As an online resource for recipes, nutritional information and scheduling for cooking classes, Sacred Chef, has provided people with wisdom, facts and services.

Sacred Chef Catering created and served, snapper fillet Thai fish cakes with a cucumber dipping sauce; king prawn and vegetarian fresh rice paper rolls with hoi sin sauce; gluten free pesto pizzettes; tandoori lamb cutlets with mint raita; chicken sate skewers and several other tasty canapés. Dashing waiter, Max, was on hand to dance about with gleaning white platters, laden with delectable goodies, distributing them to wedding guests. The sunshine coast served up a sunny day with beautiful blue sky and a perfect environment for drinking glasses of champagne.

Bride and groom enjoyed a memorable day, surrounded by friends and family in a decidedly elegant setting, and on this important occasion everything happened perfectly. The caterers came, set up quickly and quietly whilst the ceremony occurred, served really yummy food with friendly efficiency, packed up, cleaned up and departed without fuss to great acclaim from the guests. A good day was had by all.

Sacred Chef Catering 5499 9280

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Learning to cook and discovering the nutritional make-up of foods can really benefit you in so many ways, including losing weight and feeling more alive. Recently there have been huge leaps in the understanding of nutritional science and how foods are processed by our bodies. The importance of certain essential fatty acids, like omega 3, and redressing the imbalance of omega 6 essential fatty acids in our foods, with too much soy, grain fed livestock and vegetable oils – all rich in omega 6 – in our diets, which is often something like 40 times that of omega 3. We are generally not eating enough oily fish, nuts and seeds in our diets today.

What is the result of this? Too much omega 6 causes inflammation within our bodies and what are some of the chronic conditions this causes? Arthritis – inflammation of the joints; cardiovascular diseases – inflammation of the heart’s arteries; strokes – inflammation of  the cerebrovascular; and there is speculation that depression may be caused by inflammation of the brain. Diet/ what we eat and how we eat is the most integral factor in our propensity to develop diseases. A lot of foods in the supermarket do not address this and their prime reason for existence is to make money for their manufacturers – food technology is about durability not nutrition.

Food is your best medicine, not some vitamin pill or pharmaceutical – these are again mainly about making money for their manufacturers – otherwise they would be free wouldn’t they? My advice is take charge of what you eat and how that food is prepared. You will find it can also be highly creative and you may derive some pleasure and pride in the act of cooking a great meal – which is healthy and delicious. You can also save money along the way.

Cooking classes are a great way to discover nutritional information whilst having some tasty fun. My Sacred Chef cooking school, here on the sunshine coast, focuses on preparing food that is both healthy and delicious – you will also receive a take home recipe pack with additional nutritional notes and articles, which I wrote for magazines like WellBeing, Conscious Living and Eco Living Health Aware; plus you receive a free health magazine too!

©Sacred Chef

Every class is full of healthy information and great recipes.

www.nofreudnoprozac.org for more information about omega 3

www.sacredchef.com

Wondered why that calamari/salt and pepper squid tastes exactly the same (flavourless and spiceless) at every cafe/restaurant you go to? Well it is all prepared in the same factory and then frozen, before being distributed to outlets around the country. Despite having Mooloolaba fishing harbour on our doorstep, very few restaurants utilise fresh local seafood on their menus up this way. It’s a shame but nobody seems to care enough to change this situation. I always say every area gets the restaurants they deserve – that is the beauty of the free market after all.

Sauces and dressings are often made from pre-prepared tubs of factory produced stuff. You may as well stay at home and eat the sauces out of the jars that you purchased at the supermarket. The great majority of food on many menus, simply involves taking something out of the freezer and dropping it into the deep fryer. That is why if you have a look in the kitchen at many cafes/restaurants, there is only one or possibly two people in the kitchen – because they are not really doing any cooking, just re-heating. Despite this you are often paying over $20+ for a dish – that is not to say that many restaurants are making a great deal of money, quite the reverse as real estate/rents are way too expensive in Australia and to get anything maintained or built up this way costs a fortune. So the restaurateur is not going to pay more or go out of his way to put something special on the plate unless there is a demand for it or he or she has a real committment to that kind of thing. Did you know that around 90% of all restaurants in Australia are operating on less than 2% profit margins?

I suppose when dining out you just have to hope that the decor is pretty special.

Another solution would be to actually encourage the tiny percentage of illegal immigration we are receiving and get these refugees from Afghanistan to come up here and open some restaurants. It is a great immigration tradition and that is why our Australian cities now have such rich and diverse culinary cultures. The sunshine coast is way too “white bread” and we need some hard working first generation Australians to share their culture and cuisine with us. Enriching our communities and offering real value for money delicious and distinctive food.

It seems to me that many of us retain attitudes towards foods, which were garnered in the family home when we were children; and that the apple generally falls close to the tree. If mum and dad liked certain foods and cooked these foods more often, then for many people these influences remain strong throughout their adult lives. A bit like the children, who upon leaving the nest, build their own homes in the same street, suburb or town as mum and dad, keeping extended family close. Food like shelter is a primal need and is intimately tied up with our notion of emotional security.

As we expand the concept of family outwards and it becomes our cultural heritage, food choices again are inextricably linked to our regional and national identities. Here in Australia we can celebrate the rich diversity of our many multicultural strands and this happens most often through experiencing the foods and culinary dishes of these transplanted cultures, like Italian, Thai and Chinese foods – made available by the restaurants and takeaways, which have been created by the sons and daughters of foreign shores.

We are enriched by experience when we allow ourselves to move beyond the close confines of who and what we think we are. Just as our human species is strengthened biologically when we mate and breed outside of those whom we call our own. The cross fertilisation of genes, ideas and even recipes can make us all healthier, smarter and our lives definitely tastier. Our predominantly Anglo-Saxon backgrounds, have unfortunately, cursed many of us somewhat with limited culinary antecedents and if we do not break out of these restrictive walls, then we are condemned to eat poorly and to miss out on the more sublime flavours that life has to offer.

What and how we cook is often a bit like how we make love, we learn from experience a few things and then tend to groove these moves; somewhat unchangingly. Primal activities are a bit like that, not something that we muck about with too much, and what and how we eat falls into this category. We eat to refuel, to derive energy and sustenance from food, but eating is also a profoundly sensual activity. The nerve endings and taste buds inside our mouths feel every morsel as it slides about, and we experience our food in full technicolour, sensorama – if we are lucky enough to be in touch with our full five senses of taste, smell, sound, sight and feel.

So eating is a very personal activity, it is close to who we are, and yet we often eat in public, unlike other intimate activities like sex and going to the toilet. This sharing of the eating experience in communal structures, like cafes, restaurants and workplaces is a ritualised cultural activity. We bring our own mores, likes and dislikes, to this public performance of consumption. I am always reminded of the recounted experience of migrant children in the Australian school yard at lunchtime, as the contents of their lunch boxes were reviled by the Anglo kids because of their peculiar differences. As children we often fear what is not customary and uniform, and unfortunately many of us remain in this childish state, particularly around our foods and what we consider acceptable.

When people form intimate relationships, like marriage and close friendships, they are often confronted with the need to move beyond their culinary comfort zone in a bid to cement the stability of their relationship. The desire to share tastes and flavours is sometimes paramount to couples and their ongoing sense of emotional security. I regularly hear about the compromises being made by one partner or the other, and the effect that the changes to their diets has upon them, both positively and negatively. In fact this can be a major motivating impetus in getting people to come along to my cooking classes. A bit like going into relationship counselling I suppose, with both parties hoping that the inspirational influence of a neutral teacher may magically impart some shift in the culinary status quo of their relationship; and it sometimes does.

Seafood is a commonly held culinary ‘no go zone’, among many of the people who attend my classes. I hear again and again the refrain, “Oh I didn’t know that seafood could taste this way!” Whether they had an unfortunate early experience with a bad cook or perhaps have actually never tried the said example of fish or shellfish, due to the fact that mum or dad likewise had avoided the experience and did not cook these critters at home, the fear based result was the same. We often work out who we are by declaring the things we know that we dislike, “Oh I don’t eat fish, or oysters, or mussels.” I may have made this decision when I was 6 years old but I unquestioningly stand by it today. The walls around this individual are close and in yours and their face, perhaps it makes them feel safe. Eventually however there comes a time when the individual feels somewhat cramped by their stated dislikes, and this is when they often find themselves in one of my cooking classes, either alone or with their partner.

I speculate that the adolescent or young adult who has consciously rebelled against the tastes and predilections of his or her parents, usually has developed a wider and more far-reaching culinary diet – they still may not be able to cook but they may consume more different foods. This individual has broken away from the invisible ties that bind the obedient child to the emotional strings surrounding mummy and daddy. We are all on variable time lines regarding this necessary rebellion, some do it early and some very late, but eventually we all need to break the moorings and swim free; and perhaps then taste the sea.

Sacred Chef Cooking School on the sunshine coast.

©Sacred Chef

House Therapy – Discovering Who You Really Are at Home.

Learning new recipes and techniques.

Enjoying good food and company.

Discovering nutritional information that can make you feel healthier, lighter and more alive.

Organic produce and local ingredients.

Cook with the Sacred Chef and take home recipes, articles and nutritional notes.

Plus a goodie bag and a free magazine!

This Saturday 21 Jan 2012 in Maleny, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, a vegetarian cooking class and gourmet lunch to remember

Keeping the menu to a mix of familiar and a few more exotic dishes, a really lovely group of people enjoyed and celebrated the bounty of the Sacred Chef table. In the cooking studio, McDonald’s employees from the Sunshine Coast, showed their professionalism and training, by adapting quickly and proficiently to new techniques and the preparation of  unfamiliar dishes. Hats off to the teams and to the enlightened thinking of the franchisee owners.

Who knows what this may one day lead to? But exposure to more complex dishes, and tasting new ingredients and produce, can only be of benefit to these human beings, who happen to work in McDonalds. Sacred Chef corporate cooking days are all about finding enthusiasm and inspiration for eating well and cooking well on the Sunshine Coast – which can result in better health and enlightened living for the individuals who attend.

For a rewarding and highly enjoyable day or night, the Sacred Chef cooking school is a good choice.

5499 9280

The True Story Behind a  Real Super Food.

Is coconut good for you or bad for you?

Is coconut fattening or not?

Research has now  identified that coconut oil actually raises good cholesterol (HDL) more than it raises LDL.

Many consumers are confused about the health and nutritional status of ingredients, like coconut milk and cream – and would like these questions answered.

Mike Foale, Ex-CSIRO scientist and Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture & Food Science at the University of Queensland, will answer these questions, at a public talk and demonstration to be held at The Green Kitchen Café & Organic Market, next to the Library in Maleny, on Tues 22 November 2011 at 10am.

Author of “The Coconut Odyssey’” published by the Australian Government, and inventor of the “Cocosplit” device, seen on the ABC’s New Inventors programme, Mike Foale is a leading expert on the coconut. Nutritionally and agriculturally, he has studied the coconut throughout his working life and spent years in the field, in the Solomon Islands and a vast array of countries throughout the tropical world.

Mike has been helping communities in these poorer nations, whose economies are dependent upon the coconut, through AusAID and their coconut improvement projects.

Discover how the US, through their promotion of soya beans,margarine and their negative PR about coconut fats, effectively killed off Australia’s love of cooking with coconut!

SEE MIKE FOALE DEMONSTRATE THE INGENIOUS COCOSPLIT DEVICE LIVE!

The Cocosplit device will be available for sale and is the perfect Christmas gift, for foodies!

When -Tues 22 November 2011 at 10am.

A huge range of products, derived from the coconut, will be demonstrated  and onsale at the Green Kitchen Organic Market, located at 11 Coral St Maleny – next to the Maleny Library – plenty of free parking is available!

Local culinary teacher, the Sacred Chef, will be demonstrating some of the many uses coconut oil, cream, milk, sugar and flour can be put to in creating yummy food.

LEARN    EAT     DRINK     DISCOVER    BE INSPIRED   SHARE IN

The Coconut Redemption!

Bios

Mike Foale was raised on a wheat and sheep farm in the Mallee of South Australia but got his first job as a coconut agronomist on a plantation in the Solomon Islands in 1959.

After nine years working out how to increase the yield of fruit from the coconut palms with fertiliser, how best to replace aging palms, and how to develop hybrids, Mike left the islands with his young family and returned to work for CSIRO in Australia on other crops. But the call of the coconut never went unheard so that Mike got involved through AusAID in coconut improvement projects in the south Pacific at a time when the coconut star appeared to be setting.

From the 1970s fierce competition developed in the marketplace for edible oils and massive processors in the USA sought to oust coconut as a healthy food from the market on the basis of some data linking coconut oil with serum cholesterol in humans. The value of coconut fell sharply and was in the doldrums until more detailed research identified that coconut oil actually raised good cholesterol (HDL) more than it raised LDL. Mike does all that he can to spread the word about this finding and to highlight the many other positive effects of coconut oil on human health. This great food, foundation of the healthy diet of hundreds of millions of people in the tropical world, offers much as well to the diet of all who live outside the coconut heartlands.

The Australian government published Mike’s book “The Coconut Odyssey” in 2003 (still in print), and he presented a coconut splitting device known as Cocosplit to the ABCTV New Inventors in 2007 (see details on www.cocosplit.com). Mike and his wife Pam moved to Maleny in 2009. He is presently an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture and Food Science at the University of Queensland.

The Sacred Chef, Sudha Hamilton, has been cooking professionally for 30 years, restauranter, teacher and caterer, he runs The Sacred Chef cooking school in Maleny, www.sacredchef.com , and is the author of several WellBeing Magazine cookbook supplements and was their food editor for five years.

The Green Kitchen Café & Organic Market, is arguably Queensland’s most dedicatedly organic outlet for food, supporting local growers and producers. Located at 11 Coral St, Maleny, it has been  operating under its current  management for about a year www.greenkitchencafe.com.au

For more information and interviews please contact Sudha Hamilton on 0466 281 806 or email Sudha@midasword.com.au

Throw in a psychic reader and a touch of divine madness and what a dish or 6 or 7 we made.

Thai style lamb shanks with a red curry sauce and jasmine rice; pure chocolate tart with double cream; apple & rhubarb crumble with Macadamia nut ice cream; citrus tart with raspberry coulis; snapper fillet fish cakes; pesto pizzettes; baby beetroot & ginger salad; and so much more…

Make it; eat it; drink to it – laugh and learn a few culinary things!

Sacred Chef cooking school on the sunshine coast - a great day for ladies who love to lunch!

Marcus Bussey of Futures Evocative, and the University of the Sunshine Coast was teaching 30 participants how to align their inner voices with the work they wish to do in the world, and raising  funds for an Ananda Marga school, being built in India

Fresh vegetarian food accompanied these words of wisdom and helped make this seminar a weekend to remember.

Sacred Chef catering specialises in contributing to worthwhile workshops and seminars.

From good taste and yummy food?

Are you curious about the future?

Do you long for lingering tastes of delicious food?

Will the Sacred Chef cook for you?

Sacred Chef catering and cooking school on the sunshine coast - hens are lining up for the experience.

Make your day or night a special one!

Tapas was the order of the evening and it was prawns in garlic & sherry; scallops in the shell; olive tapenade crostini; Spanish omelette with roasted garlic aioli; local mussels in wine, chilli & tomato; Chorizo sausage, goat’s cheese pastries; stuffed baby capsicums; asparagus, rocket & balsamic salad; and veal & chicken mince croquettes with a leek & tomato coulis.

Gorgeous women, impending marriage, tarot cards and flashing smiles were all ingredients in beautiful surroundings and the Sacred Chef was weak in the presence of such beauty, but still managed to impress the taste buds of goddesses!

Sacred Chef catering and cooking school on the sunshine coast - a perfect way to celebrate a hen’s night or day!

We made fresh rice paper rolls with crab, bean shoots and glass noodles with a hoi sin dipping sauce; arancinni risotto balls with a tomato and basil coulis; local mussels opened with wine and chilli; panfried crumbed butterflied whiting fillets with roasted garlic aioli; Reggiano Parmesan, asparagus and baby spinach salad with a balsamic dressing; and a pure chocolate tart with raspberry coulis and double cream.

Sacred Chef cooking classes on the sunshine coast are a great way to celebrate being a vibrant and juicy woman!!!!

Pure Dark Chocolate Tart
This is a yummy gluten free dessert served with
raspberry coulis & double cream.
• 5 eggs separated
• 200g dark chocolate 70%
• 200g butter
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 1 cup mascobado (raw brown sugar)
• 1 cup castor sugar
Line a cake tin with baking paper and set oven to
1600 C in a fan forced oven. Melt butter & chocolate
together in a bowl. Beat egg yokes, mascobado sugar
& vanilla extract together in a large mixing bowl. In
a separate bowl whisk egg whites unitil stiff peaks
form, gradually adding castor sugar as you go. Add in
melted butter & chocolate to egg yolk mixture, gently
mixing together before folding in egg whites.
Transfer to prepared cake tin and bake until skewer
comes out clean, usually around 40 minutes.
Serve with double cream and raspberry coulis.
©Sacred Chef
Raspberry Coulis
This uplifting sweet concoction is great with lots of
desserts and keeps in the fridge for about a week.
• 250g frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1 tbspn freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup icing sugar
Whip ingredients together in a blender until they
form a uniform consistency. Transfer to a squeeze
bottle to make artistic swirls on your dessert plates.
©Sacred Chef

The menu is now receiving a Sacred Chef make-over, in tandem with vegetarian chef, Andy, who is a very experienced and talented organic chef. So come and see us and partake in some sensational organic dishes for breakfast and lunch. Pure food with flair!

Sacred Chef organic cooking classes on the sunshine coast, are available seven days a week – so book a class today!

Carrot & Roast Almond Soup

6 carrots chopped into chunks

2 brown onions chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 tbspn roasted almonds chopped

1 cinnamon quill

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1cup purified water

1 can coconut milk

1 cup chopped fresh coriander

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1tsp sea salt

½ tsp ground cummin

1 tsp black pepper

½ cup finely chopped spring onion

In a heavy based large saucepan place your carrots, onions, stock, water, spices, garlic & ginger & cook over a moderate heat for 20 minutes. Blend your carrot mix when cooked & then return to the pan where you can stir in your coconut milk, almonds & coriander. Finish with spring onions & ladle into bowls. Fresh black pepper to finish.

Serves 4.

©Sacred Chef

Cooking school on the sunshine coast with the Sacred Chef.

A busy weekend saw the Sacred Chef travelling to Noosa North Shore to present a tapas evening for a hen’s party from Brisbane – cooking scallops in the shell with fresh lime, garlic, chilli and basil; olive tapenade crostinis; king prawns in fino sherry, Spanish omelette with roast garlic aioli; local mussels in wine, herbs and chilli; veal & pork croquettes with a tomato coulis; baked stuffed peppers with chicken and parmesan; and asparagus and buffalo mozzarella rocket salad.

Next stop a vegetarian cooking class, here in Maleny, where we created a chickpea and lemongrass coconut curry; Thai tofu, almond and cabbage pastries with fresh mint raita; tomato and cumin chutney, glass noodle sesame raw veg and toasted seed salad; Mediterranean savoury muffins with olives and roasted red capsicum, pine nuts and Parmesan; and the pure dark chocolate trat with raspberry coulis and double cream.

Racing off to Witta, to the Wattle Valley Retreat farmhouse, where we presented a BBQ and tapas starters – which included rocket pesto, buffalo milk cheese and oven dried cherry tomato pastries; Moroccan lamb back strap skewers with yoghurt & lemon sauce; king prawns with lime & roast red capsicum salsa; Chorizo & goats cheese platters; snapper fillets in rosemary & lemon; mussels in wine, chilli & tomato; pesto & buffalo mozzarella pizzettes; balsamic baby spinach leaves with grilled pumpkin & fresh French farmhouse style cheese; and a range of gourmet sausages with home made chutneys and sauces.

Finishing with a delightful Thai cooking class   featuring David Thompson’s recipe for clams in chilli jam, here in Maleny at Sacred Chef central.

Take a deep breath and tomorrow we start as a new chef at the Green Kitchen organic cafe in Maleny, bringing my recipes to transform their menu and perhaps create some magic. Come and visit!!!

Cooking school on the sunshine coast with the Sacred Chef.

Smoked Tofu & Slow Roasted Tomato Lasagna with Ricotta Pesto.

250g lasagna sheets

6 vine ripened tomatoes

1 block smoked tofu crumbled

2 cups soft ricotta

2 tbspn basil pesto

1 tbspn chopped garlic

1 tspn chopped rosemary

2 tbspn fresh basil chopped

1 tbspn olive oil

1 tspn chopped oregano

½ cup parmesan

½ cup white wine

1 tspn sea salt

1 cup shallots

black pepper to taste

This is a slow food dish & I recommend that you devote at least half a day to the relaxed creation of this very tasty meal.

Set your oven to a very low heat 100 degrees.

On a baking sheet lay out your thinly chopped tomatoes, garlic, sea salt, rosemary & oregano & slowly oven dry for several hours. The smell that begins to emanate from these after sometime is heavenly & you begin to understand what this slow food thing is all about.

In a heavy based saucepan sauté your shallots, salt, tofu, oil & wine.

When your tomatoes are ready fold into the sauté mixture & set aside.

In  a bowl fold together ricotta & pesto.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.

In  a greased loaf tin or baking dish lay out a sheet of lasagna pasta, top with the smoky tofu & tomato mix, another layer of lasagna & then ricotta pesto. Repeat again & sprinkle over parmesan to finish. Cover with grease proof paper & alfoil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until pasta sheets are cooked.

Remove & slice into serves.

Serves 4.

©Sacre Chef

Cooking school on the sunshine coast with the Sacred Chef

The Sacred Chef held one of the most enjoyable cooking classes, ever, on Monday 10 Oct 2011 – a Thai food cooking class and lunch for the lovely Lucas family of Montville www.lucasparklands.com - yes the home of live classical & jazz music on the range. It was a birthday lunch and cooking class for daughter, Jade, from mum, Lee, and sister, Aaron completed the trio of beautiful ladies – what a lovely family!!!

We laughed a lot as we eased our way into the prep – making our own red curry paste and chilli jam – a few onion tears but just eschallot ones. The authentic odour of dried prawns and shrimp paste was in the air. Lots of chillies, red and green, plus garlic, limes and lots of fish sauce. We had bowls of fresh seafood arrayed before us on the plentiful island bench – spanner crab meat for the fresh rice paper rolls; king prawns for the lemongrass and ginger stir fry; snapper fillets for the gourmet Thai fish cakes; and green lipped clams for the coconut chilli jam dish.

Jade is to be married in a French castle, and she was home from the UK to see mum and family – so much excitement was twittering through the air as we chopped and ground ingredients. A green paw paw was peeled and shredded for that yummy salad dish. Glass noodles, mint, thinly sliced raw veg and fresh lime juice and sesame oil dressed another salad. We finished with sticky black rice pudding, red paw paw and coconut cream.

The wines were chilled and very refreshing, the conversation was alive with beautiful and excited women; and it was a truly lovely day.

Cooking school on the sunshine coast, with the Sacred Chef, a great way to enjoy life.

Cooking school on the sunshine coast

Menu

Then we will all sit down together and eat this vegetarian feast, with complimentary wines and mineral water. The conversations and friendly exchanges amongst the collected cooks has been a real pleasure, and yes I do think vegetarians do it better.

There are still 2 places available – so if you would like to join us – just let me know – we start at 10am today Sat 8 Oct.

Cooking school on the sunshine coast, with the Sacred Chef.