sheryln, Author at The huia tree

Fresh mussels steamed in coconut broth

November 27, 2013

Fresh mussels are a tasty, healthy and inexpensive meal here in New Zealand. This recipe has awesome flavours and is a favourite of mine – and well worth a try. Have them for a weekend lunch or summer later afternoon light meal with white wine. Enjoy!

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1 tablespoon coconut oil
3 spring onions, sliced
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1/2 a kaffir lime leaf, finely chopped
1/2 a red chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup unsweetened coconut cream
1/2 a cup of water (add more if you like a thinner broth)
20 fresh mussels, rinsed, scrubbed & de-bearded
Zest and juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup whole coriander leaves
1/2 cup of chopped parsley

Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pot until hot. Add the spring onion, garlic, kaffir lime and chile. Cook over medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the coconut cream, water and mussels. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook until the mussels have opened, 5 to 7 minutes (discard any mussels that remained closed). Remove from heat, and use a slotted spoon to transfer the mussels to a large bowl, leaving the liquid in the pot. Stir the lemon zest and juice, half the coriander and parsley into the pot.

Scoop the mussels into a large serving bowl. Pour the remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle over the rest of the coriander and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with crusty sour dough bread to soak up the tasty juices.

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ALL GONE!

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breakfast raw food smoothies

All things Bestow and a green smoothie

October 10, 2013

I have worked with the Bestow Beauty company for several years now in the graphic design and marketing capacity. I relish my time with both the products and the people plus all the marvellous things I have learnt over the years about skin health. I now sell the 3 Bestow products as follows:

Bestow Beauty Oil $36.50
Bestow Beauty Powder $45.00
Bestow Be Cleansed $49.50

If you would like to order any of these please message me (P+P is not included in the above prices).

Janine Tait, director of Bestow and myself are now working on a Bestow Cooking Journal which will be available early December. If you would like to be notified as soon as it is available please click here.

This morning I thought I would try a green smoothie with avocado, I’ve read a few recipes lately for this and haven’t really been able to get my head around it to be honest. Avocado in a smoothie?? Are you sure? Anyway today was the day to bite the avocado bullet. The result was actually suprisingly good, creamy good!

Blend together:
250ml Coconut Water
1/2 medium sized avocado flesh
small handful of fresh kale leaves
1 tbsp pure maple syrup or honey or a dash of stevia to sweeten
1 tbsp Bestow Be Cleansed
1/2 tbsp Bestow Beauty Powder
A few ice cubes

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pork

Gorgeous pork belly with star anise

September 26, 2013

I love this recipe so much, all credit for it’s deliciousness goes to Australian food guru Bill Grainger. I have changed it here and there to suit my style of cooking. The sauce is to die for – spicy and sweet (so don’t be expecting a rich gravy type taste). Star anise is my stand out favourite spice, in fact I would decorate my world with star anise if I could.

I served squares of pork belly on top of NZ kumara mash and wilted spinach.

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Pork Belly
1.5kg pork belly
1 tbsp sea salt
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Star Anise sauce
1/2 cup coconut or brown sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup chicken stock
juice of 1 orange
4 wide strips of orange peel
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Pork Belly method

Preheat oven to 140C.

Score the skin of the pork belly in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife. Drizzle the olive oil over the pork belly skin and rub the sea salt into it.
Put the pork belly in a roasting tin skin-side down, drizzle with a little more oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover and seal with tin foil.

Roast for 3 hours, take out from oven and check to see if the pork is very soft, juicy and easy to pull a small piece off. If not then place back in the oven for another 30 mins. Make the sauce (see below) while the pork is roasting.

Remove the pork from the oven, uncover and turn over carefully. Place the pork under a hot grill to crackle the skin. Remove, cover loosely with foil and set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes. Slice the pork and drizzle with the star anise sauce.

Star Anise sauce method

Put the sugar, vinegar, star anise and cinnamon in a small saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened and syrupy. Add the chicken stock and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the orange juice and peel, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until slightly thicker and reduced (about 20 mins). Season to taste. Thicken with 1 tsp of cornflour mixed into a little water.

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raw food

Raw chocolate bark

September 18, 2013

In the food blogging world there is some amazing people living their passion. I recently was told about Belinda from My Healing Kitchen, she’s another fellow foodie from Cambridge NZ. Please checkout her awesomeness and like her facebook page. My Healing Kitchen is dedicated to conscious living & healthy eating and also does the most awesome friday night take-outs, this is one of her recipes, I added in some natural almonds because they’re my favourite nut, you could add in whatever healthy treats you like.

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Line a dinner plate with baking paper. Scatter some frozen raspberries, roughly chopped almonds, coconut chips or threads over the dinner plate.

Melt 1/3 cup coconut oil then mix in 3 tbsp maple syrup (100% pure) and 2 tbsp cacao or carob powder. Pour over your berries/almonds/coconut.

Set in the freezer for half an hour, break up and enjoy!

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baking

Cranberry & pistachio shortbread cookies

September 16, 2013

I first starting making these about 6 years ago and even though I don’t think I’m much of a baker I enjoy making these and love the taste. This is quite a big mix and makes alot of cookies, I always forget to count how many but I’d guess about 30.

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50g Butter
2 cups icing sugar
5 cups plain flour
2 tsp Vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 Lemon
1/4 cup of Milk
1 egg yolk
1 cup dried Cranberries
70g pistachio nuts

Beat butter and icing sugar untill pale and creamy. Add the flour, vanilla, lemon zest, milk and egg yolk. Mix well. Add the cranberries and pistachio nuts and mix to a firm dough. Turn mixture out on to floured surface. Shape into a long log or two shorter logs. Wrap in glad wrap or baking paper and refrigerate 1 hour. When the cookie mix is firm, slice into rounds about 1cm wide and place on baking tray. Bake at 180°C untill golden brown – 10-15 mins.

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raw food

Not quite raw chocolate energy balls

September 4, 2013

The only reason they’re not quite raw chocolate balls is because the only coconut I had in the house for rolling them in was lightly toasted! Everything else about them is raw, sugar free and gluten free and continues the better-health path I am currently on. These are easy to make and I used the leftover almond pulp from the previous recipe when I made almond milk.

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INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole natural almonds soaked in 1 cup of water for several hours (or use left over almond pulp from making almond milk)
1 cup pitted dates soaked in warm water for 15mins (use medjool dates if your budget allows)
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup dessicated coconut or coconut chips
2 tbsp raw honey or organic maple syrup
1/3 cup of goji berries/cocoa nib mix (optional)

METHOD
Drain the water from the almonds and the dates then add all ingredients in a food process until thick and smooth. If the mix seems too dry then just add a little water to get the right consistency 9similar to very thick icing). Scrape the food processor contents into a bowl and place in the fridge for an hour. Roll into balls and roll in the extra dessicated coconut. Freeze or refrigerate. These make a great, healthy, chocolate snack when you need an energy boost.

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beverages breakfast

Raw cacao-banana smoothie with almond milk

September 2, 2013

Smoothies are oh so popular at the moment with a positive trend towards a more raw, therefore healthy diet. For me personally I do my best to eat unprocessed foods and my love for cooking from scratch certainly helps with that. Since my experience with invasive breast cancer two years ago I have changed my lifestyle considerably and a large part of that is diet.

A fresh juice or smoothie is a great way to start the day. Raw cacao powder is now readily available at health stores and has great nutritional value plus gives you a distinct chocolate flavour. This is not a smoothie that I’d have every day but once or twice a week is perfect, even leave it to mid afternoon when your energy is a bit flat – it’s a nice pick-me-up.

A little bit of thought has to go into preparing healthy food to ensure you have fresh ingredients on hand and items like almonds need to be soaked in water for 8 hours prior to making almond milk. See how to make almond milk below.

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RECIPE
Two ripe bananas
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 cup almond milk or organic coconut milk
1 tbsp raw honey or organic maple syrup

Blend all the ingredients, add some goji berries and cocoa nibs if your wish.

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ALMOND MILK INSTRUCTIONS
1 cup raw, natural, organic almonds
2 cups water

Soak the nuts in the water for 8 hours. Drain the water off and add another 2-3 cups of fresh water (I like 2.5 cups but adjust to your taste liking). Blend until nice and creamy. Strain into a large jar using a nut milk bag (these are available at health shops or I purchased mine from Little Bird Organics in Auckland). You could use a sieve if you have a really fine one but the bag works a treat and you can squeeze it out.

You are now left with almond milk and a nice almond meal by product that you can freeze and use as a base for tarts etc. Easy peasy!

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breakfast

Home made organic granola

August 31, 2013

This home made granola is easy, smells amazing when roasting and tastes great. Store it in a sealed container for several weeks. Serve with lashings of greek yoghurt and fresh or stewed fruit. This is also another recipe inspired by The Green Kitchen.

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INGREDIENTS
2 cups organic jumbo rolled oats
1 1/2 cups of roughly chopped nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil or a mixture)
1 cup coconut chips
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardomom powder
1/2 cup honey (runny or melted)
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup of goji berry/cocoa nib mix (optional, get this from your health store)
12 pansy flowers, petals only (optional)

Organic ingredients preferred but not essential

METHOD
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Mix the oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, coconut, honey and coconut oil together in a large bowl. Don’t be afraid to get your hands into it to mix it well! Lay out on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Toast in the oven for 15-20 mins, keep checking it and stirring it so that it roasts evenly and doesn’t set off the smoke alarms. When golden and crispy, remove from the oven and cool.

Place your pansy petals (if you are using them) in the oven for a few moments to dry – don’t burn them.

When the granola is cool place it in a large bowl and mix it with your hands to break it all up. Add the goji berry mix and the dried pansy petals and any other ingredients you like such as dried apricots, cranberries etc. Place in sealed jars.

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baking

Marshmallow cookie mini-cakes

August 29, 2013

These were so much fun to make, I had a lovely assistant – Georgia age 17yrs and to be fair we got into a right sticky mess but it was well worth the effort! These are hugely decadent but oh so awesome. Originally I saw them here on Gourmet Traveller and Knew I had to make them. I changed the marshmallow recipe to one that I always used as a child, baking at home.

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BROWN SUGAR BISCUITS
180g softened butter
170g brown sugar
Scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean
2 eggs
220g each plain flour and wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

For brown sugar biscuits, preheat oven to 180C. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla seeds in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes), then scrape down sides of bowl, add eggs and beat to combine. Sieve in flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt, and mix to combine. Divide dough in half, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick, then place on baking trays lined with baking paper and refrigerate until firm (30 minutes). Cut out 7cm rounds with a cookie cutter and place on baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake until dark golden (8-10 minutes), then cool completely.

MARSHMALLOW
1 cup cold water
1 tbsp gelatin powder
1 cup sugar
1 egg white
1 cup icing sugar

Place the cold water in a saucepan and sprinkle over the gelatin powder. Add sugar then bring to the boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil gently for eight minutes, then remove from the heat to cool a little. Place the egg white in a clean bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Beat in the icing sugar, and then slowly add the warm gelatin mixture. Continue beating until marshmallow is thick and fluffy. Spread marshmallow into a slice baking tin lined with baking paper. leave to cool.

Cut the marshmallow into segments with a 7cm cookie cutter, these are the filling.

OTHER INGREDIENTS
1 tin of caramel condensed milk
250g dark cooking chocolate
1/2 cup cream

Empty the caramel into a small bowl and beat till nice and smooth – this stuff is divine so try not to eat it all! Put aside.

When you are ready to assemble your cookie cakes melt the chocolate gently in a double boiler or in a metal bowl placed in a pot of simmering water. When melted whisk in the cream

ASSEMBLE
Spread biscuit bases thickly with the caramel, then top half the biscuits with the marshmallow rounds. Sandwich with remaining biscuits and drizzle or spread with the chocolate. Devour!

Note The dulce de leche available in jars and cans from select delicatessens is the perfect thick, spreadable consistency for these biscuits.

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seafood simple meals

Fresh scallop fettuccine

August 2, 2013

Having grown up constantly gathering shellfish from Northland West Coast Toheroa to Waihau Bay mussels, I have developed a lifelong love of New Zealand seafood. I’m not sure whether it has been the gathering aspect or the taste that has fueled this culinary passion more. Scallops are a personal favourite though and I have dived for them many times over the years (not so much in recent years). My fondest memory of the best scallops ever is from a trip to Little Barrier island where the scallops were big, fat and plentiful.

This recipe was originally created by friend and chef, James Broad of Cuisine Concepts. It’s a fantastic recipe, simple and flavoursome. If you love scallops it’s really a must to try this recipe!

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RECIPE
500g cooked fettucine
200g sliced, fried chorizo sausage
200g chopped, fried bacon
12 fresh scallops quickly pan fried
100g baby spinach
50g capers

Combine the chorizo, bacon, scallops, spinach and capers.

Dressing:
50mls lemon juice
50mls olive oil

Shake the lemon juice and olive oil together. Serve the pasta on a large platter. Top with the scallop mixture and then pour over the dressing.
Season and serve.

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