I had a session today with two of my favorite people. She’s an esteemed writer, and he’s a renowned musician. They’re aging now. And way back when, he helped created electronic music, which is a thing that I love, and do myself. Most music today, whether you

So, here we go, straight into the recipe: * Tromboncino or zucchini, cheese, eggs, onion of some kind, something tart, something salty, something aromatic, little bit of flour, salt and pepper. * Mix together, top with grated cheese, bake. * Serve hot or cold, with a salad or in a lunchbox, a single serve size or a baking tray full for a dozen serves. In a bit more detail? Ok, but really, there’s not much more to it. **Tromboncinos, or zucchini** , grated, lots of. This one had about 3 cups full. It only makes a little dent in the mountain of tromboncinos hogging the fridge, but every little bit helps. If you use zucchini, best to put the grated zucch in a colander and press down with a potato masher or similar to drain a bit of the juice off. Or, just add some extra flour in the later step where we add flour. Tromboncino are drier and denser, which is part of why I prefer them (the other part being that they are _so_ easy to grow – no powdery mildew, no real pests, hugely prolific and long lived.). I digress. **Eggs**. I used six in this, but three of them were bantam eggs so more like four large eggs worth. Less eggs and you need more of the sticky ingredients like cheese and flour. **Cheese.** I used two-thirds of a cup of cottage cheese, a tiny bit of left-over feta, and about a third of a cup of grated parmesan in the mix, and about half a cup of grated tasty cheese on top. You could vary the cheeses anyway you like, and you could get away with a whole lot less. I like cheese. **Some kind of onion**. I used one large spring onion (with its seed pod – spring onion seeds are wonderful in baking – one of the perks of growing your own). Leek, chives, garlic chives, red onion – anything from that family would work. Not too much of it. Chopped fine. **Something tart**. I used about half a cup of semi-sun-dried cherry tomatoes, but anything with a bit of acidity will work. You could double down on the something salty (below) and use pickled vegetables, or go for a tart spice like sumac or a tart green like sorrel. Fresh tomatoes might make the mix too wet – I’d use them as slices on top if that’s all you have. **Something salty**. I used a handful of black olives chopped roughly, but capers, nasturtium pod capers, anchovies, pickled vegetables, or any kind of cured meat would work. Or skip that bit and just add a bit more salt at the end. **Something aromatic.** You could leave this out too if you like. It does take a little bit of flavour imagining to get it right, but if you can do that, it does make the dish more interesting. I used a good tablespoon of finely chopped lemon thyme, and one of mild yellow chili. I thought about ordinary thyme, lemon basil, sweet basil, tarragon, chervil, shiso. Not coriander or dill or fennel or rosemary or sage or any of the curry spices (except maybe some milder variety of chilli if you like spicy). But you do you. **Little bit of flour.** Mix it all together well, then add just enough flour to make it a bit sticky. Not too much – I used a heaped tablespoon in this mix. Any kind of flour. **Salt and pepper.** You’ve already added salt in the “something salty”. And cheese is salty, especially feta, so if you’ve gone easy on them, add a bit more salt, and if you’ve been more heavy handed add less (or none) (I did none). And a grinding of black pepper always helps. Lightly oil a baking dish, spoon the mix in, sprinkle grated cheese on top, and bake for around half an hour in a moderate oven (180**°** C) until the top is golden and it’s set in the middle. * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket * Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email * More * * Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest * Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr * Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to print (Opens in new window) Print * Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit *

As Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy.

It’s a small but very powerful change in the way you cook: start from what you have – what’s in season, what’s in excess, what’s at risk of going to waste. **_Then,_** from all the many options on offer, think about what you feel like eating. It’s a very normal way of looking at food in most cultures. What’s in season is going to be the best quality, sweetest, ripest, cheapest, least packaged, least food miles – all round best ingredients to start with. We Australians, with a food culture that is largely based on the wrong hemisphere let alone terroir are at a terrible disadvantage thinking like this. So, what got me thinking of this today is the spring glut of spring onions in my garden, and my new favourite breakfast – Korean style sourdough spring onions pancakes. They’re crispy, flaky, flavourful without being too oniony, fast, easy and this time of year so bountiful I can eat them every day if I want. These aren’t authentic – no doubt some Korean cooks will be having conniptions – but it’s a version that I can make fast and easily enough to make it a regular breakfast, or lunch or snack. ### The Recipe: Make a small ball of sourdough – just a bit of** _starter, salt, bakers flour_**. If you have sourdough starter you know how to do this bit. A small ball goes a long way. Let it sit for a little minute while you make a dipping sauce. Two minutes will make a difference to the ease of rolling in the next step, and two minutes is all it will take to make a dipping sauce. I usually go a teaspoon each of **_sesame oil, soy sauce, lime cordial_** , a little finely chopped** _chili_** and a little grated **_ginger._** But there are many options. Flour your benchtop and roll it out as thin as you can. Then cover with finely chopped **_spring onion_**. I used two big spring onions for this single serve pancake. Roll your rolling pin over them to push them into the dough a little, then roll the dough into a log and the log into a spiral. Don’t worry if there are bits of spring onion pushing through. Now sprinkle some more flour on your benchtop and roll the spiral out as thin as you can again. Again, don’t worry if the spring onion pokes through. There’s a sweet spot between too thick to get crispy and so thin it falls apart. Frypan on the stove with a good swig of oil in it. Pick the pancake up carefully over a rolling pin and transfer to the hot pan. Fry on the first side without messing around with it until it is brown and crispy. (If you try to turn it too early it will tear, which is fine as far as taste goes but a bit less neat). You might need to add a little more oil, then fry the other side till it is crispy too. Cut it into triangles and serve with the dipping sauce. Yum! * Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket * Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email * More * * Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest * Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr * Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to print (Opens in new window) Print * Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit *

An Empty Machine With No Mind, No Empathy, No Care