Oats Bread with Seeds

“To make a bread, you normally just need the flour, yeast or sourdough, some salt and water…Have a look at the label of the bread you are buying at your local supermarket…. Lots of ingredients you even don’t know what it means…  It is really interesting why they put so much of other staff we don’t need… My Oats Bread with Seeds is like all my recipes: easy to make, healthy and yummy. Try it!”

Oats Bread with Seeds

• 400g wholemeal
• 100g oats
• 3 tea spoons dry yeast
• 360ml of warm water
• 1 large spoon of honey
• 1 tea spoon salt
• 2 large spoons Greek Yogurt
• Seeds to your liking, I used here sunflower and pumpkin seeds, about 4 large spoons of each but every time is different, depends what I got at home :)

Put the oats into your mixing bowl, add 160ml warm water, mix through and leave for later. Combine 200ml of warm water with the yeast and honey and leave for about 20 minutes to rest. Add wholemeal, salt, seeds and yogurt into the oats. Pour the water yeast mix into the wholemeal mix and combine with your food processor for about 5 minutes. You can do it by hand but it is really important that you mix it long enough to get a nice and smooth dough. Transfer the dough into a baking form and leave for about 30-50 minutes in a warm wind free place. Heat your oven up to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake till golden-brown. Depends on the baking form, it could be between 50-60 minutes so keep you eye on it. Take it out of the form as soon as you take it out of the oven and let cool down. Enjoy!

Olive Leaf Tincture Home Remedy

Here my new video with simple instruction how to make an Olive Leaf Tincture. Tinctures are made with alcohol and that is why you can keep them in your cupboard for ages.

Just a few drops per day, taken with some water, will help you to stabilize blood sugar levels, fight intestinal parasites, boost immune function, fight infection, increase resistance to disease, lower blood pressure. Also indicated for abdominal chill, anthrax, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, barium chloride and calcium induced arrhythmia, boosts energy levels, brain and nervous conditions, candida, cardiovascular conditions, chest complaints, chlamydia, chronic fatigue, chronic joint ache, chronic toenail fungus infection, colds & flu, cold sores, dengue, dental, ear, urinary tract and surgical infections, dissolves cholesterol, encephalitis, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), fevers, fibromyalgia, gastric ulcers caused by H. pylori, gastrointestinal conditions, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, hemorrhoid pain-relief, hepatitis A, B, C, herpes I and II, HIV/ARC/AIDS, human herpes virus 6 and 7, improves blood flow, improves symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and related conditions. Please do your own research and ask your doctor before taking any herbal tinctures or medicine.

All my recipes here are mostly very old recipes from my mum and grandma. The power of self made remedies is huge and we shouldn’t underestimate it. Before you try any of these, it is always recommend to contact your GP and ask if it is safe for you to take it.

Meet Our New Family Member

Yes, it is the third German Shepherd in our family. This time a boy. I just wanted to share with you our little bundle of joy!

Banana Flower Dish

“Cooking with banana flower is fun. I am always looking forward to it and as soon as the next flower in the garden is ready to be cut off, the banana flower dish is on our menu. You can also buy the flowers in an Asian shop. I think that I should mention the health benefits here as well. Low in calories but rich in fiber, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and other goodness makes it the super healthy ingredient for a perfect dinner.”

 And this is how we cook with the banana flower:

First of all, you need to prepare the banana flower. You will find here the red outer leafs, the little blossoms with the yellow ends on them and the heart. Take the outer red leafs off. We don’t need them for cooking but you can keep some nice ones for fancy serving later.

The little blossoms have like a soft scales on them. You need to remove and discard those. Clean the usable parts of the flower and put aside for later. Better you also don’t cut the heart trough yet as it tends to get dark on the inner site. Keep all of it in some water with some lemon juice till you use it.

Now is the time to prepare your meat and veggies. For vegetarians: You can also use this method to cook a beautiful vegetarian dish if you wish so.

• We used chicken breast this time, but you can use any meat you like. We marinated the meat for a little while in some soy souse, turmeric, chili, ginger and lemon grass. 

• Put some olive oil into a hot wok or pan and cook the meat till nearly tender. Add onions and mushrooms and cook it together with the meat for a couple of minutes. Put aside for later.

• Now is the time to cook the banana flower. Pour a little bit of olive oil into the hot wok, add the little blossoms, the banana heart cut to pieces and sprinkle the juice of one large lemon. The lemon juice is very important as it takes the bitterness out of the flower. Add some soy souse if you wish, stir gentle and cook for a couple of minutes . Put aside 

• Cook all your prepared veggies for a couple of minutes. Don’t overcook them! As we want to have them crunchy.

• Combine and heat up the meat, banana flower and veggies in the wok and stir through. Serve with rice if you like. Enjoy! 

“Torte” Chocolate Meringue Birthday Cake

THE FAMILY SECRET IS OUT NOW! This Chocolate Meringue Birthday Cake or how we call it: torte, is a tradition. I bake it for every family member birthday, mine included. It is The Bekiesch Family Birthday Cake. The recipe comes from my lovely mother in law and I have modified it a little bit to the more healthy option but still belongs to the Naughty Corner cakes category, YUMMM!

To make this cake, we call it “torte”, you need:

• the vanilla wholemeal sponge cake
• the chocolate wholemeal sponge
• meringue
• chocolate cream
• Glass of cherries

Don’t panic! It looks like more work than it really is. You can do the sponge cakes the day before if you like.

1. The vanilla wholemeal sponge cake:

• 4 Eggs
• 80 grams raw sugar
• pinch of vanilla
• 120-130  grams wholemeal (depends how large the eggs are)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Add slowly the vanilla sugar and raw sugar while still whisking. Mix the egg yolks gently in just to combine. Stir in gently the wholemeal mixed with baking powder. Bake on a baking paper for about 15 minutes. You can use now the baking time to prepare the chocolate sponge.

2. The chocolate wholemeal sponge cake:

• 4 Eggs
• 80 grams raw sugar
• pinch of vanilla
• 90-100 grams wholemeal
• 30 grams cacao

Heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Add slowly the vanilla sugar and raw sugar while still beating. Mix the egg yolks gently in just to combine. Stir in gently the wholemeal mixed cacao and baking powder. Bake on a baking paper for about 15 minutes. You can use now the baking time to prepare the meringue.

3. Meringue

• 4 egg-whites (you can keep the egg-yolks to make some cookies later if you like)
• pinch of salt
• 250 grams raw caster sugar
• pinch of vanilla sugar
• one small table spoon of potato or corn flour

Heat the oven at 150 degrees Celsius. Whisk the egg-whites with salt till stiff. Add slowly sugar + vanilla while still beating. Add the flour and mix quick through to combine. Turn the oven down up to 120 degrees C and bake on a baking paper for about 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

The baking part is over. Now, we need to prepare the chocolate cream.

4. The chocolate cream

• 300 grams dark chocolate
• 397 gram can of sweetened condensed milk 
• some pure cacao if you like
• rum or arrak aroma

Place your chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl (stainless steel or tempered glass), and set the bowl directly into a pot with water. Bring the water to a simmer, then turn off the flame and let the chocolate sit until it is melted. Do not cook it! Cool it down a little. Whisk the sweetened condensed milk for about 5-10 minutes until fluffy. Add slowly the melted chocolate while still beating and some cacao to enhance the flavor. Done!

We have to put it all together now. I usually cut the white and chocolate sponge though horizontally, freeze the one half of each and use only one part of each for the torte and use it for other cakes later. Here the steps to follow:

1. Place the cherries in a sieve. Keep the cherries water for later.
2. Mix some rum, whiskey or scotch with like half half with water. Spray or brush the sponge cakes and the meringue with it.
3. Put the chocolate cake as first on your cake tray and distribute the choco cream on it.
4. The meringue comes as next + the choco cream on top
5. Now the white sponge + the choco cream on top
6. Spread some cream on the sides of the cake and decorate the edges of the cake with it.
7. Place the cherries on top of the cake and now come the tricky part of it. You need to cover the cherries with a layer of like gelatin icing. Well, I call it tortenguss and this is a German word for it. To make the galaretka, either you buy the “Tortenguss” (available in Australia in the International shelves at the IGA QLD, not sure about the other states) like I do it, or you need to make yourself. To do it yourself, you mix one table spoon of potato flour with one table spoon of raw sugar in a small pot, add 125ml of cherry water + 125 ml water and bring it boil while stirring permanently. Take off the heat and distribute over the cherries.
8. Your torte is ready! Put a cover over the cake and place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours (better over night) before serving. Enjoy!

Tips:

• Bake the sponge cakes the day before so you have the half of the work already done.
• Cut the cakes in half horizontally and put the not needed half pieces into freezer for the lazy days cakes. It is not recommended to bake a thin sponge cake by making a half of the ingredients as the cake will dry out while baking. Thats why it is recommended to bake more like per my recipe and freeze the half of it for later.
• Well, If you don’t have the “Tortenguss” or potato flour, you can also bring to boil 250 ml of the cherries water + water (125ml + 125ml) and one table spoon of raw sugar, mix some corn flour with cold water, add to the boiling cherries water bring to boil and it works as well.

The white sponge, chocolate sponge and the meringue are ready. Now combine it all together with the chocolate cream and your torte is ready!

Chicken Liver Starter

Easy and quick. Chicken Liver Starter is the perfect dish for lunch, as a starter or a quick and easy dinner. Just please make sure that the liver you buy is really fresh. You can use the frozen one as well. Defrost before you cook it and the meat needs to be well done! This is Sebastian’s recipe.

Chicken Liver Starter

You need:

• chicken liver
• onions
• olive oil
• some salt and black pepper to your liking for later

Wash the liver and remove the excess water. Add some onions and olive oil into the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add the liver and stir gently. Cook until golden brown. Do NOT season as the liver will get tough when you add the salt during the cooking. This is how you want to have it. Make sure the liver is cooked through. Move onto a plate, sprinkle with some salt. Serve with fresh bread, lettuce and tomatoes. Enjoy!

Meringue Raspberry Wholemeal Cake

Meringue raspberry wholemeal cake. The sweet-sour raspberry under yummy meringue on a wholemeal sponge cake. This is the perfect combination :) when you ask me. Again, one of my wholefoods cakes as only raw sugar and wholemeal flour have been used.

For the sponge cake, we need:

• 4 eggs (divided into egg-whites and egg-yolks)
• pinch of salt
• 80g raw sugar
• some vanilla sugar
• 130g of wholemeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• fresh or frozen raspberries
• baking paper for the tray

Whisk the egg-whites with salt till stiff. Add slowly sugar + vanilla while still whisking. Add the egg-yolks and mix through just to combine. Mix baking powder with the wholemeal flour, add to the eggs-sugar mix and combine gently. Move into a tray.

Now is the time to do the meringue. No time for coffee or checking the facebook yet. You need:

• 4 egg-whites (you can keep the egg-yolks to make some cookies later if you like)
• pinch of salt
• 250g raw caster sugar
• pinch of vanilla sugar
• one table spoon of potato or corn flour

Whisk the egg-whites with salt till stiff. Add slowly sugar + vanilla while still whisking. Add the flour and mix quick through to combine. Done!

Distribute now your raspberries on top of the sponge cake mix.  Then move the meringue mix and distribute on top of the raspberries. Your cake is ready to bake so put it into a hot oven and bake for about 30 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius. Take out of the oven and put aside to cool down.

You can use pretty much any fruit instead of the raspberries.

The sponge cake mix is now in the tray and waiting for the raspberries and meringue

Chocolate Yogurt Cheesecake

Light, fruity, happy. Perfect for hot summer days or if a simple cheesecake is not what you are looking for. It is a light combination of cheesecake and yogurt with cherries to add some fruity flavor in to it. You can also use some other fruits like mandarins, peaches or any kind of berries. It is really very easy.

First of all, you need the chocolate base. You find the easy recipe for it here.

1. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of gelatin powder in half a cup of hot water and put aside to cool down. Then, get the cherries out of the glass into a sieve to remove the juice.

2. Now we need (all ingredients need to be cold straight out of the fridge):
500g cottage cheese
500g creamy Greek yogurt
200g raw sugar
juice from 1 lemon
Combine it with a blender to get a creamy smooth texture. Add the cool gelatin fluid and blend together. Depends on your room temperature and how cold were your ingredients, either your cheese mixture is already starting to set and you are ready to put the cake together, or you put it into a fridge to start the setting process before you go proceed. That’s pretty much it. Now put the cake together: 1. the sponge, 2. then a half of the cheese mixture, 3. the fruits, 4. the remaining cheese. Leave it in a fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. Grate some dark chocolate on top before serving. Enjoy!

Wholemeal Chocolate Sponge Cake

Wholemeal chocolate sponge cake recipe. Easy and very quick. I’m pretty sure you will love it! I use it for many cake combinations as a base so every time I just include the link here to my other recipes every time I use it.

Prepare:

4 large eggs, divided into egg whites and egg yolks
80 grams raw sugar
some vanilla
100 grams wholemeal
30 gram cacao powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
one pinch salt

Turn on your oven on 175 degrees Celsius.

Beat the egg whites and salt till stiff. Add slowly raw sugar and vanilla while still beating on high speed till combined properly. Slow down the food processor or mixer, add the egg yolks and combine for just 3-4 second. Mix
baking powder and cacao with wholemeal and add to the egg white mix. Stir gently till combined. Done! Don’t forget the baking paper before you pour the mix into the tray :)

Bake about 14-18 minutes.

Wholemeal Apple Slice with Meringue

Ingredients:

• 300g wholemeal
• 150g raw sugar
• 3 egg-dots (keep the egg-whites for later)
• 120g butter
• 1 good teaspoon of baking powder
• 5-6 table spoons of milk if needed

Combine together and put into the freezer. Now is the time to prepare the apples. Use how many you like. Wash them, remove the seeds and grate. You can also remove the skin if you like. I was a bit lazy this time. Add 2 table spoons of raw sugar, some cinnamon. You can add some sultans if you like.

Now mix the egg-whites, add 150g raw sugar and some vanilla wile mixing. Then add 1 table spoon of potato flour or corn flour and give it a quick but gentle mix to combine.

Take the pastry out of the freezer, grade the half of it onto baking tray (don’t forget the baking paper). Distribute the apples on top, then the egg-whites. Now grate the remaining pastry on top. Put into the hot oven on 180 degrees Celsius until ready (dark-gold colour).