Lifestyle

Today I experimented with a recipe for fussy kids. A client of mine has two kids who aren’t big veggie eaters and we are trying various recipes with somewhat disguised veggies in  them. She mentioned trying a sausage casserole and this is what I tried today. I have added the veggies to a white sauce in a pureed form, so as to disguise them in a texture and taste they already like. I used chicken sausage as this is my favorite at the moment.

My housekeeper and I just had it for lunch and she agrees that her fussy four year old would love it. So fingers crossed. Any feedback from the Moms who read my blog would be much appreciated.

Chicken sausage casserole

Makes enough for about 4 kids

1 cup of cooked rice (try brown basmati and add a small amount of lentils to the rice while cooking)

3 Tbsp of white flour

3 Tbsp of butter

350ml of milk (more if needed)

½ a chicken stock cube (or 2 tsp of stock powder)

½ a cup worth off pureed very lightly steamed – try using yellow, orange and white veggies (a little tomato is fine too) just to keep the colour easily disguisable.

4 chicken sausages, microwaved and chopped into small pieces

¼ – ½ a cup of grated cheese of choice (optional)

Pre heat your oven to 230˚C and place the rack in the middle.

Get your rice (and lentils) cooking and your veggies steaming.

Heat the oil and flour in a small pan or pot. Allow it to fry for a minute while stirring the paste with a whisk. Remove it from the heat and add the milk. Stir this with your whisk until the paste and milk have combined, then return this to the heat and stir it with your whisk slowly while waiting for the sauce to thicken. If it starts thickening very fast, remove it from the heat and continue stirring it until the thickening has settled down. It will reach a point where the thickness stabilises. Add more milk if it gets too thick. Add the chicken stock and whisk it into the sauce.

Layer the rice (and lentils if using) at the bottom of a small casserole dish. Then combine half the white sauce with the pureed veggies and spoon that over the rice. Add a little water to the veggies if they are too thick. Scatter the chicken sausage pieces over his, then spoon the white sauce over everything and lastly scatter with cheese. Bake in the oven until bubbling and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Try to serve this with the some raw veggies of your child’s choosing too. If your child is seriously fussy about veggies, start with less veg puree and add more and more as they get used to the taste.

I have been attending an art workshop for the last few weeks. Each week one of us brings something to eat for our tea break. Yesterday was my turn, but I had really left it to the last minute before I remembered. Luckily I had most of the ingredients to make some muffins but I had to improvise a bit which can go either way when it comes to baking. Luckily the end product was really yum.

I am not usually a fan of muffins or cake really, but these muffins are really moist and almost squishy because of the high moisture content from the fruit. They are also really low GI and would be great for a mid meal snack or lunch box.

I am going to experiment with a gluten free version of the same today, for a client I am teaching at tomorrow. I will keep you posted as to the outcome.

The art class I have been attending is also worth mentioning here. The aim of the class is not so much to teach you how to be an artist but more to aid creativity and the creative process in general. I imagine that this journey could be beneficial to most people in any profession or phase of life.

Many years ago I became friends with an Italian called Alberto, who loves to cook and entertain. I have spent so many evenings in his kitchen while he cooks, learning how to keep food simple. To honour the flavours of the food rather than to mask them with too many ingredients, spices and sauces. Alberto claims to cook Italian peasant food, but using the best ingredients he can find and having that magic touch, he creates meals which are 100% unforgettable.

Last Wednesday was just one of those meals. Luckily this time I brought my camera with so I was able to capture enough of it so that I can share it with you today. Alberto has sent me the recipe which I have pasted at the end, but as with all natural cooks, there are no exact measurements, cooking times or temperatures. This is something which is done by feel. Once I get around to recreating this dish at home, I will add my version of the recipe with the necessary measurements.

But in the mean time, eat with your eyes. The recipe Alberto cooked for us, he learned from a fisherman and is called Pasta alla Ponzese (Ponza is a island of the Arcipelago Pontino).

My brother and his fiance came to stay with me last week. They arrived just before lunch. I had had a super busy morning and we all had appointments in the afternoon. However, I still wanted to spoil them a bit with a yummy but quick lunch. This beef and pesto pasta was just the ticket.

I had done the shopping the day before and lunch was whipped up in 10 minutes. If I were to make it again though, I think I would add some quartered broccoli florets while frying the meat, just to add a veg element and keep it a more balanced meal. This sauce could also be a great topping for a baked potato.

Beef, broccoli and pesto cream pasta

Serves 4 portions

250g of pasta of choice, cooked and drained

1 Tbsp of olive oil

300g of good quality beef (fillet is the best), cut into thin strips

Salt and pepper (to taste)

8 broccoli florets, cut into quarters (optional)

1/2 a cup of basil pesto (I used Pesto Princess, which is my favorite)

½ a cup of cream or coconut cream

Grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a wok or big heavy bottomed pan on high heat. Salt and pepper your beef strips and stir fry the meat and broccoli together until just cooked, but still a bit al dente. Remove from the heat, add the pesto and cream and stir to combine.

Check the seasoning. Add the pasta and combine until well coated with sauce. Serve with a handful of parmesan.

PS – if you haven’t already voted for me in the Eat In top local food blog awards – please do so by clicking on the icon below, then click on the pink voting button at the top of the page and following the prompts.

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After a particularly decadent valentines dinner and a very busy next day, I asked my housekeeper to cook us one of our favorite healthy dinners. I have taught my housekeeper a few staple vegetarian meals, which she cooks for Adam mostly while I’m away but sometimes also when I’m really busy and know I won’t get the time to cook. This is one of her best meals. It is the perfect balance of flavors and textures, leaving you feeling satisfied and nurtured.

Spinach and lentil curry

Serves 4 – 6

2 Tbsp of olive oil

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tsp of ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of turmeric

1 tsp of garam masala

1 tsp of coriander

chilli to taste

Salt to taste

3 large tomatoes, finely chopped or one 400g can of tomatoes

1 400g can of coconut cream or milk

150g of English spinach (if you can only find Swiss chard, trim and wash it well)

1 cup of cooked lentils or one can on lentils drained

In a medium sized pot fry the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and fry for a minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer until it has become a nice thin gravy. Add the lentils and the spinach and remove from the heat. Allow the heat from the pot to cook the spinach. If using Swiss chard simmer for a few minutes until it is tender.

Serve with basmati rice.

PS – if you haven’t already voted for me in the Eat In top local food blog awards – please do so by clicking on the icon below, then click on the pink voting button at the top of the page and following the prompts.

If you really really like my blog, then share it with your friends on facebook or twitter by clicking the share buttons on the left side of this page.

PS – if you haven’t already voted for me in the Eat In top local food blog awards – please do so by clicking on the icon below, then click on the pink voting button at the top of the page and following the prompts.

If you really really like my blog, then share it with your friends on facebook or twitter by clicking the share buttons on the left side of this page.

But Haiku is different, being an oriental restaurant, they have a wide selection of vegetarian dishes. I can order what ever I want knowing that Adam is going to enjoy his meal as much as I will enjoy mine. Last night was no exception. We shared a selection of amazing vegetarian starers, the spinach and cream cheese steamed dim sum being the star of the show. It may sound random but it needs to be tasted to be believed. So very very yum.

I then went on to order my all time favorite Peking duck while Adam ordered a sizzling aubergine dish which he could not stop raving about. I however was solely focused on my duck. The skin has a wafer like crispness and lightness and literally disintegrates in your mouth. The duck meat is tender and moist. The dish comes with julienne cucumber and shredded spring onion, a bamboo steamer with a pile of pancakes and a bowl of hoisin sauce. You then assemble your rolls, take a breath and plunge into food ecstasy. Okay, well I do!

If I were to have any criticism it would be that I wish they would offer a half portion. I can eat quite a lot of food and I would hate to have to sacrifice some starter tapas. But the portion is simply to big for me. I did however take a doggy bag and had a rerun of last nights bliss for lunch today.

Today’s blog is long overdue as I bought the ingredients to make this dessert almost three weeks ago but never got around to making it. Then I made it on the spur of the moment last week Monday and it’s taken me this long to get it in blog format… But the memory of that light fluffy creamy pastry filled with soft pears and the tang of summer berries is still lingering.

The original inspiration for the dessert was an article in Crush online magazines 15th edition – the recipe is Francios Ferreira’s but is a traditional french recipe. I modified the recipe slightly using what I had available. I used tinned pears, blackberries and raspberries as the fruit but I did not stew them. I didn’t add the extra butter and brandy which was specified in the recipe. Once I had made the batter, I layered half of it in the dish, topped that with the pears, covered that with the remaining batter and topped that with the fresh berries before popping it in the oven.