Almond biscuits - not bad for a by-product

After making my almond milk (it's now a weekly event) I am left with something akin to almond meal. I've been trying various ways to use the meal. I've had some rather impressive disaster experiments which I won't bother recording but my last concoction was actually quite good - not spectacular but then spectacular only comes along occasionally. As I only use 3/4 cup of almonds per batch (I found that the results of a cup of almonds went off before I finished it) I am left with about half a cup of this almond meal type stuff and most recipes I found for stuff required a cup or more.

So one night, I threw caution to the wind and decided to try making biscuits. I didn't really measure out what I was doing so the following is more of an estimate of what I did.

Ingredients

• Almond meal stuff (based on 3/4 cup for almond milk)
• 1 1/2 tbsp softened coconut oil
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
• 1/4 tsp xantham gum

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
• In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients until you have a soft dough (you may need to adjust flour)
• Ball in your hand approx 1 heaped teaspoon of dough and place on prepared tray (I put down baking paper because it means I have less to clean)
• You'll see in the photo that there are some biscuits that are flat and with stripes. These were made when I rolled the dough into a log and wrapped in glad wrap in the fridge for about half an hour. Then I sliced the log and forked them for effect (that sounds a little wrong).
• Chuck into the oven for 6 to 10 minutes
• Make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom
• Take out and let cool
• Make a cuppa and enjoy

Result:

A cuppa is kind of important because these biscuits are a tad dry. But with a cuppa they are quite enjoyable. Certainly enough for me to make it again. I don't feel it needed any more sweetener than I had. Coconut oil is quite sweet anyway as is honey.

Verdict:

I'll definitely make these again and play around with other additives such as spices. As I know I'll be regularly in stock of the almond meal stuff I need to have a repertoire of ways to use - this is the first success I'll be adding to that repertoire.

Kale chips - nutritious and delicious

I had heard of kale chips from two sources. A friend in England a year or so ago made some crispy kale for dinner one night which was simply delish. At that time I had no idea what kale was so promptly forgot about it in the way of other exciting culinary adventures. But a month or two ago I was talking with my naturopath about sources of calcium when she mentioned kale.

What exactly is kale?

According to Wikipedia 'Kale or borecole is a form of cabbage, with green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms.' Because of the high amounts of omega 3 and vitamin K it is known as a vegetable with strong anti-inflammatory properties. In addition to this it is high in antioxidants and glucosinolates (help with body detoxification). For more information about the nutritional benefits of kale visit: WHFoods website

Ways to eat

Well, as I introduced kale into my kitchen in winter it became my perfect addition to soups. As the weather started to warm and my trusty vitamix came into it's own for smoothies and other breakfast beverages I began adding kale. Then I was talking to a work colleague and she mentioned one of her family favourites was kale chips. When she mentioned a dehydrator I had a vague recollection of my brother dehydrating things when I was a kid for his many expeditions into the bush and up mountains. He dehydrated all sorts of weird and wonderful things.

It turned out he still had the dehydrator tucked away in his garage so I acquired it to experiment. I obtained the recipe from my work colleague, bought a bunch of kale from the market near my work and even had a social gathering at my place where I could serve up my experiment.

Kale chips

Equipment

• Dehydrator
• Large bowl

Ingredients

• A bunch of kale
• Olive oil
• Finely ground Celtic sea salt
• Lemon juice
• Fresh herbs: lemon thyme and rosemary

Method

• De-stalk the kale and tear into manageable pieces - that means into large chip-size
• In a deep bowl mix together some olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt and finely chopped fresh herbs. I used the juice of one lemon and about the same amount of olive oil.
• Put the kale into the bowl and massage. Yep, that's right. You massage the kale. When my work colleague first mentioned this I thought she was joking but there are actual Youtube videos on how to massage kale. I was almost too scared to click on the link in case it was something kinky. The idea is that you massage the oil mixture into the kale leaves until the leaves relax and they really do! For the full effect I put on some calming essential oils and played relaxation music. I always knew my massage studies would come useful one day.

• Once the kale is relaxed you then
  lay them out in the dehydrator making sure the leaves don't touch each other. 
• I turned the dehydrator up to it's highest setting which for the retro machine I've got reads 'beef and meat jerky'
• It was in the dehydrator for about four hours. 
• During this time I managed to clean the house, go shopping for food, prepare said food and assemble three chairs after a quick trip to my sisters to borrow some tools to assemble the chairs (IKEA was wrong - I needed more than the allen key). Please note, these activities are not necessary to the results of the experiment with kale. 

Results

The kale chips were a hit. Very lemony - almost to the point of causing that trademark sour eye twitch. But they were enjoyed by all. One friend in particular apologised for eating most of them. Now that's the kind of result you want!

Verdict

I'd definitely do this again even though it took quite a while. As the dehydrator is like having an oven on it would be best to avoid making them on a hot day (again) but I'm intrigued to try a few other flavours. After trying the real thing I bought a packet of kale chips from my favourite health food store. I hardly had any of the chips because they were simply not nice. Real food made by real people in real time comes up gold again.

Warning

For those with dogs who will eat just about everything. I would advise not letting your dog near kale in any form. My dog managed to snaffle a rogue chip and I experienced the pungent results for almost four hours the following day. How do I know it was the kale? Let's just say that the fragrance was as distinctive as it was unpleasant.

'I did it myself' almond milk

I haven't drunk cows milk in years and my naturopath is not keen on my drinking soy. What does that leave me with? In the supermarkets there is an ever increasing supply of milk alternatives such as oat milk, rice milk, almond milk etc.

Aside from the fact that my body doesn't seem to like dairy milk, there may be other reasons to consider reducing reliance on the diary industry. When looking at any mass production industry it is important to remember that what happens in other countries may not be happening in Australia. But equally I believe that as the consumer we have a responsibility to inform ourselves of what we are consuming and how that consumable has been made available to us.

All that aside, the milk alternatives available in the supermarkets are often sweetened and are always in those UHT, longlife containers. A carton of almond milk can cost me $7 and since I don't drink that much of it anyway, it often goes off before I've finished the darn thing, so I'm tipping out about $3 each time. There has to be a less wasteful way.

A quick trip to google to search for 'how to make almond milk' came up with loads of youtube videos, blog posts and websites. There seems to be a variety of ways from the simple to quite complex. Me being me of course chose to start with the simple option.

Recipe
As I've already explained there are countless recipes on the Internet. However, the one I based my first attempt on was one of the many youtube videos - the only difference is that I added vanilla essence.

Ingredients
1 cup raw organic almonds
3 cups of water (filter is preferred)
1/2 tsp organic vanilla essence

Equipment
Vitamix (or equivalent high powered blender)
Nut bag (I found mine online at www.rawpleasure.com.au)

Method

• Soak almonds for 8 to 12 hours in room temperature water
• Drain the almonds and put them into the Vitamix
• Pour in three cups of water
• Add the vanilla essence
• Turn on the Vitamix and turn up to high speed and blend for 30 seconds to a minute (don't let it get hot)

• Place your nut back over a bowl (I used a jug bowl knowing that I was going to need to pour the almond milk into a container later)
• Pour the mixture into the bag.

• Using your hands (clean of course) massage the milk from the bag. I found this part interestingly soothing. Almost like using a stress ball. It was quite amazing to also see how much almond milk came out with persistence.

• Pour the almond milk into bottles and store in fridge
• Apparently you can use the almond meal left in cookies or burgers. Haven't figured that part out yet. 

Result
YUM! Certainly straight from the bag the milk was just a touch warm and so tasty. I'll be interested to see what it's like tomorrow on my breakfast. I filled two 300ml bottles and a third of a small glass.

Verdict
Would I do this again? Definitely. I love the fact that I made it myself, that it hasn't been made and then heated in order to store in UHT cartons on shelves for an indeterminable amount of time. There is the factor that I have to remember to soak the almonds but all in all it's an easy and fast process. This batch is very creamy so I even wonder if I could reasonably use more water which would yield more milk (wow, don't get to use the word yield that often). I'm keen to try a couple of variations on this - one which doesn't require the nut bag (keeps the whole nut) and another which is a chai drink.

Am I nuts or can you make cheese out of almonds?

When I heard about nut cheese I simply had to try it. So I trawled the internet to find the best recipe I could find. I realised that if I was going to give this a proper go then I would need to purchase a few items. A cheese basket and some cheese cloth for starters. Having done a feta making workshop in the past I knew exactly where to get such items.

CheeseLinks run workshops on making all sorts of cheeses and appear to be one of the few places that sell the equipment for those keen to continue making it at home. After my feta making workshop about two years ago I bought a kit of stuff which I have since misplaced.

So I got online and ordered some small cheese baskets for $1 each and a large cheesecloth. Once they arrived I was ready (if a little nervous) to make my almond nut cheese.

Recipe
There are many recipes online. The one I am basing my version on is via a YouTube video about eating and raw vegan diet.

Ingredients I used
1 cup raw organic almonds
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp some type of probiotic (I used two capsules of Nutritious Care Polybac 8)

Method

• Soak the almonds in fresh filtered water for 20 - 24 hours
• Peel the almonds (I should have poured boiling water over the soaked almonds for a few minutes as the peeling of the almonds became quite a lengthy and fiddly process
• Place almonds in the trusty Vitamix along with the 1/2 cup of water and probiotic

• Blend until smooth adding more water as needed (my mix was still a little grainy but I didn't want to add too much more water as I want a reasonably firm 'cheese')
• Spoon the 'cheese' into the cheese baskets lined with the cheesecloth

• Rest the baskets over a cup or in a bowl to allow liquid to drain
• Fold the cheesecloth over the 'cheese' and place a weighty thing over it (I used teacups with canned goods)

• Place in a warm dark place to ferment for 8 - 12 hours
• Taste test your 'cheese' - if you want a stronger tasting cheese you could ferment for a further 24 to 72 hours.
• Season cheese to your liking then store in a glass container (with lid) in the fridge for up to a week. 

What I did
I used the three different baskets of almond cheese to try different method.

• Basket 1 was spooned into a tea cup and a pinch of salt, a 1/4 tsp of lemon infused olive oil and some chopped up Greek basil was stirred through. Pressed back into the cheese cloth and basket. From here:
• half went into the dehydrator
• half went into the fridge
• Basket 2 was squeezed further of fluid pressed back into cheesecloth and basket. There there:
• half went into the dehydrator
• half went into the fridge
• Basket 3 was squeezed further of fluid and pressed back into cheesecloth and basket. It was left to ferment a further 12 hours

Result
Firstly I'd like to confirm my suspicion that cheese made out of almonds does NOT taste like cheese. However, I do admit that there are so many recipes online that perhaps one of them does produce something a little more cheesy. But this recipe and all the variations did not taste like cheese. But here is a record of the results. The texture was very soft - kind of like a ricotta. Each of the basket methods produced a different flavour and so a different experience.

• Basket 1: this was my preferred result. The herbs, flavoured oil and salt really made this 'cheese' taste yum! The dehydrated one was even better but both were great. 
• Basket 2: not too bad but it really didn't have much taste at all. It was very mild and a little sweet. Again, the dehydrated one was a bit nicer.
• Basket 3: Umm...it tasted a little sour which got me a little nervous thinking I'd fermented it to a point it might not agree with me. I thought maybe it would be better if I dehydrated it ... it wasn't.

Verdict
Would I do this again? Hard to say. I certainly wouldn't do the last basket option again but the first was really nice. I might not bother with the cheese baskets (after buying them online for this experiment!) and just make an almond based dip or spread. The addition of the herbs really made it something so might pull this out for a dinner party or the like. I also am curious about some of the other recipes I found with different ingredients so perhaps my cheese baskets won't get lost in the back of the 'I was once interested' cupboard.

Relevant links
CheeseLinks: http://cheeselinks.com.au/

Just a little bit chai

So after making my super gingery brew I went searching through my cupboards and found some cardamon pods, clove things and vanilla bean pods. Add a little ginger and that's a little bit chai.

So I poured some of my gingery liquid into a saucepan (about a cup) and added 13 cloves, 8 cardamon pods and one vanilla bean chopped. I didn't have any cinnamon unfortunately but you can only work with what you got.

I simmered this brew for about an hour. The smell was divine! It was worth the aroma alone.

Result
Wow! I didn't add any additional honey. With the vanilla it didn't need any. Still pretty powerfully gingery but with the added complexity of the other spices it was yum.

Verdict
I would do this again for sure. Actually it might be worth doing this with all the ginger brew though I do want to try a few other things with it. Some ways I've had this chai inspired brew is with some soda water, in my tea, as a tea on its own.

The ginger & kaffir lime leaf experiment

One of my favourite drinks is Rochester Ginger 'with the kick of two very angry mules'. It's basically a cordial but calling it that strips it of it's sophistication and it's zing.

When visiting my sister earlier this year I was unlucky enough to get a cold. Well, she had a cure for that. A ginger drink she made with her Vitamix. It was like drinking straight ginger! The shock to my taste buds aside it got my mind thinking. Years ago I had made ginger ale which was really nice and gingery but was seriously laborious in that I had to mince copious amounts of ginger. My sister had just removed the one deterrent for me. I could just throw it all in the Vitamix and let it do the mincing for me! So be aware that this recipe includes the use of a high powered blender

I started looking up recipes and found quite a few for ginger beer which I will one day attempt but for now it's a little too long in production for me to be bothered (yes, I am quite lazy really). But then I started looking up how to make ginger ale and ginger syrup. What follows is a step-by-step of how I got creative.

Recipe origin
Most recipes I found online were the same. Ginger, sugar, water, boil it all up and you have your ginger syrup. The variations was in the amount of sugar. 

Recipe evolution
I have been revisiting my love of kaffir lime leaves recently and wondered (as I do) if it would be nice with ginger for my ginger syrup experiment. I also figured that ginger and lemon go well together so why not include that. Also, I'm not that keen on using sugar where I can help it so surely I can use honey instead and a little less, maybe?

Following is an almost measure specific account of what I used.

• Three big ginger things (approx 275g)
• 1 lemon (peeled with as little of the white as possible, and juiced)
• a bunch of kaffir lime leaves (I think it was about 12 leaves?)
• Some water
• 1/4 cup of honey (or more to taste if you wish)

Method

• Chop the ginger into big sized chunks and throw into the Vitamix
• De-stalk the kaffir lime leaves and throw them in too
• Juice the lemon and pour into the Vitamix
• Fill with water so that the water level is two storeys of the ginger (if you know what I mean)
• Blend well (as only a high powered blender can do!)

• Pour the very fragrant mix into a saucepan, add the lemon peel and bring to the boil
• Drop the heat to a simmer party and let it do its thing for about 5 -10 minutes (the house smells spicy!)
• Add the honey, stirring to ensure it doesn't go to the bottom and simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes (basically reducing it)

• Strain your gingery liquid through a fine sieve over a container (preferably glass or ceramic)
• Let your liquid cool completely (note that the ginger liquid will be cloudy not clear - all the more gingery!)
• Pour your cooled ginger delight into a bottle or jar that you can tightly seal and chill in the fridge for at least an hour
• Crack open your homemade gingery goodness and make with it what you will!

Result
Well, I was after something not so sweet and really gingery - I achieved that for sure! I'm dissapointed but not surprised that I can't taste the kaffir lime leaf at all. With the ratio I had I guess I can't blame the kaffir lime leaves for not being able to be noticed amongst the bold and firey ginger. I can just taste the lemon which is enough to give it a twang. Predominately the experience is za za zing!

Verdict
Would I do it again? Probably. It could be good to do another batch but with lemongrass instead of kaffir lime leaves which has more of a chance in standing up to the firey personality of the ginger. I now have this ginger liquid so I'm going to try and see what I can do with it. I also have the ginger pulp which I think might be perfect to add to some stewed apple. I don't think I would bother with adding more honey as I was quite able to drink it with the minimal sweetening that it had. The less sugar I can do without the better!

Buckwheat, Banana, Booyah!

I'm always a little skeptical of recipes that declare they are fail-safe. Sort of like when people told me that growing rosemary was childs play. Apparently I can kill the unkillable.

Despite my skepticism I decided to try the so-called fail-safe buckwheat banana bread recipe.

The recipe
The recipe comes from a website called Grain Free Living. Sounds like my kind of site so I figure they must know something about getting it right. As the recipe is mostly in ounces I'll translate below. I have made this both as a loaf and as muffins.

Buckwheat is not a cereal
but actually a fruit
seed related to rhubarb

Ingredients
300g - 400g of really ripe mashed banana
2 free range eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup (I've made this with honey too)
1/2 cup mild tasting oil (I just used olive oil)
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
150g buckwheat flour
I heaped dessert spoon of rice protein powder (totally optional)
2 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Heat oven to 170 degrees
2. Grease and line either a loaf tin or use muffin/cup cake baking cups
3. Blend all the ingredients together (you can use a food processor or a blender)
4. Pour blended mixture into the prepared tin or baking cups
5. Bake in the oven for about 40 - 45 minutes for loaf, or 35 minutes for muffins (depending on your oven)
6. Basically bake until you can pull a skewer out clean
7. Let them or it cool for 5 - 10 minutes

Result
Firstly, it really is fail-safe! Even when I accidentally put in 1/2 tablespoon instead of 1/2 teaspoon of bicarb soda it still tasted great. Using the blender (and I have a very high powered blender) means the end product is really smooth. I added the cinnamon and the rice protein powder because I seem to have an aversion to sticking to the standard recipe. But it all worked and I've made it three times now. The muffins freeze really well too.

Verdict
Super easy, real food ingredients and yummy. My favourite combination.

Relevant links and information
Sunwarrior protein (a non-dairy, non-soy protein powder): http://www.sunwarrior.com.au/

Benefits of buckwheat: Buckwheat is high in insoluble fibre and is a good source of protein and B vitamins and is rich in phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium.
Learn more about buckwheat and its nutritional benefits

Good ol' fashioned chicken and veggie soup

When something goes in my freezer it's like a study in long term cryogenics. For me putting something in the freezer is as good as opening a door and throwing something into Narnia - lost in an endless winter. What I'm trying to say (very badly) is that it's a case of out of sight out of mind - especially when it comes to uncooked meats. If I can't remember when I put it in there then I think it's safer to assume it isn't safe to eat which  means much of what I freeze ends up in the bin.

But I'm turning over a new leaf (well trying to). I'm trying to live a less wasteful life which means not letting food I've purchased go to waste. That means either cooking it or freezing it - then of course remembering I've got it in the freezer. Enter frozen 'lovely legs' chicken.

With them thawing in the fridge I went in search of recipes to use. I found an old recipe I have used in the past for chicken and barely soup. Naturally I didn't have half the ingredients so living on the edge of culinary possibility I boldly began chopping anything I could find.

Ingredients
1 tray of free range 'lovely legs' (5 - 6 in a packet)
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil

The corn kernels off 1 ear of corn
1/2 beetroot washed and chopped
1 carrot washed and chopped
Approx 1 cup of chopped sweet potato and pumpkin
7 small button mushrooms
1 small zucchini chopped
1/3 cup of brown rice (I use bio-dynamic)
Massel chicken stock powder
Water

Method

1. Prepare all chopped vegetables
2. Heat olive oil in large saucepan
3. Add all vegetables and cook over heat for approx. 5 minutes
4. Add enough water to cover all vegetables with 1 - 2 cms over
5. Add 1 heaped tsp of chicken stock powder (or more if you like it salty)
6. Bring to the boil
7. Add 'lovely legs' and the rice and bring back to the boil
8. Immediately reduce heat to low simmer
9. Partially cover and cook for up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally
10. When rice is cooked and chicken is easily falling off the bone, take out 'lovely legs'
11. Remove the cooked chicken from the bones, chop the chicken meat and throw back into the soup.
12. Stir it all together
13. Ready to serve or freeze.

Result
Any chance to use whole mushrooms and beetroot gets me excited. Aside from seriously burning myself whilst getting the chicken off the bone it worked a treat! I like my soup to be thick - amlost like a stew. For those who prefer a thinner soup just add more water. It has such a rustic flavour and I love the chunkiness of all the chopped veggies and the tenderness of the chicken. It keeps really well and is especially good for freezing - if you can be trusted to remember that it's there.

Verdict
It does take a while to cook which usually is a deterrent for me trying to cook it again - but as there is actually very little effort involved I will definitely keep this one as a staple in my soup repertoire

Useful links
Massel stock has no animal product so is suitable for vegans: http://www.massel.com.au/
Demeter bio-dynamic brown rice: http://www.demeter.org.au/products.html

Sweet gluten-free slice please!

One of my favourite sweet treats when growing up was mum's lemon slice. Since eliminating wheat from my diet almost three years ago I have rarely given into temptation and taken one of those yummy, lemony, sweet, crunchy .... okay, I'm salivating over my computer right now.

The point is, I knew that at some point I was going to have to find a way to have my slice and eat it too. I know there are gluten-free milk biscuit alternatives out there but they are seriously expensive and so I had to wait for a special occasion to splurge on my experiment.

Bunch of friends coming over for afternoon tea? Perfect victims for my experiment!

Origins
The foundational recipe I used for these slices came from the Women's Weekly 'How to cook absolutely everything' which I had picked up for a song (well not really, I paid in cash) at an Aldi's store earlier this year. I of course made changes to the recipe and not just the biscuits.

A much better price - Leda Arrowroot

Gluten-free slice base
250g plain gluten-free sweet biscuits (I used Leda Arrowroot GF biscuits which I found at Woolworths)
100g coconut oil
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Base additive for lemon slice
2 tbsp chia seeds 
2 tbsp finely grated lemon rind

Chia seeds

1 tbsp lemon juice

Base additive for chocolate slice
2 x 35g nestle peppermint crisp bar smashed into bits
(note that peppermint crisp does contain small amounts of wheat)

Method

1. Put all the base ingredients in a bowl (leaving out the oil, condensed milk and lemon juice) and crush them all together. Some people use a food processor for this but I like my slices to be a little more rustic.
2. In a saucepan, melt together the coconut oil, condensed milk and if relevant the lemon juice.
3. Pour the liquid into the crushed biscuit and mix together
4. Press the mixture into a slice pan lined with baking paper
5. Place in the fridge to 'set' for about half an hour

My two preferred coconut oils
Loving Earth or Dr Bronner's

Lemon icing ingredients and method

1. Stir together 1 1/4 cups icing sugar with 10g coconut oil and 1 tbsp lemon juice.
2. Spread over the top of the lemon slice base
3. Put back in the fridge to 'set' for 10 minutes

Chocolate icing ingredients and method

1. Melt 200g Lindt dark peppermint chocolate with 1 tbsp coconut oil
2. Pour over the chocolate slice base
3. Put back in the fridge to 'set' for another 20 minutes  

Result and verdict
It was a bit of a winner. The lemon slice did look like it had poppy seeds throughout since I used the only chia seed I had which were black. The lemon slice was a little mooshy so when I do it again I might add more dry ingredients - perhaps some rice protein powder which seems to be a good filler. The chocolate one was spectacular with the quality chocolate. I think though in future I'd like to investigate making it without Nestle's peppermint crisp. 

Quick note on chia seeds
Why include chia seeds? Well, I had some in the cupboard which is usually a good enough reason but chia seeds are also very good for you. One of the highest known plant source for omega 3, packed with vitamins such a A and B12 and C and a few other goodies like iron, folate, antioxidants and is a complete protein which is rare in plant foods. Oh, and it's good for keeping you regular, if you know what I mean. 

Be aware: If you are allergic to mustard seed or sesame seed then there is a possibility you will be allergic to chia seeds. There are also other information to suggest that taking Chia daily for some people may not be good. Information is power so do your research.

Quick note on coconut oil
I used coconut oil because I had some in my cupboard. There is a lot of information out there that suggests the coconut oil is a super food. I'm not suggesting it isn't but though work with my naturopath it has been suggested that coconut is not the superfood for me - just like gogi berries are not a superfood for me. That doesn't mean I can't have coconut oil but my genetic makeup doesn't work particularly well with any saturated fat, including from the coconut. But that's another post.

If you want to learn more about coconut oil and its benefits you need only google it.
 

You say aubegine, I say eggplant, we both say lasange

Whenever I think of what term to use when speaking about that deep purple egg shaped vegetable I think of Kath and Kim. You remember that episode when they were painting their hall walls and ended up with egg (yellow) colour instead of eggplant?

Great Australian sitcoms aside, eggplant is a vegetable that took me a while to appreciate. I've bought it plenty of times but usually it shrivels and gets sores before I work out what to do with it. I don't know what it is about that shiny deep purple skin that draws me in and before I know it I've got home with two eggplants and no idea what to do with them.

I had one such moment just recently and determined not to let these two beauties go to waste I googled eggplant recipes. I found a recipe for eggplant lasagne. I didn't have all the ingredients but that hasn't stopped me before so I just threw caution to the wind and risked it. I didn't have any tomato so I cheated. I used a bottle of Barilla Olive tomato sauce. I didn't have the ricotta or herbs it asked for so made a white sauce type thing.

The recipe
I've got into the habit now of writing out what I do and add just in case I stumble across a delicious accident.

Ingredients:
2 eggplants
2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
olive oil cooking spray
40g butter
25g gluten-free plain flour
1 1/4 cups soy milk
1/4 cup fetta
400g of tomato and olive type sauce.
A handful of grated tasty cheese

Putting it together:

1. Slice eggplant into 1cm thick rounds
2. Brush the eggplant rounds with the garlic infused oil and place on a baking tray
3. Bake in a 180 degree oven for 20 minutes (or so), turning after 10 minutes. They should be tender.
4. Set aside to cool
5. Melt butter in saucepan
6. Add flour slowly and stir until thickened
7. Gradually add the soy milk then stir until it boils and thickens
8. Remove from head and stir through the crumbled fetta (oops I meant heat - if it's on your head you may have had the heat a little too high!)
9. Grease three smallish pyrex dishes 6cm deep
10. Layer in the following order

• Eggplant (close together - overlap if needed)
• 1/3 tomato sauce
• 1/2 white sauce
• Eggplant (press down gently)
• 1/3 tomato sauce
• Eggplant
• Rest of white sauce
• Sprinkle with tasty cheese
• Bake for 20 minutes

Results
The soy white sauce was a little strange but once it was in with all the rest of the ingredients it wasn't noticeable. I was surprised when the gluten-free flour worked in the white sauce and usually I would use parmesan cheese but I only had tasty or fetta and I wanted to use up the fetta.

before

After

Well, it tasted delicious! It was even better the day after once all the flavours had developed.

Verdict
I will be making this one again for sure. I really want to try the ricotta cheese option too so I might actually PLAN to make it next time.

Godzilla the macaron

I'm sorry to say that my first blog here is not a report of a stupendious success.

The recipe
The foundational recipe came from the 'Food intolerance management plan' by Dr Sue Shepherd and Dr Peter Gibson. Macarons the flourless biscuit.

Disclaimer

Let me begin by saying that I was working with less than ideal equipment. There is a lot of egg whipping required in this recipe and I do not own an electric beater. I know - that's pretty crazy right? Well not as crazy as me sitting on the couch with my one egg white in a large bowl and my practically toy sized hand whisk trying to bring the egg white into firm peaks!

Next disclaimer is that my castor sugar was that low GI stuff you get in the supermarket these days and quite frankly it tastes a little strange. With that in mind I decided to add some chai spices to the recipe (you will discover that I rarely follow a recipe to the letter). Add to all this my rather special oven that usually takes double the time to cook everything and I had the perfect foundation for ... creative mutation!

Results
Mutation is the right word because my macarons, as they cooked, migrated across the tray to create one massive Godzilla of a macaron! I don't have a photo to post unfortunately. The result was edible and a few friends got to try a bit of my Godzilla macaron and declared that it still 'tasted fine'.

Verdict
Would I try it again? Absolutely! But I would borrow my mothers electric beater, use 'normal' castor sugar and add more chai spice!

Useful links
Book : Food intolerance management plan
Chai Spice - instant chai powder (with bush spices)