Rawmazing Cake

Raw cheesecakes are divine, quick and easy to whip up and healthy! Well healthier than your regular cheesecake that is. The idea is not new, vegans and rawatarians have been making these babies for years. I can't believe I hadn't attempted to make one sooner. A seriously impressive dessert which won't make you feel sick after indulging in a slice. If you have a food processor you can make this in 10 minutes, bar soaking cashews and allowing for freezer time.

The main ingredient is cashews, packed with good fats, protein, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and copper. I've also used macadamia nuts to make a raw cheesecake but cashews are my preference. My favourite thing about raw cheesecakes is you can't stuff them up, really! Anyone can do this and feel free to experiment with different flavours and bases - think cacao for a rich chocolatey cake or mint and passionfruit. You can play with the base too - at the moment I'm loving buckwheat groats which I'm also throwing in my home made granola.

Raw Berry & Cashew Cake

Crust

1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup buckwheat groats
1 cup soft dates, pitted
1/4 tsp salt
Filling
3 cups raw cashews, soaked for 5 hours or overnight (I often buy cashew pieces as they are cheaper per kilo)
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup raw honey
1 cup frozen berries, thawed

1. Process almonds, groats, dates and salt in a food processor until mixture comes together, but is still crumbly. Press into the base of a 7" spring form pan. Rinse food processor.

2. Warm coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat and whisk to combine. Blend with cashews and lemon juice until smooth (this may take a few minutes depending on how powerful your food processor is).

3. Spoon half cashew mixture into pan and add berries to the leftover mixture and blend. This will make the final berry layer. Smooth over final layer and cover and freeze until set.

To serve, remove from freezer about 10-15 minutes before trying to slice and serve with more berries.

Tell me what flavours you have tried?

Elise

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I Quit "Processed" Sugar!

In April I decided to quit sugar after reading Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar book. I didn't think I ate a lot of sugary foods and I don’t drink soft drink, in fact I have a fairly healthy diet and lifestyle, my reason behind the challenge was part curiosity and part improving my awareness of foods that contain processed sugar. I love baking and chocolate brownies are one of my favourite treats, so by no means am I giving them up, but I’m now experimenting with more raw and natural ingredients.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Sarah Wilson lately which you may have read about. A Sydney nutritionist, Cassie Platt, said quitting sugar is dangerous and our bodies need sugar. Which is absolutely true, but not the highly processed white variety, which if you read Sarah’s book you’ll find that’s the only sugar you quit. Of course people can form their own opinions and you can read more about it here, and I can honestly say I have never tried a fad diet before, but this I felt was more a move towards a healthy, well balanced diet rather than restricting what I eat. If you have any doubts about the dangers of processed sugar please watch this ABC Catalyst report.

I'm very happy to say I made it the whole 8 weeks “processed” sugar free and I feel great! My skin, nails and hair have improved and I feel more energetic and rarely get bloated. I still eat lots of fresh fruit, dried fruit, honey and other natural sources of sugar. But I don’t eat the white stuff. I found a lot of recipes have unnecessary sugar added and the sweetness can often be satisfied with some honey or fruit. I make my own muesli because the store bought variety often has added sugar. I also make my own yoghurt, bread and pasta when I have time. I even make my own dip and crackers. Store bought, packaged food is not only high in processed sugar it often contains other processed ingredients which have no nutritional benefit.

One more note on quitting sugar, fat is good, buying products that are low fat are actually high in sugar, which will make you fat. Next time you’re in the supermarket see how many packets of lollies say “fat free”! You can’t trust packaging. So following Sarah Wilson’s lead swapping a chocolate bar for a few grilled slices of haloumi is a better choice. You don’t have to ignore your cravings or skip afternoon tea – just make an informed choice about what you snack on.

I discovered an amazing raw brownie recipe from one of my favourite blogs – My New Roots, I changed it slightly based on the ingredients I had available and also rolled the mixture into little balls to make servings sizes smaller. It’s so rich you don’t need more than one.

Raw Brownie Balls

2 cups almond meal (I make almond milk once a week so always have plenty of almond meal which I just keep in the freezer until I need it)

2 ½ cups Medjool dates, pitted (if these are nice and fresh you can probably squeeze the pits out)

1 cup raw cacao powder

¼ tsp. sea salt

¼ cup fine flaked coconut

1. Place almond meal, cacao and salt in a food processer and whiz until combined.

2. Add the dates one at a time through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running. This will form a thick paste

3. Roll into small balls and roll in flaked coconut. Eat straight away or keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator

Fair Food Week

It's Australian Fair Food Week, an initiative of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance to support the People's Food Plan. The week aims to raise awareness about fairness across all aspects of the food system and understand our food supply from paddock to plate.

There are events all across Australia during the week giving people the opportunity to talk to chefs, suppliers and farmers about where their food comes from.

Celebrate fair and sustainable produce and educate yourself. Here are my event picks for the week:

Edible Streets Tour of West End Saturday 24th August lead by Dick Coperman of Northey Street City Farm identifying foods, fungi, weeds and other functional plants available in our urban landscape.

Food Connect, a local distributor of seasonal produce, is running a farm tour of two of their suppliers in the Lockyer Valley - raw honey by Phil and Robyn Dunlop and  Rob Bauer and Trude Townson's certified organic farm growing a wide range of vegetables.

Garden Dinner Society, Morningside Starry Night Dinner. This is a fantastic opportunity to eat and share food from a local community garden! Tukka head Chef, Bryant Wells well prepare a fine dining experience for a handful of guests 25th August with produce from the community garden and Tukka's  native Australian plant garden.

Check out the Fair Food website for more community events, films and informative talks. And why not visit your local markets this weekend for your fresh fruit and vegetables.

Whey Bread

I've been making fresh cheese including Feta and Haloumi for some time now but have struggled with a use for all the leftover whey, which seems so wasteful. I've been researching some ideas including making whey ricotta, using it in your hair and feeding it to your pet!

My favourite option is to use it in baking as a substitute for water or milk. This is my go to quick easy bread recipe using leftover whey.

Quick Whey Bread

1 1/2 cups fresh whey (I freeze mine in batches)

2 tsp honey

pinch of rock salt

1 packet dry yeast

2 cups of whole wheat flour

2 cups of plain unbleached white flour

In a mixing bowl combine room temperature whey, honey, yeast and salt.

Add flours cup by cup and stir, no need to sift. Once it becomes hard to stir start kneading on a clean floured surface. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky but be careful not to add too much otherwise the bread will become dense.

After careful kneading for about 5-10 mins, shape and place into an oiled baking dish. I like to sprinkle some flour on top and make some deep cuts with a knife for a rustic look. You could also sprinkle with some poppy or pumpkin seeds. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about 45 mins to 1 hr.

Bake in a moderate oven for 30 mins. Easy!

Upcoming food events

Need and excuse to get out of the house? Eat more? Drink more? Well here it is, a bunch of exciting food celebrations coming up over the next few months providing an excuse for you to indulge a little and enjoy sunny Brisbane and the amazing local producers from Brisbane and surrounds.

Queensland Beer Week Saturday 13th - Sunday 21st July

Experience the new generation of craft beer venues in Queensland and attend a beer master class! Brisbane bars participating include Scratch, Regatta Hotel, Superwhatnot, Kerbside, Kettle and Tin and more. If you want to learn to make your own homebrew, South Bank Tafe is running a one day conference for $89.

Regional Flavours Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st July

South Bank's annual food festival is back and bigger than the last, I've already noticed the herbs popping up in garden beds all over South Bank activating the Parklands with a taste of what's to come. The event is packed full of activities and extends to participating restaurants at River Quay. There will be hundreds of stall holders lining Little Stanley Street, Gourmet Food Trucks, Australia's best chefs showing off their culinary arts and live music.

Real Food Festival Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th September

Sunshine Coast producers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurants will come together for this exciting two day program featuring over 120 stalls, demonstrations and hands on activities. Stock up on some tasty handmade foods and support regional food. Entry is $15

Brisbane Cheese Awards Sunday 8th September

Mmm cheese tastings, that's all I needed to hear! Try the best of Queensland and Australian cheese at the annual Cheese Festival, held at Portside Wharf. There will also be wine, beer and cider tastings, live music and announcement of the award winners. Entry is $10

Good Food & Wine Show Friday 8th - Sunday 10th November

Over 300 producers attend the national GFWS with plenty of free samples of food, wine and coffee available. Be inspired by top chefs in the celebrity theatre or attend a more intimate wine master class at the Riedel Wine Bar. This year's restaurant menu is designed by Maggie Beer and sponsored by Yalumba wines.

Brisbane Vegetarian Food Festival Sunday 10th November

A celebration of good eating - vegetarian, vegan, organic and ethical. Located in the Old Museum building, it's free entry and a great opportunity to speak to growers, suppliers and chefs about ingredients. 10am-4pm

image courtesy of Regional Flavours

Barossa Flavours

Autumn lingered a little longer this year in the Barossa Valley, my wine tasting companion and I arrived at the beginning of June, the foliage creating a picturesque landscape with lashings of orange and red amongst the vines.

This is my second trip to the Barossa, a region with a worldwide reputation for big reds and an abundance of regional produce - a must for foodies and wine lovers. There are close to 750 grape growing families in the Barossa supplying more than 170 wine companies, wine has been a way of life for the region since 1842.

There are many restaurants and smallholders and a farmers markets every Saturday making it very tempting to indulge in food in between wine tastings. Please read on for an overview of my itinerary and I'm sure you'll be salivating for a glass of wine after reading my tasting notes!

With time to kill before checking in to our accommodation we dropped in to Maggie Beer's Farm Shop, owned by prominent SA Chef Maggie Beer. All Maggie's products are available for tasting so we squeezed in plenty of pâté and quince paste before sitting down for a hearty lunch. There is a tasty veggie pâté made from porcini mushrooms and verjuice if you can't bring yourself to eat duck pâté after seeing all the cute plump ducks waddling around the farm as you drive in. Maggie's farm also showcases daily cooking demonstrations and caters to functions and special occasions.

For lunch we tried the Homemade Duck & Porcini Mushroom Terrine with salad greens and Vino Cotto Vinaigrette and Maggie’s Cabernet Sauce and the soup special - Quail & Chesnut. We matched these with Pheasant Farm Home Block Shiraz and Pheasant Farm Viognier Rousanne. It was all delicious and warming. I was particularly impressed with the Vino Cotto as a salad dressing adding the lightest sweet sour flavour to the fresh greens.

Next stop, Turkey Flat to kick off the wine tasting....yes we had wine with lunch but that doesn't really count :). Named after the bush turkeys which previously reigned the area, Turkey Flat had a good selection of wine's on offer. Unfortunately we weren't impressed enough to purchase. I would recommend trying their dry Rosé which would complement a summer BBQ.

Our search for big reds continued to Saltram, which turned out to be a very good choice. We started our tasting with the Mamre Brook range - the Chardonnay scoring top marks from me. We chose to upgrade to a premium tasting of the 2008 No.1 Shiraz, 1859 Barossa Shiraz and the 2010 Molcuta Road Single Vineyard Shiraz. The favourite was by far was the No.1, with a powerful rich palate of cherries and chocolate finish. The tasting fee is refunded when you purchase a bottle and we were lucky enough to also receive their member's discount of 40% after dining in the restaurant. Saltram has an impressive barrel room to admire and is worth a look for keen photographers.

It was time to check in to the Stonewell Cottages on Stonewell Rd where we stayed in the gorgeous Haven Retreat. There are only two cottages and two retreats on the property spread out amongst the vines and lake. It's very private and a pin code is set up so you don't even need to physically "check in" or see anyone the whole stay. On arrival we were greeted by friendly ducks quacking excitedly at the gate. Of course we couldn't resist and fed them the container of stale bread and pellets in our retreat which said "for ducks breakfast!"

The retreat has a cosy fireplace and stunning spa room - ideal for relaxing with a glass of wine. Breakfast provisions were substantial including Barossa Valley Cheese Company Haloumi, Schulz’s double smoked bacon, Fleming & Ware handmade organic muesli, freshly ground coffee from Barossa Coffee Roasters, eggs and homemade bread. Breakfast is the reason I get out of bed in the morning and I was very keen to cook up a feast the following day. We opted to stay in that evening and utilise the full kitchen to cook the fresh Barossa produce we had picked up that day. Who can resist a toasty fireplace and spa bath!

Day 2 after an excellent night sleep and substantial breakfast we set off to Peter Lehmann. Peter and his wife Margaret are renowned in the Barossa and Australia for their wine making legacy and philanthropy efforts to establish arts and regional development in the Barossa.

The gardens at Peter Lehmann cellar door are gorgeous and you can enjoy them with a picnic lunch amongst the roses. The cellar door is equally impressive, the original stone winery beautifully restored. There are two fireplaces and a long wooden bar and private tasting rooms with plenty of artwork to peruse when wandering through the stone archways.

Choosing where to begin the tasting was a hard task with a number of releases and varietals on offer. For white we tried the Masters series Wigan Riesling and Margaret Semillon. The Semillon is named after Peter's wife as it's her favourite varietal and I'm certain she would love this wine as it is very elegant with a citrus bouquet, slightly waxy with a dry and zesty finish.

Of the reds we walked away with a couple bottles of the 2009 8 songs Shiraz from the same series and made from some of the Barossa's oldest vines 100 years plus. The wine is perfectly velvety from maturation in French oak; it's rich but soft at the same time a good food wine but also enjoyable solo.

From Peter Lehmann we travelled only a few 100 meters down the road to Langmeil, a treasure trove of Cab Sav! Langmeil is another top photography spot with historical wine making equipment on display including a vintage basket press.

I was very impressed with their Cabernet Sauvignon of which we tried three, two from 2009, one corked one screw top - both great wines, but the cork noticeably aged in comparison. We also tried the Shiraz, Mataro, Grenache blend; interesting considering the common combination is GSM. Another winner is the 2010 Valley Floor Shiraz, Langmeil's interpretation of pure Barossa Shiraz with open fermentation, basket pressed and matured in American oak for two years.

We left Langmeil very satisfied but with a chunk missing from our budget. On that note we decided to head to Greenock for a pub lunch and avoid spending too much more. At the Greenock Tavern we had a classic lasange and a chicken schnitzel for lunch complimented with the Barossa Brewing Company's (right next door) organic ale. Very satisfying!

I love Adelaide and surrounds, I am no doubt bias considering my partner is a proud South Australian. If you do make the trip, don't skip out on the city centre - there is much to explore including the famous Central Market and hundreds of top restaurants and wine bars. The Barossa is one of the more well-known regions but I'm also a fan of the McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley...all so different it's impossible to choose a favourite. Using Adelaide as your base you can easily hire a car and drive 1-2 hours to any of these fantastic regions and experience some of Australia's best wine!

Cheers
x

Organising your recipes digitally

I'm addicted to cookbooks. I have a bookshelf full of them, I love nothing more than spending a lazy Sunday afternoon flipping through my collection of books and getting inspiration for the week ahead, an upcoming dinner party, or a baked dessert for a special treat.

Some of my favourites include my vintage women's weekly collection from my grandma and Donna Hay - Fast Fresh Simple, a gift from girlfriends, this book has a fantastic 'cheat's chocolate fondant' recipe which is so easy and very indulgent.

I'm also obsessed with organising my recipes online so I can easily search/sort through them when I'm looking for something in particular. This is ideal for days when I'm short of time or have some ingredients that need using up. I used to keep recipes in all different places, bookmarks in shelved books, torn out magazine pages, email, scribbled on a piece of paper, memo's on my mobile phone...

I want them all in one place but it's hard to get a system that really works. Here are a some of my favourite digital websites to keep track of my recipes.

Pinterest, essentially a social networking website is like an online scrapbook, it's great for browsing, getting ideas and keeping recipes you find online.

It's very easy to 'Pin' recipes from other users on Pinterest or from other websites and it's aesthetically pleasing and organised. I like to use it for specific ideas or occasions, for example Christmas Lunch. To which I also added a few ideas for theming and gifts :)

Taste has over 25,000 recipes from Delicious, Good Taste, Food Ideas and Country Style. I like Taste because the recipes are rated and I almost never go wrong with one of the top rated recipes. The website also give you the ability to become a member for free and save your favourite recipes into Cookbooks. Only inconvenience is you can't save recipes from other websites or add your own.

Eat your books works like a search engine for the cookbooks you already own. Basically you create an account and add the cook books you own to your profile. That way you can easily search them when you're looking for something specific. For example you remember making a really tasty brownie recipe but can't remember what book it was in - if you're like me who has dozens, you may find it very annoying to flip through them all until you find the right one. Or on the other hand you have some eggplant but you don't know what to make with it - search eggplant and find all the recipes for eggplant in your cookbooks.

Some blogs are also indexed. A free membership only lets you search 5 books/blogs at a time, but you can remove and add these as often as you like.

I'd love to hear of any websites/programs you use to store your recipes digitally? One day I intend on creating my own website to store recipes how I want them! I'll keep you posted in this one :)