Apple Picking at Bilpin near Sydney - A Day of #aussieapples

This is going to be a long-ish post about apples and apple picking and apple farming and apple everything. So before I dive right into it, I have a confession. I saw my first apple still attached to its tree only a few weeks ago. Apples are so much a part of our lives, we start our education pretty much going A for Apples and it hadn't occurred to me that I'd never seen an apple tree in real life. But there you have it, that was the case, but thanks to Aussie Apples and some local apple farmers in Bilpin, I had a lovely time wandering through a couple apple orchard and also seeing how the apples go from tree to table. The added bonus was that I got to do this with a fun bunch of food bloggers in Sydney.

I learnt quite a few things at the orchards, thanks to Joe and Lily Saliba who own and operate a 50 acre apple orchard in Bilpin. Joe's father and four uncles bought the land almost 40 years ago and now their children and grandchildren continue the family business. It's hard work tending to the apple tress, keeping them pest free naturally, and a lot of of the work is done by hand, including picking and packing.

The highlight at Saliba farms was getting to see how the apples are passed through slow-moving conveyor belts that have hot water running through them and then they go through a jet of warm water to remove any dirt. The apples are then sorted and packed by hand and the cases are taken by road, mostly to farmers' markets and large supermarkets in Sydney, just 1.5 hours away.

Joe and Lily were warm and welcoming, and very generously gave us each large boxes of apples to take home.

The next stop was Bilpin Springs Orchard which is now exclusively a pick-your-own orchard, much to my delight. Although apples take up most of the orchard, there were also other fruit trees like lemon, plums, oranges, and even blueberries. We were instructed how to pick apples (grip with your palm and twist gently with fingers) and then left along to pick our own apples.

The apples felt rough and non-waxy, very different from how they feel in the supermarkets. They were also incredibly crisp and tasted better than any apples I've ever tasted. It also helped that Fuji apples were among my favourites. After about 45 minutes of wandering around the orchard and selecting the best and most photogenic apples, we were done.

Here are some interesting facts about apples that go beyond 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away', which by the way, is apparently true.

• The skin of the apple contains more than 9x the antioxidants in the flesh, so do not peel and throw the skin away. Although I am positive she didn't know the stats, my mom never allowed us to peel apples before eating them
• Apples look pretty in fruit bowls and we have seen tons of pretty interiors and kitchens pictured with apples in bowls. However, you must refrigerate the fruits so that their goodness and crunch last longer. If you have ever bitten into an average-tasting floury apple, this is the reason
• The darker and redder the skin of the apples, the more antioxidant properties they hold
• An apple has a greater antioxidant capacity than half a punnet of blueberries, a cup of strawberries, two cups of tea, three oranges, a cup of grapes, or eight bananas. Cool eh?
• Pink Lady is the most popular Aussie Apple with more than 500 million crunched by Australians every year. I had my first taste of Pink Lady earlier this year and they are crunchy, sweet, and perfect for snacking

Phew, who would have though a humble apple which is one of those fruits that I consider ordinary held so much story and goodness. I am never going to look at a large pile of shiny apples the same again.

We picked Fuji apples from the orchard since they were the ones in season now and I had more than we could eat in a month!

So, after a lot of debate on if I should make some of our favourite apple crumble with custard, I baked some gorgeous low-fat apple cinnamon rolls. I will share the recipe soon!

Note - I was a guest of Aussie Apples at both the orchards but wasn't compensated for this post or for writing about them. All opinions are my own.

So how do you like your apples? Crunchy and fresh or cooked/baked into something? Share in comments! Also, if you want a more real-time update of stuff I cook, my beautiful balcony garden, and some general randomness, follow me on Instagram.

Eggless Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

These eggless banana oats chocolate chip cookies are cake-y and fudge-y with the goodness of banana, oatmeal and also eggless. Chocolate chips make anything better - cookies, cakes, it doesn't matter. These rustic fudge-y cookies with banana are the perfect hostess gifts, which is why I baked up my first batch a few weeks ago. Since then I've tried these cookies with a few variations and I've added those notes at the end of this post.

I got a bit tired of baking the same old banana bread and the (although fabulous) banana cake with cream cheese frosting all the time. Since banana cakes travel well, I almost always default to them when baking something to carry as a gift. So recently I wondered if I could bake cookies with ripe banana and if I could make it healthier than my usual bakes tend to be.

The resultant banana cookies were soft with some bite from the added oatmeal and a lovely chocolatey flavour from the chips. I made them chunky and thick so that one cookie goes a long way and you can even have it as a snack during the day with a glass of milk. YUM!

Some of my other favourites:
Eggless Almond Cookies (another great hostess gift idea)
Eggless Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Double Chocolate Biscotti

Eggless Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes ~15 cookies
Recipe adapted from: Buttercream and Chantilly

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup of ripe banana, mashed well or pureed
1 tsp of vanilla extract or essence
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of uncooked oats (any kind should do)
1 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of butter, at room temperature (55 gm)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 -3/4 cup of chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil, parchment paper, or a baking sheet and set aside.

2. Puree or mash the banana and set aside.

3. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl.

4. Add the oats and mix well to combine. Set aside.

5. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy (about 3-4 mins). You can do this by hand, in a stand mixer, or using an electric beater.

6. Add the vanilla extract to this and beat for another minute.

7. Add the pureed banana and gently combine until you get a smooth mixture.

8. Add the oats flour mixture to this and fold gently until well combined and you don't see any traces of the flour.

9. Finally, add the chocolate chips and fold in. You can reserve some to add on top of the cookies before baking. I didn't do this since the batter was thick enough to hold the chips in place. Also, I used 1 cup chocolate chips as in the original recipe and felt it was way too much. You can adjust this to your preference.

10. Using an ice-cream scoop or a large spoon, gently scoop out 2 tbsp mounds of batter and plate on the lined baking tray with about 2 inches between cookies.

11. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15 mins. The edges will start to brown and you will see some brown patches on the cookies too. These cookies don't spread much.

You should eat them when warm and it's super delicious. Cool completely before packing it up for a friend or storing it away for later. They stay good in an air tight container for up to 2 days. Refrigerate if keeping them longer.

NOTES:
- You can vary this recipe a lot to your preference and taste. I have made about 4 batches so far. The recipe above is the first one I tried. In the second batch, I added 1 cup oats and half cup flour and replaced brown sugar with powdered jaggery. This tasted more chewy and less sweet but overall was nice. I replaced flour with atta in a batch and the cookies turned out a bit rubbery and slightly bitter so I don't recommend that
- You can add 1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon to the dough if you like the flavour. I once tried this and omitted the vanilla. It was nice but I prefer the original version
- Replace chocolate chips with chopped dates or raisins (although, why would you remove chocolate from anything?)

Pad Thai - Vegetarian Pad Thai Noodles Recipe, Step by Step

Learn how to make vegetarian Pad Thai - the vegetarian version of popular Pad Thai rice noodles from Thailand. Pad Thai is a great example of the balance of textures and flavours in a single dish, something Thai cuisine handles so well.

I have said this many times but it's worth repeating - TH and I love Thai food and in the years we spent in Singapore and now in Sydney, we often crave a good Thai meal and seek out restaurants that serve vegetarian Thai dishes. In our quest to find a repeat-worthy pad thai and drool-worthy green curry, many restaurants have come and gone through our list of to-eat places. In spite of my love for Thai food, I have not ventured much into cooking my own except for the vegetarian tom kha soup I made ages ago and more recently, vegetarian green curry paste and Thai green curry recipe with vegetables.

I can't think of why it took me so long to plunge into the world of Thai cooking. The ingredients were most readily available in Singapore (except Thai basil which for some reason always remained elusive) and there's a great Thai grocery store I frequent in Sydney too. So it's not the ingredients, I just felt I didn't know where to start. So to solve this, I attended this lovely vegetarian Thai cooking class in Bangkok - at May Kaidee's. Sala from Veggie Belly had taken their classes in Chiang Mai and I looked them up when I was in Bangkok. A morning well spent. The class was intimate with just 3 of us, very hands-on, and taught more things than they promised. We came back stuffed, happy, and all set to make our own tom yum paste and green curry paste from scratch.

This pad thai recipe is adapted from what we learnt in class. I had to make do with the Thai soya sauces available in Sydney so the brands and type are a bit different. I felt like everything we made in class was absolutely delicious and this pad thai (this is my third attempt at making it near-perfect) was pretty close to the real deal.

An important note - if you want to make great Thai food at home, it's important you buy the right ingredients. Soya sauce is a key piece of this so I'd advice you use a Thai brand. The healthy boy brand is popular and heavily exported so hopefully you can find it where you live. Here's a picture of what I bought.

VEGETARIAN PAD THAI RECIPE

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS:
200 gm packet of flat rice noodles
1 tbsp of peanut oil
1 cup mix of carrot, beans, red onions, julienned
1 small tomato, cubed
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 egg (optional)
1.5 tbsp of Thai soya sauce (dark or light)
A fistful of bean sprouts
1 tbsp of crushed roasted peanuts
1 tsp of red chilli flakes
2 tbsp of chopped spring onions (or coriander leaves)
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 tsp of sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. First important step is to prep and keep all your ingredients ready. Then it's just a matter of adding everything in one by one.

2. Prepare the noodles per packet instructions. Mine were instant noodles so I had to immerse the noodles in boiling water for 3 mins and transfer to a colander to drain the remaining water.

3. Heat oil in a wok and add the garlic, onions, carrot, beans, and tomatoes.

Saute on high heat until the vegetables are beginning to turn soft. Lower heat.

4. Push the vegetables to the side of the wok and break the egg in, if using. Let it cook for a bit and then lightly scramble it without making the pieces too tiny.

5. Add the cooked noodles and mix well to incorporate.

6. Increase heat to high and add the soya sauce and sugar.

Saute to combine well. Then throw in the spring onions (coriander leaves), bean sprouts, peanut powder, and chilli flakes.

Mix again until the noodles and the vegetables look combined and cooked through. Turn off the flame and squeeze the lime juice. Add more coriander leaves for garnish and mix again.

All done! Serve pad thai noodles hot for best flavour. You can serve some more peanut powder and chilli flakes with lime wedges so that people can adjust the flavour to their liking.

Notes:
- the salt in the soya sauce is generally enough for the noodles but you can test and add more if needed
- you can also add cubed fried tofu, baby corn, bell pepper, etc for added crunch and flavour

Shammi Kebabs

These Shammi kebabs remind me of the kebabs which i used to eat in Pakistan. Must try and enjoy ...

Ingredients:

• Beef minced: Half kg
• Yellow lentil (Chana Daal): Half cup
• Onion: 1 small
• Garlic cloves: 5 (crushed)
• Ginger: 1 tbsp (heaped)
• Green chilies: 3 large
• Red chili powder: 1 tsp
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
• Whole black cardamon: 1
• Whole black pepper: 5
• Whole cloves: 5
• Cinnamon stick: 1
• Fenugreek leaves: 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves: one handful
• Garam masala (mixed spices): 1 tbsp
• Eggs : 2 (beaten)
• Oil: 1 tbsp

Directions:

• Heat oil in a pan and add onion into it until golden brown.
• Add garlic, ginger and cumin seeds into it and stir continuously.
• Add beef minced into it and stir it on a high flame for 5 minutes.
• Add all the dry ingredients with two green chilies into it.
• Cover it on a low flame for one and half hour with one glass of water.
• After that increase the flame, take out the black cardamom, cinnamon stick, and if you find the whole cloves and whole black pepper. 
• Dry all excess water by stirring continuously and mashing it with a wooden stick (normally we use to mince garlic cloves).
• Switch off the heat and add one green chili, fresh coriander and garam masala into it. Mix well with hands.
• Add half of the beaten eggs and mix well with hands.
• Make small balls and press them to form a round shape.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan.
• Take other half of beaten eggs and coat each Shammi kebab with egg and fry it gently.
• Take them out on an absorbing paper and serve hot with mint chutney.

Sweetheart Sugar Cookies - Heart-Shaped Sugar Cookies for Valentines Day

These heart-shaped two-toned sugar cookies are hands down the nicest looking things I have ever baked or cooked. While looking for easy Valentines Day desserts, I realised I barely bake cookies anymore and I have a pretty nice collection of cookie cutters that haven't even been taken out of their packaging. A quick flick through my latest cookbook addition brought me to these gorgeous cookies and I knew I had to bake them.

Sugar cookies are very simple to make and just involve the usual suspects in a cookie, mainly flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and some flavouring, usually vanilla. These cookies just take the humble sugar cookies up a notch by being two-toned and looking so darn cute. I only had to go out and buy red food colouring, the rest of the ingredients were ready to go in my pantry. You also need two cookie cutters (any shape will do) of different sizes.

If you've been reading me long enough you'd know that I don't often produce elaborately pretty things on the blog. My baked goodies simply aim to be easy, tasty, and are often plain and simple. The main reason for this is that I lack the patience to do much beyond the very basics that produce satisfactory results. So the process of cutting these cookies in two sizes and interchanging the centres was something that needed me to go beyond my usual acceptable amount of effort but the results, they are oh so pretty.

So bake some nice sugar cookies for your loved ones this Valentines Day and get some love your way along with lots of wows. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days so make these ahead to avoid last minute rush on V-day.

More Valentines Day Recipe Ideas
Eggless Strawberry Mousse
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
Eggless No-Bake Mango Cheesecake
Rich Chocolate Fudge Cake

Browse all dessert recipes to get more inspiration for your Valentines Day menu.

SWEETHEART SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes ~ 20 2" cookies
Adapted from: Mastering the art of Baking (a fabulous book!)

INGREDIENTS:
4 tbsp (~60 gm) of butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup of icing sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (we only need half of this)
2-3 drops of red food colouring
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tbsp of plain flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

0. Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F.

1. Place the butter and icing sugar in a wide bowl.

2. Whisk rigorously until you have a smooth mixture. You can do this by hand or electric beater.

3. Add half of the beaten egg. Ignore my picture where there's an entire egg - I was making a double-batch.

4. Mix gently to combine.

5. Divide half of the above mixture into another bowl and add the red food colouring and 1/4 tsp vanilla.

Mix well and set aside.

6. To the other half, add the remaining 1/4 tsp vanilla and mix well.

7. Divide the flour into two equal halves of 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp each and add to both the mixtures. First mix with a spoon and then use hands to gently form a soft dough. I don't have pictures of this step for some reason. Sorry!

8. Transfer one portion of dough between two pieces of parchment or grease paper.

Gently roll to about 1/4" thickness.

9 .Use both cookie cutters to cut out hearts (or whatever shapes you prefer).

10. Repeat with the other dough too and gently swap out the inner smaller hearts.

Be very gently while doing this and I felt that removing the inner hearts is easier than moving the entire cookie since the dough is soft and you may find the shape going wonky.

I mushed together the remaining scraps of dough and make some marbled heart-shaped cookies. Much easier, still pretty, and tastes the same :)

11. Bake on a lined baking tray in the pre-heated oven for about 12 mins. You can turn the baking tray around halfway for uniform baking. The cookies won't turn very brown in this time and this is perfect.

Cool on wiring racks completely before transferring to an airtight container.

NOTES:
- I felt like the cookies could have been a bit sweeter so add a bit more sugar if you'd like. Taste the dough to check, if you don't mind raw eggs
- Add more flour by the teaspoon if you find the dough too sticky
- You can use any shape for the cookies, the recipe makes very good sugar cookies
- Instead of the red food colour, you can try adding chocolate to one batch. I wanted to do this originally but decided to stick to the original recipe idea since the cookies looked so cute and pretty, perfect for Valentines Day