Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

“How can you eat delicious, fresh food at home on a tight budget?”– Jamie Oliver

Having a little less in your pocket should not mean you scrimp on healthy food, or so says chef extraordinaire, Jamie Oliver. In posing his question to the Yahoo!7 Answers community, Jamie reaches out with a dilemma that so many of us face: can we shop, prepare, cook and eat in smarter ways?

Jamie Oliver is known as the man who successfully taught British school children about healthy eating. He believes that cheap doesn’t have to mean fatty, salty or processed. Fresh, tasty and healthy doesn’t have to mean expensive. But if you have tips on what this means in practical terms, why not answer Jamie’s question and share your knowledge with the community?

Answers itself is a hive of amazing cooking know-how, based around the Food and Drink category.

Is it healthy to eat broccoli raw? Nikita thinks so. According to her medical sources, “not only is this cruciferous vegetable high in vitamin C and fiber, it’s also a rich source of compounds known as glucosinolates which are broken down in the body to form sulforaphane. Sulforaphane has been demonstrated in numerous studies to have potent anti-cancer properties.”

On a slightly less serious note, Aurora asks for some tips on how to bake bread. T?R is on hand to offer some of his 25 years of experience with dough: “Kneading, letting it prove well and getting the mix just right. Use fresh yeast, not dried, and a good quality bread flour. Strong flour means it has lots of gluten.”

Est wants to know how to make quiche. David J offers a great way to combine bacon and mushroom with a little bit of Swiss cheese!

Yum, don’t know about you but I’m getting hungry!

Yum, one of the things I love most about travelling is all the different food that you try. I always wonder what goes into these exotic dishes and want to try to recreate the experience by making my own versions at home. Granted, eating Clam Chowder in your own kitchen isn’t quite like slurping it out of its bread bowl on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. And I agree that the Cornish Pasty isn’t quite as warm and inviting when there isn’t wind biting your fingers and cheeks like it does in South West England. These recipes provided by the Answers community do look delicious though, and I can’t wait to cook them up!

Cornish Pasty
Chuck steak or skirt
Two Large potatoes
Half a large swede (turnip as second best)
One large onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

The Pastry: Place flour and salt in a bowl, rub in the fat, until the mixture is so fine that it falls through the fingers. Tip mixture onto a lightly floured table top. With your index finger make a well in the centre of the mixture. Add water a little at a time until it forms a pliable but stiff dough… More

Dim Sims
1/4 c. gluten rice flour
2/3 c. wheat flour
3/4 c. hot water
1/4 c. lard
1 c. cold water
Filling:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/4 lb. dried shrimp, chopped
1/2 c. water chestnuts, chopped
2-3 green onions, sliced thin
1 tbsp. white pepper
1 tbsp. soy sauce … More

San Francisco Clam Chowder
1/2 pound (225 grams) diced bacon
2 small onion, chopped
12 cups water
3 carrots, chopped
28 oz (3 1/2 cups) fresh clams
2 1/4 cups clam juice
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 (400g) cans stewed tomatoes … More

Spanish Paella
170g/6oz chorizo, cut into thin slices
110g/4oz pancetta, cut into small dice
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tsp soft thyme leaves
¼ tsp dried red chilli flakes
570ml/1pint calasparra (Spanish short-grain) rice … More

Caitlin
Community Manager

Love it or hate it, the pie floater. Image by Abstract Gourmet

I noticed this question this morning from a student in Germany who had been asked to put together a report on what Australian people eat during their daily lives. Although most Australian diets are amazingly multicultural, I have to confess that if I was answering the question I’d admit to having the essential Aussie breakfast of Weetbix this morning and that I’m planning to prepare a few lamb chops as an evening meal – us Aussies certainly love our lamb – and not every country in the world has it in such abundance. So while I do snack on sushi and enjoy my regular Thai takeaway, had I decided to go for a vegemite sambo today I’d have pretty much had the full Aussie menu!

Ah vegemite – not only is it good for you, but versatile beyond the imagination. It never ceases to amaze me that foreigners screw up their noses and spit the stuff out – but I guess it’s an acquired taste, i.e. acquired only if you begin eating the stuff from birth!

If you go right back to the early settlement days of Australia resources were scarce, and the most filling meals all included damper – a very basic bread made pretty much only from flour and water. You can add to the taste with some similarly traditional Golden Syrup (not to be confused with Maple Syrup – very much in the domain of the Canadians!) but it’s still one of the stickier and most simple Australian foods, hardly a delicacy.

Another great Aussie icon that we all miss when we’re away is Freddo Frog – who along with his colleague Caramello Koala is a simple but satisfying symbol of home along. I fondly reminisce about Twisties and Milo when I’m on my travels too – delicacies that the rest of the world just doesn’t get to enjoy (check out these ideas of different ways to indulge in Milo).

So while the rest of the world thinks throwing a shrimp on the barbie is what being Australian is all about there’s certainly more to it than that… but one thing I wouldn’t proudly admit to being an Australian tradition is the pie floater – a pie with mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy just isn’t my cup of tea!

Clea

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It was high school exams that did it.

I had previously stayed away from using caffeine to fuel my energy and alertness, but over my first cup of Nescafe all of a sudden staying awake to review the principles of osmosis became that little bit easier. And so began my relationship with that fantastic cup of Joe, one that endures to this day.

The idea of roasting coffee beans and filtering the results to create a satisfying drink and instant pick me up originated years ago and is now a daily habit for people all over the world. From its original black and bitter form there are now many variations of the beverage, and we are lucky here in Australia to have so many people who know how to make it right.

Ahh! That first sip! Many people exalt the health benefits of just a small amount of coffee a day, some even claim it can be reduce symptoms for asthmatics. However there is always too much of a good thing, and for many the “drug” elements of caffeine mean they have to find a way to reduce their daily intake because the negative effects have begun to take their toll. The other thing to be aware of is that you shouldn’t drink coffee if you’re not near a loo… the diuretic nature of coffee is not debated!

It would be impossible to mention coffee and not include the word Starbucks – the phenomenon that is the equivalent of McDonalds to coffee lovers and is responsible for us all learning phrases like “double shot venti no whip mocha frappucino”

Have a good weekend!

Clea

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Fine dining at it’s best – just don’t come starving!

There’s nothing worse than going to a restaurant because it looks nice from the outside and then realising that the atmosphere is dark and dingy, the service is terrible and the food is barely edible. Which is why it helps to do a bit of research before you head out to eat!

You may decide it would be nice to down a fiery tandoori after a stroll along Oxford Street in Sydney… perhaps you’re in Perth and wouldn’t mind a burrito or fajita after some shopping on Hay Street, or maybe you’re a European expat in Adelaide with a hankering for some good ol’ German sauerkraut. Where better to look for free recommendations than the Dining Out category of Yahoo!7 Answers? You can find out where you’re most likely to be dining alongside pollies in Canberra or if there’s anywhere on Lygon Street in Melbourne you can get a Japanese teppanyaki rather than a big bowl of Italian pasta. You can even plans your meals before you pack up the campervan and head off for a tour of Tassie, or prepare yourself to dine on crocodile up in the northern most capital city of the county.

The other thing that the dining out category is handy for is brushing up on some old fashioned manners. There are still plenty of restaurants that expect the standard of their patrons to match the classy décor and silver cutlery – so you’ll be expected to know which hand the fork is actually supposed to go in. And then there’s the age old question – should your serviette go in your lap or be tucked into your collar? This is already answered for you – just click and take a look!

Sometimes the most memorable dining experiences involve spectacular cuisine and views, but often the best times that you look back on simply involve a bunch of good friends, a cool drink and some traditional Aussie pub grub!

Are you hungry now? I am!

Clea

I came across a few recipes for old favourites while I was flicking through the questions and answers, plus one question asking for the best chocolate cake ever which I’ll be doing some of my own research on!

Even though I personally get sidetracked by the sweets there are plenty of ideas and advice about cooking savoury meals, from recipes to cooking methods to suggestions for leftover supplies. I really liked the question posted about the strangest dish ever – there were some stomach turning answers.

The advice I think I will benefit from the most is how to chop onions without crying. I am going to try all the different answers until I find the one that works for me!

Clea