Tag: light

Raw raspberry and coconut slice

This raw recipe of raspberry and coconut slice is out of a magazine I bought at the airport before a short flight.  There were a number of interesting recipes including this one.  I am not particularly an advocate for raw food, although I have nothing against it overall.  This recipe is straight out of Donna Hay, I am adding to it some comments and tips which mat come in handy during the realisation of these bars.

The recipe has tw main steps and requires a few hours to set after each of the main step,

Makes about 20 slices.

raspberry raw food

Ingredients:

The base:

  • 120 g (1 cup) rolled oats
  • 80  g of dry desiccated coconut (1 cup)
  • 120 g of almond meal (1 cup)
  • 65 g coconut oil (1/3 cup)  melted- alternatively use a vegetable oil such as sunflower (olive oil may have a flavour too strong for this recipe)
  • 200 g of pitted dates
  • 25 g (1/4 cup) of raw cocoa

Note:I prefer using the weight rather than volumes as depending how pack the ingredient may be in the cup, you will achieve different outcomes.  Here, it would be of little consequence though. 

The raspberry layer:

  • 750 g of frozen raspberries (you can also use  mixed berries if you run out of raspberry like me in this version) 
  • 1/2 cup of maple syrup (125 ml)
  • 50 g white chia seeds (1/4 cup)  – I only had black ones, it did not change anything really
  • 25 g of coconut oil (1/4 cup)

For decorating (optional) : 7 g (1/4 cup) freeze dried raspberries, crushed

Note on the use of coconut oil here: I wandered about the use of coconut oil in this part of the slice, I can only think that it is used to support the structure of the slice as coconut oil solidifies quite easily.  I did not have any when I made my slice, I used some cocoa butter buttons instead. They also solidify at lower temperature. If you are going to use those, be mindful to wait that the jam temperature is no more than 50 °C as coconut butter burns at higher temperature

The coconut pannacotta  layer:

  • 60 mL of water (1/4 cup)
  • 1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatine (you can use the gelatine in sheets as well, use the amount suitable to 400 mL of liquid)
  • 310 mL of coconut milk (1 1/4 cup)
  • 2 tbsp honey
Method

The order below is first for the slice base. Then, while the base is cooking, you can work on the jam filling. The pannacotta is done a few hours later to allow the first two layers to cool  down and settle.

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). To make the coconut cacao base, place the oats, coconut, almond meal, coconut oil, dates and cacao in a food processor and process for 1 or 2 minutes or until the mixture comes together.
  2. Press the mixture into a lightly greased 20cm x 30cm slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper, smoothing the top with a spoon. Cook for 20 minutes or until firm. Set aside to cool slightly.Tip –  no more than 20 min cooking.

     

  3. Place the raspberries and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15–18 minutes or until softened and liquid has reduced. Remove from the heat and add the chia seeds and coconut oil. Stir to combine and set aside for 20 minutes to cool.
  4. Pour the raspberry chia jam over the cacao base, smoothing with a palette knife. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until completely cooled and firm.

    Tip – use the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula if you don’t have a palette knife.     
  5. To make the coconut pannaccotta, place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Stir to combine and set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatine has been absorbed.
  6. Place the coconut milk and honey in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to just below the boil. Remove from heat and whisk in the gelatine mixture until dissolved. Strain and set aside to cool completely.
  7. Pour the pannacotta mixture over the slice and refrigerate for 2 hours or until completely set. Cut into bars. Top with freeze-dried raspberries to serve.

Tip for cutting: you will need to clean you knife after each slice to retain crispy white and avoid crumbs sticking to the next line of slices.  

Tip: Keep well in the fridge for 4 days.  The pannacotta will start turning pink . Don’t throw it away.  This does not affect the taste so much.

 

raspberry raw food

Baked Salmon Fillet

Find a nice piece of salmon fillet for the number of people you want to feed (ask your fishmonger) for this baked salmon fillet dish and prepare it in a gratin ceramic dish. This recipe is very easy.

Serve this with a green salad or blanched french beans. If you would like a meal a little more consistent add couscous semolina or rice.

Ingredients:

For 4 people.

  • 1 large piece of salmon fillet (bones out if possible)
  • 1 tbsp of capers
  • 1/2 red onion
  • fresh thyme,  fresh rosemary or fresh sage (your choice, if you don’t know choose what you have at home or some thyme – my favourite)
  • 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (10-15 cherry tomatoes, if you only have normal size tomato, go for two of them but in eight pieces each.
  • Olive oil
  • Rock salt (1 tsp)
  • Cracked pepper
  • in the photo above I had some chestnuts to use.  If you want to use some, incise each of them, place them one minute in boiling water, then peel and put in the bake.
Method:
  1. Heat Up the oven to 180ºC.
  2. Place a dash of oil at the bottom of your gratin ceramic dish.
  3. Place your piece of salon in the middle, the tomatoes on the side, the apers and oinion scatred all over.
  4. Put a fillet of olive oil over the dish, add the salt and cracked pepper, then herbs.
  5. Cook for about 20 minutes. The time will vary depending on the thickness of your piece and your oven. To check for doneness, use a small pointy knife and pull apart the flesh of the fish. If it pulls apart, it is ready. Salmon is beautiful when just done, that is when there is still a little pinkness in the flesh (just cooked).
  6. Remove from the oven and serve with blanches greens or a salad. Add some couscous or jasmine rice if you want something a bit more nutricious.

salmon fish cappers red onion

Baked salmon fillet

Find a nice piece of salmon fillet for the number of people you want to feed (ask your fishmonger) for this baked salmon fillet dish and prepare it in a gratin ceramic dish. This recipe is very easy.

Serve this with a green salad or blanched french beans. If you would like a meal a little more consistent add couscous semolina or rice.

Ingredients:

For 4 people.

  • 1 large piece of salmon fillet (bones out if possible)
  • 1 tbsp of capers
  • 1/2 red onion
  • fresh thyme,  fresh rosemary or fresh sage (your choice, if you don’t know choose what you have at home or some thyme – my favourite)
  • 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (10-15 cherry tomatoes, if you only have normal size tomato, go for two of them but in eight pieces each.
  • Olive oil
  • Rock salt (1 tsp)
  • Cracked pepper
  • in the photo above I had some chestnuts to use.  If you want to use some, incise each of them, place them one minute in boiling water, then peel and put in the bake.
Method:
  1. Heat Up the oven to 180ºC.
  2. Place a dash of oil at the bottom of your gratin ceramic dish.
  3. Place your piece of salon in the middle, the tomatoes on the side, the apers and oinion scatred all over.
  4. Put a fillet of olive oil over the dish, add the salt and cracked pepper, then herbs.
  5. Cook for about 20 minutes. The time will vary depending on the thickness of your piece and your oven. To check for doneness, use a small pointy knife and pull apart the flesh of the fish. If it pulls apart, it is ready. Salmon is beautiful when just done, that is when there is still a little pinkness in the flesh (just cooked).
  6. Remove from the oven and serve with blanches greens or a salad. Add some couscous or jasmine rice if you want something a bit more nutricious.

salmon fish cappers red onion

Two simple fish dishes for a light meal

Here are two simple fish dishes for light meals you can make at home very easily. And here the story goes…

Ben came home with some fish a couple of days ago, hooray!! I have been pushing off driving to the fish market to replenish our home stocks.  We do trips to the Sydney fish market every few weeks, but the idea of driving two hours (one each way, I reassure you) and missing out on a quiet day at home and a nice swim in the bay has deterred me to do the trip recently…

In the fish basket, I got some deep seabream fillets and some salmon fillets.  If you want to know more about the fish from our waters, the Sydney Fish Market has a published book which is quite good and a lot of information on species online.

The seabream is a very soft fillet and has a very delicate flesh.  The fillets are single serve most of the time.  The salmon is rather well-known, its cooking is more versatile.

Simple fish dish # 1 – Poached deep seabream with carrots

The idea of this dish is “keep it simple”! As I do not plan my meals, I had a look at what was in the fridge and those carrots were really tempting.  We had dutch baby carrots and your normal carrots.  The carrots are cooked slowly in a frypan with a little butter, a drop of water and a bit of salt (to taste) while the fish is poached separately in two centimetres of water with a little olive oil, rock salt and fennel seeds. We served it with a side salad (just lettuce and tomatoes with a balsamic vinaigrette.  The whole is ready is less than half an hour (including setting the table).

The details of the recipe can be found HERE.

fish meal

fish meal

 

Simple fish dish # 2 – Salmon with hot and cold  mix vegetables salad

This one was tonight’s dinner.  There were just three of us, so one piece of salmon was enough.  Again, here I am thinking of something light. To be honest I had no idea when opening the fridge door.  I look into the vegetables drawer and – as we all do – rediscover its content. I then pull out a little piece of red cabbage, one Brussel sprout, a sweet potato and a few more things like herbs and a piece of a pomegranate requesting to be finished soon.

There were two cooking stages, but this time all in the same roasting dish. First, the cauliflower and sweet potato first, then the fish and a little chickpeas. And finally herbs, a few crumbs of feta and some cherry tomatoes.  Over that, a dash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, a splash of lemon and dinner is ready. A table! To my surprise the children finished it all off.

The details of the recipe can be found HERE.

fish meal fish meal

Butter-free chocolate cake

This is pretty much as guilt free as chocolate cake go: no butter and pretty low sugar. What I like with this butter-free chocolate cake is that it is also much easier to digest than a traditional chocolate cake.  Why? How?  Simply by replacing the butter by very (like very) thinly grated zucchini (a.k.a. courgette).  And if you are on a gluten-free diet, you could also replace the little flour in there by GF flour.

Before you start:

  1. You need a good quality cooking chocolate (in Australia, the 70% cocoa Nestle Plaistowe is suitable)
  2. The zucchini: 200 g of zucchini and no more (a bit less is fine). I have now done the cake a few times, trialing a few variations.  The last one used 180 g of zucchini and was fine! However, if you add more (which I also did), the cake loses some of its moisture from a denser texture.  Two hundred grammes zucchini is one average size piece of vegetable.  You need to peel it and remove the ends.  Then weight it. Grate it over a bowl and make sure to keep all the juice.  I was asked the question: can you use the blender. I tried, it works, just a bit much more washing-up than the grater for little saving, your choice.
  3. The flour: the flour weight is only 50 g.  If you go for a gluten-free option, you can either use cornflour but then you need to reduce it to 35 g as corn flour absorbs more moisture than wheat flour, or use one of the GL flour mix.

guilt free chocolate cake

Ingredients:
  • 4 eggs
  • 200 g dark cooking chocolate
  • 80 g caster sugar
  • 200 g thinly grated zucchini (see note above)
  • 50 g plain flour (see note above)
  • 100 mL milk (of your choice)
Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Butter and flour well a 20 cm round cake tin.
  3. Break the chocolate in pieces and melt with half of the milk.  You can either use the microwave on one minutes settings full power, repeat if not fully melted either with 30 second or another minutes (it depends on the power of your microwave). Once the chocolate is melted, stir until smooth and silky, add the remaining milk.
  4. In a clean bowl, separate the egg yolks from the whites.  Beat the yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the zucchini (juice included).  Add the chocolate to the mix.
  5. Finally, mix in the flour.
  6. Beat the egg white to snow and carefully fold into the chocolate mix.
  7. Pour into the prepared tin.  Place in the oven, reduce the heat to 160°C after 10 minutes.  The cake should cook in 20-30 mn depending on ovens.  Remove when the centre is no longer wobbly when gently pressed with a couple fingers. Allow to cool down in the tin for five minutes before transferring to the serving dish:  turn over a metal rack and then over the serving dish.

Tip: if you have a child helping you tell them to mix in the flour and cocoa starting from the centre, always touching the bottom of the bowl , let them enlarge the circle as the centre gets darker. This technique will avoid lumps. 

Tip: wondering what happens if you don’t reduce the oven? The cake will cook quicker and can lose a little moisture but not that much, it will still be quite moist. 

And if you are wondering about the taste brought by the zucchini, I will tell that if people don’t know about it, they are unlikely to guess. Once you know, you will possibly note a taste a little more “earthy”, but, to be honest, nothing preventing the cake disappearing in minutes and for zucchini-advert kids to take a second or third helping!

guilt free chocolate cake

Fish of the week: Barramundi

Fish of the week: barramundi!

We have been getting these beautiful barramundi fillets from the Sydney fish market.  They are really big and one is enough for a family of up to six people. When  I go to the fish market, I bring a big esky bag and choose fish to freeze and stock for a month.  The choice is not completely out of random but neither is it a planned thing.  It is the second time that I buy those large barramundi fillets, they are a treat really, but what a nice one!

Today, I am sharing a dinner menu and fish recipe from the last couple days.

The Menu (dinner)

Entree – Soft goat cheese and grana padano souffle

Main – Barramundi fillets on a bed of soft onions and brussels sprouts, served with green asparagus and hollandaise sauce and side salad

Dessert – Fruit (mandarin)

The souffles were beautiful, they rose so high! And of course collapsed afterwards!  The barramundi was delicious and with the Brussel sprouts and other greens a great combination.

Cooking  the barramundi

Did I have a recipe? No.  I don’t for those types of last minute dinner challenge.  This time I somehow managed to get a semi-passable photo of the dish before my plate become cold and the dish got eaten, so finally a recipe of a savoury dish!

barramundi fish fillet

Barramundi marries very well with lemon flavours and either on of the following: four spices, coriander ground, nutmeg.

Underneath the fish, I placed seven brussels sprouts cut very thinly, half of an onion cut very thinly, 2 garlic cloves cut thinly, 15 g of butter and a cup of water.  I salted the fish on both sides and when the butter was melted, placed the fish on top, added the juice of one lemon, a few small heads of parsley, a dusting of all spices mix and reduced the heat and covered to let cook slowly.

It took about 20 minutes to cook. In the meanwhile, I was frantically getting the asparagus steamed and the hollandaise sauce (also quite lemony) prepared.

For the full recipe, click HERE.

Grilled Barramundi fillets

A good fish is very good with minimum dressing.  barramundiA previous time, I simply seasoned it with salt, a dash of olive oil and coriander grounds on top and placed it under the grill.

Next time I will use something else than baking paper as a support…regardless it was also delicious.

Enjoy Barramundi!

Barramundi fillet on a bed of greens

Barramundi fillet on a bed of greens

I love a large family dish to share. This is a perfect one for dinner.  Add a green salad to it if you are a bit more hungry.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:
  • a 750 g fillet of barramundi
  • 7 brussels sprouts
  • 2 bunches of green asparagus
  • half a large white onion
  • 15 g butter
  • Mixed spice ground (basically all spice and nutmeg mix)
  • parsley

For the (quick) hollandaise sauce:

  • 1 full egg and 1 egg yolk
  • 50 g butter
  • 3 tablespoons of just boiled water
  • juice of one lemon
  • Salt and pepper
Method:
  1. Trim the base of the brussels sprouts and cut thinly.  Similarly peel the onion and cut thinly.
  2. In a large deep bottom pan, place the butter and melt, add 1 cup of water, the onion and the Brussel sprouts.
  3. In the meanwhile salt each side of the fillet.
  4. One the water shows a little boil, place the fish on top, squeeze a lemon. Dust a little mixed spices on top and the few heads of parsley.
  5. Cover and reduce heat to half, cook gently for  minutes.
  6. While the fish is cooking, snap the bottom part of the asparagus, discard them.  Steam the asparagus until bright green and just tender.
  7. For the hollandaise, use a small size thick based saucepan and a whisk. Melt the butter in the saucepan.  Mix the egg and egg yolk with the hot water in a bowl.  Keep mixing and add the melted butter (away from the stove) and lemon juice.  Sometimes the heat of the butter is sufficient to make the sauce thicken without placing back in the saucepan and on low fire.  If this is the case, complete the seasoning adding salt and pepper.  Otherwise, place back in the saucepan and on a very low fire, whisk continuously until the sauce starts to thicken. Transfer immediately back to the bowl and season to taste.
  8. When the fish is cooked through (insert a skewer or a pointy knife through the flesh, pull aside gently, it should come apart with no effort), place the pan in the middle of the dinning table with the asparagus and the hollandaise sauce.

barramundi fish fillet

Peach and franginane tart

Make this peach and frangipane tart before the peaches disappear for 10 month! I know, I often say so, but it is true: it is another classy  easy to make dessert.

Small warning: use a bit of intuition on this recipe as I made the tart up on the moment and my quantities may need slight (not big) adjustments.  I will try to do it again soon and will edit as required.

Serves 8.

tarte aux peches et romarin

Ingredients
Pastry:
  • 120 g of plain white flour
  • 50 g of melted butter (I use salted butter)
  • ½ cup of cold water
Frangipane custard
  • 3 eggs whole
  • ½ L of milk
  • 50 g of plain flour
  • 30 g of white sugar
  • 1 to 1 ½ cup of almond meal

Note: the amount of sugar may seem small to you, it is by design.  We don’t want the frangipane custard to overpower the sweetness of the peaches. The peaches are the heroes of the dish!

Tart assembly
  • 5 peaches cut in small quarters (roughly 12 pieces per peach), skin on
  • A handful of rosemary leaves
  • ½ cup of good quality apricot jam.
Method
Shortcrust pastry:
  1. Place all ingredients together and combine.  You need to be careful here not to mix and not to work the dough but only to combine it all. Add a few drops of water at the time if necessary. Make a ball, cover loosely for ½ hour, let it rest.  If the dough is too sticky add a spoon of flour or two.
  2. When the dough has rested, roll the dough to the size of the tart shell you are using.  Transfer the dough to the tart shell.  Roll the rolling pin over the edge to trim excesses.  With a fork, make marks over the whole bottom and blind bake until slightly golden.  You can use blind baking balls if you have some (don’t forget to place a piece of baking paper between the dough and the baking stones, I forgot once and learnt a lesson!).
Frangipane custard:

Basically a custard with added almond meal.

Heat up the sugar and milk until almost boiling, in the meanwhile beat the eggs and flour together.  When the milk is hot, insert while mixing to the egg mix and return to the stove until it thickens.  Make sure the mix does not boil. It should take up to 5 minutes (depending how hot is the heat). Once you have obtained a thick custard remove from the heat and add the almond meal.  You want a thick spreadable consistency but not runny.  It will thicken a little more when cooling down.

Tart assembly:

In the blind baked shell, place the frangipane custard at the bottom. Then, starting by the outer ring, place peaches pieces in a circle. Depending on your tin diameter and the size of the peaches, you may be able to do a full second ring or use the peaches in the other direction for the inner ring (as in the photo).

Bake on 180°C until the pastry is well golden.  Once the peach and frangipane tart has cooled down, transfer to the serving dish.  Heat up the jam and with a brush “paint” jam all over the peaches and exposed custard an on the inner part of the pastry shell.  Place the rosemary leaves randomly over the tart.

tarte aux peches et romarin tarte aux peches et romarin tarte aux peches et romarin