Kale chips

Michael Van de Elzen is a bit of a guru. He owns one of my favourite restaurants in our local village – Molten. Last year he did a TV show called the Food Truck where he made healthy fast food options and took them to public events. Of course, the cook book followed and, thanks to my friend Tracy, I have a copy.

One of the things he made which was a hit with the kids was kale chips so I thought I'd give it a try. I've never cooked kale before; it's got quite a rubbery leaf.

You simply pull the leaves off the stalk, wash and dry them. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes at 175°C. They do shrink considerably, but they are very tasty. Even my fussy eater liked them.

Here's the recipe, but really, you don't need it.

Plums

We have two plums in our backyard. One is full of fruit now and, apparently, when it finishes, the other of starts.

What does one do with so many plums? Well, I've made plum shortcake, spiced plum chutney, grilled plums on the BBQ and plum crumble. When I accumulate a few more jars I will make some plum jam [I'm really annoyed that I tossed out so many when moving!]. If you have a favourite plum recipe, or one where another fruit can be substituted for plums, I would love the recipe.

Mini lamingtons

I wanted to squeeze in this post before the close of Australia Day. At least it is for us in the southern hemisphere.

These mini lamingtons are are healthy alternative courtesy from the healthy chef and were a pleasant treat at the end of the day.

My favourite...

homemade breakfast?

Buckwheat pancakes with banana and bacon, drizzled with maple syrup – and coffee of course.

When life hands you lemons...

I say: Make lemon meringue pie!

The pics says it all!

What I did today...

I took to the kitchen to create!

New York baked cheesecake. I have been lusting after this for some time. I finally got the recipe from Mum. The recipe originated from Aunty Deb and I remember making a few of these in my younger days. I changed the recipe slightly (mainly the base) to make it low-carb with somewhat success (I think my taste buds have adapted). It's definitely not low-fat though so still retains all of it's flavour and appeal.

Banana and raspberry muffins for school lunches this week. It makes me feel good on the inside knowing there is something home baked in the kids' lunch boxes (although sometimes it's just not achievable!).

Note: When I say "What I did today" I don't necessarily mean today; more like recently.

What's cooking?

Pear clafouti

Coconut cake

My favourite: chunky fruit and nut slice. Luckily for me, the kids weren't huge fans (which I simply don't get) but that just meant there was more for me!

Italian rice, vegetable and feta tart

Ok, here it is. Typed out, with love, as I couldn't for the life of me find the site where I found it originally.

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
knob of butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary or thyme
2 medium zucchini, diced
6 large silverbeet leaves, shredded
¼cup thinly sliced sundried tomatoes
4 eggs, lightly beaten finely grated zest 1 lemon
½ cup grated Parmesan plus extra for topping
150 grams feta cheese, crumbled
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

20 cm round spring form cake tin, well-greased (it is wise to also line it with baking paper).

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180℃

Add the rice to a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Drain well, tip into a bowl and stir through the knob of butter. Season and cool.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and cook the onion, fennel, garlic and rosemary with a good pinch of salt until the vegetables are tender. Increase the heat, add the zucchini and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the silverbeet to the pan along with the sundried tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until the silverbeet is tender. Season and cool.

Combine the eggs, lemon zest and Parmesan in a large bowl and season. Gently mix in the rice and vegetables and ¾ of the feta.

Pour into the tin and sprinkle over the remaining feta, a good grating of Parmesan and a few small pieces of butter (I forgot this bit and it was fine without but go ahead and add it if you like).

Bake for 20 minutes until golden and the centre is set. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing the sides and transferring to a serving plate.

Serves 6-8

Delicious vego dish

I am so excited about this dish that I just had to share it with you: Italian rice, vegetable and feta tart. It tasted and smelled so good in the oven I could hardly let it stand for the required 15 minutes before eating it!

Naturally, it's gluten-free and I think I could confidently serve this up to my discerning diabetic friend, Simon, without any problems [I'm not totally up to speed with that dietary requirement though so don't quote me on it.] Think fennel, garlic, zucchini, rosemary, parmesan and feta – mmm, maybe t is off-limits to you Simon. It's vegetarian though which is great because I am always trying to think of ways to create a satisfying meal without relying on meat. Of course, if I'm truly honest with you, I have to say that I did fry up a few bangers to go with it. I know! I was almost there – but not quite. It was just so easy to do when one is short on time compared to "creating" something else. Actually, the sausages look quite sad next to the tart. A nice salad would look much more appetising.

Anyway, with or without meat, you're going to love it. That is, if I can find the link for you. I've Googled the recipe but can't seem to find it. Don't worry though, I'll type it up and post it for you. Watch this space!

Banana cake with passionfruit icing

I just had a piece of this cake which I made this afternoon. It was really moist and deliciously yummy but better than that, it had so many good things in it, I almost felt virtuous eating it. I say almost because there was the God of all evil: sugar. But add to that quinoa flour, brown rice flour, almond meal, natural yoghurt (made with my Esiyo) and over-ripe bananas which I got from the fruit shop for next to nix and you have every reason to feel good. In fact, your halo is sure to get brighter with each bite, I can almost guarantee it. Top it all off with passionfruit icing made with the fruit from our neighbours vine that overhangs on our side of the fence, and you have one tasty little treat. It's so good, I'm not even sure it will make it's way to the lunchboxes tomorrow.

OK, so the ice-cream is not so virtuous.

This recipe and other delights can be found at my darling lemon thyme.

Chocmint cookies

Mmmm. These are wickedly rich. Naturally, they're gluten-free too. Find the recipe here.

Brag rights

I'm not usually one to brag but I impressed myself with this one.

It wasn't achieved the first time round though. Last weekend I attempted to make a gluten-free rainbow cake – it was a complete disaster. Which meant on the morning of the party I was furiously whipping up a sponge cake in addition to a dozen other things. But I wasn't deterred.

A friend of Ruby's had a party at the same time as Ava's. I took this opportunity to opt out of gluten-free thing and chose to make it easy on myself by buying a couple of packet mixes. I also invested in some gel food colouring which gives a more intense colour than the drops you get at the supermarket.

Cutting the cake was a little bit hairy but when I served the first slice there was a chorus of "Ohhhhh!-s" which was what I was aiming for.

If you too want to impress your friends and family, you'll find the instructions for the rainbow cake here.

Northland: The Food Train

We went to The Food Train, as pizza and pasta joint in Kaitia, on our last night. I took a gluten-free pizza base which they were willing to top. The guy who ran the place reminded me of Manuel in Fawlty Towers which wasn't very reassuring. We were seated, then promptly forgotten. Eventually Steve managed to get some menus and glasses for the wine. Needless to say, we waited a long time before our order was taken and then even longer before we got the food. Manuel did offer to let the girls make their own chocolate strawberry pizzas for desert – gratis, which sweetened us up.

Top a pizza base with grated cheese and melt in the oven. Then top with "as much as you like" choc bits and return to the oven to melt. When it comes out, top with sliced, fresh strawberries and cut. Enjoy!

Sounds dodgy but it was really quite nice – try it at home.

Broccoli salad

I just can't get enough of this broccoli salad. It's my "go to" side dish at the moment which can be whipped up in three minutes flat. It also has the added benefit of being really good for you and broccoli is cheap at the moment [at least it is in my part of the world]. So what are you waiting for!

Adapted from this recipe, my variations are:

• substitute goats cheese for fetta
• use mixed beans instead of chick peas
• swap flaked almonds for pine nuts [straight from the packet]
• I also used two head of broccoli not one [nuked in the microwave].

Of course, these ingredients were used because that's what I had on hand. I'm sure Stephanie's variation is ok too :)

What's for dinner?

Ava's class recently made bread at school. She loved kneading the dough so I decided to make some play dough to "scratch her itch". It's amazing how something a simple as play dough can inspire kids to be creative. Watching the girls play with the dough reminded me of making gnocchi.


A long time ago, maybe when I was in my early twenties – yes, that long ago, my Nonna taught my sister, my cousin and I, how to make gnocchi. Nonna really made the best and now that she is gone, I am so glad she took the time to pass her secrets on to us. To make it gluten free I used this recipe and was really pleased with how this batch turned out.

After you make the dough you have to roll it into long snakes. I guess this is the connection to play dough.


Then you cut the snakes into little pieces.


Then you are meant to sort of twirl the gnocchi along the prongs of the fork but this didn't really work with my dough so I just pressed the fork into them making a pattern. This helps the sauce stick to the gnocchi.


I like to then freeze mine on trays. To do this put them in a single layer on a baking tray making sure they don't touch. If you want to put another layer on top you will need to separate them with baking paper otherwise they will stick together. When they are frozen gather them together in a freezer bag.




To cook them boil a pot of water. Add a handful at a time. When they are ready they simply rise to the top – I love this bit.


When they float to the top, scoop them up with a slotted spoon and put them in a serving dish. You will need to carefully fold in some sauce so they don't stick together but treat them with a bit of TLC.


Serve with grated parmesan and a glass of red wine. Then sit back and enjoy the accolades.