Buckwheat Porridge with Strawberry Puree and Crunchy Maple Bits

Spring has almost sprung and I can’t say how happy I am to have some sunshine back in my life. My reptile self is warmly welcoming the early change of season and basking in whatever it gives me. So far it’s been very nice.

The other week I bought some buckwheat groats and since then, have been experimenting different uses.  Today was porridge. 

Before I go ahead and talk about the recipe, I’d like you to just divert your attention to the beautiful board on which my porridge sits. 

At the beginning of this month, Cal and I celebrated the anniversary of 5 special years together. Normally, gifts aren’t on the anniversary agenda, we tend to plan exciting adventures or experiences instead so this gift came a little unexpected. When Cal handed this over he told me he'd bought this beautiful piece of Huon Pine in Tasmania 10 years ago! Not sure how it managed to slip under the radar all this time, I'd never seen it in my life. He had sanded it down and oiled it and it is now one of the most beautiful things i own.

So now that the board has been credited, here's the recipe!

Buckwheat really doesn't need all that much tampering with. It's so beautiful and nutty, i stepped away from the spices this time.

Buckwheat Porridge

1/2 cup buckwheat groats

1 cup water

1/2 tbs. apple cider vinegar

1 cup plant based milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

Soak the buckwheat overnight in the water and apple cider vinegar.

Drain and rinse thoroughly.

In a saucepan cook the buckwheat in the milk and cinnamon until the liquid reduces.

You can either keep reducing and eat the buckwheat as it is like porridge or blend it.

I blitzed my warm buckwheat in a blender for a few seconds to achieve a thicker, porridge-like texture.

Alternatively, you can make a raw version which consists of just soaking overnight and then blending. A beautiful cool version for the warmer months to come!

Strawberry Puree

1 punnet ripe strawberries

1-2 tbs. water

Blend strawberries in a blender or food processor and add water until desired consistency is reached. If your strawbs are ripe enough your won't need to add any other sweetener.

Crunchy Maple Bits

1 handful walnuts

1 handful buckwheat groats

1 handful flaked coconut

1/2 tbs. maple syrup

Dry roast the walnuts, buckwheat and coconut until brown. Pour over the maple syrup and stir through.

Enjoy this wonderful porridge in the sun!

Chai Spiced Pear and Coconut Icecream

This is the easiest ice cream ever. I have an ice cream maker, but i didn't even bother for this recipe. Stew, blitz, freeze, eat. The pears are easily interchangeable with any other sort of stewed fruit like apple, rhubarb, plums, apricots and the list goes on... There's no dairy and no added sugar in this recipe either, just the sugar from the ripe pears. You might even feel okay about eating this ice cream for breakfast... YEAH!

Stewed Pears with Chai Spices
3 Soft pears
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Ginger
1/2 tsp. Cardamom powder
1 pinch Salt

Chop the pears roughly. In a saucepan on a low heat, add pears, a splash of water and spices. Cover and simmer until the pears are soft . Don't worry too much about how they look, you'll be blending them anyway. Allow the pears to cool completely.

Icecream
1 1/2 cups Stewed Pears (or stewed fruit)
3/4 cup Coconut Cream

In a food processor, blitz the pears and coconut cream until combined. Scoop in to a container and store in the freezer. Stir your mixture thoroughly every 30 minutes, 5 times.
Coconut cream freezes pretty solid so remember to take it out of the freezer up to 30 minutes before serving if you don't eat it all in one go!

Dark Chocolate Coated Cinnamon Oat Biscuits

Last weekend, i stumbled across an ANZAC biscuit recipe from Wholehearted Eats and got inspired to bake again... I'm a bit obsessed with my mate oven at the moment.
The recipe seemed really straightforward, just like an ANZAC recipe should be and although alternative ingredients have been used to substitute white flour, butter and refined sugar, the traditional wonderful-ness of the good ol' ANZAC hasn't been altered. I must give credit to Wholehearted Eats' blog and her beautiful recipes and photos.

I've decided to step away from the whole ANZAC theme though and call these Oat Biscuits. I don't want to offend anyone with the non-traditional-ness of my recipe, plus i added cinnamon and chocolate for winter warmth... don't think that was readily available during war times...

I prepared these biscuits in my room. I wish i got a photo of me on the floor of my bedroom, stirring and measuring and rolling out biscuits. There's oats all over my carpet! I got home from doing some groceries and was in a bit of a rush to get out again for an afternoon tea I'd planned with my aunties, but when i got home, the cleaner was there. I was trying to tiptoe around her, but cooking in the kitchen wasn't going to work out so i gathered everything and proceeded to put the ingredients together in my bedroom. Not baking the biscuits wasn't an option either- I'd be thinking about them all day! The cleaner was probably wondering where in the world i pulled a tray of biscuits from when I came back in the kitchen to put them in the oven.... I gave her a taste of the finished product though so any qualms she might've had with me must now surely be settled.

 Ingredients
Cinnamon Oat Biscuits
Makes 10
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup Spelt Flour
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Dessicated Coconut
1 tsp. Cinnamon 
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp. Raw Sugar
1 Tbsp. Rice Malt Syrup or Maple Syrup
4 Tbsp. Coconut Oil (or butter, both room temperature)
1/2 tsp. Bicarb soda
 2 Tbsp. Boiling Water

30g 75-85% chocolate, chopped and melted

In a bowl combine oats, spelt flour, coconut, cinnamon, salt and sugar.
In a separate bowl combine the syrup, bicarb soda and boiling water. 
With your hands mix the syrup mixture and coconut oil into the dry ingredients until combined. Roll into small balls and flatten gently, but not too much!
Bake in the oven on 180 degrees for around 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Leave to cool. The biscuits will be quite soft when you take them out of the oven. Don't be deceived- they firm up once they start to cool. Beware you don't over cook them!
In the microwave or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate.
When the biscuits are cool enough drop a spoon of the melted chocolate on to the top of each biscuit.

Choc-Peanut Butter Thick Shake

 When Cal says he feels like dessert i get excited to make something! It's not often he wants sweets.

Tonight he was after a thick shake....
Hmm, you say. Mikaela + thick shake does not equate. Yep. I did the maths too and came up with something i could 'disguise' as a thickshake and feel alright about drinking it too!

Oh my it was gooooood!

Ingredients
1-2 frozen bananas
1-2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 big handful ice
1 tsp maple syrup (optional)
1/2 tablespoon good quality unsweetened peanut butter (if you're allergic to nuts try tahini)
1 1/2 cups soy milk or milk of choice

Blend everything until smooth and icy!
Need i make this post any longer?

Middle Eastern Barley and Brown Lentil Salad

 I've been trying to keep a balance between sweet and savoury recipes on the blog to give you a bit of variety. It's so easy to post desserts because they always look so pretty for the camera and it always seems to be more of an experiment to make otherwise sugary, floury, buttery recipes a bit healthier.

Today I'm giving you the 'B Salad'- Brown lentil, Barley and Broccoli (plus a few other letters of the alphabet chucked in there.) This salad has a bit of a Middle Eastern feel to it with the dried fruit, pomegranate molasses and spices.
This salad acts as a whole meal in itself. It covers all bases- a protein, something crunchy, something sweet, something sour and something green! 

The Ingredients:
*this is really a 'do-it-how-you-like' kind of salad. Find what you have in the fridge and pantry and go wild. If you cover the bases i mentioned before, you'll probably nail it*

1 cup cooked barley, cooled
1 400g tin brown lentils or 1 cup fresh green or brown lentils- boiled and cooled
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sumac
2 tsp ground cumin
1 bunch parsley finely chopped
1 bunch mint finely chopped
1/4 cup sultanas or currants
 Half a broccoli- florets cut small and blanched
7-8 sugar snap peas cut small
1 big handful baby spinach leaves salt and pepper to taste
juice of one big, juicy lemon
big drizzle pomegranate molasses
good drizzle olive oil  (good applies to the drizzle and the oil)
1/4 cup pumpkin and sesame seeds toasted

 Bring 1 cup of barley in about 2 cups of water to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft, but firm. You still want the barley to hold a nice texture in the salad. Drain any excess water and rinse under cold water to cool. Do the same with your lentils if using fresh.
Combine the barley and lentils in a large bowl with the spices, herbs and sultanas.
Place the brocoli in boiling water for about 30 seconds and transfer in to ice water to stop the cooking process. Add broccoli to the salad with sugar snap peas and spinach.
Add lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.
Give the salad a good drizzle of pomegranate molasses and toss well.
Sprinkle with toasted seeds and serve!

Halfway through enjoying my salad I forgot that i wanted to add soft goats cheese. If you're keen. Try this salad with some goats cheese or feta!

YUM!

Apple and Berry Quinoa Crumble

This morning I arrived home from Darwin. Sunny, warm, dry, blue-skied Darwin. Our convenient 2am flight landed us in chilly old Melbourne at 6.45am. After 2 weeks camping our way around Kakadu, Katherine and Litchfield, going to bed when the sun did and waking up when it rose- we were struggling to drag ourselves to the airport at such an ungodly hour.

Feeling tired and sorry for myself today in my cold hometown of Melbourne, I'm posting this crumble recipe that Luisa and I made when we were feeling just as sorry for ourselves when our original flight to Darwin got cancelled and we had to stay in Melbourne for the first 2 days of winter before we could get on another flight. We needed something warm and wintery to brighten those blues.

Crumble
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup oats
1 handful pumpkin seeds
1 handful sunflower seeds
1 handful shredded coconut
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 small pinch of salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Fruit
1 apple sliced
1-2 cups frozen berries
1 vanilla pod
3-5 cloves 
1 tsp cinnamon
water
 
Preheat oven to 180-200 degrees. 

Stew the apple in some water with the cloves and cinnamon. When it starts to soften, scrape the vanilla pod into the mix and let the pod stew too. Add the berries. Stew until you reach the consistency you prefer. Remember to remove the cloves and vanilla pod before cooking.

To make the crumble topping, combine cooked quinoa, oats, seeds, coconut, spices and salt. Rub in the coconut oil to the rest of the mixture with fingertips.

Grease a baking dish and pour in stewed fruit mixture (don't forget the cloves and vanilla!)  Sprinkle crumble mixture on top and bake in oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve with yoghurt, cream or coyo!

*The only sugar in the recipe comes from the stewed fruit. We found that the apple gave the crumble plenty of sweetness and we didn't feel as though we had to add any other sugars. If you're a bit more of a sweet tooth, try some chopped dates in the crumble mixture. It will sweeten it and give it a stickier texture when cooked.* 

Happy winter everyone.

Pumpkin Coconut Icecream with Candied Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I've been living in Marysville since the start of the year and although it's a quiet little town with not a lot to do, i always make a little visit to the Marysville Lolly Shop. Not only does the lolly shop sell lollies and chocolate and really yummy homemade ice cream from Butter's Cafe in Buxton, they also sell heaps of local produce from the surrounding towns in the Murrindindi Shire and fruit and veg from their little garden.
This week i managed to buy a beautiful butternut pumpkin from them and decided to experiment a pumpkin ice cream recipe.

Pumpkins are in season at the moment. Yes it's almost winter, but who doesn't eat ice cream all year round? Plus, the warming spices in this recipe will make you forget it's cold outside!

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM:
2 Cups Pureed Pumpkin (1 small butternut pumpkin)
1 Can Full Fat Coconut Milk/Cream
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger Powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/3 Cup Maple Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Rind and Juice of One Lime
Rind of One Lemon

FOR THE PUREE:
Cut the pumpkin in half, remove seeds and place skin side up on a baking tray. Pour some water in the baking tray and put in the oven on 200 degrees for about 40 minutes. If the water dries up, add some more. For the last 10 or so minutes, flip the pumpkin over and cover tray with aluminum foil to allow the flesh to become really soft. Once soft, allow to cool and remove the flesh from the skin.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend into a smooth consistency. If the mixture is still warm from cooking your pumpkin, allow to cool before churning.

WITH Ice Cream Maker:
Churn in your ice cream churner for about 30 minutes, then put in the freezer to freeze for a further 1-2 hours.

WITHOUT Ice Cream Maker:
Place cool mixture in a container in the freezer. Every 30 minutes take out the mixture and stir thoroughly. Repeat this for about 3 hours. 

THE SEEDS:
Pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ginger Powder
Tiny Pinch Salt
1-2 tbs Coconut Oil
a drizzle of Maple Syrup

Keep the seeds from your pumpkin and soak in a bowl with warm salty water for about 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Remove seeds from the water, remove any excess pumkin flesh that might still be hanging around and dry them with paper towel or a tea towel.
Mix the seeds in melted coconut oil, maple syrup and spices and lay on a lined baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes.
Sprinkle over the top of your ice cream or eat them as a snack.

When serving your ice cream, it's best to take it out of the freezer at least an hour before you want to serve it as the coconut milk freezes super hard and icy!
 Good luck scooping!

Marysville Lolly Shop: https://www.facebook.com/MarysvilleLollyShop
Marysville Tourism: http://www.marysvilletourism.com/

Sunday Buckwheat Pancakes

Good morning all!
This week i was in the Asian grocer and i stumbled upon 1kg of buckwheat for $3.90. Bargain! Pancakes with the parents on a Sunday morning. What a treat!

Deceivingly, buckwheat is not actually related to wheat. In fact, it's not even a grain at all. Buckwheat is actually a seed related to rhubarb and sorrel. There's a fun fact!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup almond milk (or whichever milk you choose)
1 tsp vanilla essence

 *Makes about 6 small pancakes*

Method:

Heat some coconut oil (or butter) in a  frying pan and drop in a small ladle of the pancake batter. Cook for a few minutes or until bubbles appear on the top of the pancake. Flip and cook the other side for a minute or so.

*These pancakes are a little dense, so if you'd like them a bit more moist, add a mashed banana to the pancake batter before cooking. *

Serve with fruit, yoghurt, maple syrup, nuts, or any sort of nut butter. 

Bon Appetit!

(I should polish my cutlery!)