Apple and Rhubarb 'Superfood' Crumble

This is an attempt to make the most nutrient rich, delicious, low calorie dessert possible. It is so full of goodness it probably could even be eaten for breakfast!

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 red apples
bunch of rhubarb
2 tbs coarsely ground raw almonds
1 tbs protein powder
3 tbs Agave Syrup or Honey
1 tbs chia seeds
3 tbs raw oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
vanilla essence
1/ cup water

Method
1. Finely chop apples (leave skin on) and rhubarb (food processor is best if you have one). Put in a saucepan with water and 1 tbs agave syrup and cook on medium heat until fruit is stewed.
2. In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients (including 2 tbs agave syrup). Mix with finger until mixture resembles granola. This is the crumble topping
3. Poor stewed fruit into a small casserole dish. Top with crumble. Bake in a 200 degree oven for about 10mins or until crumble has lightly browned and is crunchy.
4. Serve with a dollop of natural or greek yoghurt.

Baked Berry Cottage-Cheesecake

I love the idea of turning normally wicked desserts into something much healthier. Instead of the usual cream cheese in a cheesecake this one uses low fat cottage cheese instead and it is crustless. You'll notice that i'm going to start making lots of deserts with 2 servings like this. It is because just recently got a very cute 10cm springform cake tin. It is just perfect for 2 people and as there are no left overs there is no temptation to overdo it!

Serves: 2

Calories per serve: 171 calories

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 1hr

Ingredients:

200g reduced fat cottage cheese

zest of 1 lemon

squeeze of lemon juice

1 tbs agave syrup (or honey)

1 whole egg

splash of vanilla essence

1/2 tbs cornflour

1/4 cup mixed berries (can be frozen)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. In a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients except the berries. Beat with hand beaters until well blended as smooth as possible (there will be some lumps still).

3. Stir through berries.

4. Pour into a 10cm springform tin or ramekin. Cook in oven for 1hr although check at about the 45 min mark that it isn't browning too much.

5. Chill in fridge and serve cold with yoghurt and fresh berries.

Pumpkin Pie

The latest issue of the SBS feast magazine (currently my favourite cooking magazine) had the most beautiful picture of a pumpkin pie in it. This inspired me to create my own version - a much healthier one though!


Serves 4
Calories per serve: 196


Ingredients
2 cups raw pumpkin cut into pieces with skin still on (Queensland Blue or Kent if you can)
2 whole eggs
2 tbs agave syrup (or honey)
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbs almond meal (or even better the left over meal from making almond milk)
6 pitted dates
2 tbs rolled oats
1 tbs almond milk (or regular milk)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg


1. Steam pumpkin for about 20mins or until soft. Once cooked soup out flesh and put in a sieve over a bowel for about 15 mins to reduce some of the moisture. 
2. To make in a mortar and pestle or a food processor mix together the almond meal, dates and rolled oats. Once they all a mush scoop into the base of a cake or pie tin (or individual muffin cups if you like). press down with your fingers so is firm. Put in the freezer to set. 
3. Put pumpkin mash in a bowl. Add spices, agave syrup, almond milk, eggs and spices, cornflourBeat on low until it is smooth. Put in a sauce pan and bring to the boil mixing constantly. Once it is has thickened up a bit, remove. 
4. Scoop into pie tin. Sprinkle top with brown sugar. 
5. Bake in a 200 degree C oven for 15 mins. Then reduce oven to 180 degrees, and bake for another 50 mins. 
6. Let cool a bit then serve warm or chilled. yum.

Yoghurt, Almond milk and Raspberry Ice-cream (includes raw almond milk recipe)

At the moment my focus in very much on low calorie and healthy food. I'm experimenting a bit though with raw food although I by no means follow the whole 'raw lifestyle'. Anyway after making some almond milk i thought i'd try and make some ice-cream with it. This can easily be made dairy free too just by cutting out the yoghurt. I just added yoghurt in it to make it a little more creamier.

Recipe for Raw Almond Milk

Makes 4-8 cups of almond milk

1 cup almonds

water

vanilla essence

agave syrup

Method:

1. Soak almonds in water in fridge for 8-12 hours

3. Strain almonds. Put in blender with 4 cups of water (if your blender isn't big you may need to do this in two batches). Add a drop of vanilla essence and about 1 tsp of agave syrup (or honey).

4. Pour through a sieve into a bowl. Keep almond meal for another use.

5. Store milk covered in fridge. It will last about 5 days.

This almond milk is 86 calories per cup. If you would like a lower calorie version then put half of the milk back in the blender with 2 cups of water and blend. Do this again with the rest of the milk.

Then the almond milk is only 43 calories.

The ice-cream recipe below is made with the slightly richer (86 calorie) version of the almond milk. There is no reason though you couldn't do with it the weaker stuff, although expect a less creamy ice-cream.

Ice-cream Recipe

Makes 1 serve which is 139 calories.

1 cup almond milk

10 frozen raspberries

1 tbs agave syrup

1 egg white

1 tbs low fat (unsweetened if possible) greek yoghurt

ice

1/2 cup salt

two metal bowls, one smaller than the other

Method

1. In the large bowl put a lot of ice. Then add 1/2 cup of salt and mix together. Put the second smaller bowl inside the larger bowl. Make sure the ice level is such that it does not overflow but there is enough that the ice goes up the sides (on the outside) of the smaller bowl.

2. In smaller bowl put frozen raspberries (crush them up a bit), almond milk, agave syrup, yoghurt and egg white. Use a spoon or beaters on low and mix until mixture becomes thick. Make sure you scrape down the edges as you do this as they the first the freeze. 

3. If you'd like it a bit harder then put the bowl of ice cream in the freezer for a while.

Russian Pierogies

I had a Russian grandmother growing up. While she had never been to Russia she had spent her childhood growing up in a Russian enclave in China. I always wished i'd been old enough when she was still alive to properly learn her recipes from her. I don't even know the names of some of the dishes that her and my great aunt made us. I remember piroshki - a kind of meat pastie that was delicious with tomato sauce, and yummy cabbage and rice noodle pie. I also remember pierogies: delicious potato dumplings which my grandmother would sometimes give my family big bags of frozen for later.

I was too young to really learn her recipes while she was still alive, but more recently during a nostalgic moment I decided to explore my Russian heritage and learn to make some of these recipes from the internet.

So here is the first success of my explorations: Pierogies!

It turns out that these dumplings are made in many different countries in Europe, so many people I have since talk to about these, also had grandmothers who made them, even if they weren't Russian.

Eating these, I was instantly transported back to my childhood. They are delicious too and make for a fantastic lunchbox snack, entree or even breakfast.

Recipe

Makes 12-15 pierogies

Ingredients:

Filling:

5 potatoes

1 large onion

3 tsp butter

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Chopped parsley, dill or chives

Dough:

2 cups white flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup low fat sour cream (I suspect natural yoghurt might also work and would be healthier)

1/4 cup softened butter

Method:

1. Make pierogie filling first. Boil pealed potatoes. Chop onions and saute in butter until soft. 

2. Mash boiled potatoes. Add cooked onions, cheese, herbs and spices. Leave to cool in fridge.

3. Make dough: Mix together flour and salt. Add beaten egg to mixture.

4. Add sour cream and butter to flour mixture and work with hands until a smooth dough that isn't too sticky.Wrap dough in plastic film and refrigerate for half and hour.

5. Roll out dough on a floured surface ill it is about 20mm thick. Cut rounds using a cup or similar as a guide. 

6. Place filling in half of circle, then fold over and press together with a fork. a damp pastry brush may help getting the dough to stick together if you are having trouble. Pierogie can now be frozen for use at a later date if necessary.

7. To cook them, boil them in salted water. They are done when they float to the top. Then fry them with a bit of butter in a fry pan until crispy. 

Traditionally these are often served with more sautéed onions and sour cream. They aren't bad though on their own or even with some kind of tomato relish. Enjoy.

My Blog gets Media Coverage!

Some time ago I penned out a short humorous piece on my hunter-gather experiences when I was living in Canberra. Many months later after i'd moved from Canberra to do my fieldwork in Central Australia I saw that my university student newspaper was seeking submissions for their monthly magazine. So it sent it to them:


Diary of an urban hunter-gatherer cyclist | Woroni

Within days of it being published on the magazine website I got a call from a journalist from the Canberra Times wanting to write a similar piece and wanting to interview me as an 'expert'. This was all quite surreal, particularly since Canberra felt like a world away. While I was being interviewed I pointed out that much of the information they were after could be found on this blog. 
Anyway this is the article that appeared in the weekend edition of the Canberra Times:


Gatherers Hunt Free Tucker Ripe For the Picking

Note some of my apparent quotes I never said at all (like the thing about Kangaroo grass), but I guess there is always going to be some journalistic licence. 

Low Fat Instant Hot Chocolate Mix (with Variations)

In many overseas countries i've noticed there are a huge range of instant hot chocolate mixes available in a multitude of flavours. By instant I mean all you need to add is water and you have a cream hot-chocolatey beverage. In Australia though all our hot chocolate mixes require to be mixed with hot milk (except for Jarrah brand hot chocolate which I personally detest as it has artificial sweetener in it that tastes horrible to me).

This isn't so great if you are camping or doing fieldwork outdoors like I do everyday. So i've come up with these recipes to make my own. Homemade is even better that bought anyway as it is easy to adjust the ingredients to your taste or to make them lower fat or lower calorie as necessary.

For all these recipes simply stir together the ingredients and store in an airtight container for future use. To make hot chocolate then just add 3 tbs of hot chocolate mix per cup with boil water and stir.

Basic Skinny Hot Chocolate Mix

1 part hot chocolate powder

5 parts skim milk powder

Hot Coco Mix

1 part coco powder

1 part sugar

10 parts skim milk power

This recipe can be adjusted to have less sugar or to have an artificial sweetener instead if that is what you'd prefer.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix

1 cup Hot Coco Mix or Basic Skinny Hot Chocolate Mix Powder (see recipes above)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon all spice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground chilli powder

Amount of spices can be adjusted to suit your taste.

Homemade Mexican Refried Beans

I have previously bought refried beans in a can from the supermarket for my Mexican dishes. Last night though I wanted to have soft tacos and didn't have any so thought i'd try making my own. It is a bit of fluke because i didn't look at any recipes, but this turned out absolutely delicious!

Makes approximately 1 cup of bean paste.

Ingredients

1 can red kidney beans drained

1/2 can chopped tomatoes

sugar

salt

tabasco sauce

sprinkle of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

1. In a saucepan put kidney beans and tomatoes and heat until tomato juice starts to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.

2. Using a potato masher mash mixture while it cooks. The texture to aim for is a mostly smooth paste with a few lumps. Mix as you do this. The whole mixture should thicken due to the beans becoming paste as well as water from the tomatoes boiling off.

3. Season with tabasco, spices and salt and pepper. Note if you accidentally add too much tabasco then add more sugar to counteract it. Mix though

4. Once the mixture nice and thick and fully combined remove from the heat and serve warm.

Great as a side/filling in a variety of Mexican dishes.

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus with Seville Vin Cotto

Yummy entree or side. Note the asparagus is steamed in this recipe. This makes them far more tender and juicy than grilled or BBQed

Calories per serve (1 wrapped asparagus spear): 53

Ingredients:

Fresh Asparagus Spears

Prosciutto sheets x #Spears

1/4 teaspoon Maggie Beer’s Seville Vin Cotto x # Spears

Method:

1. Steam asparagus spears until tender.

2. Wrap each spear in a piece of prosciutto

3. Drizzle Vin Cotto over them.

4. Serve warm or chilled.

Chicken and Lentil Sprout Yaki Udon

My own take on a Japanese dish using my home-grown lentil sprouts.

Serves 4

Calories per serve: 271

Ingredients

1 carrot pealed and sliced

1 can of baby corn spears

1 cup lentil sprouts

2 cloves garlic

1 x 2cm square cube of garlic with tough outer layer removed

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin

ground black pepper

1 tbs sesame seeds

2 x single serve packets of udon noodles

1 tbs avocardo oil (or other vegetable oil)

1 cup of chopped fresh broccoli

1 onion sliced

1 chicken breast cubed

Method

1. In a mortar and pestle pound ginger, garlic cloves and sesame seeds into a paste

2. Heat oil in wok. Add ginger mixture. Add onion and cook on hight heat until it softens.

3. Add chicken. Stir until lightly cooked.

4. Add vegetables and all sauces. Stir for a few minutes.

5. Add noodles and mix through. Once all vegetables are lightly cooked (but still crunchy) serve.

Growing Sprouts

Sprouts are incredibly nutritious, delicious and very cheap to grow. They are also perfect for growing in small places, like my little desert caravan.

There are many different kinds of sprouts you can grow and special sprouting kits, bottles, trays and seeds that can be purchased. I don't have access to that kind of thing though, so wanted do grow sprouts with things you can get from a regular supermarket.

Supermarket things you can sprout:

- Dried Lentils I discovered only the green and french black ones work. Red ones are split so won't germinate.

- Quinoa

- Broccoli Seeds. From the gardening section of the supermarket. Not that cheap though.

- Mustard Seeds. From the spice section

- Dried Beans

- Pearl Barley. From the soup mix section. Where you also find dried beans and lentils.

- Cress. Also from the gardening section

I tried several kinds of lentils, quinoa, broccoli, mustard and cress with 3 different methods of sprouting.

Method 1: Jar Method

This is the best method for quinoa and lentils. I tried this method with mustard but found it too gluggy to drain, and method 3 was far better for them.

1. Put seeds/grains in a jar of water for 12 hours out direct sun. Attach a cheesecloth cover or a piece of dishcloth to the top of the jar lid with a rubberband.

2. Drain water from the jars using the cover to catch the spouts inside. From now on sprouts won't be sitting in water you merely rince them 2-3 times a day.

3. Once the seeds have a sprout about 1.5 the len

gth of the original seed put on a window sill so that some green can develop (this is optional).

4. Eat sprouts once they are about twice the length of the seed. Quinoa and lentil sprouts can be eaten fresh in salads or even stir-fryed.

Method 2: Wet Paper Towel on a Plate

This method works for seeds that grow vertically such as cress. It would probably also work for mustard or alfalfa.

1. On a large dinner plate or tray lay 2 layers of paper towel. Wet surface with either a splay bottle or by flicking drops of water with your finger.

2. Put a layer of seeds on the paper towel.

3. Moisten towel 2-3 times a day. Keep in a location with a little diffuse light. This will ensure the sprouts become green.

4. Harvest sprouts when they are a few cm tall.

Method 3: Soil in a Chinese Food Container

While this method takes slightly longer to set up in the beginning, it requires the least amount of maintenance as your sprouts will only need to be watered once a day. This works great for broccoli, mustard or cress.

1. Poke a few holes in the bottom of rectangular chinese food contains. This is important for allowing water drainage. Fill with potting mix. Sprinkle a thick layer of seeds and cover with a thin layer of potting mix (seeds should only be a few mm deep in soil). Water.

2. Water daily.

3. Sprouts can be harvested at anytime. Whist nutritionally sprouts such as broccoli are greater when they are smaller, i found broccoli 'seedlings' up to about 5cm were delicious. A great alternative or additive to lettuce in a salad!

Sweet Potato Leaf Salad

I recently got my own hanging veggie garden. One of the plants that I got was a sweet potato. It is probably in too small of a pot to actually get the sweet potatoes to grow large enough to eat, but I do get lovely green leaves that work as a wonderful salad leaf similar to spinach.

While many edible vegetables have edible leaves such as pumpkin, sweet potato leaves have the benefit of not having the small hairs that would make eating them raw quite painful. So it is possible to have them in a salad fresh. They are quite good cooked though as well.

Ingredients

A handful of fresh herbs (I used parsley, coriander and basil as these are what I grow)

~ 2 cups of sweet potato leaves (Young ones are best)

1/2 cup chickpeas from a can

2 tomatos diced

red onion to taste

low fat fetta cheese crumbled

salad dressing (whatever your favourite is. I like a splash of Maggie Beer's Seville vin cotto as it is quite sweet)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Comine all ingredients, dress with your salad dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste

Serve

Bush Dukkah Kangaroo Burger Patties (includes Dukkah Recipe)

Burgers:

Serves 5

Prep Time: 20 mins

cooking time: 10 mins

Calories per serve: 164 cal.

Ingredients:

500g kangaroo mince

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

3 tbs bush dukkah(see below for a recipe)

2 tbs chilli jam (see recipe in this blog)

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

2 tbs chopped fresh coriander

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Divide mixture into 5 portions and shape these into patties. Wrap each patty in cling wrap and put patties to chill in fridge for at least 10 mins.

3. Cook patties on BBQ or in a skillet or griddle pan about 5 mins each side or until cooked through and brown.

4. Serve as is with a dollop of chilli jam or on a bread roll with avocado, roasted capsicum lettuce and tomato.

Notes: Make your own breadcrumbs, they are much nicer than brought ones. Just use stale bread (leave out some bread overnight) and turn into crumbs in a food processor. Any kind of bread can be used so you can make these patties even healthier by using multigrain or wholemeal bread. Leftover crumbs can also be frozen for another day.

Homemade Bush Dukkah

This is a very useful spice mix to have in your cupboard. Not only is it delicious eaten with olive oil dipped bread, but it adds so much flavour to any kind of dish that requires a breadcrumb coating (eg crumbed fish, chicken, veal, eggplant etc). To use as a crumbing just add a few tbs to the breadcrumbs you are using.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup whole pistachio nuts

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup ground wattleseed (available at many delis or order online)

2 tbs ground coriander seeds

2 tbs whole cumin seeds

Black pepper to taste

Rock salt to taste

If you prefer a sweeter dukkah then you can add some sugar to taste also.

Method:

1. Lay pistachio nuts and sesame seeds on a tray and toast lightly in an oven.

2. Crush (pistachios in particular although you can do it all together) in a mortar and pestle.

3. Put nuts and seeds into a small mixing bowl.

5. All all other ingredients. Mix until combined

6. Store in a sealed container. Lasts for months.

Roast Vegetable, Garlic and Fetta Bread

This Italian style bread is delicious hot from the oven with butter or cold dipped in olive oil and dukkah.

Serves: 6

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Preparation Time: 2.5 hours (most of it resting)

Calories per serve: 274

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato

1 potato

50g fetta cheese

dried rosemary

2 garlic cloves

3 tbs olive oil

3 cups strong white bread flour

1 egg beaten

1 cup luke warm water

2 teaspoons active instant dried yeast

1 tbs salt

Extra flour for dusting

Olive oil spray

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl sieve flour. Sir in salt.

2. Make a well in the flour. Pour in water and add yeast. Leave for 10 minutes until bubbles form.

3. Add olive oil. Using a spoon gradually mix liquid into flour until it is a single ball of dough.

4. Put dough on a floured surface a kneed. It if is too sticky add extra flour. Kneed for 10-20 minutes to develop the elastic gluten.

5. Spray some olive oil into the original mixing bowl. Put dough to rest in it and cover with a damp tea towel. Put in warm place for 1 hour to rise (perhaps near oven that will soon be on to cook the vegetables).

6. While dough is rising peal and chop into small cubes the vegetables. Put in a baking tray with a spay of olive oil. Cook in a 200 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until soft and golden. Turn occasionally to ensure vegetables are cooked evenly. Once cooked take out of oven and put on a plate to cool. Set oven temperature to 190 degrees to preheat once you are near to the end of the 1 hr dough rising time.

7. After an hour the dough should have doubled in size. Punch down to release the air. Put back on a floured surface. Now incorporate into the dough the roasted vegetables (including the garlic), the rosemary and fetta. Shape into a loaf and put on a floured pizza stone (preferable) or a baking tray. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle on some more rosemary. Put in 190 degree oven for 30 mins or until golden.

8. mmmmmm

Kangaroo Sausage Rolls

These mini sausage rolls are a crowd pleaser and are significantly healthier and better for the environment than beef or pork equivalents.

Ingredients

FILLING:

500g kangaroo mince

2 tomatoes diced

1 carrot diced

2 beaten eggs

worcestershire sauce

2 tomatos chopped

cracked pepper

puff pastry

1 egg beaten

Method

1. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees

2. In a large bowl mix together all the filling ingredients.

3. Cut each piece of puff pastry in half to create 2 rectangles. Spread filling in the middle of each rectangle and roll to create a long tube filled with filling. If you think you can fit in more filling push it in from the ends. You want the rolls to be quite firm and make sure the join of the pastry is firmly pushed together so it won't come apart.

4. With a sharp knife cut each roll into small bite-size pieces. Brush with egg.

5. Bake on a baking paper lined tray for 20mins or until golden.

Serve with tomato or BBQ sauce or chutney.

Beetroot, Tomato and Fetta Tart

Ingredients

Puff pastry (1 sheet makes 2 tarts)

Sliced tomatoes

Fetta cheese

Beetroot relish

Pepper & Salt

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

Cut piece of pastry in 2 rectangle halves. Scour a 1 cm border around each pastry piece and use this as a guide as to where to place toppings.

Brush a thick layer of beetroot relish on each piece of pastry. Lay on top tomatoes and fetta.

Place on a baking tray in oven for 20 minutes or until tarts are golden brown in colour.

Cut into pieces before serving either hot or cold to your guests.

Beetroot relish is available at most supermarkets. Other relish flavours could also be used instead.