Dish and the Spoon

a passion for food and cooking inspired by travel, family and friends

Thank You

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I did it!! I ran the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon!!  I ran 21km and I managed it in under 2 hours which was not something I was particularly aiming for, just a huge bonus to add to my challenge.  It was such a great event, music and drinks every couple of km with loud music playing, plenty of cheering and support which helped immensely especially at the 19 – 20km mark (the finish line was feeling a little too far away at that stage!).  And whats more, the local tax free liquor shop awarded those who ran under 2 hrs a free bottle of Moet and 25% off our total bill!!! yippee!! Not sure the race and the booze shop go naturally hand in hand but the glass of bubbles that night felt like I was back in my natural habitat!… 

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For the Love of it

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ImageAlmost 1 week ago I completed another 10km race as part of the Dubai Marathon.  It was a great morning with more than 10,000 people competing in the 10km run and a few thousand amazing people challenging themselves in the 42km marathon.  I beat my previous time and got under my target time so I’m quite happy about that.  The most nervous part of the race was making sure I ran a good time but also in the back of my mind was the fact that in 2 weeks I have to run a half marathon that I signed up for in a moment of weakness!!!

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I love many things; my family, food, flowers…and I love exercising and doing sports, until recently this excluded running! However, after almost 5 months of dedicating all of my fitness time to running I am still undecided about if I LOVE it.  I love the feeling of completing a big run (tomorrow I run 16km as part of my training eek!), I love the sense of accomplishment and I love the fact that on a big run I put my headphones on and I have a couple of hours just me, myself and I!  So if that all totals a love of running then I guess I do!!

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In the spirit of LOVE I guess we should not ignore the fact that the day of celebrating love is just around the corner.  In fact Valentines Day is the day before my biggest race ever (I can’t say I will be saying I love running then – the nerves seem to get the better of me pre race day!)

Truffles are a fabulous gift to let someone know you are thinking of them.  They are delicious and most importantly they are hand made.  I have been trialling chocolate truffles for a while and I have to say the Nigel Slater’s recipe is the perfect base and then you can add whatever flavours you like to suit your taste.  I prefer to use the blocks of Lindt 70% chocolate and I also think using the best cocoa is important.

I will add a simple recipe below but I also want to share a delicious and healthier alternative seeing as I am currently in search of whatever food will give me the most energy for my running.  Date truffles are sooooo good, it is even difficult to taste that there is only cocoa for the chocolate flavour and the ingredients are all packed with nutrients and energy so are a great snack for the afternoon if you are craving something sweet or after dinner (I always need something sweet to finish a meal!).

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To wrap as a gift, you could just pop the truffles into a celophane bag and tie a ribbon or buy a box an put the truffles in little paper cases.  Something different is a beautiful piece of linen tied up with a bow.  One of my favourite online stores here in Dubai is Little Majlis which sells all things unique and lovely including linen.  The date truffles also is a nod to where I am living and we do have access to many date varieties.  However one variety which I would recommend for this recipe is Medjool (one of which we dont get regularly here!) as they are big and juicy.  For any others that may be a little dry, just soak in a little water or orange juice for an hour.

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Date Truffles

Makes about 20 truffles

Ingredients

  • 1packed cup of pitted dates, preferably Medjool
  • 1/2 cup prunes (for added richness, substitute with more dates if you wish)
  • 1/4 cup good quality cocoa
  • 1/3 cup almond butter (peanut butter is fine too)
  • 1/3 cup powdered / dessicated coconut
  • 1/4 cup agave syrup, honey or maple syrup
  • pinch cinnamon

To coat (options) and about half a cup for 1 batch

  • Cocoa powder
  • Coconut
  • Chopped Almonds

To Make

  1. Add dates and prunes to a food processor and blend until smooth.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and whizz up again until a thick paste forms.  This will different for every batch so adjust the consistency using more cocoa and coconut or water depending on whether it is too dry or wet.
  3. The paste should be soft and sticky like playdough and cover with cling film and allow to firm up in the fridge for a few hours, overnight is best.
  4. Prepare your coatings of your choice in little bowls.
  5. Take a teaspoon size of the truffle mix and roll roughly into a ball and then toss in the coating (I used cocoa and coconut).  Melon baller is a great tool for this.

Spiced Chocolate Truffles

Makes about 20 truffles

Ingredients

  • 225g very good quality dark chocolate ( I used 1 block each of 70% Lindt and 1 Chilli Lindt)
  • 135ml double cream (heavy or thickened depending on where you are from)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 vanilla bean split

To coat (options) and about half a cup for 1 batch

  • Cocoa powder
  • Chopped pistachios

To Make

  1. Finely chop the chocolate in to shards
  2. Place the spices into a small saucepan with the cream and heat until it just reaches a boil.  Strain to remove the bits.
  3. Quickly put half the chocolate into the cream mix and stir until melted, then adde the next batch.  If the cream cools it will seize a little so place back on the pan for a minute until it melts and is runny.
  4. Place the mix in the fridge to cool completely and firm up for a couple of hours or overnight is fine too.
  5. Using a teaspoon or melon baller take a small amount of the mix and roll into a ball before rolling in the pistachios.  If I am rolling in cocoas I like to just take a chunk of chocolate mix and toss in the cocoa to make a very rough looking truffle.
  6. That’s it! Enjoy!

P S- I have made many varieties of the chocolate version and I just substitute the 2nd block of Lindt for a different flavour such as Mint or Orange.  If you want to just using plain dark chocolate try adding a tablespoon of instant espresso to the mix – yummo!

P P S- The photos are both of the date truffles and the chocolate ones, and the finished truffles show the dates truffles coated in cocoa and coconut and the chocolate truffles just in pistachio.

Early Riser

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just baked

My year so far has consisted of fairly good eating, but I have to admit the morsel of chocolate after dinner or my afternoon diet coke (affectionately known as ‘poison’ by my work colleagues) is what keeps me going through the end of the day.  I know, I know, perhaps giving up the poison will be my 2014 resolution….old fashioned oatsseeds

I am always surprised at how many people do not have breakfast.  I have no idea how they function at the start of the day, let alone keep going until lunch time.  Breakfast is I think my favourite meal of the day, cafes are often providing an all day breakfast menu, that’s how good this meal is!!!

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Some friends have recently moved to Dubai to take up a job which is located a good 1 hour commute or further from Dubai.  This is not unusual here, lots of people commute to other Emirates from where they reside.

This often means leaving home in the morning at unimaginable hours.  In this case, I can understand why one may prioritise an extra 15 minutes sleep over a bowl of cereal when they have to leave home at 6am, or in our friend’s case, 4.30am!ready for ovenIMG_6831

When my husband and I were living in Sydney, we were very busy and started work early. Buying breakfast every morning was not a budget friendly or healthy option (more of a Friday treat), so I started making this breakfast loaf, a recipe by Bill Granger.  Over the years I have adapted it to be my own loaf recipe.  It is super healthy and contains everything you might normally find in a bowl of museli.  It can be made on the weekend, sliced up and frozen.  It is great fresh, toasted and buttered (if you really want it) and is quite filling.  Most importantly it is a great breakfast on the go, whether you are commuting, rushing to do the school run, or also a great breakfast to have a work a little later if you really can’t stomach breakfast as soon as you wake up.

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Bircher Loaf (Breakfast on the Run)

One loaf yields about 12 slices

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (my gas oven was at 190 degrees)

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 360ml low fat milk
  • 1 cup wholemeal plain flour
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup oatbran
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/4 cup mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds
  • 50g sultanas
  • 100g dried apricots
  • 1 small to medium apple coarsely grated
  • 1 small to medium banana mashed
  • 1 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

To Make

  1. Grease and line a loaf tin.
  2. Place the oats in a bowl with the milk and allow to soak while preparing the rest of the ingredients.  I also put the eggs, honey, banana and apple into this bowl of wet ingredients.
  3. Sift the flours and baking powder into a bowl.
  4. Add the sultanas, apricots, cinnamon, oatbran, flax seeds and sunflowers and pumpkin seeds.
  5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix gently until combined.
  6. Pour mix into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 50 – 60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

PS – Feel free to add whatever dried fruits take your fancy such as dried figs or cranberries.  The seeds can also be replaced with chopped walnuts for a nuttier version.

Puree food is so 2012

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It seems 2013 marks the transition from endless ice cubes of baby food in the freezer to now having to prepare one meal for 2 kids, hooray! At 11 months, my daughter has quite aggressively refused food being fed to her specifically in the pulverised version.  Breakfast mush still is acceptable but I fear for a limited time…. I guess there’s always the reliable back up of Vegemite toast!

Along with the baby changes, my husband and I are making some diet adjustments of our own.  This week we are going to get back into the healthy mid week meals, and try to make enough to take leftovers as lunch the next day.  I visited the produce markets this weekend and felt inspired by all the leafy green vegetables on offer.  I am a big believer that green vegetables will cure all illnesses (this is just one of my almost-medical theories)! I feel the Drs in my family reading this feeling fairly relieved I chose the creative career route!

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So I bought Kale, Chard and Arugula (it sounds more exotic than rocket!).  With my 3 bunches of green goodness in hand, along with a lovely bunch of baby beetroot I thought of a yummy salad.  I love big plates of hearty salads that are a meal in one and I plan on sharing many.  This one is made up of the green veg mentioned earlier, baked baby beets, zucchini and pearl barley with a basic vinaigrette.

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Last week, I was fortunate to have my parents in town, which was great as my mum also cooked a number of meals for us!! She made a lovely salad using pearl barley as the main body of the salad (otherwise the men start wondering where the main course is!) served with delicious grilled fresh sardines.  I had never made barley this way and it was really good.

Pearl barley it is so easy to prepare, just boil it in a lot of water like you do pasta for at least 40 minutes.  It was soft on the outside and still had a little pop in the mouth when you bite into it.  Its quite tasty on its own and the good news is that it’s very good for you.  High in fibre, low GI, contains lots of vitamins and antioxidants and is low in fat.  Unfortunately it is not gluten free (it’s low gluten though) but it is wheat free.

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So that’s my healthy spiel, here is the recipe, I was really happy with how it turned out and it can be made with endless variations.  Oh and the Spanish Clementines I bought yesterday taste even better than they look – I am a sucker for fruit with the leaves still on 🙂

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Antioxidant Salad of Goodness

Serves 6-8 as a side or 4 as a meal

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees celcius

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup pearl barley (dry)
  • 1 bunch of beetroot (I used baby but regular size is fine)
  • 1 bunch each of rocket, kale, chard (you could use english spinach if you can’t find kale or chard, anything green and robust) sliced so it yields about 6 cups or so of greens
  • 1 small zucchini diced
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • drizzle olive oil for sautéing

Dressing

  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • juice of a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

To Make

  1. Firstly prepare your beetroot.  Chop the stalks off and wrap the washed bulbs in foil.  If using large beetroot, wrap each one individually.  I put 3 baby ones in each package.  Bake in the oven for about 45 – 60 minutes.  I cooked mine for about 50 minutes then turned the oven off and left them in the oven while I prepared the rest.  To prepare, using disposable gloves if you wish (I used bare hands), open the foil packages, the skins should pull straight off and chop the beetroot into bite sized chunks, not too small.
  2. Have your barley cooking in a big pot of water for about 40 minutes and drain when done.
  3. To make the dressing, whisk ingredients in a small bowl until combined.
  4. Heat a big pan or wok with a drizzle of olive oil and on a high heat toss the green leaves, zucchini and garlic with a pinch of salt and pepper for about a minute until just wilted.  turn off the heat to avoid the leaves becoming too soggy.
  5. Throw the cooked barley, beetroot and dressing in and toss lightly and serve.  We had this with simple grilled chicken breast for some protein.

PS – I had planned on tossing in a variety of herbs such as dill, mint, parsley or coriander along with some nice salty chunks of feta.  This would make it even more delicious but I thought it was great as is.

Its been a while

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But here we are in January 2013!! Happy New Year!! I hope you had a festive season, I know we did!! I think I have been on the go for some time now with multiple celebrations; our son turned 3, husband turned something starting with 3, farewelled close friends from Dubai, joined in the silly season and have enjoyed various family members dropping by.

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2013 is going to be a big one, and my main resolution is to continue with this blog and not slacken off as I did towards the end of 2012…

But I’m back and I’m sorry this post doesn’t contain any recipes I just thought I’d post to say hi and post some pictures of food relating to the last few weeks.

I did make chocolate truffles as you can see and they were delicious but until I make them outrageously good then I will hold off on a recipe!

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For 2 of the birthday cakes I made a most delicious roasted apple cake; a labour of love I assure you!  I even homemade the applesauce that is needed for the recipe!! The recipe is from one of my favourite blogs Smitten Kitchen and is a great birthday cake option as I made it a week ahead and kept it in the freezer!  I must say though after one take of cream cheese sloppy frosting I did have to spend time googling the best way to achieve very fluffy frosting – please post a comment if you know how – I managed to beat the cheese and butter for 5-10 minutes and this did help.  But it was very good!!

The blue racing car cake (this was requested 6 months ago and I was reminded of it on a weekly basis) was a simple Australian Womens Weekly chocolate cake from the trusty old school Birthday Cake book.  It was yummy but it was not easy to create AT ALL!! I also made ahead of time and froze it to make it easier to cut and shape and ice.

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Christmas Day was wonderful with friends and everyone brought a huge selection of food that could have fed 20 rather than 10!!  We benefitted for some time with leftovers as did my hips (everything tastes better fried up with bacon and melted cheese!).Image

New Years eve was a fabulous day starting at the Dubai Fish Markets and then the Fruit and Vegetable market to come home and cook a feast of lobster, prawns and bugs (same as Balmain or Moreton Bay Bugs just from Oman) that my parents and us dined on with crusty bread and melted butter with a bottle of Verve – not a bad way to farewell a pretty big year!  May 2013 be a bigger and better one for you all !Image

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