Michelle Schoeps Organic

Monday, September 14, 2015

Jemima Dinner on The Design Files week 2

Jemima's Dinner

Our teenager Jemima is our wild child. She is out there in every way, but maybe my easiest eater, as she’ll pretty much eat anything as long as it’s delicious! She ate well from an early age, but now my focus is keeping her healthy into her hormone raging teenage years. This, I will confess, can be a struggle. I know Jemima eats well at home, but when she’s with her mates, all bets are off. I’m learning that I can’t control everything she’s eating and it’s time for her to make her own decisions. I live in hope that once we all come through the tough teenage years she’ll ask me to teach her how to make all the delicious meals she’s grown up loving!

There are certain things Jemima absolutely loves, and one thing I know she’ll never pass up is a bowl of my Love and Bones Broth Tomato soup, which I’ll serve with poached chicken breast or thigh, and a some of Iggy’s croutons, topped off with basil oil. Her favourite vegetable is brussels sprouts (go figure) so usually I sauté these with a little butter, garlic, onion, and peas along with some broccoli, which is the only non-negotiable vegetable on my kids’ plates every night.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE LOVE AND BONES BROTH TOMATO SOUP WITH POACHED CHICKEN

2 kilos of tomatoes. I prefer heirloom varieties or really over ripe tomatoes as I believe they impart the best flavour.
1 onion, peeled and roughly sliced
2-4 garlic cloves, peeled
A handful of sage leaves, washed
A sprig or two of rosemary
50g butter, melted
Himalayan seat salt
Freshly ground pepper
A sprinkle of chilli flakes
1L of Love and Bones Broth
1 small pastured chicken thigh (for poaching)
A dollop of whole cream (for serving)

FOR THE BASIL OIL

1 bunch of basil, leaves washed
Lemon juice
Good quality olive oil

FOR THE CROUTONS

A loaf of day old bread
50g of butter

FOR THE MIXED GREEN VEG

Small handful of brussels sprouts or broccoli
Small handful of fresh peas
1 clove of garlic
1 small onion, sliced
A few table spoons of basic broth

For the Love and Bones Broth tomato soup with poached chicken

Wash and chop the tomatoes into halves and quarters depending on their size. If using cherry tomatoes just slice them through the middle. Place tomatoes in a deep baking dish. Next, toss through the chopped onion, garlic, sage leaves, rosemary, salt, pepper and chilli.

Finally pour the melted butter over the tomatoes and bake in the oven at 150 degrees celsius for an hour and a half.

Once cooked add to a saucepan with a litre of Love and Bones Broth. Or you can make a base broth that I mentioned how to make in Wilco’s dinner last week.

Once the chicken is cooked and the soup has simmered, remove rosemary stalks before passing it through a fine sieve. Alternatively you can blend it first if that makes it easier to pass through your sieve. We also sell this soup as our Red + Love and Bones Broth to make life extra easy!

Now you can add your chicken thigh. Finely poach a small pastured chicken thigh (skin removed) in the tomato broth until the chicken falls to pieces. This will take approximately 20 minutes with the lid on so the soup doesn’t evaporate. Pull it apart with two forks and portion into bowls.

For the basil oil

While the chicken is poaching it’s time to make your basil oil. Combine a couple of handfuls of washed basil leaves with a squeeze of lemon (to stop oxidisation) and your best olive oil to make a deep green oil for drizzling onto your soup at the end.

Blitz these ingredients in a small food processor or hand held one, or even a mortar and pestle. The result should be super green oil that is zingy and delicious.

For the croutons

Cut up some day old bread into cubes (we personally like an Iggy’s bagel). Melt 50g of butter in a small pot, season it with salt, pepper and a tiny pinch of chilli.

Mix the bread around in the melted butter and then fry until golden in a small skillet. Set aside, these are to be served with your soup.

To Serve

Simply ladle soup with chicken into bowls, put a little whole cream (or coconut cream) into your soup and stir slightly before drizzling the green oil into the bowl. Add the croutons as you wish – Jemima likes them with each mouthful.

Side of mixed veg

Clean the veg (I usually use either brussels sprouts or broccoli) in water with vinegar (as I always do) and roughly chop them around the same size – set aside.

Next, slice a small onion and a garlic clove and lightly sauté in a little butter. Throw in the brussel sprouts or broccoli and a small handful of fresh peas and sauté for a few minutes before adding a few spoonfuls of broth.

Pop a lid on for another couple of minutes so the broccoli just cooks through. Serve on the side with your tomato soup and croutons.

Click here to read it on The Design Files

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Wilco Dinner on The Design Files week 1

Wilco Dinner

If you’re into vibrant, wholesome REAL family food then I’m thinking you’ve probably already heard of Sydney based Mum and foodie Michelle Schoeps of Love & Bones Broth!

With a passion for feeding her family healthy, delicious meals, Michelle also has a long standing appreciation of the nutritional value of bone broth, which forms part of almost every meal she cooks at home. After years of making her famous broths for family and friends, including a stint supplying soup to her childrens’ school canteen, earlier this year Michelle finally launched her business – and it has gone CRAZY! Sydneysiders can buy Michelle’s delicious homemade broth directly from her website, and she’s still in the process of securing a handful of likeminded Melbourne stockists – we’ll keep you posted on that!

Michelle is kicking off an inspired week of tasty family food ideas with a dinner plate she regularly makes for her youngest child, Wilco!

I’m a Mum first, but on the side I’m the ‘Broth Lady’. I have been told that I am the maker of the best bone broth in Sydney, it’s called Love and Bones Broth. After years of feeding my family and friends, including a stint supplying soup to our children’s school canteen, it was my partner Max who pointed out a gap in the food market for a really delicious, nutrient rich bone broth. And so, earlier this year after selling it to a few friends and friends of friends who followed me on Instagram, my business Love and Bones Broth was born.

The story goes back way further than that, because as a Mum and a passionate cook, I have been blogging for years about the importance of certain foods on growing bodies and brains. You could say that family and food are my two biggest passions.

I’m from a strong European background. My main food influencers growing up were and are my German father, French mother and Jewish/Hungarian great Aunt (who is like my Grandmother). They’re all amazing cooks, and so I’ve been surrounded by delicious and, as it turns out, pretty healthy food for most of my life.

I love feeding my family the most nutrient rich, unprocessed foods that I can. I want them to grow up and make well-informed decisions about what they’re putting into their bodies, so that they live happy, healthy lives. Ever since my kids were born, I’ve made it my mission to feed them well. I’m not extreme but I make a concerted effort to feed them the best food that I can afford. If that means buying certain foods and stretching them into many meals, then that’s what I do.

It is possible to get five variations from one meal and use leftovers from those meals to make meals the day after. I do this most nights. We are all different. We don’t all like the same foods or tastes and textures. When I shop I buy only organic, seasonal produce or local, unsprayed fruit and veg, always pastured eggs (from free roaming hens), unhomogenised whole milk and yoghurt, and the best grass-fed pastured meat or wild fish I can afford. If that means buying bulk off my friend Charlie Arnott and having 20kg of grass-fed beef in my freezer, or splitting it with a friend, that’s what I’ll do. If it means buying a pastured bird that’s a little bit more expensive, but comes from a farm, which I know lets its birds roam free, I’ll happily buy it and make sure everything gets used. I’ll always try and buy the best bird available and get my butcher to remove the breasts, legs and thighs, wings and neck. Nothing gets wasted in our kitchen!

If you’d like to learn a few of my tricks this month I will be sharing some of our family recipes. I also hold occasional cooking classes in my home to show people how to make really simple meals for their families, utilising each ingredient to the max.

The first recipe I am sharing today is Wilco’s dinner. Wilco is my youngest and cheekiest child. He’s the baby of our family and so we all run circles around him. As he’s grown up we have found he’s more of a ‘bits and pieces’ kind of kid. His plate always has a raw veg, a cooked veg, some good protein, and a cup of bone broth either straight up or with rice or pasta, plus apple cider vinegar for dipping his vegetables. He loves vegetables – most nights his vegetables are removed from his plate so he will eat his other dinner first! Once his soup and protein are gone the veg get eaten, usually dipped piece by piece in apple cider vinegar. Give him a piece of cheese with that and a little pate and the kid is sorted and Mummy is happy.

I think these kinds of meals work for children of all ages, as they’re colourful and there’s lots of variety. Plus when things look fun kids are generally more likely to eat them! You can mix and match elements from any of the recipes from the next five weeks. I also have lots of different ideas on my Instagram account!

INGREDIENTS

MICHELLE SCHOEPS ORGANIC QUICK BONE BROTH (MAKES 10L)

2 or 3 chicken carcasses, a kilo of chicken wings + 2 pieces of osso bucco
1 leek including the green stalks (wash well)
3 carrots (peeled)
A head of garlic cut through the middle
1 onion
1 bay leaf
Leaves from 1 bunch of celery
Filtered water
A splash of apple cider vinegar
Himalayan sea salt (to taste)
Peppercorns (to taste)

TO MAKE WILCO'S DINNER

Any in-season organic vegetables such as avocado, capsicum, celery, cucumber, radish, carrots, tomatoes etc
1 cup organic jasmine rice
Sweet potato and waxy potatoes, like Dutch creams
Organic chicken breast
Day old good sourdough bread
1 cup Love and Bones Broth or any good quality homemade bone broth/stock
Parsley
1-2 garlic cloves
Apple cider vinegar, for dipping
1 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
2 eggs
1/2 cup of flour
Himalayan sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

METHOD

For the MSO Organic Quick Bone Broth

I use MSO Love and Bones Broth in all of our family meals. Below is a quick, easy-to-make Love and Bones Broth recipe for you and your family.

Place all ingredients into a 10 litre pot and fill the pot with filtered water to within a couple of inches of the top of the pot. Place in the oven at 110 degrees celsius and cook for up to 8 hours, or on the stovetop at the lowest possible heat so it’s just simmering. Strain through a fine sieve and portion into glass Pyrex containers and freeze for easy dinners.

To defrost frozen broth, simply run hot water over the glass container and the broth should easily slip out. Place broth into a saucepan and bring broth to the boil with the lid on and then immediately turn off the heat, cool and serve.

For the raw vegetables and potato crisps

Chop a variety of colourful vegetables and avocado. Leave in the fridge until required, these will be used as the raw vegetable component of the dish.

Peel your potatoes and keep them in a bowl of water until you’re ready to slice and fry them. Thinly slice the potatoes either in the food processor or using your mandolin – the slices should be almost see through or as thin as you can get them.

Once the potatoes are cut, warm the coconut oil in a shallow fry pan and test the heat by placing one thin potato slice into the oil.

Pat dry the slices of potatoes on a clean tea towel then fry the potato slices in the hot coconut oil, but DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THEM as they cook really quickly and you’ll need to turn them constantly to avoid burning them on one side. Once golden put them on a sheet of greaseproof paper sprinkled with salt.

For the schnitzel

Using your food processor blitz your day-old bread with a clove or two of garlic and a handful of parsley — until the crumb is fine and slightly green.

Using three shallow bowls: in one bowl, mix flour, paprika, a little salt and pepper; in another bowl place the eggs with a little salt and pepper and whisk well; in the third bowl add your crumb mixture.

Slice your chicken breast horizontally into three slices – or cut into several smaller pieces if you cut each slice in half.

Place each piece of chicken into the flour bowl, then into the egg, then into the crumb. Once crumbed set aside on a plate until all chicken pieces are finished (at this stage you may freeze the crumbed chicken in glass Pyrex containers with greaseproof paper between each schnitzel).

Fry your schnitzel until golden on each side and place on a piece of kitchen paper to drain.

For the soaked rice

Lightly toast one cup of jasmine rice in a small saucepan.

Once it starts to toast (not colour) add one cup of bone broth and place the lid on your saucepan and turn the heat down to the lowest setting for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off completely for another 10-15 minutes.

Before serving, stir a small amount of salt and a teaspoonful of butter through the rice.

To read it on The Design Files click on this link

Monday, August 17, 2015

Jaj Istenem!

For those of you who'd like to make my Goulash and Nokedli, this is the recipe I posted a few years back. x

Tuesday is fast approaching …and there will be one extra person by my side this week…he is small, funny, super fast and extremely cheeky. Last week my kids were lucky enough to have their super energetic great, great Aunty Marika and her other half Michael up in Sydney on Grandparent duty (they have way more energy than Max and I put together and way more patience). They were, and are, incredible and they will be missed this week.

Wilco spent last Monday and Tuesday with them (whilst I was busy at the school tuckshop). I didn’t have to worry about him for a second (which was so nice and a rare treat for us). He was in good hands and I’m not sure who had more fun, them or him? Aunty Marika is brilliant at looking after the small people in my family, I couldn’t have got through last week without you two. Hurry back we could get used to having you around!

It’s always eventful when they are in town, Michael is always calm and patient, Aunty Marika is another story….she is one of a kind in the nicest possible way and we have almost got her down to fine art, making sure everything runs smoothly….

I don't remember allowing Mr wippy in my house?!

These are the things we’ve learnt over the years about keeping the peace whilst Aunty Marika is in town - after all she is a critic (that’s putting mildly) and her comments need to be taken with a grain of salt, which trust me can be hard sometimes!

Don’t let her into the house unless it’s spotless or you’ll send her into a frenzy and if by some strange reason our house is spotless, don’t let her invite any of her friends over - think Seinfeld (only people with Jewish/Hungarian grandparents will understand what I’m talking about here). Never take her anywhere that plays anything but classical music and never believe her when she says she wants to eat something different, only feed her Hungarian food. All in all she is gold in every way, she just likes things a certain way – her way!

So this last visit, instead of following my instinct and making goulash, I made risotto…….doo!doo!…..big mistake!

Here is my Goulash, adapted from all the tips Aunty Marika and Michael gave me over their visit: (Really the way I’ve always made it)

You’ll need:

Butter

1 ½ large onion

1kg grass fed and finished chuck steak cubed

2 tablespoons of sweet paprika

½ -1 teaspoon of hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds

1-2 cups of Love and Bones beef broth

3 tomatoes – skin and seeds removed and chopped

1 small red capsicum sliced – seeds removed

1 green capsicum sliced - seeds removed

To make;

Prep all your ingredients

Pre-heat your oven to 180c

Warm your pot on the stove, add a little butter and brown your onions

Once browned add you paprika and stir with the onions

Then add your meat and stir until all the meat is browned

Add your beef broth and tomato

Put the lid on your pot and pop in the oven – turning the heat down to 140c

After 2hours pop in the capsicum – stir well

Cook for a further hour or until the meat is melting but not dry

Then serve with nokedli (spaetzle) with finely chopped parsley and a big dollop of sour cream.

Aunty Marika and Micheal you both would have loved it! I’m pretty sure dad would have loved it too! (Yes, my dad also has his own version - equally as good)

Any leftovers could be frozen for future dinners or made into pies – which I did.

When my girls were little, at fox studio’s there was a Russian couple who made a mean goulash pie, mine were equally as delish, the only thing I would change is a dollop of sour cream just before I put the lid on – I forgot, so I added it later.

Love and Bones Beef Broth is available for purchase here or our delicious Goulash Broth based soup.
©Michelle Schoeps 2013

All recipes and photos are the property of Michelle Schoeps

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

School Canteen's - Join the movement to make them healthier!

Jemima in year 6

It's been a long time since I did the last Tasty Tuesday's Tuckshop and even longer since the last O'Yum lunch (which was the very first Tuckshop experiment at Glenmore Rd Public School when Jemima was in year 2 or maybe 3?).

O'Yum Lunch where all kids ate the same and if they tried to eat/finish their salad and returned their bamboo plates for using the following week they got a homemade fruit icy pole.

it took a team of very organised mums all I did was cook!

My Goal then and now was to let these kids have one exceptional meal a day. Organic, pesticide free, high in good fats, nutritious and 100% homemade.

It was a major success and now I see there is a movement in overhauling school canteens around the country. Get onboard and help our kids have better food choices in their canteens.

Back in 2011...

The kids at our school have proven that they all have great taste in food!

Our Tuckshop's a huge success! Everything has run super smoothly for the last 2 weeks, thanks to some super organised mums.

The food is delicious, thanks to my right hand man (lady) Daniella who once again made the delish pasta. Kaye for juicing those 15 kilos of apples and then pouring over 200 icy poles - Legend! And Saskia for helping me make the last sausage rolls. It was way more fun having someone to chat with, while working in my kitchen.

My Bone Broth for the whole school

Anyway as promised, photos...

I was lucky enough to have bribed a friend to come and take some photo’s (thanks Renee), his payment being a brownie and smoothie – not sure who got the better deal?!

Bulk Beetroot pureed for our gluten free, refined sugar free brownies.

Also it’s not like me to beat around the bush, so I’m going to lay it on the line… Our tuckshop needs a cooker! (stole that word from Kaye) the one we have at school sucks, big time! I’ve been doing all the cooking from home in my crappy oven – basically the one at school doesn’t work and if we want this tuckshop to continue, we are going to need a new (or pre loved) gas cooker. So if anyone has one hiding in their garage or better still they can get a deal somewhere (we have very limited funding at school for this kind of thing), can you contact me???