This dish shows an example of the use of the Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar.
I love fruit in savoury salads. I think it's great as the sweet, salty and chilly flavours are mixed together. We eat this salad as a side dish with meat, like lamb or duck.
Ingredients
150g rockets, washed and dried
200g strawberries
1 red onion
a handful of pine nuts
extra virgin olive oil
Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar
salt & pepper
Chop the strawberries and red onion into thin slices.
In a dry pan, fry the pine nuts until they are fragrant and golden brown.
Place the rockets, strawberry and red onion slices into a bowl. Pour olive oil and vinegar over the salad and season it.
Scatter pine nuts over the top.
Serve immediately.
Enjoy :)
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.
As a foodie, sometimes you can find unique products which sound fancy but quite dear and you not even know what to use for. Like this Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar.
I tasted once on a wine market and fell in love with it immediately. It was so yummy! I didn't want to spend twenty-some dollars for a small bottle, especially, that I didn't know what kind of dish I could use it with.
I checked the ingredients - as always - and found it quite simple. So, I came home and made it.
Now I use it all the time. It's perfect with savoury salads with fruit or with special desserts. It's also a great kitchen gift.
And, not at last, it costs a fraction of the shop price.
Ingredients
good quality balsamic vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod
Place cinnamon stick and vanilla pod into a dark bottle and fill it up with balsamic vinegar. Cover tightly.
Leave the bottle in a dark place for 2-3 weeks then you can use it. Longer you let it infuse, more intense flavour you get.
When it's run out you can fill it up again.
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.
Nowadays it's easy to make your own filled chocolate. The first mold I had I bought from Ebay but they have become so cheap since then that even Aldi sells them - well, not continuously but occasionally.
I made these little coconut filled chocolates a week before Easter but I almost had to make a new portion as every time we drank a cup of cappuccino we ate a little chocolate heart with it.
I always use 85% Lindt dark chocolate because it doesn't have dairy or soy, although there is sugar in it, only 5g in a 100g bar which I think is acceptable.
So these home made Bounty bites are not too sweet at all unlike the original one with milk chocolate.
Try it :)
Ingredients
100g Lindt 85% dark chocolate
home made Coconella
Roughly chop the chocolate bar to small pieces.
Place half of it into a sauce pan and heat on low temperature until the chocolate is almost totally melted.
Put the sauce pan aside. Pour the rest of the chocolate pieces into the sauce pan and stir.
Fill your mold cavities using a teaspoon about 1/3 full then paint the inside with a brush. The chocolate should leave a thin coat everywhere. Place the mold in the fridge (Sydney is too hot for making chocolates) and rest it for 3 minutes.
Using a brush only make another coat in the cavities. Rest the mold in the fridge again for 3 minutes.
With a piping bag or a small coffee spoon squeeze Coconella into the cavities making sure not to fill more than 3/4 of the way up the sides.
When all the cavities are filled, set the filled shells to a cool place to let the filling hard again.
Spoon chocolate to fill in the top. You also can drag a straight edge across the cavities to flatten the bottom.
Place the filled mold (cavitiy side up) on a flat, cold surface (preferably in the fridge) to harden.
The chocolates are ready to be released when the chocolate pulls away from the mold slightly.
Once you think the mold is ready, turn it over on parchment paper. If your chocolate is tempered properly and it is completely hardened, the chocolates should just fall out of the mold. If they don't, give the mold a little tap on the bottom to help release the chocolates.
Enjoy :)
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: make sure to use dairy free chocolate.
Gluten intolerance: make sure to use gluten free chocolate.
Paleo: make sure to use dairy, gluten and soy free chocolate with high cocoa mass content.
Have you been in Collaroy yet?
There is a little deck restaurant right next to the beach. Actually, it is part of the Collaroy Beach Hotel to be correct.
It's a perfect place for people with kids as they can play in the sand while you are waiting for your meal. It has a beautiful view - there is no car between you and the ocean, only the orangy sand.
The meals are very reasonably priced but don't expect Michelin star; a very rare place in Sydney.
This is the restaurant where I tasted this dish the first time. They serve it with the fish of the day and call the vegetables 'Mediterranean'. I don't know why, I think there is nothing Mediterranean about sweet potato...
Anyway, this dish is delicious and I have cooked my version of it quite often of late.
Ingredients
4 barramundi filets
1 sweet potato
1 eggplant
1 red bell capsicum
4 tbsp lemon pesto
Wash the eggplant and cut it into 7mm tick slices. Put the slices in a bowl and salt both sides.
Cut the sides of the capsicum into 4 slices.
Peel the sweet potato and slice it up about 7mm tick.
Add oil to a frying pan and cook the sweet potato and capsicum slices until they are soft.
Wash the salt from the eggplant slices, dry and cook the same way as the other vegetables.
Keep everything warm while you cook the fish.
Add oil to a frying pan and cook the barramundi fillets for 4 minutes. Turn the fish and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Put a tablespoon of pesto onto each plate and place the fillet on it. Top with the vegetables then season with salt and pepper.
Enjoy :)
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.
Well, this is a pesto without lemon, despite the name.
It does have Lemon Basil in it, however, which really has a lemony basil smell.
I have lots of herbs in my garden and they have grown very well this Summer. I was quite successful with Basil unlike last season. I have Sweet, Greek, Thai, Purple and Lemon Basil. The last one is my favourite for making pesto.
Ingredients
1 bunch Lemon Basil
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp pine nuts
corse salt
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmezan
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Wash the basil carefully and allow to drain. Chop in a food processor, together with the garlic, pine nuts, and a pinch of coarse salt. Gradually add the grated cheese and work into an even paste.
Finally, slowly mix in the olive oil, until a creamy consistency is achieved.
Come back in a few days and you'll see what I use the lemon pesto with :)
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: choose real Parmesan matured for 1-2 years.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.
It's so easy to make it at home! And, I think it's also healthier than the original. Let's see what the ingredients are in the shop version:
Ingredients: Desiccated Coconut (23.5%), Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Skim Milk Powder, Vegetable Fats, Whole Almond (8%), Wheat Flour, Whey Powder, Flavourings, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Rye Flour, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Salt. "Contains milk, almonds, gluten, soy"
So people with dairy or gluten intolerance cannot eat Raffaello. Unlike my home made version :)
Ingredients
1 jar (200ml) home made coconella
approx. 16 almonds, blanched
desiccated coconut
Put a teaspoon of coconella into your hand and place the almond into the centre.
Bring together the outer edges. Make sure that the almond is covered completely, then roll in between your palms to form a nice ball.
Put desiccated coconut in a small bowl and roll the coconut balls in it one at a time.
Store them under 20 C.
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.
I always read product labels. Not only because of the ingredients I want to avoid but also because I might be able to make it at home myself.
I saw coconut spread the very first time at the local health food store. I was interested but found it quite dear. I read the label - and put it back to the shelf. So easy!
With paleo banana bread
Ingredients
200g desiccated coconut
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp honey or light agave nectar
approx. 3-4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
Put desiccated coconut into a food processor and chop for about 5 minutes. Add coconut oil, vanilla paste, honey or agave and chop for another 1-2 minutes. It should be a smooth spread. You can add more coconut oil, if necessary.
Coconut spread can be use the same way as Nutella: you can put in cakes or eat with bread.
Or, you can make the most delicious, home made Bounty or Raffaello :)
Enjoy :)
Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.
