dukkah

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Snacks

Dukkah is an Egyptian spiced nut and seed mix. Perfect to enjoy just with bread and olive oil.
Today I paired it with fresh ricotta and Duca Carlo Guarini’s L’Agrumato al Limone, a native olive oil infused with the aroma of Apulian lemons. Add a glass of Campo di Mare  Negroamaro  from the same Apulian Azienda Agraria and you are in heaven!

Dukkah

1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon sea salt

The basic ingredients are always nuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, black pepper and salt. As for the range of nuts you may substitute the hazelnuts by almonds, you may add pine nuts, pistachios  or cashews. If you like you may also experiment with dried thyme, mint, anise seeds, fennel seeds or chili.

Roast the nuts in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 180°C.

Roast the seeds in a skillet over medium heat. Sake and stir them frequently, until they crackle and become slightly browned.

Scrape them into a bowl together with the hazelnuts. Add the salt.

You may grind the mixture in a mortar or in a food processor until the mixture is well ground, but not too fine. I pestle the nuts, seeds and spices in my suribachi because there’s no better way to inhale the still warm flavours of Egypt!

Store dukkah in an airtight glass at room temperature.

 

Russell James’ Mexican tomato soup

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Lunch / Soups

Lately I discovered Russell James, England’s leading raw chef. I browsed through his food blog and watched a couple of his videos. He made me curious. What would be hiding behind his “top 10 most-loved raw recipes”? I must confess, until now raw cuisine hadn’t convinced me: too fat, too sweet, too many dates and soaked cashews.

“Amazing recipe n°8”, however, caught my immediate attention. The result? Absolutely delicious!

mexican tomato soup
(slightly adapted)

1 cup ripe tomatoes
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for an hour
1/2 avocado
1 tablespoon red onion
a few twigs of fresh cilantro
a few leaves of fresh mint
a small piece fresh chili pepper
1 clove garlic
2 soft (or soaked) dates
1/2 teaspoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
juice from 1/2 lime

500ml hot or cold water

Mix all ingredients in a blender, before serving decorate with chopped spring onions, chives, cilantro and slices of lime.
As an additional topping I roasted cashes and sunflower seeds.

 

juicy breakfast

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Breakfast / Drinks

Jason Vale’s Minty Sunshine, Tahini Beaney, and Veggie Power, all freshly juiced and blended!  Except for the pink intruder. I bought it because I wanted the little glass bottle, perfect for take-away…. Nevertheless in comparison to our  fresh juices it was the perfect proof that the difference fresh versus pasteurized is enormous.

Minty Sunshine 

2 oranges
3 carrots
1-2 cm chunk root ginger
4 sprigs fresh mint
a small handful ice cubes

Juice all ingredients. Pour the juice over ice and enjoy!

Veggie Power Smoothie

2 apples
1 handful spinach
1 handful kale
1/2 lemon, wax free with the skin on)
1/2 stick celery
1/4 cucumber
2 cm chunk broccoli stem
1/2 avocado
a small handful ice cubes

Juice all ingredients except the avocado and the ice. Pour the juice into the blendert along with the avocado and the ice and blend until smooth.

Tahini Beaney

almond milk
1 large teaspoon honey
1 small teaspoon tahini
1 banana
a small handful ice cubes

Put the ice, banana, tahini and honey in a blender and fill up to the 500ml line with almond milk  and blend.

Fresh juices are true nutritional powerhouses which give you the energy to get you through the day without snacking.

homemade almond milk

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Cakes + Cookies / Drinks

Since I learned how to make almond milk I use it to make smoothies, to put it into my chai, for cooking and baking and to soak my overnight muesli in. The taste is light and crisp and the texture is amazingly creamy. From a health perspective it’s low in fat and calories but high in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. It contains vitamins and minerals such as copper, zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and selenium.

 

2 handfuls or 1 1/2 cups of raw almonds
1l water + water for soaking. Soak the almonds overnight and rinse the morning after.
Blend the almonds with 1l fresh water. Strain the milk through a nut milk bag or a small meshed sieve and save the pulp for later.
Almond mik can be kept in the refrigerator for 4 -7 days, covered. It will usually need stirring or shaking before serving to remix the liquid.

 

I use the remaining pulp for baking experiments.

little almond cake

my basic ingredients:

almond pulp (well drained but still moist)
1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 egg ( can be substituted by 1/2 mashed ripe banana)

my additional ingredients to experiment with:

cocoa powder
shredded coconut
ground canihua
whole wheat flour
whole pine nuts
chopped nuts and seeds
oat flakes
vanilla extract

Fill your ingredients into a large bowl, combine with your hands and fill the dough into a baking mold. Bake for 20 minutes at 180°C.

Actually, you can’t do any wrong. If the dough feels too dry just add a sip of freshly made almond milk. If it’s too moist, add some more of the dry ingredients.

Louisa’s ramen

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Soups

Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup, quick and easy to prepare and very versatile due to the variety of possible toppings (just raid your fridge!).

Louisa’s ramen
serves 2

a package of Mie noodles
1l vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh white Miso paste
1 drop of roasted sesame oil

toppings:
spring onions, finely sliced
carrots, finely sliced with a peeler
a few twigs of cilantro, chopped; we used blended and frozen cilantro
2 soft boiled egg halves

Cook the ramen noodles according to the package instructions (most ramen noodles need only 3 minutes to cook). Drain and rinse with cold water.
Bring the vegetable broth to a boil, add the noodles, remove from the heat and stir in the miso. Ladle the soup into the bowls. Top each bowl with carrots, spring onions, cilantro and the egg halves.

If you plan to go deeper into ramenology, don’t miss to watch this video about ramen chef Ivan Orkin.

kohlrabi towers

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Lunch / Snacks

I always wondered how to give kohlrabi a bit more sex appeal,
I mean I loved my mother’s homely kohlrabi with cream sauce and roast potatoes, but this good old German meal is rather heavy and not too fun.My new favorite alternative is to roast kohlrabi slices in the oven, then build them into towers with a Mediterranean or a Thai stir-fry. Instant sophistication. Sweet potato slices are a nice addition, too.

kohlrabi towers

serves 2
2 kohlrabis, each cut into 4 slices
1/2 sweet potato, sliced
Thai stir-fry:
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
a small piece of ginger, chopped
a small piece of chili, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons of fresh (or frozen) cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Oven roast the slices of kohlrabi and sweet potato at 200°C for 20 minutes.

Stir-fry the chopped ingredients in a pan until they soften and begin to fill the kitchen with a mouth-watering scent.
(For the mediterranean stir-fry replace the ginger and the cilantro with tomato, rosemary and thyme).

Pile up little towers and decorate the plates with the basil sprigs. The basil isn’t just decoration, it gives an amazing flavour to the dish.

potato-cucumber soup

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Soups

Potato-cucumber soup is a true summer classic in our family. The secret behind this savoury soup is to first stir-fry the potatoes with the onions and to add the fresh cucumbers only in the last minutes. So two  irresistible flavours melt together.

potato-cucumber soup

1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee
1kg potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large, fresh cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and diced
1 onion, chopped
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
vegetable stock, enough to cover the potatoes
1 teaspoon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil or the ghee (if you prefer a buttery taste) in a saucepan.
Add the onions and the potatoes, stir-fry until the onions are glassy and the potatoes have taken a little bit of colour.
Cover the potatoes with vegetable stock and let the soup slightly boil until the potatoes are done.

Add the diced cucumber and let it warm up for two or three minutes.

Add the mustard and blend the soup with a hand blender.
Finally, add salt and black pepper to taste and sprinkle with the sliced spring onion.

Serve it hot or cold. Enjoy!

the colours of summer: vegetables right from the oven

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Lunch

Today I won’t supply you with an ingredient list because it’s entirely up to your taste buds which vegetables you choose for this simple dish. Simply cut them into bits of similar thickness (so that everything is ready at the same time), drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and chuck onto an oven pan in eye pleasing constellations. 200°C and about 20 minutes should do the trick. We had it with a  goat camembert, which was just delicious.

 

 

guacamole – and sardines in a tin

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Snacks

Homemade Guacamole is an alltime favourite for summer days. It is super easy and fast to make, we serve it as a light lunch, as snack or as a dip for a barbecue.  Yesterday we spread our guacamole on slices of rye bread and topped it with sardines.

The avocado contains all 6 human nutritional needs in abundance: water, fat (essential natural fats), protein, natural sugar, vitamins (B,C, E and K) and minerals (potassium, calcium, iron and phosphorus). Rich in monounsaturated fatty acids the avocado helps to reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol in the blood.  So don’t be fooled by avocado’s bad reputation as a high-fat food, actually it provides us with unique health benefits.

Guacamole
serves 2

2 ripe avocados
1 tomato, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
a few dashes of Tabasco
sea salt (or Himalayan salt) and grated black pepper
the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon

I don’t use the blender to combine the ingredients, but smash the avocados with a fork, add the remaining ingredients and season with pepper and salt.