Creamy Chicken & Porcini Mushroom Soup (paleo. gf. df & vegan option)

RECIPE BY: AURORA GILBERT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: AURORA GILBERT

Serves 4

Creamy chicken and porcini mushroom soup is a simple hearty soup is perfect for cooler days, providing warmth and nourishment in every spoonful. The rich, earthy porcini mushrooms complement the velvety texture of creamy chicken soup, offering a savoury and comforting umami flavour.

Ingredients:

4 sprigs parsley, fresh
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 brown onion
4 cups mushrooms
2 tbs porcini mushrooms, dried
500g chicken thigh
3.5 cups chicken broth, or stock
3 tbs butter, grassfed or olive oil for vegan option
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
1 tsp salt
4 tbs plain flour, gluten free

OPTIONAL

potato
zuchini
vegetables of choice
omit chicken and add more mushrooms for vegan option

Method:

1. Place the parsley, carrot, celery, mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, onion into a food processor and roughly chop.

2. Place butter into saucepan on medium heat and add vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes.

3. Add chopped chicken (3cm pieces), pepper, salt and flour into the saucepan and stir continuously for 2 minutes then add the bone broth/stock and simmer for approximately 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through over medium heat,

4. Serve with label or yoghurt with fresh herbs, I use chives or parsley.

Enjoy x

Thick & Creamy Coconut Yoghurt (paleo. keto. low carb. vegan. gf. df)

RECIPE BY: AURORA GILBERT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: AURORA GILBERT

Makes 400mls

Ok so what if I told you could make thick creamy coconut yoghurt at home instead on the cheap instead of store bought coconut yoghurt that cost’s a bomb and more often than not has some questionable ingredients added to it.

It’s simple!!

A couple of things that ensure you’re going to get a thick creamy coconut yoghurt every time are;

I use the Ayam brand of coconut cream, it’s got no nasties in it and it’s just coconut cream, it doesn’t spilt, you know sometimes you buy a good organic coconut cream and open it and the coconut cream is solidified on top and there’s coconut water underneath, it hasn’t emulsified which is fine it will still work but it just means most times you won’t get a thick yoghurt… so Ayam where possible and yes you could use Ayam’s coconut milk it just won’t be as thick… so you may as well buy the coconut cream and mix it with water (same thing) if you want a thinner consistency.
I have tried heaps of other brands but find Ayam never lets me down and no I’m not sponsored.

Next I use sunflower lecithin as an emulsifier, it’s also great for our cognitive function as it’s high in choline! Note: if using an alternative brand to Ayam it assist in emulsifying the coconut cream and coconut water.
BUT please don’t get sunflower lecithin confused with soy lecithin, soy lecithin is also and emulsifier it just doesn’t have health benefits that sunflower lecithin does.

I like to make mine in my pressure cooker because it means I can manipulate the fermenting time and have yoghurt ready in 6-8 hours instead of a couple of days, I have given you both methods below.

Ingredients:

1 can coconut cream - 400mls, full fat I use Ayam
1-2 probiotic capsules, dairy free
1 tsp sunflower lecithin

OPTIONAL

1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
salt
maple syrup
coconut sugar

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in the blender and blitz on high for approximately 10 seconds.

2. Pour into clean jar and place a muslin cloth over the jar with an elastic band.

3. Allow to ferment at room temperature for 24hr to 48hrs depending on desire taste and consistency. When the yoghurt is ready it will have a tangy taste, the longer you leave it to ferment the more tang it will have.

4. Once your happy with the taste put the lid on the jar and store in the fridge to be consumed within the week, it will thicken up in the fridge.
   If the yoghurt has spilt into a creamy part and watery part simply stir to combine before placing in the fridge.

NB. I do this in my pressure cooker, at step 2. simply pour into the pressure cooker and press the yoghurt function, once the pressure cooker has finished follow step 4.

Also you don’t have to use a probiotic as a starter for the ferment you can simply add a couple of tablespoons of your previous coconut yoghurt in place of the probiotic as your starter.

Enjoy x

Chicken Liver Pate w/ Sage & Brandy (paleo. keto. low carb. gf)

RECIPE BY: AURORA GILBERT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: AURORA GILBERT

Makes 2-3 sml jars

I love pate, I eat it by the spoonful and so does everyone in our house including the dogs - they love it!!

I started making my own pate because I haven’t found a store bought pate that uses clean ingredients, one without any preservatives or ingredients that I wouldn’t even feed my dogs… and it’s actually really easy and quick to make once you get past handling the livers.

I eat pate not only because I love it but also for my iron and energy levels… for my overall health.
I am a conscious omnivore (I eat pretty much all the foods, obviously including red meat) but unfortunately my body is not great at absorbing iron even when I have it with vitamin C (helps absorption), it was especially challenging during my pregnancy with Lila and also postpartum so I have had to supplement alongside ensuring I eat iron rich nourishing foods.

Now pate is loaded with nutrients, it’s high in iron, copper, selenium, protein, folate and B vitamins - especially B12, which great for energy, it has fat soluble vitamins A, D, K and E and even has choline, which helps with cognitive function.
It helps the body fight off fatigue, restores energy levels and it’s a super tasty way to boost your micronutrients and get more nutrient dense organ meats into your life.
I also like to pimp my pate out with some medicinal mushrooms too, this completely optional I’m just addicted thats all.

Note: Contrary to beliefs that your shouldn’t eat liver because it stores toxins they actually neutralise toxins in our body and when we consume liver it assists our body’s own detoxification = win!!

Ingredients:

500g chicken livers, organic preferably
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs porcini mushroom, dried
3 sprigs thyme, fresh
8-10 sage leaves, fresh
60mls brandy
250g butter, organic grassfed
1 tbs olive oil
1 tps salt, good quality

 OPTIONAL

1-1/2 tsp medicinal mushrooms, I use SuperFeast Mason’s Mushrooms ‘aurora10’ for a discount

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven 140ºC and place 1/3 of the butter into a tray and allow to slowly melt until separated, this will take approximately 10 minutes. Pull out of oven and strain the milky part of the butter, keep the clarified butter and set aside.

2. Add olive oil to saucepan on medium heat, add chopped onions, garlic porcini mushrooms and thyme leaves, cook slowly until soft, then remove the mixture into a thermomix/food processor.

3. Turn up the heat in the saucepan and add chicken livers and most of the sages leaves. Cook the livers for a couple of minutes on one side then turn over to cook for a couple more minutes on the other side, they should still be pinkish in colour in the middle. Note: don’t over cook the livers or they will have a grainy texture.

4. Turn the heat up to high and add brandy and cook for another minute, then add to the onion mixture in the thermomix/food processor.

5. Add salt and remaining butter and blitz on high until well combined and creamy, approximately 1 minute then scrape down sides and blitz again for 20 seconds.

6. Divide the mixture into jars and then pour the clarified butter over the top and add the remaining sages leaves chopped up, ensure the pate is completely covered by the clarified butter - this will seal and allow the pate to keep for longer in the fridge.

7. Allow to cool then place in fridge to set, the pate can be eaten straight away or the pate will keep for up to two weeks provided the seal is not disturbed and the favours will continue to develop the longer it’s in the fridge.

Note: medicinal mushrooms would go in in step 5.

Enjoy x

Super Gelatinous Bone Broth (paleo. keto. low carb. gf)

RECIPE BY: AURORA GILBERT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: AURORA GILBERT

Makes 3-4 litres

Bone broth is pretty much a staple at our house, it’s our go to for getting more nutrients in or boosting the immune system, which is key with this current nasty COVID19 situation.
It was actually my daughter Lila’s first food (easily digested) when she was 5 1/2 months old, what we used to help Benny, my baby daddy to assist with healing after a bad motorbike accident and what I consumed through pregnancy and postpartum for extra nutrients and for healing connective tissue and skin, I even give bone broth to our dogs.

Bone broth has been past down from generation to generation traditionally for digestive/ gut health and healing the body, when the bones are cooked for a long period of time the nutrients are drawn out producing a collagen rich gelatinous bone broth (use jointy bones) that’s high in nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron, glutamine, proline and glycine just to name a few… these are building blocks that the body uses to regenerate and heal.
Collagen is the most abundant protein found in the body and unfortunately our body’s ability to make collagen starts to diminish as we age, (awesome, not) which is why we start getting wrinkles, loose lustre in our hair, our nails get brittle, looser sagging skin and everything starts to go south.
Collagen is responsible for anti-ageing, reducing inflammation, joint health and mobility, bone mineral density, healing/ replenishing our hair, skin, nails, connective tissue, gut lining, and muscles.

Drinking bone broth can help to heal and seal our gut lining, which means we are better able to absorb nutrients from our food, supports detoxification and overall it boost our immune system health, being that 70% of your immune system cells are housed in your gut this means your gut health is integral to your immunity!!

That being said, how can you use bone broth;

• drink 1 to 3 cups daily, great for post training or breaking a fast

• add to soup, stews, curries

• cook rice by absorption in bone broth for nutrient dense rice, or cooked and cooled rice

• gravy base

• mashed veggies or potato, great in baby food

• in a marinade

• to braise meat in

• steam/ sauté your vegetables in

Check out ‘favourite things’ for the curry spice mix I use by Love My Earth or my favourite go to bone broth concentrate Gevity Rx.

Ingredients:

1 kg grassfed jointy bones
filtered water, approx 3 litres
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs salt, good quality

OPTIONAL
1 tbs medicinal mushrooms
herbs
vegetable scraps
spices, I often use curry spices
seaweed
chicken's feet, extra gelatin
 

Method:

1. Roast bones on high for 30- 45mins.

2. Add bones, apple cider vinegar, salt and any other herbs, vegetable scraps, seaweed etc, then top up with filtered water.

3. Cook in pressure cooker for approx 2-3 hours or in a slow cooker for at least 8 hours.

4. Strain liquid and store in jars.

5. Discard the solidified fat on top or use as lard.

To make a cup of bone broth simply add 2-3 tbs of the gelatinous bone broth to some hot water and stir, I usually add salt to taste and a little butter.

Enjoy x

Creamy Vegetables Puree w/ Bone Broth (paleo. keto. low carb. gf)

RECIPE BY: AURORA GILBERT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: AURORA GILBERT

Serves 2-4

This is super quick and easy to whip up and it’s versatile, I just chuck in whatever veggies are left over from the week with fresh greens and sometimes herbs from the garden… it’s really a ‘choose your own adventure’ kind of dish.

The bone broth adds extra nutrients, protein, gut loving and a depth of flavour along side the creaminess of the butter, you could use homemade bone broth which you could then simmer your veggies in the bone broth and reduce the liquid down until the veggies are cooked then blitz too.

It’s a great side dish as well as a tasty way to get extra veggies into little ones or adults too.

Ingredients:

1 broccoli
1/2 cauliflower
1 zucchini
1 bunch greens, use kale, silverbeet, spinach
2 tbs bone broth concentrate, I use Gevity Rx
2 tbs grassfed butter
Salt & pepper to taste

OPTIONAL
garlic
chilli
fresh herbs
lemon zest
splash of olive oil or truffle oil

Method:

1. Chopped all the vegetables and steam except the bunch of greens, once cooked add cooked vegetables to a blender along with chopped greens, butter, bone broth concentrate, salt and pepper and blend until desired consistency.

2. Or if you have a thermomix add the the chopped vegetables and butter (except greens) and cook on temperature 90 for approximately 5-10 minutes, the larger the vegetables are chopped the longer it takes to cook. Cook until vegetables are just soft then add chopped greens, bone broth concentrate, salt and pepper and blitz until desired consistency.

3. My favourite is served with a good splash of olive oil or truffle oil, lemon zest and chilli flakes.

Enjoy x