Cinnamon Rolls

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Food blog24

Daniel and I went to learn fundamental barista skills at Australian Barista Academy this morning. I enjoy having a good quality black coffee and always wanted to learn more how to taste coffee and operate coffee machines. How interesting so many factors play a role in making good coffees!

1. First of all, you need to have fresh roasted coffee beans to make good coffee. So buy roasted beans from local coffee shops, not from supermarket. It reaches its peak flavour and aroma about 24 hours after resting, which allows excess CO2 trapped in coffee beans to dissipate. It also starts to lose a developed flavour and aroma after about 3 weeks. So knowing when your coffee beans are roasted should help when you need to use them by for best coffee.

2. Be aware how to store your beans – keep them in cupboard (dry, cool, away from sun). Grind coffee beans and use straight away since oxidation changes flavour.

3. Measure a good dosage every time for a quality control and consistency.

4. Nice even firm tamping pressure facilitates the extraction speed. Harder tamp = more resistance = slower flow rate

5. 4 stages during extraction: ristretto -> caramel colour -> blonding -> pale, less creamy stream. It should take about 28-32 seconds, not too fast nor slow.

6. Taste your coffee 🙂

It was fun making coffees and frothing milk, but definitely need more practice. It’s tempting to buy a coffee machine!

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After the barista course we were starving, especially after all that coffee tasting on empty stomach. We had a quick lunch at home just to get something in our stomach. Then I made this beautiful cinnamon rolls for afternoon tea. It smelled wonderful around the house – that’s why I like baking.

To make 8 little cinnamon rolls

400g self-raising flour + extra for kneading
1 packet of dry yeast
a pinch of salt
200ml warm water
A heap table spoon of cinnamon powder and brown sugar for filling
extra cinnamon, sugar powder, rose water, vanilla extract for cinnamon glaze

Flour is different depending on what brand you use or even from packet to packet, so adjust the amount of water and flour accordingly. Mix half of the flour, yeast, salt and water in a large bowl and set aside. Yeast will do its own thing making bubbles on the surface. Then you need to add the rest of the flour into the mixture and start kneading gently for about 5-10 minutes. Let it rest again until dough is double sized. Roll out the dough, sprinkle filling all over and then roll up the dough tightly. Cut into 8 pieces and place in a round baking pan. Loosely cover the rolls and rest again until they are doubled in size. Bake in the preheated oven 180 degrees for 25 minutes. Once it comes out of the oven top your cinnamon rolls with glaze. I didn’t use butter or oil, but used a bit of brown sugar. If you want sugar free, use honey or maple syrup or agave syrup. To be honest though, brown sugar makes nice caramel flavour matching with cinnamon. I served with iced pomegranate drink – yum!

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Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, My recipes, Snack

Pomegranate Pumpkin Quinoa Salad

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Another antioxidant rich food – Pomegranate! It’s loaded with vitamins and potassium. Researches show this power fruit buffers the effects of free radical damage, increase oxygen levels to your heart and reduce the redness of arthritis. It also reduces risk of cancers, especially prostate and breast cancer.

These juicy little guys are a great snack as it is – so yummy popping in your mouth. You can also make juice. Pomegranates are one of the few fruits where juice is as beneficial as the fruit or seeds. I recommend using on salads like me, which not only gives a lovely presentation but also provides a beautiful sweet and acidic flavour. I warn you, though, when you cut open pomegranates and take all these seeds out it will stain your fingers, clothes and kitchen bench. I was so excited about cutting and squeezing the fruit, and next thing I realised was it’s a little late to wear my apron. Oh well.. it’s fun cleaning all up after cooking too, isn’t it? >.<  To prevent all this mess, you can soak pomegranates in the bowl of water and work in the bowl, removing seeds from the flesh. All seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl, so you need to drain well afterwards.

pomegranate salad

I used butternut pumpkin, quinoa, shredded green and purple cabbage, red onions and green salad today. It looks so vibrant and colourful!

Examples of other salads that go well with pomegranates? Think about 3 things – colours, flavour and texture.

I think it goes well with…
– roasted sweet potato, pine nuts and green salad
– prosciutto, caramelised pear, blue cheese, roasted pecan
– Mediterranean cous cous salad
– shaved fennel and orange salad
– wild rice, feta cheese and green salad
– apple, walnut and kale salad

Need protein? Try with…
– duck
– chicken
– prawns
– cheese, especially pan-fried halloumi cheese

There you are.. there is plenty to try if you didn’t know how to use pomegranates in your food. Personally I don’t think you need salad dressing here. Just season and drizzle a good quality of e.v.o.o. I’m going to add Moroccan spiced chicken breast to that salad for dinner tonight. What is your choice? x

 

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Purple Carrot Salad

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I felt like something sweet and spicy salad today and came up with this little sexy salad made of beautiful dark purple carrots. I just love the colour of purple carrots. We already know carrots are high in vitamins, especially vitamin A for your eyes, plus a good source of dietary fibre. Purple carrots have extra antioxidant power because of unique anthocyanins, which combat free radicals in our body. It tastes earthy when eaten raw but cooking them creates amazingly sweet flavour. Well steaming and quick stir-frying minimises losing all the goodness in them, but if you choose to boil, make sure cooking the whole carrots without slicing them. As I mentioned before, try different colours of foods on your plate. Why not trying purple carrots instead of their orange cousins today for extra antioxidant boost:)

I sliced 3 carrots and caramelised in a pan with a table spoon of coconut oil. Then cooked further with a knob of  grated ginger, a teaspoon of cumin, fresh thyme, sage leaves, maple syrup and a little bit of cayenne pepper for a kick. It’s so delish with tahini dressing. When you make tahini dressing, keep checking until you have a right consistency and a balance of sweet and sour flavour. I used tahini paste, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup here. It goes quite well with carrot salad.

tahini and carrots

 

Posted in: Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Breakfast Parfait

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I am an early morning person and therefore breakfast is a must to get me going. Well believe or not, I do eat two breakfasts plus morning snack until lunch time – I know I eat a lot >.< Normally I have a big glass of lemon ginger tea with apple cider vinegar and eat a home-made GF muffin in about half an hour. I then go for a walk – love the stillness and quietness in the early morning. When I get home I take a shower and have my second breakfast, which is usually a parfait or another breakfast muffin with tea. I know our breakfast rituals are evolving nowadays. There is so much to choose from – porridge, granola, omelet, frittata, fruit salad, smoothie, eggs on toast, etc. There is a whole world of breakfast to explore. I don’t understand some people who skip breakfast because breakfast can be darn delicious and doesn’t take much time to prepare.

My latest breakfast love affair is this parfait. Be creative and have fun making tasty and lovely looking breakfast! If you are not a morning person, make it a night before and keep it in the fridge. You wouldn’t be able to wait to dig in:) For me, I put soy kefir at the bottom layer, sprinkle a teaspoon of spirulina powder, spread pureed fruit (any of your choice – kiwi, berries, banana, mango, passion fruit, etc) and top with something crunchy like buckwheat (it’s gluten free, hooray!), carob nibs and goji berries. There you are, you have yourself a perfect breakfast with no time at all. If you add honey or maple syrup on top it could also become the perfect dessert. I don’t have to go through nutritional values here. You know already it is good for you!

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Posted in: Breakfast, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian \ Tagged: ,

Raw Vegan Berry Cheesecake

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I’m a huge fan of berries. They are such a delicious little treat and also full of antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralise free radicals, slow oxidation process and prevent the free radical damage. Free radicals are nasty guys that come from both metabolism and environment such as pollution, radiation and cigarette smoke. These free radicals are very unstable attacking normal cells in our body, which have been linked to heart disease and certain cancers. The damage also accumulates with age. A little scary? Don’t worry! Our body has a defense system of antioxidants to prevent free radical damage. Plant foods are rich sources of antioxidants, most abundant in fruits and vegetables as well as other foods including nuts and whole grains. There is a huge range of antioxidants supplements out there, but not as good as naturally occurring antioxidants in foods. So whole foods, fruits and vegetables do the trick!

Just in case you are wondering, examples of dietary antioxidants are
– orange or yellow pigmented fruits and vegetables: carrots, sweet potatoes, apricot, rock melon
– dark coloured fruits and berries- citrus fruits
– garlic and onions
– broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts
– soy products and other legumes
– tea and red wine

My favorite on the list is berries. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Maqui berries. It’s a dark purple berry wild harvested in Southern Chile and considered the highest oxidant fruit on the planet. You can purchase certified organic freeze dried Maqui berry at the local health food store or on-line. If you don’t have powder, just use any berries either fresh or frozen. I know “Superfood” is a big trend at the moment, but I believe that as long as you have a well-balanced diet including whole foods, fruits and vegetables, you don’t need to spend fortune on supplements just because everyone does it.

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It has been so hot in Perth. Almost 40 degrees everyday this week! I know we all feel like a bowl of cool ice cream or something naughty for dessert in this heat. I think I’ve found a perfect hot weather dessert to substitute that. Simple ingredients, no oven required and very little time to put together! Perfect!

To make two little raw berry cheesecakes

50g soaked raw cashew nuts
half block of tofu
sweetener of your choice – agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc anything you have in your pantry
a teaspoon of vanilla extract
a table spoon of coconut oil
a teaspoon of Maqui berry powder – use fresh or frozen berries if you don’t have it
blanched almonds and handful of dates to make a base
two food rings to mold the cakes

Blend blanched almonds and dates until it becomes a paste (it might take about 5-10 minutes, natural fat comes out of almonds and it gets nut butter texture). Press down firmly at the bottom of food rings to make a base. To make filling, blend all ingredients until it gets soft. Put the mixture on the almond base. Keep in the fridge for a few hours to set. Take the cakes out of the rings, garnish with berries on top and enjoy every mouthful:)

Posted in: Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian \ Tagged: , ,