Category Archives: Food Glorious Food

Fire Breathing Fire Cider

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Four years I’ve been making this stuff now and I still whole heartedly stand by it. As an immune system booster, as a tasty salad dressing, and also as a general dinner pep up- fire cider has pretty much got you covered.

While new recipes on cityhippyfarmgirl.com might have trickled down, the whole food eating emphasis is still very much the basis of our everyday. This recipe is one of those basics that’s been incorporated into being a regular one.

Now, I’ve done recipes for this potent number in a number of different places over the years, but one little place I haven’t done it, is here. So for both my own reference sake, and for anyone else looking for an easy go to immune system superhero booster.

There is…Fire Cider.

If by chance you’ve already come down with a viral beast, or just want to taste some first before giving it a go yourself, Hilbilby Fire Tonic is excellent. While I have recently done some photography work with their products, anyone that has read these pages over the many years would know, I don’t mention things unless I wholeheartedly love it, and I do. Fire Cider no matter how it comes to you, really is awesome.

 

Fire Cider (super immune system booster)

Ingredients you’ll need:

Equal parts- ginger, garlic, turmeric, onion (with optional extras chilli) Quantities will vary depending on the amount you want to make.

Apple cider vinegar

1 Lime/Lemon peel (no need to chop)

*Where possible possible use organic ingredients.

In a large clean glass jar, add chopped ingredients, and top up with apple cider vinegar until bulk ingredients are well covered with the liquid. Add your lid, (if it’s a metal one, add a piece of baking paper as the vinegar can sometimes erode.)

Leave the mixture on a darkened bench for 2-4 weeks, with a once every 24 hours agitation this just means swish it round a bit when you are walking past.

With a sieve, strain your mixture into a clean glass bottle. Drink daily as a super immune booster or several times a day if you are feeling a bit under the weather. Start with a small amount and building up to half a shot glass.

Can be used as a kick arse salad dressing if drinking it straight is a bit strong for you.

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You might also like 7 of the Best Natural Cold and Flu Remedies

 

A distracting sandwich

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The sandwich was distracting me.

I was supposed to be submitting things, sorting things, tidying things. All things related to the computer and to be honest, it wasn’t holding my interest quite as it should have.

The sandwich to my right however, was another story.

My whole-hearted attention belonged to two slices of bread and an assortment of delicious fillings within it. This dear ones, was a very special sandwich.

Truly, truly this was a kick arse sanga. Two pieces of dark rye sourdough with just the right amount of chew, Gouda cheese sliced thinly over and over to form a wall of delicate cheese. Prosciutto also sliced thinly due to its strong salty taste, meaning more of tasty hint, rather than a starring role. (There was to be no starring roles here, it was all about entwined flavours within the sandwich with no competition of flavours.)

On one side the subtle mayonnaise, creamy with a kick of tartness and just enough to lubricate each mouthful to reach the perfect level of taste bud comfort. The pickle…ahh, the pickle. The pickle really could have been a stand alone star, but here it had been relegated to sit amongst the layered slices. A fat pickle now cut into wedges of which were the perfect length for said sandwich. Not falling out of your sandwich at every bite as some substandard pickles will do.

Add in a forkful or two of locally made kimchi, and there you had it. Some lunch time goodness not usually seen at this level (for various lazy reasons.)

Nothing more, nothing less. The inside workings of a sandwich like this, are often those ingredients forgotten to backs of fridges, relegated to the condiment list, or perhaps hastily slapped together in methods that didn’t allow for the sandwich song to be heard. Not today though, oh no. Sing it did. All the way from the first mouthful, to the very last. Each bite a perfect distracting chew.

I had long since given in.

There was no computer work to be done now. Full attention was going to be given to this wonderous (and easily manipulated in one hand) lunch time goodness. It will was a distracting sandwich.

An assortment of delicious fillings

rye sourdough

prosciutto

gouda cheese

mayonnaise

pickles

tomato

kimchi

For the love of Pasta

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For the savvy pasta eaters amongst us, you might have been aware that it was World Pasta Day this week, and while I seemed to have gotten this far in life without having acknowledged it, for 2017 that was going to change.

It was time to pasta up.

With no clear idea of what to make for dinner besides a generic pasta dish, I decided to keep it easy. There are many reasons for this. The primary one? I have no interest in spending half a day cooking a dinner that will be consumed in three and a half minutes flat. (Obviously longer if the kids hate it on sight.)

But they didn’t, of course they didn’t. It’s pasta. Number one crowd pleasing dinner time plate. Have pasta, can cook. They key to a rocking simple pasta dish is a great olive oil, great parmesan and a toothsome pasta. If you have those three rockin’ things, well the rest of the dish is up to you.

 

Quick and Easy Pasta Additions

Pangritata

rocket, garlic and lemon zest

cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella

chilli, garlic and parsley

Sticky buns and spices

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With three days to go until Cinnamon Bun Day, I thought it might be a good time to refresh the sourdough starter and stock up on some of those all important spices, cinnamon and cardamom. A whole day designated for sweet nordic baked goodies? Yes indeed.

Over the blogging years I’ve done quite a few posts on variations of these delicious little morsels. If you are new to cityhippyfarmgirl.com and are keen to give them a try, or perhaps need a refresher on how to twist or bake them. There are a few posts to choose from.

How to twist your kanelbullar, and my favourite recipe can be found here. 

The Lemon Meringue Cake Crisis

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A lemon meringue cake, that was the brief. Decorate it however you want mama…

No problem what so ever kiddo, of course I can do that. With three obvious components to the recipe, this should be an easy one, and not something to be worried about at all right?

Right??

Cake, done and dusted. I made that the day before. Curd? Yep, being the efficient person I can be, I made that one two days before. On the celebratory day, it’s just a simple Italian meringue and assemble the thing. Easy peasy.

I was using a new candy thermometre, which I thought was particularly adult of me, instead of the usual guess work that I normally do to get to hardball stage. The thermometre didn’t seem to work out so well though.  I burnt the sugar syrup before it had even gotten close to the magic temperature it needed to get to. Which as I’m sure you can image, burnt sugar is a pure joy to clean off.

Start again, new eggs, new sugar, clean pan. I didn’t move a muscle, no distractions what so ever. Just my full attention in the pot, and yet it seemed to be heading in the exact same damn direction as the first failed lot. Why oh why? No time to wonder, I had to slap this all together quick sticks and make do with what I had.

And it’s at this point, where a good cake, that had lots of potential just began to look sadder and sadder. Three upturned waffle cones, with piped (slightly burnt tinged, but we can ignore that) italian meringue with pretty cachous and rock sugar sprinkled throughout sounds like a good idea.

Well turns out it looks like a snow-capped earthship. Even the smallest declared I might have put a bit too much ‘icing on’. I kept adding to it, hoping it would get better.

It didn’t.

I added tall beautiful beeswax candles, that did help a little as a distraction technique, and then all we had to do was cut into it.

All was ok again once more, it really did taste great.

Lemon and olive oil cake with lemon curd and italian meringue is a combination that works, that part is definitely tried and true. It’s the decorating bit that needs an overhaul, unless you are wanting a snow capped earthship building cake of course, and then hey, I’ve got you covered.

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Lemon and Olive Oil Cake recipe here.

Three Blue Ducks Lemon Curd recipe

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Oranges, lemons, limes…oh and meatloaf

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I’ve been given rather a lot of citrus in the past few weeks. Bags shoved into idle hands, baskets left at front doorsteps, ‘do you want some oranges/limes/lemons/grapefruit’ added in at the end of casual conversations.

So where does that leave me? Tickled pink, I tell you as this is M.A.R.M.A.L.A.D.E season, and I need to ensure that I make enough for a year of toast and teas. While also allowing enough spare jars to be popped into hampers and needy hands for those that might like the eating, but less of the making.

With all that in mind, I found myself cooking up 6 kilos of chopped up fruit, water and sugar. Now six kilos is a fair whack to be cooking in one batch, ambitious even.

Why? Because cooking up that amount takes a while, and when ‘a while’ happens, my mind can wander. Wander to the garden, wander to the laundry, wander to the computer, wander to instagram, wander to children with multiple demands of x,y,z etc, etc. Which made the sticky question extra pertinent… Could I keep this precious cargo from,

a) Sticking to the bottom of the pot?

b) Overflowing?

c) Over or under jelling?

Answer? Well as Meatloaf once said (as yes, I know he probably wasn’t singing about his marmalade making) two out of three ain’t bad.

Citrus Marmalade Ratio

2 kilos of finely chopped citrus mixture

2 kilos of sugar

1.5 litres of water

(Everything you ever needed to know about marmalade and jam making, right here.)

Damn straight your coffee makes a difference

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So you plan your coffee drinking, you take your reusable cup everywhere just in case, (and you obviously drink organic fairtrade locally roasted beans.) Now if by chance you do forget to bring that when the caffeine call goes out? Well, you decide to sit down and drink it, or simply do with out.

Which is all rather excellent. But what next? How can we go that step further in reducing the 1 billion coffee cups that Australia goes through each year?

Talking with a friend recently who held a chai market stall, and was offering a discount if you brought your own cup. Not one person did throughout the day. Which is pretty disappointing really. Speaking again with another friend, I was appalled to hear that in recent times she had been charged extra to get her take away coffee, in her own cup.

There’s obviously still a fair amount of misunderstanding and opportunity for education still to take place.

Which is where you, the humble consumer gets to step in. While your individual coffee habit is clean as whistle, there are still multiple opportunities to step and lead the community. The ABC’s War on Waste is still a talking point for many people, so it’s created the perfect vehicle for conversation, and if you didn’t happen to see it, or know of the program at all, well, all problems highlighted on the show are going to be relevant for some time, so jump on in.

But how?

Start by hitting up your local community.

Here in Australia we have a great website called Responsible Cafes. Simply type in your address and it will show all the cafes around you that give a discount on your take away coffee if you bring your own cup.

To me this illustrates a few things. One, you are spending your important dollar on a business that is making a conscious decision in making an effort (albeit a small one.) Two, there’s a dramatic reduction in needless landfill, and three, hey, you get a discount.

If you find there are cafes in your area that aren’t listed, why not start that wonderful conversation at your local.

Ask if it’s possible. Generally cafe owners will respond to customers demands, if enough people ask for bowls of green diana-berry smoothies. Well they are going to fill that demand.

Same goes for those takeaway coffee cups. The way you drink it makes a difference. What it comes in makes a difference, and those conversations that you start?

They make a huge difference.

 

Helpful Links 

Responsible Cafes

War on Waste

Fixing your coffee Habit

 

 

 

Must have gut lovin’ goodness list

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We are looking at take two of the ‘viral beast’ coming for a visit round these parts. It’s not an exciting visit, and to be honest I’m a bit miffed that the beast is back so quickly after the last time. Seriously the first round of coughs hadn’t even subsided properly.

However, it is what it is. Long naps, slow days, spluttery nights and afternoon sun snuggles…lock ’em in.

One afternoon when a run for provisions was needed I found myself in a chemist running through the symptoms with a sympathetic ear. A range of suggestions was given, including what I can only describe as a lengthy upsell. Which was all met with a no, I’ll just take the initial product please.

In a last ditch attempt, the sympathetic ear/ upseller went in to a long monologue about how probiotics are really important, encouraging good bacteria in our gut, and in turn ensuring a balanced immune system. I nodded, agreeing. Yes we have a lot of fermented food in our home for that very reason, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, sourdough etc etc. Intially she looked at me blankly, then followed that up with a raised eyebrow that said, sure continue on with your fluffy hippy woo woo stuff lady. When you are ready for the proper stuff come back to the chemist.

(She might be waiting awhile.)

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Must have gut lovin’ goodness list in times like this?

Sourdough– make your own, or buy someone else’s. The basis of every easy meal at the moment.

Sauerkraut– make a big batch and always have it at the back of the fridge. This stuff goes with everything.

Kimchi- this is being eaten twice a day, every day and I credit my not being invited to round two of the ‘viral beast’ because of it’s garlicky, chilli infused fermented goodness. Possibly a placebo effect, but hey, it remains a damn tasty one.

Kombucha– every day goodness, yes please.

Fire Cider– knocked back with an enthusiasm unmatched since shooters in the late 90’s.

Beetroot Kvass– It’s certainly beety, and also up there with one of the easiest to try your hand at if you are new to fermenting.

Ginger Beer-  This stuff will put hairs on your chest.

Lemony Goodness

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Tarty lemon cordial.

Soft eating lemon and olive oil cupcakes.

Lemon zest over mexican rice.

Marmalade with chunks of lemon in it to slap onto still warm sourdough.

Lemon in a green ginger wine hot toddy.

Possibilities are pretty much endless for the humble lemon. On a week where our family’s health has taken a smashing, it’s all about the lemons.

I hear there are healing properties in Lemon and Olive Oil Cupcakes…surely.

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What’s your go to lemony goodness?

Contemplating Cumquat Marmalade

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Making a large batch of cumquat marmalade is a perfect time for deep contemplation. Not so much of the fruit themselves, but using the opportunity to completely dissolve into the task of cutting the flesh open, separating the pips, and cooking it up.

It’s a long labour of love if you have cumquats like mine, with small balls of juicy tart fruit that are filled with those pectin producing seeds. You need them out, but you also need them to set your marmalade. Cut, separate, simmer, stir stir stir, test, and bottle. While there’s not a lot of room for nodding off here, you do still need to pay attention, there’s also room for having a good think.

And so the wonderful dissolving process begins.

With hands busy, the task of making marmalade that tastes like sunshine in a jar begins, and with that, like many creative and repetitive tasks- the mind is set free.

To wonder at will, delving deep into ideas that often few other tasks in any given day allow. You need these kind of activities now and then. Busy hands creating something, but also time to slow it all on down, contemplate the intricacies of life, ponder on the importance of speaking up, our moral values as a society (or maybe just how good that sunshiney marmalade is going to taste with a few squares of dark chocolate tonight.)

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This cumquat tree was originally planted as a Tree of Life.

The marmalade was loosely based around this recipe.

loving…words, jungles and cake

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Loving…listening to inspiring words at the Newcastle Writer’s Festival this weekend. Mind bendingly good. So good.

Loving…watching my kids rolling on the ground and laughing until tears squeezed out their eyes and breath would only come in gasps. What on earth was so funny? Truth be told, not a lot, but when you combine an impromptu short story you are telling with a few bum jokes, well you’ve pretty much made it to Parent of The Week.

Loving… creating a special occasion lazy version of a Black Forest Cake. No, actually not a lazy version…lets strike that one and rename it. Economical, lets fly with that one, (and yes it did look a bit 80’s style.)

Loving… the sun finally coming out for longer than an hour or two. While it did highlight the fact that a jungle of tarragon has replaced the backyard, it also brought all the bees out to play, and that dear people, is a beautiful thing.

How about you? What are you up to this weekend? What are you loving at the moment?

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[“Often life’s pleasures pass us by simply because we don’t take a moment to focus on them… Make a point of noticing everyday something that uplifts your spirit or tickles your heart… Stop to breathe in the joy of this moment and then tell someone about it. Share your joy and revel in it. When your joy is savoured, and then shared, it is magnified…” ROBIN GRILLE]

I hacked the recipe, but if you want the original Black Forest Cake, try here.