Real Hummus

Ever wondered why your homemade Hummus didn’t taste like the stuff you eat when dining at a Middle Eastern Restaurant? I’m sure all my Middle Eastern friends who read this will laugh at me… it actually took me about 9 months to test, try and research to finally find the most AUTHENTIC recipe. Honestly!! I would ask anyone I could and they would give me some recipe using canned chickpeas… I mean, there won’t no cans of chickpeas in the old days. I wanted the most original and best recipe I could find.

So here goes.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Dried Chickpeas
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 1/2 cup Tahini
• 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2- 2 1/2 Lemons (taste as you go)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cumin Powder
• 2-3 Tbsp Chilled Water
• 1/2 tsp Bi Carb Soda

Method:

1. Soak and cover chickpeas overnight
2. Boil chickpeas in water with 1/2 tsp bicarb soda until soft
3. Drain
4. In a processor add all ingredients. Taste and add a little more of what you desire… could be garlic, cumin, lemon juice.
5. Serve with a drizzle of Olive Oil, Paprika and flat bread.

Yum.

Jennifer X

Ps: the will give me 3 contains worth. I freeze 2 of them and thaw when needed. I’m our family we go through one a week. So I make a fresh batch every 3 weeks! X

Ever Tried a good Food Bar?

There’s nothing like a Good Old Burger Bar!
Over the weekend we had long time friends over for lunch. We try to get together a few time’s a year. They are what I call refreshing to my heart and soul. Truly God given friends! My girlfriend and I organised food last minute… realising we needed to feed 14 mouths for lunch, it needed to be fast and go the mile.
When was the last time you created a burger bar? Or have you ever made one? It’s too easy to create. Looks impressive and everyone is so satisfied. My go to tips on creating a fun concept;
•Always buy organic beef mince.
•Don’t add anything to it other than an egg and well seasoned.
•The best burgers are how you layer it. Eg; Fried eggs, Jalsburgh Cheese, housemade pickles.
•Make your own condiments if you can.
•Serve condiments in little jars.
•Use different heights to display elements.eg; place condiments on a makeshift shelf.
•Create an easy line up method
•Always serve your burgers on fresh buns and add loads of hot fries!
WINNER WINNER!

Bagel Bar
Ready to entertain this weekend? I’ve discovered in this season of motherhood my favourite time of day to entertain is breakfast. Guests arrive around 9:30-10am. The breakfast ideas are endless. The chats can be long and the day isn’t over by the end of the gathering. Most importantly, I have my most energy to serve! I also love hosting a good lunch too. But as for dinners… That season can wait. I am exhausted from huge days wearing other hats. My mission by 4pm is to get 5 children to bed as happily as possible.
Bagel Bar is definitely worth a try! Don’t forget to buy free range eggs and organic bacon/ham! Help our local farmers that are doing the right thing.

Jennifer X

Sourdough Cinnamon Scrolls

After some investigating, I finally found the best Sourdough Cinnamon Scroll recipe, with my own few little tweaks of course. Simple process, over night ferment, no stand mixer or a second rise, they turn out fluffy and super yummy (oh, and addictive!)

Prep Time – 20 mins
Cook Time – 35 mins
Fermenting Time – 12 hrs (Overnight)

Equipment

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Mixing Bowls
• Bench-Scraper
• Cheese Grater

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (113 g) butter (cold)
• 2.5 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sourdough starter
• 1 cup (240 g) organic full cream milk
• Squeeze of Lemon (1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) raw honey
  
• 3/4 teaspoon (4 g) fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• icing sugar to coat

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling

• 3/4 cup (150 g) light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons (56 g) butter (melted)

Instructions

• Mix the dough 12 hours before you plan to bake: (I did mine at 8pm) Use a cheese grater to grate the cold butter into a mixing bowl. Add the flour and use a bench scraper to ‘cut’ the butter into the flour. Add the sourdough starter discard, milk, lemon and honey. Mix with a spatula until the ingredients are well incorporated. Cover the bowl and let rest on the counter for 12 hours.
  • MAKE SURE YOU DON’T add the salt, baking soda or baking powder. This will be added right before rolling out the dough
    
    THE NEXT MORNING (8am – depending on your 12 hours)
    
• Preheat oven to 190°. Grease lightly with butter a large cast iron skillet (Baking Tray would also work).
  
• Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, set aside. Melt butter to also set aside
  
• Mix the salt, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl with a fork until there are no visible lumps. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the dough and mix it in with your hands. Generously flour your bench and turn the dough onto it. Flour the top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 30cm x 50cm rectangle.
  
• Coat the top of the dough with the melted butter and spread cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the surface leaving a couple centimetres bare along the edges. Starting on one side, roll the dough into a log shape. Use the bench-scraper to cut the log into 12 pieces. (approx. 4cm) Place the portions in the cast iron skillet, leaving space in between each piece to expand.
  
• Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar while hot.
  

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James. @thesourdoughstory

Sourdough Pancakes

Anyone with a Sourdough Starter will know that you end up with so much discard. Sure, you can throw it in the bin or compost. But, with panic buying, to find flour can be a struggle so you don’t want to just throw away. So, why not do something with it, and nothing is easier then sourdough pancakes.

You might have been storing your discard in the fridge, or you have some after a fresh feed of your starter. By just combining the following ingredients, you will have perfect fluffy pancakes before you know it.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 tablespoons rice malt syrup (or sugar/honey, your preference)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of Sourdough Starter
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1 egg
• Butter (to grease pan)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking power, baking soda, sugar and salt
2. Add your sourdough starter, milk and egg. Mix so everything is combined
3. Butter your frypan, once hot pour in your pancake batter to your preferred size. Once it starts to bubble on top, flip the pancake to cook the other side.
4. Once golden remove and serve.
5. Enjoy with organic pure maple syrup, or yogurt and mixed berries, or local raw honey

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With the above, we normally add some extra goodness. Don’t be afraid to add to your mix; chia seeds, wheatgerm, acai powder, greens powder or anything else you like to make these just that little much more healthier.

For photos sake, we kept to the original recipe this time 😉

Jennifer X

Breakfast Popsicles

Entertaining for Breakfast doesn’t have to be a stressful event. In fact it is probably the best time to entertain. You’ve got the most energy of the day, it doesn’t take all day to prepare and guests don’t stay on until all hours of the night. Speaking honestly here, what sells it for me is it’s probably the most cost effective meal to entertain.

If you follow my little blog or instagram you’ll probably know just how often I say that the key to a relaxed, happy hosting experience is to prepare beforehand. I like to think outside the box for breakfasts. Things that aren’t your usual ‘bacon and eggs’ or croissants… oh wait, let’s be real here! Nothing beats a fresh baked croissant. But if you want your guests to feel totally spoilt think of a few easy things that will work together. An easy example is my cute little menu this morning as we entertained 6 adults and 8 children.

It looked like this:

Breakfast popsicles

Breakfast grazing board

Israeli Shashuka served with fresh sourdough.

Drinks:

Champagne and fresh Orange Juice

Passion fruit Kombucha

Cold Drip

Really friends it was so simple to do. Once we put the kids to bed last night we set the table, I cooked up the shashuka to a point where I know the next day all I had to do was fry the eggs in the delicious mixture. As for a grazing board… I’m sure most of you have made them in your time. But this was really fun. Hop onto Pinterest and literally type the words in. You’ll be met with a wealth of ideas to create your own style. Finally I wanted to have something ready for upon arrival. Something that took a few seconds to put together and gave a wow factor. And here the recipe (embarrassingly) is!!

Ingredients:

500g organic plain coconut yoghurt (or any type you like)

Slices of fresh figs.

1/3 cup Organic honey

1/3 cup Organic granola or muesli

Popsicle moulds

Keep fresh fig slices aside. Mix other ingredients.

Place a fig gently into the mould. Build the mixture around it, place one more sliced fig into the mould. Completely fill mixture to the top.

Freeze.

Serve on a platter of your choice with scattered nuts and a drizzle of honey.

Come on! You can’t possibly go wrong here.

Enjoy.

Jennifer X