A self-confessed geek obsessed with chess as well as sharing and creating good times in a live setting, Dahlia Ray has been steadily weaving sonic magic over the years.
Evoking endless summer days and bubbling warmth, her new single Bonfire blends buoyant indie pop with 90s sentimentality. Driven by optimism and demure effervescence, Bonfire is also accompanied by a nostalgic music video, complete with a key childhood staple: the humble trampoline.
We asked Dahlia to share her fave five things to cook or bake…try not to drool too much!
1. Lamb Roast and Veggies
I always do it with a whole lamb because I use the leftovers to make curries which always works well as it tastes better the next day. My background is Cypriot Greek so I’m big on the oregano. Stuff the lamb with chopped up cloves of garlic. Just make sure there’s a couple in each spot and don’t go overboard, it dissolves perfectly in the oven. Then I season the lamb with oregano, paprika, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I do the exact same thing with a tray of veggies. I usually go with pumpkin, sweet potato, onions, and carrots. Season it with the same as I do the lamb, place foil over the trays and in the barbecue for a few hours because I cook it realllly slow on like 180 degrees. Takes like 3-4 hours but it’s worth it. Can take longer if I turn the heat down and have the time to wait. The slower the better. I serve it with all different salads. Beetroot salad has been my fave lately which is just baby beetroot, soft feta, walnuts, and fresh mint leaves. The dressing is balsamic vinegar, honey, wholegrain mustard and salt and pepper to season. The more organic the honey is then the better it tastes I promise.
2. Vegan Moussaka
So that starts with a base of thinly sliced potatoes fried lightly, then spread over the base of the tray. Whichever tray or baking dish you wish to use. Salt, pepper, and oregano over that. Then you lay a layer of thinly sliced eggplant over that, which again I put salt, pepper, and oregano over and haloumi cheese. The next layer is napoli sauce as this is vegan moussaka. Everyone’s different, it’s usually made with bolognaise sauce. I just use garlic, onion in a saucepan cooked slowly and then I add in 4 tinned tomatoes, squash them slowly, add fresh basil, rosemary, and oregano in while letting it simmer slowly. Then I add in a teaspoon of sugar which is optional, I just like how it tastes, and then I add cinnamon at the end. A cup of water depending on how watery the tomatoes are. I always get organic ones, if I have the energy, I get the fresh tomatoes and squash them myself but that takes time-but I mostly used tin tomatoes. Once that’s done, I pour that over the eggplant. After that comes a layer of lightly fried thin slices of potato, along with another layer of thinly sliced eggplant before I make the white sauce to put over the top. The white sauce is just two tablespoons of lactose free butter (usually Nuttelex) and then I put this in a standard cooking pot and have the stove at mid to high flame stirring constantly. After the butter comes the flour which I use about three cups of, with a litre of almond milk stirring constantly and consistently. I add salt, and haloumi cheese into the sauce but not too much-just a handful. Once it’s thick I pour it over the top of the final lay of eggplant making sure all areas are covered. Breadcrumbs over the top with lots of haloumi cheese. Place foil over the tray and then pre-heat the oven or barbecue to 180 degrees where you cook the tray for an hour or two slowly, again depending on how powerful your cooking device is. The breadcrumbs should be golden brown at the end. I serve it with salad, probably beetroot salad atm.
3. Spinach Pie
So, this is super easy. The ingredients are 2 packets of frozen spinach or 2 cups of fresh spinach. Both are great. 1 large, grated onion, 2 eggs, 250 grams crumbled feta, salt/pepper/oregano, puff pastry, sesame or poppy seeds which are optional.
It’s really easy. So, the puff pastry obviously needs to be thawed but not frozen obviously lol.
Fry the onion, and add the chopped spinach, add the crumbled feta and start to soften. Add the 2 beaten eggs and then season it. Roll it into the puff pastry and glaze it with lightly moisten pastry. Add sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top. Put it in the pre-heated oven at 180 to 200 degrees. Bake it for about 20 to 30 minutes. Just till its golden-you’ll know.
4. Vegan New York Cheesecake
I got this recipe from the BBC cooking channel.
85g butter, plus extra for tin. 140g digestive biscuits, made into crumbs. Add more biscuits if you like the base thick. 1 tablespoon of sugar. For the filling, 900g Lactose free Philadelphia cheese which is the greatest thing since sliced bread in my opinion. 250g golden caster sugar, 3 tablespoons dairy free flour, 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract, finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp), 1 ½ tsp lemon juice, 3 eggs plus an extra yolk. The BBC recipe uses sour cream over the top, but as I’m lactose intolerant, I don’t use anything like that, and it still tastes amazing. I lay crushed biscuits at the bottom of the cake baking tray which have the 85g butter in them and 1 tbsp caster sugar. Cook that for ten minutes at 180. Then the filling over the top of that, which is the 250g of lactose free Philadelphia cheese till it’s creamy, add 250g of golden caster sugar, 3 tablespoons of dairy free flour, pinch of salt, add the vanilla extract and mix with a whisk, 2 tsp lemon zest, 1 ½ tsp lemon juice, whisk 3 eggs and 1 yolk in and forget the sour cream it’s fine without it. Bake it for about an hour and a half. Oven pre-heated at 110 on a good oven once again. This recipe isn’t set in stone because it does vary hugely based on the oven. Add strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi fruit on top. Tastes so good. I’m writing this all as quickly as I can but yeah one day, I’d love to do the whole recipe book who knows haha. A lactose free friendly recipe book why not.
5. Homemade Pizza
I used to work at a pizza shop and since becoming lactose intolerant, I really struggle to buy vegan pizza out. I usually have to ask them to remove the cheese altogether which kind of defeats the purpose of having pizza. I’ve replaced mozzarella cheese with haloumi cheese as there is no lactose in haloumi cheese which is amazing for me. My personal favourite is a spicy pizza so I buy gluten free bases from anywhere, Moses and Co. Market have some good ones. I just use tomato paste on the base, then a handful of haloumi cheese over that. Then I put hot hot salami over the whole base. I always try to get the ingredients from South Melbourne Deli because it makes a difference but if I’m broke Woolies always does the job, cheers Woolies, haha. After the salami I put sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, jalapenos, chili flakes, and lots haloumi over the top. Pre-heat the oven up to 250 or as far as yours will go, mine only reaches 250. After about 20 minutes I put the pizza in and it’s usually ready in 40 minutes give or take but it all depends on what kind of oven you’re using. Mine isn’t very good. I want to buy a pizza oven one day but for now I just make do, it works in the regular oven for sure. But I do experiment with the pizza thing, you can make absolutely anything on there as it’s so good and healthy when it’s home-made.
