown.
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Simon has taken the news that Yumi started introducing a tiny bit of her digestive nemesis - GARLIC - into her diet, and he's run with it.

Inspired by the recipe from Gizzi Erskine's seminal cookbook, SLOW, Simon has a way to do garlic that is pretty magical and also, supremely easy.

Tumble 4-5 whole bulbs of garlic with the tops sliced off into a tiny saucepan.
Cover it with good quality olive oil.
Add herbs like rosemary, thyme to the oil IF YOU WANT.
Gently and slowly cook until bubbles are forming around the bulbs - for 20-30 mins. Strictly DO NOT BOIL.
Remove the garlic cloves. They are available to be used as a condiment, smooshed onto toast, blended through a salad dressing or part of a bean gratin.
The oil, once cooled, can be used to flavour anything at all ...with fewer digestive complaints!

And NO, Simon did *not* provide the show notes he said he would. However, we will do a whole episode on the Bean Gratin he mentions. Next! On your 5 Minute Food Fix. xxx

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What do Ottolenghi and Hetty McKinnon have in common?
(Besides best-selling cookbooks?)

They both embrace fancying up seeds and nuts to devastatingly good effect in a salad.

How can we replicate it?
And what hack does Yumi have on days when you just haven't got the energy?

(PS. This is not a sponsored episode, just a really good hack that you can get from the shops!)
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