h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Since this coming week we have Independence Day over here (Ha! Take that, Brits! :P), and since that is a very grilling-oriented holiday (because weather's good and everybody goes outside and barbeques), there have been a bunch of good recipes in the papers lately.

One that I mean to try, and thought you might be interested in, is grilled pumpkin - with just a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, although I suspect a hint of nutmeg or something won't go amiss. They also suggested melons (also with salt and pepper! I honestly can't imagine doing that to a poor sweet melon), and of course tomatoes.

And grilled aubergines are absolutely my favourite way to eat obergines. Either on their own (with just a bit of lemon, salt and garlic), or with tahini, or in a salad with grilled peppers, onions and tomatoes. So good.

I'm going to Lady P's for dinner!

Sure, come over! We have arroz de feijao, and chicken, and salad, and semolina cake with candied orange peel for dessert.

Actually, just realised PC might like the cake recipe - it uses oil, not butter. Also uses 4 eggs, but you have your replacements, and they're hardly the main ingredient, so it could work.


* 1 cup semolina
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup shredded coconut
* 0.5 cup sugar
* 0.5 cup oil
* 1 cup orange juice
* 4 eggs
* 1 bag baking powder [sorry, not sure how much is in a bag, I think 5g or so]
* 1 bag vanilla sugar
* Optional: candied orage peel (we just had some really good ones, and thought they'd work well in the cake; I think orange zest could be good too).

Mix everything, pour into 2 loaf pans lined with parchment paper, and bake at 180°C until golden and firm.
Make a syrup from equal parts sugar and water (we used 1 cup each, and had way too much left over, 0.5 cup should be okay), and pour over the cakes while still warm.

It sounded good until the coconut

>>Ha! Take that, Brits! :P

Oh, I'll freely admit the place should never have been ours.

On the other hand...

Eh, I kid.

I actually think a few more years under the mandate wouldn't have hurt. We might have had a half-decent football team, then.

Oh, and for a bag of baking powder - if they contain as much as ours, just use enough to cover the palm of your hand.

That sounds like a LOT of baking powder, so I'll do a quick conversion. I've never used more than a couple of teaspoons. (but I believe you)

Eggplant (aubergine) will be in season soon here and I look forward to grilling some! That and portobellos, marinated in tamari, white wine and balsamic vinegar, with lots of garlic. Great on focaccia bread with lettuce and tomato and a bit of Dijon mustard.

Not cover it thickly. And not the whole palm, just the little hollow bit for measuring baking powder It would be simpler to show you.

Asparagus season here. We're having noodles with green asparagus fried with slivered almonds for dinner

>And not the whole palm, just the little hollow bit for measuring baking powder

Ah, that explains it!

Seriously, I'll figure it out. I love the way you guys share this stuff with me, including measuring increments.

And I've got a couple packages of shredded coconut just waiting for a nice cake or curry to go into, so I've got all the ingredients needed. Now I just need it to cool off enough to run the oven again- it's almost summery today!

Oh, I used the griddle side to make pancakes this morning, and they turned out so much better than in the non-stick skillet I'd previously used (my other skillets are stainless, and everything sticks at very high heat). I loved them!

I think I'm going to enjoy this nice grill pan. Especially once the farmer's market opens mid-May and we have tons of eggplant (aubergine) and zucchini (courgette). Also, come late summer, I can steam corn on the cob and then grill it to carmelize it a bit. Yum!

Keep those suggestions coming!!

Lasy P:
On the offchance that I was over-subtle...I was referring to the people the land *really* belonged to.

PC:
At this very moment, I'm griddling tofu, marinated in...tamari, rice vinegar, honey, worcester sauce, mustard, tomato ketchup, ginger and garlic.

Mal:
Spargl mit kartofeln und gekochte ei.

Hi Ed

Okonoemeaki or however it's spelt, shredded cabbage n J onion , plus mountain potatoe in a batter

Ooh, that one might be tricky, but sounds good.

>I'm griddling tofu, marinated in...tamari, rice vinegar, honey, worcester sauce, mustard, tomato ketchup, ginger and garlic.

Sounds good- I've got veggie W sauce, would never have occurred to me to use mustard and ketchup, though, and that sounds absolutely delicious. I'm going to try exactly that next time I grill some tofu. Yum!

I'm also really looking forward to doing some kind of sandwiches soon.

The lunch here in Lair today consisted of muesli porridge, and black currant jam - all organic.

But I took and DJ for a nice dinner at one of the Indian restaurants downtown Friday evening, . I had veggie samosas and a veggie and shrimp sizlar.

Yum! I last had Indian about a month ago. Must have some again, soon.

Breakfast today was multi-grain and flaxseed hot cereal, with sliced banana and soy milk. We're going to the Art Institute to hopefully see an Edvard Munch exhibition, so we may have lunch out.

Ooh! Edvard Munch was the first exhibition I ever saw. Accidentally, at the Liverpool Walker Art gallery.