¾ cup of dashi (seaweed stock) or chicken/fish stock
1 small shredded cabbage
4 eggs
¼ cup pickled ginger, shredded
optional: 250g sliced pork belly
optional: 1/4 cup tempura bits
2 spring onions sliced
Kewpie Mayonaise
Sauce
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
3 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Toppings:
Bonito flakes
Dried seaweed
Spring Onion
Okonomiyaki Sauce
Kewpie Mayonnaise
Method: 1. Combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. 2. Add dashi and whisk until combined and rest for 30 mins to 1 hour. 3. Meanwhile, make the okonomiyaki sauce by mixing all ingredients together until sauce is dissolved. 4. After the batter has rested, add eggs, tempura and ginger and mix well until combined. 5. Add shredded cabbage to the batter, ⅓ at a time, mixing well before adding the rest. 6. Heat oil in a large pan to a medium heat and add pancake mix to the pan about 10 cm across and 2cm thick. Add 3-4 pieces of pork belly if using. 7. Cover for 5 minutes being careful not to burn the base. 8. Check base has browned, flip the pancake, cook and cover for a further 5 minutes. 9. To serve spoon the brown sauce over the top and zig zag kewpie mayonnaise over the sauce and add other toppings.
5 potatoes, quartered + peeled (1 potato per person)
2-3 garlic cloves
3 springs rosemary
1 cup canola oil
Method:
Fill a large saucepan with water, bring to a boil. Add potatoes, garlic, a sprig of rosemary, and a pinch of salt. Boil for approx 15 mins or until potatoes are slightly tender.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. On a large baking tray, add oil (about 1 cm deep). Place in the oven to heat up.
Once potatoes are cooked, strain and place in a container with a lid. Shake the potatoes so they come rough.
When oil is hot, CAREFULLY place potatoes on tray, covering them in the oil. Add the remaining rosemary sprigs on top.
Cook for approx 1 hour or until potatoes are golden. Turning them every 15 mins.
Serve with a delicious roast or just eat them all to yourself! I know I couldn’t resist.
200 g unsalted butter, frozen and cut into pieces (1-2 cm)
200 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
90 g chilled water
½ tsp caster sugar
Berries
440g (2 cups) mixed berries
60g brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray.
Place all pastry ingredients into a food processor and blitz until a rough ball shape forms.
Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and place into refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, add 1 cup of the berries, spices, sugar and an extra 3 tbsp water. Simmer for approx 5 mins or until berries are completely soft. Then mash using a fork or potato masher until berries are almost mixed together to create a sauce.
Add the other cup of berries to the coulis and heat for approx 2 minutes or until berries are warmed through. Do not mash. Leave mixture to cool to room temp.
Once dough has rested, roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface into a circle (40 cm diameter and approx. 5 mm thick). Transfer baking paper with pastry onto a large baking tray (30 x 40 cm).
Spread cooled berry mixture onto pastry, leaving a 5 cm border on all sides.
Fold over pastry border, pleating pastry as you fold to create a crust. Brush pastry border with egg and bake for 25 minutes (200°C) or until pastry is puffed and golden. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
THERMOMIX VERSION:
Place all pastry ingredients into mixing bowl and mix 20 sec/speed 6.
Transfer pastry dough onto a lightly floured silicone bread mat or work surface, then shape into a ball. Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and place into refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes. Clean and dry mixing bowl.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
Add 220g of mixed berries and mix 10 sec/speed 8.
Add 60 g sugar.
Add 1 tbsp cinnamon.
Add 1 tsp ground cloves.
Add 1 tsp nutmeg.
Insert measuring cup and lid and simmer for 60 seconds/heat 100 degrees C/ speed 3.
Scrape down sides with spatula.
Add extra 220g berries.
Insert measuring cup and lid and simmer for 45 seconds/heat 100 degrees C/ speed 0.5.
Transfer berry mixture to a bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Once dough has rested, roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface into a circle (40 cm diameter and approx. 5 mm thick). Transfer baking paper with pastry onto a large baking tray (30 x 40 cm).
Spread cooled berry mixture onto pastry, leaving a 5 cm border on all sides.
Fold over pastry border, pleating pastry as you fold to create a crust. Brush pastry border with egg and bake for 25 minutes (200°C) or until pastry is puffed and golden. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Preheat oven to 160°C. In a large sauce pan, add all ingredients and mix on a low heat. Stir until honey is fully melted and all ingredients are combined. Honey should completely coat the muesli. Add more honey if it doesn’t.
On a large, lined baking tray, spread muesli over the surface and pack down so there are no gaps. You can pack it down as thin or thick as you want.
Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown. Leave until completely cooled.
In a medium pan, saute onions in ghee for 2 mins. Add spices, garlic and ginger and saute for about 5 mins or until caramelised and very aromatic.
Add potatoes and chickpeas. Saute for 2 mins. Add tinned tomatoes and saute for 2 mins.
Add water until potatoes are just covered, then bring to a boil. Simmer on a low heat for about 1 hour.
By now, your potatoes should be soft and the curry should have a deep, spiced flavour. If your curry is too thin, add the corn flour mixture and mix until thickened.
Mash all ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended and smooth. Cover and chill while preparing dough.
For dough:
2. Place flour, eggs, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Mix at low speed until dough pulls away from side of bowl, about 4 minutes. Place on work surface; knead until smooth, Divide in 4, flatten, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Working with 1 dough round at a time, run dough through widest setting of a pasta machine. Fold in half; run through machine. Repeat 7 times. Roll through machine without folding, decreasing width setting after each roll, until the thinnest setting. Transfer to a floured surface.
4. Using a 3″ cookie cutter, cut dough into circles. Spoon 1 very small teaspoonful of filling into center of each dough. Brush edges lightly with water; fold over and press to seal, forming a half-moon shape. Fold and press tips together, moistening with water to seal. Transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with salt; add tortellini. Simmer, stirring gently, until cooked through, 2-3 minutes after they begin to float. Serve with your favourite pasta sauce.
Basically, the Paleo diet includes eating the foods we ate as our hunter/gatherer cavemen ancestors (about 2-7 million years ago). Foods such as grains, legumes, all dairy products, oils, salt, sugar and all processed foods are not included in the diet. The thinking behind this diet is that in those times, modern day diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers did not exist, so adopting this diet may see these diseases diminish. While eating like this could eradicate modern day conditions there have been no long term benefit studies to prove this factor. One big reason for the paleo diet supposedly curing modern day conditions is not the fact that we’re eating like cavemen, it is the fact that so many foods are excluded from the diet, which results in lower kilo-joule (calorie) intake. Lower kilo-joule intake=weight loss=lower rates of obesity etc.
Along with the rest of the fad diets, the Paleo diet also has it’s many issues and complications. One problem with the paleo diet is that it is nearly impossible to follow. In the cultural, modern world we live in, it is an extremely hard diet to maintain unless you live on a farm, hunt all your own meat and plant/gather all of your own vegetables. Even then you’ll still probably be deficient in at least one nutrient. Moreover, many Australian families do not eat native foods such as Kangaroo and wild fish. This is because they’re not readily available in modern day supermarkets- most, if not all, the meat at supermarkets are farmed. Furthermore, many of the modern day meat we see in our supermarkets are not what our ancestors ate anyway. Which makes the diet really hard to follow when we cant even access such foods.
Another BIG reason (my favourite reason) why this diet is hard to maintain is because you are less likely to meet your daily nutrient requirements. This can put you in a dangerous situation for you and and your body due to nutrient deficiencies causing all sorts of complications. You are much more likely to be at risk of the following deficiencies: Calcium, vitamin E, Carbohydrate, Vitamin B, and dietary fibre. For those thinking you can get calcium from non dairy products, you’re absolutely correct. However, you would have to eat five or more servings of certain greens and fish daily to meet the recommended calcium needs and that isn’t practical whatsoever. There are also some greens such as spinach that are high in calcium too, except they contain oxalates (chemical found some food, excreted in waste products) and phytates (plant storage of phosphorus that can prevent nutrient absorption) that bind to calcium which means that not as much calcium is absorbed into the body.
An important side note is that a lot of Australian paleo diet advocates base their knowledge off of minimal research which results in poor advice- even dangerous advice. It has also resulted in health professionals refusing to associate themselves with these advocates because advice was so misleading and dangerous. It’s important that you listen to dietary advice from someone who is qualified to give it, like a registered dietitian or health professional.
My major take home message is that if you do choose to adopt a Paleo diet then make sure you do your research, speak to your health professional before making the decision, make sure you consume all of your daily nutrients from adequate food sources, and regularly see your health specialist to make sure you are not putting yourself in danger. Most of all, eat what makes you HAPPY. There is no correct way to eat if you are doing it in a responsible and healthy way.
For all nutritional and food questions, contact me below.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a bread pan with baking paper and grease the inside of the pan to prevent sticking.
In a large bowl mix together the mashed banana, eggs, maple syrup, greek yogurt, oil and vanilla extract to a bowl until well combined.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients (including choc) and mix until just combined. Do not overmix)
Add banana bread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Jaz Culinary 