One of the most striking things hearing people discover when they first learn about the Deaf world is the close sense of community and belonging that Deaf people have with other Deaf people.

If this is surprising to you, consider what is the meaning of a “community”? A group of people who share the same language? The same life experiences? The same interests, attitudes, behaviours and power status? The Deaf as a community are the natural result of a shared language and experience in a majority-hearing world. The capitalisation of Deaf acknowledges the personal identity Deaf people have to their “Deaf world”, just as someone might identify as English, Maori, Christian, Muslim, Chinese, Eskimo, etc. Deaf have their own community and culture complete with their own norms, traditions, folktales and pride. They are a minority community living a majority hearing world. Note that “hearing” is not considered a community as it is not a cultural identity. Likewise, someone may be considered medically deaf yet not necessarily identify as Deaf.

Victoria University has a strong presence of Deaf culture, supported by the opportunity for students to take Deaf Studies. Deaf Studies offers the opportunity for students to learn New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), yet it also has a strong cultural focus, teaching the history of Deaf culture in New Zealand as well as norms for interacting in the Deaf world. Elliot Yates, a Deaf student who attended Victoria University in 2009 and 2010, says Deaf Studies is a “worthy subject”, and expresses the wish that more people would learn it, saying NZSL tends to be “neglected”. To support students learning Deaf Studies, Deaf students and those taking Deaf Studies meet up once a week for coffee at the Hunter Lounge to chat, practice signing, and celebrate Deaf culture at Victoria. Yates says he loved the atmosphere of Deaf Coffee: “It was a place where I could let rip.”

Mark Berry, a current Deaf student at the University, says that sometimes cultural ignorance can be life’s biggest barrier. “People patronise me, think I’m stupid. I don’t need that.” Deaf Studies has helped to foster a stronger cultural awareness at Victoria, which can then permeate into wider society through educating friends and family.

Outside of Victoria, the Wellington Deaf community is strong and alive at the local Wellington Deaf Club (or the Wellington Deaf Society), founded in 1938. Deaf people and learners of sign language meet at the club every Friday night. Part lounge, part bar, part dance club, the Deaf Club is a place for Deaf people to chat in their native language, share the week’s gossip, arrange events such as sporting competitions, and relax in an environment custom-made for them. Yates loved the “cool retro vibe” of the Club, the “engaging” people, and the cheap drinks! There are eleven regional Deaf Clubs nationwide, each with the same aim of fostering the Deaf Community. Deaf Clubs link to Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Association of the Deaf), which is a national organisation with the goal to “raise awareness, access and advancement” of Deaf people. It also organises NZSL week (2-8 May 2011). NZSL Week aims to “promote awareness of NZSL and the Deaf community, including the barriers which stop its members from taking part in society”.

Deafness is considered grounds for discrimination under the Human Rights Act 1993, and in the past the Deaf community has faced severe oppression (see Hear This Now over the page). Yet most Deaf people do not consider themselves as disabled. For example, the Deaf community does not participate in the Paralympics, preferring to hold its own Deaflympics instead (the next Deaflympics will be held in Greece in 2013). The New Zealand Disability Strategy (2001) defines disability as “the process which happens when one group of people create barriers by designing a world only for their way of living”. In this way, people are only disabled to the extent that other people make them disabled. Victoria University’s Disability Services is founded on a philosophy of inclusion, and as such Deaf students at Victoria University are entitled to interpreters and note-takers in lectures. However, there is a shortage of interpreters across the country, so electronic note-takers are used when interpreters are not available. Berry says he prefers interpreters whenever possible because “it’s really hard to understand the jargon in a language that I’m not accustomed to “. Yates agrees, adding that he likes to see NZSL at a more advanced level as it helps improve his own signing.

The doors of the Accommodation Services are also open to help Deaf students wanting to live in a Hall of Residence. Accommodation Services Manager Nick Merrett says that “Weir House has a bedroom with a flashing alarm, and other Halls utilise other systems for evacuation”, adding the needs of each student are “determined on a case-by-case basis with the individual”. Merrett adds that Deaf residents “make a positive contribution to the life of the halls, and in one hall, a student has established an NZSL club for residents”.

The New Zealand Deaf community has faced severe oppression, akin to that of Maori culture, in the past. For almost a century, sign languages were prohibited and seen as inferior to learning to speak and lip-read English. Deaf children were punished for using signs, and made to sit with their arms crossed in school. Only relatively recently have sign languages begun to be acknowledged as legitimate languages.

Sign language is the natural result of a culture which requires visual communication. New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) has its own history, originating from Australian Sign Language but over time evolving to reflect New Zealand’s unique culture. For example, NZSL includes unique signs for Maori terminology and concepts which no other sign language has. Neither are sign languages simply hand gestures to correspond with English words; they have a unique vocabulary and grammar.

Nearly every country in the world has its own sign language. One common question for hearing people new to Deaf culture is why there is not one universal sign language, to which I respond: why is there not one universal spoken language? Just as spoken languages have emerged and differentiated over time, so too have sign languages. Another common misconception is the idea that sign languages are somehow simpler languages than spoken ones. This is not the case: anything you can express in English, you can express in NZSL.

Greater cultural awareness in recent years has begun to acknowledge Deaf as a unique culture in its own right. The NZSL Act 2006 was a huge milestone for the Deaf as it finally acknowledged NZSL as a native language of New Zealand.

Many hearing people are often unsure how to behave when interacting with Deaf people. Not knowing the norms, one runs the risk of unconsciously offending someone. Should you raise your voice and talk slower? Should you get out a pen and pad? Should you give up and ignore them? (Do not give up and ignore them!).

It’s always best to begin by asking a Deaf person what mode of communication would work best for them. If you don’t know how to sign, it’s usually okay to write notes. Deaf students at university usually have high competence in English, but be aware that Deaf people you meet elsewhere may not have high literacy skills, so do not always write in standard English. In such instances, try to be understanding, patient, and explore other ways to communicate, such as with mimes and gestures.

If a Deaf person can hear and lipread well enough to have one-on-one conversations remember that face-to-face communication is important. Deaf people listen with their eyes, and sometimes backup speech comprehension with lip-reading (although pure lip reading is actually extremely difficult). If you react to environmental sounds and break eye contact (for example turning around if someone knocks on a door) it is analogous to cutting someone off mid-sentence. Focus on enunciation and projection rather than slowing down your speech and shouting.

Keep in mind too that you may be taken aback by the way a Deaf person speaks. It sometimes sounds different and can be harder to understand. But do not judge the person by their speech—if you assume a Deaf person is stupid because they talk differently this will be picked up, and many a business has lost Deaf customers forever because of such an attitude.

If you have a Deaf person in your class or tutorial, be mindful of including them—they’re here to learn just as you are. Talk one at a time. Get eye contact before talking. If you want to get a Deaf person’s attention, tap them on the shoulder or wave your hand in their eyeline. If a Deaf person is talking to someone else, don’t jump in and talk to the hearing person and make them distracted.

When a Deaf person is using an interpreter, always address the Deaf person directly. Do not ask the interpreter “Can you ask him/her…”; rather, ask the person themselves. This may feel weird because the Deaf person will be looking at the interpreter, yet you should still maintain eye contact with the Deaf person.

If you make the effort, most Deaf people take notice and really appreciate it. They also take notice if you don’t bother with the effort. If you do not understand something, pause and ask for clarification; don’t nod and smile like an idiot. Likewise if a Deaf person asks for clarification, don’t shrug it off saying “it’s not important”; this is basically saying “you’re not important enough for the effort”. Asking questions is fine: it shows you’re trying. It’s always wise for your work to have a supply of pens and paper on hand, and even an NZSL dictionary if possible. Talk to your boss about options to increase satisfaction of your Deaf customers.

Finally, please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of Deaf cultural norms, but rather a beginner’s guideline to interacting with Deaf people. If you want to improve your relations with Deaf people, start with learning some basic sign language, and increase your awareness of Deaf culture. Learning simple signs like “nice to meet you”, “thank you”, and the alphabet tends to be appreciated. Or try learning “sorry, I don’t know sign language”. Signing what little you know, imperfect though it may be, shows you care.

I know it’s way too soon to be thinking about Christmas (I don’t care if some shops have started stocking Santas, it’s too early I tell you!), but seeing as Salient doesn’t have a Christmas special, I figured now was as good a time as ever to share my recipe for Christmas mincemeat (the fruity mince, not beef or anything).

Ingredients:
One medium-sized apple
200 grams (one cup) sultanas
200 grams (one cup) mixed fruit
Rind and juice of half a lemon
Rind of half an orange
Half-cup brown sugar
Half-teaspoon mixed spice
Half-teaspoon cinnamon
Half-teaspoon salt
Quarter-teaspoon ground cloves
Quarter-teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons brandy, whisky or rum

Method:
Cut the unpeeled apple into about twelve slices, discarding the core.
Chop into pieces about the size of currants and sultanas.
Add to a food processor, along with the sultanas, mixed fruit and the thinly peeled orange and lemon rinds (use a potato peeler for these).
Process until the fruit is chopped fairly fine (but hasn’t turned to mush).
Add the lemon juice along with all the remaining ingredients and process briefly until everything is combined.
Spoon the mixture into sterilised jars. Pour a little extra brandy, whisky or rum over the surface, cover tightly, and store in a cool place.

Food Tip of the Week:
Christmas mincemeat can be made well ahead of time and left in the fridge in a sterilised jar for months (the alcohol prevents it going off ). It can then be used in classic Christmas recipes like mince pies and filo parcels.

This super-easy coleslaw is great for summer barbecues.

Ingredients
1/2 cabbage
3-4 spring onions
Noodles from two-minute packet (chicken flavour)
Variety of nuts and seeds (almonds, peanuts, sesame, sunflower, etc)

Dressing
Chicken noodle sachet
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 cup oil

Method
Roast the nuts and seeds in a saucepan. Leave them to cool a little before adding to the other ingredients.
Slice the cabbage into strips.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

If you’re making this ahead of time, don’t add the dressing until just before serving, otherwise the noodles tend to get soggy.

Food Tip of the Week: When making a salad dressing with vinaigrette, make it at least half an hour ahead of time and let the mixture sit to allow the flavours to ‘marry’. Pour salad dressing down the side of the bowl, not directly on the ingredients, to allow for a more evenly dressed salad.

A really easy, filling dinner. Goes great with mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 pound topside mince
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 onion
1 egg
One tin tomato soup

Method:
Mix mince, rice, onion, and egg together. Add salt and pepper if you like.
Form into balls.
Place in a casserole dish and cover with soup mixed with a half tin of water.
Cook for 1 hour at 180oC/350oF.

Food Tip of the Week: If the gravy is a too runny, add some flour to thicken it up.

An easy vegetarian dish. It also makes good leftover lunch. This recipe makes two ‘rolls’.

Ingredients
One medium broccoli head, chopped.
3 tablespoons butter.
2 beaten eggs.
1 cup chopped onion.
2 cups breadcrumbs.
2 cups grated cheese.
Juice from one lemon.

Method
Sauté onion in butter.
When transparent, add broccoli.
Sauté until broccoli is tender, but still bright green (about eight minutes over medium heat).
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Assembly
Place one rectangle of filo pasty down length-ways.
Brush generously with melted butter or spray with cooking spray.
Place another leaf on top and brush with more butter/spray.
Continue layering and greasing until you have four leaves. Grease the top leaf too.
Apply half the filling to the leaves.
Leave at least 1.5 inches from sides and bottom (see fig.1 for arrangement).
Fold the sides over and gently roll forward.
Place onto a greased tray.
Repeat this with second roll, then brush with butter/spray.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Slash, with a serrated knife, three or four diagonal slices through the top to the filling.
Cool for 30 minutes at 180oC/350oF.
.

Figure 1.

Filo pastry is delicate. Here are some tips for use:

1. If thawing, keep the package closed, preferably in the refrigerator.
2. Filo pastry dries out and cracks very quickly when exposed to air, so prepare all other ingredients before you break into the pastry.
3. Cover unrolled pastry with a dry tea-towel or a sheet of waxed paper, then a damp tea-towel. This prevents it drying out.
4. Keep your hands as dry as possible when handling.
5. Buttering/spraying each layer helps it cook properly.
6. As soon as you’re finished with it, roll up any remaining sheets and cover with glad wrap to keep air out.

Stuffed mushrooms are very easy, but they look fancy, so they’re great if you have a formal dinner or something. This is another recipe where it’s easy to substitute ingredients and accommodate food intolerances.

Ingredients
2 slices wholemeal bread
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon basil pesto
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese*
2-3 tablespoons chopped black olives
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4/-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup pine nuts
8 large flat, brown (or 12-16 smaller) mushrooms

Method
Crumb the bread in a food processor.
Add the garlic and process briefly.
Add the next six ingredients and process until just mixed (the mixture should stay as crumbs, not turn to paste).
Tip in the pine nuts and whiz again to mix evenly.
Remove and discard the mushroom stems.
Arrange the mushrooms (gills up) in a single layer on a pan.
Spoon the filling into the caps, dividing it evenly between the mushrooms. Leave it sitting ‘fluffed up’ rather than packed down.
Cook at 220oC/430oF for 12-15 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown.

*Don’t fuss if you don’t have parmesan cheese; a grated handful of your standard cheeses (Cheddar, Mild, Edam, etc.) will work just as well.

Snacks can be tricky. We all know we shouldn’t be stocking up on chippies and chocolate cookies, yet when we’re hungry and lunch is several hours away, few things seem more appealing than a Triple Chocolate Cookie Time. This week I’ve listed a whole lot of ideas to keep your lunchbox full and healthy:

• Fruit or vegetables: Fresh, sliced, dried, anything goes. Even frozen—try freezing grapes or a banana for something different.
• If you’re not a fan of “greens”, add something to make them more appetising, such as cheese, or make something like ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins, it’s an American thing). One of my lecturers loves apples with peanut butter.
• Fruit kebabs are more interesting than “plain” fruit.
• If a salad isn’t filling enough for a “proper” meal, have one for a snack.
• Jelly! Your inner-child will rejoice. Add chopped fruit to jelly and leave to cool overnight.
• Add dips like hummus, cream cheese or salsa to veggies like celery or carrots.
• Add dip to crackers. There are endless options for crackers (I love tuna, avocado and pepper). Mix up different crackers, cheeses and relishes. For something different, try rice crackers or cruskits.
• Rice wafers are another option. Plain rice wafers are really nice with honey.
• Pretzels and plain popcorn are both great too.
• Fruit yoghurt (stay away from the “artificial” flavours like chocolate and caramel). Kill two birds with one stone and add fruit to yoghurt like sliced banana, berries, or almonds. Yes, almonds. Sliced almonds with yoghurt is one delicious flavour marriage.
• Make your own muffins—healthy flavours like blueberry or bran instead of chocolate chip.
• Try something different with toast. Maybe sliced tomato sprinkled with salt or grated cheese, or banana with jam.
• Make pikelets the night before, and have plain or with jam the next day.
• A plain boiled egg is a good source of protein.
• A few pieces of sushi are nicely filling. If you make sushi for dinner make extra for the next day.
• Make a smoothie and carry it around in a thermos (they’re not just for coffee you know).
• Make your own muesli bars—they’re healthier and often tastier.
• If you need something sweet, go for dark chocolate, or chocolate-coated raisins or peanuts. If you need fizzy, opt for the diet or “zero” options.
• Leftovers often make good snacks—raid your fridge.

One of the main battles when it comes to food is keeping up variety, so don’t be afraid to try something new. Find out whether your friends or flatmates have any “unusual” food loves (ham and peanut butter? Cheese and fried onion? Honey and marmite sandwich?) and give it a try. You never know, you might find your new favourite food.

Everybody should know how to make a good brownie, and banana cake is the best way to use up old bananas. They’re both very easy recipes.

Banana Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 bananas
• 1 1/ 2 cups flour
• 1 1/ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons milk

Method:

• Preheat oven to 175^oC/350^oF
• Melt butter
• Beat butter and sugar together, and add the egg
• Mash bananas and add to mixture
• Add flour and baking powder
• Dissolve the baking powder in the milk, and add to mixture
• Bake for 1 hour

Chocolate Brownie

Ingredients:

• 150g butter
• 6 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180^oC/355^oF
• Mix flour and baking powder
• Beat sugar and eggs separately, then add to mixture with vanilla essence
• Melt butter in a saucepan
• Mix the cocoa into the butter, then add them to mixture
• Add chocolate chips (optional)
• Bake for 25 minutes
• When they’re baked and cooled, dust with icing sugar

Tip of the week:
When baking, I always mix the baking powder with the flour before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. It helps ensure the baking powder is spread throughout the whole mixture.

Gluten-free tip:
Just like my earlier choc-chip cookie recipe, these can be made awesomely gluten-free with the aid of mashed potato. Don’t ask me how it works, it just does! Add one small potato/half a large mashed potato to the recipe before you add your gluten-free flour. It may also pay to add an extra half-cup of flour to the recipe to prevent it being too runny after adding the potato.

I was taught how to make sushi from a Japanese home-stay we had at my house a few years ago, so you know this recipe is legit. The great thing about sushi is that you can customise it to include only what you love. Vegetarian? Hate capsicum? Have a lot of tinned tuna you don’t know what to do with? Make sushi!

Rice:

• Proper sushi rice is, for obvious reasons, best for making sushi. Find it in the international section of the supermarket.
• Rinse the rice with water a few times (until the water runs clear) to remove the starch.
• Cook the rice, bringing the water to the boil then letting it simmer on medium heat until all the water evaporates.
• Mix in a teaspoon of sushi vinegar or a sachet of sushi powder. I usually use Mizkan powder sachets.

Fillings:

• There are entire cookbooks dedicated to filling ideas. Avocado, carrot, cucumber, sesame seeds, spring onions, snow peas, and/or asparagus are popular. If you’re feeling uninspired, Google awaits!
• Cut your fillings into long, thin strips.
• Egg is another possibility—fry ‘em up like an omelette then cut into strips.
• Meat ideas include salmon, tuna, shrimp or crab. Tofu for the vegetarians goes well too.

Rolling sushi:

• Lay out a sheet of seaweed (also found in the international section).
• Spread the rice over the whole sheet.
• Lay your fillings in a narrow, lengthwise strip.
• Roll the sushi. The exact art of rolling sushi can take a bit of practice to get the hang of. A bamboo mat certainly helps. Try Youtube if you’re having trouble rolling—it’s easier to see rather than me trying to describe it.
• Cut the roll into about five pieces, and enjoy!

Food Tip of the Week: Sushi rice gets sticky. Keep your hands moist with water when using the rice to prevent it sticking to your hands.

Fish pie is an easy recipe, and if made with salmon, it is an easy way to get more omega-3 oils into your diet. It’s also a good way to use up canned fish you have lying around in your cupboard. While it’s usually made with unflavoured fish, using cans of flavoured fish could add some interesting variety. Try at your own risk.

Casserole Ingredients:

• Approx 300 grams fish (you don’t have to be too exact with this; use what you have).
• 3 tablespoons butter.
• 1 onion, finely chopped.
• 3 tablespoons flour.
• 1 1/2 cups milk.
• 250g mixed vegetables (again this doesn’t have to be exact; use about a cup’s worth). Frozen veggies work well.

Casserole Method:

• NB: Take into account the topping options when you’re making the casserole part of the pie. Rice, potatoes and/or eggs can all be cooked while you’re making the casserole.
• Melt butter in a saucepan, add onion and cook until translucent.
• Blend in flour and cook for one minute.
• Gradually stir in milk and heat until the sauce comes to the boil.
• Add cubed fish and vegetables.
• Simmer for two minutes.
• If you’re using rice (see ‘Toppings’ section), placed the rice in a greased ovenware dish, and spread the fish casserole on top. Otherwise place the casserole by itself in a greased dish.
• Bake at 150oC / 300oF for 20 minutes.
• Add toppings, and cook for a further ten minutes.

Toppings:

• Rice
• Mashed potato
• Breadcrumbs
• Sliced boiled eggs
• Grated cheese

Use any combination of the above toppings.

Food tip of the week:

• When you require a lot of diced onion, it’s easiest to throw it into a blender. Does the job for you, and is much quicker too. Just turn away when you then open the blender lid, as a blast of onion that strong will have anybody weeping their heart out.
• Incidentally, the reason onions make people cry is that when you cut an onion, you release sulphenic acids, which forms sulphuric acid when mixed with the water in your eyes. This burns, which stimulates tear production to wash the irritant out.
• You may also have noticed how the smell of onion lingers on your hands. You can get rid of this by rubbing a pinch of salt mixed with a little water over your hands then rinsing them under water.

I practically lived off toasties these past holidays; they’re quick and easy to make, fill you up, and are so versatile—throw whatever’s left in the fridge between two slices of bread, and you’re good to go. Well, within reason. That could probably make a good game actually—finding the worst combo and daring your friends to eat it…

Until I saw it first-hand, it had not occurred to me that one can make toasties without using a toastie-maker. Seems simple enough once you know about it, but in case (like me) you’d never thought about it, I thought I’d share the method today.

Make a sandwich of your ingredients, and butter the outside faces of bread or give them a spritz of cooking spray. Cook them using a pan or fryer over medium heat. When the bottom side is golden, flip it over and cook the other side. Flattening the toastie with a fish slice sometimes helps too. When the second side is golden, they’re done.
Simple, no?

Food Tip of the Week: When using bacon, roll the package before opening it. It helps separate the individual slices.

Hot soup is amazing on a cold winter’s day. Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for pumpkin soup. There are two ways to do this; the first is healthier and tastes better, while the second is a lot quicker to prepare.

The healthier version:
• Dice up an onion, and add to a pot of water.
• Cut a pumpkin (one pumpkin feeds approximately five people) into chunks, taking out the seeds but leaving the skin on. Add to a pot with enough water to cover the pumpkins by three quarters.
• Bring water to boil, then let simmer. The pumpkin skins should be facing down.
• After twenty minutes, turn the pumpkins over so their skins are face-up, and turn off the heat. When they’ve cooled enough, peel off the topmost layer of skin, leaving the green layer on the pumpkins. If the skins aren’t coming off easily, simmer them for longer.
• Add water to cover pumpkins, turn the heat back up, and let the pumpkins simmer until they’re soft enough to mash (about half an hour)
• Mash the pumpkins into gloop.
• Add a packet of Maggi onion soup, or onion soup with bacon (the ones you use to make Kiwi dip).
• Add salt to flavour.
• Optional extras for flavour include adding a rasher of diced bacon, and/or a pinch of curry powder.

The easier version:
• When cutting up the pumpkins, cut off the skins as well.
• Cook the pumpkins with a diced onion, for approximately an hour, until the pumpkins are soft.
• Add a packet of Maggi onion soup or onion soup with bacon, and mash everything.

This goes great with a bread roll or a cheese toastie on the side. And remember you can make extra and refrigerate it for lunch or a rainy day.

Food tip of the Week:
Hot food makes you feel fuller for longer, which can make a stretched food budget go further: The more often you have hot food, the less you’ll need to buy.

The recipe for this week is wedges, which can be eaten by themselves for lunch, or can complement a dinner. Don’t fuss too much if you don’t have all the coating ingredients; improvising with other seasonings still usually makes for decent wedges. This recipe will feed one or two people (I usually end up quadrupling the recipe to feed everyone in my house).

Ingredients:
Two potatoes
1 teaspoon stock powder (chicken or green herb work best)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
A couple of sprigs of chopped parsley
1 tablespoon oil

Method:

• Preheat oven to 200^oC/390^oF.
• Scrub potatoes clean (without peeling them).
• Cut into wedge slices.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add potato slices and turn to coat well.
• Grease a large roasting dish, and place the wedges in it in a single layer.
• Cook 30–35 minutes on fan bake.
• If you don’t have fan bake then turn wedges over after 15 minutes.

Food Tip of the Week: Where possible, don’t peel your vegetables. For many veggies, like potatoes, most of the goodness is right under the skin. The same goes for fruits like apples: keep the skin if you can.

An easy way to use up old apples.

Ingredients:

• 2 apples
• 6 tablespoons porridge/oatmeal
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons coconut
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 50 grams/1.8 ounces butter

Method:

• Preheat oven to 150^oC/300^oF.
• Peel the apples, core and slice them.
• Put in a saucepan with a little water (not enough to cover) and cook over an element until just tender.
• Place in a small oven-proof dish.
• Melt the butter.
• Mix butter with porridge/oatmeal, flour, coconut, and brown sugar to make the topping.
• Sprinkle topping over the apples evenly, and press down gently.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, until the topping is cooked and browned.
• Served best with custard or ice cream.

If you want, you can use canned apples and not have to cook the apples beforehand. You can also add a can of drained peaches to the recipe, laying them down with the apples before adding the topping.

Tip of the week:

Some ovens are much better than others, and some can bake or cook unevenly. If you have one such troublesome oven, always set your timer to half of what the recipe says, then when it goes off turn the pan/pot/dish/etc around, and bake/cook for the rest of the time.

Eating more fruits and vegetables—we’ve all heard the “5+ A Day” campaigns. Some countries even promote nine servings of fruit and veggies a day. However, many diets fall well short of this. So today I’ve got some tips for squeezing more into your diet.

At breakfast:

• Include at least one serving of fruit in your breakfast. I mentioned some options in my Breakfast article (Salient, Volume 73, Issue 2). Add bananas or peaches to your cereal, drink a glass of 100 per cent juice, or make a smoothie.
• My favourite breakfast is porridge with sliced bananas, sprinkled with cinnamon. It’s heavenly on a cold winter’s morning.
• Muesli is also great for sneaking in an extra serving—raisins, flaked almonds, and/or seeds blend right in with the other ingredients.

For snacks and lunches:

• Have at least one serving of fruit or vegetables with lunch. Fruits such as apples and mandarins are easy to transport.
• Cut up fruits or vegetables and carry them to uni/work/wherever in a container for quick snacking. I never got lunch breaks at my old job, so I found that drinking orange juice and snacking on mixed nuts when I had a spare moment kept my energy levels up.
• Dehydrated fruits will keep for a long time, and they won’t squash in your bag all over your textbooks. It’s also a good idea to keep a bag of dried fruit or mixed nuts on or near your desk while you study. Snacking on them will help you keep focused, and also give you a moment’s break—OOS is not cool.
• Get creative with salads. Add oranges, strawberries or apples to your traditional green salad.
• When making a sandwich, sun-dried tomatoes are a good substitute for fresh tomato if you have to carry it around your bag for half a day, as you don’t get juices running through and making the bread soggy.
• Make an omelette instead of plain eggs, with chopped vegetables. Onion, capsicum and ham go really well together, but omelettes are an opportunity to get really creative—just make sure there are veggies in there!

At dinner:

• As the government says, make sure at least half your dinner is vegetables.
• If it’s not a meal until you’ve had dessert, fit fruit into it. Purée fruits in a blender and make your own ice-blocks, sprinkled chopped nuts on ice cream, or go for options that include fruit—I’ll have an apple crumble recipe next week.
• Seedless grapes in the freezer also make a good substitute for iceblocks.
• Go for fruit dipped in chocolate instead of a chocolate bar.

Also:

• Keep a fruit bowl at home. Make sure it’s accessible, so when you’re feeling peckish you’re more likely to go for fruit than chocolate. I don’t care how much you swear by it, fruits are better for you than chocolate, and will keep you more alert for study.
• Eat in season. It’s cheaper and the food is fresher. That means colourful fruits like strawberries and watermelon in the summer, and harvest vegetables like carrots and potatoes in winter. Canned and frozen food is an option if you can’t wait for summer, but remember that they’re not as healthy as fresh food.
• Serve carrot sticks with onion dip rather than chips.
• Add extra vegetables and herbs like parsley to things such as pre-made pasta sauce or salsa dip.

To balance out last week’s fancy dinner, this week I’ve got a very easy and much-loved meal: home-made pizza. As is true of most things, the home-made version is always healthier (and often tastier) than the takeaway version, and you can adjust the recipe so it only includes the foods you love.

Over the years and over the recipes I’ve tried, I’ve found that the most basic recipe for the base is the best. Keep it simple, stupid.

Base—Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil
Base—Method:
Mix flour with baking powder.
Mix milk with oil.
Make a well in the centre of the flour, and pour in milk/oil.
Mix together. When you’ve mixed as well as you can with a wooden spoon, dig your hands in and knead the dough. If the dough is too dry and crumbling, add a little milk. If it’s too sticky, add some flour.
Keep kneading. This is the most important part for making a good base. You’ll know you’ve kneaded enough when you pinch a bit and it feels like an earlobe. It should rise back into place slightly from the hollow made by pinching it.

Pizza:

• Roll the dough out into a flat base.
• Spread tomato paste over the base.
• Add your favourite toppings. You’ll have your own preferences and favourite order for adding ingredients. My personal favourite is cheese, ham, pineapple, capsicum, onions and mushrooms. I also like to add mixed herbs over my pizza. Mmm, herbs…

Place on a tray in the oven at 200oC.
Cook for about 20 minutes. Depending on how many toppings you added, it may need longer than this. Check on it now and then; you’ll know it’s done when the base is golden-brown and the toppings are starting to crisp.

Note: Nada Bakery has the best gluten-free pizza bases I’ve yet tried. When a certain gluten-free family member of mine had them I was jealous as they were better than the gluten-flour ones the rest of us had to have. Nada Bakery is in Johnsonville, so is quite a distance for many to travel just for pizza. The good news is that they usually have frozen gluten-free stock which you can keep in your freezer until needed.

Food Tip of the Week:
Salad makes a dinner go further, which is good if you’re having trouble spreading a meal between five flatmates. Some shredded lettuce leaves, sliced tomato and grated carrot tossed with mayo is quick and easy. The internet has many more interesting ideas to try. Be different and add croutons, be daring and add fruit, be fancy and add spinach and feta; the options are endless.

This is a very fancy dinner, not worth the effort for your average Monday night but maybe worth digging out when you want to impress a prospective significant other with your culinary skills. Or perhaps when your mum is visiting your flat and you want to give the appearance of actually taking care of yourself without her.

Ingredients:
500g chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 dessertspoons whole seed mustard
1 dessertspoon brown sugar
Olive oil (to cook)
4 cloves chopped garlic or 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
200g spinach
200g grapes
250g feta cheese

Method:
Put salt and pepper on top side of chicken.
Fry until golden, but not cooked.
Turn and cover second side.
Add garlic and thyme, cook a further two minutes.
Mix vinegar, mustard and sugar. Add to chicken and cook a further 5 minutes.
Arrange spinach on a serving dish.
Crumb feta over and spread grapes on top.
Spread chicken and juices over top.

The ingredient list is pretty imposing. Thankfully you can replace some things and get much the same result, like using normal sugar if you have no brown, or substituting different herbs.

Food tip of the week:
When peeling garlic, crush a garlic clove with the flat side of your knife first. The peel will be loosened, ready for you to pick off. Alternatively (although I can’t admit to having tried it myself yet) I have heard that microwaving garlic for ten seconds first is very effective to loosen them out of their skins.

This week I’m going to share my signature gluten-free recipe: chocolate chip cookies. The trick with any gluten-free baking is retaining moisture and to stop it from crumbling. Finding the right gluten-free flour* will help with the latter. The secret ingredient to achieve the former is, of all things, mashed potato! I’ve done a bunch of primitive science experiments with various suggested ingredients, and mashed potato came out on top. You can’t taste it in the final product, yet it gives the cookies that melt-in-the-mouth texture which is often lost in most gluten-free baking.

Ingredients:
4 ounces / 110 grams butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons condensed milk
1/2 small potato, mashed
1 cup gluten-free flour*
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Method:
Cream butter and sugar.

Add condensed milk.

Add potato. You may find a drop of milk helps to mash it; if so add a little more flour to compensate.

Add flour and baking powder, and stir in chocolate chips.

Roll into balls—don’t worry if they still seem a bit sticky.

Press gently with a fork dipped in (gluten-free) flour to flatten slightly.

Bake at 175oC/350oF for 10-15 minutes.

They should be golden on top and just starting to brown on the bottom when taken out. They may feel at this stage as though they’re not cooked, but let them cool and they should turn out all right. It’s very easy to accidently overcook these cookies, as they’re still soft when taken out.

If you’re having trouble with crumbling cookies, you may need a different type of flour*, or try adding an egg yolk to help the ingredients bind.

This recipe can take a little trial and error to get right, so it may be worth doing a couple of smaller batches (just halve the recipe) to get the hang of it. Once learnt it is definitely worth it; life’s too short to go without cookies!

*Finding the right flour:
For the best gluten-free baking you need the best gluten-free flour. If you’re already gluten-free you probably have your favourite brand, but if you’re cooking for someone else and are new to the concept, I’m afraid it’s not cheap. Simple rice flour doesn’t usually cut it for baking, as it’s not got the same texture as wheat flour so doesn’t behave in the same way. You want to look for a combination flour, which combines many different gluten-free flours to create one that behaves in much the same way wheat flour does. Check in your supermarket to see what they have on offer, taking into consideration additional allergies, and also comparing the cost of different items.

Regular flour cookies:
Making these cookies using regular flour uses the same recipe, just cut out the mashed potato and make sure the cookies are fairly flattened when you’ve put them onto an oven tray.

Rather than recipes, today I’m going to talk about health and safety in the kitchen.

Food hygiene:

• Roll your sleeves up when cooking.
• Wash hands before preparing food, and always wash hands, equipment and utensils (such as chopping boards and knives) when switching between food types, particularly between uncooked and cooked food, and especially after handling meat.

Food safety:

• Keep knives sharp. Blunt knives have to be forced to try to cut anything, and in doing so there is a danger of slips.
• When you lay a knife down, lay it with the blade pointed towards the chopping board/wall/anywhere other than facing outwards where someone could cut themselves on it.
• When using pots on an element, be aware of where the handles are. When extended over the floor they can catch on clothing and spill, while over adjacent elements they will heat up.
• When lifting the lid of a pot of boiling water, lift the far side first to prevent the steam scalding your hand.

Food storage:

• Make sure your fridge is set at 5oC or below.
• When you want to refrigerate a hot dish, leave it to cool down first. If you want it cooled quickly, stand it in a bowl of cold water (with ice for faster cooling).
• Try to refrigerate cooked food within two hours.
• Bacteria that cause food poisoning grow best when food is warm, so keep perishables refrigerated, especially meat and egg-based foods (such as mayonnaise).
• Many food safety posters and et cetera advise placing cooked food above raw food in the fridge. While this is ideal, if you ensure all food is kept secure in a sealed air-tight container you should be alright.

Accidents:

• Kitchen fires are started when fat or oil heats up too much. To extinguish a fat fire, cover it with a lid or a damp cloth and turn off the stove/cooking device. Do NOT try to use water; this will just spread the flame everywhere!
• If you spill something on the floor ensure it is cleaned and completely dried.
• Wrap broken glass in newspaper before putting it in the bin. Sweep up all the pieces, preferably with a brush and shovel. Dampen a bunch of paper towels, and wipe down the area where the glass broke; this picks up all the little pieces that the brush may have missed.

Food tip of the week:
Ants in your pants? A clove of garlic in each cupboard will keep away ants. Incidentally, garlic is also great for colds. So it does more than ward off vampires! (If you make a Twilight comment I will beat you with a wooden stake.)

We’re now into the fourth week of the trimester; the assignments are probably piling up, and you may be running low on new dinner ideas. With this in mind I’m going to share three very easy dinner recipes, each one extremely flexible to your own likes and dislikes. For the most part I’m not going to be too specific with ingredient measurements—I’ll leave it up to you to add as much or as little of whatever you like best.

Hamburgers

Home-made hamburgers are actually really healthy. Make your own patties by mixing diced vegetables (such as onion, capsicum and grated carrot) and herbs with mince meat. Add a couple of eggs to bind them together. If pressed for ingredients, just flatten a ball of mince meat. If pressed for time and energy, buy pre-made ones.

Cook the patties in a pan until brown. You can also fry onions, eggs and/or bacon, as you like. You’ll know the onions are done when they’re translucent.

Toast hamburger buns in the oven until crispy, with a slice of cheese on top if desired. Add your favourite sauces, seasonings and vegetables—I like tomato, lettuce, capsicum and avocado, but there’s also cucumber, gherkins, grated carrot, jalapeños, pineapple, potato flakes, or coleslaw. This is by no means an exhaustive list—find what you love, or be creative and try something new.

Pasta

Throw your pasta into a pot of boiling water, and turn it down to low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent it sticking to the pot. You’ll know the pasta is done when you throw a piece at the wall and it sticks, or by tasting it: it shouldn’t be too hard, but not mushy either.
Simmer a pre-made pasta sauce (Watties, Dolmio, etc.) at medium heat on a stove element. Add your favourite vegetables—onions, capsicum, peas, beans, etc. Add parsley too if you have it. If you’re a garlic fan throw in about a quarter teaspoon of crushed garlic. Add about half a tablespoon of sour cream to finish the sauce.

Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce. Tip onto a plate, and add grated cheese or sprinkled parmesan over the top.

Ratatouillie

This recipe requires vegetables along the lines of onions, crushed garlic, zucchinis, eggplant, capsicum, and tomatoes (but again you can be creative). Chop up and sauté the vegetables with a little oil until soft (about ten minutes). Season with salt and pepper, and add your favourite herbs and spices—basil and lemon juice go well. Serve with couscous (it makes the dinner go further). Couscous is cooked in much the same way as rice, in boiled water for about five minutes—check the packet for specific cooking times.

If you’re having difficulty dreaming up dinner ideas, Google is a magical resource that can link to you countless ideas.

Food Tip of the Week: Make extra when cooking dinner and use for lunch the next day. Or freeze it—meals like pasta and ratatouillie will keep in the freezer for a couple of months, to be dug out on those days when you’re not up to cooking.

In celebration of Salient’s birthday, I’m going to share a recipe for a birthday cake. This recipe is quick and easy to make, so it’s ideal if you’re rushed for time (or not much of a baker).

Ingredients:
1 cups sugar
1 eggs
1/2 cup yoghurt
3 tablespoons cocoa
3 1/2 ounces / 100 grams melted butter
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup instant black coffee

Put everything into a bowl and mix well. Bake in a large dish at about 150oC/300oF for 30 minutes until baked. It may need a little longer, depending on the size of the dish. You’ll know it’s baked when you insert a knife and it comes out clean. Ice or decorate how you like.

Food tips of the week:
I’ve got a short recipe this week, so I’ll share some advice for baking:

Always pre-heat the oven, turning it on before you start mixing ingredients. Be sure it’s reached the correct temperature before you bake anything.

Mix the ingredients until they are nicely blended and without lumps, but don’t over-mix, especially when mixing in the flour. Over-mixing makes baking heavy and dense.

Spread butter or oven spray on the tray to prevent the mixture from sticking to your trays. You could also use wax paper, but this becomes a rather expensive option if you bake a lot.

Let your baking cool down (about 15mins) before you try to remove it from its tray, otherwise it may fall apart on you.

Today I’m going to talk about breakfast. Wait, wait, wait! Don’t turn the page yet! I know you’ve already heard it a million times before that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I also know from personal experience that some (read: most) mornings you either don’t have the time, can’t be bothered, or aren’t hungry enough for anything elaborate. Or anything at all. But it is true that breakfast sets you up for the rest of the day, so if you want to have a decent day, you need a decent breakfast. If you’re after quick breakfasts with little or no prep time, you’re reading the right page.

The first thing you need is a drink. No, not that kind of drink. Your body gets dehydrated overnight, which slows your metabolism, so a glass of water will wake your system up. It has even been suggested that drinking a glass of water before breakfast can help with weight loss.

It is also a good idea to have a glass of orange juice. I’m not talking the tropical flavour sugar-riddled stuff, I’m talking the “honest squeezed” stuff. Even if it’s all you can manage in the morning, a glass of orange juice will help raise your blood sugar level, and give you a boost of vitamins. If you don’t like oranges, then any fruit juice will do: apple, tomato, kiwifruit, feijoa, whatever takes your fancy. Just remember to brush your teeth afterwards, as the citric acid found in many such juices is not kind on your teeth.

Now for food. Drinks such as Up & Go are an easy option, but can be expensive if you’re having one every day. You could grab a piece of fruit on the run, a muffin baked the night before, or a muesli bar. Making your own muesli bars is easy—there are heaps of recipe ideas on the internet. Toast is also easy to eat fast (choose brown bread), and you can let it cook it while you’re getting ready.

If you have a little more time in your mornings you could keep pancake or waffle batter in the fridge for quick use. Smoothies are fantastic and there are so many recipe options (do a quick internet search for tons of ideas). In the winter when such fruits are out of season, you can buy frozen berries to use in smoothies. Add yoghurt and an egg (you can’t taste it and it’s worth the protein) with milk and flavouring.

Porridge is another really healthy option. You can buy packet mixes which take only two minutes to cook in the microwave. Eggs can be cooked dozens of ways—try a different way of cooking eggs to keep variety in your breakfasts.

And if all else fails, raid the fridge for leftovers. Seriously, you’re better off eating soggy noodles than nothing at all.

Food tip of the week:

Apples wake you up better than caffeine. Now I’m not so foolhardy to think I can get you to quit your morning coffees, but why not have an apple as well as your coffee? You’ll have the twice the defence against lecture-induced drowsiness, and will be starting the day on a healthy note.

Welcome to The Lyons Share! The goal and aspiration of this column is to see students living off more than two-minute noodles or takeaways. If you’ve never cooked before, it’s time to start! Not only is it usually healthier to cook for yourself, it’s also cheaper.

This column is going to be packed with really easy, flat-friendly recipes. Most will have a lot of flexibility in the ingredients, so if you’re lacking in anything you will be able to throw in whatever is left in your cupboard. It will also contain weekly food tips, often with the aim to make your diet a little healthier.

I would also like to take a moment to note that vegetarians, vegans, and those with allergies or intolerances will not be overlooked. I have close friends and family members afflicted with all kinds of dietary complexities, so I will be conscious of such restrictions when selecting which recipes to share.

This week’s recipe is simple but effective, which has been circulating my family under the name of Crunchy Ice Cream. As cool as ice cream is (pun intended), it’s nice to shake up the old flavours a bit and add a little variety to your dessert.

Ingredients:
1 ounce / 30 grams butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup* (or maple syrup or honey)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
8 tablespoons cornflakes

Method:

1. Melt butter and syrup in a pot over an oven element, and add lemon juice.
2. Boil for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally to prevent it burning.
3. Remove the pot from the oven, and stir in the cornflakes.
4. Pour over your favourite ice cream.

* A note on spoons:
If you don’t have the correct spoon, here’s a guide to help you convert:
1 level teaspoon = 5 ml
1 level tablespoon = 15 ml
So 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
1 desert spoon = 10 ml
So 1 tablespoon = 1 1/2 desert spoons
“Spoon” sounding weird to you yet?

Food tip of the week:

Almonds are fruit, so adding a handful to ice cream or other desserts makes them (more) healthy!