What IS a Hasselback Potato?

And should we bother?

And what nonsense is the internet offering us *this week* in the world of food?

Today we talk about ALL of it - and return to one of our favourite recipes for potatoes. (Spoiler? It's not the Hasselback.)

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Simon and I are both a bit weirded out when ingredients used in a traditional way in one's respective childhood home - become modernised and used in new and creative ways. Modern food! Whut?

I confess it's taken me a while to get onboard with all these groovy new ways to use miso paste but it is bloody marvellous.

AS IS HETTY McKINNON.

Her 'Community' cookbook changed the way we do salads in Australia.

She's also gifted us this wonderful revision of Cacio e Pepe (a very simple, classic spaghetti with black pepper and cheese) - which you can find here.

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On Yumi and Simon's consistently Top-10 rated food podcast, the two hosts delve into the meaning of "heirloom" when it comes to food.

And if you're surviving the cost-of-living battle sufficiently that you can shell out $$ for a couple of really good quality Ox Heart tomatoes - Simon has a beautiful and easy salad to really make those almost sacred (!) - tomatoes - that involves nothing more than salt, olive oil and a good looking platter.

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Food goes in and out of fashion, it's amazing to watch! Is Ottolenghi out of f(l)avour? Or are we bored? Or what?

Today we unpack a classic old-fashioned dessert and one of the few desserts we ate in my house when I was a wee little tacker.

PRE-HEAT YOUR OVEN 180C

Grease a 1.5 L oven dish.

CUSTARD INGREDIENTS

MIX THESE THINGS TOGETHER IN A JUG:

2 eggs

2 tbs caster sugar

500ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

PUDDING

2tbs sultanas

10 slices old, white bread, cut into triangles

optional: butter the bread

METHOD:

Arrange the bread triangles along the bottom of your ceramic baking dish. Sprinkle the sultanas as evenly as you can over the top. Pour over the custard mixture. If you want, top the lot with a grating of nutmeg or a shake of cinnamon, and then a tablespoon or two of your crunchiest sugar. Bake for 30 mins. Serve with vanilla icecream and try not to burn the roof of your mouth.

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Basque Cheesecake was all the rage a couple of seasons ago and now I'm making it almost weekly.

Partly because it's a classic, is easy, and super-yummy, and partly because I am trying not to get my scrawny Asian ass kicked in this race I'm competing in Very Freakin Soon. DON'T ASK ME ABOUT THE RACE! Let's talk about cheesecake instead!

YOU NEED:

A lust for cheesy, delicious protein.

A 20cm high-sided cake tin, which you have lined with scrunched up baking paper so that the paper towers a little above the top of the tin.

An oven pre-heated to somewhere between 200-220C. (I use 200C in my oven.)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cream cheese blocks at room temperature

200 g caster sugar

310 ml cream or Greek yoghurt (which will add an extra tangy sourness to the cake)

30g plain flour

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

220g whisked eggs

Combine everything, then cook for 45mins - until it looks right.

Recipe courtesy of Nagi from Recipe Tin Eats.

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Simon and I are both dismayed to hear that pears have grown so "unpopular" that local growers have been ripping up their trees to try to plant something more lucrative. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-17/pears-out-of-favour-with-shoppers/102961848

Why not just enlist us to plug the pear?

We'd do a great job!

There are so many great uses for this subtle and affordable fruit - not least of all one of the GOATS of salads! (Does not contain goat nor any other livestock.)

DEAD EASY POACHED PEARS RECIPE:

10 pears

250 ml sweet wine

100g sugar

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 180C

Slice the bottoms of the pears so that they can sit proudly upright.

Arrange them to sit close together in a ceramic roasting tray.

Top with a mingled mixture of the wine, sugar and any aromatics you like - eg., cloves, cinnamon, star anise. (Or leave these out!)

Bake for 1 hour, basting with the syrup every 15 mins if you can be bothered.

Serve with ice-cream, custard, yogurt or whatever you like. Use the leftovers to go with breakfast muesli or granola. DELICIOUS!

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Brussels sprouts were only ever polarising because our Boomer parents had no idea how to cook them.

Here in the real world, this seasonal, winter vegetable is INCREDIBLE.

How do you get the most out of them so they're as good as when you sit down for a side dish of these babies at a fancy restaurant with your mum?

It's easy, you can do it!

Find out more on today's episode.

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Yumi and Simon nut out the big questions on today's episode.

What IS the difference between a garnish and something bigger, like a handful of croutons?

Yumi will also talk you through a FANTASTIC cauliflower soup recipe which is easy (tick), delicious (tick), you could probably do tonight (tick!) and it is topped by the most unbelievably enjoyable garnish. (That is actually NOT a garnish.) Wait with baited breath to see if Simon can somehow incorporate his favourite ingredient into today's episode!

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole cauliflower (about 1.6kg), trimmed and cut into chunky florets

2 tins white beans, drained and rinsed

1 litre of chicken or veg stock

3 tbs sakè or dry white wine

2 tbs mirin

2 tbs smoked salt flakes (just use whatever you have)

2 tbs sprigs of fresh thyme

TO SERVE:

1 tub sour cream

juicy lemons

TOPPING

Plain potato chips

Fresh chives

METHOD

Combine everything in the INGREDIENTS list in your slow cooker, turn on 'LOW' and leave for 8 hours.

Blend everything until smooth.

Before serving, stir through the sour cream and lemon juice.

Top each individual bowl with crushed potato chips and a few snips of chives

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