Cook Perfect Bacon Every time

Not all bacon is created equally, and not all bacon is cooked as well as it can be.

In this video below, I show  you a couple of easy steps that will make you a bacon cooking Genius!

Easy as Pie ~ Zucchini Pickles

If you like this article on Zucchini Pickles please feel free to share on twitter and LIKE on facebook.

As a self confessed preserver and bottler, this recipe for zucchini pickles is a wonderful addition to any preserve reportorie. It’s one of those recipes that is minimum effort for maximum results, so bound to be winner in anyone’s book.  Take advantage of the seasonal abundance of Zucchini in summer and never be stuck again for ways to use up this wondrous vegetable as Zucchini pickles can be stored and left for months to enjoy with cold cuts, on burgers, through salads or as an accompaniment to a winter roast.

This recipe is made all the  more easier thanks to a little kitchen gadget I have which is my best friend in multiple slicing situations ~ my Benriner Japanese mandolin slicer.  If you plan on making a lot of zucchini pickles I would strongly recommend you get yourself one, as this will not only make the job of creating your zucchini pickles a lot more enjoyable but it will also give you consistency in the overall outcome of the dish. If you don’t have access to a benriner, then other kitchen madolin slicers will be able to do the job just as efficiently.

Zucchini Pickles Recipe

Ingredients

3kg zucchini ~ firm and unblemished

5 small brown onions ~ peeled

1 cup of salt

1 litre of white wine vinegar

2 cups of caster sugar

1/2 cup of dijion mustard

1/4 cup of yellow mustard seeds

1/8 cup of tumeric powder

2 Tbsp cumin powder

1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2  Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp dried coriander leaf

Zucchini Pickles Method

• Top and tail the zucchini and slice them thinly lengthwise on the mandolin into a large non reactive bowl. Do the same with the onions, mixing them together with the zucchini.
• Pour the cup of salt over the sliced vegetables and leave them covered with a clean tea towel for an hour.
• Rinse the vegetables well under cold running water to remove the excess salt and moisture. Allow the vegetables to sit in a colander for further 30 minutes to properly drain or shake the vegetables gently in loose hands to shake off an excess moisture.
• Place the mustard seeds in a saute pan and place over a medium heat and gently heat. Once the seeds pop, remove them from the heat and crush lightly with a rolling pin.
• In a stainless steel pot bring whisk together the vinegar, sugar, mustard and toasted crushed mustard seeds. Allow to come to the boil and then reduce down to a simmer.
• Mix together the turmeric, cumin, black pepper, paprika, garlic and onion powder with 1/4 cup of boiling water and whisk into the vinegar mixture. Simmer for a further couple of minutes and then remove from the heat and whisk in the parsley and coriander leaf.
• Pour this mixture over the zucchini and onions and allow to steep for 30 minutes before bottling in sterilized jars.
• These zucchini pickles should be eaten within three months of bottling and once the jar is opened, please remember to refrigerate.

If you like this recipe for Zucchini pickles you should also  try The Internet Chefs Strawberry Jam or Tomato Chilli Jam recipes.

Green-Lip Mussels on the Barbecue

The Mussels found in the  waters along New Zealand’s coastline are as dramatic as the countryside. With their signature emerald green lipped shell these little gems can grow up to a staggering 24cm in length and are amongst some of the largest ( and tastiest) in the world. Maori have been harvesting mussel or Kutai  from the shores of Aotearoa (New Zealand) since the land was inhabitated over 1,000 years ago and the mollusc was amongst one of the first commercially gathered products in New Zealand.

Phone conversations with my Dad, who is back home in New Zealand, usually involve a detailed description of  his latest feast of fresh seafood. “The mussels bub, weeeeee you should see them! FAT, juicy”, ” Yeah, thanks Dad”, chokes back a sob.

What can I say, it’s one of my absolute homesick triggers and before I land back home in Aotearoa, I am hitting up my relations to get the ‘welcome wagon’ out by way of freshly collected seafood for the hungry homesick traveller. Don’t bother tying  a yellow ribbon round an old oak tree, just collect another sugar-bag… I’m on my way home.

It was during a barbecue demonstration with Jamie Durie (environmentalist, TV producer/host and regular Oprah Winfrey guest)  that I was preparing for in Perth (Western Australia) that I stumbled across boxes of greenlip mussels in the freezer section of the local supermarket. As I had never thought to look for mussels in the freezer, I was pleasantly surprised to find one of New Zealand’s favourite exports amongst the frozen offerings.

With an ever so slight deterioration in quality ~ Nothing beats fresh, hand dredged straight from the ocean and eaten raw, I thought that “mussels on the barbie” would be a great way to highlight a beautiful New Zealand product in a real ‘Aussie’ sort of  way.

Firstly I make two dressings to drizzle over the mussels. The first one is tomato and chill  and the second  is a mayo and anchovy. They get drizzled over the mussels once they are removed from the barbecue.

Green lip Mussels on the Barbecue Recipe

Tomato and chilli dressing

Mayo and anchovy dressing

To cook the mussels

Love these posts? Nominate Bridget Davis for a social media award in the Shorty Awards food category

10 Easy Steps to hold your own  Sushi Birthday Party.

It was one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” moments whilst sitting around discussing ideas for my daughter Coco’s  birthday party. Thanks to the genius of my dear friends Hiroko and Brandon, their suggestion to throw a Sushi Birthday Party for my 9 year foodie was a keeper.

It all seemed to fit so well into place. The combination of good healthy food, ease of preparation and serious fun as the kids get hands on with their lunch by rolling their own sushi was one of the simplest and most well received kids birthday parties I’ve had the pleasure of putting together. And thanks to the culinary homeland of Sushi , Japan, The party was also super easy to theme.

10 Easy Steps to hold  your own  Sushi Birthday Party.

1. Send out themed invitations. We used fortune cookies wrapped up and placed inside noodle boxes with each child’s name written in English and Japanese using Google translator.

2. Ask the invitees to come dressed up in something Japanese. Kimono, large over-sized white t-shirts with a big material sash, or even chopsticks in their hair works beautifully. Boys can be ninjas or samurais and girls can come dressed as geishas.

3. Theme the Birthday space by hanging paper lanterns instead of balloons, paper parasols and Japanese flags.  Clear out the furniture and have the Children sit on mats and cushions on the floor.  Have little bowls of Japanese snacks  scattered around for nibbling on.

4. Select some traditional and modern Japanese songs from YouTube and save as a playlist to play on a loop at the party.

5. As this party is a Make your own sushi party, buy a big packet of disposable wooden chopsticks and take some time to have some fun teaching the kids how to use ( and not  use) chopsticks.

6. Prepare your sushi rice in a rice cooker! No need to bother with boiling in a pot. Rice cookers are so much easier and can be picked up for as little as $15.00. Here is a step by step guide for cooking sushi rice.

7. Pre-slice all the sushi fillings and leave covered in the refrigerator.  I used finely sliced carrots, cucumber, firm avocado, teriyaki chicken, finely sliced raw salmon, shredded crab meat, pickled ginger and sliced pickled daikon radish, Japanese egg roll and wasabi infused mayonnaise . It’s up to you what fillings you use for the sushi, so feel free to create your own and be inventive.

8.Buy nori sheets and using a large sharp chefs knife, slice the sheets into quarters. This becomes the sushi wrapping for making sushi cones and rolls.

9. Layout the table with wooden bowls and paper fans and set up two or three Sushi stations dependant on how many children are at the party. A sushi station involves all the necessary ingredients to create a sushi roll including, sushi wrapper, sushi fillings, rice, chopsticks, napkins for holding the sushi and soy sauce for dipping. Having two or three stations will ensure that when its time to make sushi, the kids don’t have to wait too long to make their own!

10. Enlist the help of a master sushi maker, like my friend Hiroko, to give the kids a detailed tutorial of how to make a sushi roll or sushi cone. Sushi cones are ideal for a younger crowd of 6-9 years old. 10 + should be able to have fun rolling their own.

11. Make up sushi goodie bags for the kids to take home and include in them chopsticks, a sushi rolling mat, plastic rice spatula, small squeeze bottles of soy sauce and a printed sushi recipe so they can refine their sushi making skills at home!

And above all else, have fun. Play party games, eat cake and enjoy watching the little ones experiment as master sushi makers.

Photo credits : Title photo by Pink Sherbet Photography and Red Lanterns by Yamaken All other photos by The Internet Chef.

Marbling in Wagyu ~ It’s what all the “cool people” are talking about

One taste and you will understand why wagyu beef is considered a delicacy. The meat produced from the black Tajima-ushi breed of  Japanese Wagyu cattle is unlike any other beef on the planet. It  behaves differently than any other beef  thanks to  its highly prized extensive inter-muscular fat or  ”marbling” as the culinary cool call it and the low heat required  at which this  fat will reach melting point . It’s these qualities  that give Wagyu meat its unique rich quality and succulent melt in the mouth texture.

This huge amount of fat is also the reason why when cooking a good slab of Wagyu steak it needs to be handled differently to a normal cut of beef. The fat that is found in a good cut of Wagyu may seem excessive to those who are concerned about eating a healthy well balanced diet, but in actual fact, Wagyu meat is high in unsaturated fats which means it  produces less energy or has fewer calories than other types of fat that you may find in the  other beef products like   butter and cream.  It is the chemical composition of  unsaturated fat  which is the reason why it melts at lower temperatures compared with saturated fats which are more solid at ambient temperatures and less prone to rancidity and have better keeping qualities, hence why food manufacturers love using high levels of them in processed foods.

Photo by Clkao

Wagyu meat is graded on a scale determined by the amount of inter- muscular fat it contains, the quality and color of the fat , the color of the meat and the meats texture. The higher the number, the better the quality. When choosing your slice of heaven, make sure to get advice from your butcher and do your homework, as the cost per kilo can be out of  reach of everyday dinners.

Below you will  find a recipe for a large  sirloin cut of Wagyu. The piece should weigh in excess of 700g and of the highest grade that your bank manager will allow. If you don’t own an induction cook top, you might want to try cooking in two pans, one inside the other to act as a heat diffuser and at the same time  have the flame or element set on the absolute lowest possible heat setting.

Bridget and Tetsuya on set with Wagyu

You can of course cook Wagyu by slicing into small pieces and frying gently as pictured to the right, or by cutting into paper thin slices and serving it Shabu Shabu style, but if your fortunate to have the opportunity to get your hands on the best, the method described below is worth re-mortgaging your house for. Enjoy!

The Ultimate Wagyu Beef Cooking Guidelines

Ingredients

1 slab of Wagyu Sirloin steak  700g-1kg in weight.

1 Tbsp of grapeseed oil

Sea salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh wasabi and soy sauce to serve

Method

• Before you start to prepare your wagyu, ensure that it has been stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator, covered completely in cling film. The meat needs to cooked straight from the fridge, as cold as possible to ensure the fat  renders gently.
• Carefully trim the external fat from around the outside of the Sirlion ~if this hasn’t already been done for you by your butcher. Keep the fat and render at a later stage by chopping into small chunks or mincing and placing into a small pot on induction setting 2 and leaving to gentle melt to a liquid. Drain through a fine seive and  store in the fridge to use in pastry cases, pie crusts, for frying and basting.
• Wrap the meat in cling film and put it back in to the fridge to chill again for at least one hour.
• Prepare the steak for frying by gently and carefully patting the steak dry with paper towles before covering every single inch of the larger cut sides of the steak with  ground natural sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Using a small knife, flatten the spices and gentle push into the flesh.
• Heat a large non stick heavy bottomed frying pan on induction setting 8 with 1 Tbsp of grapeseed oil until a light haze comes off the pan. Reduce the setting down to 7 and place the beef into the pan and cook on one side for 90 seconds to create a delicious crust on the outside. Flip the steak carefully and repeat. You want the outside of the steak to a be a beautiful caramelized brown, and it may require additional time if you are not using an induction cooktop.
• Set the induction cooktop onto heat setting 1, place a lid on the fry pan and allow the steak to ever so gentle cook for 45 minutes to an hour. There is no need to turn the heat up on the cook top as the heat captured in the pan with the lid on will create a very gentle yet very complete heat that is evenly distributed and warm enough to cook the steak through without shocking it so it looses all its fat.
• Once the cooking time is up, remove the steak from the pan and slice into mouth sized chunks. Serve  with fresh wasabi on top of each slice and a light soy sauce drizzled over top.
• Serves 4

How do you cook and serve your wagyu?

Cookbook Review ~ Kitchen Mysteries by Herve This

One of the best cookbooks I’ve read all year and not a recipe in sight.

I approached this book with skepticism and caution. What  could  a chemist possibly teach me about the love and passion of food?

Here is an average looking soft covered book, 200 + pages in small type with not a photograph of food or distinguishable recipe in sight! What had I got myself into, agreeing to review this book?  Bar humbug, as a lady true to my word, I decided to give it a go regardless of my flagging enthusiasm.

At the risk of sounding overly ignorant, one really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. What I thought would be a dreary bore of scientific mumbo jumbo that held little relevance to all of you, turned out to be a page turning thriller. I had more ah-ha moments whilst reading this wonderfully intelligent account of food and the mysteries behind them than any of the 1000′s of cookbooks I had picked up previously and poured over.

The author and genius Herve This (pronounced tees)  is a French Physical Chemist at the Institu National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris and is known as the father of molecular gastronomy thanks to his previous book titles of the same name. His approach to the kitchen is scientific, methodical, precise, and exact ~ all the things I thought I would dislike in a cookbook.

Kitchen Mysteries attempts to debunk and reveal the science behind cooking or culinary phenomena. In other words, it will help you to understand why things happen in the kitchen, in turn helping you to become a more proficient and apt cook.

Have you ever wondered how a microwave works and why some foods don’t seem to react very well when microwaved? For instance, how come a steak cooked in the microwave stews rather than fries? And when should I salt my food, before, during or after cooking?  And why is it so important to let dough rest before baking it? Herve gets to the nerve centre of all these culinary dilemmas plus a hundred and one more as he takes us on a culinary journey through our own kitchens.

He starts rather heavy with a chapter on cooking and science which I have to say for all its worth nearly lost me as I struggled to understand the Millaird reaction and Physiology of flavor. Despite my near veteran time I’ve already spent in commercial kitchens, this was a lot to get my head around, for a head that’s usually in the flour bag not the chemistry lab.

Heavy chapters on molecular cooking out of the way and it was smooth sailing ahead as Herve begins to have some fun with his research which made for an engaging and exciting read. You can learn the secret of tenderness and how to retain succulence in the Sunday roast. Learn the most effective way to marinade and how to retain the vibrant colors in your cooked vegetables.

Have you ever wondered how to make the perfect sauce every time whether it be gravy, mayonnaise or béarnaise?  Once Herve has explained the mysteries behind these fundamental kitchen techniques, the mysteries become tips and tricks so that you will have greater success every time you step into the kitchen as you now know the dos and don’ts and most importantly the WHY.

As I got towards the end of the book, I began to read slower as I wasn’t ready for the book to end. The chapters on wine, tea and fermentation enthralled me by answering thoughts that had nagged at me as I would go through my daily kitchen rituals. A-ha, so that’s why old flour makes better bread! And THAT’S the perfect temperature for cooking an egg so the white coagulates, but not the yolk (its 65C or  149F in case you were wondering).

I decided to continue my research into the science of cooking and have tracked down and ordered a few of Herve’s 11 Cook book titles.  If you’re new to the world of molecular gastronomy, don’t let this book scare you off, as it’s  far from a daunting process once you get down to the nitty gritty and realize that cooking, even at its scientific bluntness is the action of love and respect that we bestow on those around us including ourselves.

If you’re reading this article you are amongst friends that believe that cooking and eating is not just to fuel our bodies, it is the food of love for our souls. And this book can seriously get you closer to achieving immortality of the palate and the heart.

The cookbook can be purchased through Amazon for $11.53 US + shipping for the soft cover.

With only 362 days until next Halloween, you may be wondering if that mountain of candy and chocolate will last till then. With the chances of that highly unlikely, and your Sweet tooth ready to pack up and go on vacation, you may experience that stage of thinking “What’s the best way to use up all that leftover candy?”

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. With nothing quite as Sinster as what the witches in Macbeth were brewing up, I have concocted the Top 10 ways to use up all that Halloween Loot.

Be a Star not a Monster and DONATE your leftover candy!

There are loads of worthy places where you can donate any leftover candy.

For those less fortunate than yourself, create some candy gift-bags and drop them off at the retirement home, local homeless shelter, or donate them to organisations like Operation Gratitude that will ship your candy as care packages to overseas troops.

Photo by Sifu Renka

Christmas and Thanksgiving Gift Bags

Repackaged Halloween Candy tastes even better the second time around.

Add all the candy to Christmas and Thanksgivings gift-bags for an adult indulgence.

Photo by stevendepolo

An excuse to SMASH a Pinata!

Fill it, hang it, swing it and SMASH it. What a great excuse to throw a pinata party.

Any party can turn into a thrashing, and any excuse will do!

photo by StayRAW

Did someone say VODKA?

Now before you take off down the road to buy a huge bottle of vodka, just remember that the cheaper quality vodka will taste just so.

Go for a medium priced range vodka and simply soak all those left over candies in the vodka for a delicious grownup candy drinks! The hardest thing about creating your own candy alcohol is allowing it to sit for 24 hours before drinking it. Recipe here!

photo by BeInspiredDesigns

Create a Candy Wreath to Welcome in the Holidays!

With Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays just a hop, skip and a jump away,take some time to create a beautiful sentiment

to grace your front door. Check out Martha Stewart’s Candy wreath project for some sweet inspiration.

Photo by Simply recipes

T’is the Season to Bake Stained Glass Cookies!

Here’s a wonderful Holiday project that will make beautiful Christmas decorations and gifts.

Try this delightful recipe from Simply recipes, and mix and match your own special cookie cutter designs.

Photo by candywrapper crafts

Eaten all the candy? What about all those left over wrappers?

There’s a craft project for everyone! No need to dispose of all those leftover candy wrappers,

you can learn how to make your own candy wrapper bags for the ultimate in recycled chic.

photo by stevendepolo

Just FREEZE it!

Bag and freeze your candy so it will last till Halloween 2011!

Thats right, Candy can be kept for up to a 12 months in the freezer and is great to use up when  ever you need a sugar hit or want to cook a few candy inspired recipes.

photo by lintmachine

Wrestling with your demons. For those that must EAT it all!

If you really must eat all your candy, you could try a few ways to mix up the delivery.

Blend a chocolate bar with milk for a milkshake. Add ice cream for a chocolate bar smoothie or place it on bread and pop it in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes before spreading for chocolate toast.

photo by Delish.com

Get some Fruit into them!

I’m not sure how healthy these treats are, but it could be one way of getting a bit of fruit into the young ones and using up a bit of that leftover candy. The fact that they look super cute is bonus. Try this fantastic recipe from Delish.com.

What great ways do you have to use up that leftover Halloween Candy?

A Life Lived Enjoying Everything…

In Moderation

I come from  humble farming stock. My grandparents on my mother’s side ( Grandpappy and Nana) ran a dairy farm in the idyllic Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand’s Upper East Coast. You could say I have milk in my DNA, and more importantly, creamy New Zealand butter.

As many of my local friends can attest too,  one of my biggest homesick triggers is  New Zealand milk, cream, ice cream and butter. There is something kind of wonderful that goes into New Zealand dairy products that makes for exceptional baking and cooking. Heck, even the morning cereal tastes better when its swimming in New Zealand milk.

I put this exceptional quality down to all those golf course green fields, fresh air and happy farmers. The weather is perfect for creating lush pastures for stock to graze on and there’s enough open spaces for cows to frolic in the fields. We don’t do intensive farming of dairy cattle which makes for happy cows that still hold up traffic twice a day on many rural roads when the farmer is moving the herd  to the milking sheds.

My love for New Zealand butter started at a young age and has intensified since moving so far away from it. Thankfully I have tracked down a Sydney inner city supplier that has these blocks of gold for sale. I like to buy up as many as I can carry each time I visit the store so that I don’t run out in the middle of a banana cake making session.

I have added to my fridge a silver chalice, from which springs forth the elixir of life. Clarified butter has replaced canola  and grape-seed oil as my frying medium. This has been a revelation in my kitchen as I can now enjoy the flavor of butter at high temperatures!

Clarified butter or ‘Ghee’ as its known in Hindi is butter that has gone through a ridiculously simple clarification process to separate the protein or milk solids from the pure butter fat. The pure butter is then poured off  leaving the milk solids behind to be discarded. It’s these milk solids or protein that cause the butter to brown and burn at low temperatures. Pure butter on the other hand is now so resilient that you could even use it to deep fry with, not that I recommend wasting your clarified butter in that way.

Instead I recommend that you store it into your favorite small vessel and allow it to take pride in place in your fridge to use as a worthy replacement for oil. It can also be stored on the shelf provided it is in an airtight container. So if you must use a fat or oil to fry with, a small amount of clarified butter will work wonders on the end result.

Clarified Butter

Ingredients

1 block/1 pound/ 500gms of butter ~ some folks call for unsalted butter. Personally I prefer salted as it has better flavor.

Method

• On the lowest heat setting possible, place the butter into a heavy bottomed saucepan and ever so gently allow it to melt.
• Once the butter has completely melted, carefully pour the butter fat from the pan, making sure that the white milk fat stays behind in the pan to be disposed of.

Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it! Heres a few pointers to bear in mind when undertaking this calcification process.

• The trick here is to do it on such low temperature that the butter resists the need to bubble and splutter. A lot of bubbling and spluttering will have the reverse effect on what you are trying to achieve which is the separation of butter fat and protein or milk solids.
• If you allow the butter to melt gently the milk solids will sit on the bottom of the pan and all you need do is pour the melted butter fat directly from the pan for easy separation.
• An induction cook-top is one of the best ways to achieve a low heat setting. If you don’t have an induction cook-top you can try this little trick that works really well. Place a heavy bottomed frying pan on your cook-top on the lowest possible heat setting. Place the pot with butter into the frying pan and melt gently. The frying pan will act as a diffuser allowing the temperature of the cook-top to remain low and even. Splatter free butter!

Sweet like chocolate!

Feel guilty every time you eat chocolate?

Health & the City’s dietitian and fitness expert Caitlin Reid, shows you how to enjoy your chocolate minus the guilt.

Chocolate – it’s something few of us dislike! In fact, it has a long history as a flavoured food of many cultures including the Aztecs and Mayan. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the seeds of the cacao plant. Cocoa beans are naturally rich in flavonoid antioxidants called procyanidins (catechin and epicatechin). These antioxidants have been found to play a role in keeping our body healthy. While many of us would like to think this is enough to call chocolate a health food, in reality it’s something we still need to enjoy in moderation.

What’s in chocolate?

The nutritional content of chocolate varies depending on the recipe, but generally chocolate contains fat, sugar, caffeine, vitamin E, minerals including calcium, magnesium and iron, and antioxidants. Chocolate is particularly high in saturated fat, of which about half is stearic acid. Unlike many other types of saturated fat, which raises cholesterol levels, stearic acid seems to have no effect on blood cholesterol levels. Chocolate is also high in kilojoules – approximately 2200kJ per 100g – so overconsumption can make weight management hard.

Antioxidant content of chocolate

Cocoa powder is by far the best source of antioxidants, followed by dark chocolate. The higher the cocoa content of dark chocolate, the more antioxidants it contains. Milk chocolate contains about half the amount of antioxidants found in dark chocolate, while white chocolate (which is not really a chocolate at all, because it contains no cocoa solids) contains no antioxidants.

Will chocolate improve my heart health?

While the antioxidants in chocolate have been shown to improve cholesterol profile, improve the flexibility of blood vessels, reduce the likelihood of clots and lower blood pressure, everyday chocolate products don’t contain enough antioxidants to help lower our risk of heart disease. According to the National Heart Foundation, for heart benefits we need to consume high polyphenol cocoa or chocolate. Raw cocoa powder and beans have high levels of polyphenols and are thought to be beneficial for heart health. However, most common chocolate products are low in polyphenols, as processing removes the original antioxidants. High polyphenol chocolate is not readily available.

Chocolate is not a health food

While chocolate definitely has its positive points, unfortunately this is not enough to consider it a health food. Chocolate is high in fat and sugar, two nutrients that are not good for you in large amounts. However, small amounts of chocolate (a serve is equivalent to 25g or 6 small squares) does have a place in a well-balanced diet containing plenty of wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, lean meats and low-fat dairy products. Eating your chocolate in moderation ensures you can enjoy it guilt-free.

Tips for enjoying your chocolate the healthy way:

• Add dark chocolate pieces to your fruit and nut mix for an indulgent snack on the go.
• Savour a piece of good quality dark chocolate with your coffee after a meal
• Make a hot chocolate using raw cocoa powder, skim milk and a tiny bit of sugar.
• Grate good quality dark chocolate over a scoop or two of low-fat ice cream.
• Use raw cocoa powder, skim milk and a tiny bit of sugar to make an iced chocolate.
• Melt good quality dark chocolate and dip your 4-5 strawberries in it for a guilt-free dessert.

Website address: www.healthandthecity.com.au

Blog: http://healthandthecity.blogspot.com

Twitter ID: http://twitter.com/CaitlinReid

Facebook address: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sydney-Australia/Health-the-City/13868244279

Bio of me:
Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Caitlin Reid, studied a double degree in nutrition & dietetics and exercise science at Deakin University in Victoria. She has since moved to Sydney when she was worked with Sanitarium Health Food Company, Good Health Solutions, Foodwatch and Healthy Life Media. Currently, Caitlin is the club dietitian for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and lectures on sports nutrition at the Australian College of Physical Education. She is a regular contributor to the Healthy Food Guide magazine, MBF’s in2life message and Ninemsn’s Shape Mate Website. She also writes a weekly Health & the City.
Caitlin is also the author and director of Health & the City®, where she spires individuals and companies to achieve the elusive work-life balance through healthy living. She also writes a weekly Health & the City® blog. You may have seen Caitlin discussing nutrition and health topics on Kerri-Anne, TNT, Today Tonight, A Current Affair and Swish TV, or heard her provide health advice on numerous Australian radio stations including ABC, 2GB, 2UE, Pulse FM and 4CC.

Caitlin has a private practice at Balmain Sports Physiotherapy in Rozelle where she provides both nutrition and exercise advice. Her areas of expertise are in healthy lifestyles, sports nutrition, corporate health, weight loss and women’s health. Caitlin also provides nutrition advice to people with special dietary requirements such as Coealic disease, diabetes, high cholesterol and osteoporosis, just to name a few. With a keen interest in getting the most out of life, Caitlin knows how hard it is to juggle career goals, family and friends, a relationship and personal development, all while trying to make health a priority in life. Forget about being too busy – Caitlin almost effortlessly entwines health into the lifestyle of any hectic urbanite.

Info about Health & the City
Most of us know that we need to lead a healthier life; we just need a little inspiration about how to go about it. That’s while Health & the City is the perfect companion to keep you inspired all year round. Complete with your very own health challenge, Health & the City provides bite-sized tips especially for hectic urbanites trying to navigate their way through this fast-paced, urban existence. Health & the City will help improve your lifestyle, giving you the time and energy to pursue the things that really make you happy. You’ll barely notice the effort, but you will notice your health and fitness improving.

“Health & the City takes a realistic approach to health and fitness… [and] takes you back to a simple and real life slant. Caitlin’s genuine passion and thoughtfulness shines through in her book, supported by fantastic health and fitness tips.”  Michelle Bridges, Celebrity Trainer, The Biggest Loser

The fame that surrounds this scrambled egg recipe spreads from one corner of the globe to its significant other.

A recipe that has stood the test of time including a mere mention in the New York Times as being  “as light as the breath of an angel” and in the London Times as being “the best eggs in the world” .

The same online publication named the humble little  restaurant “bills” where the recipe began its journey of world domination as one of the “7 wonders of the food world” and I was fortunate to once been in charge of its stoves.

I can not take credit for its genius, but as head chef for  Bill Granger , the well known caretaker of this simple yet effective protein setting technique, I can most certainly whip you  up a batch ~ and I could probably do it with my eyes closed.

For a 45-seater restaurant in the heart of leafy Darlinghurst, Sydney Australia, it was not unusual for us to fuel the bellies of 350 patrons on a Saturday morning where they would begin queuing at 7am  for a  taste of the world famous scrambled eggs.

It was once home for breakfast to her royal highness, The Queen of daytime TV Oprah Winfrey, who along with Good Morning America, found it necessary to seek out and discover just what makes these eggs tick.

With a little care and attention, you can create your own Bill Grangers scrambled success at home, with just 3 ingredients, no need for queuing, a nod from “O”  and a gentle nudge.

The 10-min Foodie ~ Best Scrambled Eggs in the World.

Bills scrambled eggs ~ photo by reggie_l

Start with a clean bowl and a fork, and break into it 3 large organic free range eggs and 1/3 cup of full cream.

Yes, cream. Not milk, not light cream, not soy milk, not half and half. Pure, unadulterated full bodied cream. So despite risking stating the obvious, this is not an everyday food. It’s treat food at its most special.

Now using  a fork,  whisk  the eggs and cream together until no streaks are visible. It is not necessary at this point to be overly  ferocious  with your whisking as all you are attempting to do is to bring the 3 eggs and the cream harmoniously together  ~ minus the streaks.

Into a non stick pan ~ I can’t not stress the importance of a non stick pan here quite enough ~ Heat  a teaspoon of  butter on a medium-high temperature until the butter melts without browning it.

Once the butter has succumbed, sprinkle in a pinch and a half of of sea salt flakes and allow the salt a few seconds to begin to dissolve before introducing the eggs and cream to the butter and the pan.

Resist the urge at this point to stir the eggs. Allow the eggs 20 or so seconds to begin to set on the bottom of your non stick pan.

Once  a few bubbles begin to surface in the egg, turn the heat down to medium and gently, ever so gently begin to nudge the eggs around the pan ~ moving the cooked egg to allow the uncooked to settle on the base of the pan.

This entire process should take less than a minute, as once the egg has set all way round, invert the egg on to plate and serve immediately with super thick slices of crusty bread and an extra knob of butter for spreading thickly. Enjoy your scrambled egg recipe and let us know how it tastes

Watch this video for my updated version:

How to make the best scrambled eggs perfectly