A Simple Sorrel Pesto

Tags

Chocolate and Zucchini, Dairy Free, Darling Mills Farm, Gluten Free, Joel Robuchon, Moobi Valley, Paleo, Pesto, Real Food, Sorrel, vegetarian, Wholefood

Adventures with Sorrel
(Image by TSL)

The simpler the food, the harder it is to prepare it well. You want to truly taste what it is you’re eating. So that goes back to the trend of fine ingredients. It’s very Japanese: Preparing good ingredients very simply, without distractions from the flavor of the ingredient itself. (Joel Robuchon)

It sounds a wee bit silly as I write this, but one the of the commitments I made to myself at the beginning of the year was to try cooking with new ingredients. Regularly. That is: ingredients I have never prepared myself before. I just seem to have this rotation of the same old recipes. They work, but that’s what I cook. I’m sure I’m not alone in this – cooking takes time, and sometimes the last thing you want to do is get creative after a long day. But, this year I’m going to try new things! 

Don’t worry, though. I’m not planning on going crazy. Today, I’m starting with Sorrel…

LM, Bella and I tootled off on our weekly farmers market jaunt this week. One of our regular and favourite stops is at the Darling Mills Farm stall. Their range of herbs, salad greens and edible flowers are always so tempting that it generally takes me a few minutes to make a decision as to just what goodies I’m going to pick up for the week. This week, they had some lovely looking sorrel hiding in the back corner. So, after a wee taste test (lemony and sour) and without having the faintest idea what I was going to do with it, I bought some…

Don’t know what sorrel is? – Sorrel looks a little bit like spinach but is actually an herb. While it can apparently be available year-round, it is at its youngest and mildest in spring. It’s not the kind of leafy green you’ll readily find at the supermarket, though.

It’s sourness comes from high levels of oxalic acid. It is also high in vitamin A and contains some calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C.  

According to the very fabulous Yotam Ottolenghi, “as with lemon juice, the more sorrel you use, the more it has to be balanced with something sweet, starchy or creamy. For sorrel to shine in a spring soup, say, the onions must be softened slowly, so their natural sweetness comes out, while you need the addition of potatoes or haricot beans to cushion the sorrel’s kick.”

In my search for just the right introduction to sorrel, I discovered it is often found in creamy soups, fish stuffings, omelets, salads and sauces. Who would’ve known? Younger sorrel is more often cooked and served like spinach, or added raw in salads. Older, more acidic sorrel is better in creamy soups where the addition of sour cream is said to reduce some of the more tart overtones.

Clean sorrel like spinach – folding each leaf in half lengthwise and stripping the tough central stem away from the soft leaves. 

The very talented Clotilde at Chocolate and Zucchini has a wonderful post dedicated to 50 things you can do with sorrel. But, I chose to disregard all her suggestions. Instead, given sorrel’s bitter taste coupled with LM’s seriously sweet tooth (the two don’t really mix!), I elected to ease into our sorrel introduction and adapted one of Yotam’s pesto recipes.

Green Beans with Sorrel Pesto & Roasted Hazelnuts
(Image by TSL)

We had ours mixed with beans and roasted hazelnuts and served with perfectly barbecued (by LM!) Moobi Valley scotch filet and duck fat roasties. It tasted fine!

..and, then I had some more on my eggs the following morning!

Sorrel Pesto

• Time: 20 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

(Image by TSL)

Ingredients

1 x bunch of sorrel (about 75g after washing and de-stalking)
a handful of parsley (about 20g of leaves after washing and de-stalking)
50g walnuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1/2 a teaspoon of maple syrup
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt
1/2 a lime, juiced (optional)

Method

1) Bung all the ingredients in your a food processor and blitz until you reach your desired consistency. Taste and season to your preference.

E N J O Y !

 

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TSL’s BEST EVER Ragu Bolognese…

Tags

Alexx Stuart, Best Bolognaise Recipe, Best Bolognese Recipe, Best Lasagne Recipe, Best Pasta Sauce, Best Ragu Recipe, Cook, Dairy Free, Delia, Delia Smith, Dolly Parton, food, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Main Course, Paleo, Ragout Recipe, Real Food, Recipe, Sea Vegetable

Ragu Bolognese TSL-Style
inspired by Delia
(Image by TSL)

My weaknesses have always been food and men – in that order. (Dolly Parton)

I like to cook. Which is rather fortunate, because I also like to eat. And, as I get older I find myself becoming more particular about what I will eat, and where my food comes from.

There are times, though, when even the most passionate of cooks can’t face the kitchen. I have friends back in New Zealand who have lovely wee lamb cutlets as their ‘go to’ meal when they can’t be bothered thinking about cooking at the end of a particularly long work day. I think they may even have a super-special crumb recipe in which they coat their wee cutlets. They buy the little chops in bulk, do their magic ‘crumb-thingy’, and then freeze them in portion-size packages. Yum.

My go-to ‘can’t be bothered thinking about cooking‘ answer has long been to have portion-sized containers of Delia Smith’s Authentic Ragu Bolognese in my freezer. It’s so good and has a secret ingredient to make it seriously smooth and rich. Chicken livers. Yep. That’s right – chicken livers.

Wanna’ know why we should eat more chicken liver? Among other things, it is:

• high in protein and a rich store of folate
• loaded with iron (for energy and immune system health)
• a treasure trove of certain B vitamins, most notably B12 (guards your body against anemia, good for tissue repair).
• one of the top sources of vitamin A (which promotes good eyesight)

And, even if the idea of liver has you running for the hills, you won’t even know it’s in this recipe. True!

I used to make the ragu as part of Delia’s Lasagne al Forno. That’s no longer an option in the gluten-free, dairy-free world I now cook in at Casa TSL.* So, now I just make the ragu and have it on hand for whenever I can’t face the kitchen…

Ragu Bolognese TSL-Style
inspired by Delia
(Image by TSL)

Lately, I’ve had a wee bit of a girl-crush on Alexx Stuart of Real Food. Low Tox Living. She is a great proponent of eating real food, which just makes a lot of sense to me (and I like her pragmatic, unpretentious style). I saw her in action at the MINDD Foundation ‘Food is Medicine’ seminar. Now I like her even more!

And, as a result of Alexx’s presentation, I received a metaphorical kick-in-the-bum regarding making my own stocks from grass-fed bones again. So, this past week, I picked up some lovely bones from G.R.U.B. and made a massive batch of beef bone broth. So much, in fact, that I couldn’t fit it all in the freezer.

With all this excess broth and a need to replenish my emergency supplies of ragu, I have adapted Delia’s recipe to suit my needs. And, you know what? It works AND it’s more kiddie-friendly because there’s no wine in it. Delia’s recipe makes 8 225g portions, each serving 2 people. Mine makes more…

Ragu Bolognese TSL-Style
inspired by Delia
(Image by TSL)

Ragu Bolognese TSL-Style
(adapted from Delia Smith’s recipe)

Ingredients:
About 500g grass-fed Beef mince
About 500g pork mince (from happy pigs)
Coconut oil (or fat of choice)
About 225g chicken livers
2 x medium onions (chopped)
4 x large cloves of garlic (minced)
About 150g speck (or pancetta), chopped
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
4 x heaped tablespoons tomato paste
500ml beef bone broth (preferably home-made!)
Fresh herb of choice (basil, parsley or whatever you have to hand)
Salt & Pepper
Sea Vegetables (Optional, but soooooo good for you! I use this one)
grated nutmeg (preferably fresh)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 140°C (275°F)
2. Heat your largest frying pan over a medium heat. Add a generous dollop of coconut oil. Gently fry the onion and garlic until softened – about ten minutes. Give it a stir every now and then.
3. Add the chopped speck to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a large casserole (my beloved le Creuset holds just over 4 litres).
4. Add some more coconut oil to the pan and turn the heat up to high. Add the minced beef in batches to brown. I use a wooden fork to break it up in the pan. Add the cooked mince to the casserole. Repeat until all your beef is browned.
5. Do the same with the pork mince. While the pork mince is cooking, rinse the chicken livers and dry them with a paper towel. Trim off any sinew and chop them into teeny-tiny pieces.
6. Once the pork is browned and transferred to the casserole, heat a little more coconut oil and briefly brown the chicken livers. Add these to the casserole.
7. Place the casserole over a direct medium heat and give everything a good stir. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, bone broth and a generous seasoning of good salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the nutmeg (and the sea vegetables, if you are going to. Go on – dare you!). Stir again and allow to come to a simmer.
8. Add the chopped leaves of about half a bunch of basil or parsley
9. place the casserole in the oven (without a lid) for four hours. I give it a stir every hour or so. You should end up with a thick, unctuous meaty sauce with only a teeny bit of liquid.
10. Check for seasoning and add the remaining half bunch of your herbs.
11. When the sauce has cooled, divide it up. Delia reckons 225g feeds two people, so that’s the measure I go with. I use my scales.

Some suggestions for your ragu:

• the obvious one – over pasta, gnocchi or noodled squash or zucchini
• as a pizza topping
• as a stuffing for potato, kumara (sweet potato), eggplant, peppers or mushrooms
• as a sauce over steamed or roasted vegetable (my preferred option is over roasted broccoli)
• in shakshuka (baked eggs)
• As a super fancy-schmancy mince-on-toast

Bolognese-stuffed Eggplant
(Image from Taste)

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart. (Cesar Chavez)

*But, if you don’t have these limitations and you feel like showing your family and/or friends just how much you love them, Delia’s lasagne recipe is an absolute corker. SERIOUSLY GOOD.

Pete Evans and His SERIOUSLY GOOD Bliss Balls…

Tags

Activated Almonds, Alexx Stuart, Australia, Bliss Ball, Bliss Balls Recipe, Cook, Dairy Free, food, Food is Medicine, Gluten Free, Health, Healthy Snack Recipe, Manu Feildel, Mindd Foundation, Pete Evans, Real Food, Recipe, Teresa Cutter

Pete Evans – Famous for eating activated almonds
(Image from here)

Pete Evans gets A LOT of air time here in Australia.

Unsurprising, really. He’s published seven cookbooks, and apparently there’s another on the way. He’s both a chef and restaurateur. He and his good mate Manu Feildel front the popular ‘My Kitchen Rules’ show on the telly. He is an ambassador for healthy foodie brand Sumo Salad. Apparently, he has just launched a home fermentation and culturing kit to make real sauerkraut, kimchi and kefir (which I will have to check out).

AND, of course, this year he famously made headlines after his ‘My Day on a Plate’ contribution to ‘Sunday Life’ magazine went viral when he listed activated almonds as part of his über-healthy diet.

The thing is, while I might not be the kind of girl who watches ‘My Kitchen Rules’ or frequents the food halls where I imagine Sumo Salad sets up shop, I do like the healthy food message that Pete Evans espouses – activated almonds* and all.

And, on top of all of it – he looks so damned healthy! Admit it – the man has a permanent glow on…

Pete Evans for Food is Medicine through the Mindd Foundation
(Image from here)

Logical then, that the Mindd Foundation chose Pete to front the banner for their upcoming seminar on Food is Medicine.

If you’re interested in health, nutrition and food as medicine (and you’re in Sydney on Saturday!), then I reckon you should check this out. Clearly, Pete will be there doing some health food demos. But, so will Teresa Cutter (of the Healthy Chef) talking about meals that support digestion; Alexx Stuart (of Real Food and Low Tox Living) explaining the many uses of bone broth; and, many more from the local real food movement.

In an effort to get in the mood for Saturday, when I saw a recipe Pete posted AND also that I had all the ingredients to hand**, I headed straight to the kitchen to whip up some Buzz (Bliss) Balls.

I’m taking Pete at his word, and sharing his Bliss Ball recipe. They tick all the boxes – they’re healthy, easy-peasey to make, and they taste great.

Cook with balls, love and laughter. (Pete Evans)

Pete Evans’ Buzz Balls
(Image by TSL)

Pete Evans’ Buzz Balls (aka Bliss Balls)

1/4 cup of unhulled Tahini
2 tablespoons of Pure Organic Maple Syrup (Pete called for 3, but that was just too much for me!)
1/4 cup of buckinis (activated buckwheat)
1/2 cup of macadamias
1/2 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of dried organic apricots, finely chopped
1/4 cup of desiccated coconut
3 tablespoons of extra virgin coconut oil
filtered water to get the consistency right if it’s too dry to roll
extra desiccated coconut for rolling

Bung all the ingredients into your food processor and pulse until you reach your desired consistency. If the mixture is too dry to roll add a little filtered water, or if it’s too wet add extra desiccated coconut. Shape into balls and roll in coconut. I used a table-spoon and got 15 balls.

Allow the balls to set in the fridge for 30 minutes before you munch on them.

If you’d like to learn more about the Mindd Foundation Food is Medicine Seminar on this Saturday, check out their website here.

*If you’re wondering, activated nuts are soaked in water to force germination. The theory goes that the sprouted nut activates its digestive enzymes, making it easier to digest and better for you.

**do not ask me why I had activated buckwheat in my pantry – I might end up trending on twitter…

Best Sydney (Breakfast &) Lunch Spots: West Juliett

Tags

Best Sydney Cafe, Real Food, Slow Cooked Pork, Sydney, West Juliett, Whole Food

Some of the Sweet Options at West Juliett
(Image by TSL)

What if I told you that the Twelve hour pork with ‘slaw on offer at West Juliett is so good that I forgot I was meant to photograph it before I started eating…?

True. I LOVE this meal. See – here it is…

Twelve hour pork, fennel, sharp cabbage, apple, kohl rabi, parmesan
(Image by TSL)

And, when I say I love this meal, I mean really love it. Whenever LM asks me what I want for lunch, I say the West Juliett pork salad. It is so good – it goes without saying that the pork is full of slow-cooked yumminess, but the spicy-sweet slaw is equally good. I think there may even be some home-made pickled cabbage in the mix.

We have visited the fine establishment that is West Juliett on several occasions in the past two or three months and I always have the pork salad. Honestly? – it got to the point, on my previous visit, that I was compelled to try something else on the menu. I felt I was being unfairly biased towards the pork. Our lovely waitress assured me that the Juliett Salad of avocado, seasonal vegetables, leaves, nuts, seeds and herbs with a side of chicken, was equally fab’. Turned out, it was pretty fab’. It just wasn’t quite on a par with the pork number that I so love. It’s a matter of taste, I reckon’.

LM loves the burger. He always loves the burger! And, the good folk at West Juliett are pretty good at ensuring his dairy-free requirements are met, too.

Grass fed burger, beetroot relish, butter lettuce, pickles and aioli (but sans cheddar) served with a bowl of hand cut chips with crisp herbs
Please note the beetroot juice is only like that because LM has already had a hefty bite out of his burger!
(Image by TSL)

But it’s not just the food that rocks at West Juliett. LM will tell you that he has had his best coffee ever in a Sydney café here. He’s an espresso man. If you’re a connoisseur of such matters, the café uses a ‘seasonally changing coffee that is contract roasted locally by White Horse coffee’.

And, they even make their own milkshakes and sodas. I’ve not tried a milkshake (yet) but we often partake of a soda…

Rhubarb and something soda at West Juliett
(Image by TSL)

What I particularly love about places like West Juliett (and Cornersmith), apart from the fact that they are located in my wee neck of the woods, is that they care about where they source their product. And, it shows. They make all their own yoghurt and baked goods on site (and the smells are seriously
a m a z i n g when the chocolate chip cookies are just coming out of the oven). There’s a section on their menu dedicated to explaining the provenance of their supplies – fresh jersey milk from Warrnambool, grass fed beef from Taralga Springs and free range eggs, tomatoes and honey from Mary in Wyong.

West Juliett’s Menu
(Image by TSL)

The cafe is pretty unassuming from the outside. But, every time we’ve visited it has been humming. The people watching isn’t bad, either. Lots of hipsters in this corner of Marrickville.

On a nice day, there’s a fair amount of outdoor seating. Sadly, when we were there last week it was a tad chilly for al fresco dining so we headed inside. There were a few hardier souls than us who braved the wind…

The unassuming West Juliett
(Image by TSL)

Inside the bustling West Juliett
(Image by TSL)

Homemade preserves at West Juliett
(Image by TSL)

West Juliett is open from Monday – Saturday, 7am – 4pm. You can find it at 30 Llewellyn St, Marrickville. It’s seriously worth a visit!

Blog Stalking Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind

Tags

Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind, Cooking, Dairy Free, dessert, Food Porn, Paleo, Primal, Real Food, Recipe, San Diego, Sea World, Trifle, United States, Wordpress

Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind Header
(Image from CEWADM)

I want to tell you about a fabulous woman. We have never met in the flesh, but I follow her gorgeous blog. It’s called Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind (CEWADM).  I can’t even remember how I found her. Probably through one of my random WordPress searches.

She lives in San Diego. At least, I think she does. She’s irreverent and funny and she conducts amazing experiments with paleo-oriented recipes which she tests on her non-paleo partner and various friends. If they make the grade, she posts them on her blog. I kind of wish I lived in San Diego so she could use me as one of her foodie guinea pigs. San Diego has Sea World, too…

(Image from Comic JK)

Sidebar: For those of you who aren’t aware, LM and I sort of, kind of, follow a paleo-ish diet. With LM’s dairy and shellfish allergies, and my problems with gluten AND a real interest in eating less sugar and less processed food, a sort of paleo/primal/Weston A. Price/’real and traditional food’ hybrid is slowly evolving at Casa TSL.

Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies by CEWADM
(Image and recipe from here)

That being said, a lot of the recipes in CEWADM fall under the category of ‘sweets’. And, as mentioned, I try not to eat too much sugar. So, for a while, I looked but didn’t touch. The blog was a source of food porn, but I hadn’t tried any of the recipes. All that changed with the Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies. Seriously good. Seriously. Even for non-paleo peeps.

And then, I might just have mentioned that LM’s favourite dessert of all time was trifle. Just in passing, you understand…

Guess what happened? THIS happened…

The oh-so-fabulous Vanessa at CEWADM created a paleo (read: dairy free) trifle recipe for LM. More specifically, she created two trifle recipes for him – a peach crunch number and a raspberry chocolate hazelnut version. HOW COOL IS SHE???

Check it out…

Paleo Trifles by CEWADM
(Image and recipe from here)

Go and check out Vanessa and her fab’ blog, including the special trifle recipe, (here) before she gets her cookbook deal. Trust me – you don’t have to be paleo to appreciate it!