Homemade Baked Beans with Ham

October 27, 2014 · 11 Comments

I had a ham hock sitting in the freezer for yonks and I thought I better use it up. Not wanting to do soup, I thought it might be tasty with some homemade baked beans. I was right!

The combination of the ham with the molasses gives the beans a delicious, smokey barbecue flavour. This batch will make a lot of beans, so freeze some for an easy dinner one night.

They are yummy just on toast or pop into some ramekins, crack an egg on top, sprinkle with fetta and bake in the oven until the egg is cooked to your liking.

Honestly, this recipes is so, so easy and once you try homemade baked beans, you will never buy another can of beans. Besides the fact that canned baked beans are usually high in sugar and salt and may contain maize starch, thickeners and msg! Yuk!

Homemade Baked Beans with Ham

Vital Stats: Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free

This is what you need:

1 large brown onion

1 small carrot

1 small stick of celery

2 cloves of garlic

4-5 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes

2 tablespoons organic tomato paste

4 cups of cooked organic cannellini beans (or use well rinsed tinned beans)

1 ham hock

2 cups chicken bone broth (or stock)

1 tablespoon molasses (or use rapadura sugar)

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Ghee, butter or lard to cook

This is how you do it:

Finely chop the onion, celery, carrot and garlic. Cook in your fat of choice in a big pot, adding the smoked paprika, over a medium heat until the onions are cooked and translucent. Add the tomatoes, ham hock, tomato paste, bone broth, molasses and bay leaves. Simmer for two to three hours with a lid on, until the meat is falling off the bone. Keep stirring and add some filtered water if necessary or leave the lid off and let the sauce reduce to the consistency you like. It will depend on how big your pot is.

Chop the meat off the bone and dice finely. Add back into the pot with the beans. Cook for another ten minutes or so to heat the beans and coat well in the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove the bay leaves.

Serve it up and enjoy!

Tips:

*If you don’t have a ham hock you could use bacon bones or just some nice organic bacon, diced finely. Just adjust cooking times to suit.

Have you ever made homemade baked beans? What did the family think?

2 Ingredient Biscuits

January 14, 2014 · 37 Comments

I know I am a bit slow on the uptake but…… I finally got around to making the famous “2 ingredient” biscuits that are all over the internet!

I thought I would road-test them for any of you who haven’t tried them out yet. Anyone? Anyone?

So, what’s the verdict? Yes, they really are easy and yes, they do taste yummy and yes, it does work just fine!

Just 2 ingredients are required, but you can then add in whatever other ingredients you like to jazz them up. I had a play around with a few ingredients and quantities and this is my version of the famous biccy.

2 Ingredient Biscuits

Vital Stats: wheat free, dairy free, nut free, egg free, can be gluten free

Okay, so this is what you need:

2 medium sized ripe bananas

1 cup organic rolled oats

optional – your choice of add ins

HOT TIP: I never use quick oats as they have a higher GI than regular oats!

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Preheat the oven to 180°celsius and line a biscuit tray with non-toxic baking paper.

Mash the bananas and then add the oats. That’s it! Easy, huh?

You can also make them in the thermomix – whizz banana on speed 5 for 10 seconds. Add oats and mix on reverse, speed 5 for 10 seconds or until combined.

Shape into walnut sized balls with your hands or a teaspoon. Flatten down slightly.

Bake for around 15 minutes or until the biscuits firm up.

I got 15 small biscuits from this mixture.

Store in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container.

There you have it – 2 ingredient biscuits!

HOT TIP! Make a double batch and freeze for school lunches!

Jazz up your biccy!

While my daughter liked the plain biscuit, the rest of us thought the jazzed up ones were nicer.

Let your imagination go wild and add in whatever you like!

The three I did were:

Chocolate: cacao powder and cacao nibs

Superfood: goji berries and chia seeds

Fruit ‘n Spice: grated apple, sultanas and cinnamon

I think they at least need some vanilla or cinnamon in them for a little flavour. If your kids have a really sweet tooth, you may need to add in a little raw honey or maple syrup.

Here are some more ideas for the add ins:

* shredded coconut, dried fruits, seeds, nuts, spices, vanilla, superfood powders, grated vegetables or fruits

This is a fantastic recipe to start the kids on learning to cook. It’s so easy and they can have fun making their own combinations up.

I would love to know if you have made these and what your add ins are. Please share!

HOT TIP! These are perfect for a grab and go breakfast!

Healthy Macaroni Cheese with Veggies!

June 8, 2013 · 14 Comments

Macaroni Cheese is such a childhood comfort food and it tastes pretty good too!

I came up with this version which is a little more healthy and choc full of hidden vegetables. It tastes really good.

Healthy Macaroni Cheese with Veggies!

Vital Stats: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, egg-free, nut-free

Okay so this is what you need:

1 litre organic milk

100g cornflour

100g organic butter

1 cup organic cheese, grated

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

500g gluten-free pasta shapes

3 handfuls of organic baby spinach

2 cups of lightly steamed organic vegetables, diced (I used carrot, broccoli, corn and zucchini)

Herbamare or salt and pepper to taste

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Preaht your oven to medium, about 180° celsius.

Put the pasta on to cook in a pot of boiling water and follow directions on the packet.

While that’s cooking, make your white sauce (if you have a thermomix, use the bechamel sauce instructions on page 58 of the EDC cookbook).

If you are making it the old-fashioned way, melt the butter, add the flour and stir until it’s well combined and coming away from the side of the saucepan. This ‘roux’ takes about one minute. Remove from the heat and add milk gradually. I like to use a whisk to get out any lumps. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring or whisking all the time until it thickens. Add the grated cheese and whisk in. Cool down.

Puree the spinach in a blender or thermomix and add to your white sauce.

Drain the pasta well. Add the white sauce and the vegetables and combine thoroughly. Add seasonings to taste.

Put into a greased lasagne dish (or two) and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.

Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until the macaroni cheese is warmed through and the cheese on top is brown and melted.

Serve with salad on the side.

Notes:

This recipe makes a lot so feel free to halve it or to make it and use over two nights.

The photo doesn’t show it well, but it is a really nice light green colour.

If you would like to make this recipe dairy free, use this delicious dairy-free white sauce from Quirky Cooking.

Using nutritional yeast in place of the cheese gives it a lovely cheesey flavour and is dairy-free.

To save time, I used leftover steamed vegetables in this recipe. Make extra the night before.

Okay, so that’s my natural new age mum version of macaroni cheese! I hope you (and the kids) enjoy it.

How do you make macaroni cheese?

Slow cooked goat chops in red wine with polenta

May 4, 2013 · 9 Comments

Organic goat neck chops are a budget-friendly option at your organic butcher and they taste amazing. Think lamb but a more subtle flavour. Use lamb neck chops or just lamb chops instead if you want!

Slow Cooked Goat Chops in Red Wine with Polenta

Vital Stats: gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, can be dairy-free.

Serves 8.

Okay, so this is what you need:

8 large goat neck chops or goat loin chops

3 cups bone broth (I use chicken but anything is fine)

1 cup red wine

2 onions, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 bay leaves

4 organic garlic cloves, crushed

2 cups organic polenta

1 litre full cream organic milk (we love Barambah)

1 litre chicken bone broth or stock

pink Himalayan salt

cracked black pepper

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Heat oven to 180°C. Brown the chops in batches in a frypan on the stove. We don’t use oil as there is enough fat on the chops. Place in a large baking tray.

Saute the onion and garlic in the fat from the chops on a medium heat. Sprinkle over the top of the chops the sliced carrots and bay leaves. Pour over the red wine and 3 cups of chicken stock and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Place in the oven to slow cook for two to two and a half hours or until the chops are tender. You do need to check and turn them a few times as there is no cover. Add more liquid if needed.

You can also cook this in a slow cooker. Just reduce the bone broth to 1 cup instead of 3. Cook on high for about four hours or low for about eight hours. You want the meat falling off the bone!

To cook the polenta, heat the milk and stock in the saucepan until boiling. Add the polenta in a steady stream while stirring all the while. You might like to use a whisk to avoid lumps.

Turn the temperature down and stir occasionally until the polenta is thick. It will take about 20 minutes or so.Season with salt and pepper.

Put a big dollop of polenta on the plate and serve with the chops and vegetables and some of the pan juices drizzled on top with some green steamed vegetables on the side.

To make this recipe dairy free, simply use all stock for the polenta instead of the milk.

Notes:

I always choose an organic polenta to avoid GMO corn.

Want to know more about bone broth? Check out my Beginner’s Guide to Bone Broth.

Have you eaten goat? How do you cook it?