A Cry For Falafel Help

After our third falafel disaster I am putting out the word for some falafel help. We have tried two different recipes and we are ending up with a soggy mess. So I am calling for your help. We need some falafel training.

Attempt number one - mixture two soft and fell apart when I tried to turn them. They also absorbed a lot of oil.

Attempt number two - mixture looked okay - had the consistency of a rissole when laid out neatly on the plate but fell apart and went soggy during the cooking process.

Attempt number three - hubby tried a different recipe. First batch disintegrated. Second batch stayed together (with the addition of some plain flour to bind them) but the outside was crunchy and the inside soggy.

So.... a plea for help from all you fantastic falafel makers out there.

What is your recipe? What oil do you use? Do you use canned or dried/soaked chick peas? Do you deep fry or cook more like a pancake? Do you hold the spoon in your left hand or right hand ? lol

I really want to get this right. The recipe I have tastes really yummy and I would love to have something that I can serve up on a plate, as opposed to drinking it through a straw.

thanks in advance.

Challah Baking Success....

In keeping with my ' if a woman could make it on a fire 1000 years ago, surely I can do it' approach to cooking of late I decided to try Challah, a traditional Jewish bread. I am not Jewish, although after cutting this loaf and spreading it with real butter....we are considering conversion. lol.

Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm water
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons honey
4 1/2 cups bread flour ( I use Lighthouse brand Bread and Pizza Flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
sesame seeds
Egg wash:
2 egg whites

Mix the water, honey, oil, eggs and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk well. Then pour in half the flour, salt and yeast. Stir well until smooth and leave for 15 minutes. Then slowly add the rest of the flour half a cup at a time, mixing in well. Turn out and knead for 10 minutes. Put in an oiled bowl and wait for about 90 minutes until it doubles in size.

Then divide evenly ( about 375 grams each) and roll out into three ropes. Braid into a long twist tucking both ends under. Glaze with whisked egg white and cover and wait until dough rises further. Then glaze again and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at about 200 degrees for 20 minutes.

We ate it fresh, with real butter. We also drizzled olive oil over some slices, spread them with crushed garlic and italian herbs and pan fried them for a lovely toasty texture. we then topped it with home made tabbouleh.

A recipe definitely worth trying.

SHALOM.

Been Out Back at the Outback House

I have now returned home after going out to Dubbo in western New South Wales to visit my grandmother once again. While I was out there I had the opportunity to visit the Outback House. Ever since the series was shown on ABC a couple of years ago I have been wanting to visit the area, but it is privately owned and was only opened on long weekends and special occasions.

The television series depicted participants from modern day heading back in time to a working homestead in 1861. The property, named "Oxley Downs" was 'built' as a replica of the homesteads of the day. You can see more about the series here I was really drawn to the series because it is very close to where my grandparents built a homestead in the 1930s.

What struck me straight away was the self sufficiency of life. Exactly how my grandmother had described to me. They raised and killed their own meat and grew all their own fruit and veg. My grandmother also grew wheat and took it to the mill to swap for bags of flour.

The homestead was so simple yet so beautiful. It had a hallway that went straight through the building with rooms off to each side. First door on the left was the dining room which doubled as the classroom and office.

The first door on the right was the parlour which has comfortable chairs and small tables and a piano.

The last two rooms were the bedrooms.

I was so intrigued by the kitchen. So primitive, yet highly functional with a separate storage room or larder.

The garden was a huge area that really grew everything, all in together. It was magnificent. There were no neat little rows, it was more a permaculture style. The owners told me to take what I wanted and although I wanted to dive in with a wheelbarrow, I respectfully took a few things that I thought I would be able to continue the heirloom breeds from by saving the seeds.

What really struck me was that in comparison they did it so tough, although they knew no different. They baked and made EVERYTHING. They grew EVERYTHING.

When I arrived home I went to make some rock cakes and suddenly realised how lucky I am. I have refrigeration. I can freeze my vegetables and meat, I have a microwave if I want the butter to melt faster, I have an electric oven. So a more self sufficient lifestyle would be so EASY in comparison. It is so easy to bake bread, make pasta, make jam. Yet..... it seems that we have been tricked into a consumerist lifestyle where even baking a chicken is too much work when it is far more "convenient" to get a pre-cooked chook from the supermarket!

So, my perspective has certainly changed......... I rose early this morning and made strawberry jam. I then had it on a slice of home baked bread from the bread maker, toasted in my electric toaster and I had a cup of tea boiled in my electric jug. Being more self sufficient is suddenly so easy is comparison.

I sat and thought joyful thoughts......

Time For A Banana Cake

Sometimes the state of the bananas dictate when it is time to make a banana cake. These ones are perfect! Because I only had two bananas that were at this stage I added in a good handful of

blueberries that I had.

Cream 125grams of BUTTER with 1 cup of BROWN SUGAR. Add a lightly beaten EGG some VANILLA and 3-4 BANANAS ( or 2 bananas and a good handful of blueberries!) stir in 1 teaspoon of BI-CARB soda.
Then stir in one and a half cups of SELF RAISING FLOUR alternating with 3 Tablespoons of MILK.
I baked mine in a loaf pan for about 45 mins at 180 degrees.