Why is there a bicycle pump in our bedroom and Louise Cake

33 Comments

Living with small children means that you may find particular accoutrements of childhood in your bedroom.

Definition of a grown up bedroom : The place where the so called ‘magic happens’. (Yeah right.) A serene escape from the world, lush with soft furnishings in soothing contemporary prints. Flickering soy candles abound and the room is resplendent with enough Europeans pillows to well, make a European happy. (Not a husband as they will defiantly and often state ‘I hate all these cushions, they have no effin point anyway.’)

In our boudouir today I found:

A bicycle pump, a small soccer whistle, a paint with water book, a pretend plastic childrens winner medal, one grotty little boys sock and a teeny tiny plastic toilet.

The magic that happens in our bedroom is ‘how the hell did this crap get here and why?’

The other magic that happens in our household is how quickly tasty treats can be gobbled up by said small children. Especially Kid 1 who eats as if he is part of a family of ten and is afraid of missing out on his fair share.

This slice is one of those goodies, an old school New Zealand classic comprising of a thin layer of biscuity cake (or is that a cakety biscuit?), a sandwich layer of tart jam, topped off with another thin layer of coconut meringue. I have no idea who Louise was but man, that chick had it going on in the ideas department.

My memory could be playing tricks but a hazy recollection of this slice oozing with homemade apricot jam in the middle, is knocking around the old brainbox. The original recipe has been slightly cheergermed by using wholemeal spelt flour, raw sugar and knocking back the sugar quantity a tad.

Unfortunately, the cupboard was bare of home made jam, hence, store purchased jam was used. Some of Mums homemade stuff would have been like, totally ace. (Mum??)

LOUISE CAKE

WHAT YOU NEED
Base
70g butter, room temperature
55g sugar (panela, raw caster sugar, rapadura)
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice
150g wholemeal spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Topping
4 tbsp raspberry or tart red jam
2 egg whites
80g sugar (I used organic panela, an unrefined sweetener made from evaporated sugar cane juice)
55g desiccated coconut
Extra coconut for sprinkling

HOW YOU DO IT
Preheat oven to 170 and line a shallow 30 x 21 cm or 12 x 8 inch tin with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light then beat in the egg yolks and mix thoroughly.
Add the lemon juice, then sift in the flour and baking powder and mix to a firm dough.
Press the dough evenly into the prepared tin and spread over the jam. You don’t need a thick layer.
Beat the egg whites until stiff then gently fold in the caster sugar and the coconut using a metal spoon. Spread carefully over the jam, trying to keep an even thickness. Sprinkle with a little more coconut.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the coconut is just turning a golden brown. (As I used raw sugar, it does get a bit browner.)
Remove from the oven and cut into squares whilst still warm.
Store in an airtight container, makes 12 squares.

Recipe slightly adapted from ‘Ladies: a Plate.’ By Alexa Johnston

Husbands don’t listen and gluten free buckwheat omelettes

20 Comments

The other day I was crapping on talking to my wonderful husband about something inane very important. The following conversation ensued.

Me: Do you sometimes wish you hadn’t married me?
Yak: Yeah.
Me: What?
Yak: What did you say?
Me: I just asked, do you sometimes wish you hadn’t married me and you said yeah!
Yak: Oh, I wasn’t listening.
Me: Are you embarrassed now?
Yak: No, I’m just normal.

Despite many conversations like this, I continue to feed my vegetarian coeliac husband. (I know, I am an awesomely forgiving and kind human being). This ain’t my recipe folks. Straight up. It’s borrowed, stolen, nicked, knocked off from the wonderful Sneh Roy and her Cook Republic blog. Hence, I have provided my photos then linked to her fabulous recipe afterwards.

These buckwheat omelettes are pancake like and have an Indian twist. They are a well tasty brunch, lunch or light dinner option. We adore the fresh and light coriander burst they provide.

Many of you may already be aware of this but I just wanted to share a wee cheffy hint given to me many moons ago by a real life cheffy type person. When dicing, chopping, crushing, squashing, pestle and mortaring garlic, always add a big pinch of salt to help ‘bring the garlic down’. (By this I don’t mean to depress the poor member of the onion family with pithy and personal put downs. ‘Yeah garlic, you are so much more stinky than your other close relatives’.) Adding the salt helps the garlic to release it’s delicious oils and also stops it sticking to your knife.

Cheergerm adaptations to this excellent recipe include bumping up the salt to 1 tsp sea salt, using 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger powder as I had no fresh ginger, adding 1/4 diced red pepper and 100g cherry tomatoes (as I didn’t have any big tomatoes) Also, as we didn’t have fresh chilli, I used sweet chilli sauce and tomato sauce mixed together as the accompanying sauce.

Here are my photos, I have given a link to the recipe at the end. Once you have visited Cook Republic, you may never leave.

http://www.cookrepublic.com/journal/savoury-buckwheat-omelettes-a-newspaper-column-and-the-title-of-my-first-cookbook/

Gluten free onion and mushroom tart. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

16 Comments

A tart by any other name is simply a topless pie. My goodness. This is all sounding a tad x-rated.

Gluten free pastry has, thus far, felt somewhat beyond me. Having enjoyed some perfectly lovely gluten filled pastry bakes in my past, a reluctance to stuff up gluten free pastry has always felt a bit too, well, potentially painful.

This bake was a game changer. Yeah baby. Well, kind of.

Starting at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon was probably not the best choice. Bite the bullet I told myself, now or never. Carpe diem, momentous self-help talk, yada, yada, yada. Snoreworthy.

After dicking messing around with the recipe, (it’s a medial condition), the recipe called for the pastry to rest for at least one hour. Here is the (pastry) rub. I knew it wasn’t right the minute I took it out of the food processor, but I ignored my gut instinct. Then, as I went to roll it out. The pastry completely fell apart…Arggghhhhhh…my nightmare was coming true.

However, a tad more iced water, a quick knead and it came together. With no time to waste, I rolled it out between two sheets of baking paper, blind baked it, filled it and baked it again. A millennium later, Bob was your uncle . (By this time the Yak had passed out on the floor from utter hungation.)

It turned out a treat. Second time around, I added just a tad too much water to the pastry. So it took a little more blind baking to dry it out. The moral of this story? Don’t be afraid if things go slightly wrong, you can usually fix them.

Love, love this sexy little tart. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more…) The filling is based on a French provincial classic. Caramelised onions, earthy mushrooms, floral thyme with some hacked up greens. Be inventive with the greeny bits. There was kale in the fridge but baby spinach, silverbeet, rocket or parsley would be just as good.

It is rich, filling and would be awesome cut with a sharply dressed salad. (By this, I don’t mean a bespoke suit with a french cuffed shirt and a pair of brogues.) When I asked The Yak if was it too rich, his reply? No way, are you kidding, I want chips with it. Sigh.

The crust is buttery, crunchy and this cheergerm don’t miss no gluten. The Yak went into raptures (as much as an Northern English born lad is able to.)

This pastry is a more ‘wholegrain’ adaptation from the Simply Gluten Free blog. I have provided the link below, it contains some fantastic pastry baking tips.

GLUTEN FREE ONION AND MUSHROOM TART

THE FLOUR MIX
3/4 brown rice flour
1/4 buckwheat flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1tsp xanthum gum

Whisk this together, this leaves you some flour for rolling the pastry out on. You use one and 1/4 cups of this flour for the actual tart base.

THE TART CRUST
1 1/4 cups flour blend (see above)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar
125 grams cold cold butter (pop in freezer 15 minutes before using)
5 to 6 tbls iced cold water (put ice cubes in cold water)

WHAT YOU DO
Place flour, salt and sugar into a food processor and pulse 5 times to combine.
Add the butter and pulse 6 or 7 times until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with some pea size butter pieces.
With the processor running, add the water 1 tbl at a time until the mixture just clumps together. (This is the tricky bit, don’t go nuts with the water.)
Wrap (using a plastic bag for this step is a good idea) and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This allows the water in the pastry to redistribute.
Whilst pastry is resting, preheat oven to 180C and make the filling. (See below)
Bring pastry back out and let it sit for 5- 10 minutes.
Roll between two sheets of baking paper dusted with remaining GF flour mix.
Place pastry a pie/tart tin (I used a glass Pyrex) that has been buttered.
Blind bake 20 mins. (This means lining the pastry with baking paper and using dried kidney beans, dried soup mix (as I did) or blind baking stones.)
Remove baking paper and beans, gently prick the base of the tart with a fork and bake for another ten minutes.
Remove tart pastry, strew the onion filling over the base of the pastry, gently pour the egg, cream and parmesan mixture over the onion mixture stir through carefully, not touching the pastry.
Bake at 180 for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is golden and puffy.

THE FILLING
3 large sliced onions
2 tbl olive oil
200g mushrooms, sliced
5 leaves of kale finely sliced
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbl fresh chopped thyme)
Splash white wine
3 eggs
100 ml cream 1/4 to 1/2 cup
2 tbls grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

WHAT YOU DO
In a large frypan heat the olive oil then add the onion. Cook on a low to medium heat until the onion has begun to caramelise. This takes about 30-40 minutes.
Add thyme, mushrooms and kale. Stir through. Turn to medium heat
Add a splash of white wine and stir until all of the liquid has evaporated, season with pepper and salt and set aside to cool.
Whisk the eggs, cream, salt and pepper together. Stir the parmesan through this mixture.

Crust recipe adapted from Simply Gluten Free blog. (The link is provided after the photos.) The filling is a Cheergerm creation.

http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2013/11/perfect-gluten-free-pie-crust-recipe.html

Chocolate ginger spelt shortbread

32 Comments

Kid 2: I am bad at smelling things but really good at hearing.
Kid 1: I am good at everything except doing the splits and things like that.

Me, I am good at baking shortbread at Christmas time. (I am not good at the splits and things like that either.) The kids had been asking for shortbread a lot lately. Being the kind and doting parent I am, I acquiesced and thought I would bake them some.

The idea of spelt shortbread has been creeping and a crawlin around the deep dark recesses of my brain box for quite a while now. A little flavour experimentation was in order. (Cue mad scientist laughter.) Then it dawns on me. Chocolate and ginger. A culinary match made in heaven. (They got married quite a while ago but nobody asked me to the wedding.)

These biccies give you a punch of bitter chocolate with a peppery ginger hum in the background. Kid 2 loved them, Kid 1 wasn’t a fan. All other grown up human beans who consumed them were enamoured. You be the judge.

Chocolate and ginger spelt shortbread

WHAT YOU NEED
1 cup spelt white flour (I use an organic brand of spelt flour)
1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tsps ground ginger (seems like a lot but you need it to get past the chocolate)
250g butter, room temperature (but not too soft)
1/2 cup raw caster sugar

HOW YOU DO IT
Preheat oven to 180C.
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Sift the spelt flours, rice flour, cocoa powder and ginger into a large bowl.
Cream the butter and add the sugar gradually, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Work in the flour gradually and with a light hand, knead to form a dough. (I do this in the bowl.)
Divide the dough in half, roll each half out to a 3-4 cm log. Wrap in clingwrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
Slice the logs into 1-2 cm thickness, depending on your fancy, place 10mm apart on a baking tray and prick each piece all over with a fork.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp. It is a bit tricky telling when chocolate shortbread is ready. Also, because of the wholemeal spelt, hese little beauties needed a little more time in the oven than regular Joe shortbread.
Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 20-25 pieces.

A cheergerm adaptation from a Margaret Fulton shortbread recipe


99

Roasted cauliflower soup and doonas

15 Comments

Hot soup is like a winter weight doona. It wraps it’s arms around you and bear hugs you into a calmer state of existence. (Put that on a card Hallmark.) Soup is by nature pretty forgiving. It’s a nifty way of using up spare veggies and other assorted leftover bits and bobs.

Rarely does it taste exactly the same twice and making soup is always a bit of an exciting adventure. (Please keep in mind that I don’t get out much anymore.) It reminds me of 1970’s flannelette pyjamas, Walt Disney movies on the television, Mum’s veggie soup and her homemade scones.

Autumn is upon us. The days here have been unseasonably warm but the nights are certainly cooler. As the Yak stretches up to the top of the linen cupboard for cosier bedding, I also dust off the soup pot, ready for heavy usage. (In other words, expect a plethora of soupy type posts over the new few months.)

Roasting the cauliflower emphasises this vegetables nutty flavour and gives it some gorgeous caramelisation. Preparing this cruciferous veggie in this manner is like eating cauliflower on steroids. (Without any uncomfortable enquiries from official sporting governing bodies.) This soup is soft and harmonious with a slight garlicky hint and earthy undertones from the cumin.

Keep in mind that roasting garlic will give it a it milder and sweeter flavour. My cloves of garlic were very small but it was all I had left. Next time I would use bigger cloves or add a few more in. At least it was Australian garlic, the upside being there were no food kilometres/miles/cubits/furlongs on it.

Roasted cauliflower soup

WHAT YOU NEED
1 head cauliflower cut into large florets
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
Olive oil to drizzle
2 tbl olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 large peeled potato, small dice
1 tsp cumin powder
6 cups water
1 teaspoon Massel vegetarian stock powder (or stock powder of your choice)
1/2 tsp sea salt
Black pepper to season

HOW YOU DO IT
Preheat oven to 170C.
Place cauliflower and garlic cloves into a roasting pan lined with baking paper . Drizzle over olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, remove and stir then for another 15 minutes.
Check at 30 minutes and remove from the oven if the cauliflower is tender. Place aside and peel the garlic when it has cooled.
In a large saucepan, pour in 2 tbl olive oil and sauté onion for 1 – 2 minutes then add potatoes, cumin and stir for a minute or two.
Add the cooked cauliflower and peeled garlic, water, stock powder, salt and some pepper.
Bring to the boil then reduce the soup to a simmer.
Cook for 30 min, until potatoes are soft then blend with a stick blender.
Check for seasoning and serve.
We enjoyed this soup topped with crumbled fetta and crunchy toast on the side.

A cheergerm recipe

Gluten free chocolate chip biscuits

14 Comments

Kid 1: ‘Feed us or we will eat you’.

The natural world provides many totally understandable hideous examples of mothers eating their young. After some paltry research, I was unable to find examples of offspring devouring their devoted parentals.

I do not want to be the first. So, thus far, I have continued to feed my little darlings. Of course, when Kid 1 makes this proclamation, he usually wants something sweet.

Most of us who enjoy baking, have a standard ‘go to’ choc chip biscuit recipe. Me included, and the lads love them. Once they are baked, the Yak will stand there, all sad eyed and ask in a teeny tiny hopeful voice ‘Are they perhaps gluten free?’ The answer is usually no and the poor wee coeliac walks morosely away, leaving a trail of glistening gluten free tears behind him.

These biccies have been a work in progress for a little while now. There are no promises, that in my quest for perfection, they will not change again. Previous incarnations have had that slightly too sandy, gritty texture that gluten free baking can easily end up with. I wanted to make a flour blend that had some wholefood benefits. The addition of almond meal has given them that sought after softer bite. The end result is very similar to my standard choc chip biscuits.

Not everyone will have these flours so feel free to experiment. If you don’t have any sorghum or teff, try 3/4 cup brown rice flour instead.

Gluten free chocolate chip biscuits

WHAT YOU NEED
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup teff flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
3 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthum gum
Big Pinch of salt
1/2 cup almond meal
125g butter, chopped and at room temperature
2/3 cup coconut sugar (or rapadura or 1/3 cup soft brown sugar combined with 1/3 cup white caster sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (1 tsp vanilla essence)
1 egg at room temperature
100g dark chocolate chips (I used Callebaut or 100g dark chocolate chopped)
Sea salt flakes to sprinkle

HOW YOU DO IT
Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Sift together the sorghum, teff, tapioca, buckwheat, baking powder, Xanthum gum and salt.
Stir through the almond meal.
Cream together butter, sugars and vanilla. (I used my KitchenAid mixer.)
Add the egg gradually to the butter mixure. This will sometimes looks like it’s split, (think this is the coconut sugar) but it all comes out right in the wash.
Stir in the flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes to make the dough easier to work. (Equally if you don’t have time for this step, omit it. They will just be a bit soft to work with.)
Shape teaspoons of mixture into small balls, place on greased baking trays, allow room for spreading,
Indent each biscuit lightly and sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt on each biscuit.
Cook 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Don’t let them get too dark.
Sit on trays for a few minutes before removing to cooling tray.
Makes 20 biscuits.

A cheergerm recipe

Kale, red onion and a splash of verjuice

17 Comments

Dear snotty lady in the overpriced posh food shop many years ago,

Four score and twenty years ago, I came in to your store and asked for some verjuice. I pronounced it exactly as it was spelt. Saying ‘ver’, then ‘juice’ as in ‘orange juice’. You looked down your elongated nose and pronounced in your very best plum in the mouth, lower northshore accent. ‘Surely dear, you mean ver-jus’. (Your pronunciation of the ‘juice’ as in the French pronuciation of the word jus…rhyming with zhoo..like ach-choo but softer).

Yes, you did make me feel ten cm tall (and I am barely taller than that anyway). I slunk away that day, clutching my bottle of unripe grape juice to my slightly wounded pride.

I write today to happily inform you that your elitist attitude didn’t deter me from continuing on my food journey. Some of the foodie jobs I have held did consist of educating others. I truly hope I have never contributed towards making anyone feel as small I as felt, when I left your shop that day.

This big, wide wonderful world of food is a never ending journey of exciting discoveries. Learning new things everyday rocks my very being.

Yours delightfully,

Cheergerm

PS Get stuffed.

KALE AND RED ONION with a splash of verjuice!

WHAT YOU NEED
2 tbl garlic infused olive oil or regular olive oil
1 medium red/Spanish onion, sliced
1 red capsicum, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1 bunch kale washed and chopped into 2-3cm strips
Splash of verjuice or squeeze of lemon

HOW YOU DO IT
In a large frypan, sauté the onion, capsicum, salt and chilli over low to medium heat until they are soft and starting to caramelise, about 15 -20 minutes.
Add the kale, stir and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until it starts to soften.
Add a large splash of verjuice (or lemon) and stir to mix through until the verjuice starts to sizzle.
Season with extra salt and pepper to taste.

This dish is great by itself as a light lunch or dinner. Also as a side to eggs, grilled meats, casseroles, tofu dishes, anything your wee heart desires really.

This is also good with a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, added just before you pop in the kale. Due to the Yak having to talk to people all day, sometimes we have to dial back on the garlic during the week.

A cheergerm recipe

What the heck is verjuice anyhoo?

Made from unripe grapes, it was used in the Middle Ages as a condiment in sauces or to deglaze particular dishes. It is a alternative to vinegar. One of my food heroes, Maggie Beer, was at the forefront of bringing verjuice back into popularity by being the first (her claim) in the world to produce it commercially.

The mild acidity of verjuice is a real bonus. It isn’t as ‘in yo face’ as lemon juice or vinegar and is great in dishes where you want a gentler acidic alternative. You should be able to find it in good delis and in some supermarkets.

I love it as an alternative to vinegar and lemon in dressings, tossed over sautéed veggies and also to deglaze the pan juices of meat, cheese and other veggies dishes.

Please note the beautiful white pottery bowl I popped the kale in. Made by one of my fabulous New Zealand aunts who is a very talented potter.

Verjuice 375mL

Sending some love back out

23 Comments

Just to say a giant panda bear size thanks to some super bloggers who have passed on some very lovely awards to this newbie blogger, over the past few months.

Due to my slackness and inability to catch up, I am rolling another way with this. (Kind of like rolling down a hill and not being able to stop). I’ts not that I am trying to be a naughty rule breaker/bender but I really just want to say a simple thanks to you all for reading my blog and passing these awards my way. (If you haven’t already, swing by these wonderful blogs to have a squiz.)

Liebster Awards

Naptime thoughts – http://naptimethoughts.wordpress.com
What Kat Baked – http://whatkatbaked.wordpress.com/
Purple house blog – http://purplehouseblog.wordpress.com
Books for Belle – http://booksforbelle.wordpress.com

Sunshine Awards

Joie De vivre – http://maulshri25blog.wordpress.com
Not so creative cook – http://thenotsocreativecook.wordpress.com
Creating beauty in the kitchen – http://creatingbeautyinthekitchen.wordpress.com/
Notes on a Spanish Valley – http://notesonaspanishvalley.com/

Hence, I would like to pass on some love to other blogs that I am really enjoying reading. (This is in no way a definitive list, I had to stop somewhere!!) No, it’s not an exact award but if I were to start a new award if would be ‘Thanks to you all for being so interesting, inspiring, amusing, yummy, funny well written and super awesome’. I hope you are enticed to go visit these blogs, if you haven’t already.

My Kitchen Witch – http://americanfoodieabroad.wordpress.com
Linnet Moss – http://linnetmoss.wordpress.com
Cooking with a wallflower – http://cookingwithawallflower.wordpress.com
Sarcasmia – http://sarcasmica.wordpress.com
Peak perspective – http://peakperspective.wordpress.com
Tweatfeast – http://tweatfeast.wordpress.com
Fromage homage – http://fromagehomage.wordpress.com
The Chef and the Waitress – http://thechefandthewaitress.wordpress.com
Cupid or cats – http://cupidorcats.wordpress.com
Hungry mum – http://thehungrymum.com
Days – http://days.wordpress.com
Lucy Jo Amos – http://lucyjoamos.wordpress.com
Baking with Gab – http://bakingwithgab.wordpress.com
Short and sweet – http://veronicashortandsweet.wordpress.com
Milk and Marigolds – http://milkandmarigolds.wordpress.com
Spontaneous tomato – http://spontaneoustomato.wordpress.com
Thoroughly Nourished Life – http://thoroughlynourishedlife.com
Selma’s Table – http://selmastable.wordpress.com
Blue crab martini – http://bluecrabmartini.com
Khloe’s Kitchen – http://kloeskitchen.wordpress.com

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb and chocolate pudding, gluten free.

14 Comments

Pretty pink stems of rhubarb inspiration whacked me aside the head the other day at the growers market. (Not figuratively, that would have hurt.) This purchase, coupled with a recent winning deconstructed rhubarb and chocolate tart on MKR (My Kitchen Rules, an Aussie TV cooking competition), had the old brain cogs a whirring. The thinking was…how can I enjoy these flavours without going to a whole lot of bother/trouble/effort and time?

Pudding was the natural answer. (It often is.) A popular dessert in this here household is a rhubarb and gingerbread pudding, so why not look for a similar recipe using chocolate? Naturally, it had to be gluten free.

This cooky person did hold a little bit of hesitancy regarding the marriage of chocolate and rhubarb, but the way the judges on MKR oohed and threw compliments around the room like small boys with a new handball, meant it had to be tried.

My gluten free adaptation has a lot less sugar than the original recipe, the sourness of rhubarb is a fave in our family and we don’t like it too sweet, man. (The butter has been knocked back a bit too.) It does use a food processor so it is super easy and quick.

To really ensure it’s validity, a poll was taken from those who shovelled this pud into their fizzogs for dessert.

The Verdict

Kid 1: ‘It’s nice but not a winning combination, I much prefer rhubarb bumble (crumble.)’
Mr Bagpipes visiting from Big Sky Land: ‘Mmmmm, we can have more of that lass, somewhat down the track.’
The Yak: ‘Yummy, I love it.’
Cheergerm: I like the cray cray (what all the hip young thangs say for ‘crazy’) combo of bitter dark chocolate and slightly sour rhubarb. It’s nuts but it works.

What do 10 years old know anyway?

GLUTEN FREE RHUBARB AND CHOCOLATE PUDDING

WHAT YOU NEED

Fruit

700 g trimmed weight rhubarb (recipe said 600 but I had a big bunch)
Cut into 2cm sizes
50 g coconut sugar (or raw, brown, rapadura)

Sponge

150 g self raising gluten free flour
50 g sorghum flour (or buckwheat or teff flour)
25 g cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
150g butter, room temperature and diced
150 g coconut sugar (raw caster sugar, rapadura)
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla extract
50g dark chocolate chips (I used the good stuff baby…Callebaut callet, oh, fancy Belgian chocolate)

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
Cut the rhubarb into 2 – 3 cm lengths and toss with the sugar in a bowl.
Spread evenly over the base of a buttered 30cm/2 litre capacity ovenproof dish (or equivalent size.)
Sift the flours, cocoa powder and baking powder in a separate bowl.
Reserving 2 tablespoons of the sugar, place the butter, eggs, vanilla and sifted mixture into a food processor and cream together. (No food processor? Try beating butter, vanilla and sugar, add eggs gradually then the sifted ingredients.)
Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon.
Spread the mixture over the rhubarb and sprinkle on the reserved sugar.
Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. (Remember if you hit a choc chip it will come out looking like it isn’t cooked but it probably is).
This is great hot out of the oven, or warm.
We snarfled it with ice cream but it would be delicious with yoghurt, custard or cream.

A cheergerm adaptation from the daily mail uk website

Pop here for my gluten free rhubarb crumble recipe:

https://cheergerm.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/gluten-free-rhubarb-and-berry-bumble/

Go here for the original non-gluten free rhubarb and chocolate pudding recipe. You could still knock back the sugar and butter quantities as per this recipe and keep the rest the same.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1272877/Recipe-Chocolate-rhubarb-sponge-pudding.html

Other websites that you may be interested in:

http://www.callebaut.com

https://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/recipe/23057262/deconstructed-chocolate

Heirloom carrot autumn salad

9 Comments

Hello sweet little baby carrots in varying shades of orange and purple….lying there beguilingly, coaxing me into wanting to eat you all up.

Sorry, that may have come across as a tad creepy. These beautiful heirloom carrots, purchased from the Agrestic Grocery in Orange on our recent country sojourn, were just crying out to be paired with the local feta cheese from the Second Mouse Cheese Company. One of my nicknames as a child was Mouse (as well as Electric Rat and E Rattus, charming I know) so how could a mouse not buy this mousy cheese?

The bloke behind the counter informed us the cheese had recently won an award against other fetas at a cheese show (somewhere) and that it was a bit controversial due to the fact that this feta cheese is made of cows milk, instead of sheeps or goats milk. (Rumblings and bumblings, a possible cheesy fisticuffs, oh my!) How did it taste? Tangy, smooth, a wee bit crumbly, salty with background notes of the grass that those sweet cows had chowed down on. It certainly deserved it’s wee gold medal.

This salad is a grand accompaniment to whatever takes your fancy. The carrots are oven roasted in a coating of spices and topped with zesty feta and sweet, lemony, crunchy pomegranate seeds. A beautiful addition to our Easter feast this year.

WHAT YOU NEED
1 bunch baby orange carrots, scrubbed and topped
1 bunch baby purple carrots, scrubbed and topped
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tbl olive oil
50 g Feta to garnish
1/2 a pomegranate, seeds scatter over
Extra virgin olive oil to garnish

HOW YOU DO IT
Preheat oven to 180C.
Place carrots on tray lined with foil and toss with with salt, spices and olive oil.
Roast for 20-30 minutes until carrots are tender.
Place on a pretty dish, dob the feta over the dish.
Squeeze and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds over and add a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

We served this salad with grilled haloumi, lamb chops marinated in ras el hanout, and a big plate of roasted kumara and potato.

A cheergerm recipe

What the heck is an heirloom carrot you ask? In brief, heirloom vegetables, fruits and flowers are grown from seeds passed down from generation to generation. Heirloom seeds rely on natural pollination from insects or the wind.

These often unusual looking, multi coloured fruits and vegetables are more likely to be grown by small suppliers and are often organic. By buying or growing heirloom produce, you are helping to support crop biodiversity and assist in helping to keep these older varieties from becoming extinct.

http://secondmousecheeseco.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/theagresticgrocer?fref=ts