Bacon, Spinach and Garlic Pull-apart Bread

Aaaand so it's December! Things have been very quiet around here lately as I attempt to overhaul my blog. After lots of messing around I have ended up with 2 sites that aren't linked up and there's a whole lot of work to get things ready to go. I will keep you posted but I hope to launch in the New Year.

I haven't been doing much cooking of note lately. I've been sick for the past 3 weeks with a throat and chest infection so quite apart from not having enough energy to cook, I also haven't felt like eating. Tragic I know!

But even I can't resist the aroma of freshly baked bread. We've massively cut back on the amount of bread we buy so I've been baking more. Usually just sandwich loaves (recipe to come!) or a quick focaccia but sometimes you just want something a little fancy.

This bacon, spinach and garlic pull-apart was amazing. AMAZING. These sorts of bread are normally dripping with butter and cheese but I needed a dairy-free version and this worked perfectly. It is so packed with flavour from the bacon, garlic and olive oil that you don't miss the cheese, or in fact even notice that you were expecting some.

I made the dough and filling in the thermomix but you absolutely don't need to. Making the dough by hand (or breadmaker or however you normally make dough) and the filling on the stovetop will work just fine, it may just take a bit longer.

Bacon, Spinach and Garlic Pull-apart Bread

Dough:
450g water, room temperature
1 tbs instant dried yeast
1 ts salt
750g baker's flour
100g extra virgin olive oil

Filling:
50g extra virgin olive oil
4 rashers bacon, roughly chopped
1 big handful baby spinach or 2 large leaves silverbeet, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed

Grease a 9 inch cake pan and set aside.

TMX instructions to make the dough - place the water and yeast in the mixing bowl and heat for 2 minutes / 37 degrees / SP 2. Add the salt, flour and oil and mix for 6 seconds / SP 6, then knead for 2 minutes / interval setting.

Remove the dough, shape into a bowl and leave to prove in a covered and greased bowl for around 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile make the filling - in the thermomix add the garlic and chop for 2 seconds / SP 7. Scrape down the bowl, add the bacon and chop for 3 seconds / SP 6. Scrape down the bowl, add the oil and cook for 3 minutes / varoma / SP 2. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes / 100 degrees / SP 2. (To prepare filling on the stovetop just chop all ingredients and fry together in the oil for 5 minutes or so until softened and fragrant). Tip the mixture into a heat proof bowl and leave to cool until required.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.

To prepare the bread - knock down the dough and tip it out onto a floured surface. Roll out into a large even rectangle, about 1cm thick. Spread over the cooled filling evenly to the edges.

Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 4cm wide strips. Fold each piece into a concertina and place into the prepared tin, cut side up. Repeat with remaining dough until the tin is full. Leave to prove for another 15 minutes.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes. It will be risen, golden brown and smelling delicious. Leave in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

It's ready to eat as soon as it is cool enough to handle.

Cardamom Pear Muffins (SRC)

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! Each month a dedicated group of bloggers are assigned a blog in secret to peruse and cook from, and then we all post on the same day. Today is reveal day for group D.

This month I was assigned Nicole's blog Hapatite and wow was I in for a treat. Hapatite ("hapa" meaning half or of mixed racial heritage and "tite" meaning appetite) is an absolute treasure-trove of amazing recipes, all drawing upon her family's Chinese, Cherokee, German and Hawaiian American background. As you can imagine this makes for some fabulous food!

One dish that really caught my eye was Nicole's take on char siu chow fun which is served for Chinese New Year.  But then I also loved her Baked Onion Rings and homemade Filet-o-Fish which was my go-to late night meal back in my uni days!

Nicole is also something of a tea connoisseur and has reviewed some really interesting tea blends. My favourite was the Candied Chestnut Tea and I wish it was available here! I really love tea and have an ever-growing collection of herbal teas so this made for some great reading.

As usual though I was on the hunt for kid-friendly snack ideas and you can't beat a muffin. Enter these Cardamom Spiced Pear Muffins.

Cardamom is one of those spices that seems to get overlooked. I remember making a cardamom cake years ago that I absolutely loved but I haven't really used it since, apart from in curries.

These muffins were absolutely delicious. The cardamom added a complexity of flavour that I wasn't expecting yet it wasn't overpowering, probably because it was paired with cinnamon and nutmeg (and the clove that I added because I love it). My boys loved these and as usual I wished I'd made a double batch because they disappeared way too quickly.

Cardamom Pear Muffins
Slightly adapted from Hapatite

2 cups self raising flour (or 2 cups plain flour + 1 tbs baking powder)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
85g softened butter
2 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts ground cardamom
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1/4 ts ground cloves
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup rice milk soured with 1 ts apple cider vinegar)
1 large pear, just ripe, cut into small dice

Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius fan-forced.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the spices and mix well.

Fold through 1/2 the flour followed by 1/2 the buttermilk, then repeat with the remainder.

Fold through the pear pieces.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely (or just eat warm as they are amazing straight from the oven!!).

Thanks for a great month and a delicious recipe Nicole!

An InLinkz Link-up

Creamiest Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream

Happy November everyone! I never intended to be absent so long but life got busy, as it tends to do this time of year. Anyway you'll be glad I'm back because this ice cream is awesome and perfect for the stinking hot weather we're having at the moment (33 degrees C right now if anyone else is a weather tragic like me!)

So ice cream without dairy can be a little tricky, it can swing between too icy or too coconutty (totally a word) pretty quickly. But as 3 out of 5 of us are dairy free I've done a lot of experimenting. You're welcome.

My kids claimed this was the best chocolate ice cream ever and their chocolate covered faces spoke volumes. It was smooth and luscious and intensely chocolatey. The perfect antidote to a hot summer's day.

The weather made it impossible to get a picture before it melted (that and the kids kept opening the freezer every 5 minutes to check if it was ready!)

Make this. It's really good.

Creamiest Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream

400g tin coconut cream
400g rice milk (or any dairy-free milk you like)
2 eggs
2 heaped tbs raw cacao
2 tbs arrowroot
120g rice malt syrup (or maple syrup)
2 ts vanilla extract
pinch salt

TMX - place all ingredients in mixing bowl and cook 9 minutes / 90 degrees / SP 4.

Don't have a thermomix? Warm the milks in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Meanwhile in a medium heatproof bowl, beat together all remaining ingredients. Pour the warmed milks into the other ingredients whisking continuously. Tip the mixture back into the saucepan and stir over medium heat with a wooden spoon until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon, 5-10 minutes.

Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature before placing into the fridge and leaving to chill for at least 4 hours. Make sure you press some baking paper over the surface of the custard to stop it drying out.

Once the custard is completely cold, pour into your ice cream maker and churn for approximately 15 minutes or according to the manufacturer's instructions. It will be soft-serve consistency at this stage so pop it in a glass container in the freezer for a few hours before serving (if you can wait that long).

Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies (SRC)

 

The last month has been really busy around here. We're 2 weeks into the term and still feel a bit all over the place and not back into our usual routine. My recipe choice for this month's Secret Recipe Club is perhaps indicative of my state of mind at the moment. Here Spring has arrived with a vengeance - the weather has warmed up and the jacarandas are in full bloom - but I'm still making soups and stews and feeling like hibernating. I think it's the stress and busy-ness of moving house that has finally caught up with me!

So when I was assigned Palatable Pastime by Sue for SRC this month it wasn't her amazing array of salads like Apple-Fennel Salad with Almonds that I was drawn to, it was heartier fare like Corned Beef Hash and Rustic Tortellini Soup. As usual though I needed an idea for an after school snack so I started looking for something sweet and ended up making 2 related recipes.

Pumpkin really hasn't caught on here in Australia as an ingredient for sweet dishes. You will never find canned pumpkin or pumpkin pie spice on the shelves. I decided to finally remedy that and make my first batch of pumpkin pie spice to enjoy whenever I like.

Pumpkin Pie Spice
Recipe from Palatable Pastime

1/2 cup cinnamon
5 tbs ginger
1 tbs nutmeg
2 ts allspice
2 ts ground cloves

Makes 1 cup (I plan on using lots of this over the coming months but Sue's post also gives instructions for smaller quantities as well).

And what to make with this fabulous blend of spices? I couldn't go past Sue's Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies (yep I definitely have a bit of a peanut butter obsession but lucky my kids do too!)

Whether you have access to canned pumpkin puree or not, it is so, so easy to make your own. Simple steam or bake some pumpkin, throw it in a blender or food process and puree until smooth. That's it!

Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Palatable Pastime

60g softened butter
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
1/2 ts sea salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line 2 trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the egg and beat well.

Add the pumpkin puree, peanut butter, salt and spice and mix until well combined.

Next fold through the flour to form a thick and sticky dough.

Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place on the prepared trays.

Dip a fork into some extra coconut sugar and press the cookies flat with a criss-cross pattern.

Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on the tray for a few minutes then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 cookies.

Thanks for 2 great recipes Sue! My kids and I LOVED these crispy edged-chewy middle cookies and I am such a fan of the pumpkin pie spice.

An InLinkz Link-up

Noah turns 2! and a Frozen Raspberry Cheesecake

You know what they say about best laid plans? Well that was us this week. I had planned the most delicious carrot, orange and ginger layer cake for Noah's birthday and guess what happened. Our oven died. Right in the middle of cooking pizza for dinner 2 days before his birthday. We saved the pizza by cutting it into pieces and cooking them individually in our sandwich press. Bit hard to make a cake like that though!

After a bit of panic and a lot of searching I decided it would be easiest to make a frozen cake of some sort and Wholefood Simply came to the recipe. If you haven't visited this gorgeous blog then you are really missing out.

The recipe I chose was a raspberry cheesecake with chocolate crust which I tweaked a little and decorated to suit a birthday. On that note, a huge happy birthday to our beautiful boy who has filled our lives with such joy these past 2 years. We love you Noah!!

Frozen Raspberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust
Slightly Adapted from Wholefood Simply

Crust:
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup raw almonds
10 dates, seeds removed
1 tablespoons raw cacao

Line the base of a 20cm springform pan with baking paper. Place all ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender and blend until sticky and well combined. Press firmly into the base of the prepared pan and place in the freezer until required.

Cheesecake – Step 1
2 cups frozen mixed berries
8 dates, seeds removed

Blend all ingredients until well combined, spoon into a bowl and set aside.

Cheescake – Step 2
2.5 cups raw cashews (preferably soaked for a few hours first then drained well)
3 heaped tbs coconut oil
2 ts vanilla extract
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup coconut milk (you may need a little more or less liquid than this so don't add it all at once)

Blend all ingredients until smooth and very well combined. Scrape down the sides of the blender and keep blending until you are happy with the consistency. Add the berry mixture and mix until well combined.  Spread the cheesecake mixture over the base, smooth the top and place in the freezer.

Topping:
1 1/2 cups cold coconut cream
2 tbs maple syrup
2 ts vanilla extract
1 tbs gelatin

Blend all ingredients until thick and smooth. Pour over the cheesecake mixture and return to the freezer for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove from the freezer at least 20-30 minutes before serving.

To make the number 2 on top I simply printed a big number 2 and cut it out to form a stencil. Lay the stencil over the cake and dust on some cocoa. Make sure you remove the stencil very carefully (you might need an extra pair of hands for this). Very simple but very effective!

Changes are coming and I need your help!

You may have noticed things have been a little quiet around here lately. Well that is partly just life becoming very busy but also because things have been happening behind the scenes at this little blog and there are changes coming!

I've been realising that I actually have a lot to say and that the blog in it's current state doesn't really allow me to say it. I'm passionate about whole foods, kids health and eating well on a budget so that is the direction I will be going in.

To do that I would really, really, REALLY appreciate some feedback from you, my lovely readers. I want to know who you are, why you are here and what your challenges with food are.

The direction I'm going in is very different from where I first started when it was all about baking and lots of sugar! Perhaps if you've been reading for awhile you have also been taking steps to change the way you eat.

So if you have a couple of minutes to spare could you please complete this short survey for me? It will be completely anonymous and won't take much of your time. If you have any problems with it or would like to share anything else with that I haven't asked please email me at food.baby.food.baby AT gmail DOT com.

Thank you so much and stay tuned!

Create your own user feedback survey

Smoky BBQ Pork Ribs

These smoky pork ribs were a seriously delicious dinner! I actually made these for Fathers' Day way back at the start of September and then with the move forgot to post them. Now there are probably thousands of rib recipes out there and I must have looked at dozens before deciding to just wing it and make something up myself. I didn't want anything too spicy and I didn't want to buy weird ingredients like liquid smoke.

While I'm all for making things from scratch I did use bought sauces for this, namely the Fountain Good Choice tomato and barbecue sauces which I reviewed earlier this year.

I wasn't able to find the American style ribs anywhere (admittedly I left it until the last minute!) so used these Aussie pork spare ribs instead and they worked just as well.

The cooking is done in three stages. First they are left to marinate in the fridge overnight which starts to tenderise the meat, then they are baked in the oven and lastly they are grilled and basted with marinade which makes them charred, sticky and luscious. So good!

I served the ribs with coleslaw, avocado, homemade potato wedges and corn on the cob. Hubby and kids all loved it and there lots of sticky smiles and licked fingers.

Remember to start this recipe a day ahead!

Smoky BBQ Pork Ribs

1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup coconut sugar
4 cloves garlic
2 ts smoked paprika
2 ts mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste

1.5 kg pork spare ribs

Combine all marinade ingredients in a large dish and combine well. Add the pork and mix well, massaging the sauce into the meat. Cover the dish with 2 layers of plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius, Line a large baking dish with foil and place a rack on top. Lay out the ribs on the rack, reserving the marinade, season with salt and pepper and cover with foil.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, turning and basting with marinade every 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile tip the remaining marinade into a small pot and bring to the boil for a few minutes, until it has reduced and thickened.

Increase the oven temperature to 200 degrees. Remove the cover from the ribs, brush with extra marinade and bake for another half an hour, turning and basting again halfway OR cook the ribs on a barbecue grill over a flame, turning and basting every 5 minutes or so (this will give best results!).

Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

Back to school baking

The last 2 weeks have flown by and here we are on the official last day of the holidays. Which means there are only 10 weeks until Oscar has finished grade 1 and Charlie has finished kindy and then it will be Christmas! Wow. So much to do before then though which is why I made a kickstart today with a marathon of baking.

Today I made:
1 x big batch Chocolate Granola
1 x Banana Bread
1 x Grain free Banana Cupcakes
1 x Almond and Chia Protein Bliss Balls
2 x Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I find having a stash like this in the freezer makes life so much easier. I can quickly grab something sweet to pop in lunchboxes for a treat, there is always something for afternoon tea even if we are home late and I can take a snack for myself if I am going to be out and about (saves buying something!).

Only half the banana bread actually made it to the freezer though as it smelt so good while it was baking and the kids needed morning tea so lucky things enjoyed it still warm with lots of butter (delicious!).

Then later I also prepped some savoury meals to help with lunch and dinners. The back to school routine is always a bit of a shock to our systems and I find dinner ends up getting pushed back later and later which then affects bedtime. So I love having dinners either completely prepared ahead of time, in the slow cooker or half-prepped because it just saves so much time.

For lunch today I cooked some chipolata sausages and saved 6 for Oscar's school lunches. My tip is to always separate out the leftovers you want to keep first before you dish up the meal because that way it's there ready to go and doesn't mysteriously get eaten!

Next I made a huge double batch of meatballs using 1 kg of beef mince, a tin of mixed beans and loads of veggies and herbs. Shape them into balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper and then pop them straight into the freezer (seal them in a bag once they are frozen). We will have some for dinner tonight, have leftovers for hubby and the boys lunches tomorrow and then still have another full dinner's worth in the freezer for another night. I like to bake my meatballs as it lets me cook the whole batch at once and saves on the mess.

Anyone else doing some back to school baking? Do you have any tips for make-ahead cooking and baking?

Apple Pie Cookies (SRC)

What a month it's been! We moved into our new house exactly 2 weeks ago and while we still have a few boxes around, it's feeling more and more like home. I love our new oven and induction cooktop but as we don't have an induction suitable frypan it has made cooking dinner a little challenging.

But today of course is all about the Secret Recipe Club, a dedicated band of bloggers who are assigned a blog each month to secretly peruse and cook from, with everyone posting their recipes on the same day. Today is reveal day for group D.

This month I was assigned The Spiffy Cookie by Erin. In a funny coincidence she had my blog just last month! Erin has a PhD in microbiology (just like my husband), loves the combination of peanut butter and chocolate and her favourite meal is dessert.  I know I say it every time but I was really spoilt for choice when it came to recipes.

Erin recently did a round-up of her top 10 peanut butter and chocolate recipes which included a Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake that had me drooling over the computer!

Her Steel Cut Oatmeal with Bananas and Cobbler Topping looks like just the thing to pimp up our regular porridge and her Spiced Pear Smoothie sounds delicious. To round out breakfast how about baked eggs with a crispy hash brown crust?

We had most of a box of apples to use up though so I started searching for apple recipes and came up with some beauties like Homemade Apple Jelly, Apple Walnut Pancakes and just last week this Apple Pecan Praline Bread. One that really jumped out at me though were these Apple Pie Cookies which were just so cute! All the best bits of apple pie but in cookie form which I knew my kids would love. Genius right?!

I played around with a few ingredients to suit our dietary requirements but I think these are pretty close to the original and they were AMAZING. Apple pie is one of my favourite things but I don't tend to make it very often. These little cookies had all the same flavours and were exactly like mini apple pies. The recipe made 24 and they were gone in a day. As you can tell it was very hard to stop at just one!

Apple Pie Cookies
Adapted from Dorothy Kern's Dessert Mashups via The Spiffy Cookie

Base:
100 g butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 cup spelt flour
1 egg
2 tbs coconut sugar
1 ts vanilla extract

Filling:
5 granny smith apples (peeled, cored and finely diced)
1/3 cup water
1 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts ground cloves
1 tbs coconut sugar
1 tbs spelt flour

In a large bowl cream together the butter and coconut sugar, then add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Fold through the flour and almond meal until incorporated into a thick dough. Spoon the mixture onto plastic wrap, wrap well and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the apples. Peel, core and finely dice the apples. Place in a medium pan with 1/3 cup water and the spices and cook over low-medium heat until just tender. Drain and place into a heat proof bowl. Sprinkle over the coconut sugar and flour and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 x 12 hole mini muffin pans.

Place a tablespoon of dough into each muffin hole and press over the base and sides creating an indent for the filling. Spoon a teaspoon of apple filling into each cookie.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out and dusting with icing sugar. Delicious warm from the oven.

Makes 24 cookies

Thanks for a great month Erin! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

My favourite green smoothie

Wow where has the past week gone?? In a whirlwind of boxes and newspaper and mess, that's where!

We are slowly settling into our new home. It's school holidays now which is such a welcome relief. I think we were late for school nearly every day last week and I even forgot free dress day on the last day of term and had to do a quick trip home for a change of clothes for Oscar so he wasn't the only one in his class wearing his school uniform. Oops!

Most of our kitchen things are unpacked now and I'm getting back into cooking and baking but mornings are still rushed. This green smoothie has been an absolute saviour this past week when I haven't had time to sit down for breakfast. It is my all time favourite combination of flavours and is packed full of nutrients to keep you going for hours.

My kids love this one and luckily they are completely OK with green drinks. If yours aren't I do have a trick to help with that! We use glass mason jars with a handle and lid for smoothies and as our glasses are green, the kids have no idea what the drink actually looks like! They just love the taste and the creaminess and happily down the lot with no complaints.

(I will take a photo of our glasses so you can see what I'm talking about in the morning!)

If you're not sold on the whole green smoothie thing this one may change your mind. 

My Favourite Green Smoothie

1 cup rice milk
1 frozen banana, chopped into rounds
really big handful baby spinach
1 heaped teaspoon chia seeds
1 heaped teaspoon flaxseed meal
1/4 large avocado (or 1/2 a small one)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Place all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend for 1 minute (TMX 1 min / SP 9).

Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Healthy chocolate crackle slice

Snacks, snacks snacks! That's what we seem be needing a lot of lately. I guess moving really does work up an appetite!

And today is moving day! As you read this the truck will already be here loading our things and getting us ready to start our new family life in our new home.

For anyone who grew up in Australia you will be very familiar with the chocolate crackle, which featured at every birthday party and school fete as a kid.

These are a far healthier version from the Naughty Naturopath Mum who calls them anti-LCM bars. I have to admit my kids have never eaten an LCM and would have no idea what they are (yay!) so I just called it a chocolate rice bubble slice for them.

We don't usually buy rice bubbles either but half a bag came home with them from their sleepover down the coast in the holidays and frugal me didn't want to throw them, but also didn't want them to just eat it for breakfast because they would be starving again in 5 minutes.

These were SOOOO delicious. Chocolatey, caramelly, crispy and chewy and just plain good. Still a treat but one you can definitely feel good about.

Healthy Chocolate Crackle Slice or Anti-LCM Bars
From the Naughty Naturopath Mum

4 cups rice bubbles (puffed rice from the health food shop is better!)
2 cups desiccated coconut (check that it is preservative free)
1 cup rice malt syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup raw cacao
pinch salt

Grease and line a slice pan with baking paper.

Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together.

In a small pan over medium heat, place the rice malt syrup and coconut oil and warm gently until it is smooth and only just starting to bubble. Pour immediately over the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and press down well, smoothing the top as you go.

Store in the fridge and slice into bars when ready to serve (you can't store this out of the fridge as the coconut oil will start to melt as it warms up).

Makes lots.

Enjoy!