Tangy BBQ Sauce

I have never made BBQ sauce before, but looking at labels can be a scary thing and when I was out shopping for a sauce, it occured to me - instead of buying a pre-bottled sauce loaded with glucose of every shade possible - I can make my own.

So I did and so I will share you with the recipe my husband called "A ten out of ten". I love this tangy and sweet mustard based sauce and I hope you do, too!

What You'll Need:

• Small heavy-bottomed sauce pan
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 Tbsp sambal oelek (or any kind of your favourite wet chili sauce)
• 1/3 cup cola (I used Diet Coke, as that is what we had in the house)
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground chili
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

What You'll Do:

• Place your saucepan onto a low heat
• Add in your mustard, dark and brown sugar
• Stir until combined, so when the temperature of the mixture has become hot
• Add in your vinegar, water and sambal oelek - stir until thoroughly mixed
• Pour in your cola - do this slowly as you don't want this to foam over the top of the pot
• Ground in your pepper and add your dry chili
• Pour in your honey and stir 
• Let simmer for 30 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken and look completely unified
• Add in your soy sauce and simmer for another 5-10 minutes
• Voila!

This sauce is super tasty and I used it on a Pulled Chicken Pita dish I made for dinner tonight.
I will post that recipe in a moment.

You can keep this recipe for a week if refrigerated.
I find this combination of sweet and tangy a very versatile combination that would work well with chicken or pork.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Winter Root Vegetable Chicken Stew with Dumplings

For Amsterdam it is cold. There was actual snow that actually stayed on the ground this week.
When it gets cold, I want to eat nothing but carbs and snuggle on the couch so tonight I used some of the beautiful, fresh winter root vegetables I picked up at the market yesterday and make something warm and carb-crave-fulfilling.

This winter root vegetable chicken stew with dumplings is something I have never tried before. The gods of Martha must have been watching over me, because I must say this dish was heaven and relatively easy. You can use whatever winter root vegetables you have available. I used a parsnip and tried a Dragon Carrot as it looked fun. Long, purple with a white centre which gave this stew a lovely purple hue.

What You'll Need
For the stew:

• 1 large, covered pot
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 2 Tbps butter
• 2 Tbps vegetable oil
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 clove of fresh garlic
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 Tbps Herbs de Provence
• 1 tsp Asian 5 Spice
• 2 Tbps fresh or dried dill
• 1 Tbps your favourite curry powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (weird right? Well, trust me!)
• 1 large parsnip, 1 large dragon carrot, 8 medium sized carrots. As long as you have about 4-5 cups of chopped root vegetables, you can use any kind available to you. Turnips, beets, rutabaga, etc. All would work well. Just make sure you are using more than one kind
• 1.5 cups of diced tomato
• 1 whole, roasted chicken
• 2 Tbps flour or cornstarch (if you are looking for gluten-free)

For the Dumplings:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbps baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbps butter
• 1/2 cup milk

What You'll Do:

• Dice your onion
• Chop your root vegetables and carrots into bite sized pieces, not too small or they will turn mushy
• Chop your dill
• Add in the butter and oil into your pan to melt
• Add in your onion and twists of fresh back pepper

• Squeeze in your freshly pressed garlic
• Let cook down until nice and soft
• Toss in the chopped vegetables

• Boil 2 cups of water, add in your Asian 5 Spice and Herbs de Provence, stir
• Pour the water and spice mixture over top of the chopped root veggies
• Add your curry powder, dill and cinnamon

• Stir thoroughly
• Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes
• While simmering, start to pull the chicken off your pre-roasted chicken. I bought a pre-cooked one today as I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen :)

 

• Add in the diced tomatoes, stir
• Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes
• Add in your pre-cooked, roast chicken pieces, stir
• Cover and let simmer
• While simmering, make your dumpling mixture
• In a separate bowl, add in your flour, salt and baking powder

• Using two butter knives, cut in your butter until the flour mixture is crumbly
• Add in your milk and stir until combined
• Lift the lid of the pot and drop your dumpling mix, in equal-sized portions onto the top, leaving space in-between each dumpling

• Cover and let steam away for ten minutes
• Lift the lid and see your cute little dumplings, all plump and tasty looking
• By this point, your stew is nearly done, if it is too watery, what I did was, using a slotted spoon remove the dumplings gently and rest them on a plate. Then remove the veggies and chicken into a bowl
• Now you are left with the juices to thicken up. Using flour (or cornstarch), sprinkle onto the juice and stir rapidly until desired thickness is reached
• Then add back in your veggie mixture, stir and gently place the dumplings on top
• Serve and enjoy...maybe with a nice glass of red.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (it is a little time consuming, but using a pre-cooked chicken saves you some time!)

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

I love to bake quick breads.
After perfecting and then sharing my Pumpkin Bread recipe with you, I wanted to make a perfectly sharable banana bread recipe.

I think this one is it!

The trick - oil instead of butter and more chocolate chips than you think initially reasonable.

What You'll Need:

• 3 very ripe medium-sized bananas
• 2 large, free-range eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup Ideal no-calorie sweetener (or white sugar)
• 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cups chocolate chips
• 1 loaf pan
• 2 mixing bowls

What You'll Do:

• Lightly, but completely oil your loaf pan
• Pre-heat your oven to 350C
• In one of your mixing bowls, crack your eggs and beat until frothy looking (no need for any electric device, I know you can do this with a good 'ol fork...and that is what Martha would do)
• Add in the bananas, give them a good squash with a fork to loosen them up and mix into the eggs

 

• Pour in your oil, vanilla and buttermilk, mix thoroughly with the eggs and bananas
• In your other mixing bowl, add in your flour, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir until mixed through
• Add your dry mixture into your wet mixture
• Pour in your chocolate chips (you could also add in some walnuts...but I tend to think there is a direct correlation between the amount of nuts added to a recipe and the loss of fun whilst eating said recipe) 
• HERE IS THE TRICK! Do not over-mix. Be gentle. Leave a few little lumps here and there for your homies
• Pour into your pre-greased loaf pan

• Pop into your oven, in the middle
• Bake for anywhere from 50 to 1 hour 20 minutes depending on your oven. My oven, much like my body, runs hot :) So my loaf was cooked through in around 50 minutes. I could tell it was cooked through as, when I stuck in a toothpick into the centre of the loaf, it pulled out clean - no uncooked battery goo.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Kitchen Cheat Sheet

Something I found and thought you would like - super handy when translating recipes from Europe vs North America vs UK...

Its a good thing;)

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Curried Quinoa Salad

Sunday nights I like to prepare meals for the week ahead.
Quinoa has become a new favourite of mine as it is hearty, versatile, easy to freeze, is a complete protein source, is gluten-free and has a high nutritive value.
It also tastes good.

Tonight I made a quinoa salad using fresh vegetables and fruit from yesterday's market.

I wanted to make a zesty salad that would keep well - so something light on dressing and with vegetables and fruit that wouldn't go mushy by tomorrow (yes tomato - I'm talking to you;)

I am very happy with how this recipe turned out - use it as a template, adding in veggies and fruit you like/have in the fridge that won't go soggy. You can't go wrong!

 
What You'll Need - The Salad:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 red pepper
• 1/4 head of broccoli
• 1 crunchy apple
• 1/4 cup of raisins (dried cranberries would also be nice)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (almonds would also work well)
• 1 large carrot

What You'll Need - The Dressing:

• 1 Tbps liquid honey
• 1 Tbps curry powder (I used the Silk Road Spice Merchants Madras Curry Powder. This one is heaven)
• 1.5 Tbps olive or grapeseed oil
• 2 Tbps fresh lemon juice
• Twist of fresh pepper
• 1 Tbps dried dill flakes (not necessary, but I love dill...and just dried some and wanted to use it)

What You'll Do:

• Cook your quinoa (1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water. Boil water and slowly add quinoa, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until all the liquid has been soaked into the grains)
• Dice your vegetables - make them as small as you can, so each bite has more than one piece of fruit or vegetable on it
• Crush your nuts 
• I just typed 'crush your nuts'...(insert immature giggle)
• Once your quinoa is cooked, let cool completely. Hot quinoa = soggy & soft veggies 
• In a small jar, add in the oil, lemon juice, honey, curry powder, dried dill and pepper
• Put the jar lid on, give it a good shake until combined
• Stir in your dressing into the quinoa grains until absorbed 
• Add the quinoa into the bowl of diced veggies and fruit
• Stir until completely mixed through
• Enjoy!

If you overdid it on the quinoa and cooked too much, good news is this grain freezes beautifully.
A trick I like is to use ziplock freezer bags instead of tupperware to store the excess.
This way you can squeeze all the air out of the bag, leaving little room for freezer burn to sneak in. You can also make the grains lay flat, so they defrost way faster than a deep container full.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Dukan Oatbran Pancake (Galette) Recipes

A crucial part of the Dukan diet is eating oatbran everyday.
To do this during the Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and now the Stabalization Phase one eats a lot of the Dukan diet's Oatbran Pancakes (or, Galette's as Dr Dukan calls them).

They are quick to make, tasty to eat and store easily if you wish to pre-make them for a busy week ahead.

Below there are three recipes - all containing your daily consumption target of oatbran: The Basic, The Cinnamon Spice and The Lemon Yogurt.

The fun thing is, with 'The Basic' recipe - you can add toppings, try new spices - anything to keep eating oatbran from being boring...because you need to do it for life if you have committed to the Dukan diet.

The Basic: What You'll Need:

• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbps Oatbran when you are in the Attack phase. Use 2 Tbps when you are on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.
• 1.5 Tbps fat free quark or yogurt (I use 0% Total Fat-free Greek Yogurt). As per the oatbran, raise this amount to 2 Tbps when on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.

What You'll Do:

• Use a non-stick frying pan
• Pre-heat your frying pan as you do the below steps
• In a small mixing bowl, add in your oatbran, fat-free quark or yogurt then egg
• Stir completely
• Pour onto your hot pan, cooking until the pancake starts to show small bubbles (about three minutes)
• Flip your pancake over and cook the other side until a nice light brown

Easy, right? But - admittedly pretty darn boring. We can be more creative than this?!

The Cinnamon Spice: What You'll Need:

• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbps Oatbran when you are in the Attack phase. Use 2 Tbps when you are on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.
• 1.5 Tbps fat free quark or yogurt (I use 0% Total Fat-free Greek Yogurt). As per the oatbran, raise this amount to 2 Tbps when on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases
• 1 tsp your favourite cinnamon (mine is from The Silk Road Spice Merchant - I use their Indonesian Korintje Cassia Cinnamon, I find it the most spicy)

* Repeat the cooking instructions from above

The Lemon Yogurt: What You'll Need:

• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbps Oatbran when you are in the Attack phase. Use 2 Tbps when you are on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.
• 1.5 Tbps fat free lemon-flavoured yogurt (which raises to 2 Tbps when not on the Attack phase)
• 1 tsp lemon zest

* Repeat the cooking instructions from above

Now its time to channel Martha - be creative!!

Try different spices that you love.
Make the pancake savoury by adding dill, fresh basil, curry powder...put salmon or tuna on it and have it for dinner instead of breakfast.
This is such a versatile recipe allowing for creativity.

Show Martha what tricks you have up your apron sleeve!
Try the sugar-free cinnamon apple sauce with strawberries (any berry would be tasty). Using sugar-free or xylitol-based syrup, or have The Basic galette with low-fat ham or chicken slices.
The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (this would raise to a two with lots of pretty fruit toppers!)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Lemony Crackle Cookies

I am totally into lemons right now. Maybe because it is so dreary out right now and the smell and taste of lemons just makes me feel awake and cheery.

I have also been doing some reading on the benefit of lemons in your daily diet (benefits from immune-boosting to infection fighting) so I am trying to incorporate lemon juice and lemon zest into as much as I can.

Today was especially cool and dreary, so I wanted to make some cookies with a zing! I hope you like these as much I do - they turned out soft and light - like Summer in my mouth.

                                           * I do really need to stop taking pictures with my camera phone...                     

What You'll Need (2 dozen):

• MixMaster or hand blender
• 1/2 cup of softened butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 cup of my xylitol-based Ideal No Calorie Sweetener and 1/4 cup of sugar)
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 Tbps fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

What You'll Do:

• Preheat your oven to 350 (175F)
• Lightly grease your cookie sheet, or use a non-stick sheet
• Cream your butter and sugar until fluffy looking
• Add in your vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest
• Crack your egg into a small cup (to check if it is good), lightly stir with a fork then add into your mixture
• Scrape down the sides of your bowl then mix again
• In a separate bowl, combine your salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour
• Stir until combined
• Slowly add the dry mixture into your wet mixture, scraping down the sides occasionally to ensure everything is fully mixed in
• Measure your powdered sugar into a bowl
• If your dough seems little too soft, do not add more flour - just let the mixture set in the fridge for 20 minutes, covered
• Roll small dough balls, approximately the size of a 2Euro coin/2Dollar coin
• Place the ball into the powdered sugar to cover
• Place the balls evenly spaced on your sheet (I fit 12 per sheet)
• Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on your oven - you want them cooked through, but not over done. Ideally you should remove them when the top is no longer glossy looking and when the bottoms have just started to lightly brown
• Let cool for a few minutes then move to a cooling rack
• Enjoy...with a nice cup of tea (with lemon in it, of course!;)

Martha would love these cookies as they are pretty, have a nice, light taste and are fancy - just like her.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (they look a whisper scabby, rather than 'crackly')
Taste: 2
Ease: 2