Creamy Oat Milk, Onion & Potato Bake

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Growing up my mum use to do scalloped potatoes. She would make them with cow’s milk or stock, always generously topping it with Season ALL. She then covered it in glad wrap and cooked it in the microwave. I use to cheekily pull all the well seasoned slices from the top once it was cooked.

My cooking and ingredient preferences have changed dramatically since all those years ago but as with most old favourites there is always a way to reinvent them.

I have tried this a few times with almond, soy and rice milk but my favourite outcome was with the oat milk. I can now create memories of creamy potato bake on cold nights for my son.

 

YOU NEED

oil for cooking

2 small brown onions, peeled and finely sliced

1 ½ cups of oat milk

3 teaspoons of egg replacer (I use Orgran brand which I find in the health food section of most supermarkets and in health food stores)

1 heaped teaspoon vegetable stock

8 small potatoes (I used Sebago), peeled and *finely* sliced

Season All seasoning

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 200c

Heat some oil in a small pan and cook the onions till caramelised. Once done, set aside.

While the onions are cooking blend the oat milk, egg replacer and stock together and set aside.

Layer the potatoes and onions in an oven proof casserole dish, pour the milk mixture carefully cover the top and cover with foil.

Place in the oven for 30 mins, then remove from the oven, generously sprinkle some season all over the top and place back in the oven uncovered for another 30 minutes.

The result is earthy and creamy with the sweetness of the onions and a lovely chew and crunch of the top layer of potato 🙂

 

Serve with vegetarian sausages or vegie burgers and loads of crisp fresh salad.

Time: Preparation time is 20 mins. Plus 1 hour of cooking time.

 

 

 

Carrot & Coriander Relish

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Ever since I stopped relying on a slab of meat to be the main component and “highlight” of my meals I have become more creative, eat a more diverse diet and ridiculously more experimental with the plethora of diversity the plant world offers. A favourite these days is a creamy hummus, fragrant pesto and also ……………spicy, tart relishes.

 

YOU NEED

200 grams carrots, peeled and grated

1 small brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

juice of 1 small lime (you are after 1-2 tablespoons juice)

1 small red chilli, seeds out and finely diced

1 bunch coriander, washed and roughly chopped

 

YOU DO

Blend all ingredients except for half of the bunch of coriander and the chilli.

Stir the other half of the coriander and the chilli through the mixture.

Serve as a condiment, as spread in a salad sandwich or on a grainy biscuit or any way you would normally have relish.

 

Serves: Makes about 1 cup of relish.

Time: Takes me about 20 mins.

Freeze: N/A

 

Indian Spiced Swede Patties

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YOU NEED

1 swede, peeled, cut into cubes and steamed or boiled until tender

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 small brown onion, peeled and finely diced

1 cup breadcrumbs (use gluten free breadcrumbs if you wish)

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 teaspoon of ground coriander

¼ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes

1 bunch of fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped.

salt/pepper to taste

 

YOU DO

Sauté the onion in a small pan, on low heat with some oil until softened. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes.

Add the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli flakes and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Mash the cooked swede. Add the onion and spices. Add the bread crumbs, the coriander and season.

Form small patties with the mixture. Then cook in a pan with a little heated oil for a few minutes on each side. Pop them in a pre heated oven for another 10-15 minutes to really cook them through also if you wish.

Serve with rice and salad or with relish and rocket in a pita pocket.

 

Servings: Made 8 small patties

Time: This all took me less than 30 mins.

Rhubarb, Rosewater & Lime Sorbet

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Rhubarb reminds me of my late grandma whom I adored. She and my Pappy use to grow it in their garden that they had for almost 60 years. Grandma would stew it and serve it with mountains of ice cream. Memories of my Grandma are centered around the food she use to make. She use to smell like roses too and would put rose scented soaps in her draw. She had the loveliest soft pink cardigan she use to wear also, so blossom trees in bloom with their beautiful pink buds and the scent of rose remind me of her as does rhubarb, short bread yo yo’s, caramel slice and warm hugs.

The colour of this sorbet and the ingredients are a tribute to a beautiful, kind and loving lady. I miss her every day, all these years later. I wish she was still here to see and share my passion for food.

 

YOU NEED

275mls of rhubarb juice (approx 2 bunches of rhubarb)

1/8 cup of fresh lime juice

1/2 cup of agave syrup

1/2 cup of water

3/4 teaspoon of rosewater

 

YOU DO

Bring the water and agave to the boil. Stir well to combine.

Add the rhubarb and lime juice, stir to combine, remove from heat and add the rosewater.

Pop the mixture into a metal tray and place in the freezer for a couple of hours till frozen.

Once frozen it’s still icy so just blend it and pop back in the freezer until it firms up again (approx 45 mins to an hour) and serve.

Apart from the freezing time this is SO fast and SO easy to make.

 

Servings: Made 2 decent serves or 4 more dainty serves 🙂

 Time: The preparation and cooking time took me less than 20 mins.

Daikon Patties

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I had never in all my years of cooking, made anything with daikon, but someone asked me on The Kind Cook Facebook page about it. It got the little wheels in my head churning and then the other day I was at my organic grocers and I spotted a daikon.
I just threw in a bit of this and a bit of that, so you may want to change some of the ingredients. But I just went with Asian flavours that I thought would complement the daikon. I also wanted texture and crunch which is why I added the nuts.
I also really wanted little chunky patties. This meant the middle warmed through but essentially remain uncooked. Daikon can be eaten raw though, so I have no concerns there and the outside has texture. I guess if you flatten them if you wish to.
I didn’t think I would daikon, BUT I love these. It’s always cool to experiment with something new too. And the outcome was incredibly fragrant with the sesame oil and spring onions

 

YOU NEED

2 loose (ish) cups of daikon, peeled and grated

1/2 cup of spring onion aka “scallions”, washed and finely sliced

1 very generous teaspoon of sesame oil (mine over flowed by accident but turned out to be a nice amount)

3 teaspoons of sesame seeds

3 teaspoons of egg replacer, mixed well with 3 teaspoons of water until it forms a watery paste

1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder (I didn’t have any fresh on hand)

2 tablespoons of roasted and salted peanuts, crushed or roughly chopped

4 teaspoons of flour (I used red rice flour but use whatever is at hand and gluten free if that’s what you require)

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (always check the ingredients as most bread crumbs contain some dairy, eggs, fish etc)
oil for cooking

YOU DO
Once you have peeled and grated the daikon, place it on a plate and sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the top. Leave it there while you collect and prepare all your other ingredients.

Once you have all your other ingredients washed, chopped and ready to go, throw them all into a large bowl.

Then go back to you daikon plate and grab handfuls of the daikon and squeeze all the water out of it. You want it to be as dry as possible. Once you have done that just throw it into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

Combine all the ingredients together and form into small balls, then flatten slightly into patties.

Press each patty down into the bread crumbs. Repeat for the other side.

Heat some oil in a large pan and cook the patties for a few minutes on each side until they are a golden brown.

Serve immediately with chilli and or tamari.

Yields: 8 small patties

Time: 30 mins

Freezing: Not suitable.

Honeycomb

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I found this old recipe from about 15 years ago, just the other day. It was one I use to make at a hotel in the city when I was still a chef.  I haven’t made it since but didn’t recall it being such a logistical nightmare.

I use to love honeycomb though, especially choc dipped ….but alas all commercial honeycomb that I have found to date contains gelatine and I don’t really want to eat boiled skin from a pig or any other such “food products” in my treats. Needless to say I was excited to find this old recipe.

I am not going to lie to you though..it was a bitch to make and took me 3 attempts. It is such a simple recipe but the timing is paramount.

Satisfying if you can manage it though because then you can make cheesecakes, cupcakes, truffles or just coat it in chocolate.

 

YOU NEED

3 1/2 cups of castor sugar (yep, this one’s not a health food)

1/2 cup glucose

1 tablespoon of bi carb soda

1 cup of water

 

YOU DO

Read **ALL** my tips at the end

Sift the bi carb into a small bowl.

Lay a number of overlapping sheets of baking paper on a clear bench space

Get a baking tray and half fill it with ice and cold water and sit it near the stove.

Place the sugar, glucose and the water in a large pot. You definitely need a large pot. Bring it  to the boil (don’t stir it at any point), and simmer till the toffee only JUST starts to colour.

Turn off the heat immediately. Add the bi carb and quickly stir it through the toffee. (It bubbles right up at this stage)

QUICKLY pop the pan into the tray of ice for a minute and the then quickly pour the mixture onto your baking paper. Wait for the honeycomb to set and then break it into portions.

Store in an air tight container in your pantry

 

 

Servings: I didn’t record how much this makes but it makes a decent quantity.

Time: I haven’t timed it yet either.

Freezing: Not suitable.

Notes: Definitely sift your bi carb or you will get lumps in your honeycomb.

This is absolutely not a recipe to make with children as the toffee reaches extremely high temperatures.

Don’t be tempted to push your toffee to colour or it will burn. I added my bi carb and turned off the heat as soon as I saw colour starting around the edges.

Do not be tempted at any point to touch or try the toffee until it has cooled completely.

GOOD LUCK 🙂

Cinnamon Scented Pumpkin & Black Bean Curry

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Just as the name suggests this is a sweet curry. It’s a quick fragrant nourishing meal for a cold night. It’s also beautiful to have for lunch the next day.

 

YOU NEED

1 small brown onion, peeled, cut into large dice

1 small red chilli, halved lengthwise, seeds removed and finely sliced

1 large tablespoon of curry powder

½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 can of good quality crushed tomato

1 cup of vegetable stock

2 cups of pumpkin, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 can of black beans, well rinsed and drained

 

YOU DO

Get your rice cooking If you are going to serve this with rice.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large pan and gently sauté the onion and chilli until they have softened and the onion has started to *caramelised. See Notes.

Put the curry powder in a small dry pan and carefully dry roast it over a low heat. Stir it as you go and only roast for a minute or 2 to bring the aromatics of the curry out.

Add the curry and the cinnamon to the onion and stir them over a low heat until they are well combined. Add the tomatoes, stock, black beans and pumpkin. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover the pan and continue cooking until the pumpkin is tender.

I serve this with steamed brown rice and garnish it with loads of fresh washed coriander just before serving.

 

Yields: 2 large serves

Time: 25 minutes

Notes: Caramelising the onion is an important step. It means to cook the onion until it starts to brown and the natural sugars have come out. This gives the onion a sweeter, caramel flavour.

You can get black beans at well stocked health food stores and some supermarkets.  If you can’t find back beans just substitute them with kidney beans or chick peas.

Formal Fruit

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I don’t really have a recipe for these. All you need is some dairy free dark chocolate and dairy free white chocolate (I used Sweet William brand for both today which is found in the health food aisle of many supermarkets and in health food stores), some lovely big strawberries and a just a little too much time on your hands 🙂

All you do is pop a piece of baking paper on your bench. Melt your white chocolate and holding the green tops of each strawberry, dip the entire fruit into white chocolate. Be careful to scrape all the excess from the bottom of the strawberry against the chocolate bowl before you lay it on the baking paper. Repeat until all strawberries are covered. Allow the white chocolate to set. I usually pop them in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.

Then just melt your dark chocolate and one by one dip the strawberries into the chocolate on their left side and then on their right side, leaving a white chocolate triangle visible at the front of each strawberry. Once again scrape all the excess from the bottom of the strawberry against the chocolate bowl before you lay it on the baking paper. Repeat till all are done and allow the chocolate to set.

Then pipe little buttons and bow ties onto each strawberry and serve.

Simple but sweet 🙂

Orange & Almond Hot Chocolate

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It was overcast outside today and I was feeling rather glum and felt like chocolate. I love the combination of orange and chocolate too, so this is something I have had on my mind to try out for a while and it seemed like the perfect day to give it a go.

Whenever you have a recipe idea that you have never made before you worry it’s not going to work or live up to the picture you have in your head. I was worried the orange was not going to be strong enough or way too strong but it worked out PERFECTLY and with next to no effort and no need to do a few trial runs. The result was just as I had hoped… rich, sweet, generously scented with orange and really decadent tasting.

This will now be a family treat in our house on a cold day or when someone feels down and needs that warming feel of homemade hot chocolate.

 

YOU NEED

1 cup of almond milk (found pretty much everywhere these day. I buy Australia’s Own organic almond milk or make your own. See my Almond Milk Recipe)

1 large orange

1 tablespoon of pure cocoa

1/2 to 3/4 of a tablespoon of pure maple syrup or agave (if you dont’ have maple syrup or agave just use sugar)

 

YOU DO

Slice the rind from the orange then very carefully remove all the white pith from the rind.

Put the almond milk in a small pot with the orange rind and **slowly** bring to the boil. This is important because you want to give the oils in the orange peel time to impart their flavour into the milk.

Add the drinking chocolate and the agave and whisk till combined. Turn off the heat. Remove the orange rind.

Pour into your favourite mug and serve.

 

Servings: Serves 1.

Time: Took me less than 10 minutes to make.

Freezing: Not suitable

Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad

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Spicy, sour , fragrant, crunchy, simple and delicious. This salad packs a punch!

YOU NEED (for the salad)

2 x100 gram packs of vermicelli rice noodles

1 large red capsicum (also known as bell peppers), core removed, seeds out and very finely sliced

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks

a handful of spring onion (also known as scallions), washed, cut in 1/2, sliced into thin strips lengthwise

1 bunch of Vietnamese mint, washed and roughly chopped

a good handful of sweet basil, washed and gently torn

1 cup of crushed, salted and roasted peanuts

 

YOU NEED (for the dressing)

2 limes, juiced

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

1 small red chilli, halved and finely sliced (I have some that are REALLY hot at the moment and decided to live on the edge and not remove the seeds)

2 lemon grass stems, finely sliced. If you don’t have lemon grass stems, use a tablespoon of bought minced lemon grass. Do get fresh lemon grass if you can though, as it adds a nice crunch and is so fragrant).

1 tablespoon of coconut sugar (alternatively use soft brown sugar)

5 kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped

 

YOU DO

Combine all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until they are well combined and set aside.

Prepare the noodles as per the packet instructions. If you are using hot water refresh them in cold water immediately and drain them. Grab handfuls of the noodles and roughly chop them with scissors. Shorter noodles make the salad easier to eat.

Combine the noodles with the rest of the ingredients (except for the nuts).

Add the dressing to the noodles mixture and stir well to combine.

Garnish with the crushed peanuts and serve.

 

Yields: Makes enough for 4. Or for 2 very hungry people

Time: 25 minutes

Notes: Just use normal mint if you can’t get Vietnamese. It’s not the same but you need mint because it gives the salad a cooling element.