Tofu Success!

Previous attempts with tofu have been pretty bad, but this time I got it right! I think the key is to marinade the tofu first. Phil even said he thought it was chicken!

I mixed up some dark soy sauce, grated ginger, crushed garlic, honey, sesame seeds and a bit of hot water, and marinated the tofu (cut in chunks) for about an hour.

I heated up some sesame oil, stir fried a whole lot of veges and added the tofu/marinade about half way through cooking. When it was nearly done I added some pak choi and some more grated ginger.

Served on quinoa for extra nutritional benefits!

Stewed Tamarillo's

...and my 100th post!
I LOVE tamarillos, but they've been expensive this year, so when I saw a cheap bagful of seconds at the market I snapped it up.

First I cut the tops off, then poured boiling water over them and left for a few minutes. This made the skins easier to peel off. Once peeled, I put them in a pot with a little water and about 1/2 cup of sugar (for about 1.5kgs of fruit) and boiled with a lid on for about 20 minutes.

We had them with a little sweetened ricotta for dessert last night (see picture).

"Nourishing Traditions" Muffins

Remember the soaked pancakes I made a while back? These muffins use a really similar batter. They turned out pretty good for a first attempt I thought, a light fluffy texture. They aren't very sweet, but I guess what would you expect from a recipe with no sugar in it.

Heres how I made them (from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook):

- Soaked 3 cups wholewheat flour in 2 cups of kefir for 24 hours

Then added : - 2 organic eggs
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- about 1/4 cup melted butter
- about 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- a few shakes of cinnamon and a handful of sultanas

Mixed it all up, put in muffin pans and cooked at about 160 for 30minutes.

Samosa styles..

I made these for dinner last night, and I made far too many so we're having them again tonight!

The recipe is loosely based on one of Mollie Katzen's, from the Moosewood cookbook.

The pastry is really easy, just 1 cup of kefir (the recipe says buttermilk, but kefir worked fine. Runny plain yoghurt would probably work fine too)mixed up with 2.5-3ish cups of flour, and some salt. I used mostly wholewheat flour with a little white. You just mix it all up and knead for a few minutes then roll out into circles ready to put the filling in.

For the filling I sauteed some finely chopped onion, garlic, broccoli and cauliflower in olive oil with some spices, then added mashed potato. Easy!

Once I'd assembled them, I brushed on some olive oil, and cooked at about 210c for 15minutes, then turned the heat down to 180 and cooked a further 10-15min.

The dipping sauce was made by putting 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 3Tbsp raw sugar and some garlic into a saucepan and boiling for about 15min.

The Winning Roast Pumpkin Soup

My friend Toby and I are having a fierce pumpkin soup making competition. Of course I will be the winner!

Here is my creation:

- Drizzle olive oil, salt and ground pepper over pumpkin and other accompanying veges of choice (I also had some kumera, onion and a couple of potatoes) and roast in a low-moderate oven for several hours until all soft and goo-ey.

- Cut the skins off the pumpkin and throw it all into a big pot with enough stock (I used chicken stock) to cover it all and simmer for an hour or so. I also added some sage and rosemary at this point.

- Let it cool and blend until smooth, return to pot and re-heat.

- Before serving stir in a dash of cream and re-season if neccessary. Garnish with green stuff and pinenuts!

Enjoy!

"Nourishing Traditions" Pancakes

Nourishing traditions is a cookbook/way of thinking book that I've recently acquired. It presents a new way of looking at nutrition and some bits of it are pretty radical. I'll write some more about it at a later stage, but for breakfast today I tried her recipe for pancakes.

Overnight I soaked 1 cup of wholemeal flour in 1 cup of kefir. Then in the morning added a beaten egg, a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. I also added some defrosted frozen berries to the mix.
They took quite a long time to cook, but had a delicious, unusual flavour and were surprisingly fluffy.
Oh and that blob of yellow you see in the picture? thats my lemon curd !

Vegan apple muffins

I have a friend who can't eat eggs or dairy so essentially for the purposes of baking, she is a vegan. I've been experimenting with a few recipes that she can eat in the last few months, with varying degrees of success. Here are the muffins I made yesterday (see Vanessa - you should've come over after all! - I have saved some in the freezer for you though). They have been pronouced as "normal tasting" by two independent reviewers.
I'm calling this recipe my own because although its loosely based on one I found on the internet, I've modified it so much that it I'm going to claim it. (Makes about 18 smallish muffins)

2 cups wholewheat flour
1 cup white flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2tsp cinnamon
2 cups grated apple

Mix the above ingredients together in a large bowl

In a separate bowl mix:

1/2 cup oil (could use sunflower, olive, canola)
1/2 cup honey (because she is not actually strictly vegan, I use honey. To make them properly vegan use maple syrup)
a large splash of vanilla
a large splash of apple cider vinegar
1 cup soy milk or rice milk (could replace with normal milk, or yog for the non-vegan, or apple juice/puree if allergic to soy)

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
Put into greased muffin tins and cook at about 180 degrees celcius for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

When life gives you lemons....

...make lemon curd!

As you can see our lemons are finally turning yellow:


So I picked the juiciest looking ones and made lemon curd from the destitute gourmet cookbook.

2 large juicy lemon (I used 4)
50g butter, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten (I used organic ones from the market)

Finely grate rind and squeeze juice. Put into a bowl on top of a pan of simmering water. Add butter and sugar. Once butter is melted and sugar dissolved stir in the eggs. Keep stirring until mixture thickens (10-15min). Cool and store in a jar in the 'fridge.

Im not sure what Im going to do with it yet, but it is so delicious. I've been eating the leftovers with a spoon!

Heres the finished product:

Fresh

...from yesterdays farmers market.

Warm Vege and Quinoa Salad
- Grill eggplant, pepper and mushrooms in olive oil
- Steam some brocolli
- Cook quinoa (presoaked)
- Toss all the above together with torn spinach, chopped tomato and fresh pesto.

Eat while still warm. Yum!