I’m current visiting friends who live partway between Port Macquarie and Taree, on the NSW mid-north coast. It’s a truly stunning part of the world, despite the CRAZY weather of the last few days. I drove down from Brisbane on Friday, fearful the whole way of the impending storm, and that I would get stuck in it. However I only had about 27 drops of rain.
Saturday and Sunday were a different story, with 151mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday! There were some surfers with a death wish out there, including this one at Port Macquarie yesterday.
Today the skies are clear, but the wind is howling. Let’s hope the wind is calm tomorrow when I make the almost-eight hour drive home.
One of the reasons I’ve come down is to show my friend Gail how to use some of the appliances in her new kitchen. When we stopped in for the night over Christmas I commented on how her cooker and her steam oven were the same as mine. She immediately requested a lesson, so here I am!
What she didn’t tell me, is that she is now on a low-FODMAPs diet. About which I know little!
She also didn’t tell me she wanted me to be tech-support so I’ve spent more hours sorting out a new modem, new mobile phone, showing her how to use Facebook and explaining what twitter is than I have actually in the kitchen!
One of the challenges and joys of being a guest is that you often eat foods you rarely eat at home. And for me, that’s vegemite on toast. I had a piece with some eggs for breakfast my first morning here, and have been gobbling it ever since – to the horror of my intestinal bits, that this morning decided to rebel. Vegemite on toast with a cup of tea is one of my ultimate comfort foods, so I find it hard to ignore when it’s right there, just begging to be eaten.
I might have to keep a couple of zucchinis aside when we cook dinner tonight so I can whip up some zucchini fritters to have with an egg for breakfast tomorrow before I tackle the drive home.
According to my dietician friend Glenda, who writes the blog A less irritable life, zucchini are low-FODMAP, but you need to be careful how much of it you eat. If you only serve one of these fritters per low-FODMAP person, you should be OK.
Zucchini fritters
By Mel Kettle, The Cook’s Notebook
Makes 6.
What you need:
- 2 medium-sized zucchini
- 2 dessert spoons of flour – I use buckwheat
- 40g grated Parmesan cheese (or you could use 40g fetta, crumbled up)
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
What you do:
Grate zucchini into a bowl, squeeze out any excess liquid. Add the flour, Parmesan, egg, pepper and salt. Mix well, fry in a little olive oil. Makes six.
Serve 1-2 per person and add an egg or two. You can also add bacon, avocado or smoked salmon. Or a combination of.
Leftover fritters can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and reheated in a frypan on a low heat. No extra oil is needed when re-heating.
What foods do you find you eat more of when you stay with friends? And if you’re low-FODMAP, can you share a few favourite recipes please?
I love reading other people's thoughts - so please leave a comment