New Years Eve Party

For New Years eve I decided to throw a little get together with some of my closest friends.

I've never gone wrong with Not Quite Nigella's recipes, so most of these are from her wonderful site.

This dessert was a last minute decision, I had all the ingredients already and just needed coconut and it just looked so darn good. It was incredible. If it wasn't for the tedious nature of making coconut butter, I'd be making this all. the. time. I've actually made coconut butter before and it took even longer than this, mainly because 1) I was using shredded coconut and 2) I wasn't adding much water to help it along. The water really is so necessary.

I did the same thing as NQN except for a few modifications, click here for the recipe. I blended 2.5 cups of desiccated coconut as last time in making coconut butter I didn't think I used enough. It starts as a flour consistency, then it lumps together and finally forms a butter like texture. Hallelujah. It only takes forever though considering you need to scrape down the sides and stop the processor ever so often to prevent overheating. Mine actually overheated awhile ago and once it gets too hot it just stops on its own. It's one from target and cost $20, I love it.

Then I added about 4 tablespoons of water, used a ripe banana, 2 tablespoons of raw honey, 1 tsp of a good quality vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Then after that was done, I added in a cup of frozen blueberries (cut in half). I also then lined a takeaway container and put it in the freezer overnight.

It has a mild coconut flavour and slightly sweet with a bit of texture from the coconut

Another dessert I made was a mango and blueberry vegan cheesecake inspired by this that is a fair bit cheaper.

The last time I made a vegan cheesecake I used a cake tin that was 8 inches in diameter that was far too big, resulting in a very thin cake. This time, I made the base and saw that a 6 inch cake tin would be better, even though the original recipe uses an 8inch.

Fo the base: I just got a packet of raw mixed nuts and separated them
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup hazlenuts (not enough almonds in the original packet).
3 cups of cut up pitted dates (woolworths brand, only $2 and tastes like medjool dates but slightly less sticky and sweet). I poured hot water over them, removed the hard skin and cut them up.

For the middle:
I used 2 cups of soaked cashew nuts (soaked overnight).
2 frozen overripe bananas (sliced)
1/3 cup of maple syrup
1/3 cup lite coconut milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the top:
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup mango
1 frozen sliced banana
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

To make:
1. Blend almonds and hazelnuts until chopped then add in chopped dates until sticky. Press into cake tin and put in freezer.
2. Blend all the ingredients in the middle layer until smooth. Pour 3/4 into cake tin (use 1/4 for top layer) Put back in freezer. One thing I did wrong was I put all my bananas in one bowl to freeze. Then put them all in the middle layer instead of reserving one for the top layer.
3. For the top layer, I blended the 1/4 left from the middle, mango, banana, blueberries and cinnamon. I left out the maple syrup and dates as it was already quite sweet from the mango. I put this back in the fridge and then blended it again. Poured it into the cake tin and I put it back in the freezer.

I think this would work if you switched up the fruits too, so maybe use a berry and another fruit that's in season. Pitted dates and frozen fruits do work though.

I found the base was way too sweet for me but I enjoyed the other layers, it has quite an overwhelming banana taste though. Next time I would reduce the number of dates in the base to 2 cups and also reduce the amount of maple syrup in the middle to 1/4 cup.

Some other desserts present included: coconut and pandan cake and rocky road. The coconut and pandan cake was extremely light and moist, not oily at all, not overly sweet and had a very mild coconut and pandan flavour. Similar texture to an airier sponge cake.

For snacks:
I also made 2 dips, both served with toasted lebanese bread.

One was NQN's tuna dip which I followed exactly. The flavours marry well together, it's perfectly balanced and reminds me of a pate (but with tuna). It has a vinegary taste which is offset by the creaminess from the residual oil (from the tuna) and the mayo. It was a huge hit

I also made this hummus recipe with some additions.

Basically blended a can of chickpeas (skin removed), save 1/4 liquid, a crushed clove of garlic and 2 tablespoons of hulled tahini. Then added 3/4 juice of a lemon, cumin, tiniest bit of chill powder, salt, 1/4 reserved liquid. I like that it doesn't have a ton of olive oil like a lot of other recipes and it's quick.

I removed the skin beforehand to make it creamier, crushed the garlic clove. My favourite hummus is still the Aldi one and an Obela brand pine nut one.

For main:

I made NQN's Singaporean noodles which was really good. I also added in quite a lot of water towards the end because I prefer wetter noodles and stirred it quite a bit to break up the noodles. I also reduced the curry powder to 3 tablespoons

I also made a watermelon, feta and mint salad. I used 1/4 of a watermelon, 50g of feta and a few torn up mint leaves. I didn't mind it but I wouldn't make it again, it was refreshing though.

Some other mains included potato puffs and these chicken bites (which had garlic butter inside)

I hope you all have a very happy new year!

Eats Of The Week #3

I should probably mention I have uploaded so many posts today because I am moving a lot of it over to this new blog and re-writing some of it. Luckily, I didn't have too many to do.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled out 2 weeks ago and I was eating a lot of scrambled eggs, lots of avocado with very soft veggies, mashed banana, oatmeal and soups that week. I've got 2 more teeth to go, the actual process didn't hurt but I would take painkillers before the anaesthetic wears off. Here's a look into some of the things I made.

I made this incredible soup. I roasted 1kg of normal tomatoes, 1 onion and 2 bulbs of garlic (had tomato and garlic left over). I then added this, 3 cups of Massel vegetable stock, 2tsp garam masala, 2tbsp tomato paste and then added light coconut milk at the end (TLC brand, which is quite good!). Then blended it

I didn't have tin toil for the roasted garlic so I put the bulbs in muffin tins and drizzled some oil on the top.

I was really inspired to make more vegan meals and desserts after visiting Sadhana Kitchen in Enmore a few weeks ago and being blown away by the raw, vegan lasagne and hazlenut cheezecake. Both tasted better than regular lasagne and cheesecake and I already have a list of similar places I want to try.

I made some zucchini pasta with a creamy avocado sauce which was essentially 1/2 a mashed avocado, lemon juice and S&P with a side of pumpkin fries. I used 2 small zucchini and a grater. This was surprisingly filling and satisfying. I do love me some avocado though, especially as a butter substitute.

I also made possibly my favourite soup, ever. It's a simple, no frills, hearty chicken & vegetable soup, which I adapted using this recipe. 

I heated 1 tablespoon of oil and added 1 sliced leek and 2 cloves of smashed garlic and stirred it for a few minutes. Then added  2 small zucchini, 1 carrot, 2 sticks of celery and let stirred it. 

Then I added 1 1/4 cups soup mix, 2 chopped chicken breasts (around 600g), 5 cups salt reduced chicken stock (woolworths select brand), 2 cups massel vegetable stock and 1 cup water. Turned the heat to high and let that boil. 

After, I reduced the heat to low and let it simmer uncovered for 1hr. At the end of that hour, I added in another cup of water as the stock had reduced a little. Seasoned with S&P.

The chicken was incredibly tender and all the flavours worked so well together. It was exactly what I needed when I was sick. It's incredibly healthy, filling, tasty, versatile and makes around 6 serves so it's quite cheap as well. I would highly recommend trying it. 

Eats Of The Week #2

Strawberry, Goats Cheese & Avocado Toast

Cut up 1 thick slice of bread (mine is a rye sourdough) but you can use just sandwich bread but please use day old bread (it's crunchier/yummier when you toast it in the oven)

Smash some avocados and layer it on the bread, cut some strawberries lengthways and place it on top then place some pieces of goats cheese on top

Pop it in the oven on high and it should be ready when the goats cheese is a golden and sides of the toast are browned.

Enjoy! It is delicious and very beautiful

Chicken & Pesto Pasta - sorry I forgot to take a picture but this is my favourite pasta recipe! Adapted from here

1. Cook 1 chicken breast (cut into smaller pieces). Cook spiral pasta (add a bit of salt to the water). Once chicken is fully cooked leave aside. Drain the pasta (leave a little liquid)

2. Heat a pan with oil, then add large tablespoon of minced garlic. After browning the garlic for a minute, add a can of coles tomatoes (mixed herb) and let it reduce down. Then add a large bowl of kale to the tomato mixture and let it simmer for a bit longer.

3. Distribute pasta into bowls. Top with tomato sauce mixture and add however much pesto you want to each and mix. Then top with ricotta and parmesan. I really like the Sacla Classic Pesto

My 21st!

I had a little party for my 21st with 8 of my closest friends. Here's what I made:

Appetisers

Spinach dip in a cob loaf:

You need a packet (250g) frozen spinach thawed and get as much of the liquid out as possible, 1 500g tub of lite sour cream and a continental spring vegetable soup sachet (I think some people use french onion too).

Mix these together and I left this mix in the fridge for a few hours.

When guests arrive, Slice off the top of the loaf, pull out the bread from the inside so it's only the case. Put the dip mixture into the hole you've made. I added some pizza mix cheese on top.

Then put it in the oven at 150 degrees celcius for 15 minutes, then put the torn bread (from the cob loaf) into the oven too for another 5 minutes.

You can also serve this cold too.

Chunky Guacamole inspired by this:

4 ripe avocados diced and slightly smushed up, 1 tomato, 1/2 spanish onion, 3/4 cup of toasted pine nuts, handful of corriander, some chopped sundried tomatoes and juice from 1 lemon. Served with corn chips but it didn't taste as good as it looked, I didn't like the lemon juice in it.

Red rock deli dips - the red capsicum dip is my absolute favourite and the thai pumpkin one was alright. Served with corn chips like the guacamole

 Roasted red capsicum, pecorino, cashews and basil dip 

 Thai curry pumpkin and cashews, tastes like pumpkin with thai spices

Main:

DIY pizza: I had everyone make their own pizza, I had a lot of toppings (way too much for 8 people), 1 bottle of tomato paste, 1 packet of pizza mix cheese and I used the mission pizza bases (my favourite but you can also use 2 sheets of mountain bread or lebanese bread ).

Toppings:

- 1 small butternut pumpkin

- 3 capcicum

- 500g button mushrooms

- 600g marinara mix

- 12 slices or so of salami

- ham

- 1 whole roast chicken from Coles which I shredded

- 1 tin of olives

- 1 can of pineapple pieces

- sundried tomato

- pinenuts, walnuts and cashews

- rocket

- feta

Pizza's from the night:

I had a lot left over so these are some of my leftover pizza combinations:

This one has shredded chicken, capsicum, some pumpkin, some mushroom, onion, olives, cheese and some feta.

This has some chicken, pumpkin, capsicum, olives, sun dried tomato, pine nuts and feta

Rocket, parmesan, walnut salad:

I used 400g of rocket leaves, 125g shaved parmesan and 1 cup of toasted walnuts and 4 ripe pears (shaved with a grater). I also made a lemon/olive oil dressing with 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice  but it didn't need it.

Make this just before guests arrive otherwise the pears go dark.

I also bought some Coles brand Garlic bread

Dessert

I had the small ricotta cheesecake from Pasticceria Papa. Possibly my favourite cake ever.

Quinoa Fried Rice

I made an adapted version of this recipe and will definitely be re-making this. This recipe serves around 4

Rinse then cook the quinoa. I cooked 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water for 15 minutes then drain whatever water is left.

Beat up 2 eggs and pour into an oiled pan (like an omelette). As soon as its in the pan start breaking it up then let it cook.  Leave this aside to be stirred in at the end

Cut up zucchini, 1 onion, mushrooms. 

Put 1 tablespoon of oil, add onion and 2 tablespoons of minced garlic (2 cloves). Then add frozen peas, corn and carrot, rinsed. Then add zucchini and mushroom. Cook vegetables until done. Finally add the quinoa. 

Add in 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, stir in the egg, add a small bunch of chopped fresh corriander, some walnuts (or any nut) for a bit of crunch and you're done. Add Sriracha sauce and season with S&P.

Serve with extra Sriracha sauce or any chili sauce.

To store: keep in an airtight container and it will last 2 days in the fridge.

I liked that this was healthy, a good way of using up vegetables, easy, high protein from the quinoa and fairly cheap/serve. 

Vegetarian Frittata

I made this vegetarian frittata for lunch today

Chop an onion, zucchini, capsicum and mushrooms. Any leftover vegetables would work though. Pumpkin would be nice

Sauté vegetables and season with salt and pepper

Beat eggs first. Then add half a cup of soy milk (rather than together as in picture)

Put vegetables in baking dish and pour egg mixture over it. Bake for 40 minutes. 

Done!

Such a great recipe when you need to get rid of vegetables as it's incredibly easy, tasty, healthy, fast and cheap. I did find it a little watery though so next time I'll drain the liquids after sautéing the vegetables some more. I'll also try it with some cheese and pine nuts on top for a stronger flavour. I might also add an extra egg in. 

Once it's cooled, wrap it in cling wrap and you should be able to store this in a fridge for around 3 days or so. 

'Ellen Burger' by Fabio Viviani

I'm always fascinated by vegan food so I thought I'd try making some vegan patties. 

Chopped 10 mushrooms and 1/2 an onion (should be red though):

Add 1 tbsp of flour, 2tsp of cumin, corriander, 3 cloves of garlic

Put this mixture in along with a bunch of parsley and a can of chickpeas

Process till you can form a patty without it falling apart (quite a lot do it until chickpeas are pretty smooth)

 5I think Fabio grills it, I panfried them until browned on both sides. Would be ok on BBQ if your patty holds up too.

Store it for later, you can use these instructions

I liked that it's healthy, has less ingredients than other veggie burgers and it was fund to mould. However, I put too much parsley in and that's all I could taste. If I re-made it, I would add the parsley in as a went. The oh she glows one also looks incredible so I'll probably try that one first.