Our local markets have a fantastic fruit and veg stall, the Naked Carrot.  Grown locally and organically by Jim Hunt.  This is the second week in a row where I have bought a bag of lychees.  This sorbet can be eaten guilt free.

With the HCG diet that I have been on, we look at good and bad sugars.  Well a good sugar is stevia, naturally derived from the stevia plant it has no calories.  That is something that we can sing and dance about.  I have made a stevia sugar syrup for this recipe.  I am now looking at more alternative foods that are better for my body.  Stevia being my first discovery.  Coconut flour I think will be my next challenge.

Lychee & Ginger Sorbet

• 1 kg Lychees peeled and pitted
• 120ml water
• 1/8 tsp of stevia (2 tbsp honey)
• 1 lime juiced and zested
• 1 tsp (heaped) fresh ginger grated
• 3 egg whites beaten

1. Stevia Sugar Syrup:  pour the water, stevia (honey), lime zest and juice into a pot, and bring to the boil.  Simmer for five minutes. Allow to cool.

2.  Place the lychees and ginger in a food processor and blend till combined.  Get a shallow tupperware container to freeze the mixture in.  Place a clean chux/dishcloth in the container and pour over half the liquid.  Squeeze out all the juice from the lychee mix, into the container.  Do the same with the remaining mix. If you have a fine sieve you can also use that instead of the chux.

3.  Add the sugar syrup, give it a stir and place in the freezer for 2 hours.  You can also use an ice-cream machine instead if you have one.  After the first two hours stir the mixture and allow another 2 hours in the freezer.  Blend the egg white until fluffy and stir through the slushy mixture.  Use a stick blender to blend with the lychee mixture.  Place back in to the freezer to set over night.

YUM….

I have secretly been on a diet for 3 weeks. Detoxing and cleaning out the body and getting it back to how I know it.  This dish is a Chinese dish that I adapted for Stage 2 of the protocol.  The first hurdle I had to face is not cooking with oil. With a limited amount of sauces one can use, this quick and easy dish was still very tasty.   For those who need to give your eating on the protocol some variety.

After my consultation with Maureen O’Brian’s I was quick to start the 4 stage program.  I had found out that I have traces of heavy metals in my system and my ph was just acidic.  So here I am eating loads of greens to get back to alkaline. This recipe contains no oil, no sugar, no dairy and no gluten.

Fish & Chinese Greens

• 100gm White fish cut into chunks
• 1 1/2 cup of Chinese greens
• 1/2 an Onion thinly sliced
• 2 tsbp psyllium husks
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 x 2cm ginger finely grated
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1/2 lemon juiced
•  coriander & spring onions
• Salt and Pepper

1. Put the psyllium husks into a bowl and add salt and pepper.  Place fish and coat evenly.
2. In a non stick fry-pan, bring the temperature to hot.  Once the pan has just started smoking add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir quickly making sure nothing is sticking.  Add a little water to the pan and allow the onion to wilt.
3. Once the water has evaporated, turn the heat down, and add the fish.  Pour the tamari over the fish pieces.  Allow to cook on each side for 2 min each.
4. Add the greens to the pan and add 3 tbsp of water to the pan and allow to simmer, keep stirring the mixture for a further 3-5 min. The mixture will thicken a little. Squeeze over the lemon juice and throw in the coriander and spring onions. Season with salt and pepper
5. Serve up in a bowl and get those chopsticks out

We love sashimi. Now that we live on the Sunshine Coast we are in search of Japanese food.  We found this place at the end of the Mooloolaba spit. Surrounded by deep-fried fish places this place stands out a little as being different.  Why cook the fish when you can eat it raw!

It was fresh and went down way to easy.  We could have got seconds easily. Though, as always I spot a seared salmon sushi with mayo, ginger and fish eggs on the menu.  Had to give it a go, the salmon was so good and just looking at the picture my mouth is watering.

You can not have a feed of sashimi or sushi with out a beer.  Of course we had Japanese beer, it is much cheaper here then over there.  Asahi for Roy and Kirin for me.  What a great way to end a day at the beach.

This place is a great find.  If any one else knows of any other great places on the sunshine coast to get great sashimi at a reasonable price.  Please let us know, would love to try them and see how they compare.

In the mean time we will be going back to this place to fulfill our sashimi needs.

With Valentines day next week, this recipe will sweeten anyone up along with a good brew.  Chocolate Biscotti is for not just for women, the men seem to love it too.  With macadamia’s to chew on, indulge your sweet heart.

Chocolate Biscotti Recipe

• 90gm Butter, chopped at room temp
• 2/3 cup of Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cup plain flour
• 3/4 cup almond meal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup of Almonds chopped
• 1/2 cup of Macadamias chopped
• 125gm dark chocolate chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180′c.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter together.  Add one egg at a time, mixing after each till combined.
3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, then add it to the mixture, beat on low.
4. Stir in almonds, macadamias and chocolate.
5. Allow to rest for 15min.
6. Shape the dough into  two logs about 10cm wide and 20cm long on the tray.  Use floured hands to do this.
7. Place in the oven and cook for 25 – 30min.  Allow to cool completely.
8. Once cooled, turn the oven to 150′c.  Cut the log into thin 1cm slices and lay them flat on the tray.  Place them back into the oven and bake for a further 20 – 30min. They should become harder.

Allow to cool and serve with a cuppa

When Roy was eating scary looking soups like the duck soup and smelly laksa.  I stuck it safe with trying every establishments BBQ pork soup.  That is if they had any, or I would go round the corner and find a place that did.

The pork broth was always so clean tasting.  I have to admit that the noodles in Malaysia were pretty damn good.  Freshly made, once cooked they were a little chewy but ever so tasty.  The great thing about trying different places for soup is that when you ordered one with wontons, the excitement of finding out what was inside them.  Could it be more pork, was there prawns, veggies, mushrooms, any flavourings like ginger, garlic, chives that shone through.

I do love this soup, I will still eat this over pho any day.  Big call I know.  So which side of the fence do you sit, Pho or BBQ pork wonton soup?

One of the main reasons that we had to go to Penang was that Roy’s favourite food and travel blog are now residing there.  We had been drooling over their food blog for a long time.  With the news of them offering a food walk in Georgetown, we jumped at the chance to attend one.  For more info visit ‘Eating Asia‘.  Nothing like getting a personal insight to the local food.

One of our stops was at a little market which of course it was tucked away.  With a man frying up rice blocks.  It seemed like they were chunky squares of rice noodles. In a large wok the sauce was added it comprised of soy, garlic, chilli, fish sauce and I missed the others.

I had to return to this stall to get a second helping after the first one we tried was so fantastic.  I think it might have something to with the amount of oil.

Once the rice blocks were coated with sauce the bean sprouts and egg, to finish with shallots at the end.

YUM

We are so lucky to have access to a local dairy.  With plenty of milk on hand, I made this milky lemon pie.  You can eat it warm as a pudding.  It still tastes great when it is cold.  It will please all milk lovers.

Lemon Filo Pie Recipe

• 1 ltr of milk
• 660g (3 cups) castor sugar
• 180g (1 cup) fine semolina
• 2 eggs
• 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
• 250gm butter chopped
• 1 lemon zested and juiced
• 17 sheets of filo pastry

Step 1:  Custard Filling: Place milk and 2 cups of sugar, semolina, 1/2 tsp salt, eggs, vanilla bean and seeds in a large heavy based saucepan.  Whisk until combined.  Cook over a medium heat whisking continuously until the mixture boils and thickens.  Scrape down the sides and remove from heat.  Stir in 50gm of butter and cover the surface with plastic wrap and allow to cool for 20min.

Step2:  Make Syrup:  Combine remaining 1 cup castor sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and 180ml (3/4 cup) water in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil, then allow to simmer for 5 min.  Allow to cool.

Step 3:  Assemble:  Pre-heat oven to 160′c.  Grease a 2ltr ovenproof pie dish.  Melt remaining butter (200gm)  Line the tray with filo, allow some to over hang.  In between layers brush butter.  Do 7 layers for the bottom and sides.  Pour in the filling.  Seal with another 10 layers of filo and butter on the top.  Fold the corners back on to the pie and scrunch them.

Step 4:  Bake:  40-50min or until golden, remove from the oven.  Prick a few holes in the top with a fork.  Pour the syrup over the top of the pie allowing to cool for 1 hour.  Serve warm or cold.

I did say we were on our way onwards from Georgetown, but that was a lie. Georgetown just keeps giving more good food to share.

Another recommendation, the Duck Soup Stall.

This place is so busy and popular that by the looks of it they have purchased one of the shops that sits behind the stall to use as an eating area. But they still keep the stall out in the gutter.

The duck broth is devine.

The mixed duck meat and innards is pretty good too. yum.

Once again another year is over.  I am not sure exactly how time got eaten up so quickly.  Yet here I am at the face of a new year, not knowing what are my plans and goals.  Evaluating life seems quite hard, I guess looking over last year it may be hard to beat!

So what did happen last year(2011)?  Well in the lives of Roy and I, first we rocked out the new year in mud at Woodford folk festival.  It is like a tradition, yes we did end it there too.  After a week being back home in Brisbane the rain did not let up and yes the qld floods were on our doorstep.  Surviving a week with no power, limited supplies and listening to a quite city while trying to get sleep. A very surreal experience.  Everyday we were helping someone, move in or out of homes, scrubbing, pushing and hosing mud.  We were lucky it did not hit our home.

It was wedding time in April, Roy and I had decided we would get married before we travelled the world.  Why not?  But first, our flatmate Paul was getting married to Suesue.  We flew down to Melbourne to eat dumplings and of course attended a beautiful wedding.  Paul and Suesue’s big day was so fantastic, the memories of the tram ride, ohhh.  The night before our friend Gemma had her book launch for her project Red Light Dark Room.  I love Melbourne, I love that the crew flew down to have a jolly weekend in another city.

Then it was Easter time which meant that the Blues Fest was coming up.  Another festival on the cards each year.  For some reason we did not take any photos.  Or write about it last year.  ODD?  Well it was our wedding in 5 days, so I think our focus might have been on something else.

Our wedding, well I guess we did it in style.  All of our dearest friends and family all camping under the stars for a long weekend out in the bush.  Nothing like rolling around in a paddock!  A pig on the spit to feed the ravenous up.  A sunset like no others and a hoedown that I will never forget.  My day was special, and the weekend was just the best time ever.  If I could do it all again I would.  We were so lucky that we had everyone come to our special day, people traveled long and far.  Take a look at these brilliant photos done by Gemma of our weekend.  It still brings a tear to my eye, I love that man! Roy that is.

Well we were packed up and ready to go before the wedding.  We had given and sold most of our belongings.  With only a few things to keep, obviously the car.  I really need to find a photo of it.  It was now time to pack our tiny backpacks to take on the world.  Our packing list was somewhat an ordeal of what to take and what not to take.  I think we could even make it smaller again next time.

So it was time for us to take on the world.  Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.  We traveled for just over 3months.  Our highlights of Asia are found on flickr or take a look at our travel page.  Eating our way through Asia was a fun task, I would love to go back to China, maybe this year?

Roy was back to work in PNG and me well I decided on living some where new.  Maleny was my pick, we have a great view from our verandah of the glass house mountains.  After searching for work I am now a Chef(please do take note of the capital it makes me feel important) at a health retreat in Reeseville.  I also write recipes for the local paper each week, check out the Range News.

Christmas was at our house this year, us the newlyweds. Our families arrived on Christmas eve for our big dinner.  I cooked a turkey.  I had never cooked one before.  Below are a few photos of our Christmas feast with our family.

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So what is 2012 going to be?  Maybe it will be a nice and relaxing year.  After the last one being so eventful.

Australia day is all about gathering together in someone’s backyard and having a beer and a barbecue. While the men tell tall tales over the flames the ladies are fussing over salads.  This recipe for chimichuri is an all-rounder, place it over your steak and drizzle it over your salad.

Chimichuri is something that Roy and I love, tasting it first in Argentina.  We have since recreated the  recipe to how we think we remember it.  It is now apart of our barbecue tradition.  I can’t live with out it, especially as a salad dressing then sopping the left over juice with a bit of a baguette.  YUM.