Baked Pears and Honey - from "Cut out the Crap" Cookbook

Good Morning friends, I hope this finds you all well. We are all well here. Life is plodding along with nothing major to report (which is kind of nice sometimes when things are calm and quiet).
James (our newly adopted Greyhound) is doing well although needs to learn to walk DOWN stairs … we caught up with relatives visiting from America on Sunday and spent a gorgeous afternoon at the beach with them – it was simply amazing weather and not at all like Winter is meant to be! … I am almost finished my final proofing and editing of my next book and super duper excited it will be going off to print soon! 

Hubby had to carry James back down the stairs when he refused to walk down them!

I have the second recipe I promised you I would be sharing from my first cookbook “Cut out the Crap” … the first recipe I shared for you a few weeks back was the crunchy and tasty “Chicken Schnitzel” and today I have a Dessert for you … “Baked Pears and Honey” … gorgeous served with custard, cream, ice cream or coconut yoghurt! ENJOY! 

baked pears and honey 

4 pears – firm and ripe

½ cup honey

½ cup water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2cm length of vanilla pod

8 fresh dates – each cut in half

8 pecan halves – each cut in half

 

Preheat oven to 180C.

Peel the pears and cut them in half lengthways. Remove core from pears and use a spoon to make a small hollow.

Line a lamington baking tray with baking paper, making sure it comes up the sides by 2cm.

Place pears round side down on the tray. Place 2 date halves and 2 pecan halves in each pear hollow.

In a microwave bowl, place honey, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir well. Microwave for a further minute. If you don’t have a microwave you can simply combine this in a small saucepan over a medium-low heat until thoroughly combined.  

Slowly spoon honey mixture over the pears. (A fair bit of the honey mixture will end up in the bottom of the tray).

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes (or until pears are slightly softened).

Spoon honey mixture over the pears, 2-3 times during the baking process.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Wishing you a lovely day … talk again soon … 

Take Care of You, 
Collette x

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Baked Pears and Honey - from "Cut out the Crap" Cookbook

Rich Chocolate Tart with Roasted Strawberries - from "Cut out the Crap with Style"

Good Morning friends, I hope this finds you well. We are all well here! I am just going to get to the point of this blog today as I am SUPER excited to be sharing this … hopefully you have seen the last couple of blogs I have done “Chicken Schnitzel” from my first book “Cut out the Crap” … “Chicken and Corn Soup” from my second book “Cut out the Crap for Kids” … so now it is time to share something from my 3rd book “Cut out the Crap with Style” … you would have seen it before as its the amazing looking recipe from the front cover!

Are you excited to get this!? I hope so! Trust me, it is as good as it looks! I can’t wait to hear from you when you make it! ENJOY! 

Rich Chocolate Tart with Roasted Strawberries

from book “Cut out the Crap with Style”

base

1 ½ cups brazil nuts

4 tblspns agave nectar or maple syrup

2 tblspns cacao powder

1 tblspn coconut oil

1 tspn cinnamon

pinch salt

 

rich chocolate top

1/3 cup agave nectar or maple syrup

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup cacao powder

4 tblspns coconut oil

 

roasted strawberries

40 strawberries – halved

rind of ½ an orange sliced into 1cm pieces

2 heaped tblspns brown sugar (or sweetener of choice)

 

Lightly grease a 9 inch spring form cake tin and set aside.

Place all the ingredients for the base into a food processor and mix for 30 seconds or until well combined. Place this mixture into the prepared cake tin and using your fingers, push down firmly to form the base. Place in the freezer whilst making the rich chocolate top.

Place all the ingredients for the chocolate top into a small saucepan and whisk over a medium heat for 2 minutes or until and smooth and silky. Pour this mixture on top of the prepared base and return to the freezer for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200c and line a large tray with baking paper. Place strawberries and orange rind on an even layer on the prepared tray and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Roast strawberries in the preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes or until the sugar is starting to caramelize. Be careful not to burn them. Set aside until ready to serve.

Remove the chocolate tart from the freezer 2 minutes before ready to serve.

Cut into even size pieces and top with roasted strawberries.

serves 8-10

Tips and ideas –

• This is a great dessert to make a day in advance.


• Store roasted strawberries in an airtight container in the fridge.  Remove from the fridge 1 hour before serving as they are nicer at room temperature. 

 

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week … talk again soon!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

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Rich Chocolate Tart with Roasted Strawberries - from "Cut out the Crap with Style"

Chicken and Corn Soup - from "Cut out the Crap for Kids"

Good Afternoon friends! I hope this finds you all well! We are all well here … we are celebrating our 2nd Daughters Birthday today … she is now ‘double digits’ … MISS 10! She is my ‘wild child’ and was a huge reason for us first going Additive Free as she reacted badly with her behaviour to Additives … she is fun, crazy and makes me laugh daily more than anyone I know … we also clash often (might be something to do with us both being stubborn and strong willed!) but despite this she fills my world with happiness … I love her unconditionally, I am sure that other Mothers know what I mean with this feeling! 

Photo courtesy of “JasArt Photgraphic Art”

I am here today to share with you a recipe from my 2nd book and best selling book “Cut out the Crap for Kids” …

I shared Chicken Schnitzel from my first book “Cut out the Crap” last week and in that blog advised everyone that to be fair on those that buy the books I don’t share my recipes from the books but I have decided to make an exception for only 2 recipes from each of these books so you get an idea of what my recipes are like … over the next few weeks I will continue to share them on my blog here for you for easy access. Please be sure to ‘subscribe’ to my blogs on the front page of my website, it will ensure that these recipes get straight to your email inbox and you don’t miss them …. you won’t want to miss next weeks recipe, when I share something super exciting from my 3rd book “Cut out the Crap with Style” … until then, enjoy this Chicken and Corn Soup recipe from my 2nd book “Cut out the Crap for Kids” … it tastes just like you would expect to get at a Chinese Restaurant and yet SO easy to make and you know exactly what is in it! It is a huge hit with my kids! ENJOY! 

Chicken and Corn Soup 

from book ‘Cut out the Crap for Kids’

4 cobs of corn

1 tspn sunflower oil (or oil of choice)

2 cloves garlic – crushed

1 leek – finely chopped (white part only)

2 chicken breast fillets – diced 2cm x 2cm

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Remove kernels of corn by cutting with a sharp knife.

Place oil, garlic, leek, chicken and corn into a large saucepan. Fry for 10 minutes, continuously stirring.

Add stock and stir well. Cover and simmer on low for 40 minutes.

Remove half of soup mixture and process with a hand blender.

Return it to the rest of the soup, mix well and serve immediately.

Serves 4

 Tips and Ideas –

•  If you prefer a clear based soup, you don’t need to do the last process.

 

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week! 

Take Care of You, 

Collette x 

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Chicken and Corn Soup - from "Cut out the Crap for Kids"

Kefir!

Good Morning friends! I hope this finds you all well and that you had a lovely weekend. 

We are all well here, the big girls are on their last day of School holidays and have mixed feelings as always about it, they miss seeing their friends all the time but they are not looking forward to routine mornings again with no sleep-ins (I don’t blame them!) How about you? Are your kids back at school today? Are you doing a happy dance or do you wish the holidays were longer?

How have you been going with the cultured food posts I have shared the past few weeks? Have you made anything yet? Or all of them!? Have you any new favourites? I would love to hear! 

I am thrilled today to bring you a guest post from my friend Sarah who is the “Clevercook” sharing today with us some information on KEFIR! 

Sarah!

 Hi, My name is Sarah and I live to eat, not eat to live. I love cooking and eating and always have! In recent years I have discovered the Paleo philosophy of avoiding grains and sugar, and feel better for it, so I aim to cook with natural unprocessed ingredients, good fats, fruit and vegetables. Keen to demonstrate that a Primal lifestyle is not limiting in any way, I love the challenge of developing recipes within the criteria and “Paleo-fying” everyday foods. Especially naughty ones! I live in Brisbane and have a wonderful husband and 2 (almost grown-up) sons. Fortunately, they love to eat and suffer my endless experiments and new recipes without complaint (much)! To help me I have my trusty Thermomix, whose inclusion in my life has opened my world of capabilities. I never envisaged being able to mill my own flour, make my own almond milk & coconut cream, less make my own chocolate!! 

Let’s talk KEFIR! Kefir is a combination of “good” bacteria and yeasts in a symbiotic matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars, that resemble tiny cauliflower. The grains can be grown in milk or water but have a subtle difference of composition in their bacterial make up. Milk kefir must be grown in milk and depend on a higher protein & lactose mix than water kefir which is grown in sweetened water. Milk kefir grains range in colour from white to yellow, whilst water kefir grains are translucent and may be white or clear. They range from the size of a pea to a walnut.I was very lucky to be given some fresh water kefir grains recently and now I have a new passion: water kefir! Water kefir is known around the world and is also known as tibicos, tibi, Japanese water crystals and California bees. It tastes GREAT and can be altered by adding different fruits and flavourings.

The basic preparation method is to add the grains to a sugary liquid and allow it to ferment for 24 to 48 hours. It is important to use ingredients that will not inhibit the fermentation, such as chlorine in tap water or preservatives in dried fruit (sulphites). For this reason I boil my water and let it cool down and use organic fruit. With kombucha production you have to be extra vigilant about hygiene and sterilisation but I am told this is completely unnecessary when making kefir from a hygiene perspective as the bacteria is so robust that it can kill any “bad” bacteria.

It is important that the kefir culture is treated as gently as a live organism, just like a kombucha scoby. The grains need to avoid extreme heat or cold and have plenty of “food” (sugar) to feed off. When storing them, you need to keep them “alive” by regularly feeding them.

Experiment with how much time you ferment for as this varies depending on the ambient temperature. Experiment with different dried fruit and flavourings. I have heard that sultanas and vanilla are good.

The use of metal implements should be avoided, as they can damage the culture, but I haven’t experienced this. Yet. I bottle my kefir in glass and have learnt that after bottling, fermentation continues thus producing more carbonation —so don’t make too much ahead of time or you may have explosions happening in your fridge! Give it a try, its sooo much fun and would be a great science lesson on carbonation for the kids which will benefit them in more ways than one!

1/2 cup water kefir grains

9 cups water, boiled & cooled to room temperature

1/3 cup raw sugar, dissolved in 1 cup boiled water, cooled

1 dried fig, organic & unsulphured, cut in half

1 slice of lemon, including rind

1 knob ginger (optional, sometimes I use fresh turmeric)

 

Unfiltered fruit juice – I use apple, but any will do.

 

Make sure that everything is room temperature and mix together in a large jar or bottle. Secure a clean nut milk bag or muslin on top with a rubber band to keep the fruit flies out.

Have a taste and keep in mind how sweet it is.

 

The kefir grains will sink to the bottom as will the fig. The lemon and ginger will float on the surface.

 

Leave for 24 hours at room temperature and taste. If it tastes less sweet than the day before, the kefir is active and eating the sugar.

 

You will see small bubbles forming around the grains and some may float to the top, that’s normal.

 

Leave for another day  – a little scum may form on the surface which is tiny yeast bubbles, that’s normal too.

Taste – it will be less sweet again and then prepare to bottle. It will not be fizzy but will produce more carbonation after being sealed.

 

Make sure your bottles are clean and sterile*. I use recycled beer bottles that I cap with a brewing capper but swing top bottles are easier to use and widely available.

 

If you are using big bottles, pour an inch of fruit juice in the bottom and top up with kefir and seal. I pour in a half-inch of juice in small beer bottles. This gives the bacteria in the kefir some more food to produce carbonation.Leave at room temperature for one more day and then refrigerate to slow down the fermentation process. Drink and enjoy the amazing benefits of probiotics!**

 

Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself and to share this Kefir information with you! I would love for you to visit my site and join me having fun cooking, eating & sharing! Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions! Thanks! Sarah x

I would like to say a MASSIVE Thank you to Sarah for sharing this information with us all! Sarah has a FULL blog with loads more information on Kefir HERE … for more helpful information make sure you check it out … also please make sure you pop over to Sarahs pages and say HI! It is a lovely way to say THANK YOU for her time and information and to show support. 

CLEVERCOOK INSTAGRAM

CLEVERCOOK PINTEREST 

CLEVERCOOK BLOG

 

Wishing you a wonderful day, 

Take Care of You, 

Collette x

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Kefir!

Chicken Schnitzel - from "Cut out the Crap"

Good Afternoon friends, I hope you are all well and for those of you on holidays or have kids on school holidays, I hope you are having a lovely, safe and fun time. 

My home has been busier and noisier than normal with the addition of a new family member – a 4 legged friend (more on that another day) and one of the girls having a friend here most of the time, people seem to be coming and going constantly and I feel like I have turned into a bit of a ‘mum taxi’ with the older girls having a better social life than me! A lady serving me at the shops today commented  how many ‘cranky’ Mums she sees daily in the School Holidays and was surprised I was still smiling … as much as it’s chaotic at times, I love the holidays and spending extra time with my kids, I feel days, weeks and months just fly by…my ‘babies’ are 3 1/2 …. not babies anymore….sometimes I wish I could just ‘freeze’ the time….surely I am not the only Mum that thinks this???

As you know I have 3 self published recipe books – Best Sellers “Cut out the Crap” and “Cut out the Crap with Kids” and my most recent book “Cut out the Crap with Style” that was released less than 12 months ago. To be fair on those that buy the books I don’t share my recipes from the books … I have decided to make an exception for only 2 recipes from each of these books so you get an idea of what my recipes are like … over the next few weeks I will share them on my blog here for you for easy access ….. first up is my popular “Chicken Schnitzel” recipe from my first book “Cut out the Crap”

‘Front Cover’ – Cut out the Crap – Gluten, Dairy and Preservative Free

… this has been on my Facebook page for a while now, but incase you haven’t seen it or tried it, I highly recommend you do! It is perfect for healthy homemade Chicken Nuggets for the Kids and if you like the flavour of Coconut Oil, these are FABULOUS cooked in that! 

chicken schnitzel

from cookbook “Cut out the Crap” 

3 single chicken breast fillets

1 bunch fresh chives – finely chopped

1 x 100g packet plain rice crackers

1 egg

1 cup rice milk

1 pinch sea salt

 oil for pan frying

Using a food processor, process the whole packet of rice crackers until fine crumbs form.

In one bowl whisk the egg and rice milk.

In another bowl, add the rice cracker crumbs, chives and sea salt. Mix well.

Cut each chicken breast into quarters. Make one cut down the length to make it thinner, and one across to make it smaller.

Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip it into the egg mixture, then into the crumb mixture. Press the chicken down into the crumb mixture, so a good coating is formed.

Set aside on a plate until ready to cook.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan.

Cook chicken schnitzel on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes either side, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the outside is golden.

Serve immediately with fresh vegetables.

Serves 4 

Tips and Ideas –

•  I preheat my oven to 140oC and place the cooked chicken schnitzel in the oven to keep warm, whilst the rest are cooking.


• This chicken is beautiful the next day sliced cold for lunch with salad.


• Make sure your rice crackers are additive free

 

Enjoy!

Talk again soon ….

Take Care of You,

Collette x  

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Chicken Schnitzel - from "Cut out the Crap"

Good Morning friends! I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the school holidays so far. 

We have had a busy few days here already with both the big girls having friends over, park trips, picnics, plaster painting and loads of laughter has been going on here! I have realised that there isn’t much different to having 4 kids in the house to 5 kids! Not that I intend on having any more The Winter mornings have been cold but the Sunshine has been glorious so we have been rugging up and getting out and about in it. 

Here is the ‘tart’ recipe I gave you a sneak peak of on the weekend …. I had a dream a few weeks back about Pineapple Tarts and was going to make the ones in my first book but then got carried away and ended  up with something completely different … I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! 

Pineapple and Coconut Tart 

BASE

1 cup almonds (120g)

1 cup desiccated coconut (95g)

20 medjool dates – seeds removed (300g)

TOP

2 x 440g tins crushed pineapple

1 x 270ml tin coconut cream

½ cup maple syrup

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 stick cinnamon

1 star anise

½ vanilla bean pod

1 tblspn agar powder

EXTRA / OPTIONAL

1 cup desiccated coconut – toasted

Lightly grease a round springform cake tin and set aside.

Place all the ingredients for the base into a food processor and blitz on high until thoroughly combined.

(TMX OWNERS: Speed 7 for 30 seconds)

Using your hands, push this mixture firmly into the cake tin to form the base of the tart.

Refrigerate base whilst making the top.

Place all the ingredients for the top of the tart into a medium saucepan and mix thoroughly. Bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high to a constant simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool at room temperature for 10 minutes. Remove vanilla, start anise and cinnamon and discard.

Pour the pineapple mixture into the cake tin and refrigerate for 4-5 hours or overnight if possible.

Cut into wedges to serve and sprinkle with extra desiccated toasted coconut.

Serves 8-12 

NOTES:

• I find there can be a big weight difference in the medjool dates sometimes. I have made this 3 times now and have used between 16 and 21 dates – I always ensure the weight is 300g though.


• The first time I made this I used ½ cup fresh lemon juice and loved it. I have reduced the lemon in the recipe for the following times I tested it as I know not everyone loves lemon that much. It was VERY ‘lemony’ and had that ‘eye twitch’ tang to it … if you love that lemony taste then you can increase the quanity of lemon you use.  


• This would be lovely served with fresh seasonal fruit also. 

 

Enjoy your day … wishing you health and happiness and GREAT food! 

Take Care of You, 

Collette x 

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Pineapple and Coconut Tart