Thursday, December 30, 2010

Tizzy Cucumbers

TIZZY CUCUMBERS AND OTHER FANCY BITS

This is a catchup post of snacks, meals and sweets from 2010 - I've been renovating the kitchen to get ready to run workshops in 2011 so I've been a bit too caught up to post regularly - So here's what I've been hanging on to:

Tizzy Cucumbers - filled with a macadamia/capsicum dip, coriander and black olives for the annual Egg Nog Post Xmas party A.K.A  Noggfest.
The same combo filled zucchini slices as rollups at the houseconcert / pool party the next night (no pic)



I just really like this watercress, banana and mango smoothie going crazy in the vitamix.  Yeah watercress! I'd wondered what to do with it overtaking the exfish pond.
Another garden produce smoothie - pomegranate, apple and banana in front of Gerry's Pomegranate painting in the background.


 Raw Curry - I liked it - I'll work on it until I love it.


Minted Carrot Mountain
 This one's too easy - grated carrot, soaked sultanas (use ginger juice and water, or just water, or vinegar, or lemon juice) and shredded mint with a little salt.  It's easy, delicious and filling and lasts a few days in the fridge.  Raw nuts give it some good crunch too - cashews, almonds or peanuts if you eat them.


 The next two "pastas" are variations on the same theme - it keeps things interesting rather than eating the same thing over and over - give it a new costume.

 Zucchini 'ravioli'  black olive nut cheese filling, marinated mushroom sauce and tomato/basil side.


 The above veges, and thinly sliced pumpkin were layered in a container here, and a red velvet sauce was made in the vitamix from jicama, red caps, sundried toms, a few dates, a carrot and some herbs to make
Lasagne
Weight the container down for a few hours, then slice with a sharp knife, decorate with sliced mushrooms.


These cakes are all variations on Raw Cacao and Berry combinations.





Wishing a wonderful 2011 to everyone,
Martine

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Blogspot Gremlins Ate My Recipes

and I'm not surprised, they were really good!

OK the kitchen renos are nearly complete so I'm sorry no recipes, they got eaten last time and I ended up with a blank post, so here come the pictures anyway...

Here's what happened to my jicama:               Jicama Ravioli with Basil/Walnut Pesto and Red Velvet Sauce.


Jicama Julienned with Pear, Hazelnuts and Avocado Dressing

 Classic hot summer recipe -  Watermelon and Jicama Salad with Chilli and Mint - juicy! 

I also promised to eviscerate and expose the guts of my other tubers, and I did, it's coming - the whole process of peeling, slicing and dehydrating is documented but I was so disappointed!  Purple sweet potato (which is white on the outside, unlike white sweet potato which is purple on the outside) is so incredibly starchy I'd rather extract the juices to starch and iron my collars - that's if I wore collars, or better, a ruff.  But who irons anyway?
Maybe more for the worms
Translation: I haven't yet hatched a plan for these starchy little felons they're in stasis in a bag in the cupboard.

 purple sweet pot = white outside, purple inside.



 white sweet pot = purply outside, white inside... not confusing.

Do I need to come back with a photo of disappointing chips? let's leave it there and I'll be back with something lovely!  Really soon.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

ten dollar tuber

... and worth every cent!

This is a really BIG BABY (OK nowhere near as big as Udo Kier in The Kingdom but I digress already) - it was the last one at the supermarket until 'soon' and it's all mine.
I FOUND JICAMA IN PERTH!
Sweet, crunchy, delicious, juicy, versatile, wonderful jicama.
It masquerades as 'yam bean' in asian food stores, and we have it!

This one I'll probably just slice on the mandoline, mix with bean sprouts, coriander and we'll see what's in the fridge with mango and lime sauce, but you can do so many things with it.  This one will go a long way.


 IT'S HUGE!

I shall endeavour to showcase jicama's talents here soon,  
I'm still buzzing from the shopkeeper telling me that in twenty years she'd never seen it in Perth, and the best bit:  "I've never seen a western person buy this"  Haha!!  Happy me!

I love you so much I'm going to eat you tonight.
mwah!

But before I go, here are a few more reasons I love Asian supermarkets:

fungal dichotomy -

You like green coconut? I like mine psychologically underdeveloped - 

 A trio of little beauties - young coconut, jicama/yam bean and purple sweet potato
I promise to slice them open and show off their insides.


and here's that baby buddha hand citron in focus.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

email subscription - I DID IT!

and it wasn't so hard after all!
It's just over there on the right, at the top of the sidebar thingy.
Thanks to all who asked - I love feedback, welcome to the new email subscription feature!

yay.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Shiso Fine - kicking it up a notch.

Oh I know I was going to post some more recipes - and I WILL - please forgive me I temporarily have my head in the quicksands of a small business course working out where and how and what to start my raw food  business.  I've been so challenged and busy and tired, that I'm a little averse to photographing the food I eat - I've found myself with insane cravings, psychological twistings and weird desires to fast (never, ever, EVER did I imagine I'd choose to do that!)  but it's left me with a deeper understanding of what is happening inside me on this raw food journey.  And that really is another, deeper story.

BUT!  I also admit, I was a little freaked out by the idea of the Botanical Cuisine Potluck, and what to bring that would fit within the rules, so I did this:
Shiso Fine
and I was really happy with it.
It's a slice of turnip (dipped in lemon water to prevent browning), shaped with a cookie cutter onto which I put a leaf of Shiso some sliced gingered burdock, a blob (OK I could say quenelle but nah) of raw carrot mousse garnished with the tip of some snow pea sprouts and a mere sprinkle of sesame seeds.

 the first on the plate
a few more

 I was really happy with this, didn't want to overcrowd the plate.
I just picked a few leaves of cicoria (Italian chicory) from the garden and there it was,

 The final plate!

It's business time.







raw food meetup potluck

What a great bunch of people to laze about on the lawn and eat with!
The meetup group http://www.meetup.com/ripefood/ is a great way to connect with local raw fooders and share some delights - it's ESPECIALLY good to eat raw food that someone else has made for a change. Oh yeah!
Here's just a few of the things others have brought along:

et voila! Mridula and her ginger pear cheezecake.                  Brenda's gooey nut butter cacao dollops.
Guy's carob cashew cookies (yes, raw)                         Sarah's goji cacao bars



Spanish Style Stuffed Stomatoes - a visiting Spaniard made these for me with mayo and tuna years ago,  so I had a crack at them with the a walnut/sunflower/dulse recipe for 'nottuna'
 Juanita's green rollups.                               Emma's lentil  and greens, Karina's curried crunchy kelp noodles.                                                    

Well that was last week,  THIS WEEK happened thanks to Kate Quinn and Omid Jaffari.  Omid is a Botanical Cuisine chef from Melbourne visiting WA so today the rules were a little different.  It's a stripped back, inspired version of raw food, minimising the use of seeds and nuts and using only sun drying instead of dehydration.  There was also a mystery box challenge.
Omid Jaffari presents...



Welcome to Perth Katya and Augustas - they arrived yesterday and found the Botanical Cuisine Potluck event already.

The spread at the Bot Pot.





The mystery box challenge       -         Sarah being hilarious with their mango hedgehog.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

raw baby artichokes

Why did no one ever tell me how amazing sweet potato was raw?  3 Ingredient soup with 3 garnishes.


Orange sweet potato soup served with avocado, 'eggplant bacon' and corn chips. 


stuffed mushrooms with marinara sauce and red capsicum 'cheeze'.  Later I chopped up another stuffed mushroom and filled little lettuce leaves,
 .but it goes best with macadamia cheeze and coriander. 



These baby artichokes are waiting very patiently for me in a jar of acidulated water. I will eat them and they will be delicious.



Here is a little star of avocado lime pie - creamy, lush and zingy.

I'm experimenting with 'rawmesan' the dairy free dehydrated parmesan cheese alternative.  Top is brazil nuts and sunflower seeds with rejuvelac and nutritional yeast, bottom is walnut, n.yeast and sauerkraut juice. Keep experimenting!