Asian Citrus & 5 spice salad dressing

It’s nice to have an easy standby salad dressing on hand that has a bit of WOW factor to turn an ordinary salad into something more exotic. This is a good one. Normally I would mix up a Thai inspired combination of fish sauce, lime & sugar to give a salad an Asian bent but I was getting a bit bored of that. This recipe still has all of the salty, sweet & sour components but has also the aromatics of sesame & Chinese 5 spice.

Chinese 5 spice is used to season meats or vegetables (mainly meats) and is the trademark blend used for Siew Yoke – the crispy pork belly that you see hanging in the Chinese roast shops. The basic components are Sichuan pepper, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise but there are variations that include nutmeg,  pepper, and ground ginger too.

It is a pungent…

Coconut Frangipane Cake

This post will make my mother smile.

It is a cake that she used to cook for us when I was a child, that, I didn’t really embrace until I got older. Of course, this is a “healthified” version, the original being a basic butter cake with a sweet macaroon topping. The sweetness of the topping was the appealing bit as a kid and I would pick it off and leave the cake!! Just like the icing I guess!

The recipe came from my Nanna and was handwritten in her old spiral bound recipe compendium with a Bakelite cover. I have fond memories of that book and both my mother and I are devastated regretful of not knowing what ever happened to it. It got lost into the ether 30 years ago. Fortunately, I had already transcribed her Anzac biscuit & shortbread recipes before that happened.

This gluten-free, grain-free rendition…

Recently, my husband and I went on a trip to Far North Queensland and participated in an Organic Experience Food Tour.

We toured the hinterland region of Cairns and saw vanilla being hand pollinated at the Broken Nose Vanilla Farm, had lunch cooked by the gorgeous and very talented, Jo Whitton of Quirky Cooking fame and learnt about fermented vegetables with Wayne Rankine at his biodynamic farm, Brolgas Pass.

The highlight for my dear husband, was our visit to the biodynamic dairy farm, Mungalli Creek, where we sampled yoghurts and cream and cheese before being served an enormous morning tea of cheesecake.

It became very evident how much that my (long-suffering) husband has missed real cheesecake in his life! Being dairy free since 2011, I have stopped cooking with dairy (except butter) and my cheesecake making days are few and far between. I have…

Did you know that 2013 is the International Year of Quinoa?

This was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in recognition of ancestral practices of the Andean people, who have preserved quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) as food for present and future generations, through knowledge and practices of living in harmony with nature.

Indeed, the crop value of this ancient grain (technically a seed, not a grain) has tripled with its popularity spreading worldwide as a high protein, gluten-free, source of dietary fibre and minerals. This has done wonders for the South American farmers who grow it, but has disadvantaged the local communities who can no longer afford it.

Luckily, here in Australia, we have some organic growers who have started producing quinoa from north-west Tasmania.

Quinoa is a fantastic source of calcium, magnesium and iron which makes it very useful for vegetarians and vegans and those who are lactose intolerant. In its…

Choc-mint & banana popsicles.

What does one really need to say about these, except maybe “make them”. These popsicles are delicious, simple to make (even easier than walking all the way to the corner store) and significantly, nutritious.

For the popsicles:
1 large banana (or 2 small bananas)
1 cup full fat  natural or Greek yoghurt (I use Greek five:am)
½ cup full fat coconut cream (I use the canned Ayam brand)
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 large handful of mint (go for your life with the mint, the recipe can handle a lot).

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour into popsicle makers, pop in the sticks and place in the freezer overnight.

For choc top:
100g block of Loving Earth raw mint dark chocolate
2 heaped teaspoons Loving Earth coconut oil/butter

Once the popsicles are frozen you are ready to get dipping! Prepare a tray lined with baking paper…

I spoke recently about going to Tania Hubbards Gluten Free workshop last week.

Tania is an entertaining and knowledgeable person about all things gluten-free and spoke a lot about her food journey to better health after being diagnosed coeliac.

Her much raved about bread recipe was talked about a lot and screaming at me to be made! This is her recipe with a couple of tweaks. I used baking powder instead of straight bicarb soda and added some seeds for interest. Make it and tell me what you think.