Pure Food Cooking’s focus and purpose is to generate an awareness about cooking with an emphasis on natural, whole foods and fresh organic produce, to improve health, balance and life vitality.
Dominique Rizzo, Chef and Presenter, is the founder and face of Pure Food Cooking. To read more about Dominique, visit about Dom.
Feel free to explore the site and try any of the recipes in my blog! If you aren’t sure of your cooking talent, be sure to have a look at my cooking classes here.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Spiced fruit salad with mint and cashew cream
Serves 4-6
1 cup grapes, halved
2 cups pineapple diced
2 cups watermelon, sliced
1 punnet strawberries, halved
1 punnet blue berries, whole
Zest of 1 lime
300ml of water
300g logical, brown or palm sugar
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tbsp fresh ginger, sliced
1 stalk of lemon grass bruised
1 cardamom pod
Hand full of mint leaves
Good handful of roasted cashews, chopped
Natural yoghurt to serve (optional)
- Place all the fruit and lime zest into a large bowl and set aside in the fridge.
- Into a small saucepan place the sugar with the water, spices, ginger and lemon grass and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes until syrupy. Pour the syrup over the salad and allow to cool.
- Serve garnished with fresh mint chopped roasted cashews and natural yoghurt.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Italian Grilled tuna with beans, potatoes and spinach
Serves 4
600 g fresh tuna, swordfish or firm fleshed fish, boned and skin removed
3 dsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
400g kipfler potatoes or chat potatoes, steamed or boiled, chilled and cut in half
200g green beans, steamed or blanched
50g baby spinach
For the dressing
10 large mint leaves
15 large fresh basil leaves
¼ cup parsley
3 sage leaves, fresh
1 dsp rosemary leaves
2 tbsp capers in vinegar, drained
1 dsp fresh oregano leaves, or 1 tsp dried oregano
1 small red onion, peeled
1 tblsp red wine vinegar
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
- Place all the herbs, red onion, capers into a food processor and finely grind everything together.
- Transfer the mix to a bowl and add the vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and set aside in the fridge until ready to dress the salad.
- Slice the fish into pieces about 5 cm wide and toss with the olive oil and the salt and pepper. Heat a heavy based pan or hot plate and cook the fish until just done or to your liking.
- Combine the green beans, potatoes and spinach in a bowl and pour over some of the dressing, Toss to coat the vegetables and serve the vegetables topped with a piece of fish and squeeze of lemon.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Cajun chicken salad with black beans, apples and yoghurt dressing
Serve 6-8
Cajun Spice Blend
Makes about 42g of Cajun Spice. The Cajun Spice Blend may be stored in a tightly sealed jar in a cool, dark place for several months.
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp onion flakes
1 tsp dried garlic
1 tsp mustard seed
½ tsp whole white pepper-corns
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
½ tbsp dried thyme
½ tsp celery salt
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground sage
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Dry roast the coriander, white pepper and mustard seeds. Place the roasted spices into a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until fine but not powder. Add in all the other spices and grind again until fine.
For the salad
2 chicken breasts, skin removed and sliced in half length ways to make 4 portions
2-3 tbsp Cajun spice
½ cup finely diced apple and ½ cup grapes halved
3 stalks celery finely diced, to make 1 ½ cups
1 cup tinned black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup slivered almonds toasted
3 stalks shallots, thinly sliced
2 handfuls rocket
Dressing
¼ cup real mayonnaise
½ cup natural yoghurt
1 dsp Cajun spice, extra
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp tahina
1 dsp lemon juice
- Place some of the Cajun spice mix into a shallow bowl and roll the chicken pieces in it to cover, Steam, bake or grill until done and set aside to cool a little. Tear the chicken into shreds and place into a large bowl.
- Place the mayonnaise, yoghurt, tahina, lemon juice, spice and sugar in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add in the apples grapes, celery, shallots and almonds. Toss through the chicken and rocket, and serve.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Anyone who is into fitness or ever wanted to challenge themselves was up in Noosa from the 29th October to the 1st of November to sweat and burn in the events of the Noosa Triathlon. I on the other hand went up to Noosa to cook up a storm with some of Australia’s top Gold medal winning athletes… and yes I did the 5km run for breast cancer on the Friday. Although I could have had a few more tips from the experts to get through that last kilometre when the end seemed so long away.
It was a fantastic day cooking alongside sporting idols such as Emma Snowsill triathlete , 3 x World Champion, Olympic Champion, 5 x Noosa Champion and several years been No. 1 female triathlete in the world . Emma is recognised as one of best ever, her cooking companion was Emma Moffatt another extraordinary triathlete winning several major races on International circuit in 2009. “ Hey girls, nice running but your cooking could do with a helping hand”. And that’s just what they got wh
en they teamed up with me to create three healthy dishes inspired to increase endurance and assist the body with repair and regeneration. The girls and I thoroughly enjoyed the segment with both the Emma’s leaving full of inspiration.
Recipes will be posted very shortly.
My second demonstration was with renowned Australian swimmer Susie O’Neill now dedicating herself to her family Sporting events and various ambassadorships and the handsome Troy Selwood from the Brisbane Lions who assures me that he is take away keen, he did although whip up a beautiful mussel dish with bouillabaisse sauce whilst recovering from a shoulder problem and using only one arm…. Great job Troy.. So thank you to all who assisted me with the demonstrations and to Matt Golinski from Rolling Dolmades in Noosa for being my shopping assistant. Next year it’s the big race for me, so watch out guys!
by Dom on October 29, 2009
Be sure to grab the great new recipes included as part of a promotion for the great Rubbermaid food storage solutions. Just click on the recipe to download a PDF with the recipe on it for easy printing or viewing. Rubbermaid make some great food storage solutions, so be sure to check them out at www.rubbermaid.com.
by Dom on September 28, 2009
Chicken and Smoked Speck Sausage with black truffle sauce
375g pork mince
325g chicken breast, minced
120g Italian mortadella, diced ( mortadella is a soft pork based salami popular in north Italy)
10g garlic
7g black truffle, finely diced
1 cup pure cream
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
200g double smoked speck (smoked raw ham seasoned and air cured)
For the sauce
10g black truffle, finely diced
1/4 tsp salt
Good pinch pepper
8 tbsp olive oil
14g garlic minced
70g butter
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 cup chicken stock
Combine the pork mince, chicken mince and diced mortadella in a bowl, add in the cream, diced truffle, minced garlic and seasoning and stir to combine. Lay down a piece of baking paper large enough to cover the surface of a large baking tray, layer the speck to form a large rectangle large enough to cover the sausage and shape the meat into a large sausage on top of the speck and close to the edge. Using the baking paper as a guide, start to roll up the speck around the sausage meat length wise to form a large roll. Tighten the ends of the sausage by twisting the baking paper and wrap the whole sausage in foil. Place onto the baking tray and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour. Pre heat the oven to 175c and bake the sausage for 1 hour turning it once during the cooking process. Remove the sausage from the oven and leave it wrapped for 15 mins to rest.
To prepare the sauce
Combine the diced truffle, the olive oil and season with salt and pepper, let it stand while preparing the other ingredients. In another small bowl, combine the minced garlic with the butter and flour to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the stock, lemon juice and the vinegar and stir to combine, season with salt and pepper.
Heat a large frypan over a moderate heat and warm the olive oil with the truffle, sauté gently for about 5 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon. Gradually add the stock, flour and butter mix whisking vigorously ensuring that no lumps form. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes until thickened. Turn of the heat and set aside.
heat a large frypan over moderate hot heat and open the foil and baking paper. Sear off the outside of the sausage until crispy. Slice the sausage into 1 1/2 cm slices, serve onto a plate and garnish with the truffle sauce on the side. Serve the sausage with wilted spinach, sautéed mushrooms and soft polenta.
by Dom on September 28, 2009
Makes approximately 20 depending on size
800g mixed mushrooms
½ cup dried forest mushrooms reconstituted in hot water until soft and squeezed dry
1 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup soda water
1 egg
½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
3 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
Zest of ½ orange
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Onion jam
Using a food processor blend the mushrooms until they resemble minced meat but not completely mushy. Pour the mushrooms into a bowl and add the chopped parsley, thyme, orange zest, parmesan and garlic. Combine the flour with the baking powder and whisk the egg into the soda. Mix the flour through the mushrooms and pour in the soda and egg mix. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper.
Take spoonfuls of the mushroom mix and shallow fry in the hot oil until golden. Serve garnished with onion jam and aioli.
by Dom on September 28, 2009
Mushroom, marsala and almond pate with lavosh and goats cheese
1 cup blanched almonds, roasted
1/4 cup butter
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
300g white mushrooms, chopped
200g field mushrooms, chopped
3 tbsp cream
¼ cup marsala
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Melt the butter in a large fry pan and add in the onions and garlic, sauté until softened and stir in the chopped mushrooms in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, salt, thyme and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and most of the pan juices have evaporated.
In a food processor or blender, whirl the toasted almonds to form a paste. With motor running, add oil and whirl until creamy. Add mushroom mixture and blend until pate is smooth.
by Dom on September 28, 2009
Rose and almond pudding
Serves 4
3 gelatine leaves or 6 tsp powdered gelatine
300ml thickened cream
200ml milk
50g almond meal
50g caster sugar
1 tsp rose water
½ cup chopped rose petals
Soften the gelatine leaves in cold water. Alternatively, if using powdered gelatine, stir in with 100ml boiling water until dissolved.
Bring the cream, milk, almond meal and sugar to a gentle boil. Add the softened gelatine, the rose water and petals.
Pour into 4 moulds and refrigerate for 5-6 hours. The moulds can be plastic to be removed later or simply pour into ornate glasses or ramekins. To unmold the puddings, sit briefly in hot water and tip upside down onto your plate.
