Lifestyle

Winter Recipes Inspired by the Bobbi Boot!

Winter Recipes Inspired by the Bobbi Boot! - Merry People

Recipes Inspired by our Bobbi Boots


After last week's research into delicious winter cocktails, we've decided to keep the dining theme going with an exploration into recipes inspired by the colors of our Bobbi boot! 
All recipes are either vegetarian or can be adapted for vegetarians. 

 

Black Bobbi

Dani’s “Healthy” Dark Chocolate Bar

This easy dark chocolate snack is Dani’s go-to when she craves something sweet.

Dani's Chocolate Treat

Ingredients & Method 
  
4 tablespoons of coconut oil. 
1 teaspoon of cocoa powder.  
2 teaspoons of almond butter  
Squeeze of honey/maple syrup or rice malt syrup (add more if you want it sweeter.) 

“Mix all ingredients together over low heat on the saucepan. Be sure to watch as it can easily burn. Get a baking tray/baking paper. Pour the contents of the pot over the baking paper and smear it around the paper. Here is where you can get creative... I generally just sprinkle some crushed nuts. But you could use, cacao bits, frozen berries, swirl through some peanut butter, cut up little jelly lollies. Put in the freezer. It generally will set in around 30 mins-60 mins.”

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Orange & Pomegranate Bobbi

Fesenjan
This Persian dish marries orange and pomegranate for a delicious winter stew! It can be made with meat (chicken, duck, or turkey) or chickpeas for vegetarians. The recipe below is adapted from In A Persian Kitchen by Maideh Mazda and is the one Katey grew up with her mum cooking; but she also recommends the version by Feasting at Home (photo below), which uses a slightly different spice blend.

Feasting at Home Fesenjan

Photo from Feasting at Home

Ingredients & Method

  • 1kg chicken breasts OR 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 5 tbsps shortening
  • Pinch salt and pepper
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp tomato sauce
  • 2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
  • 1.5 cups water or broth
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cinnamon or saffron
  • 2 tbsps fresh orange juice + peel of one orange
  • 1 cup fresh pomegranate juice OR 2-3 tbsps pomegranate syrup or molasses

Sautee the chicken in shortening until light and brown on all sides. Set aside. 
Sautee onions in butter or coconut oil until golden brown.  Add tomato sauce and sautee for a few minutes. Add walnuts to the sauteed onions and saute over a medium fire for about 5 minutes. Stir constantly and be careful not to burn the walnuts.  Add water, seasoning, orange juice and peel, and pomegranate syrup. Cover and let cook on a low fire for about 35 minutes.  Taste the sauce and add sugar if needed.  Arrange the sauteed meat or chickpeas in this sauce. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

* * *

Beetroot & Pink Bobbi

Roasted Beet & Peach Salad by The Roasted Root

This may be the perfect summer salad. Bright, fresh, just the right bit of sweet… we love it!

roasted beet and peach salad from the roasted root 

Ingredients & Method

  • 3 cups small beets roasted and chopped (about 1.5 )
  • 1 peach pitted and sliced
  • 1 pluot pitted and sliced
  • 5 ounces mixed greens
  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp walnut or olive oil
  • 1 tsp stone-ground mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1/3 cup to ½ blue cheese crumbled*
  • ¼ cup walnuts roasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 220C.

Wash and scrub the beets well. Place beets on a long piece of tin foil then fold the foil into a packet. Place the foil on a cookie sheet and roast 45 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork. Allow beets to cool 20 minutes. Once cool, peel the skins off using your fingers or a paring knife (they should come off in strips easily).  Chop the beets and set them aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, walnut (or olive) oil, mustard, and honey until completely combined.

In a large salad bowl, add the mixed greens and toss with the desired amount of dressing. Add the peach and pluot slices, roasted beets, and toss again.

Serve salad with roasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese on top!

* * *

Earthy Brown Bobbi

Viennese Torte 

This chocolate torte is fantastic as is, or you can jazz it up by slicing in half and filling with berries and or buttercream, or covering with an indulgent dark icing.  Recipe from Katey’s mum. 

    vienesse torte

    (Photo from Pinterest)

    Ingredients & Method

    • 55 grams unsweetened chocolate
    • 3 tbsp oil
    • ¼ tsp salt
    • ½ cup hot strong coffee
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 egg
    • ¼ cup buttermilk
    • 1 tsp soda
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 1 cup flour

    Melt chocolate, oil, salt, and coffee. Cool and then place in the mixing bowl.  Add sugar, egg, buttermilk, soda, and vanilla and blend well.  Add flour and blend well (about 3 minutes or so). Bake in greased and floured 8” pan for 30 min at 175C.  Cool in pan and then cool on a rack.

    Suggestions

    • Split cake in half and then spread filling (Melt ½ c raspberry/apricot jam with 2 tbsp water) onto the bottom half
    • Sprinkle top with powdered sugar
    • Or melt 140 grams semisweet chocolate with 4 tsp shortening or coconut oil and spread onto the cake top
    • Serve with mixed berries
    * * *

    Mustard Yellow & Black Bobbi

    Hyacinth's Yellow Rice

    This fragrant rice comes from Dani's mum, Hyacinth. It is great on its own, or serve as a side dish!

    Hyacinth's Yellow Rice

    Ingredients & Method
    2 1/2 cups of Basmati rice
    1 tsp ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick crushed
    4 cardamoms
    4 cloves
    1/2 cup sultanas
    1/2 cup cashew nuts
    1 tsp turmeric
    1/2 tsp salt
    4 tablespoons of any cooking oil

    Cook your rice.  When ready, strain and set aside.
    Heat a frypan over medium heat.  Once hot, add oil, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.  Stir, then add turmeric and salt.  Stir for another two minutes.  Lastly, add the sultanas and cashew nuts, firing until they are golden brown.

    Add cooked rice to the pan & mix ingredients together & enjoy!

      * * *

    Alpine Green & Black Bobbi

    Garlicky Greens from 101 Cookbooks

    This bright green side dish can be made with any greens you have on hand such as silverbeet, kale, spinach. As Heidi at 101 Cookbooks notes, this garlicky greens dish can be served on its own as a side dish, or add in some eggs for an omelet or frittata, or puree and add into a dip. 

     

    101 Cookbooks Garlicky Greens

    Ingredients & Method

    • 1 large bunch of kale, chard
    • 2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
    • fine grain sea salt
    • 5 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
    • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (opt)
    • crushed red pepper flakes

    De-stem and rinse the greens. If using spinach, de-stemming is not necessary.

    Hold off cooking the greens until just before eating. Then, in a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add a couple of big pinches of salt and the greens. They should hiss and spit a bit when they hit the pan. Stir continuously until their color gets bright green, and they just barely start to collapse - two, three, maybe four minutes, depending on how hot your pan is and how much structure your greens have. Then, just thirty seconds before you anticipate pulling the skillet off of the heat, stir in the garlic. Saute a bit, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the Parmesan, and add a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Taste, add a bit of salt if needed, and serve immediately if not sooner.

     

      Stay Merry everyone! xx 

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