Comments (4)

By clare, October 9, 2010

Hi everyone

I’ve just launched a new page “coming to the USA” to alert US readers to my upcoming trip to the US in March-April next year (2011). I thought I’d post the text here too so I can catch your attention, and get input and suggestions from you about great local food bloggers in the US for me to connect with, as well as other foodie suggestions.

So I look forward to hearing from you! Here’s the blurb:

I’m Clare Richards, author of the comprehensive cookbook for the tropics, tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen.

In March 2011 I land in LA and begin my journey through the USA. I’ll be taking my cookbook to food lovers – one community, one food blog, one market at a time.
View food blogging my way across the USA in a larger map

I’ll be staying in farmstays and bed and breakfasts where I can meet fellow gourmets, taste your cooking, and get to experiment myself with your wonderful local, seasonal produce.

At gatherings, markets, local bookstores and any other place that feels right, I’ll be signing copies of my cookbook.

Peeling lychees for a summer lunch © Catseye Productions

Along the way I’ld love to meet other food bloggers and gourmets. Post a comment or email me your suggestions about great farms, markets, stores, cafes, diners, restaurants, bookstores, vineyards and wild places to visit.

I look forward to sharing tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen with you and experiencing your local gourmet delights. Hope I meet you along the road, and please contact me if you have any suggestions about great places to go and people to meet,

warm regards

Clare

Comments (0)

By clare, September 15, 2009

Our family has been munching this banana bread since I remember, and like the rest of  my family I’ve never been an immaculate cake maker.  More often than not they end up like this one, so I have no interest in entering the Rosy Levy Berenbaum league.  But it tastes great, and lasts well.

If you want to add some extra moisture and decadence, serve slices topped with butter or the lime cream cheese topping.

This recipe will be in my cookbook Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen.

Family banana bread recipe

6 medium or 4 large bananas

60g butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp bicarb soda mixed into 1/2 cup milk

2 cups self-raising flour

pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together except flour until well incorporated.  Sift flour then mix through batter.  Pour into a greased medium sized bread or cake tin and cook in a preheated oven at 180oC for 40 minutes.  Check with skewer to see if batter is set, and if not cover with foil and cook for up to another 20 minutes.  If using fan forced oven the banana bread may be ready within 40-45 minutes.  Serve with butter or lime cream cheese topping.

© Clare Richards 2009

Lime cream cheese topping

250g cream cheese

juice of 2 limes

grated rind of 3 limes

1/3 to 1/2 cup of castor sugar

Mix above 4 ingredients together in a food processor until the mixture is smooth and light.  Keep aside as much as you think you’ll need for this cake, and place the rest into portion sized containers and into the freezer for the next cake that comes along.

© Clare Richards 2009

Comments (0)

By clare, September 14, 2009

I love papaya for breakfast, but it is not very sustaining on its own.  Sweet potato is amazing in its capacity to keep you going for hours and hours, but can be a bit on the heavy side to eat on its own for breakfast.  This recipe combines them along with lime juice and passionfruit, and makes for a great breakfast.  Soaking the sweet potato in lime juice and cubing them small into 1cm pieces makes it creamy and light, a great mix with the succulence of ripe papaya.

This recipe will be published in my cookbook Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen.

Sweet potato, papaya, lime and passionfruit salad

For two serves allow:

1 medium purple-veined white sweet potato

1/2 medium ripe red papaya (I like the Papua New Guinea and Hawaiian varieties best)

2 limes

4 passionfruit

yoghurt to serve if you wish

The night before while making dinner, peel and cube the sweet potato into 1cm pieces.  The white flesh will oxidise and brown quickly so if you want to avoid this, rub the slices with a cut lime as you go.  Place the cubes into a steamer over already boiling water and steam for about 15 minutes until the cubes are cooked through.

Take off heat and place sweet potato into a container and squeeze the lime juice over and toss through well.  Leave to marinate for about 1/2 hour, tossing occaisionally if you can.  After that, pour off any excess lime juice and place sweet potato in the fridge.  This mix will keep happily for several days, so you can increase the amount you cook at one time and have enough prepared for several days breakfasts.

At breakfast, for each person place the cubes of 1/2 a sweet potato into a bowl and cube a 1/4 of a papaya over them, then the pulp of 2 passionfruit.  Serve with yoghurt if you like, but I love the clean flavours of this salad on their own.

© Clare Richards 2009



Comments (0)

By clare, September 4, 2009

I don’t know what this process has been like for others, but one side effect of recipe testing is that I don’t always have the time or energy to make myself a really good meal through the day, as I’m distracted with researching and testing ingredients and recipes.

Not often being in the mood to eat cake for lunch ( I know that would be fine for some, but I’m a savoury gal by nature) I turn to quick combinations from my larder to feed me while I continue on.

Today it was 4 luscious wedges of roast jap pumpkin from 2 nights ago, with their crunchy skin on, with a light swipe of sambal ulek on each.  Sweet, caramels from the roasting, and the saltiness and heat of the chilli sambal satisfied my hunger and my culinary sensibilities.  Now I’ll get on with cooking!

© Clare Richards 2009

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By clare, August 28, 2009

…I haven’t washed the floors yet!

Tomorrow Ali turns up ( Catseye Productions ) to do our first photo shoot for Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen.  So the morning will be filled with a flurry of cooking in preparation for her arrival.  Let’s hope between us we come up with some shots to give the cookbook and this blog a visual christening!

© Clare Richards 2009