Ginger beer
This is a delicious fizzy drink that even the kids will love.
3 cups white or raw sugar
juice of 2 lemons
5 litres rainwater or spring water or tap water that has been allowed to stand for 24 hours
Culture
8 dessertspoons ground ginger
8 dessertspoons white or raw sugar
1½ cups rainwater or spring water or tap water that has been allowed to stand for 24 hours
You will also need
wide-mouthed jar
open-weave cotton cloth
piece of muslin or cheesecloth (to use as a strainer)
large mixing bowl capable of holding 4½ litres
funnel
large jug
several large plastic bottles or glass bottles with corks
Step 1: Making the culture
Add 1 dessertspoon ground ginger and 1 dessertspoon sugar to the jar.
Add 1½ cups water and mix. During the day let this mixture sit on the kitchen bench with the cover off. Cover it at night with the open-weave cotton cloth.
Every day for 7 days, add 1 dessertspoon of ginger and 1 dessertspoon of sugar to the jar, and mix it in. After a couple of days, depending on the temperature in your home (it happens faster when it’s warm), you’ll notice little bubbles start to form. That is good; the fermentation has begun. The mix should smell of ginger and, towards the end of the process, it might smell slightly of alcohol. That’s fine too – the amount of alcohol that might form is tiny and it will be diluted.
Step 2: Making the ginger beer
On day 7, after you’ve added the ginger and sugar to the culture, mix it, and strain it through the muslin or cheesecloth into your large bowl.
Add the water, sugar and lemon juice. Mix well, then bottle the mixture, using the funnel and jug. Leave about 2 or 3 inches of space at the top of each bottle for the gasses that will develop. Put the lids on the bottles.
After the ginger beer has been bottled it needs to ferment further. Let the bottles sit on your kitchen bench or in the pantry for 2 days before putting them in the fridge. If you’ve used plastic bottles and you notice some of them puffing up, put them in the fridge straight away. When they’re cool, they’re ready to drink.
You never know how fizzy the drink will become because the yeasts in your home are invisible. If you capture a lot of yeast, you’ll have an excellent brew and a lot of bubbles. This is live food! It’s dynamic; it changes all the time. Plastic bottles can puff up and glass bottles can shoot their corks out if the pressure is too great. It sounds bit scary but if you’re careful to watch the bottles, you’ll be fine. Ginger beer will last in the fridge for 4 weeks.
CULTURE TIP
Don’t throw the dregs of the ginger beer culture out after you strain the mixture. Like other live cultures it can be used again to start up your next batch. Just add it back to the clean jar and start feeding it again.
Most tap water in Australia contains chlorine, which kills bacteria and yeasts. We don’t want anything in our ginger beer that will kill the yeasts, but if you let tap water sit for 24 hours, the chlorine will kill what it’s meant to kill, and won’t harm our beneficial yeasts.
Simple everyday recipes
Tomato pasta sauce Serves 4
This basic tomato sauce is perfect for homemade pasta and, if made in large quantities, can be preserved in a jar or frozen.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 kg tomatoes, chopped and peeled, or 2 × 400 g cans chopped tomatoes 1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup fresh oregano leaves, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
¼ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup basil, torn
salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a wide saucepan or large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 4 minutes until softened and translucent.
Add the tomato paste and stir it around for 1 minute to get rid of the raw taste.
Add the tomato, sugar, herbs and salt and pepper to taste, bring to a slow boil then reduce the heat.
Simmer slowly for 30 minutes, tasting and adjusting the seasoning if necessary.
Fresh pasta Serves 4
If you know how to make fresh pasta, you’ll have the basis of many wonderful dishes. This is a simple recipe that will make a variety of meals, depending on the sauce you make to go with it. Fresh pasta will last in the fridge for 2–3 days.
500 g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
Tip the flour and salt onto a clean benchtop and make a well in the middle. Crack the eggs into the well.
With your clean fingers, break the yolks and start combining the flour and eggs, taking the flour from the inner rim of the well and mixing it into the centre until all the flour is combined. If the dough is too firm and is hard to shape, add a tablespoon of water.
Knead the dough for 5 minutes then cover with a clean tea towel. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
If you have a pasta machine, pass the dough through the machine on the wide setting about 10 times. If it is still sticky after this, leave it to rest another 15 minutes. Then pass it through the pasta machine on a narrower setting. Keep using a narrower and narrower setting until it is smooth and thin. If you don’t have a pasta machine, lightly flour your bench and roll out the dough with a rolling pin, turning the dough to achieve a long rectangle shape. Roll the dough as thin as you can get it without it breaking up.
Using a sharp, floured knife, cut the pasta dough into thin strips for linguine, wider strips for fettuccine, rectangles for lasagne or cannelloni, or fancy shapes for ravioli.
Cook the pasta fresh.
This pasta can be dried out for 2 days on a tray, or hung over a clean dowel stick covered with netting and away from insects. This dried pasta will keep in a glass jar for 6–8 weeks.
Slow beef stew in the slow cooker Serves 4 or 5
In the cooler months I love using my slow cooker. It tenderises cheaper cuts of meat over the long, slow cooking process and it makes many kinds of excellent soup. The trick is to keep using your cooking-from-scratch principles when using the slow cooker; using tins of soup or stock from a carton is not an option if you’re trying to avoid flavour enhancers and preservatives. You can get excellent flavour without adding any packets of processed sauce mix or prepackaged soups.
The trick to adding flavour to a slow-cooker meal is to take some time at the beginning of the process to caramelise the meat in a frying pan. I have written about this process in the Nourishment chapter. It’s an important step in building flavour, so don’t skip it or try to hurry it up.
This is a basic recipe that can be changed. Adding curry powder instead of paprika will give you a tasty and spicy beef curry. Add tomatoes, some tomato paste and capsicum and you’ll have an Italian beef casserole you could serve with pasta. Using chicken instead of beef would also make a fine meal.
olive oil
1 kg chuck, blade, skirt, round or topside beef, diced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
2 onions, quartered (or diced if you’re serving children)
2 tablespoons plain flour 1 cup water
2 carrots, sliced
2 sticks celery, sliced, including the tops
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
3 potatoes or 1 sweet potato, thinly sliced
Add enough olive oil to a frying pan to barely cover the bottom.
Divide the meat equally into 3 portions and add 1 portion to the pan. Adding more meat to the pan will make it produce liquid, which you don’t want. Stir occasionally. You’re aiming for nicely browned meat. Add salt and pepper to taste. I like to add about ½ teaspoon of salt and about ¼ teaspoon of pepper.
When the first portion of meat has browned properly
, move it to the slow cooker and add the next portion of meat to the frying pan. You might have to add a bit more oil if the pan is dry. You need oil for the meat to brown but you do not want oil swimming in the bottom of the pan. To this second portion, add the paprika and stir it in. When the meat is browned, add it to the slow cooker and put the final portion of beef into the pan. When that has browned, add the onions to the frying pan and brown them.
Add the flour to the pan and stir in. When the flour is coating the onions and meat, add the water and stir until the sauce thickens. You’ll notice the nicely brown sauce. This is all natural flavour produced by taking the time to brown the meat and onions. The meat and vegetables will release moisture during the slow-cooking process, so don’t be tempted to add more liquid.
Add the carrot, celery, bay leaf and thyme to the slow cooker, as well as all the remaining meat and sauce, and stir everything together. Turn the cooker to the ‘auto’ setting – this will heat on high for a couple of hours, then automatically turn itself to the low setting to finish cooking. Cook for about 4 or 5 hours, or all day on low if you’re going out and you want a hot dinner waiting when you come home.
One hour before the end of cooking, add the potato or sweet potato. If you’re going out all day you can add the potato with the rest of the vegetables, but chop them into large chunks rather than slices. I like adding them at the end so that they retain their shape.
And there you have it – beef stew cooked from scratch in a slow cooker. No need for commercial soup or stock. It’s a delicious and healthy family meal.
SLOW COOKER TIP
If you have the time this is one of those dishes ideally suited for freezing, so make a double batch and freeze half for next week.
Spinach or silverbeet pie
This is the kind of recipe that should be in everyone’s meal rotation. It’s cheap, healthy, easy to make, delicious, and can be eaten hot or cold.
20 leaves spinach or silverbeet or 2 × 250 g boxes frozen spinach
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 eggs 250 g ricotta
salt and pepper
1 cup grated cheese (parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella or any cheese you have)
4 sheets filo pastry
Preheat oven to 180˚C.
Add spinach/silverbeet, onion and garlic to a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Cook over medium heat until the leaves wilt.
While the leaves are cooking, mix the eggs and ricotta together. Add salt and pepper to taste, then mix in the grated cheese.
Add the cooked spinach/silverbeet mixture to the egg mixture and combine well.
Using a pastry brush, take each sheet of filo pastry and brush some of the remaining olive oil over it. Fold each sheet in half and place it in a pie dish. Cover the base of your pie plate with all the sheets and fold the edges under as they reach the sides. You need to work quickly with filo as it dries out fast. If you need to leave for any reason, cover the pastry with a clean, moist tea towel.
Pour the egg and spinach mixture into the pie dish and bake until the top is golden and the pie looks set. Don’t overcook as it will make the eggs rubbery.
Serve hot or cold with a salad or vegetables.
Split pea soup Makes 9 litres
I am always on the lookout for delicious thrifty meals that are fairly easy to make, and in winter I keep coming back to this old standby, which ticks all those boxes. I think it’s a favourite in many families but this is how to cook it entirely from scratch. No pre-made stock is needed, as it makes its own stock as it cooks. This is one of those soups that tastes better each day when you reheat it, and it also freezes very well.
500 g dried split peas
1 ham hock or ham bone or 1 kg bacon bones
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped 1 cup carrot, chopped
2 bay leaves
½ cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
Place the peas in a large bowl and wash them in cold water. Pour boiling water over them and leave to soak for a couple of hours. The longer you soak the peas, the less time it will take to cook the soup.
Add the bones to a large stockpot (about 9 litres in capacity) half full of water and bring to the boil.
Place the peas, chopped vegetables and herbs in the pot with the bones. Bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked to your liking. (Personally, I like the vegetables to be mushy.)
Remove the bones from the pot. Chop the meat into pieces and return it to the soup, then turn off the heat and add your seasoning. Pork tends to need a fair bit of salt and pepper, but taste before you add it.
I sometimes add croutons, which I make just before serving. Brush 2 slices of bread with extra virgin olive oil, cut the slices into small cubes and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes on 180°C.
Dressings and stocks
Simple vinaigrette
The classic recipe is 3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part good vinegar or lemon juice. You can add a small amount of salt and pepper, a teaspoon of mustard powder or a little sugar. A dash of cream will make a richer dressing; some water will make a lighter one.
Try variations of this until you find what suits your taste. Just add all the ingredients to a small jar and shake it. Dress the salad just before serving.
Simple mayonnaise
Eggs must be fresh and at room temperature. This can be made by hand or in a small food processor.
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons good vinegar 2 cups olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice, or to taste
salt and pepper
Whisk together the egg yolks, salt, mustard and vinegar in a bowl.
Add the olive oil very slowly – start whisking the yolk mixture and let the oil fall from the spout in a thin stream. When the mixture thickens up, you can add the rest of the oil more quickly. You must whisk all the time until you have achieved a thick, velvety mayonnaise.
Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Meat stock
1 kg beef bones or 2 chicken carcasses
olive oil
6 litres of water
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped 1 carrot, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, to taste
½ cup parsley, chopped
Set the oven to 200˚C and roast the bones in a baking tray for 1 hour with a small amount of olive oil drizzled over the top.
When the bones are golden, put them in a stockpot and cover with the water. Add the vegetables, herbs, and salt and pepper, then bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 hour with the lid on.
Pour the stock through a sieve to remove the bones, vegetables and bay leaves.
Allow to cool. If the stock has a layer of fat on it when it’s cooled, skim this off with a spoon. (If you have chickens, give it to them on some stale bread.) When cold, stock can be frozen, or stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
STOCK TIP
If you’re cooking a roast chicken, reserve the bones and a cup of chicken meat and you’ll be able to make a delicious soup the following day.
Let’s begin
People tell us that alone, we can’t make a difference. I don’t believe that and I hope that after reading this book you might doubt it too. I think that we can all help to change our world by changing ourselves first.
I can’t think of a better time to change. Prices are rising, many of us don’t know our neighbours, and the world doesn’t seem to be as simple or safe as it used to be. I am not nostalgic about the past; I do not yearn for everything to return to how it was, but I believe now is the right time to explore the possibilities of a simpler life that takes the very best from those earlier and gentler years.
; And I think the change has begun. More and more I see it: families who want to work enough to pay the bills but not so much that they can’t enjoy their lives during those working years. I see retired folk happily planting a vegie patch and buying their first chickens. I see younger men and women opting out of a life of consumerism, instead working sustainably towards the future. I see many more homemakers baking bread and preserving their own jams and relishes. There are more hens in backyards; there are many more vegetable gardens and people buying fresh vegetables and fruit from growers’ markets. DIY, home cooking, knitting, mending, sewing and budgeting are returning to popularity. I hope there will be no going back.
When I first started on this path towards a more simple life it was difficult to stay as motivated as I wanted, and needed, to be. There came a point, though, when my own life provided the motivation because I could see many changes and I was proud of what I was doing. Somehow it all fell into place, and instead of just undertaking new simple-living projects, one thing led to another and a genuine lifestyle was born. I’m not troubled by lack of motivation now but I do know that motivation is one of the most difficult things to maintain – not just in living this way, but in many things.
I think the key to motivation is to find someone (a neighbour or a friend) or something (perhaps a book or a blog) that inspires you. Seeing someone doing what you want to do, or reading about it, generally ignites a spark that keeps a flame burning for a while. If you keep that inspiration going, your flame will burn longer. The list of resources in this book may direct you to a book or blog where you find ongoing inspiration. But keep at it; don’t give up if things get tough or you feel like it’s taking too long to achieve your dreams. Never, ever give up. It’s also a good strategy to keep in mind the reasons you want to change. What will you get out of it? How will it make your life better? Imagine how you want to be in your simple life and keep that image in your mind, and answer those two questions for yourself. Having end results squarely in view will help keep you on track.
Down to Earth Page 24