Kiwi & Apple Accompaniment

27 Apr

We are very lucky that one of our best friends is the local organic kiwi fruit and avocado farmer. Which means we only eat free avocados when gifted to us (sadly out of season now!) and right now have the annual kiwi fruit glut!

Stewed kiwi fruit and apple is the perfect accompaniment to pork or ham, with your morning muesli, chia or yoghurt.

Simply skin the kiwi fruits and chop roughly, wash and chop the apples and add a cup or two of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer slowly until you have a lovely mush. Delicious and full of seasonal goodness!

Sneaky Egg fluffy Pancake Recipe

21 Feb

We have a new, sneaky egg, recipe for fluffy pancakes for the picky eater in our family. Little does he know that he now goes to school full of eggy goodness!

175 g spelt flour (plain)
1 tbsp baking powder (bicarb)
50g honey
5 eggs & a splash of milk (to make up 250ml)
1 tbsp vanilla essence (homemade is best!)

Serve with with fruit and yoghurt or just honey – yum scrum!

Fruit & Marmalade Cake

26 Oct

Apart from the fact that this cake lasts for ages in a tin, is moist and intensely tasty, it also uses up the pantry full of failed marmalades I have in jars!

Making orange marmalade with honey instead of sugar is intensely difficult (STILL haven’t mastered it!). Lemon Marmalade with Honey is a different story – suffice it to say that I have no jars of that in my pantry! But I still have shelves of unappetising looking black marmalade and it is these which give this cake its wonderful deep and complex flavour . . .

You will need:

250g Butter
200g organic raisins
20 dates (de seeded and cut into chunks)
Half jar of black marmalade or marmalade of your choice!
50g honey
2 x heaped tsp Mixed Spice
210 g spelt flour (or other flour of your choice)
4 large eggs or 6 smaller ones
1 heaped tsp bicarb

Melt the butter and honey together and mix with the eggs and then fold in the flour, raisins, chopped dates and other ingredients. If you have a food processor, just chuck it all in together (I am a lazy cook!) and whizz quickly while greasing your tin. Perfect for morning or afternoon tea and even instead of a traditional Christmas Cake – delish and highly addictive!

Tahini, Lemon & Garlic Dressing

15 Jun

We all loathe store bought salad dressing – what is IN it so it can keep fresh on shelves for years??? (I dread to think!)  But despite my dear Mama telling me how easy it is to make real egg based mayo, I have never really succeeded.  No matter, this delicious alternative is so good for you and so divine . . .

1 Jar organic Tahini, Freshly squeezed lemon juice (approx 300g), splash of organic apple cider vinegar, a few cloves of organic garlic, Murray River Salt and Pepper to taste

Now all my recipes (except obviously the commercial ones) are very much add to taste – i.e. create your own recipe to your own tastes.  Just chuck all the ingredients in a mixer with 1/2 the lemon juice and then add the remainder slowly to your taste (I like mine zingy on the tongue!)

You will be able to fill two jars with your fake mayo and it will keep in the fridge for well over a month – perfect with poached eggs, avocado, as a dip . . . (warning, extremely more-ish!)

 

Cambodian Wedding Day Dip

04 May

After the luscious rain we had last week and on Sunday – gorgeous, growthy, heaven sent watering – the mushrooms are springing from the ground.  It’s really Autumn!

And my fingers led me to this recipe in The River Cottage Veg cookbook.  We can always rely on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to give us a flavour filled recipe to make the most of whatever Mother Nature is gifting us.  And this recipe is a stunner!

1 kilo mushrooms (any variety)

Chilli oil (ours obviously)

3 or 4 cloves garlic (ditto)

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsps nut butter (we used organic macadamia nut)

1 can coconut milk

Dash of tamari

Dice the mushrooms or chop them in the food processor but careful they don’t turn to slush! Coat the bottom of a big fry pan with olive oil and then a good plug of chilli oil and fry the mushrooms until all the liquid they release has evaporated.  Add the garlic, curry powder, nut butter and stir thoroughly.  Then stir in the coconut milk and let it all bubble, stirring often, until thick and reduced – up to half an hour.  Splash of Tamari or Soy, twist of lemon or lime if you like.  You can dress it with chopped coriander or parsley but it doesn’t need it.  So delicious!

Pumpkin Soup

01 Apr

John Southcott came down from Comboyne at Easter and brought the most amazing Pumpkin Soup with him.  He brought a HUGE pot and we basically licked it clean!  He kindly wrote the recipe down for us and I am compelled to share it as the temperature drops and our bodies start craving warm, slow cooked foods for Autumn and Winter.  This is thick, hearty and downright delicious!

1 large Jap pumpkin
8 medium Dutch Cream Potatoes
4 large onions
Sea Salt (lots)
Cracked Pepper (lots)
2 tbsp mild curry powder
1 tbsp tumeric
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 cans coconut cream

Chop & fry onions until soft and translucent.  Chop pumpkin & potatoes and cover with water.  Bring to boil for 10 minutes then simmer until soft, once soft add the other ingredients (except the coconut cream) and then simmer until pumpkin and potatoes have disintegrated.  Now add the coconut cream, simmer for a few more minutes and then allow to sit and rest for half an hour before serving.

Apple Crumble

28 Mar

In preparation for the Easter festivities and the deluge of people coming to share time, space and food with us, I dreamt up a new Crumble topping. I love it, Ged prefers the old one and Ben is too happy that he finally gets apple crumble to care! It got the thumbs up from our guests (but then they hadn’t tasted the old version and may have been overwhelmed by the creamy deliciousness of home made vanilla and chocolate ice creams . . . )

Anyway, for my money, this is the most gorgeous Crumble topping and well worth a try . . .

600g organic rolled oats
300g desiccated coconut
22 dates
125g butter chopped into cubes
2 kilos green apples

Roughly chop the apples and add water to cover then bring to boil for 30 minutes before turning down to simmer for a few hours until soft, shapeless and pulpy. Grease a glass dish and spread out your apple sauce – save some for pork, and some for breakfast for the week!

De-seed the dates and put all ingredients in the food mixer. Whizz quickly so butter evenly distributed but you still have a rough consistency. mixture should hold together without being too crumbly and must not be a big gluggy mess.

Use your hands to scoop the topping out of the mixer and distribute over the apple. Trickle a little honey over the top if you like but with the dates, it doesn’t need it. Bake in a hot oven (200 – 220 deg C) for 30 minutes until brown and serve with cream or ice cream or natural yoghurt.

Marmalade & Coconut cake

23 Mar

One of the joys of experimenting with preserving your own produce is the sense of satisfied abundance when the pantry shelves are stacked high and low with home made and home grown. There are also many burnt pans and jars of rejects – not pretty enough or good enough for sale, but good enough for family!

When I first started making marmalade with honey there were plenty of charred pots and pans & I never seemed to master the simultaneous arts of it setting AND retaining a gorgeous golden glow. It would appear that only sugar can do that!

After a while those many, many reject jars on the pantry shelf started reproaching me for wastefulness and other sins. So I found & edited this glorious recipe that doesn’t care what colour the marmalade is – it just savours the flavour of sun kissed oranges and the goodness of coconut. Healthy, delicious, nutritious and luxurious. Try it and see!

This makes one large round cake or two small ones:

4 large eggs (or 6 small ones)
1 jar marmalade
150g coconut
100g honey
250g butter
250g spelt, wheat or khorosan plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon bicarb

I long ago gave up making cakes in the time honoured complicated traditions. I simply melt the butter in a pan, chuck all the other ingredients in the mixer (except the bicarb) and give a quick whizz until roughly mixed. Add the butter & the bicarb and blend quickly until reasonably smooth. Pour quickly into ready greased cake tins and put in an oven pre-heated to 220 degrees. After 10 minutes turn it down to 200 and then cook for approximately 20 – 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean (my oven is very unreliable and takes forever to cook anything so I guarantee yours will be different!