Pineapple, Paw Paw and Kiwi Smoothie Bowl

It’s all in the name. This smoothie bowl is packed with Vitamin C and quick and easy to make. There’s no reason not to start your day right by enjoying this bowl for breakfast.

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Ingredients:

• 120g fresh pineapple, chopped
• 100g paw-paw, chopped
• 250ml 1 cup coconut water
• juice of ½ a lemon, juiced
• 1 handful fresh mint leaves
• 3 blocks of ice
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• ¼ cup gooseberries
• 1 kiwi fruit, sliced
• 1 dragon fruit (optional)
• 1 star fruit (optional)
• ¼ cup almonds

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Instructions:

Blend the pineapple, paw-paw, coconut water, lemon juice, mint, chia seeds, and ice until smooth.

Add the smoothie to a bowl. Decorate with gooseberries and almonds kiwi fruit, dragon fruit balls, and star fruit.

This is a moment to connect with your food and put some good energy into it. If you feel like decorating with other seeds, nuts and a variety of fruits. Go wild! Real food is good for you and filled with vitamins and minerals!

Health Fact:

Kiwifruit is high in Vitamin C which is a powerful antioxidant. It also helps to build strong bones and strengthen the immune system.

-Melissa 

Saffron poached pears with Lourensford noble late harvest 2014

I have never been a fan of avocado. 
The texture was simply something I could not accept. 
I remember being young and being told that certain things in life were an acquired taste and that an appreciation for them would more than likely come with age. 
For many years I wasn’t sure that this was true, until, lo and behold, my absolute distaste for avocado disappeared. 
Slowly but surely I invited this green fruit into my life and I started experimenting with its flavours. Strange how that happens.
How the adults turned out to know a thing or two at the end of the day.

Another food that I have had the same experience with is blue cheese. 
The thought of it when I was younger turned my stomach (and my nose).
It was off putting to know that mold was grown in the cheese (on purpose!), the taste was pungent, the smell oh-so-over powering rushing into my sinuses with a less than agreeable result and that people actually ate it AS A SPECIAL TREAT!?

Now, in my later years, I enjoy a mild blue cheese and won’t say no to it especially with a fig on top. 

My new found love for blue cheese and avocado started me thinking about the wines that I drink. 
Being a stone’s throw away from some of the best wine estates in the world have given me a unique opportunity to expand my palette and begin appreciating some phenomenal wines.  

I have always loved dessert wine. For obvious reasons, it is sweet and pleasing to a novice wine drinker. 
In the same way, I have learned to appreciate new tastes with a maturing palate, I am loathed to admit that I had forgotten the delights of some of my younger forays into dessert wine and had all but excluded it from my repertoire.

Revisiting some of my earlier favorites, I’ve fallen in love with dessert wines all over again 

Appreciating the nose of a wine and the tasting notes have definitely come with age.
I found the perfect opportunity with this Lourensford Noble late harvest to pair up some unique flavours that will not only test your palette but please it right down to its nuanced sensibilities.

The wine has a certain richness to it and could be a dessert all on its own. 
With its liquid gold colour and an inviting nose of rich tropical fruits, I decided to pair it with saffron poached pears served with blue cheese and walnuts. It’s a flavour symphony that will sing in your mouth and should be kept in your arsenal for Christmas, which is just around the corner, complete with a list as long as your arm of demands for indulgent desserts and treats.

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Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes. 

Ingredients:

• 4 pears peeled 
• 1 cup of castor sugar 
• 3 cinnamon sticks 
• pinch of saffron 
• 4 cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves 
• peel of 1 lemon
• 3 star anise
• 100 grams blue cheese
• 80 grams walnuts 

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Instructions:

In a medium pot add the pears, sugar, cinnamon, saffron, cardamom, cloves, lemon peel and star anise. 

Fill the pot halfway with warm water. Place on a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 40-50 minutes or until the pears are soft when pricked with a fork. 

Remove the pears from the pot and set aside. Reduce the syrup in the pot for another 15 minutes. You want it to become slightly thick. 

Serve warm or cold topped with syrup, blue cheese and walnuts crumbled on top and the perfect glass of dessert wine from Lourensford! 

-Melissa 

p.s this can be made the day before and the flavour gets even better! 

fresh infused waters

There is one thing I know for sure hydration is key. You can dress it up any way you would like but water truly is the wine of the gods. This being said I know I never drink enough water. Especially come winter and its freezing cold.

I spent the day cooking with a dear friend of mine sharing recipes when we got chatting about the lack of hydration in my life. She suggested I give these combinations of flavored waters a try. We made them early in the morning and photographed them then got to cooking. That evening when we were done we realised we hadn't had any water the whole day! The irony was all a bit much. Needless to say having had the day to infuse with their amazing flavours these waters were a major success and beyond delicious.

I can assure you that if all your waters looked and tasted this good you would be gulping them by the gallons! They are so easy to make and you can get completely creative. I will of course let you know what combinations we used but below are a list of fresh ingredients you can use and what health benefits they have 

Berries: these little jewels are huge anti oxidants that help your body fight free radicals caused by stress. Getting rid of them can stop major illness in the body!

Ginger: this marvelous ingredient has several health properties. It is a wonder in treating nausea and morning sickness, it can lower your risk of heart disease, aid exercise induced muscles pain and menstrual pain and it can even aid digestion. Just to name a few! 

Mint: can aid ingestion or an upset stomach and its wonderful flavour can be combined with most other fresh ingredients 

Lemon: high in vitamin c this citrus fruit is amazing for colds, rejuvenating skin cells and can even aid weight loss. 

Pomegranate: this amazing fruit is known as an antioxidant rich fruit. The seeds are sweet and wonderful to add to anything. You can also put them into your ice tray and make pomegranate ice. It looks beautiful and is so healthy for you! 

Cucumber: these amazing fruits-yes I said fruit is filled with multiple vitamins B such as B1 B5 and B7. It can aid in reducing anxiety and stress and so very good for digestion. 

Lemon grass: don't be fooled by its hard exterior, once cut and its flavours release. Lemon grass is wonderful for stomach ache, high blood pressure and can aid rheumatism. 

I have used several ingredients in different combinations and amount. Play around with them and with the fruits that are in season. The longer you leave them to infuse the better they taste. if you use fresh ingredients the flavours are even stronger and most of the time all you need to do is top up on the water before the fruit goes off. 

so here are the combinations I’ve used: 

•   Pomegranate, mint and orange 

•   Cucumber, mint and lemon

•   Lemon grass, ginger and mint 

•   Lime mint and berries (strawberry, blackberry and raspberries)

You can add any fruit that you like from oranges and limes, cinnamon and apple even pineapple and rosemary!

Just chop them up to release all the flavours and add them to your water jugs. Let them stand in the fridge for a few hours or even over night! 

Keeping hydrated is good for your digestion, hangover, skin and so much more-so drink up!  

-Melissa