Crustless Macadamia Nut Pie

This pie recipe has got to be the easiest I've ever made!! There's no crust (so it's gluten free, and even grain free), and the actual making of it takes a couple of minutes at the most! (Plus cooking time, of course.) The original recipe was for a pecan pie, with lots of corn syrup and sugar, which I changed to agave syrup and Rapadura, using a bit less, and adding some sea salt to cut the sweetness a little.

This recipe makes two pies if you use regular pie plates - I made one pecan and one macadamia. (Sorry, don't have a photo of the pecan pie, it got eaten too quickly!) You can make it dairy free by using coconut oil instead of butter - a hint of coconut flavour goes well with macadamias.

1. Cover the bases of two lined pie plates with a single layer of nuts:
- 3 cups of macadamia nuts or pecan nuts (sorry, forgot to weigh them)

2. Place in Thermomix bowl and grind on speed 9 for 15 seconds:
- 150g Rapadura

3. Place remaining ingredients in Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 6 for 20 seconds:
- 350g agave syrup or rice malt syrup
- 6 eggs
- 2 Tbspns butter (or coconut oil)
- 2 tspns vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

4. Pour the syrup mixture over the nuts, dividing between two pans. Bake at 170 degrees C (325 degrees F) for 25 - 30 minutes, or until browned and firm to touch. Cool before slicing - store in fridge.

Viola! Easiest pie ever! Yummy served with cashew cream, or if you can have a bit of dairy, a blob of unsweetened whipped cream.

Cooking for New Year's Day

If you're up for some cooking for New Year's Day, here's a great recipe to try - Breudher (Dutch New Year's Cake)!

I made some today, and it's so delicious I'll probably have to make it again before New Year's Day! The recipe makes 3 loaves/cakes, so I've put one in the freezer, so hopefully it will last there for two more days, and I'll warm it up in the oven for New Year's Day breakfast. I've added some photos to the original post, so I thought I'd let you all know so you can have a look. (Btw, it does have butter in it, a fair bit, but I decided to make it anyway - I really don't think you could substitute anything else that would taste as good!)

Happy Cooking!

Breudher

Menu Plan Monday - 28th December

Hi all - just a quick menu plan this week - I'm a bit late! But I know what happens when I don't plan my menu - we end up with late meals and an unbalanced diet! If you'd like some menu planning help, advice, ideas... go to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Have a great week! :)

[TMX = prepared and/or cooked in my Thermomix]

Monday:

(lunch) Tuna pasta (TMX)

(dinner) Baked chicken, basil & tomatoes on brown rice (TMX)

Tuesday:

(lunch) Spelt tortillas (TMX) with tuna & salad

(dinner) Lentil bolognese (TMX) with spelt spaghetti

Wednesday:

(lunch) Spelt bread rolls (TMX) with salad (& probably tuna, again!)

(dinner) T-bone steak, baked potatoes & salad

Thursday:

(lunch) Vege pasta with gf pasta noodles (TMX)

(dinner) Leek quiche with oat almond crust (TMX) & salad

Baking Breudher for New Year's! Yum!

Friday (New Year's Day):

(breakfast) Breudher!

(lunch) Baked potatoes with toppings (including mushroom sauce - TMX)

(New Year's Dinner!) Homemade lasagne (dairy free) with homemade spelt lasagne noodles (sauces & pasta made in TMX), spelt garlic bread (TMX), greek salad, chocolate sorbet

Saturday:

(lunch) leftovers (I hope!)

(dinner) Tuna mornay (df TMX) on brown rice (TMX)

Sunday:

(lunch) Roast chicken & veges

(dinner) Spelt rolls and leftovers

Holiday Cooking

I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas break - isn't it nice to have some time off! I didn't get around to taking photos of everything I made at Christmas, but here's a few photos from our holiday cooking... using my Thermomix, of course! If you want the recipe for any of these, let me know. They are all dairy-free and naturally sweetened.

Happy holidays!

Raw Dairy-Free Berry Cheesecake

Chicken & Potato Salad with Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing

(from the Thermomix Festive Cookbook - the dressing is amazing!

Kiwi Fruit, Lime and Mint Sorbet
(So refreshing!)

Sabayon with Poached Meringue and Pistachios
(Very rich - take my advice and don't eat it late at night - you won't be able to sleep!)



Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cranberry & Pistachio Stuffing

(Steamed in Varoma with sauce cooking in bowl, sliced potato steaming in small basket in bowl, and broccoli on top - delicious!)


Mini Steamed Puddings
(Steamed in Varoma - a bit rich for me!)

Crustless Macadamia Pie
(Delicious and very quick! Also made a Pecan version, which we liked best - no photo, must have eaten it too quickly!)

Holiday Jelly Salad

(A family favourite - homemade jelly made with cranberries, green apple, orange segments & juice, pineapple pieces & juice, pecans/walnuts, celery, honey & gelatin.)

Christmas Wreath Bread

(Homemade spelt & seed bread braided into a wreath shape - made these for gifts.)

Leftover Roast Meat Pie

Hi everyone - I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was pretty quiet and relaxed - which was nice for a change, I guess. Boxing day was even more relaxed - plenty of leftovers to eat, nothing much to do except take the kids for a swim at the lake and sit around reading books and having naps... ah, dolce far niente!* 

This pie is a great way to use up leftover roast, gravy and vegies. This one was made with roast beef and veges, but you can use lamb, chicken, turkey - even ham with a white sauce instead of gravy. When I cook a roast I always use the pan juices to make lots of gravy, so I have plenty for pies the next day.

I've used lard in my pastry to keep it dairy free (I'd rather lard than any man-made 'plastic' butter substitutes!), but you can use butter if you'd rather, or a mixture of butter and lard. The lard makes the pastry very stretchy and easy to work with - you can pick up the rolled out dough and it won't break! It's very easy to make in the Thermomix, but if you don't feel like bothering with pastry, (or you are gluten free), you can make mashed potatoes or rice and serve the filling over that.

This recipe makes two pies in standard sized pie dishes - you can halve it if you only have a little bit of leftover roast and vegies.

[Note: if you're unsure about lard, check out this website to find out why it's better than margarine.]

First, make the pastry:

1. Grind on speed 9 for 1 minute:
- 200g spelt grain

2. Add and mix on speed 6 for about 10 secs:
- 300g unbleached plain spelt flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 200g chilled lard (and/or butter), chopped in pieces
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

3. Add and knead on interval speed for 10-20 seconds until dough is formed:
- 100g chilled water (unless using all lard, then it's not necessary to chill the water)
- a good squeeze fresh lemon juice
(may need more water or flour, until dough is right consistency for rolling out)

4. If using butter, wrap in plastic bag and place in fridge to chill while you cook the filling. If using lard, no need to chill the dough, unless you won't be using it straight away - it will be easier to work with at room temperature.

The Filling:

5. Clean out bowl and chop garlic on speed 7 for 3 seconds:
- 1 clove garlic

6. Add and chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds:
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 carrot, quartered
- 1 stick of celery, quartered
(can add more vegies if you don't have many leftovers)

7. Add oil and cook for 3 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 30g olive oil

8. Add, and chop on speed 3 for 10 seconds:
- 150g whole mushrooms, raw (opt.)

9. Cook for 2 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1.
Add about 1 kg leftover roast meat (cubed) and leftover cooked vegies (roughly chopped) and any leftover gravy. (I sometimes add a bit of leftover mashed potato or rice too.)


10. Top bowl up with water, to the 2 litre mark. Add:
- 2 Tblspns cornflour/rice flour/spelt flour
- 1 Tblspn vege stock concentrate or stock powder (or to taste)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Cook for 10 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.
(Add more cornflour if needed to thicken.)

11. While cooking, divide dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured bread mat, making a large circle about 5 mm thick. Pick up with the rolling pin (see picture) and drape over pie dish. Repeat with other half of dough. Press into dish, then when filling is cooked, place half the filling inside each crust and flop the sides over the filling to make a free form pie. (Alternatively, you can divide dough into four pieces and roll them out to make a base and top for each pie.)


12. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes in moderate oven (180 C) or until pastry is lightly browned. Set aside to cool for a few minutes before slicing. Pies may be frozen once cooled, and reheated in the oven.

* P.S. 'Dolce far niente' means 'sweet doing nothing' in Italian - it's the name of a painting I love!

Menu Plan Monday - Christmas 2009

Well the big day is nearly here! It's been flat out around here, but I finally have a week at home to get some cooking done... Hopefully I'll get a bit done every day, so there won't be heaps to do on Christmas day, and I can relax and enjoy it. I love to bake for gifts for friends and neighbours, so that's what I'll be doing a lot of this week.

On Christmas day we open our presents and Christmas stockings in the morning early (earlier this year, as Daddy has to work), then sit around building legos, doing puzzles, playing games, etc, have a lazy lunch, then in the late afternoon the family gets together for a big Christmas dinner - more presents, lots of noise and fun, usually some water fights, lots of photos, all helping to get dinner ready, lots of talking and laughing and reminiscing... my favourite part of Christmas! This year will be a bit smaller though, as my big sister and her family have moved away (I miss you, Joye!!), and my little sister and her family will be away on a family holiday, and my little brother and his wife have a new bub so will be staying in Brisbane for Christmas. Never mind, I'm sure my kids will be able to make enough noise for everyone! :D

I'm going to help the kids do a Nativity play for the family this year. I want them to remember what's really important in life - not getting presents, and tinsel and glitter and parties - that's nice, but it doesn't last. The most important thing is the love God has for us - so much that He sent His Son as the perfect gift, so that we could know Him personally...

A little child,

a shining star,

a stable rude,

the door ajar.

Yet in that place

so crude, forlorn,

the Hope of all

the world was born.

- Anon -

... And also the love we should have for each other - not just at this time of year, but all year long! True happiness comes not in getting, but in giving!

The means to gain happiness

is to throw out from oneself,

like a spider,

in all directions,

an adhesive web of love,

and to catch in it

all that comes.

- Leo Tolstoy -

May your Christmas be full of peace, joy and love!

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[TMX = prepared and/or cooked in my Thermomix]

Monday:

(lunch) Sandwiches & chocolate frappes

(TMX - made on rice-almond milk)

(dinner) Beef & vege pie

(made with leftover roast beef & veges, with spelt df crust - TMX)

Christmas cooking:

Jelly salad (TMX); mini steamed Christmas puddings (TMX)

Tuesday:

(lunch) Tuna & potato salad with sun-dried tomato dressing (TMX), jelly salad

(Mama Bel & kids over for lunch!)

(dinner) Baked chicken with spanish rice & salad

Christmas cooking:

Almond star cookies (TMX - with all the kids), pretzels (TMX)

Wednesday:

(lunch) Pasta salad (TMX)

(dinner) Beef ribs (crockpot) with salad & veges

Christmas cooking:

Crustless pecan pie (TMX); Fruity apple-mince tarts (TMX)

Thursday:

(lunch) Raw pasta sauce on brown rice pasta

(dinner) Pizza with raw topping - advocado & salad

Christmas cooking:

Christmas wreath bread (TMX); hazelnut kisses if I have time! (TMX); Sausage & egg bake (TMX) - in fridge for Christmas morning

Friday - CHRISTMAS!!

We'll be up early (to open presents before Daddy leaves for work!), so we'll need a substantial breakfast...
(breakfast) Sausage & egg bake

(lunch) a light lunch - leftovers & salad

Christmas cooking - making our Christmas wreath bread (TMX)

(dinner) Christmas dinner with Grandma & Grandpa! Here's the menu:

Berry & Lime sorbets

Grandma's delicious Roast Turkey

with cranberry sauce & gravy

Grandma's jelly salad

Roast veges

Christmas wreath bread (TMX)

Crustless pecan pie

Dairy-free berry cheesecake (from freezer)

Any other sweets that may be leftover from this week's baking & Christmas stockings & gifts!

Cafe lattes to finish off!

(TMX - I make mine with cashew milk - nice and creamy!)

Saturday:

(lunch) leftovers & beetroot salad

(dinner) Tuna la king on brown rice

Sunday:

(lunch) Fried rice with leftover brown rice & veges

(dinner) Spelt bread rolls & salad

Double Chocolate-Ginger Cookies

For those of you who like chocolate and ginger together, here's a double whammy of both! These are great with a glass of cold almond milk... and if there's any left, you could always wrap some up in cellophane with a pretty ribbon, and give them to your neighbours for Christmas :)

(They'll love you forever!)

If you use Rapadura in these, they need either an egg, or an extra 20g of rice-malt syrup. If you use rice-malt syrup, the egg can be omitted. I like it best with the Rapadura and egg.

1. First, take about this much fresh ginger (1 1/2 to 2 inches, depending how strong you want it) ...

... peel it, chuck it in the Thermomix, and grind it up for about 10 seconds on speed 9.

2. Add dates and grind for 15 seconds, speed 9:
- 70g dates

3. Add wet ingredients and mix for 30 seconds, speed 5:
- 70g molasses
- 70g Rapadura OR rice malt syrup
- 1 egg (optional if using rice malt syrup)
- 75g coconut oil
- 40g olive oil (or other oil, such as macadamia oil)

4. Add dry ingredients and mix for another 30 seconds, speed 5, using spatula to help mix:
- 230g unbleached plain spelt flour (or part wholemeal spelt flour)
- 1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 20g cocoa (preferably good quality, fair trade)
- 1 tsp bicarb soda (baking soda)

5. Add choc chips and barely mix in, 10 seconds, reverse, speed 3:
- 100g Rapadura sweetened chocolate chips (or chocolate chopped in small chunks)



6. Drop heaped teaspoonfuls onto lined trays and bake in moderate oven (180 degrees) for about 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on trays, store in airtight container (in the freezer if you want them to last!) :)

Merry Christmas! A bit of fun...

I know this has nothing to do with cooking, but we thought it was so funny, and the kids wanted me to put it on my blog . . . so here it is! Enjoy! (And Merry Christmas!)

P.S. In our house, the 'shopping, shopping, shopping...' bit should be replaced with 'cooking, cooking, cooking...' So much to cook, so little time! :)

Raw Dairy Free Cheesecake

I've always found it very difficult to resist cheesecake, especially a good, homemade one, covered in cherries or berries (and chocolate)! And in our family, cheesecake is always popular at Christmas... thank goodness for a dairy free cheesecake - I can still avoid dairy, and not feel deprived :) Whip this one up in about fifteen minutes, pop it in the freezer, and you've got a fancy dessert ready for Christmas day! This recipe makes two cheesecakes in regular sized pie pans. (I made one for my dh's birthday the other day, and the other's in the freezer ready for Christmas.)

Note: If you want a quicker version of the crust because you don't have any Sprouted Buckwheat Granola already made up, just grind up 400g raw almonds and 400g raw dates until they are all mushed together, and press into pie plate - instant crust!

This recipe is based on one in Serene Allison's "Rejuvenate Your Life" cookbook (changed to suit my taste) - hope you like it! 

(I use my Thermomix for this recipe - if you don't have a Thermomix you can use a good quality food processor, but it may take a little longer to grind and mix.)

Granola Crumb Crust:

1. Place dates in Thermomix bowl and grind on speed 9 until mushy, about 20 seconds:
- 400g pitted dates

2. Add, and crush using bursts of turbo speed until desired consistency (about 6 bursts):
- 280g Raw Sprouted Buckwheat Granola
- 170g raw almonds
- 30g extra virgin coconut oil (or other mild-tasting, extra virgin oil)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt

3. Line two pie pans with baking paper, divide crumb mixture into pans and press firmly onto bottom and sides with greased hands. (See photo)




Berry Cheesecake Filling:

1. Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 9 for about 2 minutes, using spatula to help move mixture around, until it's smooth and creamy:
- 130g freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 250g raw pine nuts
- 250g raw almonds
- 130g raw sunflower seeds
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 300g frozen or fresh mixed berries (or strawberries/pitted cherries, etc)
- 170g agave syrup or pure maple syrup (or to taste)
- 2 tsp psylliam powder (opt.)

2. Divide filling between two crusts, and place in freezer while you make the topping.

Berry Crumble Topping

1. Make a batch of Berry Nougat and sprinkle it over the cheesecakes. Drizzle with chocolate if you like - you can make your own raw chocolate with this recipe if you use agave syrup for the sweetener - I use! Rapadura, so it's 'almost raw'! :)

2. Cover cheesecakes and freeze. Thaw for about 20 minutes before slicing.

DELICIOUS!!