Birthdays are Big where I come from…..
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Celebrate with real food, Heidi Swanson, My New Roots, raspberry lemonade, Raw Food Brownies, retro stuffed eggs
Above, the preparation begins with those roasted tomatoes of course!
We’ve had a full on week of prepping, cooking and celebrating and it’s been a slice. We started by celebrating Jamie’s International Food Revolution Day on May 20 by making Raw Choc Brownies from mynewroots.blogspot.com which is a delighfully easy recipe using only Medjool dates, walnuts, raw organic cacoa, almonds and a pinch of sea salt. They were rich, decadent and deeply, darkly, secretly chocolate and the kid jury was out on them. The adults were for the main delighted by the richness but the 13 year olds at hockey found them just too, too datey.
I will continue to try to convince the trooops but may have to titivate the recipe and cut back on the dates. I also made www.101cookbooks.com’s Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies which are totally delish and gained much applause. Heidi Swanson’s recipes are always fantastic but as usual I cut back on the sugar and in fact used palm sugar instead. Coconut Palm Sugar is reportedly better for you (there is debate on that though) than other sugars with a lower GI- but it is difficult to find a report which proves this exactly. However, it has a wonderful taste with a complex, tropical flavour which I think it prefect in baking. I buy it at Asian stores or else buy Jaggery which is dark unrefined sugar – try it, you may be pleasantly surprised. It was a friend’s mum who passed on the fact that most baked goods recipes will still work a treat if you reduce the amount of sugar by a third. Thanks Kay! I also made, again from MyNewRoots blog the raw foods Raspberry Dream Cake except I changed the topping to strawberry and it looked just lovely. Again while they loved the raw foods cake most of the kids thought it “rather different” in flavour. I wonder if our kids (and us) are so used to large amounts of processed sugars and trans fats and are sort of wired for high sugar, high fat flavours. I loved the gentle coconut perfum of the oil used to bind the nuts and vanilla, mmm. Anyway I will continue to experiment with baked goods, raw foods and recipes using as many natural low sugar flavourings as is possible.
Strawberry dream cake
As I said in my family Birthdays are Big and if it’s yours, you get to choose your menu. We don’t want patat (French Fries or Chips) and Chicken nuggets, fizzy drinks etcl, we want real food for real people. We believe that celebrations should begin and end with real food and creating traditions. And that everyone should take part in making the feast. Jack wanted a Cheese Souffle which strangely is what I used to request at the same age although I had called it a Shuffle. And for his party we agreed on a mixture of his favourite goodies with parental controls inserted of course. So, we served homemade raspberry lemonade, retro stuffed eggs, quails eggs, quinoa pasta with two sauces – a simple roasted onion and tomato sauce and a almond and basil pesto, carrot sticks with lemon hummus, lime zested popcorn and loads of watermelon, blueberries and strawberries. Lucy made a chocolate guitar cake which we matched with Australian Vanilla ice-cream and cacoa dusted pofiteroles – oh, what a feast!!!
The retro 70 stuffed eggs were a hit with the adults especially. They really are such a cinch and they are great for a picnic. I predict you may be taking to the beach this weekend and maybe a family picnic is on the cards. If so maybe this would be a good snack in between beach combing and surfing. Enjoy! We are off to London and hope to try favourite cafes SAF and Ottolenghi’s on Longacre! Can’t wait..
Stuffed Eggs
10 organic eggs, hardboiled (for 10 minutes)
1 tablespoon at least of Washed and diced chives, parsely, coriander depending on what you fancy
1 tablespoon of that lovely lemon mayo from Marqt (or similar)
1 teaspoon of a curry style chutney or curry paste/curry powder – we love the selection from Mama Djamboes (available at La Buena Vida on Fahrenheitstraat 582) – try the First Wives Club!
a pat of butter
cracked pepper
sea salt
Cool and peel the boiled eggs. Slice in half. Scoop out the yellow part of the egg and place into bowl. Mix with other ingredients and mash to make a creamy mixture. Add a little milk if too dry and season to taste. Either place in piping bag and pipe back into the halved eggs or spoon mixture into the eggs. Garnish with herbs and serve with baby tomatoes – easy. Oh, it brings me back!
The Home Garden is Growing – First Harvest!
11 May 2012 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: ekoplaza, grow your own salad leaves, marqt, mint
Our little garden is growing and we harvested our first salad leaves for our school lunches today. Young salad leaves plucked from the garden. I have been tussling with some monster pigeons and a snail or three, but after cunningly placing a few colanders over my precious little plants they are growing like ‘weeds’. The showery weather has delighted the garden if not us!
Today I made a gluten free lunch for Jack just to see if he could take life without his wholemeal bagel! He wasn’t best pleased with the idea so will evaluate it when he gets home. I made a bento style arrangment with boiled eggs, peeled carrots, falafel balls, homemade tomato sauce, dried apple, and a special treat, organic blueberries. I wrapped the falafel balls in the washed and dried home grown salad leaves.
It really isn’t rocket science growing your own salad leaves, and if in fact you live near Voorschoten and pop into the Outlet Garden Store you can buy a big pot of already growing salad greens for 5.95 for about 10 fine gustily growing lettuces. I think you will be quids in after forgoing a couple of salad bags from AH! And you simply can’t get fresher or better. We are also growing chives, mint, basil, rosemary, rocket, edible flowers such as borage, pansies and nasturtiums, plus broccoli, shallots and tomatoes! We’ve put a smattering of salad seeds in pots scattered all around the garden. We’ve popped in snow peas and beans so now it’s just a race against birds and snails. Although, we have 5 tomatoes of different varieties on the go, I have found they don’t ripen up quite as I would like, but if you pick them green and place in a warm splot indoors they will colour up and be great for sauces etc. I seem to be constantly roasting tomatoes to make my own sauces for pizza, Italian dishes and to serve with paneer and rice. Such an easy and quick thing to make and so much better than most of the tinned varieties. 
I invented a rather yummy dish last week, using up cold brown basmati rice, adding in lemon juice, pomergranates, cubes of lightly fried paneer which had been marinated in a mild curry paste, roasted hazelnuts and some fresh mint from the garden. I can’t stress how important I think it is to use loads of fresh herbs in cooking – they are full of goodness, heighten tastes and give delicious aromas to food. They are quite simple the herbal icing on the food. Grow on….. and if you have space, grow an apple, plum or a pear tree.
There’s a new organic supermarket on the block. Now Den Haag boasts its own Marqt and I can see the attraction although I hope it doesn’t steal customers from my favourite farmers market on Wednesdays. Organic shoppers have never had it so good – we have the afore mentioned farmer’s market, Ekoplaza, Gaia, and various other “Natuur Winkels” – I think they all have their place but can only say that my fav shopping spot is the market with its friendliness and sense of commonality. But Marqt has some lovely products including their smoked mackerel, Brood’s bread and their very gorgeous lemon mayo (use sparingly) and finally organic quails eggs. I believe that Ekoplaza has the edge on fruits and vegetables though which are always displayed beautifully, particularly in their new flagship store on Kerkplein. Wherever you shop and spend your precious dollars or euros I wish you good honest food that rings with honesty, goodness and taste!
Before I leave, I would like to pose the following questions: Do we need vending machines in schools? Do you have them in your schools or workplace? What do you think of the products they vend?
Go Jamie Go! International Food Revolution Day, May 19 – Let’s Get Cooking ++++ Proper Good Picnics
07 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Eat a Rainbow, Filo Feta Pie, Good on Ya Mr Oliver, International Food Revolution Day May 19th, Jamie Oliver, Michael Pollan, SAF, Stephanie Alexander, The Cheesecake Company in The Hague, Yotam Ottolenghi
May 19th – the first ever International Food Revolution Day!
Good on ya Mr Oliver, you certainly don’t do things by halves. You take the bull by the horn (or in this case the school by the board) and you run with it. We are so, so with you, you and all the other sung and unsung food heroes, such as David Kessler (The End of Overeating), Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food), Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Fish Fight, River Cottage), Chef Anne Cooper (lunch lady extraordinaire), Annabel Langbein (The Free Range Cook), Stepanie Alexander (School Gardens program), Heidi Swanson (101cookbooks.com), Yotam Ottolenghi (Plenty) SAF (Raw Food Restaurant in London and Istanbul), and so many, many more.
Add in a few slightly less famous names such as the head at my son’s school who allowed us to go in and try out our successful “Eat a Rainbow” cooking lessons, my friends like Jo, Antonio, Janet, Eva, Lisa and Bintou who like me love, love, love food cooked from scratch with tastes and flavours that sizzle and spring with joy in the mouth.
So, May 19th is the first ever International Food Revolution Day – see www.jamieoliver.com – and we support it from the bottom of our stomachs! Jamie suggests a number of things to celebrate the day – organzie a local food event, host a dinner party, find an event near you. This year May 19th falls on a Saturday so we won’t be doing a school event but what we will do is bring some really healthy gorgeous snacks to our usual hockey and rugby matches. How about fruit kebabs, morning glory muffins, blueberry and apricot scones and some mini club sandwiches? This will put those crisps and hotdogs to shame (virtually the only food offered at our Dutch Clubrooms) or so we can but hope! And yes as the weather begins to clear (fingers and toes crossed) my thoughts are turning to picnics, picnics on beaches, picnics in gardens, picnics under woodland leaves and under stars. So, if the rains hold back we will be having a family picnic either on the edge of a sports ground or beside the blustery North sea, watching the surfies.
A few BIG, BIG wishes for local Food Revolutions (they are quite Large!)
One is that our kids demand healthy, gorgeous food from our senior school canteen with no compromise (and that they begin to understand that although good food doesn’t have to be really expensive, it shouldn’t be cheap) and school vending machines with healthy alternatives!
Two, that our school runs a summer fair that is a Good Ethical Food Fair with no candy floss or cheap hotdogs and spongey white bread!
Three, that sports & party centres stop stocking food like this stuff below- overprocessed, overcheap and over -yellow really!
So, here’s one of my favourite picnic pie recipes to share with friends, relations and those who may become friends.
Spinach and a bit of Everything Filo Pastry Pie (top pic, not the one above!)
1 packet of filo pastry – thawed overnight in the fridge (I like the really long packs of filo not the small squares)
3 large organic eggs
300 grams of feta, crumbled or can use of mixture of feta parmesan, hard and soft cheeses such as mozzeralla
One box of EKO frozen spinach, thawed, and squeezed dry of excess water or a large bag of fresh spinach wilted and squeezed dry.
A quarter of a cup of pinenuts, gently fried in a heavy based pan with a tiny spray of olive oil
A handful of blanched almonds if you fancy
Sprigs of mint, washed, dried and torn (or coriander)
Some basil or fresh thyme
One large onion, chopped finely and fried until translucent
Pepper, freshly milled and a pinch of nutmeg
( and if you have some crusty bread past its best but not mouldy, pop in the food processor and whizz until it becomes crumbs)
A teaspoon of melted butter for brushing
Preheat the oven to 185 fan-bake. Lightly oil a baking tray or shallow pie dish.
This is a really simple recipe and will work as long as your frozen spinach has been squeezed dry of excess water. If you are using fresh spinach, wash carefully as it is often sandy then steam it in a little water and drain in a colander. Basically, you want a moist cheesy spinach mixture to place in the pastry, but if you think it’s too runny then add some breadcrumbs or some more herbs and nuts, if you think it too dry, add another egg or some crème fraiche.
If you haven’t used filo pastry before, the thing is not to let it dry out, so don’t open the packet until the egg mixture is absolutely ready.
Beat your eggs in a largish bowl, add in the spinach, feta and any other cheeses, nuts, herbs, and mix well. Give it a generous shake of pepper and if you like some lemon zest. Mix well – it should be quite thick and not too runny.
Melt the butter and have a pastry brush ready.
Open the filo packet and spread 3-4 sheets on the bottom of the baking tray or in the pie dish. Arrange your egg mixture on the sheets, leaving a good edge for folding up around the edges. Tuck the pastry around the mixture and now lay 2-sheets on the top of your mixture and tuck under the bottom. Brush gently with melted butter and add in a few more layers of filo and tuck around to form a rectangular pie. Brush butter on top. Bake in the centre of the oven until golden brown, some 25-30 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and wrap up in foil or place in a cake tin, ready for the picnic.
I like to serve this pie with a minted yoghurt dip, some onion chutney or a fresh coriander chutney and a really good salad. Here’s an easy yoghurt sauce
Half a cup of Greek yoghurt
Half a cucumber, peeled, deed seeded and grated and set in a colander to drain excess water.
A sprinkling of black onion seeds, some torn mint, basil and/or coriander leaves or my new favourite spice – sumac (comes from a berry from a wild bushy shrub which grows wild in the med and the middle east – sort of soury, salty, sweet and hard to describe really!)
Black pepper and salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and taste to adjust seasonings. Chill in jar to serve with pie.
And a few of our favourite things for picnics…… are retro 70’s stuffed devilled eggs, sun ripened tomatoes, homemade mini pizzas, morning glory muffins, ANZAC cookies, coleslaws and mini ham/veggie burgers served with salad and tapenade, carrot and ginger dip, braeburn or cox’s orange apples and melty camenbert, scones with strawberry jam and cream etc, oh, it’s just endless…..
Extra fancy special picnics may require a visit to The Cheesecake Company for a really gorgeous birthday cake or to Baklust, Phillip Garlenes for a messy but delicious chocolate pie, Brood for a brownie or olive bread -great with all the afore mentioned dips – lastly, don’t let the weather put you off. If it is truly yukky outside try a picnic at home on a rug in the middle of the floor – enjoy!
Below a pic of Rebecca’s devilishly good classic “made with her own hands” cheesecake decorated (by us) with mango, peach and mandarin! A super special birthday cake for every once in a while! See www.cheesecakecompany.nl!
But do remember, we can all cook and cook we must for life is delicious!
Truffled Eggs and Bunny Tails!
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: bunnypaws, plant an edible garden, quails eggs, spring truffles, Summer salads
I am in love with quails eggs, duck egg blue pre-loved plates, Easter trees, and shared brunches! A change of seasons is here, the apple and pear buds are bursting in my small garden, and I am ready to sow the seeds and plant out my shallots, beans, peas and edible flowers – I encourage everyone to plant something edible in their garden/on their balcony, or even their window sill, this spring! You can grow it, yes you can! Start with chives, parsely and thyme, move onto mint, bayleaf and coriander, pansies, nasturtiums, borage and shizo. Add them to your summer salads for a burst of colourful taste. A pot, some soil, seeds, water – hopefully a bit of sun, and off you go! I do have a little problem in my garden that has amazing digging paws and the sweetest expression in the world plus taste for succulent spring plant tips. Our inherited French dwarf rabbit, Peta Bunnypaws is one of the most cunning escapologists I have ever met. She has a lovely huge house with 2 levels and a large run carpeted with fresh hay (with the odd carrot top hidden in it) but she spends her days hatching houdini like escape plans, intent on thwarting my inferior rabbit fencing expertise. The score stands at Peta 22, me nil. Tip: edible gardens and bunnies don’t mix so you would be bunny owners, beware!! She makes a fine living Easter decoration though!
Yesterday at the wonderfu farmer’s market in The Hague I purchased a gorgeously aromatic white spring truffle. I nipped home with it and a buxom bouquet of tall Tulips and other goodies and secreted it in the fridge close by to my eggs (it is supposed to perfume those as well!) and today we had it for breakfast. Sliced thin, popped into sizzling organic butter, salted slightly and smelling like fresh earthy soil on a dew-wet day … it was a little like heaven on an egg. I didn’t share it my holidaying children, it was just too good. Maybe one day…. if they are really good.
I can’t really tell you how wonderful the simple combination of scrambled eggs, truffle and spelt bread was…. you will have to try it yourself. Meanwhile, the kids are making chocolate eggs in a real egg shell in the kitchen, I am thinking about making my own wholemeal hotcross buns and wondering if Peta Bunnypaws is out yet and if she is in my herb section!
My friend Yvonne at the market who has a superb vegetable (and flower stand) now has a new website – www.tuinderijdeknotwilg.nl – say hello if you visit her stand, such a lovely person! And don’t you just love it when you can buy stuff without plastic wrapping yay!!! Happy Easter how ever you celebrate it but do try and share your food with friends and loved ones! Below Peta is considering plan 23!
Flour Power – Amber writes a guest post and “Good to the Grain”…
26 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative flours, Amber Holund, gluten free waffles/hotcakes, Good to the Grain, Jo Parfitt, mauve cauliflowers slightly past their best!, Summertime Publishing
I’ve got a new Cookbook. Now there’s a surprise, well not really as I am rather taken by cookbooks particularly those of a healthy nature. Naturally I couldn’t resist one called Good to the Grain (Baking with Whole-Grain Flours by Kim Boyce and Amy Scattergood (now isn’t that a good name for a cook!). In my quest for delicious but healthy food and styles of cooking and in my attempt to stop myself contracting diabetes, a disease which I have seen decimate my family’s good health and cause the odd amputation) I am always keen to use wholegrain flour, brown rice and largely cook from scratch. This wonderful book uses many alternative flours – Amaranth, Barley, Buckwheat, Kamut, Oat, Rye, Spelt, Teff, and Quinoa. If you love baking and like a really good read, you’ll adore this book. Kim started out wanting to cook healthily but got to experimenting with using less fat and sugar and appreciating the unique tastes and properties of each type of flour. I’m not an expert in gluten free baking but I am attempting to use more spelt, some rice (for vietamese pancakes) and to try a few alternatives. Below Amber Holmblad makes gluten free pancakes using Amaranth Flour. Amber contacted me after reading one of my articles posted on Jo Parfitt’s summertime Publishing website – www.joparifitt.com. Amber and I have become food friends over the electronic airways and I was delighted when she volunteered this recipe for the Food Forum Blog..
Amber says “I am a parent of 2 – one of my daughters has a gluten sensitivity so our family tries to avoid gluten as much as possible.”
Amber is an artist, a life coach specializing in creative expression (she does workshops too) an expat, and a mother of two who finds being a parent intensely creative. She is also passionate about serving wholesome, homemade foods that are nourishing, colorful and delicious. See her work on www.holmbladcreative.com.
Perfect Gluten Free Waffles – not just for the weekends!
I make these waffles, nearly everyday for our family because they are fast, high in protein, nutritious and most of all – my kids love them! I know it may seem like just one more thing that your busy schedule doesn’t permit, but honestly sending your kids out of the house in the morning with a good solid breakfast is one of the best things you can do for them. I know how hectic mornings can be but making a commitment to starting the day out right is important. It gives their little brains fuel for learning and thriving.
Start with 2 cups of Gluten Free flour. I find the commercial mixes of gluten free flours to be loaded with a lot of unneccessary starches, so I always mix my own. This is my favorite combination:
1 cup Quinoa flour
1 cup Amaranth flour (If I can’t find Amaranth flour in the stores, I substitute 3/4 c. buckwheat and 1/4 c. wholegrain rice flour, which is also very tasty and nutritious)
2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp whey* (I make my own)
Mix the flours together the day or night before and combine them with 2 cups of warm water + whey. Allow them to soak for 12 to 24 hours in a warm place.
In the morning:
While the waffle iron is heating up, melt your butter and add the eggs, salt, soda and cinnamon to the soaking flours.
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted butter
These waffles need a little bit extra cooking time than the unsoaked, wheat flour kind. Soaking and allowing the flours to begin the fermentation process makes it taste better plus gives the waffles a crispy skin while still spongy on the inside. Plus, it’s healthier, and makes mornings easier.
I’ve also noticed that the soaked slightly fermented, flours don’t stick to the waffle iron so much, allowing me to use less butter than you find in other recipes. The times when I’ve used this recipe and forgot to soak the night before, I have had problems with the mixture sticking to the waffle iron.
*I make my whey by straining yogurt through an unbleached coffee filter and store it in the refrigerator. You can also use vinegar if you don’t have whey.
I love these waffles with a bit of sour cream and an all-fruit marmalade. My kids like theirs with a little yogurt and a dash of maple syrup.
In the afternoons, they are great with a homemade pesto spread or just plain without anything.
Tips for a speedy breakfast:
By soaking the flours ahead of time, you’ve already committed yourself to eating a healthy breakfast and you’ve done some of the work the night before.
If you’re really pressed for time in the mornings, measure out the baking soda, salt and cinnamon ahead of time so they are ready to mix in.
Or you can make them ahead of time and just heat them up in the morning. You’re still getting a much healthier start to the day!
This is a recipe was adapted from Sally Fallon’s Pancakes “Nourishing Traditions”. If you don’t know who Sally Fallon is, and you’re interested in eating healthier, then I’d suggest looking her up. Beyond the recipes, her cookbooks are filled with tons of information.
Cooks note – Whey is the watery part of milk, separated from the curd rich in lactose, minerals and vitamins.
Meanwhile this last week we made coconut and rice flour pancakes, a classic sweet, sour sharp Vietamese sauce with garlic, fish sauce, chillies and palm sugar, stuffed them full of holy basil, mint and coriander, beansprouts and marinated fried tofu! I made the precious left over holy basil leaves into a fragrant pesto. Also, went to a great talk by Katherine Fortier on Food Fights organized by Passionate Parenting in which she emphasised how sitting at a table for 20 minutes will not only enrich your child’s vocab but will make the whole family happier! So, keep trying, I know it can be tough, oh yes!!! 
A Little Spring Salad as the Earth Warms Up
08 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
March 8 International Women’s Day and I am acutely aware that I am lucky to be sitting here at my desk in the weak tremulous spring sunlight, writing and thinking about food, experimenting with recipes and enjoying my many freedoms. Recently after attending the International Pen Awards for those who write under duress I wrote a piece about writing in the warmth without fear of arrest or harassment – I know this is a blog is primarily about food (which I find tremendously important of course) but I can’t help but think of those women who work for freedom and justice and all those in the world who may be going without food today for reasons of war, injustices, lack of fair trade, water etc. I made a little salad today to share for lunch and thought I might just entitle it International Women’s Day Salad but that seemed way too grand. So, it’s just a little Spring Salad to Share. There will be something for everyone in it I hope. The secret is to have a really sweet crisp cabbage. In The Netherlands I use a pointy little number called a “spitskool”. Goes well with virtually anything this little salad. We had it with portabella mushrooms on Brood’s Spelt bread with a chaser of Twinning Organic Early Grey iced tea. You can see we are longing for the summer.Enjoy…
Spring Salad
Make a dressing by blending kaffir lime leaves (frozen or fresh) – If you have fresh, then remove the spine and chop finely into tiny shreds. Add a tablespoon of rice vinegar, some lime or lemon juice (approx a tablespoon) some palm sugar to taste, fresh mint leaves and a good dollop of your favourite olive oil. I used lemon infused oil and added some water. Blend with a hand held wand. Taste and adjest seasonings. Sieve if using frozen lime leaves as they can be tough.
Mix the following ingredients together in a pretty glass bowl
Half a cabbage, finely sliced
A blood red carrot if you can locate one or a normal carrot cut into ribbions
Almonds toasted in a fry pan with a teaspoon of tamari sauce (be careful, don’t burn them) or peanuts
A red or green apple. cored and chopped into small peices
some torn mint and coriander leaves
seasame seeds
Mix with dressing and feel free to grate on some raw beetroot and finish with a mixture of herbs. Lovely!
Food-motions – a few glorious grains and soft spring rolls!
20 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Cooking Courses, Food makes us human, Jamie Oliver, Small holdings, Soft spring rolls, The Hungry Mind, Vegetarian with a Vengeance
The foods in the photograph above make me happy! I love the hot red of the chilli peppers, the earthy textured dark of the Haas avocado, my all time favourite, that little peppery creamy French brie plus those tiny tomatoes which baked with rosemary sprigs slowly are a prefect companion to any salad.
I just find food and meals just so wholesomely human really – a simple and genuine full circle of love, caring and shopping with sustainability in mind. I do try and temper my desire to cook and experiment with consience and our small planet is constantly in my thoughts. Growing up in the 60s/70s on a small dairy farm taught me much about the land, farming and the farmers lot. I try to buy my dairy products from sustainably run or organic farms. I like small holdings and kind farmers and large agri-business tend to make me nervous. Cruelty-free food seems to make my meals taste so much more satisfying all round. And having frugal parents who were also avid food-lovers taught me to waste as little as possible and to re-compost that which was unusable.
Preparing food is something most of us do for ourselves and our loved ones every day of our lives. We share meals, buy/trade/grow/ store food, throw away food (alas) and plan our next meal every single human day. As for me – I teach kids & adults about cooking, develop new recipes, write and read about food (and the behaviours/habits which surround it) from morning through to night. And I have spent many a glorious hour exchanging recipes, sharing food memories and just chewing the fat with people all over the world. Time spend teaching and talking food makes me as happy as an organically farmed pig in clover, oh, it does. Food is beautiful, colourful, smell-licious and divine.
Food -motion. Food-ire, Fear of Food…..
However, there is the food-motion side of things. Mention ideas such as healthy eating, home cooking, slow food, meatless Mondays, smaller chocochip cookies, those unneeded sports drinks, more dark brown bread, using lots of spices and fresh herbs and then you start to get into some dark and emotionally-edgy conversations. Sometimes I feel a great chilliness hovering above my food laden table, often I am surprised to find that people feel threatened and challenged. I am rather shocked that people seem so unaware of the epidemic of diabetes and the rates of adult obesity in developed countries given the constant media coverage.
It never ceases to amaze me how Jamie Oliver attracted such bile for suggesting we should do more cooking in our homes and schools both in the UK and the US – thanks Jamie, you got us thinking although I wish more of us would watch your speech on Ted.com (2010 Ted Winner). Really, Jamie was not trying to make anyone feel bad, he just wants us to cook great food and consume it. Food is glorious, a priveledge to eat and have accesss to. So many in our world can’t get a good square meal that it would be a shame not to put our best into what we have and to teach our kids how to as well! It is central to our human lives and we all need to learn more about it.
I believe that learning to cook is a great skill to have, teaching us manual dexterity, organizational and managerial skills, chemistry, intuition, self-efficacy, confidence and above all teaching our knowledge about where food comes from and how it impacts on our planet. On a lighter side, it is just such fun and for that little extra bonus you get to eat the end result. My next cooking course “Eating A Rainbow” – simple, delicious dishes from around the world will be taught at The Hungry Mind Centre, just by the International School of The Hague on March 19 and 26th – come and join me if you fancy – register via www.thehungrymind.nl or phone 070 3681804.
Now onto proper stuff, like cooking. Below is a picture of few of my fav nuts and grains straight from the organic market of course. And I have a new cookbook - have just made some quinoa and beetroot burgers from the Vegetarian with a Vengeance Cookbook, lovely stuff ladies – I am impressed.
organic nuts and grains, homemade ruccola pesto and sun-dried tomotoes
But today I am feeling very spring rolly. Maybe it’s that hint of watery sunlight or a bunch of Thai basil I found at the Amazing Oriental. You can fill these fresh spring rolls with almost anything as long as it mix up it – it has to have crunchy, spicy, herby with all those textures added to the soft rice noodles. But you will need a good dressing. The Vegetarian with a Vengence book gives you three possibles – a peanut butter, chilli and soy ginger sauce, a hoisin coconut milk garlic sauce and a lemon grass lime – all of which sound great. My quickest and so far my best sauce is a simple mix of shoyu (a quarter of a cup), a good squeeze of ginger juice from a lump of coarsely grated ginger, some lime juice, and 1 tablespoon of palm sugar (or to taste!) Mix it up and add some coridander or holy basil leaves and it is divine. Can add water if it is too much for you!
Soft Spring Rolls
Now, make your soft spring rolls out of rice paper sheets. It is not really cooking as such but more an assembly line so it is best to be prepared and think about flavour combinations. Buy the rice papers at Amazing Oriental where you will see either the large round variety or half rounds. I get the whole rounds. Prepare a variety of tofu, vegetables and noodles, and nuts first.
I like to marinate the tofu in curry paste and then fry on both sides gently until crispy. Cut into thin strips. If you can find some sustainably caught shrim (eko shops or Marqt then fry it with garlic or chilli sauce and set aside. Boil some rice noodles and drain. Add some mild seasame oil and seasame seeds to them and set aside. Finely chop some sweet carrots, spring onions, cabbage or lettuce. Dry roast or add tamari sauce to raw peanuts or cashews and put in a small bowl. Wash your holy basil, coriander and mint and dry. The secret is practise and organization. Jack seems to be much better at rolling the spring rolls than me. But I keep trying to get it right.
Some lovely soft spring rolls!
Have all your ingredients handy and in small bowls. Work over a clean tea towel and have a bowl of warm water large enough to place the entire sheet of rice paper in it. Dip in your rice paper in the water for a few seconds and drain on another tea towel. Place the soft rice papre on a clean teatowel and put a lettuce strip in the middle – you can overlap the edge or fold it in later. Add in your other ingredients, noodles, some nuts, tofu, shrimp, herbs, bean sprouts, carrot and spring onions. Fold or roll into middle and tuck in edges or leave lettuce outside at top. It is difficult to describe but you will develope you own method. There will be a variety of different shapes and sizes, and the tightness of the roll will vary until you get the hang of it. Persevere, it is worth it. The idea is to make bite sized rolls to dip into sauce and pop into your mouth. Eat within an hour or so or they will start to dry out. If you want them for later cover well in a air-tight container. Enjoy. Can also serve with a watered down version of a thai chilli sauce – or soy sauce. And love, love, love
hearts of dark choc from Mary's in Brussels with rose petals!
your food – it’s better when you cook it yourself and cheaper. It really is!
Smitten by a Chiogga- Candy striped beet, be my valentine, anytime…
30 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in root vegetable, Soup Tags: chioggia beets, Jerusalem artichokes, red garlic, soup, valentine
Now, what could be prettier than that? Some of my favourite one-clove red garlic, a candy coloured chiogga beet, a blue tile from home and… Ok, so the little pock-marked fellow in the middle aint so charming but what this jerusalem artichoke lacks in beauty, it fully makes up for it in taste! This last week I have making soups, and using these gorgeous beety beasts in salads and coleslaw! I used them raw by the way plus I used them in the curried chickpea soup!
Some people have commented I am quite a good cook. Actually this is very, very kind of them and probably untrue. What I am is a rather greedy person, who is very curious about using new ingredients, who rather detests spending money on bad food, and who has the luxury of having time to experiment! Good cooking is a learned behaviour and as I frequently say to students, if you can read (or watch) then you probably can cook. Good healthy, frugal cooking using all our wiles will be the trend this year as the recession bites deeper and food becomes dearer.
I also grew up with two diabetic (type 2) parents who were both good cooks and loved to grow and harvest food. Lucky me to have been surrounded by reasonably good & plentiful food (although, we all ate too many baked goods, and lived off the fat of the land, literally) all my life, unlucky Mum & Dad to have suffered from the dread disease of our developed age. But on to sunnier things, namely cauliflower, jerusalem artichoke, potatoes, veggie stock and if you are feeling naughty some cream!
Soups are easy. These are the basics – begin with a chopped onion in some olive oil and fry gently until translucent. Add in your raw veggies such as cauli florets, chopped cubed potatoes, roughly peeled and chopped jerusalem artichokes and fry for a few minutes without browning. Add in a good litre of hot water with a crumbled stock cube, and cook until veggies are al dente (tender to the bite).
Hey presto, you got yourself a soup! Now you can blend it, or mash it or leave it with chunks. You can add some saffron, some cummin, some other fresh herbs or you can leave it as it is! Naturally you have to taste it and add any seasonings, freshly grated black pepper and salt. Serve with BROOD’s spelt cake (I mean bread of course!)
By the way these little creatures – the Jerusalem artichoke- are not potatoes but members of the sunflower family! Lovely though!
Bark in the Park from Kids in the City
26 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
It’s been a good few years since we started The Kids in The City Foundation to clean up our city streets and parks! We have been having a bit of a time out for the past few years, a bit of a relax, a stock take, a lie in – but now we are back. And we think this city could do with a right royal, wet dog sort of shake up!
Like Totally Non-toxic Birthday Parties (well almost!)
16 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: apples and bananas, lemons limes
To Do list for party
Make own cake pops (using any muffin type mixture but Morning Glory is best!) Note to self, these types of cakes are really easy but you need a silicone mould which makes them a doddle! Note to the wonderful Rita, gouging them out of normal shaped cake is not the way forward. Involve anyone handy in decorating process using cream cheese icing. For this party though my daughter is in charge and makes a dark choc fudge cake recipe – slightly on the toxic side!
Make Raw Cashew Raspberry Dream Cake from mynewroots.blogspot.com and put in freezer, removing approx 1 hour before party.
Make filo pastry triangles with feta, ricotta, herbs and eggs and bake at 185 for 15 minutes.
Slow roast tomatoes with garlic, rosemary sprigs, black pepper, rock salt and olive oil for pizza sauce.
Squeeze loads of lemons/limes ( and my wonderful bergamont lemon) and heat up with honey and a few frozen raspberries to make concentrate. Cool slightly and add water, pour into pretty recycled glass bottles and place in fridge.
Raspberry lemonade
Make dips such as guacamole, tapenade, greek yoghurt, hummus, baba ghanoush to serve with veggie sticks and organic corn chips.
Make Fruit Kebabs with strawberries, melon, grapes, raspberry, mandarin segments, apples and bananas (sprinkled with lemon juice to stop from browning. Daughter insists on adding jelly beans and gummy bears onto end of stick which I allow – it is her birthday!
Make wholemeal pizza dough, knead and put aside to double in bulk.
Arrange decorated cake pops on muffin stand, put out streamers, serviettes, fruit kebabs, and wait for the onslaught of 15 wonderful tweenagers!
Recently my friend Michele and I were comparing muffin recipes. It just so happens that I have a number of recipe books that I have worked my way through, trying these muffins, those muffins and combinations of various. But we agreed the best of all, the most moist, the yummiest (and hopefully the healthiest) were the good old Morning Glory muffins. So here they are again. Enjoy!
Morning Glory Muffins
In a large bowl mix 2 cups of spelt flour, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, half a teaspoon of salt, half a cup of sugar or sugar substitute, maple sugar etc. and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
Stir in 2 cups of grated carrot, half a cup of nuts, half a cup of chopped apricots, half a cup of coconut and one grated apple – can use zucchini instead of carrot!
In another bowl beat together 3 large eggs with 1 cup of salad oil such as sunflower oil and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Fold all ingrediants together until batter is only just combined. Spoon into paper lined muffin or cake pop moulds and bake at 180 fan forced for approx 20 minutes. Makes 12 large delicious muffins. Yummy for at least 3 days!
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