Condensed Coconut Milk

Condensed Milk is often an ingredient in ice creams and cheesecakes. I don't ever buy it because it's way too full of sugar, and the wrong sort of sugar too. By the wrong sort, I mean high fructose corn syrup.

Most big food companies have replaced normal sugar with this insidious ingredient.  It is cheap, 25% sweeter than sugar (but they didn't reduce the amount) and is highly addictive.
High Fructose Corn Syrup or HFCS is made by using enzymes to convert the glucose in corn syrup into fructose.

Fructose is absorbed and used differently to sucrose, or regular sugar, in the body. Without the fibre and pulp from fruit (where fructose is normally found) to balance out the sugar content, fructose heads straight to the liver and triggers a process known as lipogenesis - the production of lipids, or fats. This makes it a major cause of liver problems such as fatty liver and worse. It also spikes blood sugar and can lead to overproduction of insulin. This constant increase can lead to insulin resistance, obesity and Type II Diabetes. If you would like to learn more, watch "The Men Who Made Us Fat" on ABC on Thursdays. It runs for three nights over three weeks, but I believe it will be available on iView for a while.

Anyhoo, I found a recipe for a large quantity of biscuits that needed a tin of Condensed Milk. I don't trust anything from the Nestle company, so decided to make my own. Just for a change, I thought Coconut Condensed Milk might be a nice change. I looked at Quirky Jo's recipe (http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/dairy-free-condensed-milk-dulce-de-leche.html), but ended up doing it a little differently.

Here's my recipe:

Coconut Condensed Milk
2 x 270ml Ayam Coconut Cream (I can't guarantee good results if you use another brand)
70g coconut syrup (you could swap out with 100g maple syrup as Jo does, or 70g coconut sugar)

Place into Thermomix bowl and cook on 100/speed 3/60 minutes. Then repeat for a further 10 minutes on speed 4 at 100. Transfer to a bowl or jar to cool. I ended up with over 300g of condensed milk.

There is a definite coconut taste, but the biscuits it was used for didn't taste of coconut. That recipe will be posted next.

Megan

Healthy Wheat Free Waffles

This recipe is based on Quirky Jo's Blender Batter Waffles. I substituted the brown rice for a blend of different flours. My recipe isn't totally gluten free, due to the barley and rolled oats, but it is dairy free.

The batter also makes great pancakes. We had these waffles for breakfast in the morning with butter and fresh strawberries, then dessert the following night with ice cream and berries or Maple Berry Sauce.
If you're looking to cut your fat intake, serve with yoghurt (add a touch of honey and vanilla) and berries.

As Jo says, you can swap out anything for the brown rice as long as the total amount is around 250g.
It's a blender batter because instead of adding almond milk, you make the almond milk with the batter. It's important to make the batter at least 8 hours before using as the starches are best soaked to help aid digestion by breaking down phytic acid.

If having for breakfast, start the night before, for dessert, start in the morning.

Blender Batter Waffles or Pancakes

250g brown rice (I used 35g amaranth, 65g buckwheat, 70g rolled oats and 80g pearl barley)
30g raw almonds (or raw cashews)
300g water
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
30g macadamia or coconut oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Add rice to Thermomix or food processor and blitz on speed 9 for 1 minute or so until fine. Add water, ACV, oil and vanilla and blend for 30 seconds on speed 9.
Cover and leave overnight to stand at room temperature. Or place in a glass bowl, cover and leave on the bench overnight.
When ready to cook, reblend for 1 minute on speed 9.

Add:
1 large egg (optional)
Blend for a minute on speed 9. Preheat waffle iron and add raising agents and blend again for a few seconds:

2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bi carb soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Bake until crispy or use to make pancakes. Serve with butter or cream and maple syrup or with ice cream and berries.

Maple Berry Sauce
1 cup frozen berries (I like blueberries)
1 - 2 Tbsp of maple syrup

Place in saucepan and simmer gently until blueberries are totally defrosted and syrup thickens a little.
Enjoy!

Megan
p.s. I've made these a number of times with different seeds and grains and they're always fantastic. I can't recommend this recipe enough, it's foolproof! My husband loves them.

Hayfever = Gluten and Dairy Free Diet

October is hay fever month here in the bush. The rye grass is playing havoc with everyone's sinuses, including mine.
Today is horribly windy, making it a hazard to even step outside without covering my nose and mouth. Every time I head out, I tie a tea towel around my face and look like a bandit from a bad western movie.

Previously, when I suffered hay fever for months on end, a naturopath recommended a gluten, dairy, sugar and yeast free diet. This was way back in the 90's when it was nigh on impossible to buy anything that was gluten free. I lost kilos because I couldn't eat anything. I managed to stay on this restricted diet for 6 whole months and didn't suffer from hay fever again for years and years.

It returned with a vengeance around this time last year and lasted the whole month. This year, I'm going on a self-imposed gluten and dairy free diet to see if it makes a difference. It's so easy these days and especially easy if you have a Thermomix.

Recipes are easy to find and ingredients are readily available, even in stupidmarkets.
The first place I will search on the internet for good GF and DF recipes is Quirky Jo's blog. She has an amazing array of ideas and recipes and is a mine of information.
I also like Forum Thermomix (the first and the best) for ideas and help with recipes and ingredients.

Today, I made a GF bread using my own recipe and Jo's Buckwheat and Almond Crepes/Tortillas
The bread has just gone into the oven. The crepes worked brilliantly - they're cooked in the sandwich press!
I used two together for my chicken wrap:

They were super soft and easy to roll. Because they were quite thin, I used two together. As crepes, they would be just as delicious.

I'm not a big dairy eater anyway - except for cheese! I love Jo's Cashew Cream as a replacement for regular cream. Cashews are very nutritious and are quite sweet, so work well in this way.
I drink soy milk - a left over habit from when I was dairy free for six months. One thing I could never go back to was cow's milk. Can't stand the smell or taste. I also like Cashew and Almond Milk, but find that soy is better for menopause symptoms. Nut milks are good for custards and sauces, though.

Hopefully, my hay fever symptoms will be fewer and less severe this season. I'll report back!

Megan

Almond Cashew Milk

As mentioned in a previous post about dairy free alternatives, I make my own nut milk which I use primarily for hot drinks.

I've come up with the best recipe, I believe that looks very similar to milk and won't separate in my tea or coffee.

Cashew Almond Milk
30g raw almonds, skin on
30g raw cashews
960g filtered water
1 Tbsp coconut oil
30g Maple Syrup
1 tsp lecithin granules*
1/2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda**

Place nuts into TM bowl and grind on speed 9 for 20 seconds.
Add remaining ingredients and cook on 60 for 4 minutes at speed 4.
Gradually turn up to speed 8 and blend for 30 seconds.

Place a large square of muslin or cheesecloth into a mesh strainer and strain over a jug. Squeeze gently to extract all liquid.
Pour into bottle and refrigerate. Keeps for about 4 days.

*The lecithin granules are available at Health Food Stores or at www.2brothersfoods.com. The reason for adding is to assist with stopping separation in the bottle.
**The bi-carb increases the alkalinity of the milk, helping the lecithin in preventing separation in tea and coffee, both of which are acidic.

Curried Sausages

"They not fancy, but they cheap!"

I can just hear Luigi saying this. Sausages certainly aren't fancy and sometimes they're not that cheap, but we all love a good sausage casserole in this family.

My Aussie-style curries all have pretty much the same base ingredients. We like them sweet/savoury and warm to hot. I like to use good butcher's sausages when I can get them. Our local store sells butcher made sausages and they're very good quality, nice and meaty. I can't abide those supermarket excuses for sausages that are little more than cereal and seasonings in a sausage casing.

This is a Thermomix recipe but can easily be converted to a casserole on the stove. I've put it into two stages as one is steamed, the other cooked in the bowl.

Curried Sausages
The Bush Gourmand

Serves 4
Stage 1 ingredients
1 onion, peeled and quartered
30g sunflower oil
2 tsp curry powder
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon.
400g stock or water with 2 Tbsp TM veggie stock
1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced
450g - 500g mixed vegetables (I use 2 carrots, a turnip, beans, frozen peas and corn)
1/4 - 1/2 cup fruit chutney
3 tsp cornflour


Place onion and oil into TM bowl and dice on speed 5 for a few seconds. Scrape down and add curry powder.
Sauté for 4 minutes at 100C on speed 2 .
Add stock, veggies, apple, lemon and chutney. Test for salt and add if necessary.
cook for 15 minutes at 100C on reverse, speed spoon.
Add cornflour mixed with a little water and cook for 1 minute.
Transfer to Thermoserver.

Vegetables in Thermoserver

Stage 2 ingredients
500g -700g sausages
3 small potatoes, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes or 100g rice
Extras if liked: 1 diced banana, tomato paste, apricot jam (2 Tbsp)

Place 1 litre of water into TM bowl (not need to rinse) and insert basket. Add rice or potatoes to basket and place lid on bowl without MC. Place sausages into Varoma bowl and/or tray if using more than 500g, cover and fit onto lid.

Sausages ready for steaming

Cook on Varoma for 15 to 17 minutes or until rice or potatoes are cooked, but still a little firm.
Remove sausages and potatoes. Add potatoes to vegetable mix in Thermoserver.
Chop sausages into bite sized pieces when cool enough to handle. Add to Thermoserver.

Serve with a little chopped parsley and some roasted salted peanuts.

Dairy Free Alternatives

Almond Sunflower Milk

I don't particularly like the taste of milk or cream, and have been buying soy milk for years to have in my tea and coffee.
It's expensive! And I waste a lot by taking my carton to places and forgetting it...

So,  I've decided to try some different sorts of milks that I can make at home. The recipes come from Jo Whitton, of Quirky Cooking fame.

First I made her Rice-Almond Milk. It was quick and easy in the Thermomix and I quite enjoyed the taste. Today, I made Almond and Sunflower Milk. I really like this one, it can be frothed in the Thermomix or with a stick blender. It does separate in the fridge, but comes together with a quick shake.

I've change the recipes a little, just to suit my taste.

Rice Almond Milk


50g brown rice
Place in a clean, dry Thermomix bowl and grind for 1 minute on speed 9

Add:
40g raw almonds

Grind on speed 9 for another 30 seconds.

Add:
960g filtered water
2 Tbsp coconut oil
30g maple syrup
2 Tbsp liquid lecithin (optional)

Cook 6 minutes, 60 degrees, speed 4.
Blend for 30 - 40 seconds, gradually moving dial to speed 8.
Strain through muslin placed in a strainer. Decant to bottle and refrigerate.

Almond Sunflower Milk


50g raw almonds
50g sunflower seeds

Grind in the Thermomix for 15 - 20 seconds, speed 9.

Add:
960g filtered water
2 Tbsp coconut oil (grapeseed, rice bran)
30g maple syrup (20g honey)
pinch sea salt
2 Tbsp liquid lecithin (optional)

Cook for 4 minutes, 60 degrees, speed 4.
Blend for 30 - 40 seconds, gradually moving dial to speed 8.
Strain through muslin placed in a strainer. Decant to bottle and refrigerate.

In both recipes, the nuts, rice, seeds can be pre-soaked in water overnight of for up to 24 hours. Then simply blend with other ingredients on speed 9 for 2 minutes. Proceed with cooking as per recipe.

I enjoyed a cup of Crio Brü with my freshly made Almond Sunflower Milk and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

And, waste not, want not, I added the leftover wet grounds from the Rice Almond Milk (200g) to a loaf of spelt bread that I was making. I added an extra 100g flour and 1/2 tsp yeast to make up for the extra liquid.

The leftover grounds from the Crio Brü go into the oven to dry out. They are then made into my extra special exfoliating Spiced Crio Latte Soap in my other life as Skinflint, maker of skincare products.
www.skinflint.com.au

Megan

Crio Bliss Balls

Instead of regular truffles for an Easter treat, I thought it would be nice to make something a little healthier. Inspired by Tenina and Quirky Jo, I turned to cocoa beans. Jo uses raw beans and Tenina, the roasted Crio beans. I'm a fan of Crio beans and have a couple of packets in my cupboard, so I've come up with these Crio Bliss Balls.

They are dairy free, low in processed sugar and will keep you going all day with the slow release of energy that Crio Brü provides.

Crio Bliss Balls
220g roasted hazelnuts (I get them from 2brothersfoods.com)
85g Crio Brü ground cocoa beans
Thinly peeled rind of one orange, in strips
2 tsp Cointreau
20g raw sugar or rapidura
250g Medjool dates (fresh dates), de-seeded

3/4 cup dessicated coconut
Toast coconut in a ceramic or pyrex dish in the microwave. Use 3 or 4 x 30 second bursts and stir well in between. Cool.

Place hazelnuts into TM and blend on speed 8 for 20 to 30 seconds.
Add all other ingredients, except coconut and process for 10 to 15 seconds on speed 9.
Check for consistency and process in 10 second bursts if needed.
Do not over process or the nuts will release their oil.
Roll into balls and roll in toasted coconut.

Variations
Instead of orange rind, try a teaspoon of pure vanilla. Add Crème De Cacao instead of Cointreau.
Use any other toasted nuts such as almonds, pecans, cashews or walnuts. Try using maple syrup instead of sugar if using walnuts or pecans.
Use salted nuts for a different twist.
Add a pinch of chilli powder.
Remove some of the Crio Brü grounds and replace with an equal quantity of Crio Brü chocolate coated cocoa beans.
Roll in melted Belgian Chocolate instead of toasted coconut.

Salad Niçoise

As many of my blog followers would know, I love to re-create meals that I've had when I go out to eat.

I recently spent some time in Perth and enjoyed a number of delicious meals. On the way home, we stopped for lunch at the Rainbow Cafe in Williams where I had Salad Niçoise. (pronounced nee-swahz)

I was a little disappointed as their wasn't much flavour in the dressing and everything was very cold, so today I've made my own version. I've adapted a recipe found at taste.com.au .

My version includes the anchovies in the dressing rather than as part of the salad and I added cucumber to the salad. I cooked the eggs, potatoes and beans in the Thermomix. They can easily be cooked on the stove. Simply pop the beans into the hot water after the eggs and potatoes have cooked.
If you have kipfler potatoes, they're the best for this, if not, baby potatoes will suffice.

Megan's Salad Niçoise
Serves 2

2 small cans Tuna in oil (less dry than the ones in springwater or brine)
4 chat potatoes, halved
2 eggs
small bundle green beans, topped tailed and cut in half
cucumber, chopped
tomatoes, chopped
Lettuce, in small chunks

Dressing
1 shallot (I didn't have any, so left this out)
1 clove garlic
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp White Balsamic or White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
120g EVOO
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves or about 2 1/2 Tbsp of Basil Paste
4 anchovies
20g agave syrup or 2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper

NIÇOISE DRESSING:

Place everything in the Thermomix and blitz on speed 9 for about 15 seconds. Scrape down and blitz again until homogenized.
Pour into a jar.
You can rinse Thermomix if desired, but it's not necessary.
Fill Thermomix bowl with cold water to the litre mark. Add about a teaspoon of salt.
Place potatoes and eggs in to the steamer basket and cook on Varoma for around 12 - 15 minutes. I did extra potato and cooked for 15 minutes.

Remove from basket and cool to room temperature only. Do not refrigerate until cold as this salad is best served at room temperature. Peel and cut eggs into 4.
Place beans into basket and cook on Varoma for 2 minutes. Remove and place into cold water to refresh.

Place lettuce, tomato and cucumber into large, shallow bowl. Add potatoes, eggs and beans. Place drained tuna on top of beans and drizzle with dressing.

Edited to add:

This dressing is delicious! The basil gives a really wonderful peppery aromatic flavour. I had it again today with a regular salad topped with the rest of the tuna and tossed with the Basil Dressing.

Enjoy!

Megan