clafoutis aux mirabelles

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Cakes + Cookies

Yesterday we picked the first sun-kissed mirabelles from the tree. Although the season has not yet started I love to enjoy the first bright yellow, but still firm and slightly acidic mirabelles in a clafoutis, sooo good!

Clafoutis aux mirabelles

1 tablespoon butter, softened
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons mirabelle brandy (kirsch or rum are fine)
5 eggs
3/4 cups flour
a pinch of sea salt
3 cups mirabelles, pitted

Distribute the mirabelles evenly in a buttered baking dish.
Combine butter, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, brandy and vanilla in a blender. Blend for a few seconds, add the flour and blend again until smooth. Pour the mixture over the mirabelles.
Bake at 180°C for 35 minutes, until golden brown.  It’s fine if the clafoutis is still moist inside.

Sprinkle with dusting powder. Enjoy!

raw pasta sauce: double tomato, caper and basil sauce

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Dinner / Lunch

double tomato, caper and basil sauce
serves 2

2 fresh and ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and soaked
a few basil leaves
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
grated parmesan

While cooking the pasta, chop the tomatoes and the basil. Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Toss through 200g hot pasta, sprinkle with parmesan, pepper and salt.

Hope you’ll feel inspired by our delicious lunch today!

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
comments 2
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.