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Winter is coming…

June 18, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences · Tagged feeding the family, freezer, recipe

Ok, yes, it’s a ‘Game of Thrones’ reference. After sitting through the first season of gore, blood, betrayal and beheadings, I’ve opted out of seasons 2 & 3. Mr VS is disappointed, but gallantly soaking up the next episodes without me (then reporting in with full step-by-step plot updates, complete with actions).

While the blood was a bit much, I did relate to the tension and foreboding over the upcoming Winter. I mean really, who LIKES winter? No one in Sydney, where the houses aren’t heated properly and we all sit about shivering our bums off for a few months. But while the Seven Kingdoms prepare for an unknown winter that may last a lifetime, I’m feeling more optimistic about one that lasts about 10 weeks. Especially with a stash of recipes that warm my soul and tide me over until the jasmine vines all start to flower.

Here are some of my favourites (click the pics to link through to the recipes)…

Chicken curry.

vegie smugglers pumpkin and lentil soup recipe

Pumpkin, corn & lentil soup.

chicken and tarragon one pot winter warmer by vegie smuggers

Chicken & tarragon one-pot.

Boston baked beans.

Stewed apples.

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Chunky vegetable & bean soup

June 2, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Vegetarian · Tagged cooking techniques, Quick dinners, recipe, soup, vegetables, vegetarian

So how am I going with the pressure cooker that Kambrook sent me? Well, it took a bit of courage to tackle but after some experimentation, I’m happy to report that I’m digging it.

The poor old slow cooker is gathering dust while I romance with its whizzy, fast cousin. They’re perfect for the same kind of dishes, but something that would cook for 8 hours in the slow cooker, is done in 20 minutes. Seriously. So while you do still have to do all the prep work (chopping, browning, sautéing etc), you’re not doing it at 8am when the smell of browning meat can be a little nauseating.

I rate it.

Here’s my first win – a vegetable and bean soup that borders on a stew. Always a sucker for a really chunky soup, I’ve kept the liquid minimal, but if you want it wetter, add an extra cup of stock.

Also, if you want to make this in the slow cooker, go ahead. I’ve not tested it myself, but think it would work using HIGH for 3-4 hours. (**If anyone wants to play recipe tester and let me know accurate timings, I’ll send you a free e-book of your choice.)

Soup + winter = cosy.

Chunky vegetable & bean soup (in the pressure cooker)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled, finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups sweet potato, peeled, cubed
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 zucchini, diced
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can four-bean mix, rinsed, drained
1/4 cup fresh herbs (any or all of – parsley, chives, basil, thyme)
2 cups beef stock
1 cup frozen peas

Baguette & grated cheese (optional)

Set the pressure cooker to ‘sauté’. Add the oil and heat before dropping in the onion, carrot and celery. Stir regularly for several minutes until all are starting to soften and onion is starting to turn golden.

Pop in the garlic and cook for a minute until everything is fragrant. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except the peas). Combine well. Lock on the lid, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes.

Carefully release pressure, remove lid and toss in the peas.

As an optional extra, top with slices of baguette with the cheese melted on top.

Optional: Make dippers with baguette slices topped with melted cheese.

Serves 2 adults and 4 kids.

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The best vegie-laden toddler food

May 28, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences · Tagged feeding the family, kids, recipe, toddlers, vegetables

Got one of those delightful little creatures between 18 months and 4? Ahhh, aren’t they great! So fiesty, so confident, so able to share their feelings in a considerate and thoughtful way. Or not. Perhaps your lovelies are more like mine, kind of complaining and crying a lot of the time, especially at dinnertime when apparently you are trying to feed them POISON. But no longer! Here’s some food that saved my sanity during their toddler years.

Seriously though, if you can find a few healthy things that they like to eat, you can sneak in some vegies and improve their nutrition. It’s amazing what a difference it can make to their behaviour.

Try the salmon pikelets (easy to hold and munch)

Sausage rolls.

Home made tinned spaghetti.

Salmon & zucchini bites.

Lamb & feta meatballs, with pasta.

Will your toddler eat these? I’m always keen to know what works in other people’s households. Make sure you get in touch and let me know.

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May giveaway time

May 23, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Ham/pork, News · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, freezer, recipe, vegetables

Quinoa salad, made Mr M&P-friendly with SAUSAGE.

Forget the bowlo meat raffle – this month my giveaway PUTS IT TO SHAME. The Peppercorn Food Company are giving one Vegie Smugglers reader the chance to have the ultimate meat-fest with a prize pack crammed full of their sausages, rissoles and meatloaves.

They sent me a pack a few weeks back and it was good to remember that sometimes beef sausages taste like beef and pork ones taste like pork etc etc. I baked a beef meatloaf and we ate it sliced thin and cold on sandwiches, the pork one was cut up and chucked through fried rice. Some of the sausages were yummy on my quinoa salad (pic above, but I’m still tweaking the salad recipe) and the Italian ones were great in this sausage goulash. Don’t be scared of such a daggy sounding dish – it was a huge hit with the kids and anything that cooks in one pot is always a huge hit with me, too.

To enter, just comment below and let us know how you like to cook sausages for your family. Make sure you’re a Vegie Smugglers subscriber and also swing by the Peppercorn Food Facebook page (tell them I sent you).

Please note, that since the prize is perishable and needs careful refrigeration, the winner needs to lives in the Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth metro areas. Entries close 8pm AST, Sunday May 26. ***CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER DABECS! NICE SUGGESTIONS ABOUT A GREAT SAUSAGE & PASTA RECIPE. HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR MEGA MEAT TRAY!

Not too daggy for hungry kids.

Sausage goulash (no truly)

Usually in these saucy dishes, I’ll grate the carrot and zucchini, but I don’t recommend it here as it makes the texture a bit weird.

8 Peppercorn Food Italian sausages, thickly sliced (or if slicing raw sausage grosses you out, cook them whole and slice afterwards – takes longer but same result).
1 brown onion, diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 button mushrooms, very finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced (peeled first if your kids hate green bits)
1/2 red capsicum, finely diced
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
800g can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp brown sugar
Handful green beans, top & tailed & cut into 3cm lengths

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced sausage and cook, stirring regularly for 10 minutes or so until cooked through. Remove and set aside.

Add in the onion, carrot and celery and saute for a few minutes, stirring regularly. Add in the garlic for another minute then also add the mushrooms, zucchini and capsicum. Cook the vegies, stirring constantly for another couple of minutes until they are all softening down nicely.

Scatter over the paprika. Stir and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Return the sausages to the pan then carefully pour over the tomatoes. Rinse out the can with about 1/4 cup of water and add that along with the sugar. Stir well. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat to low, cover and leave simmering away for about 5 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the beans. Taste and add pepper if you fancy it. Simmer for another couple of minutes then serve on pasta.

Serves 2 adults and 4 kids.

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Help! I’m scared of my new appliance!

May 15, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, News · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family

If Johnny Depp were an appliance, he'd be a pressure cooker.

If ‘Game of Thrones’ was an appliance, it’d be a pressure cooker.

I’ve never actually been scared of an appliance before.

There’s no shortage of gadgets in my kitchen. It’s an occupational hazard that I already own a fair few of them and usually I’m into them in a jiffy and using them for as many things as I can think of within minutes.

But ever since Kambrook sent me a pressure cooker to try out, I’ve had a half-unpacked box in the corner of my kitchen just looking a bit ominous and scary. Sure, my slow cooker is heavy, and my food processor is sharp, but neither of them have a reputation for EXPLODING the way that pressure cookers do. Not easing my nerves, most of the web pages dealing with these contraptions start with reassuring lines like “These days pressure cookers are safe and easy to use…” then off they go offering poetic descriptions of the hours of joy that await me.

Also alarming is the instruction booklet, which is 50 pages of info and recipes, but with some pages covered in more ‘WARNING’ panels than instructional text.

Yeah, sure, reassuring…

So tell me, do you use one? What are your pressure cooker staples and what recipes should I start with? This ‘Dummies’ cheat sheet seems a have a bunch of good basic information on using them and A Perfect Pantry has a good list of recipes – I’m thinking the beef ragu might be good (with a stack more vegies). And this pulled pork recipe looks good and cooks about 7 hours more quickly than my slow-cooker version.

I know many people are big fans of these contraptions, so if you can steer me in the right direction, I’d love to hear from you.

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I’d like to thank the world

April 6, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Red meat, What the kids eat in... · Tagged freezer, lamb, recipe, vegetables, world food

I’d like to thank the academy for giving me this EVERYDAY LIFE award. Of course, I’m the one standing here receiving the award, but really it wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of a wonderful team of behind-the-scenes people.

I’d like to begin by saying thank you Japanese people for giving me sushi. And thanks to Italian people for pizza. I love you Korean people for bibimbap and the entire Indian subcontinent – I’d like to thank you all for every curry ever invented. Then there are the Thai folks – a heartfelt thanks to you for showing me the joys of tom yum goong and the Danish peeps, thank you for gravalax. Thanks to the Caribbean natives for jerking that chicken, and to the Mexicans, a huge thanks for all the things you do with beans and avocado. And a huge thanks to you all for making the effort to travel and meet me in Australia, making this such a fabulous, delicious place.

Apologies if I’ve forgetten anyone, but lastly, I’d like to thank our Middle Eastern friends, whose spice combination is the star of my favourite lamb kebabs.

A hint of the Middle East, to make your top-Aussie dinner, delicious.

Lamb mince kebabs

This is a great recipe to make now, before the good eggplants disappear and as promised, it’s another recipe that uses Allspice.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, finely diced
500g lamb mince
2 cloves garlic
1 eggplant, finely diced (peeled first if your kids will object to the skin)
1 red capsicum, finely diced
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder (I use a mild Mexican one)

Extras
Flat bread or tortillas
cucumber
tomato
parsley

Heat a large frying pan over medium/high heat. Heat the oil then add the onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes until browning. Toss in the mince, stirring constantly, breaking up lumps as you go. Continue until it is all well browned.

Don’t worry about excess fat, because you’re now going to chuck all of the eggplant into it (YUM). Mix it through really well, then also toss in the capsicum.

Finally, scatter over your spices. Keep mixing until it all gets deliciously fragrant. Lower the heat and let everything simmer for 10-15 minutes until the eggplant has melded into the mince and your kids will be none the wiser.

This is a supposed to be fairly dry mince mix so that your wraps aren’t soggy. Spoon some into a flat bread or tortilla. Top with cucumber, tomato and parsley. I won’t tell if you want to also pop on some cheese or a drizzle of yoghurt.

MIX SHOULD FILL ABOUT 10 TORTILLAS

____________________

If this looks good to you, try out my beef & lentil fajitas, or these beef & peanut rice paper rolls.

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Ideas for a fun Easter

March 27, 2013 · Filed under Craft for non-crafty parents, Food experiences, News · Tagged baking, celebrations, craft, parenting

Ready and waiting

Lordy me, wasn’t it just summer? Looking at the calendar I see that Easter has rolled around again! Bit early this year and not wedged into the middle of school holidays.

The bright side of the unusual timing is that there’s an Easter bonnet parade to enjoy at school this year. Odd celebration isn’t it. Apparently it started when the tradition was to have new springtime clothes to parade about in. The lovely new threads would guarantee you luck and abundance over the coming harvest.

Of course in Australia that tradition is ridiculous (especially since it’s Autumn), so we celebrate instead by sticking cardboard chickens on our kid’s heads and taking a heap of incriminating photos.

Easter baking is more something I can relate to. You can find my hot happy buns recipe here. This year I’ve got a couple of new things I want to try. This Easter bread looks interesting and I’m keen to try this Russian kulich recipe. Although I’m not sure what they mean by citron – I guess it’s lemon rind and then I’m planning on adding in some dried fruit too. There’s no citron in the kulich recipe listed on the ‘Orthodoxy and the World’ website, but there is saffron and vodka, which sounds a bit irresistible. And for ridiculous cuteness, it’s hard to beat these Martha Stewart chicken cupcakes.

Staying with friends a couple of years ago, they introduced us to their family tradition of drawing a picture and leaving it for the Easter bunny. It’s a tribute picture of course, featuring the magical rodent himself. It’s a cute idea and one that leads to a nice record of how your kids change and grow each year.

If it’s just a bit of colouring you want, then I’ve done up an Easter colouring-in page. There’s not a vegie in sight, but hey, there’s only one Sunday in the year when you’ve got permission to eat as much chocolate as you like, so let’s enjoy it.

A bunny, eggs and cute stuff to colour.

What happens at your place? Are you campers? Is there a particular feast? Or maybe you’re one of the fabulous people who head to church and understand was the whole celebration is really about.

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Another idea for helping your kids like vegetables

March 22, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, News · Tagged ideas, parenting, vegetables

Always keen to share ideas on this whole healthy living thing, I’m breaking my usual blog format so that I can introduce you to a fabulous woman who’s also focused on getting our kids to love vegies. Here’s the chat I had with her last week…

I love it! Vegetable school!

Who are you?
My name is Simone Emery and I own Play with Food, interactive & fun fruit and vegetable classes for 1.5-5 year olds.

Why would kids need a fruit & vegetable class?

Sometimes kids won’t even look at what’s on their plate! Getting them to EAT it seems less probable than getting them on a play date with Mr Moon. There are many paths you can assail to get your fussy eater to devour their meals (or at least get one piece to their lips).

What happens at the classes?

At our classes your child will have hands on exploration of seasonal fruits and vegetables. The classes progress week by week through different techniques that engage the child with the fruit and vegetables for that week. Yes! We lick, sip, kiss, squirt, bite, smell, suck and laugh our way through 8 weeks of classes. The classes also try to include some culprits from your child’s dislike list. For example, a popular dislike is broccoli so that usually makes a grand appearance in week one. The classes involve child and carer participation in songs, whole piece tactile exploration, activities, games and sensory engagement. The class concludes with free time to play with food. It’s a novel activity for your child to take part in that helps them develop a very important life skill, healthy eating.

What results do you get?

I just had a mum email me that their child just ate a huge amount of peas and macaroni for dinner, and she tried the tomato. These are things that just would never have happened a couple of weeks earlier.

Which kids are best suited to your classes?

Any children between 1.5 and 5 years are suited to the classes. I encourage carers to come along with their children even if they have a younger sibling that is happy to watch. The classes aren’t just for fussy eaters. Healthy eating is a life skill just like swimming and other extra curricular activities. These classes are a way to enhance that life skill and help foster healthy food appreciation.

How can people find you?

We are online at www.playwithfood.com.au and by clicking the link on our “bookings” tab you can see locations and prices. If there isn’t an ideal location or time for your class, let us know. You can request a group booking (8 children) for another area in Sydney that suits your group. Email Simone@playwithfood.com.au, if you have any other questions!

And [insert infomercial music here] you’ve got a special deal for Vegie Smugglers subscribers?

When you book an 8-week package or flexible class pass online – select “Vegie Smugglers” as your referral option on our booking form and get 10% off the listed price. This deal is valid for ALL of 2013 – more locations and classes are being researched and set-up for later dates this year. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with where we are setting up classes!

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A chocolate cake that will make grown men cry

February 18, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged chocolate, cooking techniques, treats

No, it’s ok! See! You serve it with raspberries!

Admittedly, this cake is scraping into the Vegie Smugglers repertoire on an almond-meal technicality. I considered calling it ‘adult nut cake (with rum and a block of chocolate)’ but I have to concede that it doesn’t contain anything healthy at all. The truth? It’s a flourless dark chocolate, almond & rum cake that is SO delicious that Mr VS loved me more after I made it for him on Valentine’s day.

Being a fan of all things tasty, I thought it worth sharing in case you know an adult in need of spoiling sometime soon. It starts off like a mousse cake, then after a day in the fridge becomes a sinful truffle cake that lasts several days.

The recipe is from Claudia Roden’s ‘The Food of Spain‘, but it’s not her recipe either, apparently it dates bake to Spanish cookbooks from last century.

Chocolate, almond and rum cake

150g dark cooking chocolate (best quality you can afford), broken into pieces
3 tbsp water
150g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp dark rum

Topping
50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp water
1/4 cup caster sugar
25g unsalted butter, cubed

Heat the oven to 160C. Line a 23cm springform pan with baking paper.

Melt the chocolate with the water in a double boiler (a bowl, over a pot of boiling water – but don’t let the bowl touch the water or it will burn, you just want the steam to be a nice gentle heat source – still not sure how? Watch this video).

Stir constantly and once the chocolate is nearly melted, add in the butter and stir them together into melty-awesomeness. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, almonds, baking powder and rum. Add in the melted chocolate and mix really well.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks (when you lift up the beaters, the peaks stay up in the air – if they flop to the side, they are ‘soft peaks’ and you need to beat them a bit more.

Add 1/4 eggwhites into the chocolate mix and combine in gently with a spatula. Repeat with 1/2 the remaining mix and then again until all the eggwhites are combined in – there’s an ok ‘how to’ video here about beating and folding in eggwhites).

Pour into the tin and bake for about 35 minutes until firm.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan (it will sink – totally fine).

Release the cake from the pan and transfer to a cake plate. For the topping, melt the chocolate and water as above, add the sugar and butter and melt and mix well, then pour over your cake, easing nice drips down the side every now and again.

SERVES 8 ADULTS.

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What’s your food intolerance?

January 15, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats, Vegetarian · Tagged fruit, recipe, treats

A lot of people I know have an allergy or intolerance to some kind of food. Maybe they can’t eat gluten or eggs or meat or nuts.

For me, it’s dairy. And it’s getting worse as I get older. I manage it with a combination of substitution, abstinence and patience. I understand and accept that I’ll always feel sick after eating in most (non-asian) restaurants, where it is apparently incomprehensible that you can cook without oodles of butter. And I accept that I’ll never be able to eat dessert at most restaurants since ‘dessert’ is apparently a code word for ‘cream’ with the only other option being cheese.

It does frustrate me when I have to pay extra for soy milk in my coffee. With food sensitivities being so widespread, surely a café should allow for all of the soy/skim/rice milk variants when they set their basic prices. 50c extra seems like highway robbery – it’s not like us soy latte wankers are particularly rare.

And while I’m ranting, I went to a restaurant recently that didn’t have a single vegetarian main meal on the menu. And no, waitress, fish is actually meat. As is bacon. And chicken – that’s meat too. I was horrified that a pretty ritzy place wouldn’t even whip up a ‘off the menu’ option. My strict vegetarian friend had just two entrée options to choose from. Lucky she likes raw beetroot and dairy-laden artichokes.

Surely these days, all cafes and restaurants should be creative enough to offer up one allergy free option. Maybe something like this is tapioca dessert. It’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and delicious.

Proof that dairy-free, gluten-free desserts are possible!

Coconut & mango tapioca (from Vegie Smugglers 2)

7-8 cups water
2/3 cup tapioca pearls
400ml coconut milk
2–3 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

To serve:
Sliced mango and banana

Add the water to a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.

Add the tapioca pearls to the water and simmer until they are mostly cooked and translucent (this can take up to an hour for large pearls). Check often during cooking; stir to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan (if this is happening, add another cup of water). Err on the side of undercooking – a small opaque centre is fine, they will finish cooking in the coconut milk (overcooked tapioca just dissolves into sludge).

Drain and rinse.

Return the tapioca to the pan with the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla. Simmer gently over low heat until warm and thick.
Serve in bowls with the fruit.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

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