No prisoners!

Culturevore 2008 activity began with a picnic under a tree. See the picture over on TSS's blog.

Here's the "It takes a village" frittata*. Free-range eggs, olive oil and mushrooms all from local growers, potatoes from friends in Crookwell, onion from friends across town, oregano and parsley from my garden, silver beet from Dad's garden and tomato from Miss Spider's garden. TSS made a carrot salad and couscous, and Spidey supplied fresh local apricots. The last three items were particularly appropriate because TSS and I then enjoyed the airconditioning of the Australian War Memorial's theatrette and watched a 4 hour free screening of Lawrence of Arabia.

Sadly, we were unable to consume TSS's banana pancakes but she assures me she will freeze them for next time.


Lawrence of Arabia is one of my favourite films, due in no small part to the eyes of Peter O'Toole and the screen presence of Omar Sharif. *sigh*.

Because it was such a looooong film, we completed three Time Thief Watch Caps, and got well underway with another two.

TTWC 2008.002-004

The screening was in association with an exhibition at the AWM. We might get to see that another day.

* VILLAGE FRITTATA - because Bells asked.


olive oil
1 largish onion, diced
3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (also good with half and half potato/sweet potato)
2 large handfuls of sliced mushrooms
3ish sprigs oregano, chopped (about a tablespoon or thyme or rosemary - woody herbs, all good) 2ish sprigs parsley, chopped (about a tablespoon)
1 large silverbeet leaf, finely sliced
8 large eggs, beaten seasoned with a little pepper
1 large tomato, finely sliced

Heat a very little oil in a heavy based fry pan
Cook onion and potato over medium flame for 10 minutes or until browned
Set potato and onion aside
Add mushrooms and herbs to pan to soften (you might need a little more oil), then add silverbeet to wilt.
Put potato and onion mixture back in pan and mix so you've got an evenish arrangement of veg around the pan.
Add eggs and cook over medium to low flame.
When eggs are almost cooked through (bubble holes appear on surface but the top is still a little runny), arranged sliced tomato on top and place under medium grill to brown.

Serve hot, warm or cold. Travels well.

This is what I did for yesterday's dish. It's a good for any veg you happen to have wilting in the fridge, a glut of on hand. The original recipe was bacon, chorizo and capsicum but this version is low salt, lower in saturated fats, gluten and dairy free. I have made it with left over diced roast potatoes which is really delish but generally ups the fat level. If you're using baked veg you only need to brown the onions, not the potatoes. Also, I usually add a clove of crushed garlic to the onion and potatoes if it's for home.

Because this is an eggy dish, it tastes MUCH better with good free-range eggs. If you don't have access to them, add a little butter to the frying oil or sprinkle a little paremesan on the top to add flavour. This also ups the saturated fat, salt and dairy content but it tastes really good.