Summer Pasta

 

Let me share with you one of the quick and easy meals I’ve enjoyed recently. I love food, but I’m rather lazy when it comes to complicated dishes.  This simple one is my variation on a well-known theme and, the first time I prepared it, I cooked ‘by eye’ – as I often do.  So please feel free to use your own judgement as you go along.  

The dish relies on the combining of smoked salmon, with fresh, barely-cooked baby Roma tomatoes and the asparagus, but with the added tang of garlic, olive oil and lemon. Buon appetito!

Helen’s Easy Pasta Fresca

Serves 2

Spiral or penne pasta for 2 people

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 fat clove garlic, chopped

1 bunch fresh asparagus

1 dessertspoon lemon juice

A little pepper and salt

4 baby Roma tomatoes, halved

70g smoked salmon

30g feta cheese, cubed

A few fresh basil leaves, rinsed, torn

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Chop tough ends off asparagus; discard ends, slice asparagus finely. Chop garlic. Heat oil in small pan, lightly fry garlic in oil until fragrant; add sliced asparagus and stir-fry 3-4 minutes until al dente. Add lemon juice to asparagus with a little pepper and hint of salt; stir and set aside. This mix forms the flavour base of the dish.

Meanwhile, lightly grill tomatoes 2-3 minutes until just beginning to cook; remove tomatoes from grill. Slice smoked salmon.

Drain cooked pasta; place in serving bowls; top with asparagus mix, tomatoes, feta and salmon. Dust with extra pepper; toss, decorate with basil leaves and serve.  

Making a difference

 

My first impression of Claude Rigney was of a quietly spoken man with a calm and gentle manner. When we sat down to talk recently, what he said revealed that he is also a man committed to making a difference in life.

At the time, Claude had just completed arrangements to send 10 palettes of medications donated by pharmaceutical company Aspen Australia to recipients in neighbouring Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor). This was medicine freely provided where it was needed. Claude dealt with the auditing, regulatory and logistical requirements and the supply went ahead, transported by Toll Global Logistics to Darwin and shipped from there to Timor-Leste by shipping line ANL. 

He puts the matter from Aspen Australia’s point of view. ‘Peter Penn of Aspen Australia responded generously to my very first request for donations of suitable medicines. Peter is passionate about this work of charity and wishes it to continue and expand. While his company has the satisfaction of knowing that it is aiding the sick and poor of developing countries with its medicine donations, it also understands that it  avoids the waste and expense of having to destroy its 'decommissioned' (but not out-of-date) products. Alpha-Pharm was the first drug company to support this work, and most recently John Timmins and his Nova Pharmaceuticals company have come on board.’

Claude has been helping supply medication to needy neighbouring people for around 50 years. Working as an employed pharmacist (he later ran his own pharmacy in the Sydney suburb of Balmain) he saw the matter clearly.  

On the one hand, people in developing nations, and in situations of poverty overseas, were in great need of pharmaceutical products.

On the other hand, he saw the large drug companies and suppliers of pharmaceuticals in Australia able to supply products in abundance to meet our health needs here. These pharmaceutical products were all required by law to carry an expiry date and those approaching this date could not legally be supplied to Australian outlets. They were labelled as ‘decommissioned stock’ and, in Australia, were required to be destroyed – at considerable cost to the companies concerned.

Claude knew, however, that such stock was still effective and useful. That is why in the 1960s and ’70s, he began working with the Red Cross to send medications, donated by pharmaceutical companies, to people overseas who needed them. ‘If you could nominate a clinic in the Third World, they would donate the pharmaceuticals and the donor would pay the shipping cost,’ he says. ‘I also worked with St Vincent de Paul.’

Since then, new regulations have changed this pattern. But Claude has continued his work, organising and co-ordinating supplies of ‘decommissioned stock’ to places where it is gladly received and much needed. He continues to use personal contact with well-established pharmaceutical suppliers, as he has explains above.   

Claude’s main recipients these days are in Timor-Leste. In addition to the 10 palettes of stock shipped this January, last year Aspen Australia also donated eight pallets of pharmaceuticals to Bairo Pite Clinic in Dili, Timor-Leste’s capital. Supplies are also sent to the Philippines, to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

When Typhoon Haiyan caused havoc in the Philippines in 2013, Claude arranged to send medications there. And he helped after the enormously destructive Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami of 2004 devastated countries around the Indian Ocean rim.   

How did he get started? Claude says it began when he met some Catholic nuns who were running a school at Niligiri Hills in southern India. They needed money to fund operations for children with cleft palates. ‘At first I used to send them money for the operations,’ he says, adding that disabilities such as cleft palates and hair lips, if untreated, condemned children to a life of discrimination. Through these initial steps, Claude began to see he was in a specially advantaged position to help supply decommissioned pharmaceutical stock to places where it could do a great deal of good. And he’s still at it.

‘Expired doesn’t mean that a medicine is toxic or ineffective,’ he says. ‘Sometimes companies over-manufacture, as the cost of manufacture in quantity is minimal, and they know they can write off donations as tax deductions.’ And these days medications are not all Claude  handles. ‘Sometimes people send clothes, as well,’ he says. ‘There’s a school in Timor-Leste that receives clothes, not second-hand, but new, unused clothes’ from a school in New South Wales.

Claude no longer has the pharmacy in Balmain and his workplace is his home in a leafy suburb of Sydney. When I asked what philosophy underlay all his endeavours he explained it as, ‘a Christian attitude of beneficence.’ He went on to say, ‘That’s what makes our society what it is. If you have a qualification or ability to do something, then you should.’

I salute him for doing so.          

The Aussie mango

Hats off to our farmers

Delicious mangoes are one of the joys of summer and they’ve been superb this year – and cheap! I just hope our mango growers are being rewarded for their hard work. Because that’s just what it has been.

Back in Dinosaur Days, when I tasted my first Aussie mango (a Bowen mango) as a teenager, the fruit was nice enough but there was a lot of fibre.

Oh my, how our mangoes have improved! Today they are sweet, juicy and delicious. And when I set out to write this mango story, I imagined I would be following a fine tale of Research and Development. However, after reading about Operation KP (for Kensington Pride) a pfd on the www.nt.gov.au website, I’m convinced that it’s the diligent farming practices, observation and hard work of our Aussie growers in northern coastal Queensland, the Northern Territory Top End, Katherine region and Western Australia’s Kununurra that have worked the real magic.

My thanks to growers such as Peter Cavanagh, who began growing mangoes in the Northern Territory in the 1970s, and CSIRO researcher Sam Blaikie (the two editors of Operation KP) for this pioneering work. Their efforts, and that of many others, have transformed the Bowen mango, now known as the Kensington Pride, into a world-class fruit.

Improvement is continuing. Since 1994, the Australian National Mango Breeding Program has been improving it still further using hand-pollination and selection breeding techniques. Three hybrids – niftily named NMBP1243, NMBP1201 and NMBP4069 – are in the process of commercial release. These hybrids all have Kensington Pride as their paternal parent, and about 70% of planted trees are still Kensington Pride. Calypso (B74), R2E2 and Honey Gold are also popular and on sale in our fruit shops in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. (Only 5%-10% of our mangoes are exported.)

Where do mangoes come from?

The mango (Mangifera indica L.) was first found in northeast India 25 to 30 million years ago and legend has it that Buddhist monks introduced the mango to eastern Asia in the 4^th or 5^th centuries BC. By the 10^th century AD, Persian traders had taken mangoes to the Middle East and East Africa. The arrival of Portuguese traders in India in the 15^th century brought mangoes to South America and the Philippines.

Apparently the mango found its way to Australia in the 1800s and, as far as I can make out, the parentage of the Bowen mango is shrouded in mystery. But certainly, it is this orphan mango – perhaps from the wrong side of the blanket – that is the basis of our Aussie industry today.

Mango Matters: check out this website

Mango growers here have excellent marketing back-up from the Australian Mango Industry Association on their website Mango Matters. This website has tempting recipes, photos of luscious mangoes and nutrition information.  The mango is high in energy, low in fat, is low GI, and is a great source of calcium, vitamins A and C, beta-carotene and potassium. Yes, it will help keep you healthy and looking young! I’m indebted to the Mango Matters website and the marketing team, including Laura and Caroline Addy at The Hallway, and Mango Marketing Manager Elisa King, for this history and nutritional information, and the super photos of the case of mangoes, top, and the ‘hedgehog’ sliced R2E2 mango, left.

Mango memory lane

Years ago when I went to live in Thailand, I began tasting some truly memorable mangoes. They flourish in the wet, tropical climate and our house by the canal had numbers of Ma Muang Mun trees, the widely-grown, strongly fibred mango that Thais eat green, peeled and sliced and dipped in a mix of chilli, salt and sugar. 

The Thais eat other mango varieties ripe, the most prized being Ok Rong and Nam Dok Mai. The latter, my research says, is available in Australia now, but perhaps in limited quantities.

Buying and cutting

To buy mangoes, test gently for a slight ‘give’ near the stem, if necessary let them ripen out of the fridge and, once they are ripe, put them in the fridge. But be sure to eat them quickly.

Cutting them in the familiar ‘hedgehog’ pattern works well. But personally, I prefer the Thai cutting method. Run a sharp knife around the perimeter of the fruit and carefully peel the skin from one side. Then slice through the peeled half across the stone, starting from the stem end. Cut this half crosswise in slices and slide the slices onto a plate. Turn the mango over and repeat on the other side. Mangoes cut this way are traditionally served with steamed sticky rice flavoured with coconut.

Here is the recipe. Be sure to try it in Thailand if you are there in their Hot Season, the best time for Thai mangoes.

Mangoes with Sticky Rice (Khao Neow Ma Muang)

For six serves:

4 cups sticky (glutinous) rice

2 cups coconut cream

1 cup white sugar, plus 2 tablespoons extra

½ teaspoon salt, plus pinch extra

½ cup coconut milk

3 mangoes, peeled and sliced, as at right, cutting note above

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted 

Put rice in a bowl, add water to cover by 5cm. Soak at least 3 hours, preferably 8 hours.

Drain rice; place a muslin cloth over the base of a large steamer; put rice on the cloth in steamer and cover with lid. Fill base of steamer with boiling water and steam rice on stove top until soft, about 20 minutes. Top up water if needed during cooking.

In a large bowl, stir together coconut cream, sugar and ½ teaspoon salt. Add hot cooked rice, stir to mix and allow to cool to room temperature. In a small bowl combine coconut milk, extra sugar and pinch salt.

To serve, place a large spoonful of rice on each plate, top with coconut milk mixture and toasted sesame seeds and place mango slices beside rice. Enjoy.

 

 

Happy Christmas, Happy New Year

Greetings of the season to all from Pussycat and me. May 2015 be a very good year for you.

The Joy of Carols

 

Carols are one of the joys of this season and a time when many of us love to have ‘a good sing’ together, whether outdoors with candles or in a church. I’m a choir member at Christ Church Lavender Bay and practices for our annual Carol Service - on Sunday evening, December 21 - are keeping us all busy. Pictured are choristers Catherine, left, and Rosemary Neal.

Please join us at the Service to sing favourites such as Silent Night and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and the lovely O Holy Night – Pavarotti made a good recording of this one.

Our choir will also be singing three special items, all unusual and creating a beautiful effect. The trio is: Benjamin Britten’s A Hymn to the Virgin, Mary’s Lullaby by John Rutter and The Shepherds’ Farewell, by Hector Berlioz, from his oratorio L’Enfance du Christ.
Where: Christ Church Lavender Bay, corner Lavender and Walker Streets, North Sydney (website: www.lavenderbay.anglican.asn.au)
When: Sunday, December 21, at 7.15pm.

After the Carol Service, refreshments will be served on the beautiful terrace of the church overlooking Sydney Harbour. Stay and enjoy one of Sydney’s great views, a mince pie or two, and you’ll also have a final musical surprise. 

As in past years, the choir items have been chosen by our talented Director of Music Chris Cartner, who leads all our practices, our singing in the services and plays the organ and piano brilliantly.
When I asked Chris to write a few lines about the choir items this year, he made time to email me these thoughts: ‘Christmas music is as wide-ranging and diverse as the feelings and thoughts that we all encounter at this time of year. This Christmas, within our carol service at Christ Church Lavender Bay, the choir will sing music which beautifully reflects the various aspects of the story.  From Gabriel’s Message (a simple and honest setting of a traditional carol) we will sing of the love for the infant as the shepherds depart (in a beautiful piece by Berlioz), as well as enjoying the warmth of contemporary composer John Rutter.  This, alongside music by Benjamin Britten and a very special ‘post-service’ offering will make up, for me, a carol service which expresses the many different sentiments which this extraordinary season brings.’

Please come along to our Christmas services:
Christmas Eve, December 24, a Family Communion at 6pm; and the ‘midnight’ Communion Service at 11pm.
Christmas Day, December 25, our big Communion Service at 9am. 

(see the website: www.lavenderbay.anglican.asn.au for details).  

The Meaning of Christmas
Christmas celebrates the love of God for human beings and his message of peace on Earth and goodwill to all mankind. Christians mark the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, born among us in human form as a baby. This is an event so exceptional as to be almost beyond our ability to grasp it: God loves us and came to be with us.

The Rev. Patrick Collins, our dedicated and much-valued minister at Christ Church Lavender Bay, wrote this for us about Christmas: ‘Christmas is that particular time of year to celebrate the coming of God in Christ on a mission of love. Love not just in taking flesh but in his saving sacrifice and compassion for each of us in providing the opportunity for forgiveness and adoption as the children of God. As we respond in thanksgiving and believing in him as our ‘new-born King”, the words “good news of great joy” become a reality for us and not just lyrics of a well-loved carol. Christmas is about love from before the beginning of time and stretching beyond eternity.’

Eyewitnesses and history
Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in a human family in Nazareth. Then as a man, he embarked on the mission for which he was born. We are very fortunate in having the written testimony of eyewitnesses of the ministry of Jesus, found in the gospels and letters in the New Testament section of the Bible. The respected teacher and historian Bishop Paul Barnett has written extensively of the history of Jesus’ ministry and the beginning of the Christian church, and of the supporting written evidence of Roman historians Tacitus and Pliny the Younger, and Jewish historian Josephus.

When Christmas is a hard time
Christmas isn’t easy for everyone, and there are people who feel neglected, hurt and lost, most especially at this time. My thoughts are with you if Christmas is a hard time for you.
Around this country there are many generous people ready to offer help to people who are less well off. One group I found on the internet is Magic Moments Foundation Australia, which cares for people across our major Australian cities. Their Grandies Gifting Program is for elderly residents in care who no longer have family for friends to support them. Their Basket Brigades Program sends gifts, food and even toys to needy families and the homeless. They are looking for volunteers; check them out online.

In Sydney, where I live, the Christmas meal hosted by the Exodus Foundation at suburban Ashfield has become an institution, with huge numbers of disadvantaged and homeless people being catered for. On his blogsite, Exodus founder the Rev Bill Crews writes, ‘On Christmas Day alone my team and I will feed almost 3,000 hungry people.’ At the Exodus Loaves and Fishes Free Restaurant, which has prepared and served about 365,000 meals, the numbers of guests at tables has gone up 25% on last year: indeed a very sobering statistic.   

 

Sweet treats, delicious gifts

If you love baking for a special occasion, why not make one or two of the delicious nibbles featured below to share with your family, or as a charming personal gift for friends. I made these in my kitchen with only the supervision of Pussycat! However, they would make an ideal ‘cooking project’ to share with children or grandchildren.

I’d like to say a big thank you to my friend, Home Economist Maureen Simpson (left) for allowing me to reproduce these recipes from her cookbook Australian Cuisine – I’m lucky enough to have a signed copy.  I met Maureen when she was cooking editor of Australian House & Garden magazine. She has written on food for the Sun Herald and had a regular timeslot on ABC radio to broadcast her recipes, tips and sound culinary advice.

Thank you, Maureen, for letting me use your recipes for White Christmas (see following) and Walnut Kipferl and to Sydney journalist Gwenda Edwards for allowing the use of Hazelnut Snowballs, which also appears in Australian Cuisine.

 

Walnut Kipferl

125g (40z) butter

¼ cup castor sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

100g walnuts

1 ¼ cups plain flour

Icing sugar mixture

1 vanilla bean

 

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Put walnuts into food processor and process until finely chopped, making sure that they don’t become oily by over chopping. Add to the creamed mixture with 1 cup of flour. Mix into a dough, then take small pieces and roll between palms of hands. If the mixture is too sticky, add the extra ¼ cup of flour. Form into little balls tapered at the ends. Place on greased trays and shape into crescents. Bake in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes. Overcooking spoils the flavour, so watch them carefully during last 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

When cold, place on a sheet of paper and sift over a light drift of icing sugar, turn over and repeat on the other side. Be careful not to use too much icing sugar as it can melt during the hot weather forming a sticky icing. Pack kipferl into a jar with the vanilla bean and seal tightly. Makes about 3 dozen.

 

Two easy temptations

Hazelnut Snowballs

(pictured right)

 

250g (½ lb) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½ cup icing sugar mixture

¾ cup hazelnuts, finely chopped

2 cups plain flour

Additional icing sugar

Cream butter, vanilla and icing sugar.  Add nuts and flour. Mix together into a dough, then roll into small balls in palms of hands. Place onto lightly greased baking trays and press down lightly to flatten. Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from trays and cool, then store in an airtight container.

When ready to pack into airtight jars, toss biscuits lightly in icing sugar.

 

 

White Christmas  (pictured above left)

2 cups Rice Bubbles

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup icing sugar mixture

½ cup each raisins and glacé cherries, chopped

1 slice glacé pineapple, chopped

250g (½ lb) copha, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

 

Mix Rice Bubbles, coconut, powdered milk and icing sugar in a bowl, add the chopped fruits and mix through. Melt copha over a low heat and pour into mixture. Add the vanilla, mix well. Press into a foil lined lamington tin. Chill, then cut into squares. Store in refrigerator.

My note: For the photograph, I cut these into quite large squares, but to serve I would prefer to cut them into smaller, bite-sized squares, as I find White Christmas quite rich.