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SIMON'S Warragal and salt bush tart
Short pastry (fits 25 cm tart tin)
280 g four leaf milling organic 85% light flour, plus a little extra for dusting
½ teaspoon table salt
180 g chilled B.d Farm Paris Creek butter, diced into 1 cm cubes and then allowed to come up to room temp
80 to 100 ml cold soda water
Filling
1 big leek, white part roughly sliced
20gm B.d Farm Paris Creek butter
30 ml organic extra virgin olive oil
3 medium-sized Organic waxy potatoes, unpeeled, thinly sliced
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
1 fresh bay leaf
2 tablespoons cold water
sea salt and cracked black pepper
200 ml bd farm paris creek cream
30 g bd farm paris creek cheddar, grated
3 organic free-range eggs
200 g bd farm paris creek feta, cubed
2 cups lightly packed each Outback Pride waragal greens and saltbush leaves
6 sprigs Outback Pride sea parsley picked and finely chopped
Method
To make the pastry, pop the flour into a large bowl, then add the salt and mix through. Rub in the butter cubes using your fingertips. When combined add the soda water and bring the dough together with the absolute minimum of mixing again trying to only use your finger tips to avoid the heat in your hands affecting the dough. The dough should be a little crumbly still and definitely not one cohesive mass. A few visible lumps of butter here and there are not a major issue and will actually make it flakier and nicer. Very roughly gather the dough into a ball. Lightly sprinkle your benchtop with flour and roll out the dough into a circle about 33 cm in diameter by pinning from the centre out in all directions. (This will give you an extra 1.5 cm overhang on a 25 cm tart tin to allow for shrinkage when baking.) Grease a 25 cm tart tin and pop the dough in. Leave in the fridge for 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan-forced . Line the tart shell with baking paper and add at least a cup (200 g) of baking beans. Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes until it is firm to the touch. Remove the baking beans and paper and return the tart shell to the oven for a couple more minutes to crisp and colour. Leave the tart shell in the tin and set it aside. Reduce oven temp to 180 C
Meanwhile, for the filling, melt the butter and oil in a heavy-based medium-sized frying pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the leek and saute for a few minutes until softened, then add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaf and water. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and a good few twists of pepper (although I often omit the salt if the feta is heavily brined to prevent the dish becoming a little over-seasoned). Reduce the heat to low and pop a lid on the pan. Cook the filling mixture for about 10 minutes, turning the potatoes a few times, until they are just tender to the touch. (They will cook a tiny bit more in the baking of the tart but they do need to be virtually ready to eat at this stage.) Remove the bay leaf and set the pan aside.In a hot pan with a smidge of oil sauté the waragal greens and saltbush until wilted and add to the potato mixture Mix the cream, parmesan and eggs together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the leek and potato mixture into the tart shell. Pour over the egg mix and drop cubes of feta over the top and sprinle with crumbled cheddar. Bake at 180°C for 25–30 minutes until just set. Insert a skewer into the tart – a little goo on the skewer is okay as the tart will continue setting when it is removed from the oven. However, the mixture should definitely not wobble when you shake the tin. The tart top should also have patches that are coloured up nicely.
Serve the tart hot or cold with a simple leaf salad.
Naturally Good Chocolate Tart
Crust
2 1/2 wps dessicated coconut
350gms pitted dried dates (soaked for 15 minutes in boiling water)
Filling
2 large ripe bananas
250gms dates (soaked as above)
5 heaped tablespoons fair trade cocoa powder
1 small ripe avocado
Method
Take 350gms soaked dates and add to a food processor with the dessicated coconut. Process until combined.
Add a little soak water if too dry.
Place mixture into a tart dish and press down firmly to form a crust. Process filling ingredients until thoroughly mixed into a tart dish into a smoothly, creamy mousse. Spread onto tart crust.
Sprinkle with coconut, nuts or berries. (Raspberries are amazing!!) Set in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. Enjoy :)
Lemon and Oregano Chicken with Tzatski
Couscous and Pan-fried Pumpkin
Cos Lettuce and Baby Spinach Greens with Vinegarette
Chicken
Breast of chicken
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
Pinch of salt and pepper
Couscous
Soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes
1/2 red onion peeled and chopped
Pumpkin
Pan fry or roast pumpkin cubed
Pinch of salt and pepper
Drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice
Salad
2 handfuls of cos lettuce
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 red onion peeled and sliced
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
Basil or parsley leaves
Pinch of salt and pepper
Drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar or lemon
Tzatziki
1 tub of plain natural Greek yoghurt
1 cucumber grated and squeezed
1 or 2 garlic crushed
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon
Method
Tzatziki - Empty contents in a bowl then place cucumber, garlic, lemon and salt together and mix. (It can be made 3 days before)
Salad - Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl (except vinegarette until serving time)
Couscous - Soak couscous in a bowl for approx. 20 minutes. Then add onion, salt, pepper, oil and lemon and mix.
Chicken - Cut chicken in long thick pieces (unless already cut) coat with oregano, salt and pepper and brown and until cooked through. Finish off with a drizzle of lemon and olive oil.
*Use organic ingredients (preferably) to support our local farmers.
Chocolate Mousse and Vanilla Nut Cream
Mousse
1/4 cup spring water
2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup raw honey/agave
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T mesquite powder (optional)
1 pinch himalayan salt
Cream
1 cup raw, soaked cashews
1 cup raw, soaked almonds
1/3 cup spring water
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp extract
1/4 cup rawy honey/agave (whichever is easier to obtain)
Method
Place all mousse ingredient into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add water if necessary but not too much. You can also add coconut oil, which will result in a more 'ice creamy' mousse after refrigerated.
Place all cream ingredients into a food processor and blend until super creamy and smooth. Add water, coconut oil, to achieve the consistency we are after.
Serve together; you can add a nice topping of fresh seasonal fruit too :)
*Store in an air tight, glass container in the fridge - it'll last longer if coconut oil is used.
Moist and Fudgy Brownies with Dried Plums
Ingredients
Cooking spray
225gms semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 dried plum puree
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Method
Heat oven to 165C. Spray baking pan with cooking spray and line with paper leaving the paper over hanging on two sides. Spray the paper with cooking spray.
In a large heat-proof bowl, melt chocolate with oil over simmering water. Whisk in sugar and dried plum puree until mixed; whisk in eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour and salt until just blended; fold in walnuts.
Scrape batter in prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Bake for approx. 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan at least 10 minutes; remove from pan and cut in squares to serve.
