Recipes – St GEORGIA & Boo

simple cooking and words

“As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or Who dwells within them, or how precious they are — those are things which we seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul’s beauty. All our interest is centred in the rough setting of the diamond, and in the outer wall of the castle — that is to say, in these bodies of ours.”
― Teresa of Ávila, Interior Castle

I’m moving to a slower rhythm, keeping things simple, deciding what can and can’t flow through my life right now. I’m sure, and unsure, being brave and honest with myself. I’m allowing, unresisting to any uncomfortable movements that are arising and just letting them be. I’m giving myself the grace to be with all it entails. This is the only way forward, this is the only way that the new story can be created from here. I must know all of my inner most ingredients, everything that makes me move the way i do. I’m spending much needed time, unraveling, dreaming, grieving, understanding and finding my way back, towards forgiveness and acceptance. I can see all the answers, i can see how wonderfully great it is going to be, i can see the picture i’m creating and the way it will look, but i know i can’t just arrive there, to this wonderful new place. i know that there’s no skipping ahead, not on this journey im on, not this time. Everything that comes up, needs to be moved through, nothing can be rolled up, or put to the side or saved for later.. for some other time. i have arrived in a place that i wont allow myself to travel back from, i am willing to do or not do, what ever it takes to arrive completely at home with myself, again.

lemon thyme tuna patties

ingredients: 4 potatoes, finely diced spanish onion, tuna, fresh sprigs of thyme, rind of 1 lemon, sea salt, cracked pepper, parsley, 5 slices stale bread, 1 free range egg, olive oil

method: in a food processor, combine bread, parsley pinch of salt and process into fine bread crumbs. Boil the potato’s whole with the skins on until cooked through and soft when pierced though the centre. Allow to cool slightly before peeling and disregarding the skins and mash with potato masher. Combine tuna with a little of the olive oil, onion, lemon rind, thyme, egg, with the potatoes. Stir mix through and season generously. Roll table spoonfuls into patties and coat in the bread crumbs , laying in a single layer on a tray and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour. Heat a non stick fry pan with olive oil and cook patties until a golden brown before gently turning to cook the other side. Serve with a light citrus salad, hot or cold.

free range kids, free range eggs

There is nothing simpler and nicer than wandering outside and collecting the eggs to then cook them up immediately for breakfast. If you have ever had eggs like this you will understand what I’m taking about..

ingredients: sourdough bread , free range fresh eggs, organic butter, organic baby asparagus spears, 1 avocado, juice of a lemon, olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper, a couple of free range kids

method: Heat a non stick grill pan on low, put on a small pot of water for the asparagus. With a glass cut holes into the centre of the sourdough, lightly butter on both sides and put aside. Gently snip with fingers the ends off the asparagus and place into the water when it comes to the boil. Blanch for 2-3 minutes, then remove and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Slice the avocado all the way around and remove the seed. Scoop the flesh out into a bowl and add the juice of half a lemon and season. Mash with a fork and set aside. Lightly oil the grill pan and turn the heat up to a medium heat then add the sourdough slices, as many as you can fit onto the pan. While toasting lightly season with salt and cracked pepper. Allow to toast for a minute or so then begin cracking your eggs into the holes of the bread. Allow the bread to cook to a buttery golden brown before flipping over to cook the other side. The second side will take less time than the first. Try not to over cook the eggs. When nicely toasted, take out of the pan and set aside on a board. While the grill pan is still hot add a little more olive oil and add the asparagus, gently sear for a minute, lightly season with salt. Serve the asparagus spears on the toasts, and add a spoonful of the avocado mixture to the plates. Give thanks and enjoy!

pecan pie

Where you’ve been is part of where you should be and it’s the experience you need to go where you will go.

Sister Joan Chittister

pecan pie

ingredients for the sweet pastry:125grams unsalted butter softened, 1free range egg,90 grams icing sugar,30grams ground almonds, 250grams plain flour

ingredients for the filling: 3 free range eggs, 150ml pure maple syrup,80grames brown sugar,50grams butter,195grams roughly chopped pecans

method for the pastry: place softened butter,egg,icing sugar and ground almonds in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment and beat until combined and smooth. Gradually add the flour and stop mixing as soon as mixture is combined. wrap dough in plastic film and refrigerate for an hour or over night.

method for the filling: pre heat oven to 200°C. Over a low heat melt butter with maple syrup and brown sugar. Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs and stir through chopped pecans,put to the side to cool slightly while you prepare the base. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and wide enough to cover the base and sides of a greased pie pan. Lightly bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour in the pecan filling and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes or until centre is just set. Allow to cool slightly before serving with a dollop of thick cream.

pastry addapted from Manu Feildel

rustic bruschetta jamie style

in true Jamie style i haven’t included exact measurements in this recipe. It’s about fresh flavours and finding the balance that’s right for you. If you like it tangy add extra balsamic, if you want to balance it out a little add a touch more maple syrup, or you can substitute it for sugar. Be generous with your olive oil, and over all your dressing, its vital to have left overs to mop up from the board with the garlic toasts.

rustic bruschetta

ingredients: 6 slices of sourdough pagnotta or ciabatta bread, extra virgin olive oil,1 clove garlic, bunch of basil, vine ripe Roma tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, sea salt

method: heat a grill pan on high heat, lightly drizzle bread with olive oil and toast the bread both sides. When cooked and while still hot rub the toast with the clove of garlic on one side, then put a side. On a large board roughly chop tomatoes and basil, while still on the board, drizzle over the maple syrup, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sea salt to taste. Mix with fingers while still on the board, top a few slices of the toast with the mix and slice and arrange rest of the bread on the side of the board. Place a few forks down and serve Jamie style.

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast.

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

ingredients: Loaf of pasta dura or ciabatta bread thick sliced,3 free range eggs, 2Tlb cream, butter, 2tsp caster sugar, 2tsp cinnamon,1 tsp maple syrup, blue berries, raspberries

Method: slice bread and combine the sugar and cinnamon onto a plate. Mix eggs, cream and syrup with a fork. Heat a non stick grill pan with a dollop of butter. Soak each slice of bread in the egg mix and then cook on the pan, flipping once the bread is nice and golden. While still hot, lay the bread in the cinnamon sugar-coating both sides. Top with berries and a drop of butter.

lemon slice

nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.

-OSCAR WILDE

Lemon Slice Recipe

ingredients:150g unsalted butter softened,1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/3 cup caster sugar,1 1/3 cups plain flour,

lemon topping ingredients:4 free range eggs,1 tsp finely grated lemon rind,1/3 cup plain flour,1 1/3 cups caster sugar,2/3 cup lemon juice

method:Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a slice pan and line with baking paper.

Place softened butter into a kitchen mixer with the sugar and vanilla and beat on low-speed for 2 minutes then add flour and continue mixing until a soft dough forms. Transfer to pan and press evenly into the base. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven. Set aside to cool.

Make topping Mix eggs, lemon rind, flour and sugar together on low-speed until smooth. Add lemon juice and continue mixing until combined. Pour over base. Bake for 15 minutes or until just set. Cool completely in pan. Dust with icing sugar. Slice into bite size pieces, serve, enjoy with tea.

day after curry…Jamie style

day after curry…Jamie style.

day after curry…Jamie style

Jamie oliver is eminent for creating the most flavoursome dishes from left overs. We had slow roasted beef for Christmas lunch and an amazing curry with flat bread with the left overs, the next night.

For the curry

ingredients: left over meat or chicken, 2 potatoes,1 onion diced,1/2 cup green peas, 2 heaped tablespoons of curry powder, 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds,3/4 litre chicken stock, chilli (optional) season to taste

method: pull apart the meat or chicken, dice the potatoes in 1cm pieces, dice the onion and add all the ingredients and the curry powder, chilli, and enough chicken stock to cover to the targine. Stir around cover with the lid and cook in the oven at 175°C for 2 1/2 hours or until the liquid has reduced and the curry has come together. Serve with flat bread.

flat bread

ingredients:1 cup plain flour,1 cup natural yoghurt,pinch of salt,1 teaspoon baking powder,extra flour for rolling,olive oil for cooking, sea salt for seasoning

method: combine all ingredients into a bowl and bring together to form a dough. Then turn the dough out onto a clean surface lightly dusted with flour and knead into a ball. Cut small handfuls of the dough and then shape into a small round disk, lightly flour rolling-pin then roll out the dough into a thin consistency. Layer the dough between sheets of baking paper while you continue rolling out the remaining mixture. Heat a heavy base flat pan with a little olive oil, cook the dough one sheet at a time, adding a little extra drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, cook both sides to a light golden brown. Once cooked set aside, and continue cooking the remaining bread.

raspberry and vanilla pod jam

It’s important that my children know where the food they eat begins. That not everything must be bought from the supermarket and most of the time what we can create in the kitchen with our own hands and hearts has a far greater effect on their well-being than anything that can be bought off a shelf, even jam.

Raspberry and Vanilla Pod Jam

ingredients: 700g fresh or frozen raspberries, 700g caster sugar, 3 teaspoons of vanilla pod paste, juice of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon of pectin powder(optional)

method: Before beginning place a saucer in the freezer to chill and wash and sterilise your jars by boiling in a pot of water for 10 minutes. To make the jam, combine raspberries and sugar in a heavy base pot on a low heat and gently heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the vanilla paste and juice of the lemons and the pectin powder to the mix. Adjust the heat to a low boil, creating good movement within the mix. Stir regularly to avoid sticking and burning for 20 to 25 minutes. When the jam starts to reduce and thicken lower the heat and test by dropping a teaspoon of the jam onto the chilled plate from the freezer. If the jam develops a skin once on the plate and wrinkles when pushed with your finger, it’s ready. Turn off the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes before funneling into hot pre sterilized jars. Seal with the lids while still hot.

words and lemon thyme butter biscuits

‘It is worse to stay where one does not belong at all than to wonder about lost for a while and looking for a psychic and soulful kinship one requires. It is never a mistake to search for what one requires. Never.’

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes

She has up until this point tried to go without her soul life. That was never going to be enough. There comes a time when beginning again is necessary. Stripping back the layers of any delusions she has built up around herself over the years, revealing what lies beneath. This will take sometime, many moments requiring patients and the deepest of commitment to herself. She will begin the decent, travelling the road into the depths of her own intricate self. It could possibly be the most important journey she is ever going to take. For some, this time never comes, for others it comes with great fears attached, tremendous risks or copious hurts. The beginning of the decent usually comes without choice, it presents with a sense of urgency, it is a matter of survival, not of the hungry kind, we are talking about something much deeper than that. One where she knows, if she allows things to remain the same, that she most definitely will not survive. That any truth of her own will be lost, that she will lose her ‘self’ in this life she is moving through. There is a part in the back of her mind that is all-consuming with a terrifying fear, one that she has never before experienced, one that says don’t do it, stay here, safe and hidden in this story you have created for yourself. It is here in this moment that she must gather all that she knows to be true about herself, draw deeply on her faith and instinctual self and go, in a way that she knows she must. It is here, where she let’s go, of all that she knows to be true, of any safe haven she had, leaving her only with her own vulnerability in the palms of her hands. She does ‘this in order to learn her way, in order to clear her way, to the true and wild self.’

lemon thyme butter biscuits

ingredients:125 g butter,softened,100g caster sugar,1 free-range egg,200g plain flour,zest of 2 lemons,¼ teaspoon baking powder,1 pinch sea salt,3 tablespoons demerara sugar, juice of a lemon, 1/3cup icing sugar, Few sprigs of thyme

method: Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour, lemon zest, baking powder and salt and mix until you have a ball of dough. Cover and place in the fridge for 1 hour, or until firm.
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until ½cm thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into desired shape and place onto a lined baking tray. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing. Mix the icing sugar and add the juice of a lemon slowly until the desired consistency is reached, aim for thick pouring cream consistency, too thin and it will run off the biscuits. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and tiny sprigs of thyme. Set in the fridge for an hour before serving. Place in a jar or air tight container in the fridge to keep.

Slightly varied butter biscuit recipe, Jamie Oliver, Ref -Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women who run with the wolves

carrot cake with dark agave nectar

Carrot Cake

ingredients: 2cups SR flour, 1/2cup brown sugar, 1/4cup dark agave nectar, 3 freerange eggs, 1/4cup vegetable oil, 2 carrots grated, 1cup soy milk

method: combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well until all combined. Pour mixture into a lined and greased cake tin. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Serve while still warm with a little butter and a drizzle of agave nectar.

making the bread

making the bread.

making the bread

Tranquility. Awareness. Jewish identity. Family. Truly restful sleep and the best food on earth . . .

We’re told that no such thing exists, but Shabbat may well be the panacea to modern life. Imagine: a day on which the world stands still. Imagine: a time when the search for your spiritual center ceases—because you now are at your spiritual center. Imagine: Shabbat

–chabad.org

This is a beautiful Jewish bread, a custom we have borrowed and adopted as our own. We make the bread with many hands, through which my children learn about life. Everything is a process, finding the right ingredients, seeing if they fit, moving with them for a while, then rest and contemplate before you rise. Begin moving again into your desired shape, there are no rules here, if you don’t wish there to be.. Rest some more, and when you are ready rise again to your full potential. The final moment is deliciously sweet, full of love, baked to perfection and offers the world a wonderful slice of truth.

challah bread

ingredients: 1 cups lukewarm water,1packet active dry yeast,1 teaspoon sugar,3 free range eggs,1 free range for wash,1/4 cup honey,2 tbsp canola oil,2 tsp salt,4 cups plain 000 flour

method: Combine the lukewarm water and the yeast with the sugar into a small bowl, stir to dissolve. Wait for 10 minutes. The yeast should activate by beginning to foam. If it doesn’t, your yeast may have expired. pour the flour into a large mixing bowl. Lightly beat the eggs then add them with yeast mixture, honey,oil and salt to the flour mixture. stir to combine then turn out and knead for 10 minutes. Lightly grease the bowl with canola oil and return the dough to the bowl, cover with film and a tea towel and rest in a warm place for an hour. when the dough has double in size punch down to remove the air pockets, then recover and allow to rise agin. When the dough has doubled for the second time, it is time for the braiding. This is when the bread is blessed before it is separated and braided. Divide the mixture into two or three equal portions. On a large lined baking tray begin to plat the dough, tuck the ends under at each end. With the remaining egg make a wash by combing 1 egg with 1 tablespoon cold water. brush over the entire loaf and allow to rest for a further 45 minutes. Then bake in the oven at 190°C for 20 minutes, then remove and brush again with the egg wash. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a rack to allow to cool slightly before serving.. If it lasts that is. Ours never does.

warm orange syrup for orange and poppy seed cake

orange and poppy seed cake

ingredients:1 1/2cups SR Flour,3/4cup caster sugar,1teaspoon vanilla extract,2tablespoons poppy seeds,3/4-1cup freshly squeezed orange juice,2freerange eggs,2 tablespoons olive oil,180grams softened butter

method:In a kitchen mixer combine the sugar, butter, vanilla and mix until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, olive oil, flour and orange juice. Once combined add the poppy seeds and stir through by hand. Pour the mix into a well greased and lined cake tin. Bake at 165°C in a preheated oven or until cooked through the middle.

Orange Syrup

ingredients: Rind of 1 orange pith removed, juice of 1 1/2 oranges,1/2cup caster sugar, teaspoon vanilla extract,1/4cup water

method:combine all the ingredients into a pan, simmer over a low heat until mixture thickens and becomes syrupy. Pour over orange cake while still warm. Serve with thickened cream