Vegan Lemon Curd with Star Anise & Orange Sauce
The flavours in this recipe can be changed by substituting the lemon juice for orange, mandarin, passionfruit, grapefruit, berries or any other flavours of fruit that are in season.
3 lemons juiced and zested (approx. 1/4 cup)
80g Palm sugar
20g (2tsp) Tapioca Flour
Water
250g silken tofu
50ml oil
1 tsp. Agar agar
150ml Water
Dissolve the palm sugar with the lemon juice and water and thicken with the tapioca flour. Blend the silken tofu, lemon zest and oil until smooth and add to the palm sugar mix.
Dissolve the agar agar with the 150ml of warmed water and add to the rest of the mix.
Combine well and pour into greased moulds, tart bases and allow setting in the refrigerator until slightly firm to touch.
Orange and Star Anise Sauce
2 Oranges juiced
1 Lemon Juiced
1 star Anise
1 Stick of cinnamon
1 tsp tapioca flour
Combine orange juice, star anise, cinnamon and lemon juice in a pan and bring to a slight simmer allowing the spices to infuse with the juice. Stir in the tapioca flour until combined and the sauce is of a smooth consistency.
Muffins
This is a basic recipe for savory muffins that you can change by adding different flavourings. Other combination’s which work are: Olive, sun dried tomato and feta cheese, pumpkin and pesto or spinach, feta and pine nut
250 gm flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg
¼ cup oil
½-3/4 cup milk
1 red onion finely chopped
1 bunch spinach or warrigal greens washed, blanched and chopped
120 gm feta cheese cut into small pieces
Optional- Dorrigo pepper
Preheat oven to 180*
Grease muffin tins or use large muffin paper cases.
Sift together the first 4 ingredients. Heat oil in saucepan, add onions and fry for a few minutes until soft. Place in bowl with spinach and feta and the dry ingredients – Mix egg and milk then combine with rest of ingredients – adding more milk as necessary but being careful not to over mix.
Spoon mixture into muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes. The muffins are ready when a knife inserted comes out clean.
Chocolate, Macadamia and Lemon Myrtle Cookies
125 gm butter softened
130 gm brown sugar
1 egg
140 gm spelt flour
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
120 gm chocolate chunks
½ cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts
¼ cup rolled oats
1 tsp ground lemon myrtle
Heat the oven to 170. °C
Cream the butter and sugar very well and add the egg.
Mix together the dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Add chocolate and nuts.
Place heaped teaspoonfuls of mixture onto lined trays and press down with fork. Bake 15 minutes until the cookie are golden brown. Leave to cool on tray.
Polenta and Peach Cake
This dairy free cake can be made with a variety of fruit depending on the season – I have made it with apple and blueberries, rhubarb, Davidson Plums and most stonefruit.
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
250 ml olive oil
250 ml white wine
2 cups spelt flour
3/4 cup ground almonds
¾ cup polenta
2 tsp baking powder
8-10 pears
TOPPING
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
8 peaches
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Set the oven to 180. Line the base of a 20cm spring form cake tin with baking paper and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Cut the fruit in half, peel if necessary and core. Arrange the fruit on the sugar.
Beat the eggs and sugar for a few minutes then add the oil and wine and beat for another few minutes. Sift the flour, polenta and baking powder add with the almond meal and mix until combined. Pour batter onto fruit and bake for about 1 hour until skewer comes out clean.
To make topping, bring sugar and water to the boil, once dissolved keep on a vigorous boil but don’t stir. Cook until syrup turns a caramel colour then and peach halves and cook for another 2 minutes and add lemon juice and zest. Simmer until fruit is tender.
Pour onto cooled cake.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
250g chocolate
2 tbsp brandy
¼ cup strong black coffee
200gm butter
200gm brown sugar
200gm ground almond
6 eggs separated
Combine chocolate, brandy, butter and coffee in stainless steel bowl over pot pf boiling water. Stir when melted then add egg yolks and sugar. Beat until well combined then stir in the almonds. Beat egg whites until stiff. Stir a spoonful of whites into chocolate mix to lighten it then gently fold in the rest and turn into paper lined 20cm round tin.
Bake at 160 for 60-90 minutes.
Leave to cool completely before cooling out.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Date Slice
750 gms dates/sultanas etc.
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup coconut
250 gms butter
250 gms honey
Combine fruit and cover with water. Cook slowly until all water is absorbed, set aside. Melt butter with honey. Mix dry ingredients, add honey / butter mixture and stir until well combined. Place a layer of oats mixture in greased baking dish. Cover with a thick layer of fruit mixture. Place remainder of oats mixture on top, press down firmly.
Bake at 180 for 1/2 an hour or until golden brown. Serve with yoghurt or cream.
Something light like this is so easy to throw together and is great for the waist line as well. Some people think that you would not cook with pastry in February, well I’m here to prove them wrong and what better way to use up the end of all that stone fruit. Also, frozen berries are so handy and I am not lying when I say that you will always find at least three boxes in my freezer. I use them in everything from smoothies for breakfast or a healthy snack, my bircher muesli, juices, salads, muffins and for quick desserts like this. This makes enough to feed a hungry mob of 8-10 so if it’s just a few of you, make two and send the other off to another good home. Food is always best when shared!
Baked raspberry and peach strudel
Serves 4-5
150g filo pastry, thawed
70g unsalted butter, melted for brushing the pastry
(light oil spray can be used instead of butter for lower fat version)
icing sugar, for dusting
250g Greek style yoghurt for serving
For the filling
1 ½ cups (150g) frozen raspberries,
1 fresh peach, seeded and diced in 1cm cubes
¼ cup (50g) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
1 cup (100g) digestive sweet biscuits, crushed
2 tbsp (35g) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup (60g) sugar
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tbsp (50g) light sour cream
Preheat the oven to 180 c
- For the filling, place the berries in a strainer and defrost if frozen, reserving the liquid for use in fruit salad, masking cordial or in a smoothie.
- Into the berries, add in the peaches, pecans, crushed biscuits, butter, sugar and grated lemon rind. Stir through the sour cream.
- Lay 2 sheets of filo pastry on a clean surface and brush with melted butter. Place another 2 sheets on top, and brush again with butter, continue another 2 times until there are 8 layers in all.
- With the longest side of the pastry closest to you, spoon the berry and peach mix on the pastry, allowing a 4cm border on the sides.
- Fold in the two shorter sides to enclose the filling, then roll up like a Swiss roll. Place the strudel on a lightly buttered tray or a sheet of baking paper on a tray.
- Brush the top of the strudel with a little more butter butter. Bake for 30minutes or until golden brown.
- Leave the strudel to cool before dusting with icing sugar and cutting. Serve in thick diagonal slices with a dollop of fresh natural yoghurt or ice cream.
There is something about smoked paprika and beef that makes me like beef just that little bit more . This is a Spanish inspired recipe that I have chopped, changed, and added a little zing of lemon zest, ground cumin and loads of olive oil, parsley and garlic. The result is a tender, garlicky and delicious bee skewer which leaves those store bought ones way back in the race.
Try these at your next picnic and the great thing about these is that they are still tasty cold.
BBQ smoked paprika skewers
Serves 4-6
½ cup parsley, chopped finely
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Juice of ½ lemon
1 good tsp smoked paprika
1 good tsp ground cumin
¼ cup of oil
Good pinch of salt and pepper
500g diced lamb, chicken or beef
Combine all ingredients except the meat, in a food processor and blend until well combined. You can also use a mortar and pestle or simple mix everything in a bowl. Add in the diced beef and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour. Skewer onto wet bamboo sticks and bbq for 3-4 min on each side or until done.
Another great salad for a BBQ or get together lunch. Easy on the back pocket with ingredients and the dressing is lovely and light with that bite of the pepper and the flavours of the Cajun spice start to rub off into the rest of the ingredients. I have added a recipe for Cajun spice at the bottom of this recipe, it’s so easy to make and you can toss it over everything. As well as crusting your fish, chicken, or beef sticks in it, try adding a couple of spoons of the Cajun spice into your next lot of burger mince, or stirred through yoghurt and lemon juice for a zingy potato salad. A great healthy snack idea is to add a good dessert spoon of the spice into your next hummus or bowl of thickened yoghurt and grated cucumber for something a little different.
Cajun chicken and black bean salad with creole, buttermilk and black pepper dressing
Serves 6
2 chicken breasts
4 tsp Cajun spice
2 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 200c
Pound out the chicken and brush with the olive oil. Roll in the Cajun spice and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until done, or pan fry over moderate heat until golden brown and chicken is cooked. Slice into strips and set aside.
Black bean salad
250g black beans, rinsed and soaked over night
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 green capsicum, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 firm tomatoes, deseeded and diced
½ tsp ground chilli
1 tsp ground cumin
½ cup chopped coriander
Cook the black beans until softened, drain and set aside. In a medium sized fry pan add the olive oil and heat over a moderate flame.
Add in the onion, capsicum, celery, jalapeno pepper and the garlic and fry until softened.
Toss the onion and celery mixture with the drained beans and toss through the tomatoes, spices and chopped coriander. Dress with ½ cup of pepper dressing and adjust the seasoning. Add in the chicken and stir again. Serve garnished with a squeeze of lime.
Dressing
Makes 1 cup
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
1 tbsp mustard
3 tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp horseradish
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly cracked pepper
Whisk all the ingredients together and store in the fridge.
Cajun Spice Blend
Makes about 42g of Cajun Spice Blend. 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 chilli powder
½ tsp ground sage
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
Add coriander, onion, garlic, mustard seed and peppercorns.
Process at HI speed until seeds are finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and process at HI speed to blend well, about 30 seconds.
This bread was such a hit in the class and served with this chili butter. We had variations going on for hours as to the changes that could be made to make it cheesy, herby, adding olives, yellow cornmeal, sweet bread, so again its up to your imagination for this one. I always recommend to try the recipe first so that you are confident with the method and the chemistry of the ingredients and then you will be able to go out there on your own. Make sure that you do put the buttered dish into the own, that crusty base is well worth it.
Creole Cornbread with Chili butter
Makes 2 low round loaves
2 tbsp duck fat or bacon fat
2 extra large egg
4 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 ½ cups + ½ cup of white cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp bicarb soda
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
½ cup cooked bacon or precooked pork crackling (often found in Asian grocers)
Preheat the oven to 220c
Grease two 9inch heavy based fry pans or baking dishes or a 12 cup muffin tin.
In a medium bowl beat the eggs and stir in the buttermilk. Stir in the cornmeal and beat briefly, the batter will be a little frothy and liquid. Allow the batter to stand for a few minutes.
Stir in the baking powder, bicarb soda the salt and the sugar and then add in the diced bacon and stir through. Pour the batter into the preheated buttered dish, it should have a little sizzle when you add the batter.
Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, the bread will be a little pale on top but will have a golden crust on the bottom of the loaf.
Test the loaf by inserting a skewer into the middle to test its doneness. Remove the loaf from the dish and serve with the chili butter.
Chili butter
8 tbsp unsalted butter
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 tblsp finely minced coriander
1 small clove of garlic, crushed into a paste
Pinch of chili powder
Salt to taste
Combine all the ingredients together and roll in plastic and place into the fridge to set.
