Apricot and Muesli Bliss Balls

This week autumn has well and truly arrived with gale force winds and driving rains. Unfortunately the wild weather has arrived at the same time as my holiday week but on the bright side I am lucky to be staying inside whilst the rain pours down outside!

I've just finished my second placement which was my community nutrition/public health placement. I was placed at a not-for-profit charity that aims to promote healthy eating in schools. They do great work including helping canteens to have healthy menus and implementing fruit and veg programs in schools. Indeed the food environment in schools these days has come a long way! I had a fantastic time on placement - I was lucky to do quite a bit of hands-on work, I got to work at a couple of school canteens, and I learnt a lot about the challenges of implementing public health policy.

I made a cardboard cash register - harder than I thought!

Of course, as usual, Mr Duckie and I had our fair share of emergency and drama. A few posts ago I wrote about the breakdown of our old car Jeeves during my first placement. That was a pretty big scare, so what else could happen right?

We were shown what could in fact happen on only the second day of my placement. That morning, Mr Duckie was having a shower and I needed to duck into the bathroom to grab something. As I pushed open the door I thought, why does the door knob feel funny? I kept jiggling the door knob and it felt stiff and unmoveable. Then, for goodness knows what reason, I decided to close the door. Big mistake, as lo and behold, I had locked us into the bathroom.

I had never been in this situation before. My brain took some time to adjust to the situation. The reality took some time to sink in, as I thought that perhaps if I shook the door knob hard enough, it would move. Then I thought I could break the door down. When I realised we were stuck, hysteria started to take hold. Luckily Mr Duckie stayed calm and he tried to figure out a solution.

Luckily the bathroom had windows, albeit very small windows. So I was sent forth to climb out of the window and get help. With a bit of a leg-up from Mr Duckie, I managed to get out, with a few scratches on the way. Now the next challenge - the fence to the front garden was too high for me to climb, as were the fences to the neighbours on both sides. Luckily I found a way to get into my back door neighbour's garden and eventually I got through and knocked on her door!

Give as a gift to those who have been good help!

My back door neighbour, whom I had never met before, turned out to be a very kind and generous lady who was more than willing to help. She helped me to call a locksmith and so eventually we managed to get back into the house and open up the bathroom door. What a relief!

Anyway, in times of unexpected dramas, something sweet is always good to help give an energy boost. Whilst I was on placement, I looked up a number of healthy sweet treat recipes to pass on to schools and parents, and I became quite familiar with the concept of bliss balls!

These balls are very easy to make and only use a few basic ingredients, pretty much just dried apricots, muesli and sesame seeds. Whilst many bliss ball recipes contain nuts, this recipe is nut-free, so can safely be taken to school. They also smell amazing whilst cooking from all the lovely spices added in!

Hope you enjoy this recipe! I'm off to my food service placement next so we shall see what happens then!

Apricot and muesli bliss balls

Adapted from taste.com.au

100g dried apricots
3/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
60g sesame seeds
3 cups natural (untoasted) nut-free muesli

1. Combine apricots, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until apricots soften. Uncover and set aside until cool.
2. Place sesame seeds in a pan and toss over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden. Place into a bowl to cool down and set aside.
3. Place muesli in bowl of food processor and process until finely chopped. Add apricot mixture and process until a stiff dough forms - you may need to add a bit of extra warm water. Transfer to a bowl.
4. Use teaspoonfuls of mixture to roll into small bowls. Roll in toasted sesame seeds. Place in fridge to firm up a bit then serve.

Makes approx. 30 balls

Cutlets - carrying on family traditions

In a food-driven family such as ours, a lot of history and memories can be encapsulated in cherished dishes and treats. This particular dish is indeed very special, shared with me by Mr Duckie's grandmother.

For Mr Duckie, his Grandma's cooking is a tradition that he can always rely on. Grandma is a wonderful lady who has devoted her life to looking after her family. When Mr Duckie was young, it was Grandma and Grandpa that raised him and cared for him, teaching him how to write and how to do maths.

Of course, Grandma is a very capable cook as most ladies of her generation are (all those years of experience!), and she is quite famous for her food. Even now, old family friends and relatives reminisce about the food she used to make. Grandma specialises in traditional Sri Lankan food, excelling in the sorts of recipes that would have been handed down generation after generation. I wanted to take down some of her stand-out recipes as a way of carrying on these cherished family traditions.

So as I mentioned, Grandma is always trying to look out for those around her. After I said to her that I wanted to learn her cutlet recipe, Grandma tried for weeks to tee up a time with me! She even got up early one Sunday morning to make sure we could do this together! 

Cutlets are a traditional Sri Lankan snack food, made up of crunchy balls of spiced tuna. It is a light yet satisfying "short eat", and one of Mr Duckie's favourites!

Learning this recipe, I realised just how important the many years of Grandma's cooking experience was. Whilst trying to shape the balls of tuna, mine kept falling apart whereas Grandma's stayed nice and neat! I got some very firm instructions on the proper shaping technique, but I still don't think I've quite got the hang of it.

I also got some educational notes on cutlet recipes. Grandma informs me that cutlets are usually a round, golf ball shape, but she flattens her slightly to reduce the amount of oil needed for frying. Also, the balls are usually crumbed with egg as the "glue", but as my sister-in-law is allergic to egg, Grandma has substituted with a flour and water mixture. 

So, I am very honoured to share this special recipe and I hope to take down more of these time-honoured recipes to keep the family history alive!

Cutlets

Makes 18-20

Ingredients

1 large  potato

1 large onion

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

A few curry leaves, finely chopped (optional)

1 finely chopped green chilli and ground black pepper, or 1-2 tsp chilli powder

1 x 425g tin tuna

3/4 cup flour plus 1 cup water, or 1 egg

2 cloves garlic

3-4 cups dry breadcrumbs (or "rusks" as Grandma calls them!)

Canola oil, for frying

1. Chop potato into small chunks. Place into a pot of water and bring to the boil. Boil until potato is tender.

2. Meanwhile, chop onion very finely (so that you can't tell the onion pieces in the tuna mixture)

3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, fennel seeds and curry leaves. Fry for a few minutes to toast spices

4. Add onion to spices and fry until onion is soft and translucent (do not brown onion)

5. Drain tuna and crush it with a fork so it is broken up. Add to onion mixture and stir to combine.

6. Finely chop garlic and grind to a paste in a mortar and pestle. Add to onion mixture. Add some salt and chilli powder to taste. Take pan off heat.

7. Drain potato and roughly mash (some small chunks will remain). Add to tuna mixture and stir to combine.

8. Taste again to see if more salt or chilli is needed. Set aside and cool slightly.

9. Mix flour and water until it is a runny paste (or alternatively beat egg). Take tablespoonfuls of tuna mixture and squeeze together in your hand to form a small ball. You need to make sure to squeeze hard so that the mixture holds together firmly, so that it won't fall apart when frying. You will see some of the liquid oozing out when you squeeze. If there are any bits of onion or curry leaf sticking out, pull them off.

10. Flatten balls between palm of your hand slightly. Dunk balls into flour mixture, then into breadcrumbs. When coating with breadcrumbs, first cover the top with breadcrumbs. Then flip it over and with your fingers spin the disc around in a circle. Whilst doing this, gently squeeze the ball - the aim is to try to give a nice round shape and also help the ball to stick together

11. Put cutlets in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up. 

12. Heat about 2 cm oil in a pan. The aim is to have enough oil to cover the cutlets whilst they are frying.

13. Once the oil is hot, drop in a few cutlets at a time. Fry until breadcrumbs are golden.

14. Drain on paper towel, cool, then enjoy!