20 years ago, one of my favourite snack foods was freshly roasted nuts and seeds on hot crusty bread with melted butter. I had totally forgotten about it in recent times (although I do use nuts and seeds frequently). Just out of the blue, I had a flash back and WHAM! Lunch is served.
Chop your nuts to around the same size as your largest seed.
Place the seeds and nuts into a hot, dry frying pan and toast until fragrant, stirring and moving seeds frequently to stop them from scorching.
Observations
It’s vital that you keep the seeds moving every few minutes to avoid scorching them. Once they are burnt (even in the slightest) they become bitter and will need to be discarded.
You can use ANY seeds and nuts here. I just used what I had in the cupboards.
Diabetic Note: This meal is actually quite a mixed bag. Seeds and nuts quite high in poly and mono saturated fats and because of this fat content, nut intake needs to be limited. On the other hand, there are carbohydrates in the bread, so again, be aware of your limits. Having said that, seeds and nuts are a rich sources of protein and all manner of vitamins and minerals and should be included in a balanced diet. Moderation, dear friends.
Ethical Note: The average diet of the Western society contains heavy meats in over indulgent quantities, high levels of trans fats, high levels of salt, dangerous levels of sugar and genetically modified material. While the jury is still out on some issues such as genetically modified crops, there is heaps of evidence to show our dietary habits are having disastrous consequences on our health. While this meal seems nasty on the surface, it is a smart health choice when compared to any of the forenamed components and is actually quite friendly for the environment. Seeds and nuts are generally easier to grow that other staple crops, have lower land requirements and as most are weed species, have low water needs. Smarter for you, smarter for the environment.
I do love it when friends visit. I love it even more when they come bearing gifts! A friend just dropped a pumpkin in to me and in this chilly weather, all I could think of was soup!
1 litre vegetable stock
3 cups diced pumpkin
2 cups diced potato
1 onion
½ - 1 teaspoon paprika
½ - 1 teaspoon ground cummin
½ - 1 teaspoon ground coriander
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Method
Cut the pumpkin and potato into bite size chunks. Dice the onion finely.
In a large pot, saute the onion with the garlic until translucent and fragrant.
Add the potato, pumpkin and spices to the pot and stir well to coat. Cover with stock and cook until tender.
Using a blender, stick mixer or a masher, pure the soup. If it is too thick, add a little more stock as required.
Season and serve hot with freshly grated parsley as garnish.
Observations
I have to admit that I am not a fan of boring pumpkin soup but this addition of spices really jazzed it up for my taste buds.
I have left a large variation for the spice usage depending on your tastes. Use your own discretion.
Diabetic Note: I used potatoes in this dish to introduce some carbohydrate content. If you would rather, cut back on the potatoes and have it with some hot crusty bread.
Ethical Note: This pumpkin was growing wild from my friends compost pile. Using backyard compost is better for your soils compositions and is a wonderful nutrient source for your own gardens. Ornamental gardens are nice, but consider a ground cover vegetable like pumpkin as a wonderful feature for your yard!
Note to self: I must remember to wipe down the bowl before I take photos. Excuse my messy photos! =s
I recently stumbled upon this wonderful recipe on The Sourdough Companion that makes a wonderful flat bread with leftover starter. I decided to give it a go yesterday morning with some delicious results. I served it with some crispy free ranged bacon and a sliced up omelettefor a delicious breakfast treat.
¾ cup flour
¾ cup sourdough starter
¼ cup tepid water
1 teaspoon olive oil
Method
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until a good texture is achieved. Turn out and knead lightly on an oiled bench. Shape into a ball and coat in a little oil before resting in an oiled bowl covered with a wet cloth for 30 minutes.
Preheat a frying pan with a tiny dash of oil.
Quarter your dough mixture on your oiled bench and using your hands, shape into flat rounds. Take care to avoid tearing the dough.
Cook the chapatis in the frying pan until it is golden brown and bubbling up from the heat. This will take a few minutes on each side. Prepare the next chapatis while one cooks.
Serve it hot or cold.
Observations
These were really good. I was able to roll them up to make a wrap out of my breakfast and yet they were still fairly crispy at times.
Keep them thin to avoid a doughy texture to them but take care not to tear the dough when stretching it.
Don’t have sourdough? You could probably make this by adding an extra ¼ - ½ cup of each flour and water to the dough. It doesn’t have much rise (if any) but you could add some yeast (perhaps half a satchel) to the tepid water for five minutes before mixing in.
I loved these hot but they were still good cold.
Joe took the left overs to work and heated them up with some left over pasta sauce. He said they tasted like an awesome pizza and he gave that a 5 / 5.
Try to keep your dough in a circle large enough (or small enough) to be accommodated easily in your pan. I found that over laps up the side did not cook well and made it difficult to turn at half time.
Diabetic Note: *Insert heavenly music here* Despite the flour, fellow diabetics, this dish did not blow the carb budget! I was close to blowing my Blood Glucose Levels, but I was definitely under by a few points and my serving was generous. This is well worth the effort, in my not so humble opinion.
Ethical Note: YAY. Another wonderful method of utilising my sourdough starter leftovers and avoiding ecologically damaging mass production. The closer and closer I get to avoiding supermarket shopping entirely, the happier I am.
I stumbled across this wonderful video series on the King Arthur Flour website. If, like me, you are on the DIY bread trip, you may also enjoy this series. It covers everything from how to incorporate the ingredients to importance of pre-shaping, shaping and scoring. Enjoy!
Over the last few months, I’ve tries more sourdough bread recipes than I care to admit. A few I have loved but most were terrible. The recipe I am about to share with you though has proven to be a winner time and time again and is now my basic daily bread recipe. It is adapted from Mr Ciabatta‘s recipe from the sourdough forums.
This is a standard white loaf made to this recipe. It is garnished with sesame seeds for presentation (and taste). It is served here with home made sweet pickle brinjal.
[ MAKES: 1 x 800g loaf or 6 rolls | TIME: 24 hours | COST: $2-3 ]
[ JOES' RATING: 4 / 5 | MY RATING: 4 / 5 ]
Both of these breads were made using this basic recipe. The left one is a wholemeal version while the right one is a nut version. (See variation below for more info)
Method
In a blender with a kneading tool, mix the starter, water, salt and bread improver for a minute until well mixed.
Add in the flour and mix well. Knead for several minutes until warm and sticky.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap.
Allow the dough to rest for 12 hours before folding. To fold the dough, pick up one side and bring it up over the top of itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and do the same. Keep repeating until all sides have been folded over the top. Allow the dough to rest for another few hours.
Fold the dough again and shape into loaf shape. Place in an oiled bread tin and allow to rest for another 10 hours covered loosely with cling wrap or a wet tea towel.
Bake at 190°C for 30 minutes. Turning the bread out and baking upside down at 175°C for an additional 15 minutes.
If you want to have a perfect loaf of bread, you have to observe the rest periods. Shaping the loaf and then proofing in the baking tray is a vital step in the process and can not be rushed. I leave mine over night.
My sourdough starter is made with organic white and rye flour at a 50% hydration.
Variations and Additions
I have tried a great deal of variations to this basic recipe and most have been a sensational hit. Below are some of my proven variations.
2 – 3 tablespoons of each sunflower, flax, poppy and pumpkin seeds
2 – 3 tablespoons of each diced apricots, sultanas, cranberries, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Combinations of the two above
100 g wholemeal flour, 300 g white organic flour (instead of 400 g white organic)
100 g organic rye flour, 300 g white organic flour (instead of 400 g white organic)
This dough was made using this recipe with the addition of fruit, nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg. It is pictured here during its first rest. It will soon need to be shaped and rested in a loaf pan overnight. By this stage, it has doubled in size but requires more rising.
Observations
There is nothing so fantastic as making your own bread
I usually make the dough the first thing in the morning and bake it the following morning. (I shape the dough before I go to bed so when I wake up all I have to do is bake it). This timing has allowed us to have hot fresh bread every day for the last week or two!
If you don’t have a blender with a dough attachment, you can work this dough by hand. I suspect it would take a good 20 minutes of kneading til it is warm and sticky.
This dough has not failed me once. It is always fluffy, light and delicious.
Diabetic Note: Lets just not discuss this yet. I LOVE this bread so much but it seriously has issues with my blood glucose levels. I am still trying to work out how much I can have AND keep my bloods happy. Its a work in progress…
Ethical Note: I only use organic flours. You cant expect sensational results by using crappy, bleached and over processed flour. Organic flour is not only great for you, but is also sensational for the environment. If money allows, seek out stone-ground whole flours as they are better for your digestive system. Be warned though, heavy whole flours make heavy bread so need to be used in lesser amounts (one third whole grain flour to two thirds white).
Sourdough is a slow process. It is called natures leaven as it uses the natural yeast from the sourdough starter to rise. These bubbles are formed through the sourdough fermentation process. Don’t rush this process or your bread will flop.
When I was a child, my Grandmother would make her version of vegetable soup. It was rich, hearty and full of gooey chunks of rich cheese. This is my version of her dish.
[ Serves: 6 - 8 | TIME: 3 HOURS | COST: $6 per pot ]
[ JOES' RATING: 4 / 5 | MY RATING: 4 / 5 ]
Ingredients
1 – 2 litres vegetable stock
1 cup potato
1 cup sweet potato
1 cup pumpkin
1 onion
1 tomato
½ cup carrot
½ cup zucchini
½ cup squash
½ cup cauliflower
½ cup broccoli
¼ cup green lentils
¼ cup yellow split peas
¼ cup pearl barley
2 tablespoons shredded parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Garnish
4 bite size pieces of pecorino per bowl
salt and pepper to taste
parsley to garnish
Methods
Dice the onion. Skin the tomato and put aside. Cut all remaining vegetables into bite size pieces.
In a large pot, heat a little oil. Add the onion and garlic and fry off until transparent and fragrant.
Add the potato, sweet potato, pumpkin carrot, split peas, lentils, barley and stock. Reduce to a slow simmer and cook with the lid on for an hour or two. The pumpkin should dissolve to enhance the stock while the sweet potato and potato hold their form.
Add the remaining ingredients including the tomato and simmer lightly with the lid off for a further hour or so until all vegetables are tender. The stock should thicken to the desired texture.
To serve, add a few small chunks of pecorino cheese to the bowl and cover with hot soup. Season with salt and pepper and serve with crusty bread.
Observations
This is a perfect dish for a slow cooker. Sauté the onions and garlic in a saucepan before adding them to the slow cooker with peas, lentils, barley and root vegetables and cook for 4 hours. Add the softer vegetables and cook for an additional two hours before serving.
I grew up with this soup so I know the awesomeness of the cheese in the soup. I realise it sounds exceptionally strange and I would only do it with a very strong sharp cheese such as a pepper pecorino, but the cheese melts to a chewy gooey consistency that mostly holds its form. Finding a piece on your spoon is like a sudden surprise and burst of flavour – the pot of gold beneath the rainbow. I highly recommend you try it for yourself! (So what if I had six pieces of cheese in my bowl. Who’s counting, right?)
Serve it hot for the best taste. I always make a huge stock pot full and we have it for lunches for days without anyone getting bored with it.
Diabetic Note: This soup is the very picture of hearth, healthy winter dinners. There is such a small amount of barley and potato in the meal that it doesn’t really count towards carbohydrate exchanges. I usually have it with a slice of hot crusty bread (divine for dipping!) to make sure I have enough carbs in the meal.
Ethical Note: Using vegetables in season means that they have not been shipped from far and wide (often overseas!). All the better for the economy and environment if you use local produce. Finally, organic lentils and legumes mean the very best in farming practices for sustainability and that one small purchase wont hurt the hip pocket because of their low price.
I have been watching Masterchef (Australia) since it started up for the season and have been very jealous of all the kitchen / counter space they get to create in. My kitchen is exceptionally tiny. From counter to counter it is just under 6 feet across, and about 3 feet deep. The joys of living in a small flat, I imagine. I often have several things on the go at once (I am a huge fan of multitasking and cook several meals at once) so I am very conscious of using every square inch of space.
I decided to take you on a tour of my kitchen to share it with you. I have tried to make a panorama of my kitchen for you by mashing a few photos together. Next to the stove on the left is the front door and the right side is the edge of the fridge on the edge of the dining area. As you can see on the window sill, my sourdough, sprouts and kitchen herbs loving the morning light. I have several things in various stage of cooking.
Here are the items to start making my chicken stock. Today I am using chicken wings to make the stock with. The meat will be stripped from the bones and made into a risotto of some variety (Probably chicken and leek) and the stock is made into all manner of food stuffs.
In the portable convection oven I have a loaf of sourdough bread baking. This particular recipe has been a bit of a staple at home for the last week or two and I will share this recipe with you in the next few days so look out for it, sourdough lovers!
Joe works weekends so I like to send him to work with a packed lunch. Roasted vegetables with couscous or rice is one of his favourites. Look for this recipe tomorrow.
In a dry warm skillet, toast the sunflower, flax, and poppy seeds until fragrant.
Mix the starter, water, oil and honey together before stirring in the seeds. Add the flax meal and salt, mixing well.
Add the flour one cup at a time until the dough is too thick to stir.
Pour the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough is resilient. The dough is a rather sticky dough, but it’s important not to over-flour the dough.
Once the dough is well kneaded, rest it over night in an oiled bowl, covered with a moist tea towel.
In the morning, deflate the dough, knead briefly, cut and shape into rough loaves or rolls.
Let the dough rest, covered by a moist tea towel, for 30 minutes. Shape into final loaves or rolls.
Let rise, covered, until doubled. This may take up to 18 hours.
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Bake 30 to 45 minutes.
Observations
This dough takes time to proof and rest to get good rise. Dont rush the proofing process or you will end up with a heavy flat bread.
As we like the heaviness and texture of wholemeal, I use one cup of wholemeal flour in before adding the white flour.
Careful not to burn the seeds. If you do scorch them, discard them and start again. Don’t use them or they will taint your dish.
Diabetic Note: One or two slices of this doesn’t seem to upset my blood glucose levels too much. The danger for me is to dig in when its hot and super awesome!
Ethical Note: Choose quality organic flour for quality bread results. Good for you, and good for the earth.
A few weeks ago, I spotted a photo on someone’s blog of this. Despite having spent a good half hour or so searching through my RSS feed looking for it, I couldn’t find it. If this was your idea, please speak up so I can give you the credit you deserve. As I only vaguely remembered the photo, I kinda invented the filling. It was a delicious way to start the day though, and is highly recommended!
3 wholemeal bread rolls
3 free ranged eggs
½ cup diced red capsicum
½ cup diced spring onions
½ cup grated cheddar or crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup shredded parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C
Carefully cut the top off the bread rolls and pull out about half of the stuffing.
Place layers of filling into the bottom before cracking a whole egg into the middle.
Cover the eggs with layers of filling, topping off with a layer of cheese and seasoning
Bake in oven for about 15 – 20 minutes, until the egg has set.
Serve immediately.
Observations
Our rolls dried out pretty fast, so use a cup of water in your oven to keep the air moist.
I used a folk around the edges to test if the eggs had set firm. This method allowed me to serve them while the yolks were still slightly soft.
Diabetic Note: Ohhh angry blood glucose levels were angry! This much bread did not make my insulin happy at all.
Ethical Note: We used day old and two-day old bread rolls for this. What a sensational way to use up leftovers and reduce waste! The parsley came from our garden and cheeses were locally made – added bonus points for us!
I’ve written this starter recipe out a few times in the comments sections on various posts now so I’ve decided to do it in a post so that its more accessible for people. There is something very wholesome about making your own baked goods. Its fun, rewarding, challenging and profitable. I wont bother going into the health benefits or the science behind sourdough as there is so much available on the internet about such topics.
There are many versions of sourdough starters on the net; potato starter, wholemeal / whole wheat starter, white starter, plum and grape starters – the list is long and exhaustive. While researching starters, I spent the better part of the summer looking to various internet sites for the right starter for me until I got this one.
I’d love to be able to give someone credit for this recipe, cause I sure didn’t invent it. After three failed starter attempts, the starter I am about to describe has worked a treat for me and given me superb results. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where it actually came from though, but the actual recipe is probably as old as the hills.
This start container has ample room for the starter to grow and is protected from wild yeast by a shower cap / bowl cover. This photo was taken about 5 hours post feeding and has doubled (risen) in size - note all the bubbles indicating an active healthy starter?
Mix the above ingredients well and place into a container covered by some cheese cloth or other breathable material. I use a loose-fitting shower cap style bowl cover (photo above)
Find a nice spot in your kitchen for your sourdough to sit. It will need to be in a warm spot free of drafts. Mine sits on my south-facing kitchen window.
A room with a view: My sourdough starter, sprouts and indoor herbs sit on a south-facing window sill. In the southern hemisphere, this position gets limited early morning direct sunlight, reducing the risk of over activation, drying out or scorching.
Every 12 hours, give your sourdough a vigorous stir. In a few days, you will notice bubbles forming that aren’t from the stirring. This is the tell-tale signs of your starter coming to life.
Once the bubbles have been observed, its time to feed your sourdough. You always want to feed it enough to double its weight. As we started with 100 g (total) flour and 100 g water, its time to add that same weight (200 g total between flour and water) to our starter. Mix 100 g of water into your starter followed by 50 g white flour and 50 g rye flour. Mix well and let it rest.
An active sourdough culture should be light, bubbly, and have a yeasty smell about it.
After this initial feed, you want to reduce your starter by a cup or so before each feed. Just ensure that you leave at least 1 cup of starter in your jar at all times to keep your starter going. Depleting it further than this point will weaken it and may cause the cultures to die. You can use the discarded cup or two of start in breads, pizza crusts, muffins, scrolls and pancakes. If you do not remove this starter each feed, you will soon have enough starter to fill a swimming pool. Also consider this; you must feed it enough weight to double which will soon become too costly to feed!
Sourdough pancakes are a sensational way of using up your discarded cup or two of starter culture.
Observations
A healthy active starter that is sitting at room temperature will require feeding every 12 – 24 hours. You will notice a pattern in your starter over time. Within an hour of feeding, my starter begins to grow. Within four or five hours, it will come close to doubling in size before deflating as all of the food is consumed by your starter culture. When this occurs, its time to feed it again, however, I find morning and night feeds is sufficient.
Quality flours produce quality products. If you are going to go to all this trouble, don’t cut corners. I use organic, unbleached flours that are stone ground where possible. They do cost a bit more, but the end results are worth it. (IGA Organic White Flour is about A$3 / kilo while Fundamental Foods Organic Stone Ground Rye is about A$5 / kilo. I use a kilo of each in the starter every two weeks. (Sidenote: Since switching to the rye flour, I’ve had no problems at all. I think it is worth its weight for this sort of thing.) (Pro Tip! to save time, mix 1 kg Rye with 1 kg organic white flour and store in a container. The 50% / 50% flour mixture can just be measured straight, saving time.
Quality flours create quality products.
If your sourdough doesn’t appear to be active after three or four days, discard it and try again. If your sourdough doesn’t appear to be active after two attempts, change flour brands.
I would not use the discarded sourdough starter until it has stabilised. This may take a week or two. When your sourdough is predictable, its good to use!
If you are going away, put your sourdough in the fridge. This will put it in a dormant state until you are home again. Slowly bring back to room temperature, stir, and resume normal feeding.
Remember, you want to double its weight each feeding - don’t cut corners or you will starve your culture to death. Learn to weigh your starter. To do this, get to know the weight of your container. Total container / starter weight of 400 g less container weight 100 g gives you 300 g starter. To feed this, add 150 g water, 75 g Rye and 75 g White Flour. This is sufficient to double the starters weight, giving it ample food for growth!
These delicious cinnamon scrolls were made with a sourdough starter. Note how much they grew in just 120 minutes? There is no yeast in that dough - just some precious sourdough starter.
After feeding, don’t forget to scrape down the sides of your container. This will stop mould growing in warmer, more moist conditions. Also, change your container every three or four days.
When choosing a container to house your starter, consider that you will be feeding it (doubling its weight and volume) and it can rise by as much as 150% in hot weather. Make sure you have enough room in your container for this to occur.
Look how light and airy this bread is! Who would have thought it was possible with wholemeal bread? Sourdough no knead bread magic!
Final note of importance: Try to not use cup measurements. Weight and volume are not the same. You want to have equal portions by weight, not volume. By volume, your starter will become too watery and will not be able to hold its weight or raise bread. Weight, dear friends, is the road to sourdough heaven.
I know it all seems daunting and probably a tad overwhelming at the start, but trust me – once you get started it’s an addictive process that you will just love. It’s a happy part of my morning chores. I wake up, and feed my living dependent things – the cat, the garden (water), my sprouts and sourdough. So satisfying! AHHH its good to be alive!
