Crispy skin salmon with ginger glaze

I love this dish. I have done a few times and it became one of our favourite meal. The original recipe which I found in The Australian Women's Weekly a couple of month ago was with soba noodles but we don't eat pasta. I think it would be a heavy meal with the noodles anyway.  

Ingredients


20g piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated finely
40 g sugar free apricot jam
1 tbsp soy sauce
30 ml water
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 x 180g salmon fillets, skin on
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
steamed broccoli, for serving


Combine the ginger, jam, soy sauce and the water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring. Boil, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes or until a syrupy consistency.


Add sesame seeds to a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Dry-fry seeds until fragrant and golden brown. Remove from pan.


Remove the bones from the salmon and season with salt and pepper.
Add the oil to the same frying pan and cook the salmon, skin side down, for 3-4 minutes or until the skin is crisp. Turn salmon and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until cooked to your liking. 
Bear in mind that the fish will continue to cook for another couple of minutes after being removed from the heat.


Meanwhile, steam the broccoli for 3 minutes then remove from the stove and keep it warm. Do not overcook. It is the best if a bit crisp. 
Divide the broccoli between serving plates. Top with salmon. Drizzle ginger glaze over the top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Orange and almond cake

Despite of being a Jewish recipe this cake is widely and well known in Australia or at least, I should say in Sydney.
Nowadays, when more and more people are effected by some kind of  food allergy, mainly gluten or dairy, there is a strong demand in cafés to have healthy alternatives.  
This cake is a perfect choice: gluten AND dairy free. I changed just a little bit of the original recipe to make it even sugar free.
I have made it a couple of times in the last few weeks and it was always a huge success. It is moist, not too sweet and has a beautiful colour.

Ingredients
2 Navel oranges (it doesn't have seeds)
6 eggs
250g (2 and a half cups) almond meal (from blanched almond)
100g xylitol
50g Natvia (which is mixture of stevia and erythritol)
1 tsp baking powder

Wash oranges and place unpeeled in a pot of boiling water for 2 hours. Don't forget to top up the water as it will evaporate. Change the water after 1 hour. 

Drain the water and allow the oranges to cool. This can be done ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Break 6 eggs into a mixing bowl or blender. Add xylitol and Natvia and blend together.
Chop the two unpeeled oranges in a food processor to achieve a smooth consistency. Add it to the egg mix then blend together. Add the almond meal and baking powder and blend.

Lay baking paper into a  20 cm spring form baking pan.

Pour batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.

Enjoy :)

As an Easter cake, dusted with icing Xylitol

If you bake it as mini muffins, you'll have approx. 40 muffins.

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Introduction

Hi there,




My name is Alexandra. I live in Sydney, Australia, with my husband and our two kids.
I already have a food blog in Hungarian but there are more and more people asking for my recipes in English.
Well, I have been afraid to post them in English as I don't feel confident about my grammar but hey, I might be improving!
One thing is sure: there will be a pressure on my husband to check my drafts... ;)


So, who am I?
I follow the Paleo diet, thus my recipes are gluten free, dairy free and sugar free. And as I am the one who cooks at home, my family is on Paleo as well. 


How did it start?
My son was 3 month old when we learnt that he had milk protein allergy despite of being breastfed only. As milk protein can go through the breast milk, I had to eliminate all dairy products from my diet and guess what, lost so much weight that I  became slimmer and healthier than I had been before my pregnancy :)
I was already reading about the Paleo diet so step by step stopped eating bread, pasta and other stuff. It wasn't too hard (okay, pasta was always a quick and convenient choice) as due to the beautiful Sydney's climate my diet already included lots of vegetables, fruits, salad, fish and meat. 


However, I was addicted to sugar. You didn't see on my figure but I ate lots of desserts. Maybe it's just a Hungarian habit (we really eat lots of sweet things) but I didn't want this to happen to my children.  
I want them to be used to eating healthy meals, to have beautiful and perfect teeth, good general health and bright minds. 


My daughter was already born as a paleo baby. She's now 14-month-old, my son is 3 years old. 
They are very, very rarely sick, full of energy and have good eating habits. They love fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and eat everything that we do. 
They get home made cakes, chocolates and desserts but not every day and the main thing is they are not addicted. 
So far so good and I want to keep on going this way.


Although you might find more desserts on my blog then other meals, it's only because they are more challenging. There are always birthdays and feasts and we celebrate them just like anybody else. 
The difference is that everyone has a healthier choice and that's what I want to show.


Follow me and I hope you'll enjoy my recipes :)




Cheers,

Alexandra