A time for love and a time for cookies

I never really understood the love people had for cookies – until now. When I was little I truly could not understand the obsession that my friends had with cookies, either homemade or store- bought. Moms baked (a lot) or they stacked cupboards with all kinds of cookies from oreos to chips ahoy to teddy grahams (remember those?). Every time I went over to people’s homes snack time meant cookies. Even at school when someone wanted something sweet to eat they would bring out their little snack pack of cookies. They even left Santa Claus milk and cookies! I think this love affair is a very North American thing. Now that I’m not around all those cookie- obsessed folks, I have had the chance to develop a love of cookies.

Now I adore them – not the oreo or (I hate to say it) tim tam (sorry friends!) kind – but more the type of cookies that have interesting, sometimes unusual ingredients. Here is an adapted recipe for gluten free chocolate cookies. I used tahini in the cookies as well. Tahini is a smooth, nutty paste made from sesame seeds. It’s used a lot in Middle-Eastern cooking and often you find it used in savoury dishes like hummus. I use it like a peanut butter in both sweet and salty dishes. Enjoy.

Chocolate and tahini cookies (gluten free but you can substitute all-purpose/wholemeal flour)
(makes about 12 cookies)
adapted from savoury sweet life recipe for bittersweet chocolate decadence cookies

¼ cup gluten-free flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon organic unhulled tahini
2 large organic eggs
¼ cup molasses and/or demerara sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½  cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside.  In order to melt chocolate, place chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt it in a bain-marie (a double boiler). To do this, set the bowl on top of a pot of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of bowl touch water and don’t not leave on for a long time, just until it melts). Once melted remove and then in another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla and set the bowl over the same pot of simmering water. Continue to whisk everything until the mixture is lukewarm.

Making sure that each mixture is not too hot, combine the two carefully. At this point, add in the tahini and mix. Add the flour with salt and baking powder. This batter will look like thick cake batter.  Don’t worry they will look and taste like cookies once you’re done baking them. Scoop dough with tablespoon onto silicon or parchment sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes. The outside might look dry but it’ll be moist and gooey on the inside. Yum.

Birthday cake

Yesterday was my husband's birthday and I could think of no better way of making him happy then by surprising him with a cake. Well it wasn't exactly a cake but more a pancake (as a dutchman he appreciates pancakes). But these were not simple plain pancakes - these were my spectacular chocolate orange millet cakes.

The pancakes were light, moist and chocolatey with the slightest aroma of orange (the orange also added a little layer of sophistication much needed for impressing people in the morning).  I served the pancakes with a few orange segments, a dusting of cocoa and some syrup (being Canadian this should be maple but Australians might use golden syrup...not nearly as amazing) One more exciting thing is that they’re gluten free. Eat up and celebrate.

chocolate-orange millet cakes
Recipe for 2

2 whole organic eggs
½ cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla bean (paste or extract)
1-2 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder (unprocessed) – the more chocolate the better but it’s up to you
2 tsp orange zest (a little juice too)
½ - ¾ cup of millet flour (I used something in between these amounts)
pinch of baking powder
pinch of baking soda 

To make the pancakes, first beat the eggs and soy milk together, add in vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients - make sure with the flour that you add a little at a time so that you can ensure the consistency stays like a wet batter (should be loose/ pouring consistency).

Get a pan and heat to medium-high heat, use a little oil or butter and cook your cakes. When bubbles appear flip over and cook for another minute or so. Now you have your delicious chocolate orange millet cakes - perfect for a birthday or any other kind of day...

Salmon and soba

salmon and soba with leek salsa
serves 4 (this is an easy dish to cook for a larger number of people as well)

4 fillets of salmon (with skin on - remember it's full of omega fatty acids)
1 package of soba noodles (buckwheat)
fresh or frozen peas
1/2 large leek
1 red capsicum
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 2 inch knob of ginger (grated)
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp tamari (or soy/ponzu sauce)
1/2 bunch fresh dill
1/2 lemon (juiced)
fresh red chili (dried is fine)
olive oil
sesame oil (for adding to salsa at end)
white wine (something dry like chardonnay - and some that you would drink)

To start with the salsa use a saucepan or small pot. Slice or dice the leeks and fry in olive oil on medium heat. You want to sweat the leeks and not burn them (add a little salt to prevent them burning). Once the leeks have become a little soft, add in ginger and garlic, cook 1-2 minutes. While this happening, add some hot water to dissolve miso paste (start with 1 cup). Once dissolved, add into the pot. Add in tamari, diced chilis, 1 tbsp chopped dill and lemon juice. Once mixed take off heat and keep aside. Add just 1-2 drops of sesame oil (really just a little goes a very long way)

For the soba, follow instructions on package (very easy!) and make sure not to overcook as they'll turn to mush and lose their great texture. Strain and keep aside at room temperature.

For the salmon, in a large pan - pan fry skin side down in a little olive oil. Make sure pan is hot to ensure crispy skin. Cook for a few minutes on each side. A way to tell if salmon is just cooked and not overcooked is you will see the sides emit a whitish colour. Keep side once cooked.  In same pan, add a little white wine to deglaze and add chopped capsicum and peas (and any other vegetables you might have). To assemble, mix soba with peas and capscium and white wine reduction. Put salmon on top and pour a little of the leek salsa on top. Garnish with dill sprig and there you have it...a little gourmet meal for a regular night at home. So good.

A perfect coupling

So I’m back with another recipe! Sorry for the delay (I will try my best to post 1 recipe a week) but here is one my favourites. For those of you who love fish but hate the hassle of finding a good recipe/method that can impart enough flavour this recipe will help. Fish is one of those foods that can be tricky to cook the right way – most people overcook their fish and it becomes grey and rough, and trust me you cannot cover this up with any sauce no matter how tasty.  It’s always best to use delicate methods of cooking for fish, unless the texture is firm and meaty, in which case you can grill or fry without worry.  For this dish I used salmon fillets (here in Sydney I’m lucky to get to speak to the people at the fish market – they know a lot (a lot) about fish, how it’s caught and sold). I get wild atlantic salmon as it’s not farm raised. It tastes better and is generally a better environmental choice.

In addition to the salmon, I’ve used soba noodles. For those who don’t know soba is a Japanese buckwheat noodle (make sure to check the ingredients for those who don’t eat wheat as some cheaper soba add it in as a filler). It's healthy and has a great wholegrain taste. Unlike many noodles (egg based or other) that are heavy and simply carriers of sauce, soba has it's own distinct flavour and texture.  It’s colour is almost like a cloudy and gloomy day. When cooked it becomes the perfect friend to asian type flavours – salt, sweet, spicy and tangy. It's also just perfectly coupled with salmon. Try this recipe (with a glass of chardonnay like I have) and you'll see.

Banana bread revisited

banana bread revisited 
makes a whole loaf/12 muffins

2 large ripe bananas
1/4 cup olive oil (yes olive oil - will explain later)
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp demerara sugar
2 organic eggs
1/4 cup soy milk (or milk)
1/4 vanilla bean
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground clove
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cups organic wholemeal flour (use millet or rice flour if gluten intolerant)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch baking soda

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Prepare a loaf tin by rubbing a little olive oil around it (use butter if you prefer or even silicon paper). In a large bowl whisk oil, sugar and molasses, add spices (adding spices at this point ensure the most flavour as the oil will act almost as an essence preserver). Once mixed well, beat in eggs one at a time and then add mashed bananas.

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add dry mix gradually to wet mix and don't beat/mix too much.  Add in soy milk, little by little (don't make mix too runny) and then chopped walnuts. Sometimes I add bits of dark unsweetened chocolate as well. Pour mix into tin/pan and rest for 5 mins. Place into oven and bake for 45mins - 1 hour (check on bread after 30 mins).

Because there is little sugar/sweetness this is really more a bread than a cake, which is probably the reason it's called banana bread. That said, if you want to add something to it you can add my sweetened ricotta cream or drizzle it with warm marmalade. Eat up.

Bananas for bananas

I'm bananas for bananas. Those who know me well know of my morning ritual of having a banana with my coffee - every single morning. I think eating bananas is the only real habit I have. Friends of mine even make sure to stock up on bananas if they know I'm visiting (thank you friends). In addition to my love of this almost perfect fruit, I also enjoy baking with them. I don't like eating heavy, oily or greasy banana breads (I know - who does? but I witness people eating bad b bread all over town...just too bad) so here is a healthy and hearty alternative to the old classic banana bread.

A new camera please

Ok, so I made a big purchase and got a new camera. My old little point and shoot needs to be fixed and to be honest, it just wasn't cutting it. I want to take pictures that make things look more beautiful than they are - not worse. Really, who wants to see unappealing pictures of food...yuck. So now I will play not only with my food but with my camera. Let's see what I can do.

Lazy soup and salad

For most, lazy nights usually mean one of two things: dinner will be ordered in or it will be reheated. The last thing you want to do when you're too tired is to cook and then clean up after. To make your life easy but still eat something comforting and tasty try out this soup and salad.

Ok I know soup and salad sounds soo boring but this recipe will definitely make your mouth water. I just make the soup ahead of time in a big batch and then freeze leftovers for reheating on lazy days like this one. For the salad, I just tossed steamed asparagus, borlotti beans, cherry tomatoes and mesclun mix. So simple but perfect with a glass of red wine...what a wonderful lazy night.

pumpkin and ginger soup
makes a enough for 4 people or 2 and leftovers

3 cups/600g Pumpkin (I used kent pumpkin but butternut squash would work well too)
1/2 red onion
1/2 leek
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp or more of freshly grated ginger
1 whole red chili
1 tsp dried chili
2 tbsp or more olive oil
fresh thyme
cracked black pepper
sea salt
1/2 cup skim milk (or any other non-dairy substitute)
stock - vegetable, chicken... I use a great additive free stock or I make my own and freeze it

There are a few different methods of cooking the pumpkin, either roast in oven with olive oil until tender or cook in the pot after leeks and garlic have been sauteed. To make life easier for readers I'll describe the second method.

Get a large enough pot (soup/stock pot) ready on medium heat. Saute the leeks and onions in olive oil under tender, add garlic and ginger and cook 2 mins. Add some thyme and salt (keeps things from burning), add chopped pumpkin pieces and enough stock to cover. Add in fresh and dried chili.

Cook pumpkin until tender. When reached consistency you want, either blend or place in food processor. Add back to cleaned out pot, stir in milk to reach consistency you desire. At this point, season well and add fresh chopped herbs. Sometimes I like to serve this with fresh organic yoghurt - it gives the soup another texture and a tang that works well with the creamy and spicy pumpkin. Enjoy.

borlotti bean salad with asparagus and cherry tomatoes
makes enough for two sides

1/2 cup dried borlotti beans (try not to use tinned beans if you can - just soak or cheat by simmering 1 cup dried beans with 3 cups water for 55 mins)
1/2 bunch asparagus - try to buy in season - if you can't substitute with another hearty green vegetable
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
bunch of salad leaves - arugula or mesclun mix
fresh bread - wholegrain, sourdough..whatever you like
30 ml olive oil
1 clove garlic
5ml lemon juice
10 ml balsamic vinegar

To make dressing - mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar - cut the garlic clove in half and rest in liquid for 10 minutes just to infuse.

Cook beans and leave aside. Steam asparagus and cut tomatoes into halves. Mix all ingredients or assemble separately like the way I did. Take out garlic from dressing and drizzle over veggies and beans. Add a few pieces of bread and there you go. Easy dinner for a lazy night...just need a glass of wine.

Bean me up borlotti

I love beans. I seriously do. Legumes are these perfect, tiny little bundles of nutrition magically sprouted from the earth. You don't have to be a vegan or vegetarian to eat them - shocker I know. And once you slowly integrate them in your diet you won't experience all symptoms found in classic bean jokes. Eating them with grains and vegetables help to make them almost perfect proteins...meaning they fill you up and keep you happy. Sounds good to me.

The borlotti bean. This is my new favourite bean and almost as special as a garbonzo bean (chickpea). It has a meatiness and creaminess (and has a beautifully speckled design) that is great for hearty dishes or even for adding an extra something to a salad. See my recipe for risotto with borlotti and my next posting for a quick borlotti bean salad.

Blogging is serious business!

Ok I had nooo idea how intense blogging has become -- and I'm speaking of food blogging, let alone all the other blogs out there on who knows what. This new discovery combined with my revisited trait of perfectionism is dangerous. Last night I couldn't sleep because I had ideas up ideas of how to have a perfect blog - beautiful design, need a much better camera, have to read about blogging tips etc. I was dreaming of better names for my blog, better recipes - better everything!  Leave it to me to make something like blogging so serious that I will have to drop out of this too (well I'm not really a 'drop out' but let's face it, I have toyed with the possibility of 'not facing the music' one too many times)
But this morning I woke up with a renewed feeling that my blog will and can only do its best - so friends...I will try and make this blog the best that I can make it. Lowered expectations always help.

Dinner of risotto and red wine

So for dinner last night I made a trusted favourite of mine - risotto! sooo easy and soo yummy AND with red wine! sounds funny to some people but the Italians do this so it must be right. I usually use white wine in my risotto - to keep the flavours light and fresh, especially when using seafood. With this risotto, the red wine provides a warm, deeper flavour and matches well with sauteed radicchio, fresh peas and/or borlotti beans - basically any rich, velvety vegetable or legume. Giada De Laurentiis (an Italian American tv chef) has a great recipe that I tweak a little depending on what I feel like. Risotto seems time consuming but it's one of those 'one pot wonders' - that isn't mushy and old fashioned. And it sounds so much more fancy than it is.

red wine risotto with grilled red peppers, portobello mushrooms and borlotti beans
serves 3-4 depending on how much you love it
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup red wine - use red wine you would drink and I prefer full-bodied reds
1 cup - chopped leek (use onion if you don't have any), carrots and celery
1/2 cup peas - use fresh if you can, frozen works just fine too
a few garlic cloves
freshly grated parmesan cheese
fresh dill
fresh parsley
2-3 cups (depending) of vegetable stock
1/2 cup borlotti beans (use canned if you didn't soak and cook them)


The vegetables
I use a bbq to grill red peppers and mushrooms - I grill them with a little olive oil and that's it. Use a hot oven or stovetop grill if you don't have a bbq. Remove skin from peppers and keep them aside for later.

The risotto
I start with keeping the stock on at a medium/low heat (use fresh stock if you have it, or bought if you don't). Then put a large enough pot on medium heat - with olive oil (1 - 2 tbsp) sweat onions, celery, carrots together for 6-7 minutes then add finely chopped garlic and cook for another 1 minute.

Add the rice and cook 2 mins until toasted a little (don't brown it). Add the red wine and let it get somewhat absorbed by the rice (2 mins or so), then add a little hot stock (one ladle of stock - don't worry about the exact amount, the rice will let you know when it's full!) Cook a few minutes until absorbed and then do the same at least two more times until the rice becomes creamy. At this point (just when the rice still has some bite) add in all the vegetables and the borlotti beans, add in chopped dill (to taste) and 1/4 cup parmesan.

Stir and add in the last bit of stock - cover 2 mins. Once finished, ladel out into big bowls, add more fresh parmesan, fresh black pepper and fresh chopped parsley...so good. I promise you'll love it.

The first step to food...spice

Where to begin with food. I'm obsessed with spices...I don't mean a little obsessed I mean A LOT obsessed...I want to know about every spice in the world and what use they have in terms of health and taste, and what recipes they are used in. I like finding creative ways to use spices in more contemporary and non-traditional ways. I think this is a new trend in the chocolate world (eg.vosges chocolates) and it seems to be picking up in the world of pastry and desserts. There are books galore on the spice route (I find the history of the relationship between colonialism and spice quite fascinating) Spices have healing qualities and there is new research all the time proving the benefits of eating (or drinking) spice. Here are a few of my favourite little spice additions to everyday classics.

spiced up coffee 
recipe for one...just multiply recipe for more folks

1 cup of espresso
soy milk or whatever milk you prefer (everyone likes a different amount)
1/4 tsp cinnamon or cinnamon stick
a teeny weeny drop of ground clove or a whole clove
1/4 tsp cardamom - ground or pod

To start steep the spices in your milk over the stove or in the microwave (for the cheaters) and then add hot espresso...or for the quicker version, what I do is place the ground spices in a mug, add the hot milk and then pour (from high above..be careful not to spill everywhere - this happens) the hot espresso. There you have it, hot and frothy spiced up coffee. Perfect to have with a fresh banana (my perfect compliment with its creamy texture against the spicy, hot smooth coffee) or morning muffin (muffin recipes to come soon - promise)

cardamom vanilla infused ricotta cream
recipe for 2
This is an absolutely easy and delicious (and even low fat!) alternative to cheesecake. I make this dessert often when I don't feel like heating up the house with my oven.

150-200g low fat ricotta cheese (basically a small little tub)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp vanilla bean paste - use fresh vanilla bean please - if you don't have it than use real vanilla extract
2 tbsp sugar/something sweet - I use maple syrup sometimes or unrefined demerara sugar
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice and zest (this keeps it fresh)

Basically place all ingredients into bowl and whip with whisk or beater until all mixed. I don't like to have the ricotta too sweet as you can serve it with sweeter items.

some ideas...
Cut up some fresh fruits - mangoes, strawberries, kiwis (whatever might be in season where you live) or use frozen blueberries and other fruits if not in season. Let them defrost and place the ricotta cream on top. I crumble homemade biscuits (or graham crackers, granita cookies) on top and voila! delicious and healthy dessert.
You could also serve this ricotta with pancakes or crepes for a delicious accompaniment. What a yummy morning that would be...