I'm getting excited

$20 sulphur-free dried fruit √
organic flour √
organic butter √
half a dozen eggs from very happy chooks √
mixed spice √
a tin of crushed pineapple – yup you read that right! √

…its starting to look like a solstice cake!

Solstice Cake 2008 - food blogging event

Here in the Southern hemisphere we are barely a month away from the winter solstice. The days are getting shorter and the nights decidedly cooler. This is the perfect season for dried fruit, nuts and warming spices. Unlike Christmas around these parts where it’s a case of “Fruit cake? No thanks, pass me anther mango please”, this time of year cries out for a rich fruity bit of baking.


Please join me in my inaugural food blogging event Solstice Cake – 2008. This is open to anyone who wishes to bake a Christmas-style fruit cake (or Solstice cake for my fellow pagans), anywhere in the world.

Rules

A cake is a cake is a… a full size, mini or even if you really must – muffins. But sorry no Christmas pud. Can be au naturel or iced. What defines this kind of cake is the inclusion of dried fruit and spices, sometimes nuts.

Your post should include the words “Solstice Cake 2008” in the title and/or in the body of the text. You are welcome to use the event logo as well.

Deadline your entry to be posted on your site and the following details emailed to me at otherrants(dot)gmail(dot)com by sunset on 25 June 2008. In your email please include a link to your post, who you are, where you are and anything special about your cake. It would be nice if you didn’t enter your cake into any other food blog events.

Please link your entry back to confessions of a food nazi.

Simple.

I look forward to reading about all your luscious Solstice Cakes…now get baking!

white on white

A bit like this bowl of beans quietly soaking, some weeks a post takes longer to come to life. There's some soaking, straining, cooking and creating going on but not a lot of words.

Some weeks I'm all talked typed out.

It seems to have come hand in hand with some very cold weather. The mornings have a bite to them, even if the skies are blue. I just want to snuggle down under the covers, read a book, watch historical dramas made by the BBC, on Youtube.

But one thing is brewing. A little foodblogging event especially for those of us in the chilly south. More about it next week. I hope!

Stay tuned and talk amongst yourselves in comments if you wish.

word of the day

Apropos of nothing –today’s word from the kitchen is…



nuts.

We get through a stack of them here at chez-food nazi.

Here are some thoughts on the subject:

While toasting/roasting your nuts heightens the flavour, the health obsessed part of me cautions to do this a little as possible. The good oil in nuts is denatured by heat, turning all that wonderful anti-inflammatory action into quite the opposite.

On that subject, general exposure to light and heat will speed up a nut’s journey to rancidity. That is when the oil has turned (as above) and the flavour goes from healthy sweetness, to bitterness of the wrong kind. To avoid this buy nuts in small batches from suppliers with a high turn over and keep in a dark place. Even better if you have the space, refrigerate them.

Almonds are my favourite nut. They contain a significant amount of calcium, magnesium, potassium, folate and Vitamin E – making them a very healthy snack.

Raw nuts contain “good oils” – omega 3’s and other clever constituents in nuts like almonds can actually lower LDL cholesterol. Walnuts are cited as playing a role in the “French Paradox” – where beneficial aspects of a diet can negate some of the coronary causing, harmful ones. Strangely people are quick to slug down the red wine in the name of science but have forgotten about the nuts and bitter leafy greens that were considered equally as important.

Peanuts are actually legumes, growing under ground rather than as fruits on trees. Peanuts are highly prone to being contaminated with aflatoxins, a potentially carcinogenic mold. I prefer other nut pastes, like almond, pistachio or macadamias to peanut butter any day. For a nutty satay sauce try substituting peanuts with cashew nuts.

I fell in love with Pistachios a couple of spring detox’s ago when parsley pesto become my new best friend. They blend well with a variety of fresh green herbs to make a spread or pesto.

When grinding nuts, do it in short bursts. A couple of seconds can be the difference between an almond meal and almond butter!

What’s your favourite nut?

Kohlrabi for the uninitiated

Being such a startling purple, I had to buy it. Sitting perkily on the organic stall’s shelf next to the celeriac they struck me as a pair, like a bride and groom at some kind of vegetable wedding. It was something to do with their ‘head gear’, royal purple tentacles coming off one and an erect green sprout topping the other. In the end I couldn’t part them up and for the first time ever, kohlrabi came home with me, nestled in the trolley next to the more familiar celeriac.


The SE had a flash camera to play with so I sent him off to take a photo of the pair, now wilting slightly from a couple of the days in the fridge. I should have checked it first, before I started chopping! Sorry no after pics, it is dark at dinner time now!

It is two years since I extended my acquaintance with the not-so-ugly celeriac. Now, it was kohlrabi’s turn.

First I had to taste it. As I peeled off her finery to get to the crisp flesh, I felt a little saddened to be loosing the vibrant coat but was rewarded with a slice of surprisingly sweet, slightly cabbage flavoured goodness. Kohlrabi is almost apple-like in both consistency and flavour. The pigeon pairing on the shelf made me want to keep celeriac in the mix somewhere and a remoulade-style dish was the obvious place to start.

Well lets not get fancy here, it evolved to more of a slaw.

But first a confession. I know how to make mayonnaise and it is not solely laziness that prevented me to make it from scratch - rather health. I get overwhelmed by the vast quantity of oil that goes into making mayonnaise and as you can’t just make a teeny bit of the stuff it means in a short period of time you find excuses to hoe your way through a couple of cups of very nice vegetable oil. Not today thank you. But please feel free to whip up your finest

Kohlrabi and celeriac slaw

1 kohlrabi, peeled
1 celeriac, peeled
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon of good quality mayonnaise (preferably homemade but I cheat with Thomy)
1 tsp fennel seeds

Grate the vegetables, and then mix in a bowl with the lemon juice followed by the mayonnaise and fennel seeds.

Result: A tasty side dish to celebrate the marriage of celeriac and kohlrabi. A little grated apple next time could be a good variation.

blogging with a purpose

Most of us like getting an award, even if our modesty gets in the way some of the time. To be acknowledged by your peers is a darn fine thing. It seems that Kitchenetta at Got No Milk considers me a blogger with to be a purpose. “How nice" I thought, “Someone else gets me!” So thanks very much Kitchenetta. I will continue to share with the blogoshpere ways to make yummy and healthy dairy-free food.

Pay it forward time. As health is my passion, I’ll stick to the theme and joyously award the following for blogging with a purpose:

1. Lucy at Nourish Me. Some of you may have noticed there is a bit of a mutual love link-fest going on between the two of us at the moment but that is for a very good reason. Lucy is also a believer that healthy food can taste great and be low in the animal products too. If you are not familiar with Nourish-Me then you are in for a delight, especially with her great photographic work.

2. Kathryn at Limes and Lycopenes. A Sydney nutritionist, quietly educating the world with tips and treats for sound eating. Keep up the good work Kathryn!

3. Melissa at Gluten-free for Good. I’m a newcomer to her blog this year and have been thoroughly enjoying her gluten-free goodness. You don’t have to be a celiac to try Melissa’s recipes or read her thoughts, they are a treat for one and all.


I’d like to reward everyone who drops by for Reading with a Purpose. Thanks to you all.

Creamy quinoa with banana, cinnamon and almonds

I’m in love!

Well, not just sneakingly with Bret from Flight of the Conchords but another foreign import.

Quinoa is a seedy/grain with when cooked is soft yet yields a subtle crunch. I have previously explored red and white quinoa in savoury recipes such as stuffed artichokes and a simple pilaf but thanks to a recent post from fellow quinoa-lover Heidi at 101 cookbooks I realised it was time to explore what this grain could offer with a little sweetness.

There is a delightful evolution that occurs through the sharing of recipes. Heidi’s starting point was a quinoa berry breakfast featured in Dr John La Puma's “Chef MD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine”, which she shared with us as her version of a warm and nutty cinnamon quinoa recipe. Being the opposite of blackberry season in this part of the world I changed the fruit, nuts, sweetener and milk to what was on hand. The method is the same, yet each combination creates another possibility of flavours.

The second star to this mighty breakfast (or healthy dessert) is a little cassia bark. I’ve always preferred the flavour of the bark found in my favourite Asian grocery store, over the dusty, milder quills of cinnamon from the supermarket. The tougher, gutsier cassia is easily grated with a microplane or grater, so sprinkling is over this cereal is dead easy. Cassia lifts this dish onto an even higher plane, not just in taste but also in health benefits. Latest research shows this versatile herb not only eases digestive upsets but is very promising in lowering blood glucose in diabetes as well as neutralising a few rogue triglycerides.



I see no need for 1% or low fat milk as the original recipe calls for. Basically you are diluting your white fluid of choice 50:50 with water, which inherently renders it lower in fat. Soy milk, if you are not allergic to it, is a pleasant way to get a dose of phyto-oestrogens (a preventer, rather than promoter of breast cancer as it has often been mis-reported), rice or oat milk would do but only resort to cows milk if you lack imagination or resources. While keeping to the original quantities there is one other variation, this made a hearty breakfast for 2 rather than 4 and kept us going all day! Every mouthful was met with mutual groans of joy. This is my new favourite cereal for breakfast, making it a great gluten-free and dairy-free way to start the days

Tip: Always wash your quinoa before using it. If you don’t the bitter residue left on the grain will make you wonder why people rave about this rather expensive addition to the pantry.

Creamy quinoa with bananas, cinnamon and almonds

1 cup soy, or other milk of your choice
1 cup water
1 cup quinoa (red or white, it doesn’t matter which but I made this with red quinoa because it looks so pretty) rinsed well
1/2 – 1 tsp cassia bark or cinnamon, try grating it yourself for freshness
a handful of almonds, cut into slivers with a sharp knife
1 banana
a drizzle of maple syrup

Combine the milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. While doing this if you have a gas cook top, warm a heat diffuser mat on another burner. Once boiling stir well, cover and transfer the pan to the heat mat (if not just turn the heat down to low). Simmer for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add slices of banana and a generous sprinkle of cassia/cinnamon, stir through the quinoa, turn the heat off and leave the pan covered for another 5 minutes. Meantime, toast the slivered almonds in a hot pan until they begin to turn brown. Shake frequently and remember to remove from the pan from the heat the moment the almonds are done to prevent burning.

Spoon the quinoa into the bowls, garnish with another slice of banana, toasted almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Take a deep breath and dive in!




This week’s Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by Laurie at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. Check out her site in a couple of days to see the full round up of herb and vegetable recipes from around the globe.

whole Kingfish with turmeric and ginger: HotM 15

What a delightful Thursday I had sharing my regular market wanderings with a fellow blogger. I don’t joke when I refer to Vic Market as my church and the pursuit of fresh produce as my religion. How reassuring it is when you find others with the same outlook on life and a shared passion for healthy food.

After wandering through the organic section (a post on kohlrabi coming soon but I think I need some help, ideas anyone?), sharing the highlights of the conventional stalls (here’s the kangkung, there’s the samphire, don’t the different mushrooms look wonderful), a whirlwind tour of the Asian supermarket (Hawthorn berry sweets and umeboshi vinegar for me, ginkgo nuts for her), there was only a few minutes of precious parking meter time left to grab some fish for dinner. Prossers always has a fine line up of whole fish. It’s the place to find bonito and other species that are less popular with the masses. The freshest fish in a two person (and a couple of hopeful felines) size was a kingfish, with the telltale yellow tail. Time to try a new fish I reckoned.

The herb of the day was a small piece of uber-fresh, baby turmeric root. It is a member of the ginger family and its earthy coolness goes well with its cousin ginger whose characteristics are hotter, spicier and a little acrid.



With a little playing around over the last year I am no longer intimidated about making up a spice paste. Something once exotic and mysterious has become demystified as just another way to use flavours. I figured I would use what was on hand to make a bit of slurry to rub into the whole fish, wrap it in foil and let it marinate for half an hour before putting it into a moderate oven. You might have other spices you like, so just use them instead. Go on - be brave!


Whole Kingfish with turmeric and ginger
(Serves 2-4 depending on appetites and side dishes, for a larger fish scale up the paste and increase the cooking time)

I whole fish (750 g for 2-3 people)

Blend the following in a food processor:

a small knob of fresh turmeric*
a small knob of ginger
1 small onion (or a couple of shallots)
4 cloves of garlic
1 Birdseye chilli

Dry roasted these spices in a pan for a couple of minutes and pounded in mortar and pestle:

1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel
1 tsp coriander seeds

Add the dry herbs above and below to the blended wet herbs in the food processor and give it a whirr.
1 tsp Sri Lankan curry powder (just for an extra kick but you could add more of the dry roasted spices and chilli if you don’t have any)
a pinch of salt

Finally moisten the mix with 1-2 tablespoons tamarind water (or just plain water of coconut milk if you’d prefer)

Cut three slits in the fish on each side. Rub the paste into the fish, including the slits and gut cavity. Wrap in alfoil or parchment (a healthier option). Leave to marinate 30 minutes.




Bake 180c for about 30 minutes. Test the flesh to see if it is cooked.


I’ve long talked of the joys of cooking whole fish, like meat (the carnivores assure me) the flavour is better when cooked on the bone. Fish, which we know is full of health giving oils and provides a very digestible form of protein, is even more affordable when purchased this way. The kingfish above cost around Au$10 and with the side dishes I ended up making could have happily served 4. The benefits of preparing fish this way are numerous – a meal full of omega 3’s, healthy herbs and a ‘fat-free’ method of cooking as the fish quietly steams in its own juices. What is more the dish is gluten-free, dairy-free and it is also a breeze to clean up afterwards.

I served this with a mild vegetable curry (orange and green vegetables plus chickpeas and cashews) and basmati rice. The spices blended well with both the vegetables and the flavour of the fish, an oily member of the tuna family, mackerel or bonito would work equally as well. Even the cats liked it!

This is my inaugural entry in the Heart of the Matter, which considering it is a food blogging event that promotes healthy, heart friendly food is right up any food nazi’s alley. This month's theme is healthy herbs and is hosted by the accidental scientist.



* while fresh is always best, if the root is unavailable it can be substituted with a heaped teaspoon of dried turmeric.

Autumn/Fall

Lots of words yesterday, so here is a couple of images of the season to feast your eyes.

is being gluten-free a fad and what to do with those annoying guests who have food allergies

I started this post a couple of months ago with good intentions to get it up within a day. Yet it has languished in my documents not quite complete until until a few events nudged it back into life.

It all began one rainy morning. I was meeting a friend for brunch. There had been a change of plans and her wee girl came too, so a bakery a short walk away seemed to be a good compromise to tempt a child with a fussy appetite and little legs. Once seated the friend announced that she’d just been diagnosed with coeliac disease, an intolerance to anything containing gluten. There we sat surrounded by a whole shop full of the most delicious wheat products. Fortunately, the bakery was Babka and there were also some toast-avoidable meals, like eggs, on the menu and sustenance could be found. But I worried that just sitting in the gluten dusted air may harm her.

That morning, before I headed of to chat and eat, I had an email from a gluten-free blogger who was enjoying the rich pickings at food nazi. It seems that every tenth person I speak to right now is wrestling with a food allergy. In the medical world, coeliac appears to be the new black, with a greater awareness amongst health professionals about the indirect ways this condition can show itself. But unfortunately large pockets of the food world still treat food allergies and intolerances as a fad.

In the past week all this erupted thanks to a piece in Epicure.

Gastronomic snobbery is nothing particularly novel. The princess and her pea are but the latest in a long historical line of snotty food wowsers. There have always been those who consider your pantry an index of refinement.

They snigger if you pronounce "l'ancienne" or "conch" inaccurately. They consider your pantry the register of your moral condition too. You know the sort. They're gluten intolerant and bring their own nut-meat and herbal tea to lunch.

Helen Razer’s rant about food snobbery, carelessly implying gluten intolerance was a fad, understandably got the backs up of many in the local coeliac community.

For those lucky individuals whose lives haven’t been touched by a food allergy, it might seem like it’s a case ‘they’ll never know – a little bit won’t hurt them’. Unfortunately it might. Some allergies can be excruciatingly painful or even fatal. Sometimes it is a case of ignorance but too often there is condescending annoyance, especially in the food world. Unfortunately I’ve spoken to many caterers and chefs who don’t understand that the client is not being fussy or wants special attention – not to be ungrateful but they’ll get sick if they eat the beautiful food and in this enlightened age people shouldn’t have to miss out and go hungry. Looking at the lunch provided by a local gourmet bakery at the local Fairfax run food talkfest, it was gluten as far as the eye could see. “What about the coeliacs” I asked, as an aside to someone in the know. The look and pithy condescending response told me the answer to that question.

I have been aware of my dairy intolerance for 20 years now. Of course, I've had it all my life but I thought it was normal to get tonsillitis or a cold every month let alone the ongoing bloating and pain in my gut. Even now two decades on at least half the time I eat at a catered event (when I have let my food preferences be known well in advance) there is a mistake or a chunk of the meal is missing, such as a dessert or a starter (if you can't eat dairy you obviously wouldn't like to eat something sweet or have dried fruit instead of the cheese platter). Or what is delivered for the same price as the standard meal is clearly lacking. I can’t count the amount of times my vegan airline meal has arrived with its nifty little “VGML” sticker, with dairy on the tray. The Wellington to Melbourne leg of my frequent, Trans-Tasman trips often have up to three milk containing items. Don’t get me started on what meat and dairy-free food I can stock up on at the airport for an exorbitant price. It’s a toss up between a 2 day old, utterly tasteless egg and lettuce sandwich or 12 hour old sushi.

Though my food allergies are of a different variety, a lot of gluten-containing recipes just aren’t that healthy so much of what I tend to cook is coeliac friendly. I am slowly retro-tagging my posts to show this but be patient it might take a while.

Next week we have a vegetarian and her meat eating, recently diagnosed, coeliac partner coming for lunch. It shouldn’t send me into a spin but for a moment I can understand that little panic that sends you back to square one to rethink the menu. Between us there are three major food restrictions to cater for. Oh no, make that four, as there will also be a hypertensive at the table, requesting a low sodium diet. When it is something out of the box, even as an allergy aware cook it can feel like you’ve hit a culinary road blog block.

After a deep breath or two, you realise there is a world of variety. Do I want to pop out to Silly Yaks in the morning and grab a gluten-free loaf of bread as a treat for the recently diagnosed one to go with a bean and tomato soup? A Spanish omelette and green salad to follow perhaps? Or a selection of curries, rice and pappadams (mild with extra chilli on the side, so as not to upset the digestion of the breastfed baby, food restriction number five)? Or just throw together a deli spread – dolmades, smoked fish, (low salt) olives, and salads so it is easy to graze around the demands of the little one?

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by low allergy cooking check out some of the following tags:

Gluten-free (as mentioned, some untagged ones also fit the category but retro-tagging 280 posts takes a while). All the salads, soups and healthy detox foods in the drop down boxes on the sidebar are also coeliac friendly.

Almost all my recipes are dairy-free with butter being easily substituted in the rest. And of course all vegan and the tautological tag ’vegan dairy free' are by definition free of all animal products including moo juice.

Gluten-free bloggers everywhere

Gluten-free for good by Melissa who incidentally is a coeliac (like all the following bloggers) and is a nutritionist. If all this it new to you, keep an eye out for her evolving celiac (yes that’s the way they spell it in some parts of the world) FAQ.

Gluten A Go Go

Gluten-free Goddess, Karina is an artist and author as well as a cook, with links to a great vegan and vegetarian section at Karinas Kitchen.

Gluten-free Girl, who has turned her whole life around by embracing what her body really needed. Though so many of her recipes are out of bounds for me due to the dairy and meat content, I recommend anyone newly diagnosed with coeliac and those wanting to understand it, check out the early posts starting with The Diagnosis.


Gluten-free in Melbourne

Melbourne Naturopath, Gill Stannard’s RRR segment and write up on wheat allergy and coeliac.

Silly yaks a long running coeliac café in Northcote (which even makes gluten-free beer!). I’m told that Pizza Farro just down the road in Thornbury has also started making it’s own GF beer. More gluten-free beer courtesy of the Beer Guide.

S.KomatsuStill waiting on some feedback about this one, a dairy-free and gluten-free restaurant in East Melbourne.

Some gluten-free eateries and more dining links from the Victorian Coeliac Society

Allergy Block is a store in Carlton specialising in allergy-free products. It also has online shopping. Flinders Organics ,a part of the IGA supermarket chain in the CBD, has a growing array of gluten-free and dairy-free foods.

..and more coeliac, even celiac, gluten-free, allergy friendly links

Keep the comments coming and I will add your site to the links

Sure foods living a comprehensive gluten-free and allergy-focused site with medical updates, gluten-free recipes and a heap of great resourses.

Sunday pictorial: the making of food

It all begins here. This is the view from our 2nd toilet. In real estate speak this is a 2 bathroom, 2 laundry, 2 bedroom terrace house. While I’ve never had to rely on the outdoor amenity it comes in handy some mornings. I don’t mind a quiet sit out here, to gaze at the grape vine, lemon tree and tarragon while contemplating the universe.



Over the long weekend we finally cleaned out the junk that had accumulated in the outdoor bathroom - garden chairs, a wood burning bbq, cardboard boxes, an unused table. Things crammed into spaces without thought. Now the garden is up and running I thought it made sense to create some order so we can store the tools, pots, potting mix and move the worm farm out of the direct sun and into the shade of the shower stall.



We bung some nails in the wall to hang up the tools of the trade.



The seedlings we planted after the heat of the Indian summer had ended are starting to look like food.



Well, some of the bugs think so already.



This might be tabouleh when it grows up.


So how does your garden grow?

I'll drink to that

Has the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino® Blended Crème Grande had its day?

With 87,000 coffee choices on offer from just one beverage chain – do we really need anything more than a decent espresso or latte? Would the coffee drinking world be a poorer place without skinny cinnamon dolce lattes with sprinkles?

Starbucks stock is falling faster than a widow’s face before botox. This is good news for baristas everywhere. I want just one good cup, not thousands of permutations in takeaway containers identical the world over. It seems maybe I am not the only one.



Confessions of coffee sins past

I have drunk at Starbucks once. Eugene, Oregon 1999. Long black. My British host in this strange land insisted I undergo at least 2 cultural experiences - a coffee at the aforementioned chain and one diner meal (6 different types of fat on the same plate). He thought it was fair that I understood how the average American ate. The rest of the time was spent eating organic food, dairy free Mexican with tofu on the side, coffee from the best little cart in town and massive, wonderful American breakfasts at local knowledge cafes. Needless to say, I haven't been back to Starbucks since.

I drunk a mocca once. Auckland, New Zealand 1985. I liked it. I was young. I didn't know any better.

I still drink the odd soy decaf cap. Ok shoot me. It's unforgivable. It's when I have already had a coffee and another will do my head in, I've never finished one yet. I eat the froth then have a sip. It just isn't coffee.

Since the Significant Eater moved in with the trusty espresso machine, I've rarely drunk coffee out. I know how I like it (double shot, Columbian, longer than a short black but much shorter than a long one). Why wait til you've got your clothes on to risk someone else's attempt at it?


The coffee confessional is now open. Feel free to leave your caffeinated sins in comment for absolution.

Update

The weekend just gone saw the running of the Australian Barista Championships. Even if the aforementioned chain eventually dies a slow death, I fear it is too late as our barista's appear to be infected. The fact that the competition calls for each maestro of the bean to serve up a 'signature coffee' is frankly alarming. But it is even worse to hear that those at the top of their profession are pandering to the judges to whip up concoctions like the following:

A NSW competitor, Hazel de Ios Reyes, came up with a creation that included chopped raisins, syrup, citrus zest, black truffles, baileys and porcini mushrooms. The savoury flavour impressed judges.

Ewww!

Congrats to Abbotsford barista David Makin for taking the crown, sans mushrooms.