chick pea, spinach and sweet potato curry

400 gms sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 can chick peas
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tspn ground cumin
2 tspn curry powder
2 bay leaves
1 400g can of chopped tomatoes
about 200g baby spinach leaves

Mix the oil, onion, garlic, curry powder and cumin in a non stick fry pan and heat until the onion is soft, then add the rest of the ingredients, except the spinach leaves and cook over a gentle heat for 20-30 minutes, or the sweet potato is soft. Stir through the spinach and serve with rice.
serves 4
This is mild if you prefer a stronger curry add more cumin and curry. Add baby rocket instead of the spinach. Could use pumpkin instead of sweet potato.

New titles in the book list and more

I have added two new books to the list on the right. The crockpot one is great, by two authors whom I have already sampled (see Meals without meat) . If you are interested in what else they have written then the list is here. I will put the chick pea curry that we had last weekend in here later. The fillet book (also new) gave the recipe for the following picture.

It is simply steak cooked as desired, with flat and shitake mushrooms cooked in the meat juices, on polenta with parmesan and baby spinach and baby rocket. Yummy - sorry not very vegetarian!!!!! AJR had the polenta and a vegetarian schnitzel.

Pine Nut Butter

If you are thinking of a nice juicy steak or chop or other rich red meat tonight, then you might want pine nut butter on the top. Of course you can also put this on a great pile of bbq vegies or range of baked root vegies. It is just yummy.

¼ cup toasted pinenuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 spring onion, chopped
125gm butter, softened
pepper

Method:

Use the food processor or blender to finely chop the pine nuts, mint and spring onion. Add butter and freshly ground black pepper – mix until just combined. Place the mixture in the centre of a piece of baking paper, and roll into a log about 3cm in diameter. Place into fridge until firm.

Vegie Delights

I am a big fan of the Sanitarium website and regularly get their suggestions for great vegie meals and thought that you might enjoy checking out this site. Includes menus and ideas. We have used their frozen schnitzels and burgers!!

Also thought I would let you know that Sara Lee makes great individual vegetable lasagne's. I have not seen the family size (see below), only the single serves, which are readily available in Woolies. They make a great stand by for my vegetarian, when the rest of us want to eat meat. Most days this is what he would prefer to eat.

Of course MLR loves the meat lasagna - really does not matter for her as long as it is meat.

Aunty A

Vegeta

Just so you know, if interested, Vegeta make a range of stock powders that are gluten free. The title is linked to the Vegeta site.

Fantastic news.

The other day I went looking looking for my usual Massel stock liquid, which I buy on a regular basis and now don't seem to be able to find. Do let me know if you spy some!

Stir Fried Haloumi!!

Ever wondered what happens when you stir fry haloumi?

Wonder no more, here is the vegetarian/haloumi stir fry made for AJR the other day (could really be called cheese moush).

It was stir fried in Portuguese chicken sauce (Woolworth's select brand). AJR has asked for it again, so it can't be too bad.

The rest of us had stir fried chicken with the Portuguese sauce.

Lattice Biscuit Slice Recipe

Happy birthday TC!!!! More to come in the mail.

I have two recipes for this, and they are different, the first one is runnier and the lack of lemon is noticeable. I do not like this one as much as the one my mother in law gave me (see below).

1. Lattice Biscuit Slice
12-24 servings

20 min 20 min prep
250g cream cheese
250g unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
40g gelatin dissolved in
1.2 cup of boiling water
2 200g packets lattice biscuits

Line a lamington tin (11"x8") with foil. Place lattice biscuits FACE DOWN on the bottom of tin Blend all other ingredients in a food processor or with a mixer (DON'T MELT THE BUTTER).
Pour over biscuits.
Top with lattice biscuits (face up).
Refrigerate till set.
Cut into desired sizes either whole squares or strips.
Store in an air-tight container (if they last that long).
If the mix is too runny, set in refrigerator for 5 minutes then pour over biscuits.

The recipe below is the one my mother in law introduced me to, it is a tradition every Christmas along with my father in law's shortbread. Remember it has a gazillion calories.


2. Lattice Biscuit Slice


125g butter or margarine
125g cream cheese
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbs hot water
1 tsp gelatin
1 pack of Arnott’s Lattice




Method
Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Then add sugar and beat well. Add lemon juice and vanilla and mix in.

Pour hot water into a heatproof bowl, add the gelatin quickly and stir briskly until dissolved. Leave to one side to cool slightly.

Add dissolved gelatin to cream cheese mixture. Beat again.

Line a square baking tin (approx. 20cm x 20cm) with foil and make a base using half the Lattice biscuits. You can bend the foil up to fit the biscuits, as I can never find a cake tin that fits the biscuits exactly.

Spread with cheese mixture then cover with a layer of the remaining Lattice biscuits.

Place in the freezer for half an hour to set. Chop into small slices to serve. Slice can be made the day before required. This recipe doubles easily, ensuring that you don't have half a packet of cream cheese beckoning you from the fridge. Lattice slice also freezes well and is a great standby for the drop in visitor.

Ricotta Hotcakes

1 1/3 cups ricotta
¾ cup milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup GF plain flour
1 tspn baking powder
pinch of salt
50g butter

Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined.
Place egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold eggwhites through batter in two batches with a large metal spoon.
Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of the butter and drop 2 tablespoons of batter per hotcake into the pan (don’t cook more than 3 per batch) Cook over a low to medium heat for 2 minutes or until the hotcakes have golden undersides. I set the electric frypan to 150c. Turn hotcakes and cook on the other side until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Dust with icing sugar, add maple syrup, lemon sugar, honey or soft fruit as desired. Serves 6-8. They were delicious and some of the best I have cooked.

Sorry no picture as they were eaten too quickly!

Soft polenta with mushrooms

This is for you JC - another delicious meal for a Coeliac/Vegetarian


1¾ cups (435ml) milk
1¾ cups (435ml) vegetable stock
¼ tsp salt
2/3 cup (110g) polenta
80g (1 cup) finely grated Parmesan
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced width ways
4 shallots, thinly sliced width ways
100g butter
200g king brown mushrooms, thickly sliced
200g chestnut mushrooms
200g Swiss brown mushrooms
½ cup (125ml) dry white wine
6 sprigs thyme
¼ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley



Combine milk, vegetable stock and salt in a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, then while whisking, add polenta in a slow, steady stream until incorporated. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for 30 minutes or until polenta is tender. Stir through ½ cup (50g) Parmesan. Remove from heat and keep in a warm place until required.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large casserole pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Increase heat to high. Add butter, mushrooms, wine, thyme and cook, covered, for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until mushrooms soften.

You could use the polenta recipe any place you would use potatoes. The flavour was fantastic.

The remaining juice from the mushrooms is a great vegetable stock base.

Please note that I used rosemary instead of thyme and was a good substitute, just don't use too much.

Fast Bean Taco's

1 onion finely sliced
1 clove garlic chopped
1 can refried beans
1 pkt corn chips (plain gf)
1 pkt taco seasoning (gf)


Cook onion and garlic in a little olive oil and then add the can of refried beans, plus half a can of water and the taco seasoning. Cook for 5-10 minutes until all the ingredients are combined and the liquid is reduced a little.

Cook the corn chips in the oven 180 c until warmed through, be careful not to burn them.

On a platter or individual plates pile the corn chips, add the refried beans, shredded lettuce, grated cheese, sour cream and serve.

Serves 4.

Magic Muffins

Check out this link to some wonderful looking savoury muffins, they look so yummy.

Might have to make them myself.

Omelet for tea

Sunday night we had omelet - two different sorts to cater for my family's foodie needs.


Version 1 (vegetarian and gluten free)
4 eggs
1 tblspn Mascarpone
1/2 a leek finely sliced
2 tblspns fried garlic
1/2 bunch of asparagus cut into bite size pieces

Fry the leak and the asparagus gently for a few minutes until the leek softens
Combine the eggs and the mascarpone in a bowl and then add all the other ingredients
Cook in the omelet maker or an omelet pan and serve with a green salad.
Feeds two for a light lunch.

Version 2 (gluten free)
5 eggs
2 tblspns Mascarpone
1/2 a leek finely sliced
2 tblspns fried garlic
1/2 bunch of asparagus cut into bite size pieces
1 chorizo sausage sliced and fried (check that it is GF)

Fry the leak and the asparagus gently for a few minutes until the leek softens
Combine the eggs and the mascarpone in a bowl and then add all the other ingredients
Cook in the omelet maker or an omelet pan and serve with a green salad.
Feeds 4 as a light lunch

Flourless Orange Cake

So Saturday finds us getting ready to go to the wedding of B&L at St Paul's in Manuka and then later a reception at Royal Canberra Golf Club.

This is always the best time to whip up a cake!!! Please note that I had boiled the oranges the day before.

2 Large Oranges
1 Cup water
6 60g eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tspn baking powder
200g almond meal

Boil the oranges in the water for 1.30-2.00 hours
Preheat Oven 200C
Once the oranges have cooled, cut in half and remove the pips. Place them in a food processor and blend them.
Beat the 6 eggs with a hand mixer until creamy, then slowly add the sugar, once the sugar is dissolved add the almond meal and the baking power and mix gently.
Pour mixture into a spring form pan which has had the base and sides buttered and a circle of baking paper place on the base.
Cook for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean, rest for five minutes and then release the sides of the tin and remove. Serve dusted with icing sugar and cream.

NB - for this to be GF you must use real icing sugar and not icing mixture.

Dinner Party Vegetarian Meals

JC asked me for some vegetarian recipe's to impress.

The first two recipes are two glutten free recipes and the last contains gluten:

1. Eggplant, spinach and pumpkin Stacks

1 Large eggplant(500g)
200g pumpkin, sliced thinly
700g of bottled tomato pasta sauce
80g baby spinach leaves
4 green onions sliced thinly longways
1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts

1. Discard top and bottom of eggplant, cut eggplant length ways into ten 5 mm slices. Discard rounded skin side slices, place remaining eight slices in colander, sprinkle all over with salt, stand 10 minutes.
2. Rinse eggplant well under cold water, pat dry with absorbent paper. Cook eggplant and pumpkin, in batches, on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or BBQ) until tender.
3. Place sauce in medium saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered, 2 minutes 4. Place four slices of the eggplant, in a single layer, on oven tray: top with half of the spinach, half of the pumpkin and half of the onion. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the sauce over each then repeat the layering process, using remaining spinach, pumpkin and onion and another 2 tablespoons of the sauce for each stack. Top stacks with remaining eggplant slices, pour over remaining sauce, sprinkle stacks with cheese and nuts. Place under hot grill until cheese browns slightly.

This was really delicious and only lasted a few minutes on the plates. Unfortunately the 35 minutes the recipe claims to take to get it to the table, took me 1 hour and 10 minutes. I used two small eggplants, I did not have pumpkin and used slices of potato. I did not have spring onions so used finely chopped onions. I only used a 500g jar of tomato sauce. However my dish looked very much like the one above.

2. A Terrine with Four Cheeses
I made this for Christmas one year when we had all my family here in Monash, a great special Christmas dish for vegetarians.

275 g Cottage Cheese
75 ml Mayonnaise
11g sachet powdered gelatin
50 g garlic and chives cheddar
50 g blue brie
50 g Cheshire
1 dessertspoon of snipped chives
2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
150 ml double cream
fresh milled black pepper to taste

Place the gelatin in a teacup with the cold water and the lemon juice and let it soak for about five minutes. Then place the cup in saucepan containing 5 cm barely simmering water, leave the gelatin to dissolve and become transparent.
Chop the three hard cheeses into 5 mm pieces, and combine. Blend the cottage cheese and mayonnaise until absolutely smooth. Whip the cream to a soft floppy stage.
Mix the gelatin and cottage cheese/mayonnaise mixture, stir to ensure the gelatin is evenly spread. Mix in the hard cheeses.
Finally fold in the cream and pour the whole mixture into the terrine. Cover with glad wrap and chill for several hours until firmly set.
Invert onto a plate and slice. Serve with a green salad.

3. Pumpkin Tartlets

300g golden nugget (small pumpkin), peeled, seeded and thinly sliced.
2 sheets reduced fat frozen puff pastry
2 tspns oregano
2 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
2 tblspns coarsely chopped hazelnuts
1 tblspn finely grated lemon rind
2 tblspn finely grated orange rind
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
200g boccochini pulled apart
2 tspns rocksalt

Cut each sheet of puff pastry into six and rest.

Mix the garlic, rinds, half the oregano and salt in a mortar and pestle and make a paste, add the olive oil and mix well. Add pepper to taste.
Take the finely sliced pumpkin and toss in a bowl with a little of the oil. Brush the pastry with the paste and place the pumpkin on top, sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Cook at 200C for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked, then sprinkle with the boccochini and serve with a green salad.

Tomato Pasta

We have a new Bill Granger book and we love his food, it is always simple and tasty. The other day JSR made this tomato pasta and we loved it. If you are interested in some of his other tomato recipes check out BillGranger.

1kg vine ripened tomatoes
1 tblspn sea salt
1.2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tblspns balsamic vinegar
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
fresh black pepper
300g spaghetti
1 cup lightly packed basil leaves, torn

Score a cross in the the base of each tomato. Place tomatoes in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. Drain after 10 seconds, then peel the skin away from the cross. Halve the tomatoes and press halves to squeeze out seeds and excess juice. Chop tomato flesh roughly, place in a sieve over a bowl and sprinkle with the sea salt. Leave to drain for half an hour.
Place drained tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and zest, garlic chilli and pepper in a bowl and stir. Leave for 20 minutes for the flavours to combine.
Cook the spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water according to the manufacturer's instructions. Drain well. Toss through tomatoes with freshly torn basil leaves and serve with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4.

Carrot and coriander soup

Carrot and Coriander Soup

1 kg of Carrots, roughly chopped
1 large onion sliced
1 large potato thickly sliced
2 cloves of garlic chopped roughly
1.2 Litres stock (Massel GF vegetable stock)
2 bunches of coriander, chopped

Place the onion and the garlic in the soup pot and sweat for five minutes. Add the stock, carrots and potato and cook for 25 minutes or until the root vegetables are soft. Add one bunch of coriander at the end. Blend in batches in the food processor or use a stab blender to make the soup smooth, you may need to add a little water if the soup is too thick. Reheat and serve with fresh coriander sprinkled on the top.

Serves 4-6

On Monday, CJK and the kids came over and I made a bit of a gluten free festival (see photo) I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did,

Terrine with Four Cheeses

Great for Christmas or dinner party

275 g Cottage Cheese
75 ml Mayonnaise
3 tspn powdered gelatine
50 g garlic & chives cheddar
50 g blue Brie
50 g Cheshire
1 dstpn of snipped chives
2 tblspn cold water
2 tspn lemon juice
150 ml double cream
Fresh milled black pepper to taste


Place the gelatine in a teacup with the cold water and the lemon juice and let it soak for about five minutes. Then place the cup in saucepan containing 5 cm barely simmering water, leave the gelatine to dissolve and become transparent.
Chop the three cheeses into 5 mm pieces, and combine. Blend the cottage cheese and mayonnaise until absolutely smooth. Whip the cream to a soft floppy stage.
Mix the gelatine and cottage cheese/mayonnaise mixture; stir to ensure the gelatine is evenly distributed. Mix in the cheeses.
Finally fold in the cream and pour the whole mixture into the terrine. Cover with glad wrap and chill for several hours until firmly set.
Invert onto a plate and slice.
Serve with a green salad.

Serves 4-6.

Thai Amarin

There are two Thai Amarin restaurants in Canberra, one in Kingston and run by the original owners of the Thai Amarin in Erindale. John and Silvie left Erindale 10 years ago to set up the Kingston restaurant. We have been regular visitors to the Erindale Thai Amarin, since we moved into Monash. We went there this week on a day when I ran out of energy. Our current favourite is something called Takay which is spicy and nice, we love the curries and they have a variety of vegetarian dishes which keep AJR interested. They also have a little boy, who MLR loves to play with.

Buy local road trip

Well some time ago I suggested that we should try a buy local trip and yesterday TSS, JC and I managed it. We went to the Poachers Pantry on the Yass side of Hall, here I collected information for a colleague at work who is thinking of getting married there. I must say that it would be a great venue to get married at - out in the bush and lovely scenery. Then to Gundaroo for a look see, were there was little in the way of local produce. Finally we went to Collector where we stopped off at the Lynwood Cafe and then on to the art gallery/bookshop. See The Shopping Sherpa for a complete record of our trip. Unfortunately we did not do well in the "finding local produce" stakes and we found only olive oil that was both grown and bottled in the district. I bought a book on DH Lawrence about his time in Thirroul where he wrote Kangaroo. I also bought a beautiful bead necklace as a present for Bron (who's birthday party we attended later last night), and a fridge magnet in the shape of Australia in wood, which I sent to Sally this morning. It was great and we have all agreed to do it again, as well as organising a trip to Ikea.
I did take photo's of this trip on my mobile phone, and when I work out how to download them I will post them here.

Tuesday at the Italian

Tuesday I was tired and had gone to Woolies to pick up something for dinner and baulked when I saw how long the queues were. Went to the petrol station and managed to pull into the wrong side of the bowser!!! Saw this as a sign that it was time to go home and stop.

We decided that we would eat out!!! So we went to the new Italian restaurant in Erindale - Italian Grill. JSR had a steak and I had chicken masarla, the kids had a pizza and chicken bites. The service was fine and the location is good as it is part of the restaurant strip. Our meals were fine, however the pizza was definitely ordinary and the chicken bites was dry and overcooked. JSR went off to get a bottle of wine and came back with The footbolt shiraz from Mclaren Vale. It was an excellent drop and I would recommend it as a great wine for the price (just under $20).
Collected the ironing from Dale and headed home to fall asleep in front of the Bill.

Chestnut Soup

Monday saw us eating Chestnut soup with the Bundanoon chestnuts.

Recipe from: http://www.chestnutsonline.com/recipes.htm

GLUTEN FREE 3 tbsp. butter 1 stalk celery 1 medium carrot 1 medium onion 1/4 C parsley, chopped 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1 bay leaf (to be removed later) 6 C chicken broth 12 oz. cooked, peeled chestnuts (1 lb fresh in the shell) 1/4 C heavy cream 1/4 tsp pepper Salt to taste Of course I changed something!!! I used vegetable stock rather than chicken stock and I did not have a bay leaf, also used too many cloves. Apart from the preparation work to get the chestnuts roasted, it was an easy recipe.

Cut the celery, carrot and onion into small pieces and process in a food processor. Melt the butter in a 3 qt. saucepan. Add the celery, carrot and onion. Sauté about 10 minutes. Add the chestnuts, broth, parsley, cloves and bay leaf to the veggies. Bring to a boil; then simmer for 30-45 minutes covered. Puree the soup in small quantities in a blender and put into another pan. Stir in the cream, salt and pepper and reheat over medium heat until warm. You may want to garnish with a bit of parsley.

Chestnuts

Dad brought some chestnuts from Bundanoon the other day, still in their protective cases. AJR and Mum and Dad removed the chestnuts from the cases yesterday and today we will be making roast chestnuts.




Facts about Chestnuts:

• Instructions on preparing and cooking chestnuts.
• May is chestnut month, and this link gives a list of restaurants that have signed up to promote chestnuts in May.
• Chestnuts Online have an extensive range of gluten free recipes as well as other information.
  

Omelet with a twist

We have an omelet maker and the other day I made delicious omelette's for everyone.



5 eggs
left over sweet potato fritatta mix
bag of spinach and rocket
Camembert cheese chopped or pulled into pieces (a little or a lot depending on your taste, could also use blue cheese)

Mix everything up and pour into the preheated Omelet maker and cook until set.

Chocolate

As Easter approaches I thought we should spend some time thinking (in addition to eating) chocolate - well who doesn't.

Origin of the word:

Chocolate When the Spanish arrived in Mexico they came across the Aztecs. The Aztec language is called Nahuatl. The Aztecs had a drink which they made from a bean they called CHOCO (bitter). They would put this bean into water (ATL) to produce CHOCO-ATL (bitter water).

The TL sound is common in the Aztec language but not in Spanish. The Spaniards mispronounced the drink CHOCOLATO.

This drink was brought to Europe (with sugar added) where the pronunciation and spelling in English became CHOCOLATE.

From: http://www.krysstal.com/wordname.html

History of Chocolate.

Interesting information about Chocolate:

The Quakers were, and still are, a pacifist religious sect, an offshoot of the Puritans of English Civil War and Pilgrim Fathers fame and a history of chocolate would not be complete without mentioning their part in it. Some of the most famous names in chocolate were Quakers, who for centuries held a virtual monopoly of chocolate making in the English speaking world - Fry, Cadbury and Rowntree are probably the best known.

It's probably before the time of the English civil war between Parliament and King Charles 1st, that the Quaker's, who evolved from the Puritans, first began their historic association with Chocolate. Because of their pacifist religion, they were prohibited from many normal business activities, so as an industrious people with a strong belief in the work ethic (like the puritans), they involved themselves in food related businesses and did very well. Baking was a common occupation for them because bread was regarded as the biblical " Staff Of Life", and Bakers in England were the first to add chocolate to cakes so it would be a natural progression for them to start making pure chocolate. They were also heavily involved in breakfast cereals but that's another story.

What is certain is that the Fry, Rowntree and Cadbury families in England among others, began chocolate making and in fact Joseph Fry of Fry & Sons (founded 1728 in Bristol, England) is credited with producing and selling the worlds first chocolate bar. Fry's have now all but disappeared (taken over by Cadbury) and Rowntree have merged Swiss company Nestle, to form the largest chocolate manufacturer in the world. Cadbury have stayed with chocolate production and are now, if not quite the largest, probably one of the best known Chocolate makers in the world.

From their earliest beginnings in business the Quakers were noted for their enlightened treatment of their employees, providing not just employment but everything needed for workers to better themselves such as good housing etc. In fact, Cadbury built a large town for their employees around their factory near Birmingham, England. Complete with libraries, schools, shops and Churches etc, they called it Bourneville. So next time you see Cadbury's chocolate with the name Bournville on it you will know where it comes from and what the name relates to.

From: http://www.aphrodite-chocolates.co.uk/history_chocolate.htm

Origin of the use of chocolate at Easter Time:

Easter Eggs

As well as adopting the festival of Eostre, the Egg, representing fertility and re-birth in pagan times, was also adopted as part of the Christian Easter festival and it came to represent the 'resurrection' or re-birth of Christ after the crucifixion and some believe it is a symbol of the the stone blocking the Sepulchre being 'rolled' away.

In the UK and Europe, the earliest Easter eggs were painted and decorated hen, duck or goose eggs, a practice still carried on in parts of the world today. As time went by, artificial eggs were made and by the end of the 17th century, manufactured eggs were available for purchase at Easter, for giving as Easter gifts and presents.

Easter eggs continued to evolve through the 18th and into the 19th Century, with hollow cardboard Easter eggs filled with Easter gifts and sumptuously decorated, culminating with the fabulous Faberge Eggs. Encrusted with jewels, they were made for the Czar's of Russia by Carl Faberge, a French jeweller. Surely these were the 'ultimate' Easter gift, to buy even a small one now would make you poorer by several millions of pounds.

The Chocolate Easter Egg

It was at about this time (early 1800's) that the first chocolate Easter egg appeared in Germany and France and soon spread to the rest of Europe and beyond. The first chocolate eggs were solid soon followed by hollow eggs. Although making hollow eggs at that time was no mean feat, because the easily worked chocolate we use today didn't exist then, they had to use a paste made from ground roasted Cacao beans.

By the turn of the 19th Century, the discovery of the modern chocolate making process and improved mass manufacturing methods meant that the Chocolate Easter Egg was fast becoming the Easter Gift of choice in the UK and parts of Europe, and by the 1960's it was well established worldwide.

From: http://www.aphrodite-chocolates.co.uk/easter-eggs-history.htm

Aioli

I like to try new things and have recently found Neil Perry's aioli. Aioli is mayonaise with roasted garlic.

Recipe:
Tomatoes, baby spinach and red onion salad, with battered prawns topped with Neil Perry's aioli.

YUM

We use the aioli on seafood, wedges, salad, in fact on almost anything. Neil Perry has a range of products that you can buy from Woolworths, we have tried his marinades as well. Try them, they really are yummy.

Cinamon Toast and Hot Chocolate

AJR has discovered the delights of Cinamon toast and hot chocolate with cinamon in it and here is his favourite afternoon snack.

Pasta Pantry Cooking

Ingredients

1pkt pasta
sliced olives to taste (I use Woolworth's home brand)
sliced sundried tomatoes to taste (I like and use Always Fresh, Sundried tomato strips)
1 tuna steak
rocket or rocket and spinach mix

Cook pasta until al dente or as liked,
mix in all the other ingredients, making sure you flake the tuna
add Parmesan cheese (I did not)
Serve

Gourmet Gluten Free fair

MLR and I attended the fair, but were a bit late due to other things that happened today. I had to work this morning and then was late back as the work still wasn't finished. Then MLR went missing and JSR was even more late for his golf. AJR was at his friend Liam's through all this. We found MLR and JSR got off to golf and then I had a snooze on the couch!!!! Suddenly it was heading for 3.30 and the fair finished at 4pm. So off we went, saw Robert De Castella on his stand, and tried some interesting "bread", then bought some gluten free, dairy free biscuits, grabbed some brochures and fled to the shopping centre for a dose of retail therapy in Woollies.

Cheap wine and a three day....

Following the popular $12 cases of wine found (and bought and consumed) in Woollies in past few weeks, I heard a rumour that ALDI were following suit, so after work dropped in to my local to find out if there were any left. Now it is important to know that the wine went on sale on Thursday morning and it is now Friday evening just before 6pm. Well I could see the pallett's were they had been, and two boxes of sweet white wine looking at me with those take me home eyes that wine cartons have, but which I was successfully able to resist. So keep your eyes out and let me know if this sale happens again and I will try on the day the wine is available. Hope those who shopped Thursday morning for their wine were more successful than moi.

Cheers,
A

Gluten Free Gourmet Food Fair

For those in the Canberra region and interested in this topic, then this is the fair to attend. It is on at the Canberra Southern Cross Club in Woden on Saturday the 10th of March.

I intend to be there and check things out. If you are interested in exhibiting at or sponsoring the event please contact foodfair@cyberone.com.au or phone 02 6286 9577.

I will report back here about what I learn (and what show bags I get my mits on).

Aunty A

Smoked Salmon Pasta last week

Easy to make Smoked Salmon Penne pasta
(serves however many you want!)

Per person:

60g dried penne (or other) pasta
50 g smoked salmon
1/4 capsicum (yellow or red)
1/4 head brocolli
1 wedge Blue Castello blue brie

1. Cook pasta, according to packet directions, until al dente.

2. Meanwhile, slice capsicum lengthwise and then across
into matchstick shaped pieces. Chop brocolli into small pieces. Place both
is a microwave-safe dish, add approx 1 Tbpsn water per serve, cover loosley
with gladwrap and microwave on high until cooked but crunchy (approx 1.5
minutes per serve)

3. While all this is happening, chop the smoked salmon into smallish
pieces.

4. Once the capsicum and brocolli are cooked drain and add
smoked salmon and lashings of freshly ground black pepper.

5. Once the pasta is cooked drain and return to the pot.

6. Add the capsicum, brocolli and smoked salmon mix to the
pasta. Cut the blue cheese into wedges and stir through. Cover with lid
if necessary to enhance the cheese melting.




7. Serve!
With thanks to TSS

Taste

Hi Everyone,

I found this site thanks to Bells, and TSS. It is a magazine, recipe finder, forum and teacher all in one. I do hope you enjoy it. Currently it has a number of recipe's for Haloumi, so expect some new versions of this delicious dish on these pages soon.

Cheers
Aunty A

Oysters

JSR introduced me to Oysters 16 years ago and I really like them, although I still prefer them dressed, rather than natural.

Here is his latest version.

1 doz Sydney Rock Oysters (or Bateman's Bay Oysters even better)
1 onion diced
Prosciutto, chopped roughly
left over Thai dipping sauce

Fry the onion and prosciutto until meat is crispy
pour a little dipping sauce in each shell and top with the onion and prosciutto
grill until the oysters are warmed through
serve immediately.

Serves 4
If you are interested in the dipping sauce let me know and I will send it to you.

Pasta

Ok, you are tired and need to eat before going to bed, going partying, going mad! Here is a simple recipe, with ingredients in your pantry, ready in around 15 minutes on the table.

500gm spaghettini (or your favourite short pasta)
1 jar Barilla Pesto
baby spinach leaves
sun dried tomato strips

Cook the pasta until al dente, stir in jar of pesto, baby spinach leaves, sun dried tomato strips and serve.
Serves 6 hungry people or plenty of left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Cooks note:

• If you click on the pesto link you will also find other recipes using pesto of various types.
• Alternative additions include; slivered almonds, rocket, parmesan cheese, chopped fresh tomatoes, parsley, basil or corriander.
  

Deeks

The 642.4 gang planned to descend on Deeks Bakery in Dickson, as it has been a while. If you want to know more about them , check out the website above. Deeks was created by Robert De Castella (the runner) and Bill Giles (a leader in bioenergetic medicine). They have two outlets in Canberra, the other is in Pearce. The Bakeries have a completely gluten free range of food.

Unfortunately when I got to TSS's t early o talk about Photo Shop, I found that two of our members could not turn up. We decided to go somewhere other than Deeks and save this up for a later date.

We ended up at Tilley's in Lyneham. Named after the Sydney bordello owner, Tilley Devine, the bar/cafe/restaurant serves breakfast lunch and dinner most days and has a good selection of often avant guard performers in the evenings. We managed to get a booth and could then watch people going by. It is very busy on a Sunday morning, but the service was efficient. TSS had the vegetarian plate with the lot and I had eggs hollondaise with bacon.

Celebration - Red Onion Tarts

Liz came over on Tuesday and I cooked her lunch - we were celebrating Liz's birthday and also the last day of my holiday.

I made individual red onion tarts, an adaptation from a family circle recipe and very nice it was too!!

1 sheet ready made short crust pastry
3 small red onions diced
70gms of crumbled feta
2 eggs
1/2 cup of cream

Fry onions gently, in a little oil until caramelised, approximately half an hour
Whisk the cream and eggs together
Cut pastry into twelve cases, to fit large muffin pan
Place in muffin pan and divide the onions between the cases
Sprinkle feta into each case and then pour the egg and cream mixture over the top of that
Cook in a moderate oven 180, for 20-30 minutes or until the custard has set

Serve with a green salad.

This is what was left for afternoon tea!

Bread and Butter Pudding

An ancestor of mine thinks that I cook a great bread and butter pudding, however I once made a terrible one and have avoided making this recipe for many years. I saw this recipe demonstrated the other day and just decided I had to try it. This is based on a recipe from ready steady cook.

3 large fruit muffins (preferably a day old)
1 punnet of raspberries (or frozen raspberries)
1 punnet of blueberries
5 egg yolks
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/4 cup caster sugar

break up the muffins roughly and scatter over a 2 litre oven proof dish, sprinkle fruit over the top.
Heat the milk and cream gently, stiring for about five minutes
Beat the egg yolks and the sugar together
Whisk the milk and egg mixture together, and then pour over the muffins.

Cook in a moderate oven, 180 for 20-30 minutes or until the egg custard has set.
Serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar, or cold.

Cooks note:
The taste is amazing when the blueberries burst in your mouth.

Ready Steady Cook

Warm salad of chorizo, spinach, tomato and onion

Having come home early I watched Ready Steady Cook show and then cooked the recipe above. Please note that the recipe is only for one.

It was delicious, sorry no photo's.

Tuna and pasta

We had a great standby meal tonight - ready in less than 15 minutes

1 can tuna (in spring water)
1 pkt pasta (any short pasta)

500 gm pkt frozen beans (could be peas or peas and corn)

1 large can of corn
Sundried tomato strips to taste

Cook pasta until nearly done, according to the packet and add the beans, cook for a further 3 minutes.
Drain and add other ingredients, stir and serve warm.


Optional extra's

• slivered almonds
• capers
• lemon juice and/or rind
• steamed mushrooms

Feeds 6-8 hungry people

Haloumi

I love haloumi and here is our haloumi Salad Rocket, sundried tomato strips, red onion and haloumi. The haloumi was dry fried on a grill pan.

Lunch on Thursday

TSS and CJK came over for lunch on Thursday.
I made a vegetarian, gluten free spag bol

1 can lentils drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions diced
3 large cloves garlic (add more if liked)
1 red capsicum diced
2 small containers of tomato paste
1 large jar spaghetti sauce (I used Ragoletto's red wine and onion)
paprika
basil
600 gms mushrooms
2 cans chopped tomato's
jar of sliced kalimata olives
splash red wine

Heat olive oil and fry onions until clear. Add garlic and capsicum and stir fry for one minute
Add lentils, cans of tomatoes, tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, paprika and basil, salt and pepper to taste (I did not use any).
Heat to simmer and let cook for 30 minutes
Add a splash of red wine, olives and mushrooms and simmer gently for another 40 minutes.
Best prepared in advance to allow the flavours to develop.
Add a packet of rice noodles or any other sort of gluten free spaghetti and serve.


On Friday I added about 1.2k of mince, two more onions and more garlic and served up for lunch for Lauren and MLR, then tea for JSR, MLR and me.

With the left overs (yes there are still leftovers) I am going to make a small lasagne for MLR.

Pasta Zoo Happy Meal

I noticed last November that there was a new dish for Children at McDonalds, Pasta Zoo Happy Meal!!! A vegetarian, healthier option, yeh. I asked for one, and was told that they would be available in January! Not sure why it is on the menu in November!!!! We have now tried the dish twice and the kids like it.

I wanted to check the ingredients yesterday, as I was concerned about a child who seemed to react to the new dish (not my kids), I checked the McDonald's website and they have lots of information about their food and where it comes from and how it is prepared, but not about the Pasta Zoo Meal. So I rang them and they sent me the information. I am sure it will be on their website soon.

Here are the ingredients and main alergens found in the new Pasta dish being presented for children at McDonalds.

PASTA ZOO HAPPY MEAL

INGREDIENT INFORMATION
Reduced Fat Milk & Sipahh Straw - Chocolate MILK: Reduced Fat Milk CHOCOLATE SIPPAH STRAW: Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Cocoa, Maltodextrin (from Corn), Flavour, Sweetener (955), Vegetable Gum (414), Vanillin
Contains milk Reduced Fat Milk & Sipahh Straw - Strawberry MILK: Reduced Fat Milk STRAWBERRY SIPPAH STRAW: Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Maltodextrin (from Corn), Flavour, Vegetable Gum (414), Vanillin, Sweetener (955), Colour (162) Contains milk.

Zoo Goo Tomato [Tomato, Salt, Acidity Regulator (330), Calcium Chloride (509)], Fructose, Thickener (1422), Salt, Vegetable Powders, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower), Acidity Regulators (330, 270), Yeast Extract, Animal Fat, Colours (160c, 100), Preservative (202), Vegetable Gum (415), Herbs, Spice, Antioxidant (320).
Contains traces of sulphites in the thickener (<10ppm)

Pasta Zoo Cooked Pasta (Water, Durum Wheat Semolina, Eggs), Cheese [Ricotta (Whey, Milk, Salt, Acidity Regulator (260), Tasty (Milk, Cultures, Rennet, Salt, Anti-caking Agent (Tapioca Starch, (450)), Preservative (200)) , Parmesan ( Milk, Tapioca Starch, Cultures, Rennet, Salt)], Roasted Vegetables (Carrots, Onions, Celery), Sunflower Oil, Water, Tomato Paste, Sun-dried Tomatoes (Contains Preservatives (220, 202)), Potato Flakes (Contains Preservatives (220, 223), Emulsifier (471), Mineral Salt (450), Acidity Regulator (330)), Sweet Corn, Breadcrumbs (Wheat Flour, Yeast, Emulsifier (472e), Flour Treatment Agent (300)), Peas, Natural Flavour (Contains Milk), Salt, Thickener (461),
Garlic, Paprika Oleoresin (Colour), Herbs And Spices.

Contains gluten, milk, egg
Contains traces of sulphites (<10ppm)

Less healthy but yummy

Here is what we had for breakfast the other day - don't you just love pancakes in the holidays!!! JSR had his with jam, AJR had his with butter, maple syrup and icing sugar.

Sunday Breakfast for One

Here is a great breakfast idea, it is vegetarian, low gi and healthy.

1. Cut up some mushrooms and red onion and a little garlic and saute them in the microwave (no fat)
2. Toast a slice of whole grain bread (no fat)
3. Poach an egg

Pile everything onto the toast and then sprinkle with chopped parsley or corriander

Peacherine Crumble

Tonight we had homemade pizza and tried out the new Pizza stone - it works very well, thanks for the great present. We had a beautiful garlic and oil pizza, as well as a half salami, baby eggplant and capsicum with mottzarella cheese pizza.

Sorry no pictures, we were too hungry!!

Afterwards we had Peacherine Crumble.

Step 1
Cut peacherine's and then mascerate in sugar and marsarla and then poach.


Step 2
Put cooked peacherine's into a pie dish

Step 3
Make Crumble - mix rolled oats, brown sugar, butter, flour, mixed spice to bread crumb consistency.

Step 4
Cook at 180 for 20-30 minutes

Step 5
Eat (with cream as we did or ice cream or both)

Recipe Finder Sites

I got a request for a recipe finder site, you know where you can put in the ingredients you have and it spits out a great recipe - enabling you to declutter your cupboard. It is a great way to do this. I also go through my pantry once a year and anything that I have not used and is not out of date I donate to a giving tree. This year it was the giving tree at work, around Christmas time there are a lot of charity's looking for food donations. If you have serious congestion problems, you could do it in winter as well. Food is always needed.

So now you will see on the right hand site some suggestions for recipe finder sites (thanks for the great request JC), if you find better ones then let me know.

Aunty A

Calamari for Tea

We had a lovely repast of Calamari, seared lemon, steamed broccolini, fried garlic, pangrattato (basically fried or toasted breadcrumbs in garlic oil), and rocket salad.

Potato and bean salad with lemon yoghurt dressing

To serve 1

Ingredients
240g potatoes - unpeeled and cut into wedges
150g green beans, trimmed and cut into 3 cm lengths
1 cup baby rocket leaves
50 g (1/2) small red onion sliced thinly

Lemon Yoghurt Dressing
1/2 cup sheep milk yoghurt
1 tspn finely grated lemon rind
1 tbspn fresh lemon juice
1 tbspn finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Method
Boil, steam or microwave potato and beans seperately, until tender, drain. Rinse beans under cold water, drain.
Meanwhile combine ingredients for lemon yoghurt dressing in small bowl
Place potato and beans in medium bowl with rocket and onion, toss gently top combine.
Serve salad drizzled with dressing.

And of course I did not follow the recipe slavishly -

• I used goats milk yohurt, as I did not have sheeps yoghurt
• baby spinach instead of rocket as I did not have rocket
  
• corriander instead of parsley, by mistake - was a good mistake and
  
• doubled it to feed both of us.

Enjoy!
Aunty A

Thai for dinner

JSR had a great game of golf today and came home loaded with chocolate from our friends C&M. He then made a beautiful Thai inspired dinner of prawns and scallops with a corriander, red onion, rocket and baby spinach salad. JSR added some lime juice to the egg mayonaise for the dressing.