Chocolate Marshmallow Pie

Crust

225g plain flour
75g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean split, seeds scraped
100g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg

Shift flour, sugar and vanilla. Add butter and crumble with your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs. Add egg and knead gently until it forms a soft ball. Wrap and set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Press into pie tin, line with backing paper and weights and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool.

Filling

2 cups of marshmallows
250g or dark chocolate
1/2 cup of cream

Melt together on a low heat, until thick and creamy. Pour into pie case, and chill. Serve.

Quiche

2 sheets Reduced-Fat Puff Pastry
1 tablespoon olive oil
100g of bacon chopped
125g button mushrooms, sliced
2 small zucchini, grated
350g broccoli, cut into florets
2 green onions, thinly sliced
5 eggs
3/4 cup reduced-fat milk
1 1/4 cups grated reduced-fat cheese

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C. Place a baking tray into oven.
Line a 3.5cm deep, 23cm (base) loose-base fluted quiche pan with pastry. Trim. Prick base with a fork. Place a sheet of baking paper over pastry. Half-fill with dried beans. Place pan onto hot tray. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove beans. Bake a further 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms. Cook for 4 minutes. Add remaining vegetables. Cook for 2 minutes. Cool.
Whisk eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Spread vegetable mixture over pastry. Sprinkle with cheese. Pour over egg mixture.

Reduce oven to 180°C. Return quiche to hot tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until set. Stand for 10 minutes. Serve.

Orange Almond Cake

Sourced from Food Safari

2 oranges
6 eggs
250g caster sugar
250g almond meal
1tsp baking powder
Extra caster sugar for dusting before baking
Icing sugar for dusting after baking
Margarine or oil spray (for greasing the pan)


Wash oranges and place unpeeled, in a pot of boiling water for 2 hours. Drain the water and allow the oranges to cool. This can be done ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Break 6 eggs into a mixing bowl or blender. Add caster sugar and beat or blend together.
Place the two oranges into the egg mix. Break up the oranges and then blend together to a smooth consistency. Add the almond meal and baking powder and blend.

Grease a 20 cm spring form baking pan with margarine (or vegetable oil spray) and dust with caster sugar.

Pour batter into the pan and sprinkle caster sugar on top and bake for 1 hour to an hour and a half or until the top is golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake

Olive oil, to grease
20g (1/3 cup) flaked coconut
265g (13/4 cups) self-raising flour
200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
45g (1/2 cup) desiccated coconut
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 x 440g can crushed pineapple in natural syrup
3 small ripe bananas, peeled, mashed
185ml (3/4 cup) extra light olive oil
2 eggs, lightly whisked
Cream cheese frosting
1 x 250g pkt cream cheese, at room temperature
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
450g (3 cups) icing sugar mixture
3 tsp milk


Method
Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with olive oil to grease. Line the base and side with non-stick baking paper. Spread the flaked coconut over a baking tray. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until toasted.
Combine the flour, sugar, desiccated coconut, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the pineapple, banana, extra light olive oil and egg and stir until well combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake in oven, covering the cake with foil if it browns too quickly, for 1 hour 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the cream cheese frosting, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Add the icing sugar and beat until well combined. Add milk and beat to combine.

Place the cake on a plate. Spread the cream cheese frosting over the top and side of the cake. Sprinkle with toasted flaked coconut and serve.

Stuffed Vegetables

Low fat, low GI, high in protein and gluten free, vegetables don't get better then this.

200g quinoa
300g lean lamb mince
4 large zucchini, halved lengthways
4 large tomatoes
6 green shallots, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
75g reduced-fat feta, crumbled
1 tbs finely chopped fresh mint
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Place the quinoa in a large heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Set aside for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain. Place the quinoa in a fine sieve and use the back of a spoon to squeeze out any excess moisture. Return to the bowl.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 6 minutes or until browned. Drain off any excess fat. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Use a teaspoon to remove the flesh from the zucchini, leaving a 1cm-thick border around the edges. Discard the flesh. Use a small sharp knife to cut tops from tomatoes and discard. Use a teaspoon to remove the flesh from the tomatoes, leaving a 1cm-thick border around the edges. Reserve the flesh. Place the tomato and zucchini shells on the lined tray.
Add the reserved tomato flesh, mince, shallot, feta, mint, lemon rind and cinnamon to the quinoa and stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the quinoa mixture evenly among the tomato and zucchini shells. Bake for 35 minutes or until the zucchini and tomato shells are tender and the stuffing is golden. Serve.