Paleo and Clean Eating Challenge... Mexican Mince in Cabbage Leaves

I love a challenge in the kitchen, but sometimes find it hard to think of new things that I would like to have a go at cooking. I’ve just gone live with my Facebook page and a friend suggested to me that I allow people to send through a request on something, either a certain food or meal, or cuisine, they would like to me see me come up with a recipe for. GREAT IDEA I said, you can be first!!!

 

A healthy lifestyle is very important to her so she asked if I would be able to make a meal that was both Paleo, and considered clean eating. What a task!! Have you ever seen the do not eat list for Paleo? You can check it out here. We eat a considerable amount of it, in particular beans and legumes, a staple food in a lot of my vegan meals!! We don’t eat a huge amount of sugar so that was easy, but I do love nothing more than freshly baked bread out of the over, so that was definitely out too! I wanted to make something that was filling, but that adhered to the allowable food on Paleo (which actually is A LOT, avoid beans and legumes, wheat and grains, sugar and starchy vegetables like potato and I think your headed in the right direction) and also make a dish that was clean, which as far as I understand, means whole foods like meat and vegetables and keeping the food as close to its original form as possible. I hope I achieved both please let me know if you have any tips for me or you think I haven’t got it quite right! Surprisingly a lot of the food we cook at home is actually Paleao and a lot of it is also Clean (I probably tend to use my homemade shortcrust pastry just a wee bit too often haha)

I made a main and a dessert, just to show that delicious tasty treats don’t have to be packed full of sugar and can fit under the “Clean” and “Paleo” headings! The main was stuffed full of vegies and also tasted delish!!

 

Please enjoy

Mexican Mince in Cabbage Leaves

(perhaps it needs a new name… doesn’t sound exceptionally appetising hahaha)

Ingredients

1kg Mince (I used beef, but any mince will be nice!)
2 grated carrots
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic squished, or very finely chopped
Big bag full of baby spinach
50g of pinenuts
1-2 chillis chopped and de-seeded (de-seeding is optional depending on your desire for heat)
½ cup chopped coriander
1 large red capsicum chopped
1 tin tomatoes
2 tablespoons each of cumin and smoked paprika
1-2 teaspoon of sea salt
1 whole baby cabbage

 

Method

Pop a bit of oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once heated put in your garlic and onion until soft then put in mince and brown.

While mince is browning chop up the capsicum and grate the carrot. Add to the mince along with the chilli, baby spinach, pinenuts, coriander and tin tomatoes.

Add your spices, and salt.

Reduce heat to low, give everything a good stir and let simmer, stiring, and tasting occasionaly for around 30 minutes or most of the liquid has evaporated. Add more spices and salt as needed.

While the mince is cooking pop your whole baby cabbage in a steamer over a pot of water on medium-high heat. Remove from heat once the cabbage starts to feel “soft”.

Remove cabbage from steamer and very very gently peel back the leaves. You will need to cut them at the base to remove from the cabbage.

Put some cooked mince mixture into a leaf then roll like you would a burrito! Fold the top and the bottom over then one side over, then the other side, pulling gently but tightly. Once you have done all your cabbage rolls, sit them back in the steamer over medium heat for 5 minutes. This will help the cabbage to seal.

I tried both red and green cabbage… while the green cabbage went a bit transparent it stuck together much better than the red. Both tasted nice!

If you would like to challenge me to cook something, whether it be a type of food or a particular item of food, leave a comment below or email me at yearofcooking@outlook.com.au 

 

Happy Cooking (from scratch!)
Erica xx

Homemade Easy Peasy Onion Rings!

How good are onion rings?!! Damn good. Delicious crunchy batter, sweet tasty insides, they are the perfect accompaniment to almost any meal! Not the healthiest, as they are fried, but cook them in olive or coconut oil for a better oil choice!

We had ours with our steak tonight!

Fried Onion Rings

Ingredients

3 large brown onions

1/2 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup milk

cooking oil for deep frying (I prefer coconut or olive oil)

Method

Serves around 6 people (or 1-2 very hungry onion ring loving people haha)

Wash and peel onions, cut into 1/2 cm thick rounds. 

Separate rounds into rings. 

In a bowl, combine flour, seasonings, and baking powder. 

In a measuring cup, whisk together egg and milk.

 Add milk mixture to dry ingredients, blending well. 

Dip onion rings into batter, then place into oil, one at a time at about 185 degrees celcius. (To test your oil, drop a small piece of bread into the oil, it should brown quickly, rather than sink and go soggy!)

Fry until golden brown, turning to brown both sides. 

Remove to paper towels or brown paper bag to drain thoroughly. 

Sprinkle with a little salt before serving.

Keep your rings warm, and to help them stay crunchy, in a warm oven (around 150 degrees) while you cook the rest!

Happy Cooking (from Scratch!)

Erica xx

I love bacon... but I also love pigs.

It's bacon week! I LOVE bacon! It's definitely one of the number of reasons I could never be completely vegetarian. The delicious salty flavour enhances so many different dishes, its delicious on it's own or in a sandwich, with eggs... we all KNOW it's awesome.

However I also love pigs... they are super cute, super smart and unfortunately exceptionally mistreated.

Did you know sow stall pigs can spend their whole lives cramped in a tiny space, unable to turn around? I'm not here to guilt you, but the decisions we make at the butcher and the supermarket can definitely help to move the meat industry forward into a far more humane way of farming.

I was in the supermarket the other day to purchase some bacon for our caesar salad we had last night. The first supermarket I was in (I visited two as the first one did not have free range), have made a lot of noise recently about making the decision for their own branded pork to be "sow stall free". While this is a step in the right direction, it still means the life of the pig up until it becomes your dinner, isn't exactly pleasant.

This is what the RSPCA website says about Sow Stall Free Pigs:

"The term 'sow-stall free' is used to differentiate pork product from pigs that have been born to sows in group housing. The pig industry defines 'sow-stall free' as a system where a sow may have been kept in a stall for up to 5 days following last mating up to one week before farrowing; however, other definitions allow only one day in a stall. These stalls are called 'mating stalls', are very similar to a sow stall, and are used at mating to prevent aggression between sows and hence potential injury or abortion. Following this period of confinement, the sow is housed in groups with other pregnant sows."

What this doesn't mention is that the mother pig is kept in this stall, for 6 weeks whilst feeding her piglets, twice a year. The piglets, when weaned from their mothers, are then kept in small indoor pens, on concrete floors, in a shed until they reach the right weight for slaughter.

Here's a tricky one... what is the difference between Bred Free Range and Free Range?? This got me, while I was standing staring at the bacon for a considerable length of time. In the past I know that I have grabbed Bred Free Range, in fact the brand of bacon that I always buy has those words on it! So what's the difference?

"‘Bred free range’ is a term used to apply to pig products (pork, bacon, etc) from pigs that were born in a free-range environment but were subsequently raised indoors. These pigs may be raised in large open sheds with straw bedding (known as ecoshelters) or in small pens on concrete floors as in conventional pig farming systems.

The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme requires that pork marketed as RSPCA ‘bred free-range’ comes from farms where sows and boars range freely outside, piglets are born outside on the range and, once weaned, are raised in ecoshelters with straw bedding."

So it's defiantly a better life than living in a stall for the mumma and pappa pigs, Not so great still for the bacon, I mean piglets!!

"Free-range pork comes from pigs that were born and raised with free access to the outdoors. That is, where the sows and growing piglets have access to paddocks, as well as huts or other forms of housing for shelter, and are not confined to sow stalls (for pregnant sows) or farrowing crates (for lactating sows and their piglets).

The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme requires that pigs live in a well-managed outdoor system, or within enhanced indoor environments that cater for all their behavioural and physiological needs, or a combination of both (referred to as 'bred free range'). You would not see sow stalls or farrowing crates on an RSPCA Approved pig farm. All pigs are reared, handled and transported with consideration and care and then slaughtered humanely."

Free Range life sounds alright to me! Surely a happier more carefree existence means nicer tasting meat? Ever had bacon from a family farmed pig? Its delicious. Way more delicious than normal. Incredible.

I know there is a cost factor... anything Free Range is going to cost more than something pumped out in factory like conditions, but you have to consider that these pigs give their life so you can eat that scrumptious bacon sandwich.

The more people choose the free range options at the register, the bigger the message it sends to the farmers that we won't accept second best, and that we want to see Farm Animals treated with respect!

Let's celebrate Bacon Week, with delicious Free Range Bacon. The pigs, and your taste buds will thank you for it!

Happy Cooking (from Scratch!)

Erica xx

For further reading check out the RSPCA website and Humane Choice

Easy Lunchbox Savoury Muffins

I've been exceptionally hungry of late, I am always hungry but this was on top of my usual appetite. I am currently doing the Global Corporate Challenge and have to do in excess of 10,000 steps each day so that's what I am putting the excessive hunger down to! While I was scrounging around like a mad woman looking for something delicious to curb the hunger pangs before dinner (and so I didn't eat everything before I had a chance to cook it) I realised that I hadn't whipped up any filling snacks in a loooooooong time!! Poor Simon!!! So while I munched on some dates, and cooked tea I had a think about what I could make that would be good to take to work, as well as an after work quick snack that wasn't full of sugar... then my a hah moment... Savoury Muffins!!!

This is a really great standard recipe that I modify each time with something different to mix it up. It's very yummy, full of vegies and depending on the ingredients can be a guilt free snack between meals.

Easy Lunchbox Savoury Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 small zucchini, grated

1 small carrot, grated

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

125 g butter, melted

optional: Mild Salami, Cup of Cheese (tasty or Fetta, grated or chopped up very small), tomato, baby spinach, ham, bacon... anything you can think of really!!

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 12-hole muffin pan. For extra protection line base of each hole with rounds of baking paper.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Place zucchini and carrot in a large sheet of paper towel. Squeeze out excess moisture. Add vegetables, and optional ingredients. If using grated cheese only use half. 

Stir to combine.

Whisk eggs, milk and butter in a jug. Add to dry ingredients. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined. 

Two-thirds fill muffin holes with mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

 Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand for 5 minutes in pan. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

I used Salami and Fetta in my Muffins. I also poked a cherry tomato into each of mine for an extra bit of flavour and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top!

Just you try and stop yourself from eating them all at once! They are delicious!!!

Happy Cooking (from scratch!)

Erica xx

Marco Pierre White's Carbonara

We LOVE Masterchef. I cannot state that more plainly but we just love it. We've watched all the seasons, the American Version, and the Kids Version (both Aus and US). It totally inspires both of us in the kitchen (well it inspires Simon to tell me what he wants me to make in the kitchen haha)! It's not actually until this year though that I have been brave enough to try out some of the recipes that the contestants, guest chefs and hosts cook! Stay tuned for more Masterchef inspired recipes (Quinoa Risotto anyone???)

Carbonara is delicious and definitely a family favourite, especially in this house! This one is especially easy and absolutely ridicuosly delicious! Some say you never use cream in a carbonara, but personally I have found it just doesn't have that same level of creaminess (funnily enough!!).

Marco Pierre White's Carbonara

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 slices pancetta

500 g pasta 

(packet is fine, but nothing beats making your own pasta! It takes some time but you will not go back to packet after making it!)

8 egg yolks

½ cup thickened cream

grated parmesan cheese, for serving

salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Lay pancetta on a baking tray and place in the oven to bake until crispy, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to a board and cut into 2cm pieces. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil over high heat, using a deep frying pan as a lid. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente or to your liking.

While the pasta is cooking, whisk egg yolks and cream together with a fork.

Action shots haha!

The easiest way, I personally find, to seperate eggs is to crack the egg in half, then with a bowl underneath, tip the half with the yolk back into the half without the yolk. Go back and forth tipping it back into the empty half untill all the white has slipped into the bowl. Be gentle and take your time, the white may pull at the yolk as it is slipping off so dont be afraid to give it a little push with your finger. Broke the yolk? Try again :)
Save the white for other recipes like scrambled eggs. It can be frozen!

Drain cooked pasta and add to the warmed fry pan and set over medium heat. Add egg/cream mixture and toss to combine.

Sprinkle serving plates with grated parmesan cheese and cooked pancetta. Add some cooked spaghetti. Complete layering until all pasta and pancetta have been used. Season to taste.

This step is really important because it means you get a taste of all the flavours with every mouthful!

Season with a sprinkling of salt if you so desire, a nice crusty roll and a glass of wine! Perfect Friday Meal!!

What inspires you in the kitchen? I would love to know! :)

Happy cooking (from scratch!)

Erica xx

Super Simple Pasta Recipe

We bought a pasta machine about 18 months ago. In the first year we used it once. Ok so it broke and we had to get a new one, but it sat on the bench, in the box, broken for many many months so obviously we were going out of our minds wanting to use it... not.

Deciding to start cooking from scratch in January I realised this meant cooking pasta, a staple food in our house so I quick smart headed down to Harris Scarfe to exchange our pasta machine for one in working order! We have a Woman's Weekly pasta machine which cost us around $40 on special.

Image from harrisscarfe.com.au

Simon has nominated himself as the chief pasta maker in this house, which suits me fine as he is able to make it as soon as he gets home from work and sit it in the fridge to rest, then when I get home it gives me a chance to work on the sauce, and cook any meat we are using.

Once you go homemade pasta, you will never go back. The only thing that comes close at the supermarket is if you get egg pasta from the pasta section in the fridge, but even then it doesn't have the same freshness as homemade.

I do recommend investing in a pasta machine if you want to start making it. It will make your life infinitely easier than rolling out all the dough and hand cutting. Even if you do need lasagna sheets or handcut pasta, using the machine to roll will save you time and a lot of effort. Some bench mixers come with a pasta attachment, so if you have one check it out before rushing out to buy.

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 eggs

200grams Plain White Flour

(yep thats it.)

Method

Put your flour into a bowl, or mound onto your bench. Make a well in the flour (a hole) and break in one egg at a time. 

Mix with a fork.

Once combined, knead the dough until it is smooth on a floured bench. The dough should "bounce back" when you push on it lightly.

If you find your mixture is too wet, add SMALL amounts of flour and mix in. If your dough is too dry add teenie little drops of water and mix until all the flour is incorporated.

Mould your kneaded dough into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Set your pasta machine up on the side of your bench (follow the instructions that come with your particular machine). 

Get your dough out of the fridge and flour it slightly if it is a bit sticky. Halve your dough and feed one section at a time through the roller starting at the widest setting (ours is 1.) Fold the rolled dough in thirds then feed through again. Repeat this 3 or four times before moving onto setting 2. Gradually move up the settings, feeding the dough through a few times on each setting. If your dough starts getting a bit sticky lightly flour it and also sprinkle some on the roller on your machine.

Your dough will start getting quite long, depending on the length you want your pasta, or your ability to roll through a huge long piece of dough simply cut in half.

Repeat with your other half of dough until you have long super flat sheets of pasta.

On the other side of your machine is the cutters. Feed your dough through, just as you did on the roller side in either the fettuccine or spaghetti section (if your machine has these options) You can generally change the width and thickness of the pasta in the cutting sections as well. 

I always jump in to help Simon at this stage, an extra pair of hands is much appreciated!

Drape your cut pasta over the back of a chair or as you can see we like to use a clothes horse haha!!

Your pasta is ready to be cooked!! It won't take as long to cook as packet pasta so make sure you pull a piece out of your water and sample mid cook to see when it is done to your liking!

Serve with your favourite homemade pasta sauce!

A simple one is a can of tinned tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, tablespoon of dried oregano, few sprigs of rosemary de-stalked a really good pinch of salt and a splash of red wine (in your pot and your glass!) Cooked over medium heat until it reduces slightly and the alcohol cooks off.

Happy Cooking (from scratch!)

Erica xx

Beef Fajitas

I am not claiming to be an expert on Mexican food. Just a lover of it. The spices the absolute deliciousness of it, the spices the freshness, did I mention the spices? I just LOVE it! It's a massive toss up between Thai and Mexican to my favourite cuisine at the moment!

This is my recipe for Beef Fajitas! It's a bit of a favourite in our household, and its a quick and easy dish to throw together, especially if you premake your tortillas! The smokey flavour from the paprika, matched with the sweetness from the capsicum and onion is delicious!

Beef Fajitas

Ingredients

Serves 2-3 (we only eat a maximum of 150g of red meat per serve so this leaves leftovers for us. Obviously some of you will eat more than that)

500 grams of Rump Steak (Feel free to use any other beef that is steak quality, porterhouse, eye fillet, scotch fillet, or rump. These cuts work best when cooked quickly)

1 red capsicum

1 Brown Onion

1 Tablespoon of Corn Flour

1 tablespoon of oil

1-2 Tablespoons of Cumin

1-2 Tablespoons of Paprika

1-2 Tablespoons of Dried Coriander

Big pinch of sea salt

1/2 Lime

optional: fresh or dried chilli to taste

Method

Slice your Capsicum and Onion

Slice your meat. Place in a freezer bag with a tablespoon of corn flour. I find this helps the pieces of meat separate, and also helps to keep the moisture in the meat. I believe it is a technique used in a lot of Chinese cooking, as the corn flour sucks up the sauce as well when cooking.

Heat up a frying pan with a tablespoon of your chosen oil (I prefer coconut oil as it doesn't burn when heated to a high temperature). Once hot throw in your onion and capsicum. Once they start to soften put in your meat. Add your spices

Once the meat starts to brown, you can start to taste. Remember you can eat beef very rare, so don't be afraid!

You might be suprised to know (if you read my first post that I have considered a meat free lifestyle) that we like our meat on the rare side of medium rare. It's just so much more tender!

Add more spices if you feel there isn't enough. Don't be afraid to add more salt.

I have only recently started cooking with salt, for two reasons. 

1.My Mum is terrified of the stuff, as I imagine a lot of people her age are, due to the noise The Heart Foundation have made over the years about the dangers of salt. Watch any chef though and they will use sometimes insanely large amounts of salt to season their food. It just really helps to bring out flavours and add a fullness and richness to your dishes. 

2. Pre packaged food contains a lot of salt, so there was never any need to add any extra. Now that I cook from scratch the dishes really do need that pinch or two added.

Once the beef is cooked to your liking, squeeze over half a lime and serve! I like to serve our meat with freshly cooked tortilas, corn (gluten free) or flour, lettuce or baby spinach, homemade salsa and squashed avocado with a squeeze of lime in it!

An easy weeknight meal that is sure to please!

Happy Cooking (from scratch!)

Erica xx