bites & pieces

Turkish Delight

A relatively easy treat to make; the only downside is you need to let it set overnight (they suggest 24 hours however a 10 hour period was sufficient)

Ingredients

• Sunflower Oil (or any neutral oil to use for greasing)
• 25g of powdered gelatine
• 300ml water
• 4 teaspoons of rose water
• 450g of (roughly 2 cups) of castor sugar
• 3-4 drops of red food colouring
• 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Method

1. Lightly oil a 20x25cm baking tin
2. Mix the gelatine, water and rose water into a heavy based pan and add the castor sugar
3. Heat gently until the gelatine and sugar dissolve, stirring continuously
4. Bring to the boil without stirring
5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes
6. Remove from the heat, stir in the food colouring and leave to cool for 2-3 minutes
7. Pour the mixture into the greased baking tin and leave to set overnight. The mixture does not require refrigeration; best left uncovered in a spare spot in your pantry
8. Set mixture should slide out of tin if turned upside down with a little help
9. Place onto chopping board and cut into neat squares
10. Mix the cornflour and icing sugar on a plate then toss the turkish delight squares into mixture until thoroughly coated on all sides
11. Store in an airtight container between layers of grease proof paper

In my pursuit for healthier snacks at work, I thought I’d give a hand at making my own energy snack bars. This recipe is easy as and provides enough to make around a dozen small bars.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup pitted dried dates
• 1/2 cup powdered nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 large eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees Celsius
2. Add all ingredients (minus eggs and maple syrup) into a food processor and pulse until mixture is finely chopped
3. add in maple syrup and eggs and pulse again until thoroughly mixed
4. Grease a small tray (I used a 9 inch circular tin) and pour in mixture. Ensure it’s evenly spread
5. Bake for around 20 minutes the take out of oven and allow to cool for an hour
6. Cut up into 12 (or whatever size tickles your fancy) pieces and refridgerate for work the next day!

Tip

I did find this to be a little bland (although anything good for you usually is); however next time I’d recommend using 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries to add a little more flavour

Recipe originally found here

Warm Snow Pea & Chicken Salad

A low fuss meal, great during summer or for when you want a quick and easy dinner.

Ingredients

• 450g skinless chicken breast
• 500ml reduced sodium chicken broth (2 cups)
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 450g snow peas, trimmed and thinly slivered lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons chopped cashews

Method

1. Trim fatty bits (if any) off chicken breasts and place into medium fry pan
2. Pour in chicken broth and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered till the chicken is cooked through, no longer pink in the middle (10 to 12 minutes)
3. Remove from heat and transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool
4. Meanwhile whisk vinegar, soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sesame oil and tahini in a large bowl until smooth
5. Heat remaining oil in a large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant (about 1 minute)
6. Stir in slivered peas and cook, stirring until bright green (3-4 minutes). Transfer to the bowl with the dressing
7. Shred up chicken and add to the bowl with the peas; toss to combine
8. Serve sprinkled with cashews

Recipe originally from here

Trying something a little different from just desserts. This ended up being quite a simple dish to create. 

Credit to this link for the recipe. 

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken stock (Family size liquid stock comes in this size)
• 1/4 Chinese cabbage finely sliced (I did 1/3 of a average sized chinese cabbage)
• 1 small Red or Yellow chilli finely sliced (with seeds if you want a real bite)
• 2 tablespoons Coriander chipped
• 1 bunch Bok Choy shredded
• 1 tablesppon reduced-salt Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 1 teaspoon crushed ginger
• 125g Hokkien egg noodles (cooked)
• 1 cup skinless Chicken cooked
• 1 cup Mung Bean sprouts
• 1 spring onion sliced (to garnish)

Method

1. Steam chicken breasts prior using a steamer or in packets in oven. (I just used the 2 chicken breast packs you get in the meat isle). Ensure skin is removed prior if any. Once steamed place aside covered
2. Combine stock and cabbage in a large pot and bring to boil
3. Simmer over medium heat for 4 minutes (or until cabbage is soft)
4. Add chilli, coriander, bok choy, ginger, fish sauce and soy sauce and continue simmering for 4 minutes
5. Heat up cooked noodles in microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds (I used the cooked ones found in the asian isle that are vacuumed sealed. Leave them in the vacuum packs, just puncture with a fork before putting into the microwave) 
6. Separate the noodles into 2-4 bowls (depending on how hungry you are!)
7. Take soup mixture off the heat and ladle over the noodles
8. Place small handful of mung bean sprouts on top of the noodles, forming a small mound
9. Uncover chicken you had previously steamed and slice into chunks. Place chicken over the mung bean sprouts
10. Top with sliced spring onions to garnish

Serves 2-4

Sour Cream Panna Cotta with a Raspberry Pinot Noir Compote

So far the best Panna Cotta recipe I’ve tried. I used these instructions except traded Zinfandel for Pinot Noir. This made up to four servings.

PANNA COTTA:
• 2 1/2  teaspoons  unflavored gelatin
• 1/4  cup  water
• 1 1/4  cups  evaporated low fat milk
• 1/2  cup  icing sugar
• 1  vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 2  cups  reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cardamom

COMPOTE:
• 3  cups  frozen blackberries, thawed and divided
• 1/4  cup  Pinot Noir (or any fruity red wine)
• 3  tablespoons  granulated sugar
• Mint sprigs (For garnish)

Preparation

To prepare panna cotta, sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl; let it stand for 10 minutes. Mix milk and icing sugar together in a medium saucepan. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into the mixture; throw in vanilla bean as well. Bring to boil over a medium-high heat. Remove pan from heat. Remove vanilla bean with a fork; discard bean.

Add gelatin mixture to milk mixture, stirring with a whisk until gelatin dissolves. Add sour cream and cardamom; stir until well combined. Divide mixture evenly among 4 250ml cups (I actually used a muffin tray for this). Cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours or overnight however I found 6 hours was plenty of time.

To prepare compote, place 1 cup blackberries, wine, and granulated sugar in a food processor, and process until smooth. Strain the blackberry mixture through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan, and discard solids. Bear in mind the finer the sieve, the longer this will take as the mixture is quite thick. I used the back of a spoon to help push the mixture through. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat; add remaining 2 cups blackberries. transfer to a bowl, cover/refrigerate. 

Loosen edges of custards with a knife whilst upside down above a serving plate. You only need to get a little air under the Panna Cotta to help it slide right out. Serve with compote; top with a mint sprig.

Blueberry & White Chocolate Chunk Ginger Cookies

Another recipe from Eating Well. This is a great treat to make if you’re wanting something to whip up and be eating in around 30 minutes. 

The only alteration I made to this recipe was using dried cranberries instead of blueberries; being a comparable replacement if you can’t get your hands on dried blueberries. 

Instructions from Eating Well are straight forward and only need 8 minutes in a forced fan oven at 190 degrees celsius. Leave to cool for 2-3 minutes before transporting to a board or cooling rack for another 7 minutes. Then onto a plate and into your belly!

Chewy Chocolate Brownies

A recipe I found on one of my favourite sites eatingwell.com

The mission, whilst on this diet hell is to come up with creative snacks and treats that are not too heavy in calories or sugar. These (in theory), are around 93 calories per brownie so it’s not the end of the world if you have more than one :-) 

Recipe called for Graham crackers, so instead I used a generic store brand wafer (chocolate flavour) which were the closest equivalent our Coles supermarket stocked. 

To make, I firstly preheated the oven to 145 degrees celsius. Following the mixing instructions to a tee, I placed the mixture into an oiled (extra virgin olive oil spray is best) 8 inch circular tray and baked for 25 minutes, rotating the tray half way through to ensure an even cook. Once done, I left the tray out to cool for and hour and a half before cutting up and transporting to a serving plate. 

So far one of my favs!