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Pull My Finger

I love homemade baked beans.

I don't always love the after effects so I do only eat beans in moderation.

Ordinarily I will make a big batch of baked beans whenever I cook pork ribs but it has been a while and I have had a bit of a hankering for some baked beans with an egg so I threw this quickie version together on Monday.

It is a perfect 'breakfast for dinner' option as suggested in this weeks newsletter meal plan.  The recipe makes about 4 serves.

The chiles adobo are a specialty ingredient that you can find in delicatessan style stores or buy online, they contribute a wonderful smoky chilli flavour.  Substituting with barbecue sauce and a chopped red chilli or some dried chilli would work just fine but the chilies adobo is worth tracking down, especially if you enjoy proper Mexican food.

Have you added breakfast for dinner to your meal plan this week?  I stumbled across a great blog called Apples Under My Bed this week, Heidi has a dedicated Wednesday Breakfast Club section with lots of delcious looking ideas.  I love finding people who have very similar food values to my own, even better when they share yummy stuff alongside beautiful photos!

Tatum xx

Slow Cooked Moroccan Lamb

I call this Moroccan lamb because it uses the typical flavours of North Africa, how authentic it is I have no idea but it is seriously delicious as well as being a breeze to prepare ahead and makes enough to feed an entire tribe.  Twice.

If you are lucky enough to have a tagine then halve the meat & veggies and only use half the marinade and cook this in there.

The marinade for this is made from scratch, it is simple to do by just chucking everything in a blender or food processor and beats anything that comes ready made in a jar from the supermarket.  Leave out the chillies if they aren't your thing.

You could happily stretch this to serve 12 (or maybe more) adults just by adding more veggies, but I suspect that you would need a larger casserole dish to manage it.  It is the perfect kind of thing to cook when you are having a fridge clean-out. 

You could add other veggies like zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower but don’t put them in for the long, slow cook.  Steam them until just tender separately and add them at the reheating stage.

You don’t have to make this in advance but I just always do.  It is so simple to just throw everything in together when you are having a bit of a cook up ahead of time.  You could pop it in a slow cooker I suppose?

Slow cooked Moroccan Lamb – Feeds a Family of Six, Twice

Ingredients

4 big lamb shanks or 1.5-2kg lamb leg or shoulder or 2 whole chickens, each cut into 8 pieces (leave the wings on the frames and use them to make chicken stock).

6 big fat carrots

A pile of small parsnips (8-10)

3 big red capsicums

1 large sweet potato

4 leeks, or 2 onions

2 Tins Chopped Tomatoes

½ cup dried apricots or dates

Moroccan Marinade

1 bunch each coriander & flat leaf parsley

1 red onion

2 long red chillies

1 Tbs each ground cumin & coriander, turmeric and paprika

2 Tbs Olive Oil

Juice of 1 Lemon

To Serve

Cous Cous

½ bunch mint

Zest from 1 lemon

½ cup almonds, toasted

Method

Blend all the marinade ingredients together into a paste

Peel & chop your veggies into large chunks

Get out your largest ovenproof casserole dish and pile in the meat, veggies and marinade.  Mix it around as much as possible to get the marinade on everything.

Empty in the two tins of tomatoes and add refill one tin with water to add in too.

Throw in the ½ cup dried apricots or dates.

Put it all in the oven at 170C until meat is falling off the bone.  About 2 hours for chicken and 3 hours for lamb.  If you dish is overfull like mine was make sure you pop a tray underneath or you’ll have to clean the oven.

Make the gremolata by chopping the mint, lemon zest and almonds together.

I usually make this the day before and leave to cool properly before taking the meat out and stripping it off the bone before adding it back in with the veggies.  At this point you could add 2 drained tins of chickpeas if cous cous isn’t your thing.

Divide half into a freezer container to save for a rainy day and reheat the other half to serve(I do this on the stove) alongside some cous cous with the gremolata sprinkled on top.

So good on a cold winter day but the zesty gremolata livens it up enough that it is also a no fuss meal for reheating at the end of a hot summer day.

Easy Cheese & Bacon Rolls

Back in March The Fabulous Baker Brothers landed on my door step.  I had enjoyed watching them battle it out on Lifestyle Food and decided I wanted more of what they had to offer so I ordered their book.

Within a few months I was baking the majority of my own bread.

I started by making a lot of hot cross buns and the odd bread loaf here and there around easter.  The hot cross buns were better than anything you can buy in the shops, seriously.  The recipe also works fabulously well cooked as a fruit loaf for cafe style toast infinitely better than the stuff that comes pre sliced and packed in a plastic bag. 

My eldest is partial to rye sourdough and I only eat good bread.  The stuff in the plastic bags makes my stomach start twisting in knots just looking at it.  By making it myself I know that the flour is top quality and my per loaf cost is about half what I pay if I buy bread of a similar quality.

I convinced my sister pretty quickly that if you make it at the same time as you are getting dinner organised you probably won't even notice the extra bit of work. 

Leave it for the first prove while you eat and do the dishes, punch it down, pop it in a tin for it's second rise and it will be good for the oven by the time you have the kids tucked in.  Our husbands have both embraced the regular baking of bread now too.

I buy my flour in bulk, 5kg bags of Kialla Organic Wholemeal Spelt and 10kg bags of Laucke Organic Wholemeal wheat.  I also buy Organic Rye and a biodynamic 85% wholegrain white flour in smaller quantities and mix that in depending on what I am making.  Most of the time I use a roughly 50/50 split of spelt/wheat but feel free to mix it around to suit you and your family.  I explain more about why I choose organic flour here.

By making my own bread I also don't need to drag any children to the shops to buy a loaf.  Ever.  That, in itself, is justification alone in my book.  I have a Kenwood Chef to do all the mixing for me.  Anything that has a dough hook will work just as well, or you can take to it in the old fashioned way and knead by hand.

These cheese and bacon rolls are an extension of my basic recipe and I make them once or twice every week.  The best thing about these is that they are perfect for lunchboxes.  All they need is to be split in half and spread with a lashing of butter and they are pretty much guaranteed to be devoured. 

Cheese & Bacon Rolls - Makes 12-16

Ingredients

560g flour (Usually I use 300g spelt and 260g wholemeal wheat but use whatever mix that works for you)

2 tsp dried yeast

25mL olive oil

330-350mL warm water

4 rashers bacon, trimmed and chopped

150g cheese (tasty or mozzarella), grated

Method

Combine the flour, water, yeast and oil in the bowl of your mixer and mix on low for about 10 minutes.

The dough will first form a ball and then relax back to something more gooey when the mixing stage is finished.

Pop it into a bowl to prove in a warm place.  Leave it for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Oil a large baking tin.

When the dough has risen punch it down, remove from the bowl and cut in to 12-16 equal portions.  Shape gently into balls and arrange in the tin.

Spread the bacon and cheese evenly over the tops and set aside to rise in a warm place for another 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 230C shortly before you are ready to pop the rolls in to the oven.  Once they are ready to go pop the rolls in and turn down the heat to 210C after 10 minutes.

Cook for a further 10-15 minutes.

When the rolls are done pull them out of the oven and slide from the tray on to a cooling rack.

Try not to burn your tongue if you absolutely must sample one right now with some good butter.  Share it with your partner or a child if you are feeling generous :)

Have you ever baked your own bread?  Is it something you would like to try?  It really easy quite an easy undertaking if you have a machine to take the hard work out of the kneading, or a therapeutic one if you are kneading my hand.

Tatum xx

Introducing Kitchen Bootcamp

It's all well and good to get out there amongst it a few mornings a week and move it at bootcamp for a nice, round booty but the reality is if you can't back that up by shaking things in the kitchen all those squats won't give you results as good as they could be.

If you missed out on getting a good grounding in kitchen know how or just want to expand on your existing skill set, then I am here to help. 

Starting July 1st we will spend eight weeks at Kitchen Bootcamp learning about everything from adzuki beans to snapper, porterhouse to zucchini; what they are and how to prepare them. 

We will cover all the major food groups and cooking methods, kicking things off with some kitchen organisation and finishing with meal planning.
I will be teaching you all the things you need to know to give you confidence in the kitchen, enabling you to become a more intuitve cook able to throw together a great, quick meal from whatever whole and fresh foods you can scrounge from your fridge and cupboard. 

I will be keeping things simple, nutritious, yummy and budget friendly while getting you well on your way to never needing to visit the frozen and convenience sections of the supermarket again.

I'll give you plenty of support with videos, fact sheets, recipes and a private group for discussion and getting to know your classmates.

Visit here for a full overview of the course.  Email me to sign up at the introductory rate of $80 for the eight week course or combine it with Purging Processed (details to come) for $100.

Got anything you want to know about the course before signing up, leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

I am so excited about this.  I cannot wait to get started!

Tatum xx

Unleashing Kitchen Bootcamp - All the Details

It's all well and good to get out there amongst it a few mornings a week and move it at bootcamp for a nice, round booty but the reality is if you can't back that up by shaking things in the kitchen all those squats won't give you results as good as they could be.

If you missed out on getting a good grounding in kitchen know how or just want to expand on your existing skill set, then I am here to help. 

Kitchen Bootcamp

Kitchen Bootcamp $80.00 AUD Bootcamp + Purging Processed $100.00 AUD Purging Processed $40.00 AUD

Starting July 1st we will spend eight weeks at Kitchen Bootcamp learning about everything from adzuki beans to snapper, porterhouse to zucchini; what they are and how to prepare them. 

We will cover all the major food groups and cooking methods, kicking things off with some kitchen organisation and finishing with meal planning.
I will be teaching you all the things you need to know to give you confidence in the kitchen, enabling you to become a more intuitive cook able to throw together a great, quick meal from whatever whole and fresh foods you can scrounge from your fridge and cupboard. 

I will be keeping things simple, nutritious, yummy and budget friendly while getting you well on your way to never needing to visit the frozen and convenience sections of the supermarket again.

I'll give you plenty of support with videos, fact sheets, recipes and a private group for discussion and getting to know your classmates.

The Full Course Run Down

Week One - Introduction

Let's sort out your kitchen.  First we will look at your pantry, fridge and freezer.  What to keep, how to store it and most importantly what you need it for.  Next up we will consider the tools of trade side of things, essentials, nice to haves and WTF do you need that for?  We will also touch on some basic nutrition including daily needs and portion sizes.

Week Two - Vegetables Part I

This week will be all about cooking vegetables.  The best and correct techniques for different veggies, ways to flavour your dishes and how to step them up enough.  Never again will you serve bland, tasteless veggies after I am done with you this week.

Week Three - Meat

Week three will see us getting all carnivorous.  We will talk about all the main meat groups including the different cuts and how best to use them.  We will cover all the different cooking techniques, learn which veggies pair best with what meat and match them up with different flavours.

Week Four - Vegetables Part II

This week we will be looking at veggies in the raw and served 'salad' style.  You will be amazed by how many different 'salads' you can create after we are finished.

Week Five - Baking & Breads

Let's get intimate with your oven and arm you with the skills to pack a lunchbox or serve morning tea without ever having to duck to the shops for a forgotten or missing something ever again.  Whilst it won't be a total wheat and sugar free zone I will teach you about the different alternatives and ways to substitute them into recipes you already have on hand.

Week Six - Pulses, Beans and Grains

Being able to work with these little babies is an important thing if you want to cut down the amount of meat you eat.  They are also fabulous for creating filling, low cost meals and are essential if you want to reduce the amount of gluten and lower the GI of your meals.

Week Seven - Eggs, Fats and Dairy

There are so many things you can do with the humble egg and they are a fabulous staple to have on hand when you walk in the door and need to hustle some dinner fast.  We will also look at the different types of fats and oils, the best way to use them and learn a few facts that you will probably find surprising.  Lastly we will compare different kinds of dairy products, why they are important and what to incorporate if you are intolerant to them.

Week Eight - Meal Planning

This week we will tie everything together by focusing on meal planning, big batch cooking, seasonal cooking and a bit more about nutrition.

Like the sound the sound of it then sign up using paypal at the introductory rate of $80 for the eight week course or combine it with Purging Processed (details to come) for $100.

Let's shake some booty in the kitchen!

Kitchen Bootcamp

Kitchen Bootcamp $80.00 AUD Bootcamp + Purging Processed $100.00 AUD Purging Processed $40.00 AUD

Tatum xx