A post in four courses – main

Posted on 29 February 2016 by SJPONeill

For a healthy main, I selected what I call my Lebanese Lasagne…its real name is Lebanese Kibbeh but I call it a lasagne because it has a similar layered construction and it is easier to say in company without a lot of explanations…I got the original recipe from this great little book, from the Paper Plus bargain table about ten years ago…

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The first few times I made it direct from the recipe but found it to be a tad dry so took to adding half a can of diced tomatoes over the filling to add some additional moisture. In all fairness, the original looks quite dry too so this is just me adjusting to fit my only preferences…and it has been so long since I have made this, I forgot the tomatoes…

Here’s what I used for this dinner…

For the base and topping

3/4 cup of bulgar wheat. This seems to hide in different parts of the supermarket, even between branches of the same chain so you may have to hunt for it.

450 grams of quorn…I didn’t know what it was either but found it when I was looking for a vegetarian alternative to meat mince…it was easier to find in the Levin New World than bulgar wheat…it’s not cheap but was worth it for an experiment and I still have a little left over to try in something else…

1 large onion grated.

15 grams butter, melted

salt, pepper to flavour

For the filling

2 tablespoons of chili oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 tomato, finely chopped

250 grams of button mushrooms as an alternative to the mince in the original recipe

1/2 cup of pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon of allspice

For the dressing

200 ml of greek yoghurt

2-3 teaspoons of crushed garlic. I used the store-bought stuff in a jar as it was there and needed to consume it

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint. Actually I forgot this as i was too busy chatting to my guest as I was serving up…it’s not like we have a shortage of it here.

Other stuff

1 cup of brown rice. I have oodles of white rice but have been wanting to try brown rice for a while with an eventual intention of switching entirely to it from white rice…just need to find a good (cheap) supplier…

This dish is quick and easy to make, even with the non-meat variations. I made it up the previous day in case prep time on the day was limited due to unforeseen work commitments.

Heat the over to 190 degrees

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I wasn’t sure what I would find on opening the packets of quorn mince. It just looked and felt like cooked mince…a bit of an anti-climax really…here is is mixing in with the bulgar wheat and onion…

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The other main alternative to meat mince was good old button mushrooms…I got the recipe from the Thanks For The Food blog…like the quorn, it was amazingly simple and anticlimatic. As suggested in the recipe, I fried the diced mushroom in chilli oil before following the other steps…

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Once the mushroom was mincified, I added the pine nuts, diced onion and tomato, and the allspice. I added the diced tomato to add to the distinction in flavour and texture between the base and the filling – as above though, it wasn’t enough to offset the natural dryness of the recipe. I also meant to dice and add the remaining peppers from my stuffed pepper experimentation but this was also forgotten in the flow of conversation…

I also added a dash of salt and a goodly amount of ground pepper which gave the filling a nice and occasional tang…

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Add half the base layer to a greased baking dish, before adding the filling evenly over the base. If I had remembered the can of diced tomato, it would have gone over the filling.

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Smooth the remaining base over the filling.

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Baste the melted butter over the top. Next time – if I remember – I’d like to try a final topping of non-dairy herby cheese…

Place in the oven and switch to fan bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

It’s now that I drop the rice into the steamer with a little salt. it takes about 40 minutes too as, perfect world, the lasagne and rice will be ready at the same time.

In the meantime, mix the crushed garlic, sour cream and mint together in a small serving dish. Ideally I think this should be done the night before to give the garlic and mint a better opportunity to battle it out with the sour cream flavour…

Slice up the lettuce.

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A cross-section after our two servings were plated…

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Plated ready to go…

A post in four courses – aperitif

Posted on 28 February 2016 by SJPONeill

A friend got onto a course north of here at short notice and said she’d drop in for tea and a catch up on her way home…she’s rather careful with her diet which put a line through some other menu options: a great reason though to explore further along the green journey…

This ‘summer’, up on the Plateau anyway, we seem to have a three to five day cycle of summer(ish) weather followed by two to three days of not-so summerish weather…Wednesday was right on the cusp of the change: I planned on summery for the menu with a less-summery option in my back pocket…

Summer lasted the whole day so the Plan A aperitif was greenlighted…this was an easy one for my as it is what I have most nights when I get home, with something more substantial later in the evening…

Smoothie group photo

The makings are all very simple and flexible: my staples are the ginger, flaxseed and coconut water: the natures of the juice, fruit and green may change depending on what is available at the time:

a tablespoon of flaxseed/linseed. This adds a nice texture to the smoothie and is apparently healthy as well. Bought a big bag for not much at Hardy’s in Taupo – keep it in the fridge.

200 mls of juice. I usually use the Keri Premium Spicy Tomato Juice but the pineapple juicy was on special so I bought a bunch of it – I suspect from the lack of floaties that it is more processed than I like so once it’s ALL gone, it’ll be back to spicy tomato juice until winter when bulk carrots are available. On occasion, I buy cheap fruit, juice it and freeze it until needed – just have to remember to take it out a few hours before smoothie time so it can thaw to a slushie-like consistency.

200 mls of coconut water. In the absence of this, just normal filtered water (no additives in our water) and I’ll also use normal water to top the unprocessed ingredients up to the Max line in the smoothie jar.

Half an apple, cored. I’m not actually sure that it achieves anything taking out the core as there doesn’t seem to be any difference to notice when I forget. It’s probably more important to remember to remove the little sticker from the outside…the same weight of pears, pineapple, or other juicy fruit also go well.

Half an orange, or a similar weight of mandarins, or tangelo. I quarter it, and cut off the peel, squeezing any remaining juice into the smoothie jar – a little peel left on never hurt anyone and I never worry about removing pips: it doesn’t hurt the flavour and the surgery wastes too much juice…

A thumb-size piece of fresh ginger. Dice this up into littler bits…I don’t worry about the skin or knobbly bits: they are get combined in the processor…

A bunch of spinach…or silverbeet, or cabbage, or other greens. I chop off the rooty bit and normally halve the length so it fits better into the jar…

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Almost ready…

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Just about forgot the flaxseed…

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Ready to go and gone…only needs about 30 seconds of processing…

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Ready to drink…although on this occasion, I decanted it out into a couple of glasses over an ice cube base…

Refreshing on a summer afternoon…

A tale of two peppers (Part one)

Posted on 14 February 2016 by SJPONeill

New World Taumarunui had bulk bags of capsicum for $4.98 last week – without really thinking about it – such a good deal, normally they are around $2 each – I grabbed a bag, with a vague vision of pizza toppings…that vague vision morphed into a notion of stuffed peppers and from there into dinner via the recipe here…

It’s pretty simple – possibly too simple…

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Drop 250 grams of mince into a pan- the recipe says beef mince and only 25 grams, but I used pork mince because I had some handy and increased it to 250 grams figuring the ’25’ was a typo…

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Cook until the mince in brown, breaking up any lump, and add a jar of bolognaise sauce – I used a jar of pasta sauce that someone had left here – I would make my own normally – and simmer until the liquid has evaporated off leaving a thick sauce… DSCF9587

Cut three peppers on half lengthways leaving the stalks: they don’t do anything useful but look good…

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Spoon the thickened sauce mix into each of the halved peppers and top with cheese – I had grated mozzarella available so used that – I think it would work better and provide an evener topping using slices of cheese…

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Bake at 180 degrees until the cheese is browned – I forgot to take a pic of the peppers as they came out of the oven – these ones have been in the fridge for a day and don’t look as good as when they were fresh baked…

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I served mine up with chunky air-fried kumara and potato wedges…tasted good but the sauce was still quite runny but very strong. I think that it needs more substance to be thicker…my next go-round will be based on this recipe which overcomes these shortcomings and also does it with red wine which cannot be a bad thing…

Happy Endings | The Daily Post

Posted on 11 February 2016 by SJPONeill

Tell us about something you’ve tried to quit. Did you go cold turkey, or for gradual change? Did it stick?

Source: Happy Endings | The Daily Post

Not so much quit as change for this one…generally I go for gradual change: hard hit cold turkey might give an immediate result but all too often the shock effect boomerangs and undoes the original good. Like gyming and other things, the trick is to make the change a habit, something so natural that you think when you don’t do it…

I’ve always eaten relatively healthily but there’s always room for improvement. Around Christmas, I was messenging with Bubble in the US, just chatting and this is where the seed was sown…

Me
Aaahh…nothing quite like coming down to the wafting aroma of fresh bread…

Bubble
Mmm bread
I caved and had some sprouted grain toast. Amazing

Me
Healthy bread is OK…just not that horrible commercial white stuff…
The more lumpy bits the better…

Bubble
That looks amazing.

Me
…should have proper fresh yoghurt up and running…am doing it out of a packet now but want to get a proper culture up and running…

Bubble
I wanted to attempt to make my own coconut yoghurt, apparently you can do it by mixing in probiotics with coconut cream and incubating in the oven!

Me
Great minds!! Was coconut yoghurt (from a packet) that I made last night…very nice taste and texture…like coconut in cooking a lot…

Bubble
So is it dairy free the yogurt?
Don’t get me wrong I love dairy but I realised I was having a lot. Have you seen Cowspiracy? Very interesting

Me
Just had a look at the packet…milk power-based so ‘no’ but same here…looking to reduce not eliminate dairy…soy in a cuppa would be heresy!!!
Plus think I have mastered the bannoffee breakfast drink now and must have milk for that!!
Will have a look for Cowspiracy…
It’s all about healthy choices in food and exercise plus it’s good to make things at home rather than rely on store-bought the whole time, even if it is some extra work and usually not as cheap…as above, you can’t beat waking up to the smell of fresh bread…

Bubble
Sometimes milk is needed (e.g. nice cafe latte) other times vanilla almond milk is great (smoothies, cereal and instant coffee!)

Working on the principle that a change is as good as a holiday, I picked up a litre of almond milk on my next foray into the supermarket. My first impressions were not confidence-inspiring it made the taste of everything way too nutty, even just a dollop in a coffee. Perseverance is the secret of success though and I bought some more on my next resupply – that first one must have just been a dodgy batch because that too-nutty taste didn’t recur…

More on Cowspiracy in a follow-on post but I should say that I’m not a member of the culinary tinfoil hat brigade…the attraction of this change for me was more the culinary challenges that come from reducing, maybe even removing, a major food group, dairy in this case from my diet…Great Goudas, Batman! How will I get by without cheese, ice cream and yoghurt…?

So six weeks into the experiment, I haven’t bought any milk since but needed a (small) bottle of cream for my Pour Some Sugar On Me post and have had a milkshake with lunch at Pihanga twice…so far so good…oh, yes, and I mozzarella’d up an otherwise healthy pizza too…

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To be continued….

Pour Some Sugar on Me | The Daily Post

Posted on 10 February 2016 by SJPONeill

Source: Pour Some Sugar on Me | The Daily Post
What is your favorite sweet thing to eat? Bread pudding? Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? A smooth and creamy piece of cheesecake? Tell us all about the anticipation and delight of eating your favorite dessert.

I like dessert and while I am probably to be the first of the group to opt for dessert when dining out, I’m more a savoury than sweet kinda guy…that being said, this prompt could have only one response…a family favourite, our butterscotch pudding…

What really floats my boat with this one is the crunchy caramelised crust that goes so well with cream and, if available, ice cream – if you have to choose between one or t’other, go for the cream…When it is about three-quarters done the caramel flavour will waft across the living area from the kitchen, building anticipating…I normally drop it in the oven just before serving up the mains – the bake time provides just enough time to eat the main, enjoy some good conversation and let the previous course settle before serving it up…

Now, yes, I did make this one specially for this post – none of that “here’s one I prepared earlier” malarkey – and, no, it doesn’t mean that I fell off the dairy-free wagon…just jumped off to quickly check the tyres…

What you need

1 cup of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder (or just use self-raising flour if you lean that way)

60 grams of butter melted, 30 grams of butter

1/2 cup of milk

pinch of salt

1/2 cup of sugar (sounds like a lot but the original recipe demanded a full cup)

2 tablespoons of golden syrup

2 cups of hot water

What you do

Heat the oven to 180 degrees

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar milk and melted butter together.

Pour into a greased pan.

Mix the hot water, golden syrup, and 30 grams of butter together until the syrup and butter have dissolved into the water.

Pour this over the dough in the pan.

Fan bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and crusty on top.

Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for five minutes

Serve with cream and ice cream (vanilla preferred). Now, this being a (probably temporarily) dairy-free home, a couple of minor issues arose. As a part of a related programme, we had, at some time last year, replaced the the white sugar with raw sugar. Shouldn’t make a difference and didn’t but adds to the “it’s healthier” ambience of the dish…

There was also no cow in the fridge…only varieties of not-cow milk…vanilla almond milk volunteered to take the plunge and in it went…also didn’t make a difference to the finished product…a good lesson learned…

This is the most popular dessert in this household and production is only second to the dateless/sauceless version of Dinner Dates that I knock up when attacked by the late night dessert munchies…the recipe will happily feed six people and has been doubled with a good result…It freezes well and the source caramelises even more when reheated…a real winner and now done healthier…

Live to Eat | The Daily Post

Posted on 9 February 2016 by SJPONeill

Some people eat to live, while others live to eat. What about you? How far would you travel for the best meal of your life?

Source: Live to Eat | The Daily Post

I love good food but if I was travelling any distance for it, it would almost definitely be about the company, not the food…even if it was a gratis meal at a top restaurant or a weekend at one of the more exciting food fairs, the company would still be the key…

I had a great breakfast at Kokako when I was in Auckland recently…a brilliant vegetarian combination and only five minutes walk from my hotel…but the company made it…

Their photo…we were too busy eating and chatting to pic…

Walking from Otaki Forks to Field Hut is the furthest I have walked for a meal – and through a blizzard to boot…

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…but it was still about the company…

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To consider the question, if you can make good food, you don’t have to travel far for good food; while one might enjoy one’s own company, that only goes so far…I would only go so far simply for a meal…I would go a long way for a meal in good company…

…the venue need not be that flash…

RNZIR Sect Comd Cse 1993 08

…so long as the company compensates…

RNZIR Sect Comd Cse 1993 19

Humble Pie | The Daily Post

Posted on 15 December 2015 by SJPONeill

Tell us about a time you found out after the fact that you’d been mistaken and you had to eat a serving of humble pie.

Source: Humble Pie | The Daily Post

Once upon a time…

…I thought that coffee bags were one of the greatest solutions to problems that didn’t exist…

…but I love my coffee…

…and I’m always a sucker for a competition, more so if it doesn’t require much else from me than liking or commenting on a Facebook page…

Imagine my surprise to find myself the proud owner of six boxes of Jed’s #5 “bean bags”…extra strong….mmmmm…. DSCF9025

Comes in a simple biodegradable box… DSCF9402

Tear-open foil bag…not quite so biodegradeable…but that’s the price of sealed-in flavour…there aren’t actually bean inside but fine ground grounds…

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“Bean bag” with a dunky string attached…haven’t broken one so far…the ‘trick’ is apparently to give the bag a little pinch/squeeze once it is saturated to facilitate the transfer of flavour…
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All done…ready to go…

I must humbly admit that having now tried these “bean bags”, they are pretty damn useful…rich, full flavour…plunger coffee without the mess…and handy for on the road…

One my free stash runs out, I’ll be adding Jed’s bean bags to the shopping list…

The Power of Touch | The Daily Post

Posted on 12 December 2015 by SJPONeill

The Power of Touch – Textures are everywhere: The rough edges of a stone wall. The smooth innocence of a baby’s cheek. The sense of touch brings back memories for us. What texture is particularly evocative to you?

Source: The Power of Touch | The Daily Post

Texture…more than meets the eye…

Juicing versus blending….

Juice is smooth and drinkable, like water….blended oozes with pips and bits…

Here’s where the texture goes…

Trio | The Daily Post

Image

What comes in threes? Submit an image for this week’s photo theme, Trio.

Source: Trio | The Daily Post

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Three burgers = company’s here!!

Lovely Leftovers

Posted on 15 September 2015 by SJPONeill

Friends came over for dinner last Monday night.

Our main was baby roast armadillo meat loaf with a four vege (potato, kumara, carrot and parsnip – it would have been five but I forgot about the pumpkin in the fridge – mash, and a cabbage and tomato side season with a couple of tablespoons of minced galangal from last winter’s garden. I misread my recipe for the meatloaf (modded from The Pioneer Woman’s original) and forgot to double the spices so it wasn’t as sharp as it usually is…

The galangal brings in a nice earthy flavour that is quite distinct from other spices…try some: it grow well here…perhaps a little too well as it is quite aggressive in the garden and needs to be grown in an enclosed pot. The root is similar to ginger but more fibrous – definitely something that you want to mince in someone else’s blender…

This fed four of us for dinner: Melissa took some meatloaf home for sammies and I still had enough for two more meals like this: