food!

Ahhh food.....

How I love you. 

I have been quite the domestic goddess lately, if I may say so myself! 

Some of the things I've made lately... 

Yoghurt

Labne

Butter (twice!)

A couple of amazing eggplant dishes

Banana bread

Raspberry white chocolate muffins

Roast chicken, and chicken stock

Risotto

Baked Quinces

The list goes on.....

I know everyone cooks, but I thought these dishes were particularly tasty :) 

 I made cultured butter using a recipe from The Gourmet Farmer's 'Deli Book'. I used organic raw cream, so it smelled a little bit strange but was very delicious! 

I also made the yoghurt using his recipe. It was nice, but not very strong flavoured, I think I prefer tangy, stronger yoghurt. 

I have been watching the Gourmet Farmer on dvd lately, I love it! It makes me really want to go to Tassie!! I keep day dreaming about frosty mornings on a farm, making scones with fresh cream and home made jam.... Ah maybe one day! 

Unsweetened Banana Bread

I saw this recipe on one of my favourite blogs, Green Kitchen Stories. I changed it a little bit, they put unsweetened pureed apples in as well but I didn't have any on hand, so I used extra bananas. It's not super sweet, but if you use really ripe bananas, they give it just enough sweetness. I also added the cacao nibs and the blueberries. The cacao nibs are a delicious addition!

It's quite a dense bread, more of a banana brick! They say to use olive oil but I prefer coconut oil or butter. 

It keeps for about a week in the fridge. 

Best enjoyed straight out of the oven or lightly toasted and smothered in yummy, good quality, salted butter :)

Here's my version:

2 cups spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

5 very ripe bananas

1/2 cup coconut or oat milk

3 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract 

3/4 cups walnuts

1/4 cup cacao nibs 

sprinkling of desiccated coconut

handful fresh blueberries

Method:

• Preheat oven to 175 C.
• Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt).
• In a separate large bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Add the milk, melted coconut oil and vanilla. 
• Fold in dry mixture, then add nuts, cacao nibs and coconut. 
• Pour into a loaf tin lined with baking parchment, and bake for about 1 hour and 20 mins, or until browned on top and cooked through. I think mine was in there for a while, because of all the banana it was hard to tell when it was cooked properly! 

Enjoy :)

Baked Eggplant with Quark and Pomegranate

I made this using a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty. 

Quinoa, chickpea and mint salad:

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed thoroughly

1 can chickpeas

handful chopped almonds

handful currants

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

1/2 bunch mint, finely chopped 

lemon juice 

olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

• Cook quinoa using preferred method, I'm yet to find the perfect one..
• Combine prepared ingredients in a large salad bowl
• As a dressing I squeeze half a lemon, generous drizzle of olive oil, crack some salt and pepper and voila, a yummy, hearty salad! 

Happy Autumn feasting everyone, I wish I had heaps of homegrown fruit to be preserving! One day I will be writing blog posts about all my jars of preserved summer goodness :)

I'm looking forward to rainy-outside-doona-hot-chocolate days. Bring on the cold!

x Zannah