Lemon Ricotta Cake

This recipe is from www.taste.com.au and it's SO super easy because it's basically all done in the food processor!  The ricotta and almond meal give it a delicious texture, while the zing of the lemons is delicious!  I drizzled it with an icing just made of icing sugar and lemon juice - delicious!

Ingredients

250g fresh ricotta
2 eggs, at room temperature
160g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
90g butter, melted
3 lemons, rind finely grated, juiced
225g (1 1/2 cups) self-raising flour, sifted
60g almond meal

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare a 22cm round cake tin or kugelhopf.

Place the ricotta, eggs and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until well combined and the ricotta is smooth. Add the butter, lemon rind and lemon juice, and process to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the self-raising flour and almond meal, and use a spatula to fold in until combined. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

Set aside for 5 minutes, then remove the side of the pan and turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Potato & Leek Soup

Here's a warming winter soup that's simple but so delicious!

Ingredients (serves 4)
olive oil spray
1 large leek, white part only, sliced
1 brown onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
500g potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 cup low-fat milk
1 large kranski sausage, cooked
herbs, to garnish

Method
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat.  Spray with olive oil.  Cook leek, onion and garlic until soft and translucent.

Add potatoes, stock and water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft.

Stir through milk.  Blend with a hand-held blender until smooth.

Stir through chopped sausage and garnish with herbs.  Serve.

Whole Wheat Waffles

I've posted before about my fondness for waffles every once in a while.  I usually do a basic sweet mix, or these tasty savoury ones.  I came across this recipe from the 100 Days of Real Food Blog - they are refined sugar-free, can be dairy-free if you use something like almond milk, and taste amazing!  It's great to have a breakfast treat that you don't have to feel guilty about.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

¼ cup oil (I used coconut oil)
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
Warmed 100% pure maple syrup for serving
Fresh fruit for serving

Instructions

Preheat your waffle iron.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, honey, cinnamon, and baking soda until well combined.

Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together just until the large lumps disappear.

When the waffle iron is hot, dab it with a little butter and then ladle some batter onto the center of the iron. Follow the instructions that came with your waffle maker to know how long it should be cooked (mine takes about 3 – 4 minutes each).

Keep waffles warm until you finish cooking all of them. Top with pure maple syrup and fruit.

Pineapple & Passionfruit Jam

In my resolve to make all of my jams & preserves this year, and not buy any from the shops, things have been going well.  Until a couple of weeks ago, when I realised I had nearly finished my jar of Strawberry, Lime & Vanilla Jam - and I had given away the rest that had been in the pantry!

So I've been on the lookout at shops and markets for some cheap, suitable fruit to make a new batch.  But unfortunately, apricots and strawberries (my two favourite varieties), are not in season and are too expensive to use for jam.

Until I came across some cheap pineapples (on special at Charlie's Fruit Market this week!) - and decided that would do the trick!

This jam is different - it has a real fresh & tropical flavour - but I really like it!  And best of all, it worked out at about $4 for 4 jars full - bargain!

(Note: I used a food processor to get the pineapple very well chopped, but you could just do it by hand to have a chunkier jam).

Ingredients
2 pineapples, skin & core removed, chopped
350g caster sugar
Pulp of 3 passionfruit

Juice of 1 lemon

Ingredients

Place pineapple in a large saucepan with sugar, passionfruit & lemon on medium-high heat.

Heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour, until it's thickened and is quite golden in colour.

Cooking time will depend on your saucepan and stovetop, so keep and eye on it and cook to your liking.

Pour into hot, sterilised jars.

Honey Mustard Chicken

This is one of our family favourites - easy, healthy, delicious, quick & cheap!  Add it to your repertoire!

Thanks to Charlie's for the always fresh & delicious fruit & veg!

Ingredients (serves 6)
olive oil spray
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
600g chicken breast, diced
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
400g sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced

250g green beans, chopped

Method
Spray a large saucepan or wok with oil over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic and ginger, and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.

Add the honey and mustards, and stir well, cooking for about a minute.  Add stock, along with sweet potato and carrot.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add beans and cook for a further 5 minutes, until sauce has thickened and sweet potato is tender.

Serve as is or with brown rice or cous cous.

Apple & Custard Dessert Lasagne

After making a vegetable lasagne last week, my workmates started a discussion about what actually constitutes a lasagne - does it HAVE to contain meat?!  It was most likely an off-hand remark, but one of them set me a challenge to create a sweet, dessert lasagne.  Well, I love a challenge...and this is what I ended up with!  It's actually really delicious and turned out better than I expected!  I probably still prefer the traditional apple crumble & custard, but it's a pretty good alternative.

Ingredients (serves 8)
8 apples, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/4 cup seed mix (I used sunflower seeds and pepitas)
600mL custard (I made mine from custard powder, but you could buy a carton or make from scratch)
4 fresh lasagne sheets
50g butter, melted
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup coconut
extra dates, to sprinkle (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Grease a medium square baking dish.

Combine apples with cinnamon, vanilla and dates in a small saucepan with a splash of water.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 8 minutes, until soft.  Stir through the seed mix.

Make crumble by combining butter, oats, brown sugar, flour and coconut in a small bowl.

Take prepare dish and spread 1/2 of the apple mixture on the bottom.  Top with 2 lasagne sheets, trimming to fit.  Next, layer half of the custard.

Repeat with remaining fruit, then lasagne sheets, then custard.  Sprinkle crumble on top and extra dates.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Roast Vegetable & Pesto Lasagne

This is a low-calorie version of a traditional lasagne - I love using low-fat ricotta instead of bechamel sauce, as it's so easy and delicious!  The pesto adds to the rich flavours of the roast veges (and is even nicer if you make your own!)  Enjoy!

(The veges taste best from Charlie's!)

Ingredients
1/2 small butternut pumpkin, cubed
1 medium sweet potato, cubed
1 zucchini, cubed
1 capsicum, chopped
2 medium betroots, cubed
1 red onion, chopped
olive oil spray
2 tablespoons pesto
375g tub low-fat ricotta
500g jar pasta sauce
4 fresh lasagne sheets
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius, fan-forced.

Place vegetables on a large roasting tray and spray with oil.  Roast for about 30 minutes, until golden and tender.  Mix through the pesto.

Reduce oven to 160 degrees fan-forced.

Take a lasagne dish and put half of the vegetables on the bottom.  Top with half of the pasta sauce, then cover with 2 lasagne sheets.  Spread with half the ricotta.

Repeat with remaining ingredients, then sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until top is golden.  Serve with salad.

Roast Vegetable & Bacon Soup

I'm so excited that it's soup weather again!  Soups are healthy, easy, cheap and so tasty - a firm favourite in our household.  This one (adapted from www.taste.com.au) is not so quick, as the veges roast for a while - but as far as preparation time goes, it's not much at all.  The flavour of the roast veges is just delicious and so is the smokiness of the bacon.  My kids loved this one and I'm sure yours will too!

Ingredients
6 bacon rashers, rind and excess fat trimmed, coarsely chopped
2 red capsicums, halved, deseeded
2 leeks, pale section only, halved lengthways, sliced
700g orange sweet potato, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
olive oil spray
750ml (3 cups) chicken stock
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C.

Place the bacon, capsicums, leeks, sweet potato and garlic in a large roasting pan. Spray with oil.

Bake in preheated oven, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or until the sweet potato is golden and tender. 

Transfer the capsicums to a large plate and cover with plastic wrap. Set the remaining vegetable mixture aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

Peel the capsicums and roughly chop.  Squeeze the flesh from the garlic cloves and add to the veges.

Place the vegetables and stock in a large saucepan and stir.  Bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Use a stick blender to process until smooth.  Season with salt & pepper.

Optional: garnish with extra cooked bacon & fresh parsley.

White Chocolate Mud Cake

My father-in-law turned 80 on the weekend and I was commissioned to do the cake.  He is a farmer, so it was a bit of a John Deere theme - which really suits any age or generation!  I went with a white chocolate mud cake, with the recipe from Exclusively Food - it was divine.  I love white chocolate, so this cake is right down my alley - it was moist and dense but not too heavy - and the flavour was perfect!

The recipe below gives you white chocolate ganache, but I just used buttercream for ease of colouring and decorating.  I used fondant to do the logo on top.  It was a hit and I would definitely make this cake again (it's definitely one just for a special occasion!)

After consuming this cake, please go straight to Charlie's and get some vegetables  to counteract all this butter, sugar & chocolate!

Ingredients
300g white chocolate (I used Cadbury Dream)
200g butter
250ml (1 cup) milk
165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
150g (1 cup) plain flour

Sour Cream and White Chocolate Ganache
200g white chocolate
88g sour cream

Method
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

Grease a 20cm square cake pan and line the base and sides of the pan with baking paper.

Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when chocolate and butter have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth. Allow mixture to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Add vanilla and eggs to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

Stir flours together in a large bowl. Add one cup of chocolate mixture to the flour and stir until a smooth paste forms.

Repeat with another cup of the chocolate mixture.

Add remaining chocolate mixture and stir until mixture is smooth. This gradual method of combining the wet and dry ingredients helps prevent lumps.

Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. When the cake is ready, a fine-bladed knife inserted into the centre of the cake should come out without any batter attached.

Loosely cover cake with greaseproof paper or a clean tea towel and allow it to cool to room temperature in pan.

The cooled cake can be iced with the white chocolate ganache immediately (see directions below), or stored and then iced on the day of serving.

Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. The cake is suitable to freeze iced or uniced.

Sour Cream and White Chocolate Ganache
Melt white chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently. When chocolate has completely melted, remove from heat and quickly stir in sour cream. Use immediately, or if your ganache is quite runny, set it aside at room temperature to thicken slightly before using.