Pepper Crusted Goats Cheese and Almond Feta

Around New Years Eve, I made two nut based cheeses. First the cashew goats cheese which I had already tried at Johannas house and loved. I used muslin because the woman at spotlight told me to and also had very little come out when wrapped in the cheesecloth.

Pepper Crusted Goats Cheese from Vegetarian Times

3/4 cup raw cashews

6 Tbs. canola oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbs. tahini

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cracked black peppercorns or coarsely ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place cashews in large bowl; cover with 3 inches water. Soak overnight.

2. Drain liquid, rinse cashews under cold water, and drain again. Purée cashews, oil, lemon juice, tahini, salt, and 2 Tbs. water in food processor 6 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.

3. Place large strainer over bowl, and line with triple layer of cheesecloth. Spoon cashew mixture into cheesecloth. Fold sides of cloth over cheese, and form into 6-inch-long oval loaf. Twist ends of cloth and secure with rubber bands. Set in strainer over bowl, and let stand 12 hours at room temperature. Discard excess liquid. Chill.

4. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap cheese, and scrape into 7-inch-long log on cheesecloth. Rewrap, and twist ends to secure. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 35 minutes, or until cheese becomes set on outside but still soft, turning occasionally. Cool, and chill.

5. Unwrap cheese. Sprinkle with peppercorns, pressing to adhere.

I copied Johanna and used this in a quinoa salad. The salad itself was a bit boring but the 'goats cheese' made such a tasty addition. Its got a lovely tangy, salty flavour.

Next I made the:

Almond Feta but without the herb oil, also from vegetarian times

• 1 cup whole blanched almonds
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 Tbs. plus 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves (left this out)
• 1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves (also left this out)
• 1. Place almonds in medium bowl, and cover with 3 inches cold water. Let soak 24 hours. Drain soaking liquid, rinse almonds under cold running water, and drain again.
  2. Purée almonds, lemon juice, 3 Tbs. oil, garlic, salt, and 1/2 cup cold water in food processor 6 minutes, or until very smooth and creamy.
  3. Place large strainer over bowl, and line with triple layer of cheesecloth. Spoon almond mixture into cheesecloth. Bring corners and sides of cloth together, and twist around cheese, forming into orange-size ball and squeezing to help extract moisture. Secure with rubber band or kitchen twine. Chill 12 hours, or overnight. Discard excess liquid.
  4. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap cheese (it will be soft), and transfer from cheesecloth to prepared baking sheet. Flatten to form 6-inch round about 3/4-inch thick. Bake 40 minutes, or until top is slightly firm. Cool, then chill. (Cheese can be made up to this point 2 days ahead; keep refrigerated.)
  5. Combine remaining 1/4 cup oil, thyme, and rosemary in small saucepan. Warm oil over medium-low heat 2 minutes, or until very hot but not simmering. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle herb oil over cheese just before serving. I skipped this part.
  
  
  
  
  
  I enjoyed the garlic in this one and thought it was tasty enough without the herb oil. However, I took half of it to a new years eve party and when paired with crackers with a lot of salt/flavour you could barely taste it. So I recommend adding the herb oil. I can't choose a favourite either, as they are both tasty in their own ways. I will certainly continue experimenting with more nut based cheeses. What are your favourite recipes?

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Writers and editors on food 15: Lucy Sussex

Lucy Sussex is a writer, academic and reviewer. Her fiction has spanned a wide range of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and detective fiction, and she's written for adults, children, and young adults. Her non-fiction work is in literary criticism and journalism, and she is a reviewer for several major newspapers, as well as being an academic at the University of Melbourne. Today, she writes about a magical childhood time spent in Provence, and offers a delicious recipe from that time.


When I was five, my family spent a year in Provence. I attended my first school, where despite we being the only Protestants (‘I’m afraid we’re heretics,’ my mother Marian told the head nun), my older sister Polly played the Virgin Mary in the school play. There are a few mementoes of that time, photos, Provençal folk costumes, and a recipe book, carefully bound in plastic: Louis Giniès’ Cusine Provencal. Its bookmark is a postcard of the Basilique de Saint-Benoit.

My mother attended Provencal cooking classes in Aix, and loved to recall how, trying to be helpful, she opened a paper parcel only to find it contained live small crabs, who proceeded to scuttle all over the kitchen. She ended up with a signature dish, very useful for the wife of an academic specializing in French language: Tendrons de Veau a la Giardiane. It was exotic, but not too pungent for bland Anglo tastes.

Something which does not fit that description, and which she made, to judge from the pencil marks, is this potent tapenade. To test my French, I made it from the book, but a rough translation is:

Take equal quantities of capers in vinegar and stoned black olives. Add half the quantity of tuna in oil, and anchovies depending upon preference, with a small amount of English mustard and a pinch of the quatre-épices (four spices): cinnamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg. Blend, and add olive oil for consistency, and a small glass of brandy.

I see underlined in the book is the words: préalablement rincés, with reference to the ‘anchoies au sel’. Indeed, this is a pretty salty dish without the anchovies. The brandy makes it grown up, and it rolls around the tongue like a French R.

Giniès comments that; ‘Au point de vue historique, notons que presque toutes ces preparations étaient connues dans l’Antiquité.’ I like to think of the Ancient Romans relishing this dish.

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Blissful Bites

Things have been a bit hectic in our household, as we prepare for our trip whilst doing a large and much needed spring clean. Partially because we have house sitter and also because Toby starts studying full time when we return.

But I have to tell you about my new fave cookbook. I often get a new cookbook and made a few things and then leave it on the shelves for inspiration but don't actually make much out of it. There has been a few exceptions though like vegan cupcakes take over the world and vegan scoop. However, I'm obsessed with my new cookbook because its healthy, gf friendly, meals are generally pretty quick and don't require too many weird ingredients. I've been particuarly drawn to the recipes with seaweed in them. It's only been a few weeks since I received it and I've already made:

Land and Sea Soba Salad:

Fiesta quinoa salad:

Spring kale salad with sweet miso dressing, almost forgot to take a photo!

Tempeh 'fish' tacos with mango peach salsa:

And not your usual pad thai with an apricot almond sauce.

I can't decide which recipe to post. So let me know which one you are interested in and I'll blog about the one with the most votes.

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G/F Hong Kong and Macau Tips?

Gung Hay Fat Choy or Happy Chinese New Year!


Toby and I are off to Hong Kong and Macau in Feb and while we are both kind of familar with the vegetarian restaurants in Hong Kong. This will be my first time going to Hong Kong and eating gluten free.

I have to admit I'm a little nervous about my eating options since coeliac disease really is a foreign concept and wheat is in soy sauce and most Chinese sauces. 


Does anyone know of any gluten free friendly options in either place?

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Cashew Nectarine Popsicles

I do actually have lots of new savoury dishes to talk about, but can't be bothered talking about cookedmeals when I'm sooooooooo hot.

So this is  actually supposed to be cashew peach popsicles but apparently I don't know fruit at all because I accidentally grabbed nectarines and it wasn't until I went home that I realised. I went ahead with the recipe anyway and they were still delicious but I bet peaches would be much better.

Cashew Nectarine Popsicles adapted from Veggie Wedgie:

3-4 Nectarines

30gr raw cashews

2 tbsp agave syrup (adjust according to taste)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Soak the cashew in some water for 1 hour to soften them. Roughly chop nectarines. Place all ingridents in blender. Blend on high until well combined.

Makes 3 small popsicles.

Pour the mix in ice pop molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.

It still had some tiny cashew chunks which I liked, I like a bit of texture in icecream or popsicles. I enjoyed these but next time I will actually make these with peaches instead.

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Raw Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries

This is so easy quick healthy and tasty. The chocolate is a little less intense than regular dark chocolate so it doesn't overpower the flavour of the strawberries. These lasted a few days in our fridge.

Dark chocolate covered strawberries from Better Raw (will try the white chocolate next time )

1 punnet of strawberries, washed and dried.

Dark Chocolate (we had a lot of chocolate left so feel free to halve this recipe)
1 Cup Cacao Butter, melted
1 Cup Cacao Power
1/3 Cup Agave
Pinch Salt

Add cacao powder to the melted cacao butter and stir until no more lumps remain. Add the agave and salt and stir well. Dip strawberries one at a time, holding onto tails and rotating your hand slightly to create even coverage

Place each strawberry on a non stick tray and place in the fridge until chocolate sets.

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A colourful summer meal

Made a very simple but rather pretty(and very delicious) meal the other day that was just right for one of those hot summer days when you don't feel like standing in front of a hot stove for hours. (Mind you, we haven't had all that many hot days just recently!) It suits an everyday meal well, but is also good-looking enough to go down well as dinner with friends.
So here's what it is:
Entrée:
Half a good tomato, sliced in half, the flesh scooped out and chopped into pieces and mixed with chopped herbs, Spanish onion, and prosciutto, the mix then pushed back into the tomato shell and served on top of a 'mache' salad(corn salad as it's known in English) or just ordinary green lettuce of you don't have mache. I love mache, which is obtainable everywhere in France where it's a very common salad ingredient--it's much more difficult to get here, but David managed to get some to grow this year, to my great delight(in the past it's proven rather difficult to get going going) The whole thing was set off with some slightly steamed and cooled asparagus spears that had popped up for no particular reason in the garden(you don't usually see new ones till spring.) Of course I also drizzled some vinaigrette dressing on the salad as well.
Main course:
White fish with a herb, lemon and caper sauce:
Cook the fish(I used barrumundi) in a little oil in a non-stick pan, sprinkling with salt and pepper. Meanwhile mix chopped garlic, chopped basil and lemon thyme, grated lemon rind, lemon juice, salt, peppers and capers in a bowl, adding a little olive oil to make a nice thick sauce. When the fish is nearly cooked, pour this sauce onto it, stir for a few seconds, then serve the fish with the sauce on top.
Couscous and pomegranate salad(adapted this from a recipe of my daughter's)
Make some couscous according to instructions on packet, cool a little. Add the juice and seeds of a pomegranate, some chopped mint, salt, a little chopped garlic, chopped Spanish onion, some olive oil and lemon juice to the couscous and stir well till properly mixed. You can serve the salad slightly warm or cold, it's lovely either way.
Dessert:
We just had juicy white peaches fresh off the tree. Fantastic! This meal would also go well with a berry fool or mousse.

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Massaged Kale Avocado Salad

I had felt inspired this week by meeting the charismatic, sweet and enthusiastic raw chef Lisa from Vegan Culinary Crusade. We had a few meals together and I watched her give a talk on the healing power of plant foods. While I knew a lot of the info and references such as the china study. I still learnt a lot about new research into the benefits of vegan diet, and the horrible health consequences of eating dairy and animal protein. Both the talk and general conversations with her had me reflecting on all sorts of things, like my current diet.

It's coming up to my 10 year anniversary of being vegan in a few months. I started out as a pretty healthy vegan but as more and more processed vegan foods become available, they started to become part of my regular diet. I really have become a bit of  junk food vegan. I get how it happens, I guess I want to show myself and others that you don't need to miss out on fried foods, creamy ice creams, decadent cakes etc. But we really are doing a bit of a disservice to ourselves. If we are eating large amounts of sugar, fat, oil etc we can still end up with some of the diseases of affluence. Not only can it make us unwell but also gives veganism a bad name since if a vegan gets sick, veganism always gets blamed.

I took Lisa to radical grocery and she got the last bunch of kale and told me about the salad she was going to make for dinner. I was intrigued about it as she explained that by massaging the kale with certain ingredients it becomes wilted almost like it has been cooked. With the hot heather returning to Melbourne today, I couldn't resist giving it a try. I know kale salads are big on overseas vegan blogs but kale is still a pretty rare ingredient here and I think in the past I overlooked these recipes as I wasn't interested in what I thought to be boring and bland salads.

I massaged the kale as I watched project runway and was so amazed at the change in texture and size, it decreased by almost half. If you are looking for kale in Melbourne you can sometimes find it at radical grocery, and fruit peddlers. I have also been told that it is available at  psarkos in Thornby and LaManna Direct in Essendon.

Anyway, the salad was great, the avocado adds a bit of creaminess, the massaging takes away the bitterness of the kale, the capsicum provides a tiny bit of sweetness. Its also quick and doesn't require turning on the oven/stove on hot days. I'm certainly going to make this again and am going to experiment with other massaged kale salads. Do you have any fav kale salad recipes?

Kale Avocado Salad  from Vegan Culinary Crusade

1 bunch of kale
1 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 Lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 (or 2) Avocado/s
1/2 red pepper (I used a whole one), juliened
2 spring onions, chopped

1. Tear up the leaves from a bunch of kale into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl
2. Add olive oil, sea salt and lemon.
3. Massage everything together for a couple of minutes (the kale should change texture to become almost wilted)
4. Peel and pit an avocado/s. Mash the avocado flesh into the kale, to coat the leaves.
5. Top with red pepper and spring onion.

Serves 4 (as side)

I'm labelling this as raw, as you just need to sub the olive oil.

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Pina Colada Popsicles

On the 42 degree day we retreated to a small shopping centre to see a movie and just hang out and escape from our very hot house. I had a mission to get some popsicles moulds so we could make popiscles or as we call it here icy poles. I wanted to get some cute shaped ones but the only ones I could find were these cheap ones from target. They aren't as cute as the others but do the job and have a small little end to sip the melted bits when you get to the end.

This is so similar to my pina colada ice cream that I hesitated about posting it but the texture is really different, much more icy and you don't need a ice cream maker!

Pina Colada Popsicles/Icy Poles from good bite

Makes 4

1 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup dried, unsweetened, un-sulfured shredded coconut (I left this out)

1 cup fresh pineapple, roughly chopped

1/2 tablespoon Agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract (I left this out too)

Combine all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth and creamy. Divide mixture into four (4-ounce) Popsicle molds. Freeze for 4 hours and serve.

Heres rilakkuma (relax bear) posing with one:

 

They are sweet, creamy and quite refreshing!

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Writers and editors on food 14: Wendy James

Wendy James is a novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Out of the Silence(2005) won the Ned Kelly Award for first crime fiction and was shortlisted for the Nita May Dobbie Award for women’s writing.
Her other novels are The Steele Diaries(2008), Where have You Been(2010) and the forthcoming The Mistake(February 2012). She has also published a collection of short stories, Why She Loves Him(2009).
Her short stories and articles have also been published in literary journals, magazines and anthologies.
Wendy grew up in western NSW and on the northern beaches of Sydney. She now lives with her husband and children in Newcastle, NSW.

Bread Omelette

This is a version of french toast ( or a savoury bread & butter pud, I guess...) that my nan occasionally made for breakfast when I was a kid. I'm not sure where this version hails from. Nan grew up on a very isolated station west of Bourke, so I imagine meals that made use of stale food and leftovers were quite common.

The recipe serves one - two people, and doubling the ingredients works okay, too. I think I'd do it in batches if feeding a bigger crowd.

one egg
1-2 slices bread (stale is fine)
dash of milk
chopped parsley


Beat the egg and milk together. Tear pieces of bread and mix into the egg mixture. Squelch about a little. Add parsley.
Fry each side of the omelette (in oil or butter) in a smallish pan over low heat until golden brown .
Serve with a sprinkling of salt and white pepper, a squirt of tomato sauce and/or your preferred 'hot' sauce. (Lancashire Relish works best for me)

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Almost Raw Blueberry Cheesecake

I've been doing pretty well with the reduced sugar resolution by trying to focus more on fruit and occasionally eating desserts like this. But its only 10 days in, so will see how I go.

The original recipe was called bluberry cardamon cheesecake and asked for lots of cardamon but I was worried I was going to overdo it so the cardamon ended up being so subtle that you couldn't really notice it.

Bluberry Cheesecake by Sweetly Raw.

Crust:

1 cup walnuts (I used almonds)

2/3 cup pitted, packed dates

Grind both ingredients together in a food processor.

Add 1 teaspoon of water if the mixture is too crumbly.

Press the crust into pan/s of choice. I used a pie plate but think mini ones would be cuter. Set aside.

Filling:

3 cups blueberries

1 1/2 cups cashews

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (can use much more for strong flavour)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

3-4 tablespoons melted cacao butter

In a blender, combine all but the cacao butter, until completely smooth and creamy. 

Add the butter and blend again to incorporate. 

Pour the mixture over the crust(s)

Chill in the fridge or freezer until firm.

I loved this recipe, it makes such a rich dessert that you don't need to eat much. I love the colour too. It does make quite a lot so feel free to halve the recipe unless you are sharing. I think its pretty similar to yongs's blueberry cheesecake although perhaps not quite as solid in texture on top.

 

We shared some with our friend Eve while she taught us mahjong and still had lots leftover for the next 3 days. Mahjong is hard and I currently suck at it, although I did win one round with this hand with lots of help from Eve:

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Deliciously simple home-made icecream

It's that time of the year when you just crave icecream. And I very often make my own, without any special equipment of any sort, from a recipe I invented years ago(and even won a prize for in the Australian Women's Weekly at the time!) A simple mixture of egg whites, sugar and cream, it works every time, is cheap to make, super-easy, is completely natural, has a beautiful texture and taste, with no crystals forming at all despite not needing any icecream churn or anything like that. And it's ready in a few hours(if made early in the morning for that evening) or best still frozen overnight. And you can make all different sorts of flavours, depending on what you fancy.
The really important thing to remember with it though is never to put anything with water in it. This is what forms ice crystals. So no syrups or anything like that. Fruit icecreams work well as long as you don't add any water to the juice--in fact don't use commercial juice but just crushed fresh fruit, or jam(which works even better.) You can make a delicious fudgey one by melting some unsalted butter with cream and brown sugar, which will make a thick caramelly sauce which mixes in well to the basic mixture(when it's cool). You can melt chocolate and add to it, and make a milk or cream coffee mixture for coffee icecream(just don't make the coffee with water).
So, for one litre of vanilla icecream, you need:
Two egg whites
200 ml cream(single cream--whipping cream is best, not thickened cream or double cream)
1/2 cup of caster(fine) sugar.
Drop or two vanilla essence(you can use vanilla-flavoured sugar instead--either bought or homr-made, by putting a vanilla bean inside a pot of caster sugar and leaving for a few days. Use this them instead of the plain caster sugar.)
Beat the egg whites till peaks form, add most of the sugar, beat again till thick and glossy, as for a meringue mix. In a separate bowl, beat the cream and rest of the sugar, till thick and gloosy too. Mix the cream and egg white mixtures together,folding in till well-incorporated. At this stage add the vanilla essence(or any other flavouring you're using). Put this in a 1 litre icecream container and freeze several hours or overnight. Serve on its own or with fresh fruit(in my photo, it's a blackcurrant icecream with fresh peaches from our orchard)
Et voilà! It's as easy as that! Enjoy!

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Guest post: Deborah M. Gray's How to Import Wine

Before Christmas, guest blogger and wine expert Deborah Gray contributed a wonderful post to A la mode frangourou, on holiday food and wine pairings, which I for one found very useful when deciding on what wines to choose at Christmas and New Year! Today, she writes about the inspiration for her very successful book, How to Import Wine, which has garnered a prestigious award, Gourmand magazine's 'Best Professional US Wine Book 2011.' It's also in contention for several international wine book awards.


My father was the impetus for my wine importing business in the States. He had just started a brand from his vineyard in Cowra, New South Wales and his desire to export prompted me to take on the challenge of importing. My knowledge and experience was precisely zero at that stage and the only advice I was given was “don’t do it.” Undaunted, I plunged blindly in. Since there was also no book on the subject, trial and error and missed opportunities became my modus operandi in the early years. They weren’t much fun at the time, but they provided valuable experiences from which to learn and clear examples in the book of what not to do.

I have been so fortunate to have travelled to many wine regions throughout Australia and New Zealand, met fascinating people, enjoyed incredible meals, and ridden the wave of wine popularity for Oz and NZ wines. I have judged wine competitions, spoken at festivals, served on wine boards and have great memories that will stay with me forever. But sitting in my office in California on the cusp of the recession in 2008, business for high end, boutique Australian wines was hard to come by and became increasingly more so as the year progressed. With that in mind, time on my hands and the germ of an idea, I started researching online, through publishers and in book stores and still found no wine importing books.

I have spent a lifetime dabbling in journals, writing seminar materials, taken a stab at novels and poetry, but had never written a How-to. And yet, the prospect excited me. As I went about my day in my business I made notes every time I thought of another aspect of the industry. From this I devised a Table of Contents as a guide and found it made an easy roadmap for me from subject to subject. People often tell me I must have spent a long time researching for this book, but in reality most of it came from my nearly 20 years experience, with research occasionally necessitated by a desire to be absolutely clear about particular details or to make sure I was up-to-date on resources.

I eschewed the dry, academic style I found in many non-fiction business books and made How to Import Wine – An Insider’s Guide conversational and as easy to understand as I hoped it would be. The writing became an enjoyable exercise, a nostalgic trip down memory lane and a satisfying diversion from the ordeals of a difficult economy.

If necessity is the mother of invention, I am a prime example. The vicissitudes of the economy and a dearth of subject matter became my motivations, but the publishing journey, although frustrating at times, has been one of the most satisfying accomplishments of my life. The journey isn’t yet over and I can’t wait to see where it leads!

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