Home-made fast foods allow you to still 'Fit in Your Jeans'

 

Normally, other things taking up space in your regular scheme would often result in minimal free time available to explore your love for cooking. But the present lockdown period seems a great time to try some easy healthy recipes at home that are based on fresh produce and allow you to still
'Fit in Your Jeans'.

Awaken your 'inner cook'  by experimenting with BBQs or picnics to fit in with our outdoor lifestyle.

Serve the dips with Crudites "crew/dee/tay"   - baby carrots, leave tops on, red pepper cut into strips, radishes, cucumber or celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, sliced fennel - maybe pickled etc.  

Cut the vegetables within 2 hours of party time to keep them fresh and crunchy.  For the picnic, put the vegetable sticks in a cool bag with an ice pack.

BEETROOT DIP  P85

Pulse 2 medium-sized beetroot (vacuum packed, tinned or fresh) in a food processor with 2 garlic cloves, 50g pine nuts, toasted, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Add 25g parmesan and then add 50g olive oil.  Season with freshly ground pepper.  

A preferred method adds the beetroot last for a short time to achieve a more textured result.

PESTO is a great way to start any casual meal perhaps with crunchy raw carrots and celery, then using it as an accompaniment to a salad.  

The traditional version consists of pounding half a bunch of basil, a handful of pine nuts, a clove of garlic, 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and 40 ml extra virgin olive oil, in a food processor. You can also experiment using different herbs eg blanched kale can be substituted for basil — simply discard the stems.

WALNUT PESTO - P 100 This Tuscan favourite substitutes walnuts for pine nuts and is amazing in pasta dishes or as a dip. Shred a bunch of basil leaves and blend with 2 cloves of garlic, crushed; 1 large handful chopped walnuts, juice ½ lemon, about 3 tbsp olive oil; and 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. 

AVOCADO DIP  Page 85.- the quickest and healthiest of all.
Smash 1 large avocado, with a fork, add a good squeeze of lemon juice or vinaigrette dressing and 1/2 cup Danish feta cheese, crumbled, dried chilli flakes or freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with chopped mint or herbs in season. Serve with crudites or crackers.

Cranberry Relish Christmas Cheer

 Adapted from an American recipe from Once Upon a Chef

This is a Thanksgiving Recipe but in Australia, we like to serve Cranberry sauce or relish with our Christmas fare.  Flavoured with maple syrup, orange zest, and balsamic vinegar, this nutty cranberry relish is a delicious alternative to cranberry sauce.  Cranberries are generally unavailable in Australia but Woolworths sell frozen berries. Another alternative (cheats) to achieve a similar result is to buy, Ocean Spray  Whole Cranberry Sauce from Coles then add orange zest, balsamic vinegar and pecans.  

INGREDIENTS

•  About 3 cups fresh cranberries or frozen  
• 1 cup pure maple syrup (1/2 cup for Australian taste)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the cranberries and syrup in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Let them bubble gently, stirring often until the skins on the cranberries have all split and the mixture has thickened, 4 to 5 minutes (cover the pan with a lid if the cranberries splatter).
2. While the berries are cooking, put the pecans in a small, dry skillet, and stir them over medium heat until they are fragrant and lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
3. When the cranberry mixture has thickened, take it off the heat and stir in the orange zest, vinegar, and pecans. Mix well. Serve warm or transfer to a covered container and chill.
4. Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: The relish will keep for 10 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Blood orange and fennel salad

Sharing Maggie Beer's post. This salad would be ideal for ALFRESHCO dining as it travels well.

4 blood oranges, medium size

2 fennel bulbs, medium sized, with 1/4 cup fennel fronds

3 tbspn Vinaigrette - 

3 tbspn Quince, Apple Cider Vinegar & Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Cut each end from the blood oranges and trim away the remaining skin. Cut into 5mm thick rounds and set aside.

Trim any stalks from the fennel bulbs, then thinly slice crossways, removing any pieces of core.

Place the orange slices and fennel into a bowl, season with sea salt and ground white pepper and mix together. Place onto a serving platter or onto individual plates.

To serve, sprinkle over the fennel fronds, then drizzle over the Vinaigrettee.

Walnut Pesto Pasta for Tuscan lunch

HAPPY MEMORIES - Alvina's Bell at Podernouvo still calls me to lunch!

Walnut pesto pasta

G assisted in the fields with Umberto, doing what needed to be done
  - digging out stones etc; we picked grapes and I cut lavender and rosemary
back before winter.  

Alvina's bell is a suspended bronze bell which she rings when lunch is ready. She has tended the vegetable garden, harvested its bounty, applied her endless creativity; the call of the bell means that a delightful lunch awaits. 

We eat, exchange experiences of the morning, make plans for the evening meal (everything revolves around food of course) then retire to our villa for siesta - maybe to doze or perhaps to read the current novel which was being circulated.


Traditionally Pesto is made with pinenuts - perhaps they were plentiful in Italy but they still had to be super labour intensive! Have you seen the way they have to extract each little precious pinenut? An alternative is Walnut Pesto which evolved from the need to find ways to use the walnuts which drop from the old walnut trees on the property.  (For family meals I actually use whatever nuts are in the pantry and use alternative herbs such as parsley and coriander.)

Alvina's Walnut Pesto Pasta

Serves 4

400g (13oz) cappellini or angel hair pasta - sea salt and black pepper to taste
(Cappellini or angel hair pasta are long strands of pasta that are commonly used with light sauces.)
Pesto
Large bunch fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 large handful chopped walnuts
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Shred basil leaves and place in a blender with crushed garlic, walnuts and about 2 tbsp olive oil. Puree until smooth and then add the parmesan cheese and a little more oil.

Place pasta into boiling water with salt and cook for around 15 mins or until el dente  (firm to bite.)
Pour over the drained pasta and garnish with fresh basil.   Add a few more chopped walnuts and parmesan
to taste.  Serve with Orange and Fennel Salad or a Green Salad.

http://www.timeintuscany.com/

Click on 'comment' at bottom of page to have your say. 

ANZAC biscuits a symbol of a mother's love

Hi there

I'm passing on an extract from an article written by a friend, Eda Utka. To me, it epitomises the spirit of Australia, including our new residents from other lands.  Thanks Eda  https://www.writepublishgrow.com/

LEST WE FORGET
Claire

This Saturday is a special day here in Australia. It’s a day of remembrance for the men who sacrificed their lives to fight battles in faraway lands. One of those distant lands where Australians and New Zealanders fought was Turkey, my homeland.

This year, I baked ANZAC Biscuits. These biscuits are symbolic of a mother’s love and the innovative spirit of the ANZACs. The mothers of the ANZAC soldiers developed a recipe made from non-perishable ingredients to last the long journey to Turkey and this biscuit made of flour, rolled oats, coconut flakes, golden syrup and butter was born.

So this ANZAC spirit that we talk about, mateship, humour, ingenuity, courage and endurance, it is not only in the men who served overseas, but in the women who were left behind to raise their children to provide moral support, bake and ship off ANZAC biscuits as a symbol of their love. These days I see ANZAC spirit in people who leave behind their homes to come to Australia to study or start new lives here with their families.

Lebanese lentil or chickpea salad is seriously addictive

I know - it doesn't look amazing
but it's seriously addictive! 

Lebanese lentil or chickpea salad with garlic and herbs 

This is sooo simple and great for Quarantine cooking ie if you can get tinned lentils.  However, any tinned legumes are transformed by this method.  It can be served as a lunch dish on its own perhaps with the addition of mushrooms (as per picture) or as an accompaniment for just about anything.  
ps  I've reduced the amount of garlic & lemon ...

• Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in small frying pan, add 4 cloves minced garlic or less, and cook over very low heat until garlic is fragrant - about 7-8 minutes. 
• Add 1 tbsp lemon juice with a little zest, 1¼ tsp ground cumin. ¼ tsp ground allspice, salt and fresh ground black pepper; 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil and heat for about 1 minute. 
• Add 2 cans Puy (green) lentils, rinsed and drained and warm through for 2 minutes. 
• Remove from heat and add ½ cup each finely chopped fresh mint and parsley. Serve warm or cold.   Also works well with tinned legumes.