Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Lamb or Rabbit?




I know this is not related to baking or cake decoration, but I've to post this as it is such a funny photo.

This year, my husband bought me a French cook book as my Valentine’s Day present.  I hadn’t had a chance to try any of those recipes until last Sunday. 

In the book, there is a recipe for braised lamb shanks.  I’m not a lamb lover, but when I looked at the mouth watering picture in the book,  I said to myself “why not give it a go?”.

I could not find lamb shanks, so I bought a lamb leg instead.   Anyhow, just when I was searing the top part of the leg in the frying pan, I noticed something interesting........  It looked like a rabbit!!




Banana & Walnut Whole Wheat Muffin



These low fat & low sugar muffins are incredibly moist & soft.  I was so surprised by how good they turned out as I used chia seeds gel & apple sauce to replace the use of butter.  The use of whole wheat flour makes them even more healthy.  Anyway, these muffins are packed with fiber, potassium & omega 3, super healthy!

Here is the recipe, enjoy........

Banana & Walnut Whole Wheat Muffin

Makes about 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup caster sugar (about 66g)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (approx. 3 bananas)
A handfull of walnuts
1 to 2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 medium size egg (i.e. approx. 60 - 65g)
1/4 cup chia seeds gel
1/4 cup apple sauce
2 tbsp olive oil (if you don't like the flavour of olive oil, you can use other oil such as canola oil)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 175C
2.  Cream sugar & egg until the mixture becomes light & pale yellow in colour
3.  Add salt, ground cinnamon, chia seeds gel, apple sauce & olive oil, mix well
4.  Add mashed bananas & walnuts, mix well
5.  In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder & baking soda together
6.  Sift the flour mixture into the the wet ingredients
7.  Mix until they are JUST combined (Do NOT overmix, otherwise the muffins will turn out tough)
8.  Fill baking cups to 2/3 full
9.  Bake for about 20 minutes (depending on your oven)

* Apple Sauce :  If you use unsweetened apple sauce, you might need to use a bit more caster sugar like 1/3 cup instead of 1/4 cup.  It's all about experiment!

* Chia Seeds Gel:  To make chia seeds gel, just add 9 to 10 parts of water into 1 part of chia seeds, stir well to break up any lumps, then wait for 10 mins and stir again.  After that, gel should be form in about 5 to 10 mins.  It is better to make the gel in advance.  They can be stored in the fridge & kept up to about 2 weeks.

Thursday, 9 February 2012

French Apple Tart ~ Feb 2012

Feb 2012.  I made this French Apple Tart for supper after bible study at our home last Friday.  My husband teased me saying that it looked like an Apple Pizza.....Anyhow, everybody loved it.

I didn't peel the apples as it would be such a waste if I did so, most of the nutrients are just under the skin.

The edges were a bit burnt, probably because of the butter slices that I put on top of the tart.  Next time I'll try not to put them on & see how it turns out.