5 Minute Food Fix

TO MAKE MY CHOCOLATE COATED STRAWBERRIES

Prepare by

1. Washing, drying and hulling the strawberries
2. Checking there's space in the fridge for them
3. Lining a flat tray with baking paper then lightly spraying it with cooking oil

I use an ALDI block of dark chocolate, melted in a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Simon blasts his in the microwave in ten second increments until it's perfect.

I then roll my prepared stra...

Yumi and Simon are getting into the spirit of Christmas preparation on your 5 Minute Food Fix! Now is the time to start envisioning your perfect meal. So...

SIMON'S MONSTER BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Halve 500g of Brussels Sprouts, toss in 2tbs of good olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then roast them in a hot, 230C oven for 15 - 20 mins.

In a mixing bowl, toss the now cooked and charred sprouts with a tablespoon of your favourite chill...

Yumi and Simon catch up with each others' Christmas plans and while Simon will be a guest at someone else's soiree on Christmas Eve, he plans to bring this amazing Panettone ice-cream dessert which will be both AMAZING, and really easy to make!

Allow 1L of your best quality vanilla ice-cream to soften on the bench for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, crumble up a 300g mixture of inside soft bits and outside crusty bits of the Panettone you ha...

What is not to love about some of the weirdly specific cookbooks out there?

You're going to hear about one that Yumi found that is so weird, and so niche, she will obviously never cook from it! Lol.

THEN, there is the wonderful 'Tomato' by Claire Thompson. The book is a celebration of this wonderful ingredient and all that it can do, and from the book a recipe that is now officially Yumi's Summer Fling / Crush, and yes, we wi...

On one of Yumi's hikes, the hikers went bananas for Gemma's Cheesy Vegan Kale Chips, based on this recipe.

The question was: Would the yumminess translate to home?

Good news is:

YES!

So with a fair bit of pride, Yumi wants to share her version of the recipe, which leans into her love of spice (and allergy to garlic and onion):

YUMI'S BEST-EVER CRUNCHY VEGAN "CHEESY" KALE CHIPS

Prepare 1 big bunch of good kale, washed...

Yumi has a dilemma.

A beloved friend has given her a sourdough starter!

Now what?

Do you really want to take care of another living being?

Your hosts also lament the demise of printed food magazines that they have loved and appreciated over the years!

DATE SWIRL

240g sour cream

1-2 tbs date syrup

Gently swirl the two together (but don't fully mix) and serve on pancakes, on sticky date pudding, etc.

THE FULL RECIPE HERE

Feedback can be ...alarming? Unwelcome? But in Simon's case, it was feedback from a parent at his kids' school that reminded him of just how good a crispy chickpea can be!

So what else to do with the idea?

A coeliac-friendly, vegan delight, this is CLASSIC Food Fix: Simple, quick to prepare and within reach for the average home cook, but with STUNNING results.

METHOD

Drain and rinse 1 tin of chick peas, dry them well, then ...

ENGLISH CULTURE?

Simon loves sharing where he's from and frankly, these delightful insights always go down well, especially with a strong mug of English Breakfast tea. Today he waxes lyrical about something I've heard of but never really experienced: the Flapjack

SIMON'S SUPER SIMPLE FLAPJACKS

200g butter

200g brown sugar

200g golden syrup

Melt together in a saucepan until smooth

Stir in 400g of rolled oats

Press into a 20 x 30...

If you've been referred to this podcast because one of your friends knows you like camping - this episode is for you!

Yumi is a keen hiker and so a lot of the food she makes in *normal* life, she's assessing as to whether it could be repurposed as something lightweight and long-lasting that could come on a multi-day hike.

This recipe, from Meera Sodha's wonderful book EAST - delivers.

Of course, Yumi has to make adjustmen...

Both your hosts tend to obsess over foods, recipes or ingredients and deep-dive with said specialty before turning to grab a new obsession.

For instance, Yumi (me) right now is in the thick of trying to make the perfect Char Kway Teow (fresh, wok-fried Malaysian noodles that are beyond excellent when done well).

Simon revisits one of his past obsessions, sweet paprika, and is delighted to find a new way to cook with it that is both s...

In this episode, Yumi confronts Simon with something questionable he did with a shot of coffee... And she then razzes him about how she improved his own recipe!

FULLY LOADED PECAN BROWNIES

Line a 20cm square cake tin.

Put the oven on to 180C

Melt in a bowl over hot water 125g chopped butter and 100g dark 85% chocolate,

Remove from heat and allow to sit for a moment.

Quickly add in 3 beaten eggs

300g (1 1/2 cups) white sugar

115g (3/4 c...

MARMALADE shouldn't be out-of-reach for the average home cook!

And if you LOVE the weird, spreadable, sour, sometimes bitter preserve, then you really must try home-made, because there's nothing as good available to buy in mainstream shops, although Simon does have a few he thinks are "pretty good".

DELICIOUS RUBY BLOOD ORANGE MARMALADE

1.5kg blood oranges

1kg sugar

2tsp agar agar powder (optional)

METHOD

Wash the skin of ...

I finally got my hands on a copy of Sami Tamimi's FALASTIN - and it's a remarkable cookbook. It's got one of my favourite tomato recipes in the entire world, a rice dish where you use Greek yoghurt almost as a stock to make a creamy white risotto (incredible), and this dish, which I have (since recording) made multiple times. It's easy, really nourishing, and has flavours that transport you to the wonderful culture and food of Sami...

Yumi is still very much hung up on the cookbook that is TOMATO by Clare Thompson, which so far has been yielding a DELIGHTFUL number of heavenly recipes, including the one which inspired her to get into a Black Olive Tapenade...

Because who doesn't love a foodie quest?

Find a hundred grams of the best pitted black olives you can afford!

Moosh them up with 6 anchovies and a tablespoon of capers and 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a...

Utterly thrilled with his work perk of a whole ton of beautiful, fresh pistachio nuts, Simon has gone nuts experimenting with this ingredient.

He's tried nearly everything, but today's dish is far-and-away his favourite:

PISTACHIO TRAY-BAKE CHICKEN

Heat oven to 220C

To make the pistachio paste:

Chop 1 cup of shelled and roasted pistachios with one small bunch parsley. Get it quite well chopped and fine and then into a bowl.

A...

Yumi is going back to her mother's country with this particular culinary love affair.

Zenzai is the name for Adzuki Beans when they're cooked and sweetened, but still hold their beany shape. There's fantastic info about it on this website which is particularly helpful if you love cooking Japanese food!

Sweetened beans can be a weird concept if you're not accustomed to it - but give it a chance, it's extremely digestible and l...

Borrowing heavily from Maggie Beer's famous recipe for SOUR CREAM PASTRY, Yumi gets super-inspired in the kitchen and devises a PIE RECIPE for the ages.

SMOKED ALMOND PASTRY

In a food processor, mix 240g plain flour with 30g smoked almonds. Add in 160g chilled, cubed butter and whizz for 20 seconds.

Add in 125g sour cream, and 40g of olive oil and whizz together for 30-50 seconds, until the dough forms a ball.

Get the dough up out ...