Cream Of Tomato and Fennel Soup ( or Sauce )

| Liz Thomas

Tomato Fennel Prawn

This recipe makes a delightful soup or pasta sauce.The addition of prawns makes a delicious meal of it. Cook the sauce now and freeze it for winter to get a hit of summer sweetness when you are all rugged up.

Old Mill Road Bio-Farm Ox-hearts

Check out the size of these locally grown tomatoes, the sweetest you can get. If your tomatoes aren’t sweet a teaspoon of sugar in your pot will fix them up.

Ingredients

1 1/2 kgs Peeled Tomatoes chopped or canned

I fennel bulb sliced

4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

small brown onion or whites of 4 shallots/scallions

10 saffron strands in 1/2 cup warm water

glass white wine

2 -3 Tablespoons Cream

Olive Oil

salt (chilli salt optional)

Fry off Fennel, Onion and garlic, then add wine.
Fry off Fennel, Onion and garlic, then add wine.

Method

1. Sweat onion, fennel and garlic in a little olive oil.

2. Add wine and simmer for 5mins.

3. Add Tomatoes, saffron water and salt. Simmer for 10-15 mins depending on how watery your tomatoes are. Wait till    sauce/soup thickens a little.

4. Remove from heat and ver carefully ladle into blender/food processor, wizz till smooth. Cream can be added now if serving as a tomato soup.

5. Or fry off 250g shelled raw prawns with a little more garlic, until they just change colour. Add tomato mixture and simmer for two minutes. Add cream and stir.

6. Serve as soup or over pasta. Garnish with the inner leaves of the fennel stalk.

Namaste Liz

Spelt Oregano Crackers

| Liz Thomas

Go simple, easy and natural. This easy, very loose “recipe” will alleviate the salt-max-out that usually accompanies already salty cheese. And if you have chosen one lovely cheese, instead of 5 factory plastics, then you will highlight its unique characteristics instead of having a salt sandwich!
Rough instructions for cracker bread: to about a cup of spelt or another yummy whole organic flour, add some seeds like nigella, sesame, linseed, poppy etc say 2-3 tablespoons, large handful of oregano leaves (or other herb), good teaspoon of chilli salt or some other mineral rich salt, 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, and slosh of water. Keep adding small amounts of water and oil until it comes together. I refrigerated for an hour but that because I was going out! Otherwise roll it out to 2-3mm thickness and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for approx. 20mins. Keep an eye on it though. Delicious and very impressive for you party this silly season. mmmmmmm
Thanks to my fellow foodie friend Jan for the inspiration.

Namaste
Liz

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Camembert/Brie Potato Pie

| Liz Thomas

The last time I ate this I was 16 years old and eating at a relative of my boyfriends “relos” house. He always hated it when we had to go, I on the other hand loved it. His relatives were of Italian heritage and they, along with the wealth of multicultural friends I had during highschool, taught me how to eat well! I remember this dish vividly although I did not ask for the recipe, it was so delicious as was my first taste of Frangelico I was offered after dinner. I will always be grateful for such experiences.

This is a wonderful dish that is easy to prepare ahead of time, refrigerate and pop in the oven when required, perfect for dinner parties as a side dish or served with a crisp salad for lunch on a cool day. Here is my interpretation of a long-held memory tweaked with the experience of a few years in between. Honey and cheese are a match made in heaven that I first tried in a french restaurant on toast! Sounds weird tastes amazing 🙂

Camembert/Brie Potato Pie

Camembert/Brie Potato Pie

Ingredients

1                          wheel of brie or camembert cut into eight wedges

500g                   peeled potatoes

2                          garlic cloves squashed against the chopping board

60 g                    butter

splash  milk

1/4 cup              grated cheese

1 tablespoon    fresh thyme leaves

1 onion               sliced finely

1                           teaspoon honey

extra oil

camembert/brie potato pie

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C.
  2. Boil potatoes and garlic  in salted water for 10 mins or until soft.
  3. Whilst cooking potatoes prepare onion, thyme and 20 g of the butter ready for cooking in a small saucepan.camembert/brie potato pie
  4. Drain potatoes, remove garlic skin and garlic if desired.
  5. Mash potato with milk and remaining butter.
  6. Cover the base and sides of 20cm dish with mash potato,
  7. Place brie wedges on top,  spoon the rest of the mash around the wedges pushing potato between the spaces.
  8. Leave the top rough sprinkle with cheese. Bake for approx 30mins until the cheese has browned on top.
  9. Whilst baking slowly cook onions in the saucepan with the thyme leaves butter and some extra oil is required.
  10. Turn up the heat on the onions when the pie is ready. To frizzle them, cook on high till brown. Add the honey at the last moment stirring off the heat. Pour over the pie.
  11. Garnish with thyme leaves and flowers if you have them.

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Enjoy! Namaste Liz 🙂

 

Red Meat and Bitter greens

| Liz Thomas

Lean beef is a wonderful source of protein but so is kangaroo, lamb or goat. All of which would work perfectly with this salad. The yoga approach to meat consumption (we are not all vegetarians) is to eat small amounts of meat compared to our vegetable content on our plates. I eat red meat for iron and it makes me feel good. Of course its your yoga and you must do what is right for your body and philosophy.
Try growing your own bitter greens in the garden or in a pot on the balcony. The fresher you can get your greens the more nutrients they have, and the crunchier the salad.

IMG_0833.JPGIngredients
Marinade
1/2 brown onion
3 bay leaves
1-3 cloves garlic smashed
1 glass of red wine
6 peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 eye fillet, kangaroo fillet/rump, lamb/goat backstrap marinated for at least 4hrs or overnight is preferable.
Enough Bitter greens or Mixed leaf salad to cover your platter abundantly: try using lots of colours and shapes for nutrient and visual variety eg. chickory, raddichio, sorrel, rocket (agrulia)
10 large basil leaves finely sliced
Balsamic vinegar, the best you can afford
Olive Oil

Method

1. Barbecue or pan fry meat till medium rare to rare. and crusty on the outside.
2. While its cooking dress leaves lightly with a little salt, vinegar and oil.
3. Rest meat for 10mins covered.
4. Slice meat finely and arrange over the leaves.
5. Pour juices over meat, a little drizzle more of balsamic and olive oil, salt, pepper and sprinkle with basil.

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Roasted Capsicum(Red Pepper), Potato and Artichoke Salad

| Liz Thomas

This a whole meal right here healthy eaters. Eggs have an excellent nutrient profile, a complete food. I recommend you include eggs in your diet and source them as close to home as possible. With backyard growers and local free range farmers, healthy eggs have never been more accessible and the taste!

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Ingredients

700g steamed potatoes, peeled or skins left on for nutrient density
1-2 Sliced Roasted Red capsicum: Cut into 4, blacken the skins under the griller, place in a paper bag till cool enough to handle and peel off the skin
1 400g can artichoke hearts, or 6 marinated hearts from the delicatessen. Cut in half or quarters depending on size.
6 soft boiled eggs: bring eggs to the boil in a small pot, simmer for 2-3 minutes, refresh under cold water, cool, peel, halve
1 lemon zest and juice
olive oil
finely chopped parsley
S & P

Method

1. Cook potatoes till soft, stir though zest and parsley with a drizzle of oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Arrange all ingredients on a platter, squeeze juice over, particularly the cut surface of artichokes to prevent browning.
3. Scatter a little parsley
3. Lovely served still slightly warm.

 

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Rosewater Spiced Rice Pudding

| Liz Thomas

A special treat on a stormy south coast day and an excellent way to use up some excess milk. This will stick to your ribs and warm the cockles of your heart (whatever that means). It smells divine and as you will see doesn’t need a lot of sweet additives to be delicious.
Rosewater Spiced Rice Pudding

Serves 4-6
Ingredients

Pudding
1 1/2 cups Aborio or shortgrain rice
3 cups milk
1 scraped vanilla pod or few drops of essense
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 ntmeg grated or half teaspoon ground
1 broken cinnamon/cassia stick or 1/2 teaspoon grond
1/4 cup rosewater
2 tablespoons Honey

Garnish
1/4 cup chopped pistachio
Lavender flowers or rose petals

Method

1. Simmer, as gently as possible, all pudding ingredients for 15mins till rice is cooked and milk absorbed. Keep an eye on it so it doesnt boil over or burn on the bottom, stir occassionally.
2. Remove cinnamon stick and vanilla pod, garnish with nuts and flowers serve immediately in summer and warm in winter.

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Namaste Liz