Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Recently I fell in love with rhubarb again. It is a lovely low FODMAP fruit and it pairs beautifully with other low FODMAP fruits, not just apple - which leaves me with nasty IBS symptoms for days.

My favourite is strawberries because I can sometimes get away with no added sugars because they are so sweet.

Having said that, they usually do need sugar so I use rice malt syrup.

Ingredients:

1 kg of hulled strawberries
750 g - 1kg of rhubarb
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
1/4 cup water

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 C.
Wash fruit thoroughly.
Trim and dice rhubarb into stalks about 2 inches long and ensure that you remove all the leaves.
Cut strawberries into quaters.
Place fruit in a deep oven safe dish (I use Pyrex glass dishes) ensuring that you have at least an inch clear as the fruit tends to bubble over when it is hot.
Melt rice malt syrup in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Add rice malt syrup and water.
Cover the dish top in aluminium foil and put it in the oven.

Set a timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes is up check if the fruit is bubbling and falling apart a little. If it is take it out. Mix the fruit around so the top bits don't burn and then put it back in the oven WITHOUT the aluminium foil for another 30 minutes.

After the time is up remove it from the oven again and recheck. If the rhubarb is falling apart it is done. Turn the oven off and leave the fruit to cool for a while. Once it has cooled sufficiently you can try a little to ensure that it is sweet enough. If it isn't, add some more rice malt syrup.

Serve with custard and/or ice cream. Yum!

You can also turn it into a crumble or eat it with your soy yoghurt for breakfast.

Soy Yoghurt Updates - Even Better Soy Yoghurt

Even Better Soy Yoghurt

I've had more hits on my blog for my soy yoghurt recipe than everything else put together.

In the last 2 years the recipe has had some tweaking to make it better. While my friends have been informed about those tweaks (that is, if they asked), no-one else has.

So, since I'm on holidays I thought I might add the additions.

It all started when one of my friends commented that the yoghurt was very runny. I didn't really care before she brought it up, but I decided to have a play and see if I could fix it up a bit and make it better.

Thicker double batch (2 litres of soy yoghurt)

Ingredients:

2 Litres of Soy milk

3 tablespoons of gluten free cornflour

60 grams of rice malt syrup

Small scraping of culture.

Method:

After boiling the water to sterilise everything add 1/3 of the soy milk (if using 1 litre- if you are making 2 litres use 1/2 a litre of soy milk) and 1.5 tablespoons of gluten free cornflour per litre of soy milk.

Heat this at 75-100 degrees C. (75 is quicker, but 100 is thicker.) Once it gets up to temperature give it 5 minutes to break down the starch and make it thicker. 

Then add the rest of your milk and 30 grams of rice malt syrup and mix it for 4 minutes on speed 3 or 4 (some thermocookers only go to speed 3 with hot foods). 

You'll need to let it cool down to 37 C before adding the culture so that it doesn't kill your culture. I recommend that you put the lid on the jug and surround the jug with ice packs to cool it quicker or if you can plan ahead put the milk cartons in the fridge 12 hours prior so they are cool to help quickly cool the hot mixture when you add them to it. Let it cool for about 30 minutes, then it should be cool enough to use again.  Check the actual temperature with a food thermometer.

Once the temperature is below 40 add your culture, mixing at speed 4 for 4 seconds. 

Empty the easiyo containers of the hot water if you haven't already; then pour the mixture into them. Seal them tightly and put the containers into the easiyo hot water bath to keep it warm and pop the bath's lid on. I recommend getting them as close to 24 hours as possible as the yoghurt will be nice and thick then.

If you're like me and want to make a double batch don't forget that you will need 2 easiyo sets to make a double batch but it's well worth it in my opinion.

Enjoy! :)

Soy Yoghurt

Several people have asked about my Soy Yoghurt.

I do have a few aids for this:

1. An easy yo maker (I highly recommend you invest in one of these if you will be making yoghurt regularly, as it's not that expensive and makes it really easy.)
2. Bellini (BIKM) - but anything else that mixes and heats would do the trick.

Following is my foolproof recipe.

Ingredients:
1 litre Bonsoy or Pureharvest Soy Milk.  (Both are non GMO - Pureharvest is organic) *1

30 grams rice malt syrup (normal sugar or honey would also work, but honey will alter the flavour.) *2

Tiny flick/shake of Greenliving Australia Dairy free culture *3

Method:

Using a Bellini, Thermomix, Kogen, etc al.

Fill jug with water, cook at steaming heat/veroma on speed 2-3 for 20 minutes or until it has reached the max temperature for at least 5 minutes to ensure it kills all other bacteria.

Once that is done, empty water into the easy yo container to also kill the bugs in it. *4

I do this utensil less, but any utensils you use need to be heated to kill bacteria too.

Place the jug on kitchen scales and measure in rice malt syrup

Add soy milk.  Mix on speed 3 for 7 minutes at heat of 37 degrees C.  Do not heat hotter than this or it will kill the culture.

Pour hot water from the tap into the base of the easy yo maker as per instructions.  (I don't use boiling water because I don't want to kill my culture.)  Set this aside somewhere it won't get bumped or disturbed.  Empty out the water from the easy yo container.

When your milk and sugar mix is heated perfectly add your culture.  I do 2-3 small taps on the side of it to shake a few grains in.  If you want it thicker, definitely go for 3-4 taps.

Mix on speed 4 for 4 seconds.

Pour into easy yo container.  There will be a little more than you have space for due to the froth.  You may as well put it in a glass and drink it.  It's basically probiotic milk.  ;)  Put the lid on, the easy yo container, pop in the easy yo maker, put that lid on, and leave it to set for 8-24 hours.

It needs to be undisturbed for this time, once it has been disturbed, take it out the hot water bath in the easy yo maker and put in the fridge.

The longer you leave it the thicker it gets, and as this soy yoghurt is sans thickener, leaving it longer is better.

* Kitchen tips:

1. You may use either.  I find bonsoy tastes better and is thicker, but it costs about x2 the price, and Pureharvest is Australian and organic.  I personally use Pureharvest in yoghurt for cooking, but prefer bonsoy with my breakfast.
2. The culture needs simple sugars to feed off of, so don't use agave or skip this step.
3.By the way, I don't get anything for giving a promo to green living Australia (or anyone else), I just know they worked for me and I was pretty happy with them.
4. Ensure that you thoroughly wash and rinse out your easy yo containers prior to using as any contamination or detergent could wreak the yoghurt.

Pineapple Strawberry Mint Sorbet

It's been a hot day, and I cooked up a fabulous pizza for tea, but that was hot too.

While I was outside picking some of my happy greens for my pizza I had this marvellous idea.  I could make strawberry mint sorbet.  I was trying to think of what other flavours I should include... I have lemons, that could give it a bit of zing.  But then I saw the pineapple - yes!  Perfect.  It was better than I imagined it would be.

Approx 400 grams of frozen strawberries.
1/3 a large pineapple, with the peel cut off
5-6 fresh mint leaves.

Blend for approx 2 minutes on speed 9.  Check for no lumps, but otherwise - that's it!

Try not to eat too quickly as it will give you a cold headache.  ;)  This makes 3-4 serves.  I think.  Depending on how hot it is, how hungry you are, and your ice cream eating habits.  I know males who could have easily eaten the whole lot themselves!

If you don't have a Bellini, Thermomix, Kogan, al, etc. a good blender should do the trick, but be careful that you don't kill it.

Quinoa and Chia Seed Porridge

This is my standard breakfast, quinoa and chia seed porridge.  It's very yummy, warm, quick to make and just plain fabulous.

I have several variations, so if you're wanting to try it different ways, be brave - it's better with variations!

For one person:
In a bowl place:
1/4 cup rolled quinoa
1 Tablespoon chia seed
1 cup of milk of choice (I like almond milk and coconut milk) or 3/4 cup of water.
Good teaspoon of cinnamon
Fruit to sweeten (1 handful of sultanas, or 1 mashed banana or 1 mashed pear, or stewed apple, etc.) Alternatively you could use honey, agave, stevia or another sweetener.

I prepare that the night before, and leave it in the fridge to soak, as it tastes better this way.

The next morning I pull it out the fridge, and pour it into a small pot. Mix it around well so everything is evenly distributed, and if it's completely absorbed the liquid add a little more so it's slightly runny.

Put it on a very low heat, and check it regularly, but it will probably take around 7 minutes to heat up.  DO NOT raise the temperature to make it happen faster.  (I usually use this time to clean the kitchen or do some other job, as it will take a few minutes...)  Once it has heated it will start bubbling a little.  Stir it gently, to make sure it doesn't stick.  This may take another 2-3 minutes.  (You don't need to stir constantly, give it a stir, leave it for a sec, come back give it another stir...)  Once it's a nice porridge consistency, you're done!  Take it off the heat and pour into a bowl to eat.  Yummy, yummy.  Just beware - it's hot.

Variations:
Chuck in a handful of nuts at step 1- almonds or walnuts are nice.

1 Tablespoon of coconut at step 1

You could add 2 teaspoons of Cacao powder for a nice chocolate flavour instead of the cinnamon, but you would want to think carefully about what fruit you matched with it (banana might be nice) and it may need extra sweetener to take off the bitter edge.