Sunday, June 6, 2010

Simone's YamDaisy Menu Part 1

Note to Self: When a neighbour who is moving house comes over because the Estate Agent has accidentally locked her out of her own home, and you get her a cup of tea while she is waiting for the Estate Agent to return, it is not polite to press her for a YamDaisy Menu.

But it worked! Simone has given me a really interesting menu. Here it is:

Simone's YamDaisy Menu
SOUP: Thai Pumpkin Soup with white Sourdough bread
MAIN 1:Chickpea Stew with Jasmine Rice and Coriander
MAIN 2: Roasted Vegetables and Braised Pork Belly
FRUIT BASED DESSERT: Apple Crumble and Creamy Yoghurt

The YamDaisy menu is for my idea of little local cafe's that provide delicious, everyday, affordable meals. There are only a few choices each day, made from local, seasonal ingredients. Read more about the YamDaisy Menu here.

Simone's menu is really interesting to me. Her choices really highlight the popularity (around here at least!) of a number of dishes. The very last menu I posted also had a pumpkin soup and an apple crumble dessert also! Is this a Melbourne thing?

It has really made me think how each YamDaisy Cafe could make similar menus their own! Imagine the annual YamDaisy Cook Off Awards. This year we could have a prize for the Best Pumpkin Soup. Would Rose's Cafe, with its glorious sunset coloured pumpkin soup, rich with red capsicum and lentils win? Or would the judges prefer Simone's contribution, with coconut cream and Thai curry paste? I had better not be a judge! I would score them both 10 out of 10!

Thai Pumpkin Soup with White Sourdough Bread
This is a lovely pumpkin soup. I based my recipe on this one from the 4 Ingedients book but I made my own curry paste (thanks Charmaine Solomon) and I fried the paste in the thick cream from the coconut milk until fragrant. I was also lucky to have pumpkin from my sisters farm. This was SUCH a delicious soup!
Not having sourdough starter, I made a light white bread to go with it: Hokkaido Bread and what delicious toast it made! I don't know that the YamDaisy chefs will make their own bread, but hopefully they will have wonderful baker suppliers!

Chickpea Stew with Jasmine Rice and Coriander
This stew is made by frying onions, chillies, garlic and chopped tomatoes, adding potato and frying for about 5 minutes, and then adding other vegetables, including kumara, as well as the (cooked) chickpeas and seasoning, and letting it stew gently to mix and meld flavours. Credit goes to Simone's mum for this wonderful winter Chickpea stew.

I will finish Simone's Menu next post!
Jump to it here

14 comments:

  1. I love this menu Joy, thumbs up to Simones ideas. The chickpea stew sounds especially interesting. I'll have to work on a menu for you to try.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joy, the Thai pumpkin soup sounds delish! And I love anything coriander.

    And I cannot wait to read about the braised pork belly. YUM!

    Have a nice day Joy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thai Pumpkin Soup sounds so wonderful and unique!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That menu sounds really scrumptious..!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi to the brain behind Yam Daisy!

    I have to ask some tips on how to cook chickpeas for hummus? :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. this sounds sooo good... now i´m off to eat lentils...
    p.s. daniel and i are out there every morning in our pjs:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Joanie! Tips for cooking chickpeas. I buy dry ones, pick out any nasty looking ones and chuck them out, soak 1 cup overnight in cold water and rinse, then cook in the pressure cooker (no salt!) for 10 -12 minutes. Without a pressure cooker I think they take about an hour. I think these make much nicer hummus than tins.
    We have lovely big chickpeas available here that don't need bi carb as is often recommended.
    In the tropics, be careful to keep them cool overnight as they can start to go off.
    Does that help?

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a lovely and delicious menu. I liked it very much.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi, The Pumpkin Soup looks wonderful and the Chickpea Stew sounds delicious, great menu!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That sounds one delicious menu. I want eat everything. Love the soup and sourdough

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yam Daisey cafe....what an interesting concept! I love it! the pumpkin soup sounds wonderful, and I have become quite the chic pea convert this year cooking them every way I can!
    cheers
    Dennis

    ReplyDelete