shape up with food

Scrambled eggs

2010-11-07T09:49:00.000+11:00

Take 2 freshly laid eggs and beat with 1/4 cup milk adding a pinch of salt. Pour into medium hot frying pan and beat with a fork till eggs are scrambled and cooked through. Serve with toast, garnish with parsley

Chicken

2010-11-07T09:42:00.001+11:00

A tray of drumsticks or Maryland pieces make a great quick and easy meal. Simply lightly crumb chicken making sure you add chicken salt, mustard powder and garlic powder to the bread crumb mixture and pan fry in a couple of tablespoons of sunflower oil. Serve with whole steamed chats, honey glazed carrots and roasted turnips. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs. Mmm,mmm

French Toast

2010-07-15T16:46:00.000+10:00

With the hens laying so many eggs using eggs for breakfast is a must. and a very easy simple recipe is French Toast.
Put 1/3rd cup of milk in a breakfast bowl, whisk in one large egg and a few grains of salt.
Take a slice of stale bread, fruit loaf or bread crusts and dip them in the egg and milk mix.
Drop a tiny dolop of butter into a small frypan and allow to melt, at which time skewer the slice of bread on a fork, dip both sides into mix and put on frypan to cook. Once its nicely browned on one side flip it over and brown on the other side. Remove off pan and place on plate. If you make extra then you can have some for morning or afternoon tea with your coffee or tea.

Pudding recipe

2010-07-15T16:11:00.000+10:00

1 large brioche loaf, thinly sliced or fruit loaf

180g unsalted butter, softened

350g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped

10 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

100ml strong espresso coffee

1 tsp vanilla extract

700ml cream

200ml full-cream milk

Icing sugar, to dust

Warm chocolate sauce, to serve

Method

1. Spread the bread slices with 150g of butter. Alternate layers of brioche with 200g of the chocolate in a greased 25cm round spring-form pan.

2. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, coffee, vanilla, 600ml of cream and the milk in a bowl until combined. Strain through a sieve over the brioche and chocolate and set aside for 1 hour to allow the liquid to be absorbed.

3. Preheat the oven to 150°C.

4. Place cake pan on a flat baking tray and bake for 1 1/4 hours until cooked through. Set aside to cool.

5. To make the chocolate sauce, place the remaining butter, chocolate and cream in a bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water until butter and chocolate have melted, then stir gently to combine.

6. Remove collar from cake pan, dust cake with icing sugar and serve with the chocolate sauce.

winter garden

2010-06-22T18:54:00.002+10:00

what is growing in my garden now that winter has set in?
I have wild rocket lettuce growing that has self seeded and tastes just so great. there are times i just go outside and pick off a leaf or two and eat it as it is. that is the best way to eat rocket lettuce, just on its own, no dressing just fresh from the garden. love the taste!
the sorrell is growing nicely in the tub and so is the spinach.
the artichoke has huge leaves on it, never grown it before so just watching what it does as it has already produced artichoke hearts earlier on in summer.
having your own garden, be it ever so small is very rewarding.

Hollandaise sauce

2010-06-22T17:54:00.000+10:00

3 egg yolks,
2 tbs water
175g unsalted butter, cut into 1.5cm cubes,
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
Salt & ground white pepper

all ingredients must be at room temperature. Place egg yolks and cubed butter into blender and blend together till the consistency is that of a pouring level then add the lemon juice and seasoning continue blending for 20seconds more. empty sauce into microwave safe bowl and nuke on the lowest setting for 30 seconds, hand whisk, nuke, continue till mix starts to thicken then leave to stand for a minute and serve.

Growing tomatoes

2010-03-31T00:29:00.000+11:00

Growing your own tomatoes is very rewarding. If you don't have a garden then a wooden planter box is just terrific. I have used pump boxes for planting my vegies. These tomatoes have too many leaves on them and that stops the tomatoes from optimum growth

Shape up with tomatoes

2010-01-21T13:15:00.003+11:00

Living in these difficult economic times that we are living in now, I won't use the "d" word but we certainly have been in a recession, growing your own vegies is a great way of saving money and also very rewarding. Home grown vegetables have a far greater nutritional value than shop bought and also you are able to pick them and use straight away, hence losing very little vital life force and freshness.
Tomatoes are a great vegetable to eat for keeping the body in shape as they are high in GI and low in carbohydrates so can be used very effectively to shape your body up. Tomatoes have been used by Mediteranean cooks for centuries as a vegetable that forms the basis of many recipes and indeed as the main dish.
Gazpacho soup is one such recipe that uses fresh raw tomatoes, fresh from the garden, when they are plentiful in summer time.
To see a great and easy recipe for such a soup check out: http://recipesfor2010.blogspot.com/

Eazy gazpacho soup

2010-01-21T11:55:00.000+11:00

On a hot day when you don't feel like cooking, gazpacho soup is quick and easy to make.

Peel and roughly chop several cucumbers, remove seeds if the cucmbers are big
remove skin off 8 roma tomatoes by plunging into boiling water for 20seconds, skin comes off easily
cut tomatoes in half and scoop seeds out of the middle
roughly chop a Spanish onion
cube handful of stale Italian bread
Place all ingredients into a blender with the bread being the last ingredient
season to taste with salt, pepper, paprica, dash of olive oil and wine vinegar and blend till desired consistency is reached.

Ladle into soup bowl and add some crisply fried bacon pieces on top and a little cubed hard boiled egg as garnish and enjoy

Low calorie cold tomato & basil soup

2010-01-20T13:43:00.000+11:00

This tomato basil soup is a cold soup similar to gazpacho soup, but it has extra flavoring especially when you use your home grown tomatoes. This soup is low in calories, and great for the vegetarian and vegan.

Ingredients:
2 kg tomatoes
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves chopped finely
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until almost smooth, or until desired consistency is reached.
Transfer to a large saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

Eat hot or cold with crusty Italian bread

Living Culinary Herbs

2010-01-13T22:00:00.004+11:00

Place your culinary herb garden conveniently for ease of use in your everyday cooking. Your garden should be planted in the sun to promote the fastest most robust plant growth. When you grow herbs in full sun they have denser foliage and darker colour with higher levels of essential oils which provide the flavour that is wanted from herbs. When these culinary herbs are planted in a shady location their growth becomes long and lanky because the plant is reaching out for the sun. Herbs grown in shade have growth which is inferior in form and flavor and can attract insect pests that would not be a problem in a sunny spot.
When growing your basil plant in your culinary herb garden make sure to keep up the water to it as basil is a herb that grows best with plenty of water. Basil will grow even better hydroponically.

Fresh tomato & basil pesto

2010-01-12T19:53:00.000+11:00

A favourite recipe, easy to make and very tasty.

Finely chop a handful of basil leaves
Cut several roma tomatoes into small cubes
Cut a small Spanish onion into very fine cubes (or 1/2 a larger onion)
Add a dash of olive oil and season to taste
Mix all ingredients together and cover

Meanwhile get a loaf of Mama Mia's garlic bread and bake according to instructions.

When garlic bread is ready pile on the pesto mix and top with a bit of grated cheese
then pop under the grill for 5-8minutes or until the cheese is melted on top

Yum! Enjoy!

basil ~ hydroponic

2010-01-11T11:20:00.002+11:00

growing your own food is pleasurable and the best way of getting the nutrients you need to sustain a healthy body.
buying some hydroponic basil and then planting it out and keeping the water up to it is a great way to have access to basil all year round especially if you have it growing in a glasshouse or on your kitchen window sill or one of those small plastic covered 'greenhouse' frames that you put up on your verandah.
a tub of hydroponic basil has many small basil plants seeded into it and is by far the cheapest way of buying basil that is already established.
I bought my tub from my local greengrocer for $1.99 and there are at least 20 basil plants in it. I always prefer to support a small local business venture rather than a large grocery chain.

Simple Turkey Salad

2010-01-11T08:44:00.000+11:00

To start the year a simple recipe for Christmas leftovers or if you don't have turkey, chicken can be used instead

pull off turkey meat and cut long strips into bite size pieces
wash and slice several roma tomatoes
peel some lebanese cucumbers and slice finely
finely chop some chives (optional) or Spanish onion
use some iceburg lettuce leaves torn or sliced

place lettuce leaves in a bowl and add all remaining ingredients on top
sprinkle with salad dressing toss and serve

To make simple home made salad dressing:
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
teaspoon sugar
good pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
place in bottle with tightly fitting lid and shake well
refrigerate unused portion