Open mike 03/01/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 3rd, 2023 - 38 comments
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38 comments on “Open mike 03/01/2023 ”

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  1. DB Brown 1
    3 January 2023 at 9:16 am

    The lack of eggs is meant to be an ongoing thing.

    For your baking needs many chefs are now recommending Aqua faba (the water in cans of chick peas), and some have even mentioned you might 'use the chick peas for something too' though they've no suggestions because they're clearly chefs in fantasy as real chefs use their 'leftovers'.

    Humus: Blend (drained) chick peas with salt, lemon juice and garlic. Alternatives can be made with added kumara, pumpkin, and various spices like cumin, smoked paprika, tumeric, black pepper, vinegar, brown sugar… etc. Learn your own tastes, tinker till you make the best humus you ever had.

    Serve generous lashing on vege wraps,as a dip with vegetables, or use your imagination.

    Spicy Peas: These are great. Drain chick peas add tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, tablespoon of flour – plus onion powder (tsp) and garlic powder (1/2 tsp). Mix well but gently so as not to damage peas. Lay out on roasting dish around edges to cook evenly at 200C for about half an hour. Ovens differ so keep an eye out/nose on the job, if you can smell them, test and turn them.

    These are a brilliant snack in and of themselves. They also make a very professional looking soup topping, and with a creamy blended soup provide amazing textual and visual contrast.

    May your baked goods be light and fluffy, and may your improvisation in the kitchen bring you the joy of creativity it brings me.

    • mikesh 1.1
      3 January 2023 at 10:54 am

      Most homuses include tahini as the principal ingredient along with chickpeas and various other ingredients. I have always used that, and found it satisfactory.

    • Mac1 1.2
      3 January 2023 at 8:14 pm

      I often use hummus on my pizzas instead of tomato paste. Italians may shudder but I prefer to call it fusion (or confusion) cooking…..the Levant meets l'Aventine. The Mediterranean is where the African and European plates meet after all.

    • joe90 1.3
      3 January 2023 at 9:27 pm

      Humus

      Peal your chick peas for the smoothest hummus you'll ever eat and add ice cubes rather than water to stop the heat of the processing cooking things.

      And if you're a falafel fan, ditch the canned peas and use dried, well rinsed chic peas soaked overnight with a little bicarb.

  2. Patricia Bremner 2
    3 January 2023 at 9:32 am

    Thanks for the ideas DB. I bought a carton of egg replacer, vegan, just in case. People would be well advised to have golden syrup on hand for many eggless recipes.

    • DB Brown 2.1
      3 January 2023 at 10:06 am

      Golden syrup aye – now we're getting old school. I didn't know there was a 'vegan egg replacer' product. Interesting. I used to eat a lot of 'vegan' meats/cheese type stuff trying to replace these as I changed my diet but now I hardly bother with them I just eat other things.

      Can't edit original post. You want some tahini for your humus recipes (or try some type of seed/nut butter replacement), otherwise, experiment wildly.

      What I eat today is unrecognisable to what I was eating a year ago. Going vegan basically took a lot of stuff off the shelves for me. Because of this my improvisational cooking game has gone next level.

      The lack of eggs is an opportunity for all of us to learn to swap out ingredients and ultimately be better cooks. Or not.

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.1
        3 January 2023 at 10:16 am

        Hi DB. Happy New Year. Re going Vegan. That is pretty much up there in commitment level !
        You probably know this…

        Banana

        1/2 mashed banana = 1 egg Good for adding moisture. Works well in cookies and brownies.

        We used (and kids : ) to make pancakes with . yum

        Also ?…sounds Interesting. (and I got Flax : )

        Flaxseed

        1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg. Good for binding. Mix together until mixture is thick and creamy. Use a fork or whisk, or if making a larger quantity you could use a food processor.

        https://vegansociety.org.nz/egg-alternatives/

        FYI Im not Vegan..but know some. Nice People : )

        • DB Brown 2.1.1.1
          3 January 2023 at 11:21 am

          I strongly suspected flax had great binding properties due to the consistency of smoothies with it added. ALWAYS grind flax seed, they're a bit small to chew proper and can get in the lining of the gut!

          I had dubious blood pressure doctor wanted to put me on medication. I asked for a few months for proof of concept re diet change instead. Vegan diet and flax seed meal, blood pressures normal, pre-diabetes gone, most aches and pains gone, 10 kilos gone…

          Vegan diet punches well above it's ecological weight (well, whole food plant based actually, plenty of vegan junk food out there). It was a difficult transition and I had cravings for cheese the most, now, it's just a better/cheaper/healthier way to eat.

          I'm considering getting more chooks for the food forest extension I'm making, the neighbors will appreciate the eggs.

          • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.1.1.1
            3 January 2023 at 11:39 am

            ALWAYS grind flax seed, they're a bit small to chew proper and can get in the lining of the gut!

            Oh thanks for that ! That might have been in the small print…that I (guy…would have missed : )

            I can relate to change of diet…as alternative to medication. Cold turkey ! ..off muesli bars(quick snack, but healthy?ha ! ), chip bags, choc biscuits…just try abstain junk food in general.

            Food Forest sounds good. Can Happily Graze : ) ?

            Oh I also recently started another compost for Native plants.

            People been bringing grass, leaves, horse poo etc. And I added my Tiger worms. Had the first wheel barrow full of organic compost on Our Natives. A great feeling !

            Oh and yea 10 kg too. Good onya mate !

        • Matiri 2.1.1.2
          3 January 2023 at 9:11 pm

          I am almost vegan and I've got curly hair! I use ground flaxseed gel in baking and it makes excellent hair gel. Honestly!

      • Belladonna 2.1.2
        3 January 2023 at 10:26 am

        If you don't have tahini – you can substitute with Sesame oil (the toasted or dark one with tons of flavour) which I already have in the cupboard for Asian stir-fries.

        https://thewoksoflife.com/sesame-oil/

        And, agree that Cumin takes hummus to the next level.

      • Patricia Bremner 2.1.3
        3 January 2023 at 10:04 pm

        DB the egg replacement is vegan Orgran. Cheers

  3. Robert Guyton 3
    3 January 2023 at 10:56 am

    It's my 65th birthday this January. People are asking, "What do you want?"

    Answer: banana fritters.

    It comes down to this.

    🙂

  4. PsyclingLeft.Always 4
    3 January 2023 at 11:21 am

    Exit..stage right….crying. lol.

    Bolsonaro himself reportedly flew to the US state of Florida after delivering a teary farewell to supporters.

    Bolsonaro himself did not attend, having left Brazil on Friday.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/481789/lula-sworn-in-as-brazil-president-as-bolsonaro-flies-to-us

    Hope for Brasil….and the Amazon rain Forest

    In a noted change of policy from the Bolsonaro administration, Marina Silva – one of Brazil's best known climate activists – was re-appointed to head the environment and climate ministry. She will be expected to achieve Lula's pledge to reach "zero deforestation" in the Amazon by 2030.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/481789/lula-sworn-in-as-brazil-president-as-bolsonaro-flies-to-us

  5. Tony Veitch 5
    3 January 2023 at 11:39 am

    Bomber has made a lot of predictions for 2023, but about the ’23 election he is absolutely spot on!

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/01/02/the-daily-blog-predictions-2023/

    We need to actually sell the 2023 election in those explicit terms – vote Right and amputate the State, vote Left and rebuild the capacity to actually face the challenges ahead.

  6. adam 6
    3 January 2023 at 12:16 pm

    Bang – Nailed it! Ah crypto the new way to steal from fans.

  7. PsyclingLeft.Always 7
    3 January 2023 at 3:01 pm

    "We are working as hard as we possibly can to fill the gaps, even though there are some areas – Queenstown comes to mind – where the labour shortage is reasonably acute," he said.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/481842/up-to-530-000-international-visitors-expected-amid-tourism-sector-labour-shortages

    This is probably not news to some…..but the accommodation shortage is pretty short too. Workers cant live in tents….or cardboard boxes.

    So…cmon Employers….rather than continually banging the Worker shortage drum…what are you doing to sort where they can actually LIVE? (and yea I get that some Employers are OK, and Care…)

    • Sacha 7.1
      3 January 2023 at 3:31 pm

      Poor dears have exhausted themselves whinging for two years instead.

    • Craig H 7.2
      4 January 2023 at 10:00 am

      Absolutely agree. The NZ economy did rather well despite Covid, and absorbed all those lost jobs into other sectors which made life even harder for them, but welcome to labour markets.

  8. logie97 8
    3 January 2023 at 3:15 pm

    Covid indecision

    In 2020 the authorities appeared in control and decisive and the Labour government was rewarded with a landslide election victory. Here we are almost three years later with a similarly perceived threat from open borders with Chinese tourism and what are we getting – indecision and vague statements. For goodness sake can we have some action and clear direction.

    • Patricia Bremner 8.1
      3 January 2023 at 9:23 pm

      Logie97 We would also need to control visitors from UK and USA, where the new variant XBB15 is doubling quickly and is a slippery beasty.

      Planes Cruise ships migrants…….???? " Don't Dream It's Over" (Apologies to Crowded House) but in the circumstances that name is prophetic. imosurprise

  9. Adrian 9
    3 January 2023 at 5:53 pm

    3 years ago the Medical fraternity advised the government that it did not know, nor did anyone else, what we were about to deal with. Jacinda always said that when vaccines, if any were to become available and then when 95% of the population was immunised it would be OK to ease restrictions as that was pretty much the maximum that could be done, she said this many, many times. The fact that a significant percentage of boofheads refused to follow up with 2nds and boosters meant we lost the chance to eliminate or seriously minimise its impact. You have had the action and the clear direction now don't blame the Government, blame the fuckwits. Wear a mask and pay attention. Bugger me the amount of hand-holding some expect is ridiculous. Grow up.

    • logie97 9.1
      3 January 2023 at 7:19 pm

      … thank you o learned one. You clearly know the risk potential better than most regarding what is coming out of China. I am so reassured. Strangely, I am one of the few who still wears a mask whenever in shops and closed spaces. This is not about handholding – it is about reducing the risks. I hope you won't be eating your words in a month or two. Cheers

    • Sacha 9.2
      3 January 2023 at 8:30 pm

      3 years ago the Medical fraternity advised the government that it did not know, nor did anyone else, what we were about to deal with.

      Nope. SARS1 and HIV had already provided plenty of insight. The former is why Taiwan was so well prepared, and the latter helped NZ public health leaders advocate so convincingly for strong protections. Thousands of New Zealanders owe their lives to Ashley Bloomfield, Michael Baker and others.

  10. Joe90 10
    3 January 2023 at 6:20 pm

    Apparently a preliminary assessment of the cost of repairing NS 1 and restoring gas supply has begun, too.

    .

    https://twitter.com/k_sonin/status/1609088250735464451

    Reuters) – Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told state TASS news agency.

    https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-ready-resume-gas-supplies-europe-via-yamal-europe-pipeline-novak-2022-12-25/

  11. weka 11
    3 January 2023 at 9:00 pm

    NZ twitter's favourite pass time, correcting overseas people about NZ stuff.

    https://twitter.com/sujaybhatta2009/status/1609890852163448832

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