thursday recipe: emily rose brott's apple, oat, cranberry and chocolate muffins

Some of you may remember Emily Rose Brott from one of my previous posts, especially those who love Emily's mango sorbet!

I'm happy to share with you today Emily's latest book My Secret Ingredient - don't you love the tagline? 'delicious, healthy, achievable' Isn't that what we all want?

Emily is a Melbourne mum of four (!) and a passionate cook who loves to create nutritious AND delicious meals for her family and friends.

There are over 120 recipes in Emily's new book covering breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between. Emily's recipes do not contain refined sugar, white flour, or butter due to Emily and her son being lactose intolerant. You'll be pleased to know Emily's recipes require no fancy ingredients and are easy to put together.

Now, speaking of ingredients you'll notice in this recipe Emily uses rice bran oil and wheat flour. These are two ingredients that personally I don't use, I prefer to use coconut oil, butter or almond oil and in place of the wheat flour I use spelt flour or sometimes a gluten free flour option. You can read more about rice bran oil here and here.

I'm mentioning this to highlight the fact that every family is different and every family is at a different place in their understanding of ingredients, where they come from and how they are tolerated by family members. Emily's recipe is a great foundation to create some delicious muffins from scratch and you can substitute ingredients as you need to.

apple, oat, cranberry and chocolate muffins

ingredients

2 eggs

½ cup (125ml) rice bran oil

½ cup (150g) honey

2/3 cup (75g) rolled (porridge) oats

1 ½ cups (240g) wholemeal (whole-wheat) self-raising (self-rising) flour

2/3 cup (165ml) orange juice

2 apples, peeled, cored, diced

2/3 cup (90g) dried cranberries

½ cup (65g) chopped 70% dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 170°C (335°F) fan-forced.

Whisk eggs and oil together until fluffy. Mix in honey.

Add oats, flour and orange juice, and whisk until combined.

Add apples, cranberries and chocolate, and mix through.

Grease muffin tins with oil, and fill each muffin case three-quarters full with mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin and placing them on a cake rack to cool further.

Makes 14

My Secret Ingredient is available as an ebook for $4.99 or paperback for $12.95 Available for purchase here.

thursday recipe: smoked paprika almonds

I can hardly call this a recipe, it is a yummy snack though.

It came about when we were invited to have drinks with the neighbours and I didn't really have much in my makeshift pantry, this is what I came up with and they were a hit!

Only a few days left here for us in Alice then it is time to drive south. It will be bittersweet leaving the desert, we have made such good friends and memories. Many reasons to come back again.

Smoked Paprika Almonds

1 cup raw almonds
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
sea salt to your liking

In a bowl toss the almonds with the paprika.

Heat a heavy based fry pan with the oil in it over a medium high heat.

Add the almonds and the salt and toss until the almonds are nicely 'roasted' be careful not to burn them you may need to turn down the heat.

Enjoy! Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container (there won't be any leftovers).

thursday recipe: chicken san choy bow

If you're looking for new ways of getting your kids to eat more veggies (who isn't?), then this dish is a good one.

I'm working on the rainbow method at the moment, which goes like this "how many colours of the rainbow have you eaten today Sol?" As you can see there is a rainbow of colour in this meal and by placing the ingredients in the centre of the table your family can wrap up the veggies in the lettuce cups that they pick out for themselves.

The choosing for themselves part is important because it makes them feel like they're in control which can be key with some kids. Frustrating as that is! Be nice if we could just say I'm the boss I make the rules eat your dinner (to some degree that does work!) but most people I know who have a fussy eater at the table realise that they need to be a little craftier than that.

Plus, this dish allows you to include foods that you know they will eat alongside new or not so favorite foods. Don't fall into the trap of thinking and then saying 'you don't eat carrot', the less said the better!

This is definitely not a strict recipe, whatever is in season, in your garden or in your fridge that is fresh and delicious will work in this.

Another bonus with this is the absence of carbs! I'm not anti carbs but lots of kids are carb addicts living on cereal, sandwiches and pasta. This is a great dish to break that habit.

Many san choy bow recipes call for things like oyster sauce or hoi sin sauce, I've made this without them because most of those ready made sauces are brimming with salt, sugar and additives. You just don't need them, there are far more natural ways to give your food flavour. I've kept the chicken part quite plain intentionally so that it is kid friendly and then you can add extra flavours at the table when it comes to the wrapping.

I hope your family has fun trying this dish out. Let me know how it goes.

Chicken san choy bow

Ingredients

1kg minced chicken
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cm ginger, finely grated
1 carrot finely grated
1 tbsp tamari
Half to one tsp honey
coconut oil

1 iceberg lettuce, leaves kept whole gently peeled apart and washed
1 carrot cut into sticks
1 avocado sliced
1 bunch coriander roughly chopped
1-2 red chillies finely sliced
3/4 cup dry roasted cashews chopped
10 snowpeas finely sliced on the diagonal
1/2 brown or red onion finely sliced
3 spring onions sliced
8 cherry tomatoes sliced
1 lime cut into wedges

To make
Prepare all salad ingredients and arrange on a platter.
Heat frypan or wok to high heat and melt about a dessertspoon of coconut oil.
When oil is hot add the chicken to the pan with the garlic, ginger and carrot.
Cook for 3-4 minutes until meat has just changed colour.
Add in tamari and honey and cook for another 2 minutes.
**Adjust the seasonings (tamari, honey, ginger, garlic) to your taste in this recipe adding more or less accordingly.

To eat
Place cooked chicken and salad ingredients of choice into lettuce cup, wrap and munch!

If you enjoy this recipe please share it with your friends.

a mushroom recipe & going with the flow

We were meant to leave for Alice Springs on Friday. And then it changed to Saturday and now we just don't know exactly what day we will leave.

A chesty cough coupled with fever and headaches for River and Pete, and croup and ear pain for Sol (and a whole lot of loving kindness going out from me!) mean that our trip is delayed. And that's just how it goes.

Today my sister-in-law Davini was to join us for lunch (that's us in the pic, celebrating last year with a ladies lunch before Davini and her now husband Scott's wedding).  Davini coming for a visit is a big thing because we only see each other a few times a year, partly because of the distance between our two houses and the fullness of our lives, particularly Davini who has a blended family of six teenagers. So even with sick relatives she didn't mind, she wanted to see us before we head off. With her big family Davini is no stranger to what it takes to nurse your family back to wellness, so it was nice for me to have the moral support!

You can thank Davini for today's recipe, there's a few things she can't eat and she's a great cook and food lover, so during the week I pondered what to prepare for our Sunday lunch and came up with baked mushrooms with pesto and goat's cheese, and a roasted vegetable salad. Only problem was our Sunday lunch plans changed as we both had to go with the flow of family life.

Davini's morning began with chasing her twins school camp bus 100km up the highway because after waving the twins goodbye at the bus she went home to find that her daughter, our darling niece, had left her bag of clothes and other essentials at home. "I'll be later than 12pm, enjoy lunch without me" came Davini's text.

Meanwhile at our place Sol woke at 5.30am with ear pain. Off to the local emergency he and I went. An ear infection brewing was the last thing we needed. The doctor checked him over and as Sol didn't have a temperature and there was no redness in his ears we went home with pain relief.

The ear pin subsided and then returned with a vengeance by the early afternoon when Davini arrived. Between packing, loading the trailer, shopping for River's birthday present I'd managed to roast the vegetables for the salad and that was about it. All Sol wanted to do was lay with head on my lap so I could rub his ear. Fortunately Davini had a late breakfast and wasn't hungry but was keen to run some errands for me to help out. Thankyou Davini!

After some more pain medicine Sol fell asleep for the afternoon. Davini returned from running my errands and had bought some ear candles for Sol. After a bit more of a chat we said our goodbyes and Davini headed home. After she left and while Sol slept I finally got to make the pesto and bake the mushrooms!

Here's the recipe for you. They are extremely delicious. I will have to cook them for you Davini when we get back in the spring time. Thanks for the back up today xx

Baked mushrooms with dairy free pesto and goat's cheese

(not sponsored I just like this goat's fetta and the people who make it)

For the dairy free pesto

1 cup tightly packed basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon savoury yeast
1/4 cup olive oil (plus a splash more depending on the texture you like your pesto)

Place all ingredients in high powered blender or food processor and blend until it is a texture you like, chunky, smooth or somewhere in between.

For the mushrooms

4 large field mushrooms
4 tablespoons of goats cheese (fetta or not is fine)

Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Place a splash of olive oil in a baking tray and cover the tray with it.
Cut stalks from mushrooms and finely chop.
Mix the stalks with the pesto.
Place mushrooms on the tray with inside of mushroom facing up.
Spoon pesto mixture into each mushroom and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and crumble fetta on top and sprinkle with extra pine nuts, return to oven for a few minutes until cheese is melted and nuts are toasted. Be careful not to burn the nuts!

Enjoy with salad and your favorite sister-in-law if you're lucky to have one like mine :)

What's happening at your place? Is everyone well? How do you deal with ear troubles in children?

recipe: meat + veggie pie for fussy eaters

I have some news you may not want to hear. 

Being committed to wholefood living, cooking from scratch and presenting your children with wholesome, delicious food...does not guarantee they are going to eat it!! 

My youngest, Sol, is five and is currently giving it his best shot at being a fussy eater. Problem for him is, his dad and I doing our darndest not to let him be! (There could be a lot of exclamation marks used in this post!)

While I'm all for presenting veggies in their whole form to kids, when it gets to the point that they just look at them, tell you they don't like them and go to bed hungry, no one is winning.

So last night I got out the trusty grater and returned to the age old tactic of grating as many veggies as I could into a dish every child will eat: pie.

Sol ate two serves of the pie with sweet potato/potato mash on the side. Little did he know he also ate carrot, zucchini, onion and mushrooms plus some other nutritional goodies that you'll see in the recipe.

I took a shortcut and bought the pastry.

Meat and Veggie pie

Ingredients

500g beef mince

1 medium brown onion, finely grated

1 medium carrot, finely grated

1 medium zucchini, finely grated

6-8 button mushrooms, finely grated

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

1 dessertspoon Superfoods for Kidz Vital Veggie Powder

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 tablespoon cold water

2 tablespoons Bragg's All Purpose Seasoning (you could use a splash of tamari)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup beef stock or water if you don't have stock available

1 quantity puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

To make

Heat olive oil in heavy based pan over medium heat and add onion, carrot, zucchini and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes then add the garlic and meat, cook until brown.

In a cup mix cornflour and water to a paste.

Add the stock or water to the meat and veg. then add the cornflour mix, tomato paste and Bragg's.

Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 8-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Put aside to cool.

Heat oven to 220 degrees celsius. Cut pastry: allow 2/3 of the sheet for the base and 1/3 for the lid.

Sprinkle flour on your work surface and roll out the base. Line your pie tin with the pastry.

Fill the pastry case with the meat and veg sauce. Cover the pie with the lid. If you find the lid is a bit small like I did! You can fold the edge of the base in and crimp the lid and base together with your fingers. Make a snip in the centre of the pastry to let the steam escape or make a few holes by gently stabbing a fork here and there in the lid.

Brush the lid with the beaten egg and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.

Serve with mash potato/sweet potato and if you're feeling really brave some broccoli too lol.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did.

Happy cooking x

thursday recipe: gluten free vegetarian pizza, hold the cheese

River and Sol have had chesty colds so all dairy has been off limits. That didn't stop them asking for home made pizza for dinner.

I had some ready made gluten free bases in the fridge and some vegetarian pasta sauce left over so I said to the boys they could have pizza but it would have to be without cheese. "That's fine!" they said. "We'll have it with basil and olives". Ok then!

I found a container of nutritional yeast in the cupboard a friend had given me to try, so I thought I'd sprinkle that on for a cheesy effect. The first time I ever heard of nutritional yeast was about 10 years ago when I was at my sister-in-law's house and she sprinkled it on top of avocado on toast for my nephew and niece, I tried it and quite liked it but never got into using it. Now was the time!

The ready made gluten free bases were ok but not something I'd get into the habit of buying. If you read the ingredients list on just about any 'convenience' gluten free product there is a long list of additives and numbers. The bases I bought were on the passable scale as a once off. I prefer to make my own but I totally get that from time to time the ready made is an energy and sanity saver.

Gluten free vegetarian pizza no cheese

Gluten free pizza bases (here's a recipe to try if you want to make your own)
For the sauce:
1 can organic diced tomatoes
1 cup organic tomato paste
2-3 cloves garlic crushed
1 medium brown onion finely chopped
1-2 teaspoons dried mixed Italian herbs
8 button mushroom finely chopped
1 small carrot finely grated

Black and green olives pitted and sliced
Chopped fresh basil
olive oil

Nutritional yeast (optional)

To make

Heat a fry pan over a medium heat add a splash of olive oil and saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms and carrot until the onion is transparent.

Add in the tomatoes and tomato paste and herbs.

Gently simmer for 20 minutes.

Allow the sauce to cool and then pour into a food processor and process until smooth.

You can skip this and use a ready made sauce that you like if you are really looking for the easy route! There are some good organic ones out there just read the label and avoid numbers, preservatives and heaps of sugar and salt.

Heat the oven to 190 degrees celcius.

Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza base.

Drizzle with some olive oil and then place the olives and basil on top and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast if using.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the base is crisp.

Of course you can add whatever toppings you like. Mine would have anchovies for sure!

So tell me, how do you do your dairy free pizza? If you have a favorite gluten free pizza base recipe feel free to share it in the comments.

Happy cooking :)

friday recipe + a giveaway!: buckwheat pasta with winter veg and walnuts

I remember trying buckwheat noodles for the first time when I was about ten (that was thirty years ago!) my 'hippy' aunty cooked them for me and I thought they were delicious, for 'hippy food'.

Now I'm all grown up I still have a taste for hippy food and when Orgran contacted me to see if I'd like to create a recipe using their buckwheat pasta I said sure! And the good thing is a lucky reader can win some too along with some other Orgran goodies.

Buckwheat is a great alternative for anyone wanting to avoid wheat and gluten because despite its name buckwheat does not contain wheat. Or gluten. I like this pasta because it holds its shape and has a slightly nutty taste to it.

All the other ingredients in this dish I bought at the Wednesday market in Main St Mornington where there is a fantastic range of organic, seasonal fruit and vegetables. Plus I found delicious Victorian walnuts fresh out of their shells.

I'm running a day behind with this post so we have a Friday recipe instead of Thursday recipe and weekend reading will appear, well, on the weekend!

School holidays started today and we are on the road to stay with friends in Bermagui.

I hope you have some fun things planned, like staying in your pyjamas and not having to pack lunchboxes!

Now on with the recipe and the giveaway. The recipe is more for grown ups, if your kids like kale and cabbage and garlic and walnuts with pasta give them a high 5 from me. And for those with kids who don't like all that, pesto is perfect with this pasta too.

ORGRAN GIVEAWAY DETAILS

For your chance to win some Orgran buckwheat pasta and other Orgran goodies to the value of $25 just leave a comment below telling me your family's favorite pasta topping and the winner will be selected by random number generator and announced here next Friday July 3rd at 8pm. Please make sure that you are contactable by email. **This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Kellie from dear olive.**

*sometimes readers can't work out how to leave a comment, you can click on comment and then select 'Anonymous' and then leave your name and email address in the comment if that makes it easier for those who don't have google accounts. Now I've probably really confused you.

Buckwheat pasta with winter veg and walnuts 
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 red onion thinly sliced
12 walnut halves chopped and toasted in a fry pan
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 packet Orgran buckwheat pasta
6 kale leaves chopped (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1.5 cups finely shredded cabbage
lemon zest and juice of 1 small lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt + cracked pepper

To make

Cook the whole packet of the buckwheat pasta to directions on packet.
The key to not having mushy gluten free pasta is to set a timer and drain the pasta immediately, don't fall into the trap of thinking oh an extra minute won't hurt while I finish chopping the onion - it will hurt!

Heat a large fry pan over a medium heat and pour in the olive oil.

Cook the red onion until it is soft and transparent.

Add in the garlic, cabbage and kale and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the pasta, lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley, stir until combined with the vegetables.

Stir in the walnuts, season with salt and pepper and give another splash of olive oil if it is looking a bit dry.

If you love parmesan you might want a bit of that grated in too. Mushrooms would be nice too! Oh and peas! Pretty well endless ideas...and of course chilli if that's your thing.

Serve + enjoy.

thursday recipe: apple, pear and banana crumble

We were invited to a friend's place for dinner, I offered to bring dessert. It started out as apple crumble but then I saw pears and thought I'll add those too. My husband Pete who is not a recipe follower (or rule follower fullstop for that matter) asked if I could put banana in it.
Banana?!! Eeew I thought.

I decided to put in one banana just for him and to put it down one end so if like me everyone else eating the crumble wanted to avoid the banana they could. In the spirit of breaking with tradition I threw a handful of chocolate chips on top of the crumble. Like the banana, the choc chips were met with a mixed response.

Is there anything better than eating fruit crumble sitting by the fire?

The options for crumble topping are endless. My favorite includes nuts, this topping however is very basic because I made it when we were staying in a holiday unit with very limited pantry essentials.

We ate this with store bought vanilla ice cream which the kids loved! I don't travel with an ice cream maker :) The crumble is pictured here with natural yoghurt. Vanilla custard would be delicious too.
I'll stop now.

What's your favorite crumble combo? Tell us in the comments and feel free to leave a link to recipes.

Apple, pear and banana crumble

Ingredients

5 apples (Granny Smith are good), peeled, cored and chopped (peeling optional)
3 pears, peeled, cored and chopped (peeling optional)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 banana peeled and chopped into 4 or 5 pieces
1/2 cup oats
1 cup brown rice flour
100 grams butter
10 dried dates
1/2 cup sultanas
a smattering of chocolate chips

To make

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Place apples, pears, water and cinnamon in a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until fruit is just starting to soften, about 10 minutes.
While the fruit is cooking, rub the butter into the flour and then stir in the oats and chocolate chips.
Grease an oven proof dish with butter.
When the fruit is just cooked pour the fruit and some of the liquid into the oven proof dish, don't flood the dish with liquid but leave some in so it is nice and moist.
Stir the dates and sultanas into the fruit mixture.
Cover the fruit with the crumble topping and place in the oven until golden brown, about 15 - 20 minutes.

thursday recipe: rhubarb and vanilla cakes

We could call these muffins but really what is the difference between muffins and cake anyway? Is it that calling it a muffin tricks us into thinking they are somehow healthier? The ingredients are the same so let's call it as it is, today's recipe is rhubarb and vanilla cakes made with spelt flour. (I'm not using the word cupcake either because I have an aversion to the whole cupcake obsession that hopefully is over, sorry cupcake lovers).

Pete and I have been eating stewed rhubarb most mornings with natural yoghurt as is or with oat and chia porridge. River and Sol can't stand even the thought of eating rhubarb so I made some of these cakes with and some without, either way they are super delicious especially warm with butter.

Rhubarb and Vanilla Cakes - makes 8 in large muffin tray

Ingredients

100 grams butter, melted
2 cups white spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi carb soda
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup milk of choice
2 eggs, whisked
1 tsp ground vanilla
stewed rhubarb

To make

Preheat oven to 180C
In a large mixing bowl put in flour, baking powder, bi carb soda, coconut sugar and stir to combine.
In a small bowl mix eggs and milk.
Pour egg and milk mixture into dry ingredients and add in cooled melted butter and stir to mix ingredients together thoroughly.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tray.
Make a little well in the top of each muffin and place a tablespoon of rhubarb in the centre, or leave some plain for those who don't like rhubarb.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and cooked through.

My boys enjoyed the plain vanilla ones warm with butter for an after school snack yesterday, and this morning after a bowl of warm stewed apple + pear with cinnamon and yoghurt River had one toasted! What a way to start the day. Winter is in the air here and we're dreaming of heading north. As regular readers know each year we head north for winter, last year we went to Cape York, this year we are heading to the desert spending time in Alice Springs where Pete will work on Culture is Life.

How about you? Any travel plans this year? Do you escape winter or travel and homeschool your children? I'd love to hear your stories and especially love to know of any blogs you follow of families who do this.

Stay warm. Or cool depending on where you are!

thursday recipe: Lee Holmes red capsicum and hazelnut pesto & basil pesto

Lee Holmes' blog Supercharged Food is one of the first wholefoodie blogs I started reading when I discovered blogs about four years ago. 

I bought Lee's ebook Supercharged Food for Kids and have been following along ever since.

In recent times Lee has produced a collection of beautiful cookbooks all aimed at those looking for deliciousness to go with their nutrition. And today I have not one but two nutritious, delicious recipes to share with you from Lee's book 'Supercharged Food Eat Clean, Green and Vegetarian'.

Before we get to the recipes, let's talk about the book. Well, as you can see it is beautiful to look and Lee is the picture of health so we're off to a good start! Between the covers you'll find an introduction that is supercharged in itself, it is jam packed with nutrition information, cooking tips, seasonal veg guides, great tips for getting more veggies into your diet, shopping list and meal planner.

The 120+ recipes are divided into chapters: Drink Your Vegetables, Breakfast, Salads & Soups, Main Meals, Desserts, Sides Dips Snacks & Nibbles, and Dollops Dressings and Sauces.

Chai chia breakfast pudding sounds like a great way to me to start the day. Moving on to lunch I'll have the eggplant, pomegranate and minted quinoa salad please. Throughout the recipe sections there are 'supercharged tips' and 'health benefits' explained, so if you are new to wholefoods and don't know your chia from your quinoa don't worry!

Fudgy black bean biscuits have me intrigued and worried at the same time, black beans in a biscuit? How is that texture going to work out? Tell me if you've given them a go.

For anyone transitioning to a wheat free, dairy free, gluten free, sugar free or vegan diet or who is already eating this way and wants inspiration this is the book for you.

Thanks to Lee and her publisher Murdoch Books for sharing not one but two recipes from this book, red capsicum and hazelnut pesto, and everyone's favorite basil pesto minus the pine nuts and parmesan cheese. Whip them up for an after school snack with veggie sticks or crackers, as a great healthy spread on toast, to have with grilled or roasted meats, on pasta if you're still loving pasta...there are lots of ways to enjoy these yummy, good for you, pestos. 

Let me know your favorite.

Lee Holmes 'Supercharged Food Eat Clean Green and Vegetarian', 

Published by Murdoch Books $34.99

Red Capsicum and Hazelnut Pesto

WF  DF  GF  SF  VEG  VG          Makes 2 cups

Homemade pesto is so easy to whip up yourself, that you’ll soon be waving goodbye to the citric acid, preservatives, additives and the high-sodium hit that can accompany a large proportion of supermarket varieties.

11/2 red capsicums (peppers), seeds and membrane removed, chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2/3 cup basil leaves

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

135 g (43/4 oz/1 cup) lightly toasted hazelnuts

2 tablespoons cold-pressed extra virgin
olive oil

pinch of Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz until it reaches the desired consistency. This pesto will keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Supercharged Tip

For a delicious variation, try substituting the hazelnuts with blanched almonds, or sunflower seeds and pepitas (pumpkin seeds).

Basil Pesto

WF  DF  GF  SF  VEG  VG          Makes 1 cup

My man loves this recipe — he calls it pesto with a twist. Basil is packed with iron and magnesium, which improves circulation, and the essential oil eugenol provides anti-inflammatory effects similar to that of aspirin, making it as good for you as it is delicious.

160 g (53/4 oz/1 cup) blanched almonds

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 large handfuls of basil leaves

80 ml (21/2 fl oz/1/3 cup) cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

small pinch of Celtic sea salt

Place the almonds in a food processor and whizz until fine. Add the garlic and pulse, then add the basil and whizz again. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until you have the desired consistency, then add the lemon juice, yeast flakes and salt.

This pesto will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week and can be refreshed with an extra splash of extra virgin olive oil.

thursday recipe: Leilani Wolfenden's cianfotta

(photos by Peter McConchie)

Today I have a beautiful recipe for you from the humble and talented chef Leilani Wolfenden who heads up the kitchen at my favorite local bistro here in Sorrento, Cakes & Ale.

At the end of 2013 the Cakes & Ale team set about transforming the neighborhood Chinese restaurant on Sorrento's main street into an understated but inviting space to house their bistro.

The nosey journalist in me was immediately intrigued. What was this new place all about?
Would they survive the pace and attitude of summer in Sorrento? (Strange phenomenon happens here in summer, crowds of holidaymakers descend upon the town and despite the fact that they are on holiday they can be impatient and demanding!)

I snuck in for a coffee on Christmas Eve they'd been open just a few days, to scope it out and let's be honest have an extra half an hour to myself away from my darling family. There was an air of friendly confidence about the place that said the people behind it knew what they were doing. I was relieved for them and excited for me.

I love living on the Peninsula, I love that it is not the city, that the ocean beaches are wild and deserted for most of the year but there are many times that I yearn for a local cafe or restaurant with at least a pinch of the sophistication and personality found in Melbourne. Not to mention, a place that offers honest, skilfully prepared food, full of flavour and locally grown ingredients.

A year on, Cakes & Ale have settled into the neighborhood making friends with locals and weekend visitors. I've donned my PR hat and now work on the marketing and media of Cakes & Ale, which is easy because I was already a fan. And in case you're thinking this post is just a marketing ploy I think we know each other well enough by now to know I only write about things I actually use or would be happy to spend my money on. Also, I've been planning a series on 'wholefood' cafes and restaurants because the good ones are hard to find and I figure I might as well put to use my reviewing and food writing skills to share with you what I find.

Back to the story. My first inklings were correct, the team behind Cakes & Ale do know a thing or two about the restaurant game. Owner James Langley, Manager Mathew Guthrie and chef Leilani Wolfenden made a seachange from Melbourne where James set up Panama Dining Room and St Jude's Cellars, Mathew worked as manager at both, and Leilani honed her skills at notable restaurants including Est Est Est, Ondine, Comme, Petrus (London), The Square (London) and her own venture in Northcote, Next Door Diner.

They all grew up in the country, then after years of restaurant life in the city have come full circle returning to all that they enjoy about being out of the city. The slower pace, the proximity to local producers and growers, and being able to grow food themselves. James has established a kitchen garden up the road from Cakes & Ale to provide specialty or hard to find herbs and vegetables, this season roderique shallots, ciccio sprouting broccoli, rock samphire, broad beans and lots of green manure crops to help improve the sandy soil are being planted.

Thursday night at Cakes & Ale local seafood is a feature, Leilani creates beautiful classic bistro seafood dish for $20 from the catch of the day caught by White Fisheries who fish Port Phillip Bay. The fish caught that day arrives by ferry at Sorrento pier in time for dinner.

Tell me some of your favorite wholefood cafes and restaurants in the comments. Cafes and restaurants that are cooking for real, creating menus using locally grown and sourced produce. 

Enjoy Leilani's recipe!

Cakes & Ale
100 - 102 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento
for bookings ph: 03. 5984 4995

Leilani Wolfenden’s Cianfotta

100ml olive oil

1 aubergine, cut into 2cm chunks doesn’t have to be perfect

2 kg ripe tomatoes cut into 2cm chunks, again doesn’t have to be perfect

1 large brown onion finely diced

½ head of garlic, finely sliced

750ml vegetable stock

1 yellow zucchini

1 green zucchini

Slice zucchini on the angle 2mm wide

2 or 3 leaves of silverbeet and or black cabbage, slice thinly

Handful green beans, slice on diagonal into 4 or 5 pieces

100 gram green split peas

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

500 ml vegetable stock

Method

In a heavy based large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Reduce to low heat, cover with lid and stir occasionally until transparent.

Add aubergine and stir. Put lid back on and cook until aubergine is a smooshy mess (approximately 45 minutes).

Add the tomatoes, season.

Add zucchini and leave the lid off and cook until the majority of the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated, check seasoning and set aside.

In a separate pot, heat olive oil and add onions and garlic, cook in the same way as above.

Keep on a low heat and add split peas. Make sure the peas are coated with onions and garlic before adding the veggie stock a ladle full at a time replacing the lid each time and allowing to cook slowly like making risotto (45-60 minutes).

When all the stock has been absorbed and the split peas are cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.

To serve

Saute beans, zucchini, black cabbage and silverbeet in olive oil, seasoning generously.

When vegetables are starting to wilt add 4 tablespoons of eggplant mix and 1 cup of vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and check if it needs seasoning.

In a serving bowl put 2 or 3 tablespoons of pea puree – cold is fine – it all gets mixed around.

Pour bean and zucchini vegetable mix over the top and scatter with fresh oregano leaves and a few fresh basil leaves.

A few drops of olive oil over the top won’t go amiss.

  

.

thursday recipe: rice noodle salad with fresh herbs and cashews

Summer is in full swing and with the festive eating over it is time for some lighter meals with fresh flavours.

This recipe is inspired by my friends Rachel and John who own Feast catering in Sorrento. Beautiful rice paper rolls with hoi sin dipping sauce are a favourite on their menu and their garden is abundant with fresh herbs for Asian cooking.

I returned home from visiting them with some Thai basil and mint, the beginning of today's salad which could easily be the filling for rice paper rolls.

I had rice paper noodles in the cupboard, cucumber, carrot, capsicum in the fridge, red onion and cashews on hand and celery from the garden. The salad was shaping up.

The highlight of any dish with such simple ingredients as this is of course the dressing, or dipping sauce in the case of rice paper rolls.

We enjoyed the salad with chicken schnitzel as you can see pictured but you can have it as is or add some chilli beef, pork, fish, tempeh or tofu, even boiled eggs would work well.

I hope you are keeping cool, or warm depending on your hemisphere and that the school holidays are going smoothly for everyone.

As one of my friends whose daughter is all grown up said to me the other day 'enjoy those boys'.
It was good reminder, school holidays and childhood are fleeting.

Embrace the fun, the squabbles and everything in between.

Happy cooking x

Rice noodle salad with fresh herbs and cashews

125g rice noodles (vermicelli) cooked
1 carrot cut into thin sticks (julienne)
1 cucumber cut into thin sticks (julienne)
1/2 red capsicum cut into thin sticks
1/2 red onion finely sliced (spring onion would work well too)
1 stick of celery finely sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mixed herbs I used Thai basil and mint because that's what I had - coriander and/or Vietnamese mint would be good too
1/2 cup roasted cashews roughly chopped

To make

Set aside 1 tablespoon of chopped herbs and 1 tablespoon cashews.
Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl and sprinkle remaining herbs and cashews on top.

Dressing

1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp raw honey
1 small garlic clove crushed

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and let stand for 1/2 an hour to let the garlic infuse flavour.
Pour over salad and toss. Chilli lovers may like to sprinkle with fresh or dried chilli flakes.