when life gives you green tomatoes … make relish

1 kg green tomatoes
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 green apple, quartered and cored
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ginger, grated
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground mixed spice
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
¾ cup malt vinegar

Use a processor to chop ingredients. Then, simmer all ingredients in a large saucepan for 60 minutes. Stir regularly.
Carefully pour hot relish into jars, secure lid and invert jar for 5 mins.

Thermomix:
Add ingredients to the bowl, blend speed 6 for 5 sec. You may need to add half, blend and then add the rest so as to not overfill the bowl.
Set to 45 mins, ‘spoon’, 100c.
Carefully pour hot relish into jars, secure lid and invert jar for 5 mins.

homemade toasted muesli

I don’t like a sweet muesli, I’d rather add fresh fruit than include dried. So here’s a very simple and healthy toasted muesli recipe that you can use as is, or jazz up with your favourite flavours. This will make a big batch of toasted muesli. Keep it in an airtight container for up to a month (some say 2 months but ours is eaten before that).

1 kg rolled or quick oats
500 g shredded coconut
500 g almonds (I like to use a combination of slivered and whole)
200 g sunflower seeds

Set the oven to 170c
Divide the above over 2 deep baking dishes and give it a mix.
Bake for 15 mins then stir (you’ll notice that the stuff on top and edges is going golden but the bottom isn’t, so mix it up every few mins as outlined)
Bake for 10 mins then stir.
Bake for 5 mins then stir.
Bake for 5 mins more, stir… essentially I’m saying, keep an eye on it. Once it starts toasting it seems to brown quickly.
Remove from the oven. At this point it should all be a light golden brown.
Leave it to cool completely before you put it in an airtight container.

I like my toasted muesli with plain yoghurt and fresh or stewed fruit.

Optional additions: pepitas/pumpkin seeds, nuts (walnut, macadamia, hazelnut, brazil), dried fruits (apricot, sultana, papaya, apple), bran, honey (if you use honey I believe you need to add some oil as a carrying agent… I just add honey in the bowl).

potato waffles

This is another of my Oma inspired recipes. I’ve had to recreate it based on how I think she would have made her potato waffles. I think this comes pretty close, with a little bit of my style mixed in.

1 large potato, peeled, grated finely
¼ onion, grated finely
2 small eggs, separated
⅓ cup milk
½ cup self raising flour
pinch salt
butter to brush

toppers:
smoked salmon
2 tbsp cream cheese, softened and 4 tbsp greek yoghurt, combined
capers and/or chives (chive flowers pictured)
a poached egg (optional)

Grate the potato and onion on the finer side of the grater.
Squeeze out the excess liquid from potato.
Combine the grated potato, onion, egg yolk and milk in a bowl.
Add salt and four and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the whites to fluffy peaks.
Fold the whites into the batter.
Now you’re ready to cook in batches in a hot waffle iron brushed with butter.

This made 4 waffles.

sleep when you’re dead: another cup of joe?

Coffee. It’s one of our favourite legal drugs. That and alcohol*. We all have our favourite cup of joe. And a language that goes with it. Flat white, skinny cap, decaf latte, soy, in a mug, in a shot, sugar, honey, lemon… It’s as personal as your fingerprint.

Here’s how I drink coffee:
At home. Strong espresso, some evaporated milk, sugar then heat it in the microwave until just below “f**k that’s hot!” (that’s an official temperature).

At my desk, non-descript, however my mouth did say “a flat white, please”. Purchased from the human equivalent of a coffee vending machine. Cold, bitter and reheated too many times to bother doing it again.

At home. With play-dough stuck to the side of the cup. It started out with such potential, now it’s giving up. Defeated and reheated too many times to bother doing it again.

At home. A shot in a small glass. It’s late and dark. The creme is bitter on my lips. It reminds me that I’m alive. I look like a vampire caught in the act. Wide eyed and wild.

In a cafe. One where they roast their own coffee beans. It’s fair trade, it’s hot, it’s smooth. It doesn’t need sugar. It’s bold and defiant. It reminds me that my life is nothing without good coffee. I want to have another one.

*I put cigarettes in another category: Marketing devil spawn. Or is it third world population control. Or is it both.

images: Coffee Plantation, Brazil, http://en.wikipedia.org 
Sleep when you’re dead, http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com

sweet chilli chicken with sweet potato chips and salad

This is a quick and healthy weeknight dinner that doesn’t skimp on the yum-factor.

sweet chilli chicken:
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ginger, finely grated
2 tbsp olive oil
Chicken breast, chopped into thirds (just so it will cook consistently and quicker)

Combine all of the above, except the chicken, in an oven dish and give it a mix.
Now throw the chicken in and turn it about to coat the chicken pieces. Give the chicken bits a bit of space in the dish for heat to circulate.
Bake at 180 c for about 20 – 30 minutes.

Check your thickest piece of chicken to make sure its cooked. I cook the bejeebers out of chicken. The good thing about this meal is that over cooking the chicken just makes the yummy sauce coating more chewy and caramelised.

Tip: Soak your baking dish. I’ve tried making this in an oven bag and it works but you don’t get the caramelisation. It becomes much more saucy, more suitable to serve with rice.

sweet potato chips:
Slice a sweet potato thinly, using a mandolin if you have one.
On an oven tray, lie the slices in a single layer on a sheet of baking paper.
Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with some salt.
Bake at 180 c for about 10 minutes or until golden and the desired crispness.
They would probably be better if you turn them over part way through cooking but I never bother.

side salad:
mixed lettuce leaves
tomato
aged balsamic

waffles: brunch with my oma

My waffle iron is so old that it proclaims it was “Made in West Germany”. But not to be hindered by age, on the (rare) occasion that I bring out this heirloom, it does no less than produce some spectacular waffles. Although I’m generally against single function appliances, it’s true, I’m highly sentimental about this one. Since it was handed down, I’ve carried it from place to place. I thoroughly clean it after each use and tenderly put it back in the cupboard. It never lets me down. (*Oma is German for grandma/nan)

waffle batter:
1 ¾ cup plain flour
¼ cup self raising flour
¼ cup caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 ½ cup milk
60 g butter, melted
2 tbsp cold water
extra butter to brush the iron

sides:
Berry compote – frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries, a tsp of caster sugar and a few fresh strawberries. Microwave for a minute, stir and repeat to produce a saucy berry mix.
Greek yoghurt
Lime (because I serve lime with everything I can)
Maple syrup

Sift flours and sugar into a large bowl.
Make a well in the middle and gradually combine the egg yolks and milk.
Add butter and water, beat the batter until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until firm white peaks form.
Fold the egg whites into the batter.
Brush the waffle iron with butter and spoon about ⅓ cup of batter into the iron, in about 2 mins remove and repeat with remaining batter.
Keep waffles warm in a low oven until serving.

ratatouille: a healthy dinner in 15 minutes!

Ratatouille is a super fast and super healthy meal. What’s more, I think it’s super tasty. You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make a basic ratatouille but you can jazz it up with extras like parmesan or romano cheese, olives and more fresh herbs, like basil and parsley. Don’t make your vegetable chunks too big, this will slow cooking time.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red capsicum, 2 cm dice
1 eggplant, 2 cm dice
1 zucchini, 2 cm dice
1-2 tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp thyme leaves
½ cup water
½ tsp sugar (sugar will balance the acidity of the tomatoes)
handful of baby spinach

In a medium saucepan, start by frying the onion in the olive oil.
Add the remaining ingredients, minus the baby spinach.
Simmer for 10 minutes or until eggplant is soft and cooked.
Watch the moisture level, add a little more water if you need to, the aim is a thick sauce but not too dry.
As soon as eggplant is reaching ‘cooked’ which is 5 minutes before serving, prepare couscous (1:1 with boiling water, cover and allow to absorb for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork).
Finally, add the baby spinach and stir through. …Bon appetit!

Alternatively, serve with brown rice, pasta, a bread stick, or on its own.

a silky white russian cocktail

For a while I had been fantasising about the Russian Torte “Mashenka” posted on one of my favourite blogs* and I finally succumbed and made myself one. Although mine is not as beautiful to look at as the original, and my lesson learned was to have more layers not less – It’s divine!! I’m enjoying it immensely.

I baked it in the quiet of the evening and by the time I had reached the point of layering the delectably creamy sauce, I was thinking about a nightcap. With about 2 tablespoons of cream left in the mixing bowl, I created a silky smooth white russian cocktail that didn’t seem as heavy as with pure cream.

If you don’t happen to be making the cake at the time, here’s what would achieve the result:
2 tbsp sour cream
¼ tsp caster sugar
30 ml Kahlua
30 ml vodka
½ cup milk
Ice

Combine well and serve with lots of ice.

Thank you Anastasia for a very decadent evening!!

*While Chasing Kids

affinity cocktail

Affinity: a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, … cocktail.
This drink proves that scotch has a special friendship with vermouth and bitters. The cherry isn’t compulsory but it adds a little something – I think it’s flamboyance, but we all need some of that from time to time.

30 ml scotch
30 ml sweet vermouth
30 ml dry vermouth
3 drops angostura bitters
twist of lemon peel
1 maraschino cherry

Put the bitters and cherry into a chilled martini glass.
In a cocktail mixing glass, pour scotch and vermouths over ice, stir to chill.
Strain into the glass and garnish with lemon peel.

spinach and chickpea curry (or, how I decided to just buy beans in a tin)

The most discerning of you will notice that this isn’t a picture of chickpea curry.

If you have read my page about a spoonful… you will know that I stopped buying beans in a tin. It was one of my great ideas for eating healthier, minimising waste, or some such rubbish that I’ve since forgotten.

Last night I thought I’d make chickpea and spinach curry. What is usually a quick and easy meal with a tin of chickpeas became an hour and a half of boiling the dang peas, followed by a frantic throwing together of miscellaneous-veggie pizzas with whatever was in the fridge/garden (while the chickpeas still boiled in the pot).

Today’s chilli beef and bean con carne has been a day-long exercise in boiling and draining and rinsing and boiling again and rinsing again – because the last thing we need is to have a house full of phytohaemagglutinin toxin poisoning and be expelling chilli beef and beans like something out of The Exorcist! And don’t think that you can save time and energy by cooking kidney beans in your slow cooker either, because that makes them 5 times more toxic than a raw bean. Oh the pressure!! (Insert: raise back of hand to forehead and tilt)

There’s no such thing as ‘whipping up a quick meal’ with the dry bean. It’s hot, frustrating, tiresome, water-consuming work. And I haven’t even started cooking yet!

On a scale of 1 to any other number, I’d have to say no, it’s not worth it.

Kale and Tomato Pizza, Eggplant Capsicum and Olive Pizza, not with chickpeas

… And in case you’re wondering what happened to the chickpeas in the end: I just baked some of them with Moroccan spices to make a wine-time snack. They don’t taste that great and they are like little rocks. Essentially, I spent all that time re-hydrating them only to re-de-hydrate them with some spice on! (insert: eyerolling)