D … Desserts

Who doesn’t love dessert? The word comes from the French desservir, meaning to remove what has been served. Since the 16th century it has referred to the food consumed after the main meal has been removed.

Wendy served Mango-Coconut Dessert Soup with homemade icecream. Ten minutes to prepare and one hour in the fridge for this deliciously simple dessert.

Laura made Poached Pears in Spiced Brown Sugar Syrup, accompanied by Baked Ricotta with Honey, Almonds and Orange Syrup.

Kathy prepared Chocolate Mousse. A dessert spread must have chocolate!

Pauline made a colourful Dragonfruit Cheesecake with freshly-picked dragonfruit – watch those prickles!

And Sue prepared a classic Sticky Date Pudding.

Credits:

Wendy’s Mango Coconut Dessert Soup is from Havoc in the Kitchen. See the Recipes page for her ice-cream recipe.

Laura’s Baked Ricotta is from Women’s Weekly Food.

Her Poached Pears recipe is from taste.com.au

Pauline’s Dragonfruit Cheesecake is from Tropical Fruit World.

Kathy’s Chocolate Mousse is from Donna Hay.

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

V … Vietnam

Vietnam

With a balance of vegetables, meats and herbs, and minimal dairy, Vietnamese food is healthy and tasty.  Vietnamese cuisine reflects the 5 elements of Chinese Wu Xing philosophy in that it combines five tastes – sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty, corresponding to the natural elements, wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Vietnamese temple

Our Vietnam day was held at Marie’s and we had guests in attendance.

 

 

 

 

We started with Wendy’s Gỏi cuốn (Vietnamese spring rolls) 

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine used a recipe from Viet World Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen, a Californian author and teacher.  Nadine substituted chicken for the pork to produce her Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken.

 

 

 

 

Julie produced Phở (Noodle soup). Though it is often eaten for breakfast in Vietnam, it was a perfect, light and tasty break in our meal. 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne made Lime Leaf Chicken, served with a Tangy Salad.

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy prepared Bánh Mì (Pork and Pâté roll).  This popular sandwich, usually filled with meats and vegetables, reflects French colonial influence, being based on baguette-style bread.  

 

 

 

Pauline made Vietnamese Prawn Salad, a quick and easy, tasty salad.

 

 

 

 

To finish we had Marie’s Bánh Gan (Coconut creme caramel) 

 

 

 

Credits:

Wendy’s Gỏi cuốn is from the University of Washington’s Foods of the World

Kathy’s Bánh Mì is from chowhound.com

Anne’s Lime Leaf Chicken is from a recipe by Australian Women’s Weekly, published in foodtolove.com.au.  Her Tangy Salad was adapted from a Tangy Beef Salad recipe at the same source.

Nadine’s inspiration for the Lemongrass Chicken was Andrea Nguyen’s  Viet World Kitchen

Pauline’s Vietnamese Prawn Salad is from Woolworth’s

Marie’s Bánh Gan is from taste.com

 

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

 

M … Morocco

Morocco

 

 

 

Nadine was our host and the air was filled with the smell of spices for our Morocco day.

Tuna Masala

We started with Pauline’s Tandoori Tuna Masala served as open sandwich finger food.

 

 

 

 

Laura served Zaalouk, Moroccan Eggplant Salad with Khobz Kesra, Moroccan Bread.

Zaalouk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marie prepared a Moroccan Salad with Pomegranate.  She used Hawaiian sweet potato with yellow and purple skinned sweet potatoes – a delicious combination.

Pomegranate Salad

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine made a Lamb Tagine with Dates and Apricots, served with Couscous.

Lamb Tagine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan prepared Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas and Raisins, served with Moroccan Rice; a tasty combination of flavours and spices.

Chicken Thighs

 

 

 

 

 

Laura also prepared Moroccan Coconut Snowballs.

Coconut Snowballs

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with Wendy’s Spicy Roasted Plums; and easy recipe, but a beautiful presentation with a lovely flavour.

Spicy Plums

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

Pauline’s Tandoori Tuna Masala is from a recipe by Aziza at Ahlan Wa Sahlan

Laura’s Zaalouk is from Lands & Flavors.  Her Khobz Kesra is also from Lands & Flavors.

Joan’s Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas and Raisins is from food.com

Nadine’s Lamb Tagine was from taste.com.au

Laura’s Moroccan Coconut Snowballs were from The Spruce.

Wendy’s Spicy Roasted Plums are also from food.com

 

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

K … Kenya

  Kenya

A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh  …  no sleeping lions for us as we were wide awake and ready for our Kenya day.

Kenya’s cuisine is as varied as its multi-racial nature of various native ethnic groups (Maasai, Kikuyu, Gikyu) as well as Asian, Arab and European influences.  Staples are domesticated animal meats of the Maasai, corn, beans and vegetables of the Kikuyu and fish stews and rice of the Lake Victoria District.

Marie prepared a pumpkin soup called Supa ya Malenge

Supa ya Malenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Githeri

Kathy made Githeri – a Kikuyu dish of beans and maize.

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine’s Mtuzi wa Samaki  was a dish of Fish in Coconut Curry.

Mtuzi wa Samaki

 

 

 

 

Chris prepared a Potato Mash

Potato mash

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wendy used a Nyama Choma recipe substituting chicken for goat. and served it with Kachambari. a tomato and onion salad.

Nyama Choma with Kachambari

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan made a Kenyan beef stew with Wali.

Beef Stew with Wali

 

 

 

 

 

Laura made African Pepper Sauce as an accompaniment and for a sweet treat she prepared Koeksisters, sticky plaited doughnuts.

Koeksisters

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris supplied Pastries for dessert.

Pastries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

Marie’s Supa ya Malenge  was from allkenyanrecipes.com

Kathy’s Githeri was from jikonimagic.com

Nadine’s Mtuzi-Wa-Samaki was from whats4eats.com

Wendy’s Nyama Choma was adapted from – www.whats4eats.com (using chicken instead of goat) and her Kachumbari was from www.africanbites.com

Laura’s Koeksisters were from africanbites.com and African Pepper Sauce was also from africanbites.com

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

C is for Companionship

Our C meet was at Kathy’s where we shared a number of hours of good food, wine and hilarious story-telling; a fitting welcome for new member, Marie.

We started with Nadine’s Chicken liver pate served with rice crackers and toasted triangles, made by removing the crust from grain bread, rolling thinly then toasting till crisp.

This was followed by a Kathy’s Greek Chicken, egg and lemon soup (Avgolemono Soupa) served with freshly ground black pepper.

Joan provided Chargrilled Capsicum and Chorizo tartlets – perfect with our mandatory Champagne, supplied by Beatrice.

Wendy’s creation of Curried Chicken-stuffed Choko was a C-feast containing 11 C-based ingredients – Choko, Chicken, Canola oil, Cumin, Coriander, Chilli, Cayenne pepper, Capsicum, Carrot, Coconut Cream and Cashews – whew!  Because of the spicy nature of this dish Wendy also prepared a Cucumber and mint yoghurt dip.

For dessert we had Di’s raw, vegan Cherry Garcia ice-cream, based on Coconut milk and Cashew milk.

Pauline presented a dark Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis served with whipped Cream

and new member Marie brought sugar-free Coconut Chocolates with Cranberries and Cashews to accompany the freshly brewed Coffee.

Credits:

Cucumber & Mint Yoghurt Dip from Bestrecipes

Chargrilled Capsicum and Chorizo tartlets from Taste.com.au

Vegan Cherry Garcia Ice-cream from Raw Food Recipes