j 6/28/13 j 6/28/13

Breakfast Wedge

Inspired by the chaps at Sorted Food [http://sortedfood.com/], a vegetarian version of an easy breakfast dish:

Check out their process here: http://youtu.be/D1mPghz6jjw

Naturally, serve it the British way - with (vegetarian) baked beans! Also served with fresh tomatoes and basil.

j 6/24/13 j 6/24/13

Garden Early Summer 2013

Fresh from the garden! Tomatoes:

'Taters, garlic and onions:

Lemon blossoms:

Sugar peas:

Zucchini:

Cucumber:

Purple beans (they turn green after cooking):

Aubergine:

Pointy tomatoes:

Giant garlic:

j 6/20/13 j 6/20/13

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sauteed sweet potato gnocchi served with spinach, basil, tomatoes and balsamic "caviar." Here's the link to how to make the "caviar"

Boil and rice the yams:

Add flour, salt and mix:

Roll, cut and boil the dumplings. Then pan-fry.

j 6/15/13 j 6/15/13

Chèvre Cheesecake

Goat's cheese cake! I did reference a recipe for this one... but I ditched it in favour of the order of ingredients: chèvre, 2 egg whites, Greek youghurt, sugar, flour, vanilla, lemon and salt. The crust is coconut oil, graham cracker crumbs and a whisper of lemon extract.

Baked at 175C for 30 minutes and slowly cooled.

Served with a blueberry compote, strawberries and a sprig of mint.

It's also crazy good with a searing chocolate ganache.

j 6/10/13 j 6/10/13

Mascarpone and Strawberries [+1 fail, +1 win!]

This was the end result, but it took a while to get here:

I thought I'd make a cannoli filling but serve it in puff pastry cups with fruit. Everything was fine except I chose a skim milk ricotta... which is tastes and feels, to me, like ground rubber.

I tried my best to doctor it up. Adding extra mascarpone and whipping it up. Nothing worked.

It looks nice, but the texture is unfit. The overall texture is "rubbery."

So, I whipped mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla to make a sublime filling for the strawberries:

Then, serving it on thin slices of mango, the the textures and flavours were perfect. It's simple, it's subtly rich, it's sublime.

j 6/7/13 j 6/7/13

Beignet

Happy doughnut day! Celebrating French style with made from scratch beignet. These are made from my whole wheat (50%) and molasses bread dough. Mind = blown.

This one is full of Nutella!

(not vegan)

j 6/1/13 j 6/1/13

Vişne Nektari

More travels have brought me new flavours. This is a beverage typically found in Turkey. Although I rarely drink sweetened beverages, this is worth the calories.

Start with fresh or frozen tart cherries. They should constitute ~35% by mass for your recipe (I know, I know, just get a kitchen scale and everything works perfectly).

If you haven't got fresh tart cherries, frozen pie cherries are perfectly fine.

More math: ~5% should be sugar. Ex: ~250g cherries needs 50g sugar and ~750ml water. The total mass is ~1kg, but after straining the pulp, the volume yield is a bit less than a litre.

Blend it up!

Strain it through progressively smaller sieves. The more pulp that remains the more astringent, or dry, it will be.

Serve chilled.

j 5/31/13 j 5/31/13

Chocolate Lover's Decision Tree

It's not much of a decision tree. But then again, it's not difficult to decide to eat chocolate.

j 5/27/13 j 5/27/13

Balsamic Vinegar "Caviar"

Flavourful balsamic bundles, perfect for serving with fresh tomatoes.

Start with a moderate vinegar:

Mix agar agar and vinegar:

Heat until all the agar agar crystals are dissolved:

Fill an irrigation syringe with the hot mixture: Irrigation Syringe available at Amazon.com

Drop slowly into freezing oil. Grape seed oil works well:

Strain:

It keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.

j 5/23/13 j 5/23/13

Chopped Salad with Carrot Ribbons

Red bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower and basil. Dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt.

I used these peelers to make the carrot ribbon:

j 5/15/13 j 5/15/13

Pomegranate Avocado Spread

I'm enjoying some of the best pomegranates at the moment. This simple spread is the perfect alternative to mayo or butter in sandwiches.

Extract the kernels:

Whisk an avocado until smooth. Add a pinch of salt and a bit of lemon - just enough to prevent oxidation:

The perfect spread:

j 5/10/13 j 5/10/13

Berries in a Basket

Strawberries in a chocolate basket!

Cream, sugar, a couple of grates of nutmeg, and vanilla bean. Whipped by hand to perfection:

A few tiny berries:

Chocolate basket: instructions here

Pipe in the whip and top with berries:

Garnished with apple mint. Outrageously decadent.

j 5/7/13 j 5/7/13

Garden 2013 - fruit on the vine

First rose of 2013

Peaches

Blueberries

Tomatoes

Lemon

"Wonder Lemon" blooms

Yerba Maté

j 5/4/13 j 5/4/13

How to make Chocolate Baskets

Start with chocolate chips in a double boiler - or a heat safe bowl over simmering water:

When it's melted, remove from the heat and add in a handful of room-temp chips. This tempers the chocolate. Otherwise it won't set - it'll be mushy at room temperature.

Stir until completely smooth and place into a piping (or ziptop) bag. Using a small opening tip (or cut a small hole in the bag) drizzle the chocolate into an oiled container. I used a fluted ramekin.

You can speed up the setting process by freezing it. Then gently remove it from the container.

j 4/30/13 j 4/30/13

Brownie tarte with Strawberries and Mascarpone

A flavourful treat. As usual, chocolate takes centre stage.

First, bake and cool a pack mix brownie mix. A tarte pan works well and adds a nice aesthetic.

A ganache can be easily prepared with a bit of (soy) milk and chocolate. Unless you routinely need a double boiler, skip the purchase and use a bowl over a saucepan.

Chocolate: it's a beautiful thing.

Add to a piping bag for easy working.

An added treat - a velvety, sweet cheese: mascarpone.

Top with strawberries, pecans, the ganache and mascarpone.

j 4/25/13 j 4/25/13

Hot Cathead Biscuits

Down home, we call these biscuits "cathead" biscuits. They're roundish and have pointy bits... like feline noggins.

The classic 3:1:2 recipe: flour:fat (coconut oil):milk (soy)

They're delightful and vegan.

Simply add frozen blueberries to boiling syrup (sugar and corn starch) for a fresh and easy compote. Serve with local honey and imported Irish butter.

I are most of them for supper... a fat intake of over 70Grams. Worth it!

j 4/21/13 j 4/21/13

Thai Noodles and Veg

This tasty dish is rich, warm and packed with lots of fresh veg.

Soak and drain the rice noodles:

Prepare the seasonings: curry paste, peanut paste, lemongrass, salt, red curry paste:

Cashews for protein:

Chop the veg - carrots, onions, green onions, lettuce, sweet peppers:

Heat a can of coconut mild; add the seasonings and veg:

Promptly add in the noodles and cook until done:

Warm yet spicy comfort food!

j 4/20/13 j 4/20/13

Spring garden updates [2013]

The garden is coming to life! Blueberries in bloom:

Lettuce - survived the winter:

Shallots:

First rose bud:

Asparagus:

Potatoes:

Tomatoes - hiding under buckets for frost protection:

Pfingstrose (Peony):

Watercress:

Grapes:

j 4/17/13 j 4/17/13

Southwest Burger Wraps

A hearty wrap is the way to go when you're hungry. This is composed of refried beans, veggie burger, lettuce, salsa and tomatoes. I also made a three colour coleslaw to add extra vege.