Finding balance is all throughout nature. Photo courtesy of Jambo.

I’ve decided that pre-Holiday season or not, I need to get back on the healthy eating bandwagon. See lately I’ve been feeling somewhat of the hypocrite and in all honesty, my diet has been atrocious. A combination of jet-setting, a new job where lollies and alcohol flow like water, a cross town commute to and from the workplace (long workdays), and a little too much socialising on the weekends means that I have no time for cooking, let alone eating right (except for breakfast – that always happens). I feel so horrid saying that because for years now I’ve wondered how people couldn’t have time to nourish their bodies. Does this mean for all that time I just had nothing to do?  Maybe. But in defense of my social life, I was immersed in the topic of health day in-day out in my job and in study, that thinking of what exciting meal I would cook up with the ingredients in my cupboard and fridge that night was a part of my day.

The other significant point is that I religiously went grocery shopping on the weekends; whether it be at the farmers market, green grocer, organic wholesalers up the road, Mediterranean supermarket, or bulk organic supplies store a couple of suburbs away. I knew what I had to get and where, and I also had a car to run around in. Problem number 1 right there. Before embarking on my “New York trip of a lifetime” I sold my car. Something I’ve wanted to do for 3 years as a means of living with less, commuting by bike, getting fitter, more fresh air while doing my bit for the environment. It’s all great, and I am having fun but I just can’t manage running around like I used to.

Prompted by a growing list of ailments, I am now turning to desperate measures and embarking on a 30 day candida diet. What are the signs of candida?  Candida can show up as frequent colds (depressed immunity), lethargy, mental sluggishness or even forgetfulness, digestive problems, bad breath, mucus in stools, chronic oral or vaginal (females) thrush, craving of sweets and yeasted products such as bread. Lets get it out in the open that everyone has the fungus in their system and nominally there’s a bacteria balance of 80% good / 20% bad ratio that keeps it in check. But when the scales are tipped in the opposite direction then we see pathological symptoms, like the above, arise.

Thanks to my overindulgent year, I think I’m in the later group. Never having suffered allergies or intolerances, I can feel myself reacting to wheat (gut pains), I’m tending to the back and facial pimples (which were usually rare), I’m bloated, bowels not working like they oughtta and of course I’ve done a Chinese Medicine self diagnosis reading my pusle, and particularly toungue which has a greasy thick coating at the root with red dots, a sign of damp-heat which can indicate candida. I’m also incredibly tired and my moods are pretty flat. I’ve even used the word “glum” recently, and this is really out of character for me.

When considering a diet approach to correcting health, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s bloody confusing! In the space of 2 days I have read 3 different doctrines – all contradicting one another. Some of this advice from highly qualified and others from people who have read and researched and trialled and error-ed, and I’m not likely to exclude the latter just because they haven’t been to school for it.

First step was to download Sarah Wilson’s “I Quit Sugar” ebook. Candida being a fungal infection, is feed by sugary and yeasty products. Yeast not so hard, sugar a different ball game. Previously the thought of giving up sugar was in the too hard basket so I didn’t even consider it. Reading this book has given me the confidence that it is achievable to quit sugar and change your preference for it. Reading all the fantastic feedback has egged me on even further. In a nutshell this book touts quit sugar and fill up and energise from good fats. Fabulous.

Second step in my preparation was to check out what self development guru, Steve Pavlina says on the topic of giving up caffeine, since I can manage to avoid sugar but not in my daily tea/coffee (yet). Steve’s approach to combating the mental slumps is to eat truckloads of fruit which has phu-lenty of bioavailable energy in the form of fructose. Exactly the type of sugar Sarah is teaching us to quit. Hmmmm.

Thirdly, I turned to my bible, Healing With Wholefoods. This is where you can insert an intimidating soundtrack because I’ve read up on the Candida Diet in HWW before and literally you can just cancel out aaaany kind of fun food (beside vegies of course) including the fulfilling good fats (I was planning on avocado being my new best friend during the diet). What I was really reading between the lines was “be prepared to be hungry, unsatisfied and unstimulated…but candida free!”. Not what a foodie wants to hear. Groan.

Still inspired, I’m going to do a 30 day trial and record my progress here. Out come the scales, the tape measure and mood diary. Also the creativity. In order to remain engaged, I’m going to have to make sure that I’ve got some food to look forward to, and plenty of it to curb cravings until my body finds it’s balance. Do note that I’m also taking some Chinese Medicine herbs in conjunction with the diet which will help accelerate results, but I figure this is offset with the fact that it’s the festive season and I am, without a doubt, going to slip up. Recording the after effects of such a slip up will be part of the experiment.

So as I write this blog, I’m at day 3. I have had 1.5 teaspoons of sugar (in 2 coffees) until this afternoon when I couldn’t resist a small piece of cherry ripe chocolate mud cake. I can happily report that I did feel a slight peak in moods and energy on day 1 and 2. Today was quite different, which was also my first no caffeine day, and I fought with the urge to have a coffee all day, thus the caving to the chocolate cake. After a delicious taste sensation, I held the cake in my mouth for a bit, because I actually didn’t want to swallow knowing that I wasn’t going to feel great. The guilt afterwards wasn’t worth the cake and I hope I can bottle that feeling to resist temptation in the future.

Do you suffer from candida overgrowth? What kind of diet or foods have your tried?

Extrodinary healthy desserts from Rouge Tomate

Yesterday’s part 1 post we looked at easy ways to get foodiecure with celtic sea salt, apple cider vinegar, make your own stocks and fermented foods. Part 2 ramps up your pantry with getting your sugar kicks from healthier sugar alternatives, mineralising with sea vegetables, the good fats and superfoods.

5. Healthy sugar kicks

Healthy petit desserts from Michelin starred Rouge Tomate utilises the natural flavours of fruits and other natural sweeteners

I’m not going to get all health nazi on you and tell you to ignore the big pink elephant in the room in the form of a big pink cupcake. The simple fact is, most people like a bit of sweet, and just like salt, sour, pungent and bitter, the sweet flavour is represented in the five elements theory and resonates to the all important digestive organs, Spleen and Stomach. Melbourne pastry chef, Pierre Roelofs says that “Desserts don’t have to be sickly sweet to be enjoyable” as right now I’m snacking on some slighty honeyed Halva – for Spleen’s sake of course!

In it’s pure form, cane juice is full of minerals, but again, modern production methods mean that during processing, all the good stuff has been extracted then refined, and had things added to it to increase shelf life and improve consistency rendering it nutrient-deficient. Melbourne pastry chef Pierre Roelofs who was interviewed by The Epicure recently believes some less refined sugars have their appeal. “What some people might call impurities are actually different flavour compounds, which give certain sugars a lovely unique character.” Damn straight! Which brings me to my favourite sugar of the moment, rapadura. The maple-flavoured pure sugar cane juice has simply been sun dried and packaged.

Using sugar alternatives
Cooking with sugar alternatives requires a bit more attention. Not all substitutes can be replaced on a 1 for 1 basis. Here’s a general guide to 1 cup of white or brown sugar is equivalent to:

• ¾ c pure maple syrup, reduce total liquids by 2 Tblsp
• ½ c honey. Reduce total liquids by ¼ c
• 1 c molasses. Reduce total liquids by ½ c. Add 1 tsp baking soda to temper the acidy.
• 1 ½ c sorghum. Reduce total liquids by ¼ c
• 1 to 1 rapadura for sugar
• Prevent overbrowning by lowering the baking temperature by 20°C

Blackstrap Molasses
Considered a ‘waste’ product from the production of refined white sugar, blackstrap molasses contains many vital minerals, in particular iron, calcium, zinc, copper and chromium.

Rapadura
Has been used by the people of India for thousands of years, rich in minerals, particularly silica. In baking it gives the best results to cookies and cakes.

Brown rice syrup
Almost a butterscotch flavour, brown rice syrup has a low GI index, preventing rapid fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Being a milder flavour, it is not ideal for baking, but get it drizzling.

Maple syrup
Contains calcium, phosphorous, potassium and sodium. Be sure to choose organic to ensure no chemicals such as lead and formaldehyde are present.

Stevia
Thirty times the sweetness of sugar, this powder is made from a South American herb can be used by those who are sensitive to sweetners. Contains minimal calories, stevia is reputed to have beneficial effects on fat absorption, blood pressure, regulating blood sugar, hypertension and reduces mental and physical fatigue, urinary problems, rheumatic ailments, constipation and infections and tolerated by those with candida. Two drops of stevia liquid will sweeten 1 cup of liquid.

Raw honey
As a wholefood, raw honey is best used in deserts that don’t require heating to preserve it’s carbohydrate digesting enzymes and nutrients contained in plant pollens. Studies have shown that honey does not upset blood sugar levels as severely as refined sugar. Raw honey should not be given to infants who lack sufficient stomach acid to deactivate bacteria spores.

The really, really bad sugars
For god’s sake, steer clear of artificial sweetners like aspartame and new comer, neotame, made from two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, which together are highly toxic. In the battle of obesity, these substitutes are invading food products at a phenomenal rate. A lot of controversy surrounds the issue of fake sugars, and the only people claiming this stuff is safe are the people and organisations that stand to make a lot of money from their use. Independent research has shown that these FDA (USA’s Food and Drug Administration) approved ingredients are highly neuro-toxic, addictive and positively linked to brain tumors, weight gain, depression and strokes. It is running rampant everywhere like the diseases it causes. You can’t find a chewing gum without fake sugar these days. Luckily for us most health food stores stock gum and mints containing a naturally occring crystalline carbohydrate called xylitol, which is normally consumed everyday through the many fruits and vegetables we eat. In a nutshell, xylitol is not only a preferred option, but purports to have many health and dental protective benefits.

High fructose corn syrup is not so much the issue here in Australia as it is in the United States, thanks to our thriving sugar industry. But it is another one to avoid, not only because of it’s reported contribution to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease, but also due to it most certainly being derived from genetically modified corn.

Health and Lifestyle guru, Sarah Wilson has released a Quit Sugar e-book. You can purchase it here for $15. Even if you don’t plan on quitting sugar all together, being more mindful of your sugar intake, and using alternative sweetners is a brilliant start.

6. Sea Vegetables
Overlooked in our Western society, the health powers of sea vegetables have been known for centuries, particularly by Asian cultures. Sea vegetables contain 10 – 20 times the minerals of land plants, and are a high source of calcium, amino acids (the building blocks of protein), iron, zinc, iodine and vitamins A, B and C. The salty properties help remove phlegm and their detoxifying properties remove radioactive and toxic metal wastes and help to clean the lymphatic system.

The benefits to you are healthy thyroid function,  healthy hair, nails, bones and teeth, ensures proper metabolism and is useful for weight loss, stimulates reproductive organs, antiseptic, detoxifing and blood alkalising (counteracting our acidic diets and lifestyles).

Needless to say, make sure you include sea veg in your diet regularly.

Some common sea vegetables are:
Agar Agar
Vegetable based geletin suitable for vegans and vegetarians that doesn’t require refrigeration to set. Agar agar aslo promotes digestion.
To use: add 1 dessert spoon to a cup of hot liquid, stir and simmer until dissolved

Hijiki and Arame
Contains viatmin B2, niacin and others vitamins to support hormone function.
Soak for 30 minutes in warm water and chop. Add to any grain, soup, bread, salad, or vegetable dish.

Kombu & Kelp
Greatly increase nutritional profile of any food it is prepared with. Good to add to dried beans during soaking and cooking. The minerals help balance protein and oils and increase digestibility of beans by breaking down tough fibers. Kombu contains glutamate which gives it a flavour enhancing qualities (umami) when cooked with beans and vegetables. I like to add a strip to my home made stocks.
Add to soups and stocks. If adding to salad, cook for 1 hr first to soften. Reserve the cooking liquid for soups, risotto, stews etc, which can be frozen for later use.

Nori
Has the most tender fibers, highest protein content, and most easily digested. A good food for goitre and high blood pressure. Commonly used in sushi, or toasted and crumbled over any food, hot or cold in sandwiches, in dressings and combined with sesame seed and sprinkled.

Dulse
Like nori, dulse is highly versatile. Sprinkle leaf or flakes in soups, stocks, stews, miso, stirfrys or savoury dishes. Alternatively, dulse can be used to ‘salt’ pasta or potato boiling water. Check out this gorgeous noodle recipe from Power Super Foods.

Wakame
Use in green leaf salads, soups, stews and casseroles.

7. Oils
Not all oils are created equal and it is now known that rancid oils can dramatically contribute to declining health, even responsible for the big C. In contrast oils can be used as a powerful health tool if used appropriately. Oils contain a myriad of nutrients and are important in cell and neural function. Certain vitamins are only soluble in fat, so diets low in fat are usually also low in Vitamins A, D, E and K. Most importantly, certain oils such as flax seed oil are a source of essential fatty acids, omegas- 3 and 6. These are important in our cell biology and hormone production and even more important to obtain from our diet because our bodies can’t synthesize them.

Fat phobic or not, oils are necessary in cooking for flavour and texture. Stocking up on a couple of different (good quality) oils is necessary for any healthy pantry, and use oils appropriately. Generally you can break oils up into 2 categories; those you heat and those you don’t.

High heat
Coconut oil and rice bran oil  are excellent healthy choices of oil if you are going to cook at high temperatures since they both can tolerate extreme heat and are not derived from genetically modified crops. Additionally coconut oil is a wonder oil, which you can read about here. If you don’t have either on hand, to a lesser extent it’s preferable to use peanut and vegetable oils for frying rather than using a volitile oil that will turn rancid with the application of heat.

Low heat
Olive oil (and I’ll include butter here) are best for low temperature cooking and sauteing only. With a low smoking point you’ll soon discover the tipping point. Bin it if it smokes!

No heat
Nut and seed oils are considered the most volitile and should only be used for drizzling and dressings. Experiment with different oils as they each have their own flavour profiles to add some creative zing to your dishes. A combination used at Rouge Tomate with their a crispy duck salad with sweet pickled rhubarb, farrow and dressed with pistachio oil. Go nuts!

To help keep your precious oils healthy, only buy oils in dark bottles and store in a cool dark cupboard. Warmth and UV will render them toxic.

8. Superfoods
I am generally not a fan of the term superfoods, I think there’s a bunch of clever marketers cashing in on the Wellness boom and charging a premium price to tout some studies and prettily package up some exotic ingredient that grows like a weed in its native environment. My view is that any good quality ingredient is a superfood. Heck, my mum’s home grown tomatoes are a superfood for all the taste and flavour and joy they deliver. But while superfoods are all the rage at the moment, I’ll jump on that bandwagon for a second since I do have a couple of favourite foods that fall into that category and are easy to use while adding a food-bling.

Flax Seeds
Are vegetarian source of Omega 3 EFA’s (see point 7 above). I have them daily in my morning oatmeal. Just make sure you cook them whole as once the shell is broken the precious oils will begin to deteriorate and most definitely once you chuck them in with hot porridge. Chew well to break the shell and get the nutrients. Also very good for proper bowel movements! Never buy pre ground LSA mix (Linseed, Sunflower, Almond). You don’t know how long it’s been since they’ve been processed, sat on the shelf and exposed to sunlight. Ugh.

Goji Berries
Known in Chinese Medicine as Gou Ji Zi, these wolfberries are listed in the TCM Materia Medica. I call them a little kidney tonic and they’re excellent for us females for building blood. I include about a tablespoon of goji’s in my morning porridge (along with linseeds). Not a hell of a lot of taste, their texture once rehydrated in the porridge is a slimy version of sultanas (not as gross as it sounds), they do offer a fantastic colour that you can have fun with.

Green Tea Raw Cheesecake from Yongs Green Foods

Coconut Water
Gosh this is such a pleasant and refreshing drink, the only chore with coconut water is getting it out of the coconut. I’ve given it few goes and frankly I suck. Don’t bother with prepackaged coconut water, if you’ve ever tried fresh vs. packaged side by side, there’s no comparison to taste and vitality. Full of digestive enzymes, I’ve been told that if you’re concerned about food poisoning while travelling in Asian countries to drink young coconut water – it is that powerful. Yet to try it out, this info would have been handy for my Thailand trip ’08. Use it in smoothies and desserts or as a drink on its own.

Cacao
I feel like chocolate has been done to death, particularly after seeing media hungry Raw foodist David Wolfe speak earlier this year. In a nutshell; antioxidants. Just don’t go as crazy as the extremists tout, cacao can be quite stimulating and is strongly yang in nature.
Try cacao nibs in your morning oatmeal and always have on had organic dark chocolate to curb sugar cravings while getting your antioxidant kick. Yummmmm.

Sources

Recipes for Life, Dorothy Edgelow

Chinese Materia Medica 3^rd edn., Dan Bensky, Steven Clavey, Erich Stoger

Xylitol: An Amazing Discovery for Health, Kauko Makinen, Alonzo Jones, John Peldyak

Healing with Wholefoods, Paul Pitchford

The Natural Health Cookbook, Dorothy Hall and Carol Odell

You are What you Eat, Gillian McKeith

Eating for Beauty, David Wolfe

The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, Michael Murray

Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson

Gastrointestinal Health, Steven Peikin

Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon

Oz Food Trainer, Sandra Dubs

Love your vegetables, love yourself

While the Southern Hemisphere goes through it’s annual Spring Clean, so should we be giving our bodies a clean out from winter’s days of stagnancy. Buying organic is the first logical step to take when cleaning up our diets, but if you want to give your pantry an effortless oomf, I’ve got some tips to substitute substandard supermarket gunk with some really yummy alternatives. Once monotonous drone of highly processed and refined products that you have been using are replaced with ingredients full of their own flavour personality you will once again make your condiments work in your favour for taste, digestion and general wellbeing.

Part one includes mineral kicks with celtic seasalt, digestive aid apple cider vinegar, the limitless benefits of home made stocks, and the sharmanistic magic of fermented foods. I’ve even included a recipe for easy make your own easy sourdough bread (thanks to Arabella Forge, author of Frugavore). Check back in tomorrow to get Part 2.

1. Celtic sea salt
Easily my #1 recommendation to improve your health while improving on the flavour of your meals. Why? Modern farming practices have depleted soil of nutrients and as a result our fruit and vegies become less nutrient-dense themselves. Nowadays it’s not uncommon to see nutrient deficiencies in today’s era of surplus. Unlike it’s evil twin, table salt, celtic sea salt has a nutrient content of over 80 trace elements – a mineral profile very similar to that of healthy blood. Whole natural sea salt in its unrefined state renders the salt with a slight green tinge and some brands are even a little moist. The flavour is well rounded and has punch, which means you don’t need to use as much as regular table salt. There are several brands available, along with a coarse and fine option.

What about health concerns associated with sodium?
Salt has got a bad rap over the years and as a result we’re now starting to see sodium deficiencies. However, sodium is a vital element in our basic cellular health. Each of our cells contain what is called a sodium-potassium pump that maintains the water balance and supplies nutrients to cells. This pump is also responsible for eliminating the bio waste out of each cell. In short, sodium is a very important mineral to our health. Refined, bleached table salt in the form of sodium chloride has been stripped of its companion elements and contains toxic additives such as aluminium silicate, to keep it powdery and porous. This is the salt product that has a tendency to cause weight gain in the form of oedema and is linked to kidney and blood pressure problems as we have learned through the common food pyramid teachings.  Not only bad for health, adding refined salt to foods progressively deadens the palate and taste buds so that more and more must be added to get any taste at all from the meal. Wean yourselves away from unnecessary salting and begin to enjoy the flavour of food again.

2. Apple cider vinegar
This unassuming product should be dubbed a super-food. Along with being choc full of digestion promoting enzymes, apple cider vinegar is warming by nature, which promotes circulation of qi in the body, removing stagnant blood and eliminating toxins. Apple cider vinegar also has the ability to neutralise poisons and for this reason is good for food poisoning (while replenishing digestive enzymes). Take 1 teaspoon diluted in a glass of water every 15 minutes until symptoms subside. Most interestingly, it has the ability to move stagnant emotions, quickly altering a bad mood. For this reason Paul Pitchford, the author of Healing With Wholefoods, prescribes apple cider vinegar for children, citing bad moods will usually disappear a few moments after taking. Carrying a little too much pudge around the middle? Because of its warming and moving properties, apple cider vinegar will help move weight known as a damp condition in Chinese Medicine.

In the same fashion of my Italian forefathers, I take a capful (approx 1 tsp) of vinegar diluted in my warm water of a morning to wake up my digestion. I prefer the taste and effect apple cider vinegar has over lemons, which are commonly recommended by Naturopaths which have a cooling effect (I personally need the warmth). I also use apple cider vinegar in my salad dressings or making quick pickles. Use in vegan baking, where vinegar and baking soda react to help create a rising effect in the absence of eggs.  As a medicine, if ever I feel bloated and have eaten too much rich food, I take a little apple cider vinegar diluted with some warm water – the sour and bitter flavours of vinegar helps reduce accumulations in the liver, giving it’s Yang partner organ the gallbladder, a helping hand in digestion.
You want to choose an apple cider that is unrefined, unpasteurised, naturally brewed and aged in wood. Its counterparts are sped-aged imposters that are highly demineralising. My favourite brand is Braggs – it tastes the best and also includes the ‘mother’, which occurs naturally as connected strand-like chains of protein enzyme molecules.

3. Home made stocks

Dumplings in broth: A tasty way to enjoy your homemade stock

Nothing could be more simpler or more effective than homemade stocks. Not only can you control the quality of the ingredients, you can create different flavours depending on its final use. Your house will smell amazingly homely and you can generally put a stock on to boil on the back of the stove while you go away and do something domestic. Freeze in portions you can easily defrost what you need in advance or on the stove top – no microwaves please!

Health-wise your stock inherits all those gorgeous vitamins and minerals from the produce you make it with. Adding a strip of kombu to your stock enriches the final product with many beneficial minerals and adds extra depth of flavour (see point 6 in Part 2 tomorrow).

Recipe – Stock
Click here for my recipe.

4. Fermented foods
Fermenting was a technique traditionally used to preserve food in times of past. While there are many cheat ferments out there (just add vinegar!) preparing fermented foods properly comes in the form of lacto-fermentation. It’s all achieved by a bit of basic chemistry involving starches and sugar, lactic acid and naturally occurring bacteria. The result is proliferation of lactobacilli which enhances digestibility, amplifies vitamin levels, has anti- biotic and carcinogenic properties and importantly restores the good and bad bacteria balance in the intestines.

All traditional cultures have some form of fermented food in their repertoire; the Germans have sauerkraut, Japanese have uemboshi plums, India has fermented fruit chutneys, Russia and Poland does lettuce and the Koreans have kimchi. Traditionally produced butter, cheese and yoghurts have a fermentation process and are used in many European cultures.

In the case of hard to digest substances such as soy and gluten, fermentation begins a sort of pre-digestion which aids in their digestibility, reducing irritation to the gut. Fermented soy products include tempeh, miso and quality soy sauce in the form of Shoyu, which is necessary for your plant-based source of protein. Sourdough bread is a common fermented food, which most cases of gluten intolerance can tolerate. It tastes so much better than commercial bread, try making your own sourdough bread and mix it up with different combination of flavourings.

Recipe – Sourdough

Home made right here in my kitchen

Starter
¼ c. flour (Rye is best in starter)
¼ c. water
Stir into a paste and leave to sit at room temperature in bowl (ceramic or glass) for 12 hours and stir again. Feed starter by adding 1 heaped tsp of flour and dash of water and stir into paste again. Repeat every 12 hours. On Day 3 the starter will start bubbling. As the starter grows in size, you will need to “feed” it more. If you need to slow down the fermentation put in fridge. Before using it needs to be taken out of fridge, fed and left for 12 hours. The Starter has to be alive to make bread – the bigger the bubbles, the better!

Making Sourdough Bread
100g starter
200g flour (double the starter amount) – best is 50/50 spelt and plain organic flour
1tsp rapadura or brown sugar
½ tsp salt
Coat hands in oil and mix to breadcrumbs. Add water as you go to form ball. Knead for a little while longer until smooth and elastic. Sprinkle the bottom of pan with polenta and place in dough. Leave the dough to rest in oven overnight. In morning turn on oven to 180°C. When it reaches maximum, bake for 45 – 50 mins.

Variations: add fennel, caraway or cumin seeds; rosemary and garlic; thyme; lavender; olives etc.

Note: Good result depends on type and freshness of flour, temperature in kitchen, chlorine in water, chemicals used in kitchen

***

Have you tried to make your own fermented foods? What little tricks did you find?

Check back in tomorrow for part 2 of 8 Ways To Make Your Pantry (and diet!) More Healthy.

I didn’t initially put two and two together (it took my brilliant Chinese Medicine doctor to point it out), but the location of the crack is at Lung 11 – the end point on the Lung channel – the crack signifies extreme dryness in the Lungs! Interestingly the function of this point is to drain heat in the Lungs – don’t you just love it how our bodies tell us what’s going on internally?

So that is how I came to making up Lung soup in addition to eating copious amounts of pears which help to moisten the Lungs. Lung soup is made up of celeriac, cauliflower, garlic, white pepper, shiitake mushrooms, garlic and spring onions. You’ll note there’s lots of white coloured vegetables here, white being the colour that resonates with the Lungs in the 5 element theory. Also resonating with the Lungs is the pungent flavour; garlic, pepper and celeriac providing this. Shiitake mushrooms have an additional function in the respect they nourish the Lungs while clearing heat and phlegm congesting the Lungs. Shiitakes are prized in Asian traditions for their healing properties and used for immunity. Modern science has now isolated the compound lentinan in Shiitakes which is the reason for their powerful immunity benefits. This all comes back to the function of the Lungs, because in TCM the Lungs are responsible for distributing the defensive qi – what we call immunity in western science. So I hope you’re starting to see now how ancient traditions are now being backed up by modern science, minus the microscope.

Lung Soup

Lung Soup, the recipe
1/2 celeriac, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1/2 onion, diced
800ml vegetable stock
generous handful shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 spring onion, sliced
olive oil
salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

1. Lightly saute the roughly chopped 2 cloves of garlic with a good pinch of salt until just aromatic.
2. Add in the celeriac and cauliflower. Stir around a bit to get the vegies just to sweating then amp up the heat and add in your stock to just under covering the vegetables (you want a nice thick soup).
3. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat, pop the lid half on and simmer for about 20 minutes until the celeriac is soft (the cauliflower will soften way before the celeriac does).
4. Using a stick blender, blend until very smooth. Seasoning with salt and white pepper to taste.
5. Meanwhile, saute the garlic slices, spring onions and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil until soft. Transfer to a tray and pop under the grill for about 5 – 10 minutes until they crisp up
6. Serve with crispy mushrooms topping the soup and a light sprinkle of white pepper

Note: what would really add a gorgeous vegan cheesyness to the soup would be to stir in at the end 1/4 c of savory yeast flakes (available from health stores). Not only great savory taste (think: umami) but a good non-animal source of Vitamin B12 often lacking in meatless diets.

How’s spring treating you? Are you getting any change of the season symptoms?

Sources:
Healing with Wholefoods, Paul Pitchford
The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, Michael Murray

Ode to Dirt Candy, NYC
If you’ve been devoutly reading my blog, you’ll know I recently interned at my all-time favourite guru restaurant, Dirt Candy. Here’s a couple of quasi DC experiences I’ve had on Aussie shores. I was rolling up to 70 falafel balls a day during my time at DC, but that didn’t stop me from loving the spice-driven crunchy balls. Couple with some home-made raita with lots of mint and corriander, lettuce and pickled turnips (available from continental supermarkets and delis) and you got yourself a quick, easy, and tasty mid week dinner.

Dirt Candy's falafel recipe. Just roll and wrap your mouth around it!

cooked falafel balls

Suited up Michael rolling the balls

Falafel wraps being made

My good mate Katie Christmas (we met on Christmas day 2 years ago) is such an inspiration. After telling her in great detail how awesome DC’s portabello mousse is (think: rich velvety vegetarian foie gras) she hunted down the recipe and found it on www.starchefs.com . KC recently made it for her Christmas in July dinner and it was divine and brought tears to my eyes at the New York memories it evoked. A complicated little number; it does require some special ingredients like agar agar and instruments like a vita mix, but the flavours are still there and I reckon that it’s fabulous no matter what.

KC's version of Portobello Mousse with polenta sticks

Here is the link to Chef Amanda’s recipe on starchefs.com.

Recent Mexican action

Ollie tucking in to vegetarian Mexican cook up. Shame about those home made tortillas huh, Ollie?

Vego Mexican is still full o flavour

Corriander roots also used!

Mexican ingredients

Authentic chillies bought right here in Melbourne

Key ingredients - tomatillos and chipotle

Phenomenal authentic seafood paella
I was lucky enough to be invited to dinner with friends Jarrod and Cristina. Spaniard, Cristina introduced me to the most incredible flavours. She made the fish stock earlier that day and cooked the paella right in front of our eyes on their fancy paella burner.

Paella deconstructed

Paella cooking

Jarrod firing up the paella burner

Lost for words, phenomenal!

Putting on the finishing touches

Latin to die for – Newmarket Hotel, St Kilda

Quinoa Salad

Newmarket Hotel

Mushroom quesadilla

The menu - note the "word bin" at the bottom

Catering Michael’s 40th

Risotto squares, caremelised onion, apricot and thyme jam, creme friache

Roast Duck Spring Rolls

Cucumber cups, tomato concasse, horseradish whip, dill

Assembling the prawn tacos

The mains: potato polenta; grilled rosemary and garlic chicken drumettes; BBQ briskit; grilled grape and fennell green salad

And from the United States….

Arepa from Caracas Arepa Bar, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Soup from the Vanderbilt Hotel, upstate New York. Love the simple but effective presentation!

Portobello Burger with brioche style bun and sweet potato fries. Great fast food!

Hung over breakfast of champions: homemade breakfast taco

Ad hoc dinner on a budget: herbaceous omlette with asparagus

World's best dahl with cillantro (hey when in Rome...), sunflower sprouts (bought from Fort Greene Farmers Market, Brooklyn) and hearts of palm

Vegetarian mazoh ball soup

Sake at Ippudo, NYC goes really well with....

Vegetarian Ramen at Ippudo

Pork Ramen at Ippudo, NYC

Better than Momofuku: Pork Buns at Ippudo, NYC

Living in a shoebox in NYC? Still managed to make my morning oatmeal. Just gimme a kettle!

Creme Brulee doughnuts from Doughnut Plant, NYC

Only the Mexicans would think to put tortilla chips in a soup. Surprisingly awesome

Barrels of pickled goods

I have no idea what this is called. Sesame flat bread stuffed with grated carrot and corriander from the world's smallest dumpling shop, Chinatown NYC

Katz's Deli pastrami on rye. Enough said.

...aaaand more homemade tacos at Daniel's gourmet trailer

Crawfish anyone? Courtesey of a sponsored party at SXSW (thanks Native Tongue and Bug Music). That's Luca from Vaudeville Smash - check em out online.

Vegetarian tamales - life changing!

Back to Australia….

Michael's gourmet breakfast. I'm slowly coaxing him towards more vego fare (Note only the tiny amount of prosciutto)

Farmers Markets are great for finding....Lemon Apple Crystal Cucumbers!!! Wooooow!

Shizo calamari, soba noodles with lemon apple crystal cucumber and other farmers market freshness

Apricot creme brulee tart (made with fresh apricots from the farmers market)

and just because this pic is so darn cute…

Stage Dives and High Fives

Osso Bucco agnolotti with cannellini bean, sweet veg and osso bucco broth

The brain child of cooking bestie, Michael and me, this hearty dish screams winter goodness. Bathe agnolotti in a falvourful broth with cannellini beans and winter veg and you got yourself a pretty darn fine meal suitable for slow Sundays or impress-your-guests dinner party. Will match brilliantly with a glass of Pizzini’s Nebbiolo!

This will serve about 4 – 6 people

Broth
500g osso bucco (ox tail)
2 x carrots, roughly chopped
2 x stems celery with leaves
1 onion, quartered (outer skin peeled, but inner skin intact)
2 x cloves garlic
small nob of ginger
Stick of rosemary
parsley
8 peppercorns
2 x star anise
2 x bay leaves

Directions

1. What I didn’t do with my broth was braise the meat first. I since have read that braising the meat (or roasting it) gives a richer broth, which I think would be fantastic.
2. Fill a large pot with water, add all the ingredients
3. Bring to a very slow simmer and reduce for 2 hours, skimming the impurities every now and then (the grey matter that tends to accumulate at the top
4. Scoop out the bulk, discard the veg. Cut meat from the osso bucco and set asside

Prepare the cannellini beans
In a pot add 1 c. dry cannellini beans and enough water to cover two times. Bring to the boil and once reached, turn off heat and let beans soak while the broth simmers. If you have it on hand, add a piece of kombu while the beans are soaking, a type of seaweed that helps in the digestibility of legumes. This is a quick way of soaking beans in case you haven’t remembered to soak them overnight. I blogged considerably on preparation and use of legumes here.

Pasta dough
I blogged on how to make a basic pasta dough in my last post here. Follow the same instructions and allow the dough to rest in the fridge while the broth is simmering.

Osso Bucco Filling
Rich and tomato-y with a slight hint of citrus creates agnolotti bursting with flavour.

Osso Bucco agnolotti filling

Meat reserved from osso bucco broth
1 x 250g tin of organic tomatoes
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
couple of anchovies
1 Tblsp sugar
2 Tblsp olives, roughly chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
zest of 1 lemon
handful of roughly chopped parsley

1. Saute onion until very soft in a good slurp of olive oil, adding a sprinkle of salt for seasoning
2. Add the garlic and saute for a couple more minutes
3. Add the tomatoes and simmer lightly for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring frequently to create a rich tomato base
4. Add the remaining ingredients (except parsley) and let simmer for 10 more minutes allowing the flavours to fuse ensuring you have a nice thick sauce.
5. Lastly, stir in the parsley and set asside

Finish the broth

Osso bucco stock with sweet veg and cannellini beans

Soaked cannellini beans
2 x stems celery, cut into 5mm cubes
2 x small turnips, cut into 5mm cubes
1 x med zucchini, cut into 5mm cubes
2 x tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add soaked beans to the broth and simmer for 1 hour reducing the broth and cooking the beans
2. Only once the beans are cooked, season the broth with salt – otherwise the salt will inhibit the softening of the legumes
3. Add the vegetables and cook for 20 minutes until veg are just done
4. Test for seasoning

Making the agnolotti

Agnolotti ready to be cooked

1. While the broth is reducing and cooking, roll out pasta sheets to a #5 or #6 on your pasta machine. I wish I knew in certain terms what thickness this actually was, but what you’re going for here is substantial but delicate. So not too thin, not too thick.
2. I’ve found the easiest way to make agnolotti (giant ravioli) is to create rectangle sized pieces so that you can dollop in your filling and fold over the pasta to create the pockets. Cut the pasta so you separate each agnolotti.
3. Seal the ends with a little water (some use egg wash, but I’ve found water works just as fine). Dip a fork into some flour and press the edges closed being careful not to pierce the pasta (as I did on a couple of occasions). Set aside on a floured tray ready for cooking once broth is finished

Assembly

1. Cook the agnolotti for approx 5 minutes – depending on how thick you rolled the pasta. Do this by gently poaching in softly simmering water. Use a spatula or similar to hold floating agnolotti under by resting it on top. The trick is to use a big pot, which we didn’t have available at the time of this making
   

   Angnolotti cooking

2. Right before the pasta is cooked, spoon out the broth into plates
   

   Osso Bucco broth

3. Then place the agnolotti on top
   

   Agnolotti layered on broth

4. Finally, garnish with fresh herbs and plenty of good quality parmesan.

Roast pumpkin tortellini with burnt butter and sage dressing, steamed broccolini and garlic chips

Such a tasty dish, I made this up on the fly looking for something yummy, a little bit indulgent and suitable for the winter weather. For some reason, homemade pasta, just gets processed so well by my body (if you know what I mean). Since I have no regulatory controls when it comes to pasta (I blame my Italian heritage) it’s very easy for me to over-eat it. But the homemade stuff doesn’t bloat me and doesn’t sit like a big ball of gluten in my gut afterwards.

To my vegan friends; I’m sorry, but egg pasta is the only way to go. Free-range of course. Lately I’ve been enjoying eggs from Green Eggs that I buy from the Italian bakery up the road in Lygon Street upper, Sugar Dough (while you’re there grab yourself a creme brulee tart. Better than heaven!).

Basic pasta recipe
I’ve had a ton of practice making pasta for Pizzini Wines that I kind of go off feel with pasta now (yeah yeah I’m a show off). But here’s a rough guide for you:
Serves 2
1 c. durum or semolina flour (Katrina Pizzini taught me to use durum wheat, but I can’t find it so I always use semolina flour which is a little coarser and I think is more commonly used for pastas). Both are stronger than regular flour but a softer, finer granule than say polenta or gritts.
1 tsp salt
1 Tbls olive oil
2 x whole eggs

Directions

1. In a bowl, place the flour and create a well in the middle. Crack in your eggs, adding the salt and oil
2. Using a wooden spoon, mix together until a dough forms
3. Turn out onto a floured surface (regular flour is ok here) and knead. If it’s too wet add more flour, if too dry try adding a couple of drops of water. You are looking for a moist dough that’s not sticky, but you don’t want it so dry it cracks. Ok?
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hr

Filling
Butternut or jap pumpkin cut into 1″ squares (roughly) tossed in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper then roasted for approx 30 mins at 180C. Allow to cool and mush in with the ricotta.
150g good quality ricotta cheese

Burnt Butter and Sage sauce
Over low heat, melt about 150 – 200 g organic butter in a pan, add in fresh leaves of sage and let brown for about 5 – 8 minutes…maybe more. You don’t want too much colour, and just enough heat so the sage leaves get all crispy. Season with salt if it needs it.

Steamed broccolini
Steam the trimmed broccolini for approx 4 minutes until al-dente. Refresh under cold water to stop the cooking process and to keep the colour. Set asside.

Garlic chips
Peel 4 cloves of garlic and finely slice. Poach in water (traditionally it’s milk, but do as you please) until tender. Bring olive oil to frying temp but not smoking and once hot enough gently fry the garlic chips until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towel until ready.

Assembly instructions

1. Roll out dough in portions. A pasta machine is more efficient, but if you don’t have one, I hope you’re arm muscles are in good working order! For this recipe, I go up to number 6 on my machine (1 being the thickest and 9 being the thinnest). You want a delicate texture, not too thick, but not so thin it makes it impossible to stuff and fold. Remember that the cooking process will expand the dough and make it thicker.
2. Using a biscuit cutter, cut circles approximately 5cm in diameter
3. Spoon on approx 1 tsp of filling and fold circles in half to form a semi circle
4. With your index and middle finger grip the semicircle, kind of pinching the widest part down so that you can fold the two end flaps together. There’s a couple of different ways to do this, but I learnt this way recently while interning at New York’s Rouge Tomate
5. So back to the pinching; just lightly grip it between your fingers as described, lightly wet the ends with water (some people use an egg wash, but I find water works fine) and fold the two ends to meet and press together. Lay the tortellini on a lightly floured tray while you make the rest
6. While you’re folding, bring a big pot of salted water to the boil. Once the tortellini are completed and water is boiled, drop in water and bring back to a gentle simmer. I find lightly poaching home made pasta works best while gently moving the pasta. Depending on the thickness it can take up to 5 minutes to cook. Do note that fresh pasta cooks much, much quicker and you don’t want to overcook it either, you still want a bite to the structure of the pasta.
7. Have your sauce and steamed broccolini ready to go while you’re cooking the pasta. Keep the sauce heated and quickly warm up the broccolini in a seperate pan (put in a hot pan and move around for 30 seconds to warm through but not cook).
8. Once tortellini is cooked spoon onto pre-warmed plates, add a spash of sauce, place broccolini on top and spoon over more sauce, making sure there’s plenty of sage leaves on each serving. Sprinkle with garlic chips.

Getting a cold or flu is a natural course of life, and as my mum says, it’s a good clean out of your system (thinking of what I’ve been coughing up lately, I might agree!). It’s not overly pleasant and sometimes can degenerate to bronchitis, sinusitis or pneumonia. However nature has provided us with foods that can help us back to the road to recovery. You don’t want to eat too much with a cold or flu; as the saying goes starve a cold and flu, feed a fever. The theory behind this saying is that you’ll end up feeding the bug. There are certain foods that are better to have during convalescence than others of which I’ve utilised in recipes below. Forget antibiotics, flu vaccinations and codine laden medications, here’s some tastier medications*…

Oatmeal with apple and pear compote

Oatmeal with Apple and Pear compote, raw honey, soaked almonds and coconut oil

1/3 c. oats cooked with 2/3 c water over low heat for about 10 minutes
1 x apple, quartered, cored and sliced
1 x pear, quartered, cored and sliced
half a mandarin, segmented and cut the inside membrane out to scoop out the pips
1 x star anise
peel of half a mandarin, thinly sliced
pinch nutmeg and cinnamon
dash of vanilla
1 x tsp rapadura sugar or similar organic non-refined sugar such as panella or palm sugar
10 x almonds, soaked overnight in cold water then sliced
1 x tsp organic raw honey
1 x tsp coconut oil

1. In a saucepan, combine apple, pear, mandarin peel, sugar, vanilla, spices with a dash of water and cook over low heat for approx 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occassionally until the fruit has softened. In the last 5 minutes add the mandarin segments. At the end stir in the sliced soaked almonds. This will be enough compote for 2 serves.
2. Once your oatmeal and compote has cooked, place the oatmeal in a bowl, spoon on the coconut oil and honey so it starts to melt in. Spoon over the compote and add a dash of soy or other non dairy milk

Health explanation
It’s no secret that I love my oats. Because they’re easily digested and great for the middle jiao (digestive center of the body), slightly warming, easy to make and you can change it up as much as your imagination will allow! This is a great recipe if you’ve got a lot of mucous, called damp in Chinese Medicine. It contains a lot of tasty ingredients that are very beneficial to recovery from the ravages of a cold or flu. If you’ve got  hot signs (red face, fever, sweating) do steer clear of the mandarin peel and spices since you will require more cooling foods.
Apples are easily overlooked as a medicinal fruit. They are cooling by nature and thus gently cooking them adds warmth needed for a cold-type cold or flu. They are excellent for indigestion and digestion problems in general. They’re very good for cleansing the liver, moistening dryness and dry lungs. The pectin in apples helps remove excess cholesterol, toxic metals (mercury and lead) from the system and residues of radiation. Remember to grab an apple if you suffer from hypoglycemia, as they help rectify low blood sugar and mental depression that comes with it.
Pears directly effect the lungs – which in Chinese Medicine are responsible for our immunity – and help to stop coughs. The sour properties of pears help eliminate excess mucous and the cooling natures eliminates heat. They are great with moistening dryness associated with heat, think: dry  throat and croaky voice.
Mandarin peel. The Chinese Medicine materia medica lists tangerine peel as one of the most commonly used herbs, but for our use we can substitute mandarin peel, being more readily available. Often in the form of aged tangerine peel, called Chen Pi, it promotes the flow of qi, harmonises the middle jiao – known as the stomach and spleen or digestive center of the body – and dries damp. In the form listed in this recipe (fresh) it is more drying but less regulating of the middle jiao and most commonly used for treating phlegm-damp coughs. Also useful in vomiting and belching.
Almonds are great for coughs, however their oil content means they should be used very sporadically with a “productive” cough (eg. mucous) so they don’t contribute to the already existing damp overload. By soaking the almonds makes them more digestible and enhances their nutritional value by energetically beginning the sprouting process. The skin of almonds is slightly bitter and thus good to for damp and phlegm conditions including diarrhea. I wrote about the benefits of almonds here which also includes a recipe for making almond milk (too easy!).
Star Anise is considered an elixir in Chinese Medicine because of it’s refreshing and detoxifying qualities. When slightly warmed it has an expansive quality which will help expel the pathogen
Cinnamon (known as Rou Gui) is highly warming and is very effective for dispersing cold. This should only be used if you are not displaying heat signs, and are experiencing chills or have an aversion to cold. It is very effective for moving blood, since stagnation of blood and qi are common factors in pathology. In addition, this unassuming  little spice helps in the generation of qi and blood. I like to use a tiny bit of cinnamon because it’s very warming to the kidneys which house our constitutional energy and are prone to cold.
Nutmeg is known as Rou Dou Kou in Chinese Medicine is also a warming herb in the Chinese Medicine materia medica, thus also promoting the circulation of qi. Nurturing to the digestive center, it is great for alleviating diarrhea and other digestive disorders such as nausea. It is quite strong so you don’t want to overdo the use of nutmeg – a pinch is enough here.
Honey has been used for centuries as medicine and works to harmoise the liver, neutralise toxins and relieve pain. Raw and unprocessed honey has the ability to dry up mucus and is helpful for those with damp conditions (although not recommended for infants). It contains beneficial minerals, enzymes and anti bacterial properties.
Coconut oil – I love this stuff and wrote a big post about it’s healthful benefits here. Essentially it’s a powerful anti- viral and bacterial and has a cooling effect to balance the heating properties of the other ingredients.
Non dairy milk – Since dairy is highly damp forming (think mucous) so you don’t want to add to your current overload. Choose non-dairy substitutes such as rice, nut or soy milks or non at all!

Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup

Pearl Barley Soup. Pic source: http://blog.divinedinnerparty.com

2 x carrots, finely diced
2 x sticks celery, finely diced
2 x small leeks, halved lengthways then sliced
3 x cloves garlic roughly chopped
1 c. pearl barley, soaked for at least 2 hours. If you haven’t soaked them, no worries, the soup will just require longer cooking
2 x bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Lt vegetable stock
Small head of broccoli cut into florets
Large handful of parsley coarsely chopped
2 x 1 cm thick slices of ginger
dash of cayenne pepper

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot and saute leeks. Add a tsp of salt.
2. Add in carrots and celery and saute for 2 mins.
3. Add rinsed pearl barley stir for 30 seconds then add hot stock, ginger and bay leaves and garlic. Bring to the boil and reduce. Cook until the barley is tender – up to an hour for unsoaked barley.
4. In the last 5 minutes add the broccoli florets and parsley. Adjust seasoning to taste
5. Remember to remove the bay leaves and ginger before serving

Health Explanation
When you want a little something-something at other meal times when you’re under the weather, keep it light with broth-based grain soups. Easily digestible and hydrating, you’ll give your body the support it needs to recover quickly. Steer clear of chicken soups while in the acute stages, since chicken is highly tonifying and nurturing and it’s likely you’re “feeding” the pathogen. If you do eat chicken, take it while you’re on the way up for a speedy and full recovery.

Foods of the onion family all share basic healing properties: being pungent flavour they all influence lungs and promote warmth thus have the ability to move stagnant blood and qi in the body while expelling cold. Rich in naturally occuring sulfur – a warming and purifying substance – onion family foods remove heavy metals, parasites, clean arteries, retards growth of viruses, yeasts, ferments and other pathogenic organisms and facilitates protein assimilation.
Garlic - a superstar as far as health maintaining properties go. Garlic can help everything from athletes foot, ear infections, food poisoning to snake bite! For the purposes of the cold/flu, garlic promotes circulation and sweating helping to purge the wind-cold pathogen. In alopathic medicine terms, garlic is known to inhibit the common cold virus and we’re beginning to understand it’s positive effect on other viruses associated with degenerative disease such as cancer, having strong anti- viral and bacterial properties. For a full description of how amazing garlic is, check out Healing with Wholefoods by Paul Pitchford p. 546.
Recipe: An little remedy my mum used to give us as children was finely dicing 2 fresh cloves of garlic, mix with olive oil (another potent anti bacterial source) and spreading on vegemite toast. Sounds weird, but it’s a really tasty medicine! Note that fresh garlic is especially useful for children since they’re prone to intestinal parasites.
Cautions: It’s worth noting that just because garlic is so amazingly good for you, that you don’t overdo it. Too much garlic can damage the stomach and liver. It is a potent herb and very heating so if you suffer from heat and deficient-heat signs such as red face, sensitivities to heat, desire for cold fluids, night sweats, malar flush then avoid taking garlic, especially in it’s raw form. It is ideal to combine with cooling foods such as wheat/barley grass products or eaten with meals (as in this recipe) to counteract the heating effects.
Cayenne Pepper is one of the highest botanic sources of Vitamin C and a good combination with garlic to provide a strong anti- viral and bacterial effect.
Leeks – another member of the onion family, leek posses a pungent/sour taste. This combination has a dual dispersing and constricting action; moving blood and qi stagnation while preventing “leaking” of these vital elements. Sour is a yin, thus cooling, flavour while leek’s properties are warming to the viscera.
Ginger along with cinnamon and nutmeg as listed above has an expansive, warming and drying effect. Ginger is especially useful for stomach upsets accompanied with damp conditions.

Pearl Barley. Pic source: www.organicroad.com.au

Pearl Barley is slightly sweet in flavour and supports the middle jiao and is very easily digestible.  It has been traditionally used in convalescents and invalids. Taking pearled barley and roasted barley removes the laxative effect, however in pearled barley there’s less fiber, calcium, iron and protein which in cases of sickness I think it’s better to have more gently nourishing food.

Parsley got a bad rap back in the ’80s, with that awful curly variety making appearances as garnish on plates the world over. However health-wise this is such a powerful kitchen herb to include in the diet. Most noteably it contains several times the Vitamin C than citrus and is one of the highest sources of Vitamin A (good for vision, bones, cell division and immunity), cleansing chlorophyll, calcium, sodium, magnesium and iron. It’s also great for improving digestion and the chlorophyll neutralises the strong odors of garlic. Curly or flat leaf – include parsley regularly in your diet.
Broccoli also contains more Vitamin C than citrus and has a high content of sulfur, iron, B vitamins and chlorophyll which helps mitigate gas-causing sulfur. To maintain the integrity of vitamins, include broccoli at the very end to cook for a couple of minutes only. I just read that broccoli contains five goitrogenous chemicals which disrupt the body’s ability to use iodine. Cooking broccoli is thought to reduce it’s effect, however use with caution in cases of low iodine and thyroid activity.

Rice Congee

Rice Congee. Pic source: http://steamykitchen.com

Commonly eaten in Chinese culture, congee is a thin porridge made simply from rice simmered in five to six times the amount of water. Although rice is the most common grain for congees, millet, spelt, or other grains are sometimes used. It is easily digested and assimilated , tonifies the blood and the qi energy, harmonises the digestion and is very nourishing. Since it has a cooling effect, it’s nice to add warming properties such as ginger to a congee, more so since it’s commonly eaten as nourishment for invalids and convalescents. Interestingly, congees are useful for increasing a nursing mothers supply of milk. The liquid can be strained from the porridge to drink as a supplement for infants and for serious conditions. Enhancing the therapeutic benefits of congee adding additional health  properties can be included by cooking process with appropriate vegetables, grains, herbs or meats in with the rice water. Since rice itself strengthens the digestive center, added foods become more completely assimilated, and their properties are therefore enhanced.

Directions
Cook 1 c. rice to 5 – 6 times water in a covered pot four to six hours on the lowest flame possible. It is better to use too much water than too little and it is said that the longer congee cooks the more “powerful” it becomes.

In his book, Healing with Wholefoods, Paul Pitchford has listed some common rice-based congees and their effects. Here’s a couple that might be useful:
Carrot: digestive aid, eliminates flatulence
Chestnut: tonifies kidneys, strenghtens knees and loin and good for treating anal hemorrhages
Chicken or mutton: recommended for wasting illnesses and injuries (because of it’s building properties)
Fennel: harmonises stomach, expels gas, cures hernia
Ginger: warming and antiseptic to viscera, used for deficient-cold digestive weakness (caused by antibiotics for example), diarrhea, anorexia, vomiting and indigestion
Leek: Warming to viscera; good for chronic diarrhea
Mustard: expels phlegm, clears stomach congestion
Poppy seed: relieves vomiting and benefits large intestine

I actually made congee once and it tasted like crap, but I didn’t add any seasoning. Then I had a congee in San Francisco when I got a bout of bad-ass gastro and it tasted awesome because they cooked it in chicken stock and there were mushrooms and other veg in it that I can’t remember. I found a great Chicken Congee recipe from The Secret Foodie which you will find here.

Melbournians might want to skip the whole 4 – 6 hours of slow cooking and try a tasty bowl at either The Supper Inn (not to be confused with The Supper Club. 15 Celestial Ave, Melbourne TEL: 9663 4759) or Wonton House (181 Russell Street, Melbourne TEL: 9662 9882). Alternatively, any China Town will have it’s congee.

Lemon and Honey
The old folk remedy really works! Lemon is sour and drying to all that mucous and contains the blessed Vitamin C, while honey is mositening to a dry throat and has those lovely anti’s (anti- viral and bacterial) that we need to chug down rather than the antibiotics (the wrong kind of anti).

Other helpful foods
Bioflavonoid-rich foods include cabbage with hearts, green peppers with their insides, parsley, carrots, broccoli, turnips, parsnips, horseradish, spring onions, garlic and most fruits (not bananas as they’re very damp forming).

Above all else, ensure you get plenty of rest, keep your fluids up with warm water and herbal teas such as green tea (full of antioxidants), chamomile or spearmint (antibacterial) or lemon and honey decoction.

Big warm hug,

Becki xox

*Do note that these recipes were based off my symptoms:

• predominant chills (no fever) and aversion to cold
• lethargy
• body aches (on the first day)
• high load of mucous (which came at about day 3)
• loss of appetite
• I even had some nausea and stomach upset which I’m not sure was the same bug, but even so there’s some stomach harmonising ingredients included here that wouldn’t do harm to your condition

Sources
Healing with Wholefoods, Paul Pitchford
Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica 3rd edn, Dan Bensky, Steven Clavey, Erich Stoger

I really don’t like working in commercial kitchens. To me, the cooking experience involves a glass of wine in hand, relaxed and enjoying the process with no time constraints. See, I’ve had plenty of experience in an industrial setting from years in the hospitality trade, so I know that it’s certainly not glam. 80% of kitchen work involves prep – and they are the long arduous hours – the fun part of cooking only lasts about 20% of the time and by that time rocks around you’re sooooo over it! In addition it’s tough on your feet, back, and any large muscle group you can think of. It’s also wildly counter productive to a healthy digestion. Eating on the run, at odd hours, and usually made up of whatever’s around the kitchen at the time, often fries became a staple. To top it off, I’m far too sensitive at certain times of the month to man up and take a bit of kitchen mouthing off. So when I packed my bags and headed to the US for 3 months to stage at what I consider the most innovative restaurants in the foodie-health world, I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as NYC.

First stop, Reseda…well actually East Village
Dirt Candy, 430 East 9^th Street, New York, (212) 228-7732
www.dirtcandynyc.com
Dirt Candy is a one of a kind vegetable restaurant that has captured my heart, soul and imagination. Amanda Cohen has revolutionised plant-based food.  She steers clear of the obvious to create fascinating dishes to highlight the vegetable’s potential and flavours.

If I am Daniel Larusso in this story, then Amanda Cohen is my Mister Miyagi. At Dirt Candy I Iearnt the wax on, wax off of kitchen karate. I repeated the same motions of chopping and dicing hour after hour, day after day wondering what I’m actually going to learn. It dawned on me in about week 2 – with a little help from Robert Kiyosaki – that there is value in repetition. The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad posted a quote online saying:

Repetition is the key to making sure that you get good results.

Over the ensuing weeks I had hours to mull this over in my head and like Mr Miyagi, Amanda gave me the room to learn and room to fail (but to learn very quickly from failure!). Lessons I gained:

Refining the technique
Each time I repeated the same task I was able to practice refining my technique over and over. I’ve diced my fair share of onions in the past, (a memorable episode of MasterChef Australia series 1 pops to mind!) but nothing makes you learn better skills than chopping a whole bucket at one time.

Here I am - not at the onion chopping challenge - on MasterChef season 1 with Matt Preston

Accuracy
Fine dining cookery is all about accuracy, so technique is important in making sure that each little square of onion is the exact size you want it, which will impact on cooking times, textures and overall presentation.

Eye for detail
And that last point leads to an eye for detail. My first day I was asked to dice some jalepenos. With my Aussie “yeah no worries mate” attitude, I chopped them as I thought I was supposed to but the next day Amanda came in and promptly told me they were too big, and that no one wants to eat a big chunk of pepper. Horrified that I might upset my guru, I made a mental commitment that I must pay more attention. Because there’s more to chopping vegetables (or painting a house as in the original movie) then meets the eye.

Where those pesky jalepenos were destined: Jalepeno Hush puppies with whipped maple butter

Know your tools
Handling a knife like its an extension of your hand takes practice. There is art in learning to wield that thing so it does exactly what you want without doing any grievous bodily harm. You have to respect it, know it, practice and repeat. Over and over and over again. You’ll end up with a little RSI but it’s worth it, you’ve tamed the beast and it’s yours to own!

Amanda kindly agreed to answer a few burning questions I had about restaurant life and creating amazing food that’s out of box:

You’ve created a new style of restaurant, not a vegetarian restaurant but a restaurant dedicated to highlighting the best vegetables can offer. What would be your advice to those wanting to create a new dining niche? From your experience how do you get people interested?
It’s a cliche, but the devil is in the details. I had to do a lot of little things that added up to one big thing and I’m not even sure I’m there yet. I had to make sure the dining room was sleek and had clean lines so that it felt different from a lot of other tiny restaurants that go for a cozy atmosphere. I had to make sure I was front and center: in the kitchen every night, in an open kitchen, taking food to the tables and talking to the customers. I had to make sure the name of the restaurant was different and memorable. I had to make sure the menu was focused (one vegetable per dish) and changed enough to keep people coming back. I had to make sure vegetables were the star of the dish rather than doing a dish that was some protein (tofu, tvp, seitan) with vegetables as a side. I had to make sure that the weaknesses (small size, no room for wine storage, tiny staff) came off as strengths. I had to hire a publicist and do an obscene amount of interviews. So it takes lot of small things that come from a particular point-of-view, done consistently, over a long period of time (no matter how discouraging it gets) and you somehow winds up getting where you want to go.

What is the creative process you go through for creating each exciting dish on your menu? And what is your favourite vegetable that provides you with the most amount of inspiration?
Every dish comes about differently. I’ve been a chef for over ten years and by now looking at an ingredient and starting to think of dishes to make with it feels as natural as breathing. I develop dishes by making them, then remaking them, then tweaking them, then making them again. It takes a while for me to get it to the point where it’s exactly what I want it to be. As long as you keep eating at different places, trying new things and reading about food as much as possible you’re always going to get ideas.

As for a favorite vegetable – I really don’t have one. I have to make sure I spread the love around equally so my customers don’t get bored and the vegetable kingdom doesn’t get torn apart over petty jealousies.

I know what my favourite is...mushrooms! This is Dirt Candy's Portobello Mousse - forget foie gras!

From my experience, kitchen work is not for the feint of heart and as a result I really admire chefs, particularly those who put so much thought and creativity into their menu like you. Like a marriage, it takes a lot of work. How do you keep your passion alive for cooking as a career?
You have to make a choice: what’s important to you. If what’s important to you is having kids and a family and a balance between life and work, then running a restaurant isn’t for you. If what’s important to you is having a restaurant then it will eat up the rest of your life and if you keep wondering about all the things you’re not doing rather than what you are you’re going to be miserable. As for keeping the passion alive, either you have it or you don’t. I can get sick of work, sick of doing the same thing over and over, but I’m lucky. The second that happens I change my menu or do a special event like the sake dinner or the honey dinner, or I take some ridiculous risk like trying to make something I’ve never even seen before.

Your restaurant has no overarching agenda other than the passion for making veggies awesome tasting. But if you were to to have a healthy meal, what is your favourite health-focussed dish to cook and why?
I know this sounds like a cop-out, but I just don’t have one. I really do believe, down to the marrow of my bones, that you should eat what you want, as long as you don’t go crazy about it. There are so many loaded issues for women and food and I sometimes think talking about “eating healthy” is a code word for them. Not that I think that’s what you’re doing at all, but that’s the reason I just don’t think that way. I know it probably sounds crazy or self-righteous, but it’s how I think.

To date, what has been your favourite dish on Dirt Candy’s menu, and can we expect to find it’s recipe in your upcoming cookbook?
I think my most technically perfect dish is the cucumber dish that’s on the menu right now – it’s very precise and very exotic-tasting. But the dish that’s my favorite is the Cauliflower & Waffles.

Cauliflower waffles - yummo! Making my mouth water!

It’s not incredibly complicated and it’s not a dish that everyone likes, but for the people who like it this dish does everything I want my food to do: it tastes good, it’s a different taste but it’s a taste that brings up memories for people and so they find it very comforting and fulfilling on an almost emotional level, and the people who like it, love it. They get cravings for it. Making this dish makes me feel proud and amazed and a little bit scared about the power food has – I imagine it’s a lot like the complicated feelings the guy who invented crack felt.

Dirt Candy will have a cookbook out next year, but to whet your appetite check out Amanda’s blog for a sneak peak here.

So in the end it all paid off and I did get my equivalent of the yellow Ford Super Deluxe convertible along with kitchen skills and inspiration that I’ll carry forever.

Not quite what Amanda gave me, but just a cool!

The Crane Technique
Rouge Tomate, 10 East 60^th Street, New York, Tel (646) 237-8977
www.rougetomate.com
A month later, I would perfect my moves at Rouge Tomate. Standing atop the totem pole at the beach I would balance precariously as I applied speed and accuracy to my new-found skills.

Going from Dirt Candy to the kitchen at Rouge Tomate was like jumping into an ice-cold pool on a stinking hot day. It took my breath away! Dirt Candy’s kitchen could fit into Rouge Tomate’s kitchen 20 times over (and I suspect more). The kitchen – like the dining space – is huge and this meant that the overall operations were completely different. Here I learnt all about the Brigade de Cuisine and hierarchy of a kitchen. I learnt the “yes sensei” of the kitchen; “yes chef!” And in my last days, I even got to practice in the ring – I was given responsibility to put together the 3 accompaniments to the duck salad for each order.

When service was on, I was captivated; it was like a theatrical stage production. An order would come in and the head chef would call the individual dishes. Then the chef de partie responsible (eg pasta, salad, seafood etc) would repeat his or her relevant dish to confirm they’d got the order. A well-oiled machine, the chef de parties would then communicate with each other to make sure their dishes came up at the same time for the same order. Despite all of this calling across the kitchen, there didn’t seem to be a lot of noise. With all the mechanics in place, the food produced is visually stunning. It never failed to amuse me seeing these big macho chefs delicately putting micro herbs and edible flowers “just so” on the plate, each time creating a piece of edible art.

The delicate flowers are placed "just so"

Meanwhile, each week I would spend two days with the delightful Natalia Hancock, Rouge Tomate’s Culinary Nutritionist. This is where I would learn how a Michelin starred restaurant balances world-class fare and nutrition. I cannot begin to explain how much this excites me, but if you’re reading this blog you’d already know this is where my passions lay. The restaurant has even developed their own health through food charter called Sanitas Per Escam (SPE for short) in conjunction with nutritionists and chefs. Nothing short of cutting edge and the future of food! I can’t wait to see a little more Integrative Nutrition added to the charter though.

With Rouge Tomate's Culinary Nutritionist, Natalia Hancock

To top it off, “Rouge” is Green Restaurant certified (check out the certification standards here). They compost ALL kitchen scraps, source local and seasonal produce, and have designed the restaurant to be environmentally responsible fittings, energy efficient ovens, fridges and lighting systems and feature organic and bio-dynamic wines in their extensive wine list selected by Master Sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier.

Rouge Tomate's sommelier, Pascaline Lepeltier serving us an Aussie Shiraz from the Barossa

For more detail on the food at Rouge Tomate, visit my last post here.

All Valley Karate Tournament
Unlike the original Karate Kid, this is no underdog story. In this story I come up trumps sans bad-ass bully and thus far, love interest. But like all good 1980’s films there is a moral to the story. In my case several that I’ve also borrowed from Mister Miyagi:

• Technique; start afresh and learn how to do it properly, then apply speed. Don’t get stuck in a rut of bad technique and doing it fast, you’ll only end up loosing in the end like the Cobra Kai. “First learn stand, then learn fly”
• Balance is necessary, even in the kitchen: “Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?”
• Patience: “Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything.”

Yes a flyswatter would be quicker, but we wouldn’t learn the fundamental lessons of patience, practice and repetition and reap their rewards of kick-ass nutritionally sound food.

A big Aussie THANKS goes to everyone who helped me out and was very patient with me:
Dirt Candy Amanda, Danielle, Jennifer, Vincent, Emily, William and Diana

With (some of) the Dirt Candy team: (L - R) Amanda, Emily, William, Me, Diana

Rouge Tomate Natalia, Jeremy, Anto, Alan, Atilla, Colin, Gabrielle and Shannon (and the Latino guys for lots of laughs!)