LET'S CATCH UP SHALL WE?

QUINOA, TEFF AND CORN CORNBREAD

I know, I look brown - please don't judge me - when you cut me, I have golden corn, green basil, red capsicum -  I'm delicious and need to be served with other things... you can see inside me down below...

Where to start ? A thank you to you all for emailing me and saying how much you enjoy the blog when I have posted so rarely in 2013? A thank you for continuing to send me photo's of your children smeared with food - giggling and laughing with their favourite recipe from Wholefood for Children? A thank you for the friendship and privilege that comes from knowing you trust me and have me in your homes? A thank you for welcoming the new book WHOLEFOOD BAKING with open arms? How about we just start with it all and go from there. I start each year with the best intentions of keeping a regular blog, and I didn't do too badly until the WHOLE AND NATURAL FOODS CHEF TRAINING PROGRAM which started in August- lots of things went by the wayside!  When it stopped, I stopped and have had very little desire to take any responsibility for my life whatsoever since then!! I couldn't have made a decision if my life depended upon it !! But a little bit of going very slowly after Christmas and up to right now, has done wonders. Lets catch up shall we? And I've also got a really simple, delicious gluten free cornbread for you later on.

2014 was a full and wonderful year - my fourth book Wholefood Baking was released and I'm incredibly excited to share that it has just been announced as one of the Australian winners of the GOURMAND BOOK AWARDS. Oh my goodness, that hasn't quite sunk in yet. The best part of this book though was travelling Australia with afternoon tea launches, meeting so many wonderful people (including you) and seeing the community of people returning to real food that is being built. It was wonderful also travelling Australia for Wholefood Cooking classes with THERMOMIX, a good collaboration I think :)  

In August we began the 3rd intake of the Whole and Natural Foods Chef Training Program, and this was quite the special group. Amazing, gutsy people in this group that I know are going to go on and make a difference. It's not an easy course - it's intense and pushes you to your limits - but, it's there at the limits that we often discover who we really are or get to eyeball the things (most often our minds) that stop us from being all we can be. There are some photo's I'd like to share with you from the course:

The 2014 WNCTP group (minus Paul) on the ute down south at Blackwood Valley Beef. Back Row standing from left: Justine, Jasmine, Katie, Ari. Sitting in the 'Middle' Row: Gina, Tania and we can just see Angie peeking through. Sitting at front: Julie, Matt, Camille, Tori.

The course does not happen with the legend and wise woman that is Holly Davis, and the rock and talent that is Jean Martinez. I chose this picture as I think it expresses us best - me, exhausted and unable to keep it together, Holly who as soon as I loose it is not far behind, and Jean who stays calm and together. I also have to include this photo below - seriously not the best photo of either myself or Holly (she will probably kill me for putting it up - seriously we look old and haggard). This is us completely loosing it during taste testing of final practical exams - something tasted unbelievably terrible, and Holly and I were profoundly unprofessional and just couldn't stop laughing. Everytime I look at it I just crack up again - Jean as you can imagine stayed quite professional.

 

I've made many speeches this year and turned 60 in November and one thing stands out for me - we are never an island, and when we become who we want to be, it is always because we are loved and supported. Interestingly I was listening to a interview with Catriona Rowntree yesterday, and she was saying that to be unconditionally loved is the most empowering thing in life (for her, it was her Nanna). I have long wanted to be the person I am now (no not the achievements, but how I feel each day - empowered, trusting, joyful, aware of this gift that is life, alive and on purpose) and for me, those that have enabled that are varied - the most important thing and person in my life (my daughter, Nessie) would at the head of the line, but family, my cousin Fran, best friend Nene, Holly and Jean are not far behind. I think my higher self has pushed me to my limits and it's there I found who I really am -  I love most that I've got to this place with compromising my principles - I it's a deeply organic sense of self worth.

Over summer I've had had some wonderful people to breakfast in my kitchen - for once 
the eastern states are coming west - here I am with Jo Whitton 

Jo Whitton, Quirky Cooking 

And here with Jane Grover 

Jane Grover

And, for the life of me - with my technological skills (poor) I can't get the photo of Alexx Stuart and her son Benjamin on here.. but you can see that wonderful woman on my Instagram feed. It was such a treat to have time with these inspiring women and hear their stories.  

Which brings me to Instagram - I've used it more than Facebook towards the end of the year because it was so easy - hence the lack of lots of photo's on FB !!  

So for this year, it's a whole new website (should be up about March) and there will be lots of goodies for you there. I'm working on a new book, so it will be head down, not too much travel and very few CLASSES. I do have a NOURISHING WISDOM INTENSIVE  happening for Perth (this one comes with a pantry pack of grains, legumes, sea vegetables and other treats). It's a 4 day rather than a 3 day, as this is it - we have extra time to do some of the things you would like to do. You can find information for that here. 

As a final note, in case you are looking for some reading? Whilst I actually didn't end up reading a lot last year (which is a tragedy as I love reading, but was too busy most of the time) my favourites were:

• Deep Nutrition: Why your Genes Need Traditional Foods Catherine Shanahan MD and Luke Shanahan
• Cooked by Michael Pollan

The books I've just bought / am really looking forward to buying or being published this year:

• The Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (love her stories)
• Whole -Grain Mornings - New Breakfast Recipes to Span the Seasons Megan Gordon
• Emma's book - www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com
• Michelles book - www.hugoandelsa.com

I wish you the most joyous and wonderful 2014 - may you be unconditionally loved, nourished, inspired and delighted often. I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming year - and if that is with a cup of tea and we happen to find ourselves having breakfast, morning or afternoon tea, all the better. 

x Jude

| QUINOA, TEFF AND CORN CORNBREAD |

This is an adaptation of a recipe from my previous book, Wholefood for Children/ Nourishing Young Children with Whole and Organic Foods. In summer when the corn and basil are abundant, this makes a wonderful gluten free quick- bread for breakfast, lunch or tea, but honestly all kinds of things could be added to this.  I also think it's a great template for wholesome, nourishing gluten and dairy free cooking. When it's cold you can slice it into wedges and freeze - this is delicious fried in a little bacon fat or ghee in the frypan to have with an eggy breakfast or whatever... 

There are some things that you can do here to make a better product and variations:

• The polenta can be a coarse or fine grind, but for better flavour and nutrition, look for polenta that has the germ intact - in Australia I like the Four Leaf brand. Secondly, choose a baking dish that the heat can rocket through - tin, enamel coated tin or cast iron. 
• Then pre heat that baby with the fat in it, so when the mix is ready you take that hot tin with the sizzling fat out of the oven and pour the mix into it... this is what will give you the crisp edges that you really want. Technique is always a powerful tool. 
• In this cornbread I made for the blog, I used teff flour instead of quinoa flour, and black quinoa instead of royal - simply because that's what I had. If you are using teff I like the Bobs Red Mill brand (sometimes hard to get but easy to find online) and be careful of the quinoa flour - personally I find Bob's Red Mill too bitter, and be careful of an Australian quinoa that you might mill into flour - will be too bitter also. In Australia I like the Olive Green Organics.  Just remember just because it says quinoa flour on the packet doesn't mean it's the same as all the other quinoa flours - they each will reflect their growing conditions and processing in the flavour. 
• If you would like to add grated cheese (cheddar, parmesan or pecorino) it's yummy, but won't be dairy free.

Prepare The Quinoa The Night  Before: 

¼ cup quinoa

1 teaspoon whey or lemon juice

The Next Day:

A stable fat for heat - animal drippings (duck is fabulous, nitrate free organic bacon fat is stunning), ghee (but it won't be dairy free mind you many that can't tolerate butter can tolerate ghee). These are best - coconut oil will give too much flavour

¾ cup polenta / 110gm

½ cup quinoa flour / 60gm

½ cup / 60gm true arrowroot starch

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder (bi-carbonate of soda)

1 tablespoon rapadura sugar

¼ teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 cobs corn, kernels only

I had some capsicum so chopped that in to

good handful fresh basil, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon dulse flakes

2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

100 ml macadamia oil, coconut, olive or almond oil

250 ml/1 cup rice or oat milk

Add the quinoa, whey and 1 cup of water to a small bowl. Cover and leave to sit out on 

the bench (it's fine to leave it out even when the weather is warmer) over night or during the day.

Rinse the quinoa and drain well. Pat dry with a tea towel then add to the saucepan with 100ml water (or for more nourishment and ease of digestion, bone stock).  If the grain is un-soaked, add ½ cup water. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil As soon as it comes to the boil, turn the heat down low and cook for 15 - 20 mins. Check if there is any water left by tipping the pot on an angle about 5 mins before the end of cooking time. If so, continue to cook until there is no water left. When it is ready small steam holes should appear on the surface.

If not soaking the quinoa, rinse it well as described and add ½ cup water.

Pre heat oven 190c

Place a generous dollop of fat into the dish (roughly 20cm x 20cm) and put it in the oven. 

Add the polenta, quinoa flour, arrowroot, baking soda, baking powder, rapadura, sea salt, pepper, corn, basil and dulse flakes to a medium size mixing bowl. Whisk through to evenly distribute the ingredients.

Add the apple cider vinegar, oil and milk in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add the cooked quinoa to this and whisk to combine well. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

Take the tin out of the oven, tilt to evenly distribute the fat and pour in the mix, immediately place in oven and bake for 25 – 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the 
middle comes out clean. Turn out and serve immediately, or cool on a wire rack.

The bread will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, and freezes well.