Greetings from Adelaide

I am beginning a journey! I have no itinerary or route planned. It requires no ticket or foreign currency and I have no idea how long it will take. All I know is that it involves exploring world food and turning the recipes into great tasting vegetarian meals. So if you are interested, come on the journey with me and let’s see where it takes us!

I have started this blog to share my passion for food and I hope you get some inspiration to try these recipes for yourself. I will try and post 1 recipes a week, more if I have time.

 I am always on the lookout for new recipes to try. Sometimes they work really well, often I change them and adopt them. My family will tell you that there have been disasters, and I am not too proud to admit that. Often I get an idea from something I have read, tasted or grown and if I can't find a recipe I will invent one. My recipes will always - be vegetarian, use fresh (often home grown) vegetables in season, will occasionally use cream, will often include chocolate.

Beetroot - More than just pickling

I have just harvested the last of my beetroot and I have been trying to decide how to use it. Did you know that beetroot has been around for a very long time? It is related to the ‘Sea Beet’ which has grown wild along the coastal areas from India to Great Britain (Not that I have ever seen any wild ones). It has changed its shape over the years too. Early French beetroot was elongated, like a fat carrot and was called ‘Rouge Crapaudine’. And although the name means "Toad",  probably because the beetroot was so ugly, I have my own interpretation of this word. 

I have not been able to find a good French recipe for Beetroot Dip but we can go to the Middle East for this one. This is a great recipe to use in the summer or winter. I like to include this in a Mezze spread or just add some bread or savoury biscuits and serve with drinks.

Beetroot Dip

1.5 hrs to cook beetroot

10 mins to make the dip

Ingredients

3 medium sized beetroots with stalks and leaves removed
¼ cup caster sugar or less if you prefer
1 ½  tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 ½ tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp salt
1 tbl olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup plain yoghurt
1 tbl chopped parsley (optional)

Wrap beets in foil and cook in a moderate oven 160 – 180 fan forced for approx. 1.5 hrs.

When cool, slip off the skins.

Chop beetroot and place it and all other ingredients except the yoghurt into a food processor and process until you reach a consistency that you like. It should have some texture but no big lumps. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides. This should take approx. 3 minutes. Turn the beetroot into a fancy dish and stir in the yoghurt. I like to add a little chopped parsley too. You can eat this straight away or chill in the fridge for an hour and enjoy with some warm flat bread. This can be stored in the fridge for approx. 3 - 4 days. (The sugar seems to bring out the rest of the flavours so don't omit it altogether).

Chocolate Beetroot Macadamia Brownies to Die for

I have used beetroot in a chocolate cake before but but then I worked on the following recipe and made the best chocolate and beetroot combination. America - eat your heart out!

 

1.5 hrs to roast beetroot

10 mins to mix it 
25 mins cooking time
                             

 400g whole raw beets (3 medium beets)

100g unsalted butter, plus a little extra for greasing your pan

200g bar plain chocolate (70% cocoa)

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g caster sugar

3 eggs

100g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

100g unsalted macadamia nuts

Wrap your whole beets in foil and roast in the oven at 160c fan forced for approx. 1.5 hours or you can microwave them in a covered container with a little water, if you chop them first. I prefer to roast them. When cool enough to handle, slip off the skins.

Butter a baking tray/tin 20 x 30cm and line with baking paper. Chop the chocolate roughly, (no tasting at this point) and cut the butter into cubes. Put the cooked beetroot into a food processor and blender with the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Whizz until the mix is as smooth as you can get it. The chocolate and butter will melt as you do this and look like a gooey mess.

Give the macadamia nuts a bit of a bash with a rolling pin, until the pieces are a nice size. Put the sugar and eggs into a bowl and beat using an electric beater on low until thick, pale and foamy. Spoon the beetroot mix into a bowl then use a large metal spoon to fold it into the whisked eggs gently, because you want to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.  Add macadamia nuts.  Sift in the flour and cocoa powder together, then, gently fold these into the mixture to make a smooth batter.

Pour into your prepared tin and bake in a moderate 180º oven for 25 mins or until risen all over. Cool completely in the tin, then cut into squares. I generally sprinkle the top with a tiny bit of icing sugar. It is hard to only eat one of these!