Rebekah Couston
Porcupine meatballs
THERE’S one main reason why this dish came into being and he’s two years old.
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Like many toddlers, John Couston goes through phases of eating very little, perhaps only crackers and apples.
“So to do these meatballs and have him finish the whole bowl is a little victory,” his mum Rebekah said.
“With a two-year-old I need recipes that are not only easy but nutritious, so hiding the vegetables is always good.”
Rebekah adapted these porcupine meatballs from her own mother’s recipe and began cooking it once John started to eat solids.
“I’m going to stick with it until he stops eating it,” she said with a laugh.
“All the validation I need is an empty plate.”
Raised on the Border, Rebekah has been interested in cooking since a young child.
“Mum had me doing the basics from a very early age,” she said.
“It rubbed off on me, not so much my sister, she’s the sewer in the family.”
Tertiary study followed when she left home, but this didn’t prove a time of culinary highlights.
“I was a typical two minute noodle, scraping the bottom of the barrel, whatever I could afford uni student,” Rebekah said.
But she returned to cooking after marrying husband Alastair and now the family, which also includes baby Clara, four months, lives in Thurgoona.
“I used to use my pile of cookbooks a lot but I find now more the iPad has got everything you need,” she said.
“You just Google and go, ‘Ooh that looks good, we’ll cook that tonight’.”
Her new human resources consultancy, The People Co. also keeps her busy, so a straightforward meal preparation is preferred.
“Not hours of prep, so some simple grating and chopping, put it all together,” Rebekah said. “I can't spend two hours at the stove so I need to put something on, get baths and things happening, come back and have it ready to go.”
But if circumstances were different, Rebekah would be keen to expand her horizons.
“I’d love to focus on learning techniques, like Masterchef styles,” she said. “I just wish I had time to sit down and focus and play with food.”
Six things I can’t cook without: My trusty Scanpans, good olive oil, a podcast to listen to in the kitchen, salt, pepper and a sense of humour.
- Enjoy cooking? Got a recipe to share? If you or someone you know would like to take part in Casual Cook, please email details to janet.howie@fairfaxmedia.com.au.