Thursday 7 May 2015

Strawberry and Rhubarb Lemonade



Last Saturday i was getting ready for the next issue of Kimi Magazine- the "Red Issue". Normally i'd be opting for the savoury recipe out of the two featured recipes, but Joanne beat me to it with a delicious tomato upside down tart with basil and feta - so good to eat after the shoot!
It was hard to think of a sweet recipe that was red and would stay red, wouldn't look like a pile of sloppy mess for the camera and wasn't some sort of pie.

I brought it down to Strawberry and Rhubarb Lemonade. The photos turned out great, but you'll have to wait until October to see the pro's photos by Georgia Wiggs.


All was smooth sailing as i was making the lemonade. The mixture was almost at a boil, steam was floating up from the saucepan and yummy strawberry smells were starting to fill the kitchen. Everything was going great until i watched the stove flicker and then go out. After several attempts at re-lighting the stove and several calls to the gas company, the gas still wasn't working and the stove would not light again... for another day or two. That makes for interesting cooking.
 Not to worry, i left the lemonade to stew in it's own pulpy goodness for a bit longer before straining.
If you can avoid having your stove go out on you, please follow the below instructions!

Strawberry and Rhubarb Lemonade
4 cups rhubarb (3-4 sticks), chopped small
4 cups (500g) fresh strawberries, halved
rind of one lemon
5 cups water
120 g raw sugar
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
soda water (optional)

In a saucepan combine rhubarb, strawberries, lemon rind and sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, add the lemon and lime juice and simmer for about half an hour.

Strain the liquid through a sieve and discard the leftover fruit (or use it in a smoothie or muffins). Store lemonade in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for about a week
Serve on ice with fresh mint, lemon and strawberries to garnish.

If you like your lemonade a bit fizzy (as i do), add a splash of soda water to your lemonade.



Friday 1 May 2015

Red Lentil Dahl



 About 2 years ago, as i was aimlessly scrolling through Facebook, i stumbled across a post about Kimi Magazine. Intrigued by this magazine i'd never heard of, i kept reading. All i could really gauge was that it was based in Melbourne, it had a little food section and all the profits from the magazine were given to Eating Disorders Victoria. In my daily endeavours at the time to expand my blog audience, i immediately contacted whoever i could about Kimi Magazine and said something along the lines of "Hi, love what your magazine is about, love where the profits are going. I write a food blog, are you interested in some recipes?"  and voila! I must have been in the right place at the right time because as it turns out, Kimi had only just released their first issue and WERE interested in some recipes.

I went along to the signing of the first issue and discovered that the driving force behind Kimi, was just one girl, my age, doing something really special for a very sick best friend. After a few chats with Ciara (creator of Kimi) we agreed on a recipe for the next issue- "The World Issue".

Sticking with what i knew i decided to make a warming dahl recipe that i learned when i first went vegetarian. It's super simple and yummy!

Red Lentil Dahl
2 -3 tbs peanut or sunflower oil for cooking
1 onion, diced,
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cm ginger, grated
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups boiling water
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
salt to taste

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in cooking oil until transparent. Add the turmeric, and then the lentils. Stir to coat the lentils. Cover with 4 cups boiling water, bring to the boil and lower the temperature to a simmer. Partially cover and stir occasionally for about 40 minutes. You may need to add more water depending on the cosistency you like. When the lentils are soft, add in the salt, garam masala and chili powder.

Serve on basmati rice with yoghurt and fresh coriander.

Perfect Rice
I generally measure rice by 1/2 cup per person you are feeding.
Rinse and drain rice.
In a saucepan, add the rice and double the quantity of water - e.g 1 cup rice = 2 cups water.
Bring to the boil. Once the rice is boiling, stir and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
Cover and leave to cook for 12 minutes. DO NOT LIFT THE LID!
Your rice should be soft and fluffy when the 12 minutes is up!


These photos are taken  by the wonderful Daniele Martinie who spent hours with us, trying to make something as sloppy and yellow as Dahl look as wonderful as it does above!

Thanks so much to Ciara and Dani for the opportunity.

I'll be seeing Ciara again tomorrow for the photo shoot for the next issue of Kimi which is coming out towards the end of the year!