Creamy mushrooms and zucchini side dish

Who doesn’t like creamy mushrooms? My kids love them so much that I thought that this would be a great way to disguise green veggies that kids otherwise struggle to eat. Zucchinis being the case in point. This side dish is super simple to make with only a few ingredients. Tonight I served this with roasted lamb shanks but it would also make a great weekend brekky served with eggs and avocado. My kids ate the whole serving of this and asked for more.

Ingredients:

1 punnet (150g) mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini (or other greens of choice eg spinach), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cream (I like the thick mud cream)
unrefined salt
cracked pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in frying pan. Add mushrooms and zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat stirring occasionally until veggies are cooked through and soft. Stir through the cream and gently heat covered for a few minutes before serving (do not allow cream to boil).

Variations:

• omit greens entirely if you want unadulterated creamy mushrooms.

• add a splash of white wine after adding in mushrooms for extra flavour and oomph!

• add a sprinkle of fresh or dried thyme after adding in mushrooms for extra seasoning.

2-ingredient raspberry fool

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Someone recently asked me if I get more excited about making main meals or desserts. The pragmatist in me initially retorted with "mains" because they are the staple and hence should be the focus. Deservedly so. But truth be told, when it comes to excitement, desserts win hands down. Why? Because they are decadent. And sweet. And because I've got a naughty streak. And because they are a little like magic- the end product (be it the cake, muffin, tart, ice-cream etc) doesn't resemble at all the raw ingredients that you started with (eg eggs, butter, cream, fruit etc), much unlike a casserole or other main which pretty much looks the same as the pre-cooked version.

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Anyone who has been following my blog for some time will know that my food philosophy is all about teaming simplicity with nutrient density. Getting the most  nutrient-rich bang for as little possible time. Because we all have (and want) other things to do than spend all day in the kitchen! Any recipe that requires numerous ingredients or requires me to "beat egg whites until stiff" has lost me. Raspberry fool traditionally requires the cream to be beaten until stiff. You can certainly do this (and all the more power to you!) but I honestly don't think it's necessary for the time and effort spent and doesn't add much, if anything, to the flavour.

Here's my super quick 2-ingredient spin on this classic dessert:

2 cups (approx) of fresh or frozen raspberries (or mixed berries) 1 cup cream (or cream cheese or yogurt)

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Blend (with handheld blender) 1 cup of the berries with cream until well mixed. Alternatively layer the creamed mixture with the plain berries in a glass ending with a scattering of berries on top. This serves 3-4 depending on size of cups. I made  espresso cup sized one for my 2 kids (see photo).

Over the years I've gradually reduced the need for sweeteners to the bare minimum- my body no longer craves it - so I still enjoy desserts without all the sugar. This dessert is sweet enough for me. But if you find it too tart and want a sweeter taste, add a drizzle (up to a tablespoon) of unrefined sweetener (eg maple syrup or raw honey) to the cream before blending.

I buy frozen berries from Woollies (refer to the 2 brands in the photo on above) because they are 1/2 the price of the same ones sold in organic stores. Along with wild tinned fish, frozen berries are the only other food item I buy from a supermarket. The rest is from organic stores or farmers markets. And as much as I like to support family run organic stores and farmers markets, the price differential when it comes to berries is significant enough that I justify  buying whoever is cheapest given the large quantity we go through on a daily basis. (I add frozen berries to our morning smoothie).

Stay tunes for more recipes, hot drinks and other ideas to keep warm this winter!

Homemade Icecream! (Mango / Chocolate / Coconut & Ginger / Macadamia)

Home-made ice-cream! Definitely one of my favourite summer staple desserts or snacks enjoyed by young and old alike. In keeping with my food philosophy of nutrient-density and utter simplicity, my basic Vanilla ice-cream recipe calls for only 4 ingredients:

2 tablespoons vanilla bean powder
5 egg yolks from pastured hens (reserve the whites for omelettes or scrambled eggs)
500g full fat cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup (could substitute raw honey)

Blend ingredients in a food processor until well mixed.  It's that easy. The key will come down to the quality of the ingredients so buy the best quality you can afford.

Pour into iceblock moulds (for iceblocks) or small glass containers (for ice cream) and freeze (will keep for 2-3 months in freezer).

Take glass container of ice cream out of freezer and place at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving to soften. To remove iceblocks from moulds, run under hot water for a few moments.

Iceblock moulds can be bought from any homeware store (eg Peter's of Kensington, Wheel and Barrow etc). More expensive über groovy ones can be purchased from Seed Clothing.

Other ice-cream variations to basic recipe:

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Mango ice-cream:    

The flesh of 5 mangos5 egg yolks500g full fat cream5 tablespoons coconut oil Note- no sweetener required as mango is sweet enough

Chocolate ice-cream:

5 tablespoons raw cacao powder5 egg yolks500g full fat cream 3 tablespoons maple syrup 

Coconut and ginger ice-cream:

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 5 egg yolks1 can coconut cream (I prefer the Ayam non-organic brand without the guar gum additive to the organic brands that all contain guar gum). 3 tablespoon maple syrup 

Make up your own flavours. I recently experimented with strawberry and with banana/coconut. Or freeze your favourite breaksfast smoothie. If dairy doesn't agree with you, opt for coconut cream instead of cow's cream. Or if cream is too rich, substitute yogurt for a frozen yogurt dessert.

With only a couple weeks to go before summer ends, what are you waiting for?!

Various ice-block moulds sold at Wheel & Barrow Homewares

Cool ice-block moulds sold at Seed Clothing