Schofields Church Cooking Demonstrations

22 December, 2016
Good Tidings Editor
News

October 17, 24, 31

The Schofields Church held another series of three cooking classes during the month of October, Monday evenings, the 17th, 24th and 31st. Around eighty people attended these classes each night.

Since summer was just around the corner, the menu chosen was light and simple. Included in this series was a recipe for a very nutritious breakfast smoothie. What a wonderful way to start the day with all the ingredients that promote life! This can be enjoyed each day by the whole family (see recipe below).

We were very privileged to have Dr Robert Gan giving the first lecture in this series. Dr Gan introduced the topic “The Immune System”. There is no doubt that the human body is wonderfully made; we can all join with David in praise to our heavenly Father as in Psalms 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

Br Domenic Polistina took the second lecture, which was about the importance of detoxing the body as an on-going practice.

The third and last Monday evening’s lecture was once again taken by Dr Gan, and he continued with “The Immune System”.

All lectures are available for viewing on YouTube:

Oct 17 – Dr Robert Gan – Immune System – Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1XoElmQFBY&feature=share

Oct 24 – Domenic Polistina – Detoxing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN838aeCzSs&feature=share

Oct 31 – Dr Robert Gan – Immune System Continuation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm0kWEfwDA4&feature=share

The dishes demonstrated during October were:
Breakfast Smoothie
Zucchini Potato Gems
Green Bean and Pine Nut Salad
Mixed Berries Raw Cake
Life-changing Loaf of Bread
Vegan Margarine
Beet Hummus
Olive Spread
Zucchini and Carrot Pasta
Tomato Sauce
Mango and Passionfruit Pudding
Stuffed Mushrooms
Tikka Masala
Curried Baby Potatoes
Carob Mousse

We would like to thank Dr Robert Gan and Br Domenic Polistina for taking time and coming to share their knowledge of the health message with us and the extended community.

During occasions like these, there is always a lot of preparation before, during and after the event; so a huge “thank you” to all those who letterboxed invitations, those who helped preparing and distributing food samples, the ones who set up and cleaned the venue, those who served, those who played music before each session, those who welcomed the visitors and those who helped with the registrations and book stall. Thank you to Joe Voncina, Rosetta Ilic and Amy Gules for helping with the actual demonstrations.

Why not try a few of the recipes selected from this series:

Breakfast Smoothie

INGREDIENTS
Fruits for juicing:
¼ large pineapple
3 oranges – peeled
2 granny smith apples

Fruits for smoothie:
2 bananas
1 ripe pear
1 large slice papaya
1 small piece of ginger
Any other seasonal or preferred fruit

Greens, seeds and nuts for smoothie:
1 heaped tablespoon of barley grass or wheat grass
1 heaped tablespoons each of:
chia seeds
sesame seeds
linseeds
sunflower seeds
pepitas
8 almonds
8 walnut halves
1 handful of ice cubes (optional)

METHOD
Prepare your fruits for juicing.
Roughly chop fruits into the blender.
Juice pineapple, oranges and apples.
Pour juice into the blender.
Add seeds, nuts etc.…
Blend until smooth.
This quantity makes approx. 2 litres of smoothie.

Zucchini Potato Gems

INGREDIENTS
3 large potatoes, peeled
2 zucchinis, about 2-3 cups grated
1½ teaspoons salt
Olive oil spray

METHOD

Put potatoes into a large pot, and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, and cook for 20-30 minutes, till fork tender but still firm. Drain water and cool potatoes till comfortable to handle. You want them warm.
Preheat oven to 220˚C. Grate potatoes on large side of grater and place in a large bowl. Grate each zucchini, and squeeze out the liquid using a clean tea towel. Place the zucchini into the bowl with the potatoes and add the salt. Mix everything together.
Line a large cookie sheet with baking paper. Use your hands to form small cylinders with about 1 tablespoon of the mixture. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes to allow them to firm up.
Spray the top of each gem with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake the gems until browned and crispy, about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with tomato sauce if desired.

Prep time 45min. Cooking time 30 min. Total time 1hr. 15 min.

Makes approximately 30

Life-changing Loaf of Bread
Original recipe by Sarah Britton

INGREDIENTS
1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup linseeds
½ cup almonds
1½ cups rolled oats
2 tablespoons chia seeds
4 tablespoons psyllium husks
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1½ cups water

METHOD (Resting time 2 hours)
In a bowl combine all dry ingredients, mixing well.
Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together and add this to the dry ingredients; mix very well until everything is completely soaked.
Transfer mixture into bread tin lined with baking paper. Press down with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the paper away from it.
Preheat oven to 170°C. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the oven rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing.
Store bread in a tightly-sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

Stuffed Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS
½ cup wholemeal couscous
1 Massel chicken-flavour stock cube
¾ cup boiling water
10 mushrooms (BBQ flats)
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5 parsley sprigs
¼ cup walnuts
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon psyllium husks
¼ cup Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese plain or vegan sour cream
Oil spray

METHOD
Into a small saucepan, place ½ cup couscous, stock cube and boiling water. Cover and simmer on top of the stove for 3 minutes. Leave until filling is almost ready.
Sauté Onion and garlic. Add remaining ingredients except for oil spray. Add couscous and mix well.
Wash mushrooms upside-down so the water does not make the middle soggy.
Lightly spray non-stick baking tray with oil spray.
Gently remove stems from mushrooms, and place them on oiled tray with brown side up.
Chop the mushroom stems very fine, and add to the filling mixture. Fill mushroom cups with mixture.
Bake in 200˚C oven for approximately 20 minutes.

Carob Mousse