Free: Best of the week

& a cheesy toast mix recipe

Hello! It’s me! I’m on the mend finally and back to fledgling regular programming. This week has been a bit of a blur of getting better and organising things for our move from Tassie to Melbourne. We have rented a place in the northern suburb of Coburg and can not wait to get in and start digging a vegetable garden and making the place cute.

This week in food has been all about easy and comforting things. When you’re feeling a bit unsettled delicious things are a salve, don’t you think? For us it’s Malaysian-inspired curries, chicken sandwiches (I love chopped almonds in mine), spaghetti and … cheesy toast!

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Best things

1/ Why the crockpot was invented. So interesting! (Link)

2/ A new film about our queen, Julia Child. (Link)

3/ I’m into this natty cookbook/tablet stand. (Link)

4/ My brother-in-law is part of the team at this Frenchy new Sydney place. If you are local, you must go and eat something on my behalf!

5/ I just borrowed this book (below) from the library and can’t wait to dig in!

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For late breakfast today I made cheesy toast. This is based on the Stephanie Alexander recipe (which can be found in her latest book, Home) but with some changes that I like.

Here’s how to make enough mix for about 8 pieces of toast …

Pip’s Spicy Cheesy Toast Mix

1 red onion, diced finely
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Set aside until it’s at room temperature. Then pop it into a mixing bowl and add …

⅔ cup of Kewpie mayo
⅔ cup of grated cheddar cheese (nice quality is best!)
⅓ cup of grated parmesan
a handful of curly parsley, chopped finely
1 tsp of finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
½ tsp of dried chilli flakes
½ smoked paprika
black pepper and salt

Spread thinly on nice bread and grill until bubbly and scorched. I use a toaster over which grills both sides at once. If you have a conventional grill, toast one side of the bread, then flip it over, spread with the cheese and grill with cheesy side up!

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That’s a-peeling

What kind of vegetable peeler do you have? Or do you use a knife? I always use these basic ones and I have yet to be tempted by a different type. But perhaps you know better?

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Recipes o the week

This week’s paid subscriber recipe was a fresh and summery pasta: Spaghettoni with Caper-y Tomatoes and Broccoli.

Last week’s Hungry Hungry Pippo paid recipe was for Potatoes O’Brien and Comeback Sauce.

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Chatty newsletter highlights

From Denyse - about foodie parcels in the post:

“As we would not be able to see our daughter for her 50th birthday (lockdown) I decided a care package would be good....and I made HER fave biscuits ever, packing them very carefully with bubble wrap and in groups in plastic containers (then in a big post package box and paid priority just to ensure they arrived) and I know she loved them very much.”

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Speaking of comfort, how about you?

What are your favourite comforting meals for when times are a bit all over the place?

Care to share?

x pip