Cuisine Companion Launch and How to Make Whole Wheat Oat Dinner Rolls

What’s the first thing you do when you have a cooking robot? Get it to knead you some bread, of course.

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A few weeks ago I went to a VIP event as one of the founding members of the Tefal Cuisine Companion Cuisine Club (Hello Bizzylizcook and Vegetaraian :o) . At the VIP event I got to play with this wonder machine and made a delicious vegan risotto and apple crumble effortlessly.

Cuisine Companion

It’s such a versatile machine. It chops, whips, mix, kneads, cooks, steams, blends, stirs, emulsifies, whisks, sears, crushes, mills and heats food. In the beginning I was afraid that it might be a bit complicated to use but it turns out to be quite easy and straightforward with an intuitive user interface and six automatic functions.

That first weekend I decided to test-drive my demonstration model, making one of my favourite breads, Maple Oat Bread. I use a combination of whole-wheat flour and oats which help lower the gluten content of the bread and increases its nutritional value. Though I’m trying to eat less bread, I’ve never been a fan of complete deprivation, so rather than stop eating it altogether I’d rather try making it healthier and better for me (and maybe eat a bit less of it). So when I discovered you can turn oats into flour and make bread with it, you could imagine my excitement.

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Why I love it:

This bread is quite easy to make so you can certainly make it by hand if you want. However, the Cuisine Companion makes it even easier as you don’t have to knead it. The machine does all the work, including maintaining an optimum proofing temperature. Once I had put all the ingredients in, the only thing I had to do was to wait and then shape the dough into bread rolls. Too easy.

What’s good about it:

In my book, oat is superfood. Here’s 5 reasons why you need to make oat bread, not that you need any.

5 Reasons Why You Need To Make Oat Bread

  1. Oats are high in fibre and are a good source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals
  2. Oats help you control your appetite [1]
  3. Oats help regulate blood pressure [2]
  4. Oats are rated no. 1 for breakfast, in satiety index [3]
  5. Oats may improve insulin sensitivity [4]

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Whole Wheat Oat Dinner Rolls

Ingredients

  • 300ml warm water
  • 1 packet of dry yeast
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup (you can add up to 3 tbsp if you like it sweeter)
  • 1 cup of whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup of rolled oats, plus a few tablespoons, divided

Methods

  1. Place the yeast and 300ml of warm water in the bowl fitted with the kneading/crushing blade. Launch the P1 pastry program. After 30 seconds, open the lid and add the flour, oat and salt. Note that this program will knead the dough for 2 minutes and then it will stop for 30 minutes while maintaining the temperature at 30C.
  2. After 40 mins, remove the dough using a spatula and knead for 5 mins or so by hand until it forms a loose ball.
  3. Place the remaining oats on a small bowl. Pick up the dough ball and gently roll it over the oats.
  4. Leave on a tray lined with baking paper. Leave to rest for 1 hr 30 mins.
  5. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  6. Place a bowl of water on the lower rack in the oven (this will help achieve a nice crust). Bake for 25 mins. Lower the oven to 180°C and cook for an extra 15 to 20 minutes.

Disclosure: I received a complementary Cuisine Companion from Tefal both to play with and for editorial purposes.

You can find out more about the Tefal Cuisine Companion at https://www.cuisinecompanion.com.au/. It is now available at select Harvey Norman stores across Australia.

References:

[1] Nutrition Research, October 2009; 29(10):705-9

[2] Journal of Family Practice, April 2002; 51(4):369

[3] European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, September 1995; 49(9): 675-90

[4] European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2007; 61(6):786-95

Interview with Melissa and Lainie from Meat Free Week

Did you know that Australia is ranked in the top three biggest meat-eating countries in the world (per capita), behind the USA and Luxembourg. Australians eat an average of 111.5 kg of meat per person per year, which is more than double the world’s average of 41.9 kg. This consumption compromises our health and with global meat production predicted to double by 2020, raises serious concerns about long-term sustainability and animal welfare.

Bowel cancer is now the second largest cancer killer in Australia. High consumption of red and processed meat has been linked to both bowel cancer1 and the increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Globally, the growing demand for meat is leading to increased deforestation, water usage and climate change with the UN identifying the livestock industry as one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems.

It has also created the number one animal welfare issue in the world, factory farming.

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Australia’s annual Meat Free Week will return bigger and better from 23-29 March 2015. The week is dedicated to raising awareness of the amount of meat people eat and the impact it has on human health, the welfare of animals and the environment.

Meat Free Week challenges Australians to sign up to go without meat, including seafood, for seven days. By being sponsored, participants have the opportunity to raise funds for one of three leading charities – Bowel Cancer Australia (health), Voiceless the animal protection institute (animal welfare) and The World Land Trust (environment).

With a growing trend towards meat free or meat-reduced meals and the steady rise of flexitarianism over the past few years (a mainly a plant-based diet with the occasional inclusion of meat), Meat Free Week gives people the perfect opportunity to try out new foods, get more veggies in their meals and see whether a meat-reduced diet is for them, even if it’s just one day a week or one week a year.

And for the first time this year, Meat Free Week will also be expanding the campaign into the UK, gaining great traction with great supporters on board including Jamie Oliver, Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney.

This week I had the opportunity to interview Lainie Bracher and Melissa Hobbs, the founders of Meat Free Week – a global campaign to get you thinking about how much meat you eat and the impact that excessive meat consumption has on your health, animals and the environment, while raising money for several leading charities.

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In this interview, Melissa and Lainie spoke about their journey and what inspired them to co-found this initiative, how they managed to convince Jamie Oliver to be the ambassador for the campaign as well as some the backlash they have received from vegans and farmers.

Screen Shot 2015-03-04 at 10.02.56 pmI know there are a lot of vegans who disapprove of campaigns that encourage people to eat ‘less’ meat such as Meatless Monday or Meat Free Week as they believe it distinguishes the consumption of other animal products (i.e. eggs or dairy) as being more ethically justifiably when they are all a result of tremendous violence, and it renders eating a small amount of meat any other day as ‘okay’ when it is not. The argument is that if we make an ethical decision to reject something that is morally wrong, then we must reject it all, every day, and not just on certain days.

I have mixed feelings about this ideal. On one hand, I want people to stop eating all animal products completely, but on the other hand I know that it is impossible for a lot of people to make such a drastic change without easing into it over time and I am glad for them to give it a crack without making them feel guilty as sin when they don’t stick to a plant-based diet from the very first day. I think Meat Free Week provides people with this opportunity in a fun and engaging way. It provides education. Education provides knowledge and awareness for people to make an informed choice. Love it or hate it, the campaign certainly has made a big impact with over 4,000 people signing up for the challenge, and raising over $150,000 for charity in its first two years.

So here’s the interview, do leave a comment or two and let me know what you think.

Resource Link:

Voiceless – An independent, non-profit think tank focused on raising awareness of animals suffering in factory farming and the kangaroo industry in Australia.

Bowel Cancer Australia – Bowel Cancer Australia works to reduce incidence, death and suffering associated with bowel cancer (aslo known colorectal cancer).

World Land Trust – A charity organisation with a 20 year track record of successful environmental projects. 

Recipes:

Here some of the recipes we talked about in the interview and my favourite ones from the Meat Free Week Website:

Note: You can also check out my recipe page for some plant based recipes and inspiration

Restaurant List – As picked by Chef and Meat Free Week Ambassador, Simon Bryant’s

Melbourne:
  • Veg out in St Kilda
  • Shakahari South Melb
  • Lord of the Fries Brunswick st Fitzroy is kind of clever and quite good
Sydney:
  • Iku various locations
  • Yuli’s in Surry Hills
Adelaide:
  • Zen house adelaide city East
  • Bliss organic adelaide central market precinct
  • Minestra in Prospect, not all vego but awesome vego and vegan choices
Darwin
  • I usually go to Hanamans and order vego
Brisbane
  • The Green Edge
  • Mondo Organics – not vego but offers really good vego/vegan options
Perth
  • Coming soon
MFW_iheart

Join the Meat Free Week

Meat Free Week is on 23rd – 29th March 2015. You can check out the Meat Free Week website or their social media channels to learn how you can be part of this great event.

  • Website: meatfreeweek.org
  • Facebook: Meat Free Week
  • Twitter: @meatfreeweekorg
  • Instagram: @meatfreeweek
  • Hashtag: #meatfreeweek

Here are the two really important things people can do to support Meat Free Week:

1. Sign up for Meat Free Week OR if not participating, donate. It’s easy and you’ll be showing everyone how it’s done!

You can register here to be sponsored as an individual or as a team and encourage others to join you. OR simply donate money directly to the charities here. After registering, downloading the App from App Store  or Google Play is a great way to get friends and family on the spot to sponsor you whilst you’re out and about. Monitor progress, share messages, get sponsors via Facebook and have friends and family make a donation right from the fundraisers smartphone.

2. If you’re already vegetariansign up and go vegan for the week. And if you’re a vegan (or already living meat free), sign up and sponsor a meat loving friend for the challenge.

So, are you up for challenge? Of course you are! Check out my 7 Tips For 7 Days Of Meat Free Eating if you need some help in getting started. I’ll also be running a giveaway very shortly to help motivate you to inject some greens into your diet so stay tune and subscribe if you don’t want to miss out on the announcement.

Keren