APRICOT MUFFINS

SANE MUFFINS

EGGPLANT LASAGNE

fat head

SABICH (Iraqi-Jewish eggplant salad)

This is a keeper from the Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. I love these middle eastern recipes. I can imagine it as a delicious side dish or just as it is with extra egg to boost the protein.

Don't you just love the way Shauna writes. I must begin to collect their books as I'm sure I'll enjoy having them around. My next Amazon order is growing too fast. My only problem with buying the Ahern's books is that they bake. They bake a lot with gluten free flours. I am more interested in protein and veggies but there are plenty of those too. It's Shauna';s love of good food and her way with words that delight e most of all.

Can't wait to try Sabich out and we have eggplant growing so I'll be able to use my own harvest.

ULTIMATE MEAT LOVER'S PIZZA - BASED ON SANDY'S KITCHEN

Original Recipe at Sandy's Kitchen

Ingredients

 The Mince Beef Base

360 gm beef mince
75 gm grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Tuscan seasoning (I use Masterfoods)
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs


The Marinara Sauce

1 diced onion
1 large clove garlic
2 tablespoons cocnut oil andor butter
2 x 400 cans chopped tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon Tuscan spice
1 cup chopped parsley
tomato paste
pepper and salt
1/2 teaspoon Matserfoods chilli

I used half of the sauce and put the remainder in the freezer.

Suggested Toppings

75 -100 gms grated cheddar cheese
100 gm courgettes
100 gm mixed red and yellow peppers
50 gm salami or peperoni.

Slice the courgettes, peppers and salami or peperoni

To Prepare the Base

Mix the mince, cheese and herbs with hands until even.
Press into pan and spread out in thin layer

To Make the Marinara Sauce

Melt butter and coconut oil in pan. Add diced onion and cook until transparent.
Add finely chopped garlic and cook another minute.
Empty 2 cans of chopped tomato into pan
Add parsley, herbs and spices
Cook for 10 or 15 minutes on slow simmer.
Check seasoning and add pepper, salt, chilli, and if needed a pinch of sugar.
Continue cooking gently for another 20 minutes.
Cool a little and whizz with stick or in liquidiser until smoother. It can be left a little chunky.

Turn on oven and heat to 250' C/480' F

To make the Pizza base

In a clean bowl mix the beef mince, 75 gm grated cheese, herbs and seasoning with hands until evenly combined.

Press into a baking dish spreading out about 0.75 cm thick. (less than an inch thick)

Using half the Marinara Sauce spread it evenly over the meat and cheese base.
Sprinkle with half the remaining cheese.
Dot with slices of courgette, red and yellow peppers and thin slices of salami or peperoni.
Finish with a sprinkle of the remaining cheese.

Bake in hot oven 25 minutes. I turned my oven down to 200' C/390' F after 10 minutes.

I used a deep dish which collected a lot of juice. This can be drizzled over your serving. I'm glad I put it in a dish with sides. A flat tray would have left a terrible mess.

To serve divide into quarters.

Serve with green salad or whatever side dishes you fancy.


I'm not very good at nutritional details but I'll give this a go.

Total four servings

Approximate breakdown per serving.

1 serving = 320 gm
138 calories
4 gm carbohydrate
11 gm protein
9 gm fat

HELP RED CABBAGE! WHAT TO DO

I discovered some red cabbage seed in the spring when I decided to grow as many of my own veggies as possible this year. Lately several have matured. I don't care for red cabbage in salads although a few strands do look colourful. That wasn't going to use much and I didn't want to watch them rot.

I found a suitable recipe on-line and re-worked it to suit the ingredients I have to hand. I was satisfied with the result and John enjoyed it too. The crispy bacon was the making of it.

BRAISED RED CAGGAGE

50 gm butter

2 rashers bacon

1 onion

handful fresh thyme

half red cabbage, (3-4 cups when sliced)

salt

30-60 ml red wine

Dice bacon and cook until crispy. Set aside.

While the bacon s cooking .... Slice onion and cook gently in butter.

Add thyme and salt to onion and toss around for a few minutes over the heat

Add wine and cover. Cook over gentle heat for as long as it takes. I was happy after 10 or 15 minutes but some people like to cook this for 45 minutes. You really want all the liquid to be used up or evaporated.

Add crisp bacon, toss and serve.

SPICY FETA DRESSING FOR BROCCOLI

SPICY FETA DRESSING

200 gm Feta

1 or 2 cloves garlic crushed and finely chopped

1/4 Tbsp chilli paste or more according to taste or use fresh, finely chopped chilli

2 Tbs chopped parsley

1 Tbs chopped oregano 

1 Tbs chopped lemon balm

1 Tbs chopped thyme leaves

Sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

2 Tbs olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon and juice to taste
or 2 Tbs white wine vinegar

Mash feta adding herbs and spices. Mix in olive oil and lemon juice until satisfied with taste and texture.

At this point the mixture was more like a spread. Serve on crackers or use as a stuffing under the skin of chicken. I imagine that would be really, really yummy.

I thinned the amount we wanted for our meal with a little milk and honey mustard dressing. I thought it needed a touch of sweetness to counteract the vinegar.

Serve with broccoli or other freshly cooked veggies.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING TOTAL INDULGENCE

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS PUDDING FROM MY MOTHER'S RECIPES.

I am going to modify this to make it wheat free but all other ingredients except sugar, which I will halve, will stay as they are.

I use a large plastic wash bowl for the total mixture and divide the mixture into small flower pot/muffin baking containers. It usually takes me a couple of days to complete steaming all the puddings. I wrap them individually in plastic cling film then in foil. They make quite acceptable gifts. Each mini pudding is suitable to divide into two or up to 4 servings. My mother always used butter and served her Christmas pudding cold with cream and icecream. Christmas falls in summer in New Zealand and I have wonderful memories of blue sea, kayaks and swimming.

My favourite Christmas lunch is reasonably simple and held at the beach house. Hot roast leg of lamb, small, new potatoes boiled with mint, lettuce and mixed salad veggies with mint sauce and whatever salad dressing  you like. This is followed by a desert of Christmas pudding and cream. We would have a light evening meal of ham and lettuce salad, followed by fruit salad and trifle. Pavlova is also usually served but unless there is a big crowd of people I like to keep dessert down to a single dessert for the whole day. This year we might even limit ourselves to strawberries and cream.

We are a small family these days and no-one wants to spend hours in the kitchen. We are also a wheat free family and everyone is concerned with not over-eating on this feast day. We plan to have no left-overs that will tempt us to de-rail our weight loss efforts.

12 EGGS WELL BEATEN, 14 no 7 eggs
2 LB RAISINS...2 kg raisins currants, sultanas
2 LB CURRANTS
2 LB SULTANAS
8 OZ PRESERVED  LEMON PEEL OR MIXED PEEL, CHOPPED 450 gm + 450 gm maracino cherries left whole because I like cherries.
8 OZ ALMONDS, CHOPPED 220gm did not blanch almonds and roughly chopped into thirds, halves and left some whole
8 OZ PEELED AND DICED APPLE 220gm
2 NAVAL ORANGES, ZEST AND JUICE
2 LEMONS, ZEST AND JUICE
1 LB FLOUR 250gm almond meal or flour, 250gm coconut flour maybe more? 250gm tapioca flour 250gm brown rice flour
1 LARGE TABLESPOON MIXED SPICE 25 ml
1 TEASPOON SALT 5 ml
2.5 LB SUGAR 400 gm demarara
2 LB BUTTER OR SUET 500 gm
1 GLASS BRANDY
1 GLASS RUM  instead of brandy and rum I used shiraz

total juice and booze = 625ml aprox

NB  the dried fruit and coconut flour gobbled up the liquids. 

RUB BUTTER INTO FLOUR
ADD SUGAR
ADD FRUIT AND NUTS I am lazy and just tip fruit in. trusting that it is clean when packed
ADD WELL BEATEN EGGS
ADD ALL OTHER LIQUIDS

NB the raw mixture /batter did not look as smooth and pudding-like as other years but the taste was OK. I cut back on sugar and butter. Will be interesting to see how the non-wheat flours work.

Finished mixing this 8 am Sat 8/12/12

LET MIXTURE STAND FOR 24 HOURS
DIVIDE INTO SUITABLE BASINS AND COVER
STEAM 6 HOURS
STORE IN A COOL PLACE FOR SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE CONSUMING will keep years especially if brandy is used!!! I store in fridge. Freezes OK too.

TO SERVE, HEAT IN STEAM BATH or microwave same as muffins

MAKES 4 LARGE PUDDINGS OR ? EXTRA LARGE MUFFINS

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