Healthy Food: December 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

My first bite of the New Year (1 Jan 2011)

Breakfast fuel for a new year

Like most days of the year the first thing I usually have for breakfast is a banana. Simple, filling and packed with good vitamins to start the day. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve/Day celebration and aren't nursing awful headaches. I'm looking forward to my first swim of the New Year later today which is usually followed by a not so healthy fish and chips and then some fun bocce — tradition continues.

Happy Eating New Year

Simon :-)

Turkey and Apples Topped with Eggs

The Ingredients:

1 cup turkey, shredded

1/4 cup apple, chopped

1 tsp. cumin

1 Tbs. coconut oil

Combine all in a skillet on med-high and mix. Allow mixture to brown.

I meant to do a poached or fried egg but scramble it was! OOOOOOPS

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Singapore Shiok!*: One of Sydney's Best Har Mee?, Haymarket (6 Oct 2010)

Eating World Harbour Plaza food court
Shop 213, 25-29 Dixon Street, Haymarket NSW 2000

Best Har Mee in Sydney?

To date Malay-Chinese Takeaway has been my favourite place for a flavoursome prawn soup of Har Mee but it now has a new contender in my books which is on par if not possibly better. The humble Singapore Shiok!* serves only 9 dishes on the menu and makes a full flavoured broth Har Mee ($10.50) without being too salty. It's substantial in size although I would love the bowl to be a bit larger so there's room to move the contents around without worrying about it spilling over the sides. There's plenty of prawns which could possibly have been deveined a bit better and an abundance of the highly fatty and crispy pork fat plus a sliver or two of pork meat which makes it a delicious winner.

Other visits to Singapore Shiok!*:

• 6 Oct 2010 - Har Mee

• 30 Sept 2010 - Hor Fun with Seafood

• 29 Sept 2010 - Chicken Rice

Other places tried for Har Mee:
• 25 Jan 2012 - More More Char
• 6 Oct 2010 - Singapore Shiok!*
• 24 Sept 2009 - Laksa House
• 16 Sept 2009 - Laksa King
• 12 Aug 2009 - Jaya Malaysian
• 23 April 2009 - Lee's Malaysian
• 24 March 2009 - Malay-Chinese
• 19 Oct 2008 - KL Kopitiam Malaysian Cuisine

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Very flavoursome, Plenty of ingredients including pork fat, Not overly salty, Possibly best in Sydney

CONS: Prawns could be better deveined, Soup fills the whole bowl so be careful

MUST TRY: Chicken rice, Hor Fun, Har Mee

—

Har Mee ($10.50)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Prawns, pork, fishcake, pork fat, egg, vegetable

Flavoursome broth

Two types of noodles

Pork and golden nuggets of crunchy pork fat

View Larger Map

Eat, Deli Kitchen: 'The Reuben' Wagyu Salt Beef on Rye, Westfield Sydney (19 Nov 2010)

The Sydney Room, Level 5, Westfield Sydney

Cnr Market and Castlereagh St Sydney NSW 2000

Not quite what I was hoping

I must admit I was very excited when I heard there was a pastrami on rye to be had at the new Westfield Sydney but once I worked out their version was actually served cold I knew it was going to be a far cry from the famous Katz's Delicatessen version I loved. I opted for the warm 'The Reuben' Wagyu Salt Beef on rye, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard mayo ($13.50) which seems to be their signature sandwich and more comparable to what I was expecting. The meat isn't as thinly sliced and juicy as the much loved Katz's but it now sets the standard for finding a better one in Sydney. It's a pretty expensive sandwich but thankfully fairly filling to keep you satisfied for a while. The cold open cut sandwiches look pretty fresh and tempting so perhaps something to try for next time.

Other visits to Eat, Deli Kitchen:

• 19 Nov 2010 - The Reuben Wagyu Salt Beef on Rye

• 9 Nov 2010 - 8 new eateries

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Pretty tasty, Fairly substantial, Freshly made, Good variety of sandwiches to choose from

CONS: On the expensive side of sandwiches

MUST TRY: Other sandwiches on the menu

—

'The Reuben' Wagyu Salt Beef on rye, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard mayo ($13.50)

Pastrami shaved on rye ($13)

Roast beef and grilled vegetables with baby spinach ($11.50)

Open salmon sandwich with capers and créme fraiche ($13.50)

Open sandwich with grilled zucchini and feta ($11.50)

Hot sandwich menu

Cold sandwich menu

Coffee menu

Ingredients for hot sandwiches

Service and preparation counter

View Larger Map

Rowda Ya Habibi: 3 Turkish Delight Flavours, Newtown (30 Dec 2010)

101 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042

Delightful flavours

If you're a fan of the rose flavoured Turkish Delight at Rowda Ya Habibi then I suggest you ask them if they have the Lemon or Mint flavoured Turkish Delight as well. They don't usually stock these other two flavours but fortunately for me a friend ordered a box from the restaurant of all three flavours and made up wonderful Christmas gift packs for his family and friends. I actually can't decide which flavour I prefer the most. The lemon seems to be the most subtle in taste and the mint perhaps the strongest. They make a great traffic light dessert too when stacked together if you want to get creative.

Lemon, Rose and Mint Turkish Delight

View Larger Map

Peppermint Chocolate Almond Butter

A few weeks ago, I mentioned, I received a care package from the kind people at Artisana.

I love nut butters!!!

I have two favorites from Artisana. Coconut Butter and Cacao Bliss!!! I love them!

For a week, I have been playing with the idea of Peppermint and Cacao Bliss Almond Butter! Last week, I came up with Chocolate Maple Almond Butter. I could not wait to add Peppermint! I just knew the flavor and mixture would be AMAZING!!!!

TODAY WAS THE DAY!!!!

3 cups of Almonds baked with Molasses and Peppermint Extract.

30 minutes later - mixed with a sweet potato, I enjoyed my creation!

My 3 year old enjoyed this too! He asked if I had a banana he could mix in! :)

The Ingredients:
3 cups Almonds
2 - 3 TBSP Molasses
1 tsp Peppermint Extract
2 - 4 tsp Cacao Bliss, broken up

The Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On the cookie sheet add Almond, Molasses and Peppermint Extract. Mix well and put into the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes. Take Almonds out and mix well. Add Cacao Bliss. Put Almonds back into oven for 15 more minutes.

Add directly into the food processor and mix for 30 minutes, mixing often. Mix until the powder turns into silky smooth Almond Butter.

ENJOY!!!!

Thank you Artisana for Cacao Bliss!!! It is one of my favorite products you make!!! :) Thank you!!!!

Part of Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter

Turkey, again?

I obviously over estimated... 26 lb turkey for 4 adults and 2 kids (1 which does not eat meat yet!)

I must admit, I was excited for the extra TURKEY! Time to be creative!!!!

Turkey and Apples TOPPED with Eggs

Turkey Fajita-style with Bell Peppers and Onions

I made this delicious soup! yes, another turkey soup!!! Different vegetables!

The Ingredients:
3 - 4 cups turkey, chopped
6 - 8 carrots, chopped
1 zucchini (I used a frozen zucchini from our summer food share!)
1 squash (frozen - food share, too!)
2 cups peas (frozen - food share, too! (three))
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, mined
Parsley
Lemon Pepper
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Turkey Broth
Chili Powder
Tomato Paste

The Directions:
Saute Onion, Garlic and Olive Oil. Add carrots after 5 minutes. Add broth, turkey and remaining seasonings and cook for 10 minutes. Add peas and zucchini and squash and bring back to a boil.

Part of Pennywise Platter

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Spaghetti minus the noodles!

Before everyone arrived, last week, I made an awesome dish. I forgot to share it with you...

SPAGHETTI without noodles but on top of zucchini!

WONDERFUL!!!!

Next time, I will try the zucchini in thin slices.

The Ingredients:

6 small zucchinis, sliced real thin

Homemade Tomato Sauce

2 small tomatoes, diced

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery, chopped

1 1/2 lb grass fed ground beef

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

2 TBSP Basil

nutmeg

cayenne pepper

pepper

garlic powder

The Directions:

Brown the meat in a large soup pan. While meat is browning, combine the onion and parsley. Once the meat is cooked through, add all of the dry spices and mix well. Add the homemade tomato sauce. Simmer for 20 min.

For the “pasta” bring about 10-12 cups of water to a boil in another large soup pan. Add the thinly sliced zucchini to the boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes and drain.

Serve the spaghetti sauce over the cooked zucchini pasta.

Part of Pennywise

Merry Chrismukkah: Cocktails and Canapes (18 Dec 2010)

Inspirational Christmas canapes

Chrismukkah is a pop-culture neologism referring to the merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah as celebrated in interfaith households where one parent may be of Christian heritage and another parent of Jewish heritage.

Being invited over to a Christmas party is a wonderful treat, especially when the hosts are amazing home cooks that love making delicious canapés from scratch. It was a very inspirational night of seeing the hosts busily preparing the wonderful selection of food in the kitchen which had taken them most of the day to prepare. Amongst the canapés on offer were the Smoked salmon roulette which looked great and tasted great. I love my lamb cutlets and their Lamb cutlets with carrot puree and topped with pomegranate seeds was excellent — a combination of flavours I haven't tried before. An abundance of Cheese and potato filo pastry rolls were made from scratch and satisfied every cheese lover in the house — the dill worked really well in the mix. For sweet tooth the Blinis with mixed berries were topped with melted Callebaut Belgian chocolate at the last minute — a lethal combination of yumminess. I was very impressed with the amount of effort that went into all the food and I believe our hosts could consider being full time caterers one day if they ever wanted to give up their existing day jobs. I also loved their very classy Christmas tree with little lights at the end of branches and very cute hanging ornaments — I want one now.

Drinkies