Fall flavours

It's that time of year again: time to put away the beach blankets and pull out the dried goods, peel up some winter veggies and snuggle in to some warm comfort food, stewed slowly on the stove.

I've been experimenting all summer long with coconut and papaya mostly and it's carried into the fall. The wheat-free endeavor also continues. Recently there's been endless stew with cornflower/lime/chipotle dumplings and black beans with mango, banana, lemon grass, ginger and coconut milk. Right now there's a giant pot of sliced up cucumbers getting ready to become mustard pickles before the apples and pears move in from the farm to be canned. Ah, it's almost hard to miss the beach yet with a kitchen in a state like this.

Life is good.

So who's ready for some beans?
I have to admit; while for many years I understood the financial benefits of dried beans I mostly used them to take up space in my pantry. Not this year.
But they still seem kind of boring, right?



Vegetarian 'pork' and beans
Tex-Mex black beans and corn
Thai beans with lemon grass and ginger
and Yesterday's stew on cucumber and jicama root
all finished off with a peanut sauce you could eat with cheese or ice cream (my definition of a pretty broad spectrum)


Who's hungry now?

Simple Summer Salad

It's picnic season and my mortar and pestle have been working overtime to develop some tasty and easy concoctions.

I'm leaving out amounts... use as much or as little as you feel like. Variety is encouraged.

jicama root sliced thin
a few sprigs of dill, chopped
tomato seeded and diced
a little onion, green (sliced), sweet white (diced) or red (what else rhymes with those two words that applies to onion shapes?)a handful of fresh local spinach, chopped
a sprinkle of hemp seeds

dressing:

small handful of unsalted cashews
splash of rice vinegar
dollop of honey
good ol' squeeze of dijon
salt to taste (or oddball organics smoked garlic chipotle salt from Granville island or www.oddballorganics.com )(if you order anything from this guy try the nuclear nectar too... wow!)

Mash the cashews in a mortar with the pestle, add the vinegar and honey and mash again to a smooth paste, add the dijon, salt, and if it's too thick to call dressing thin it down with some almond milk... or whatever type of milk-like product you keep on hand.

Voila!
Honestly, who buys salad dressing? You may start asking yourself this question after you taste this :)

Breaks All The Rules Chocolate Cake

As promised...

Get out the mortar and pestle and give it a good coat of almond oil to get things ready cause we're about to mash our way into delicious city.

Bake this the day before you plan on serving it to let it cool and congeal before steaming it into squishy perfection. It's a bit of a process so why not enjoy some tea while baking? Maybe make a little too much tea... say, a cup too much. I used The Blue Teapot's Energy Tea with black and green tea, manna grass and stinging nettle, sunflower blossoms and other wonderful things I would have never though to infuse in hot water and drink.

To start things off assemble:
The mortar and pestle, a seed grinder (coffee grinder dedicated to spices and seeds)

6 Medjool dates, pitted and torn into a few chunks
2 Tbsp honey
1 very ripe banana
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp pure sunflower oil
30g of flax seed
1/2 unsweetened rice milk/almond milk
1/4 tsp salt

Mash the dates with the honey in the mortar, add the banana and oil


Grab a small bowl and grind the flax in the seed grinder, add rice milk and leave it alone to do its thing. This mix forms a stabilizing goo that works a lot like eggs in the mix

Next:
Grab a sifter/mesh strainer and large bowl to combine the following

35g white rice flour (1/4 cup)
35g brown rice flour (1/4 cup)
35g buckwheat flour (1/4 cup)
30g potato flour (scant 1/4 cup)
70g tapioca flour (heaping 1/2 cup)

30g raw cocoa nibs
1 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate

Sift together the flours and combine with a whisk, grind the cocoa nibs in the seed grinder and finely grate the bakers chocolate into the mix.


The real kicker to this cake is the contrast between chewy sweet-breadish cake and the seed-riddled yet smooth filling. I cheated on this step and used yogurt. Soy yogurt could be used if you wanted to keep it vegan or even just silken tofu smashed to a thick cream.

For the filling:
Set up a double boiler, which in my kitchen is just a fancy way of saying throw a big stainless bowl over a pot of boiling water, grab a spatula and get the following ingredients together

1oz unsweetened bakers chocolate
15g coconut oil
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup plain, high-fat yogurt... you know, the good stuff.
1/2 cup tea, twice (aren't you glad you brewed that big ol' pot?)
15g chia seeds

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil together in the double boiler. Add the honey and stir in the yogurt. Before things get too thick and start drying up add the cup of tea and mix. Carefully remove the bowl from the heat and keep stirring. Add the chia seeds and another 1/2 cup of tea, stir to homogenize.

You'll wind up with a mix that's about 250g. Take 50g out and set aside. To the remaining 200g add another 45g of chia seeds and stir. Chia seeds have an external coating that swells into a protective jelly shell when it meets enough moisture. You wind up with a crunchy filling that doesn't have seeds all stuck together in a chalky mass. It's slick and crunchy and chewy and... you're almost there. I swear.


Assembly:
Vanilla extract can be used if you feel like. Take that pinch of salt from way back at the beginning and throw it in what should now be a thick flax/rice milk mix. Put some vanilla in the dates/banana mix if you feel like using it. Combine the flax/rice with the dates/banana, add the 50g of reserved chocolate/yogurt blend, throw it in the flour mix and stir until it all comes together. No wheat = no gluten = no devastating results if you stir too much.

I used a silicone fluted cake pan but you can use anything really. Baking times will vary but keep in mind I invented this recipe out of my crazy brain on the fly. I'm sure you can make it work.

Heat the oven to 175C/350F, use just over 1/2 the batter to cover the bottom and sides of the pan, spoon in filling, top with the remaining batter.


Bake for 1 hour, until it's firm and a toothpick inserted in the batter portion of the cake comes out clean. Let it cool down in the pan before you flip it out and let it cool some more




You can eat it like this... but its a bit tough and chewy. It'll do in a pinch, like a great energy bar on steroids, but if you want my advice: put down the fork, put it in a covered dish and put it in the refrigerator and leave it for the morning. It makes great breakfast.

The capper:
Set up a covered steamer, like a big ol' bamboo contraption, and steam a slice or two of cake for 7-13 minutes; until it seems nice and soft. Throw it on a plate with some fruit, maybe a drizzle of honey or caramel, try some nutmeg or cinnamon or whatever spice you're in the mood for. I used a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk, strawberry, some kiwi, and a few grinds of my new favorite spice mill: PC's Sugar, Chocolate & Cinnamon blend. I've been using it on absolute everything from drinks to oatmeal.

Brew up some new tea and enjoy!

Don't move twice in one month

It can severely impact the amount of quality time you can spend in your kitchen.

I'm in an awesome place now with an amazing kitchen and a mountain kicking out in my front yard.

I've been in the city for a year now so yesterday I decided to bake a celebratory chocolate cake.

As a challenge I tried to make it nut free, wheat free, and vegan.
I fell a bit short but the cake was awesome... and I have pictures.

Steamed Sticky Chocolate Cake
date and bananas, flax and gooey chocolaty chia seed filling


This is made with a soft fruit base combined with a wheat-less flour mix.
All the sugar comes from fruit and honey and flax seed provides the stabilization.

The full recipe will come soon. I'm going to finish the key lime soon too now... but at the moment I have to rush off to serve caffeine to the masses.

Cheers

Coming soon

Key lime pie... au naturel!


Use free range eggs. I'm not going to go on a preachy hippy rant about this. They taste good, the yolks are a deep golden yellow, and you'll get a better pie.

The filling needs time to thicken at room temperature so I prepare it before the crust. I also tried an amped up version of the standard graham wafer crust the original recipe called for. I found the latter a bit flimsy and that could have something to do with the fact that I guessed the equivalent of 9 wafers worth of crumbs.

For the filling you'll need:

4 tsp grated zest



I'm in the middle of moving... The rest will be up soon!

Breakfast Biscuits: The good and the bad

The bad news: there's miscellaneous bits of grain-like substance stuck to my kitchen wall

the good: I invented a wheat-free, veg-friendly scone-like breakfast thing and totally screwed up the first batch.
I know this sounds like a bad thing but it gives me an excuse to try it again soon and make it better. It really wasn't that bad to begin with but I've learned an important lesson about baking soda proportioning... your morning scone should not brush your teeth for you, no matter how appealing the extra light and fluffy appearance is.Before I get started some more good news; I am no longer unemployed. Not giving away any details but lets just say when asked what my greatest concern was I replied "Freaking out from a caffeine high?" Cheers, and good eating. I hope you enjoy these treats some time.

Earthy ginger blast breakfastish bites
born of Will brush your teeth for you breakfast scones (or The human equivalent of a Milk-Bone (TM))



2 tablespoons ground sesame seeds 25g
2 tablespoons tapioca flour 20g
1/4 + 1 Tbsp ground hemp seed 30g
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 5g
1/2 cup rice flour 80g
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoons sugar

3 Tbsp Coconut oil 50g

2 tablespoons flax seed, ground 20g
100 mL Rice milk
2 Tbsp chopped candied ginger
50/50 volumetric mix of rice flour and confectioner's sugar

I was running low on general stuff in the fridge: eggs, yogurt, my favorite baking ingredients, so I decided to experiment with things I already had. I highly recommend having a spare coffee grinder on hand for things like seeds and toasted spices. Flax seed meal (which can be used as an egg substitute) is better made on the spot from whole flax seeds because the oils inside the shell can turn rancid quickly once it's exposed to air.

Xanthan gum is a total essential ingredient in a wheat free kitchen. Names starting with X don't generally indicate something out of natural sources but I can assure you this one is. Most of the time. It's from bacteria. A secretion or something. I looked online but quickly lost interest but there's wikipedia if you want more info. Its purpose in baking is to change the texture from crummy to crumbly. See how important that b is? Tried xanthan gum? Then you know...

Also, it seems expensive but it lasts forever since it's never used in large quantities.

Heat the oven to 375F. Whisk together the dry stuff minus the flax - sesame, flour, everything in the first part. Grind up the flax and mix with half the milk (50mL). Let it sit for a few minutes. Cut the coconut oil into the dry ingredients (since it should be solid at room temperature). Add the rest of the milk to the milk-flax mix, give it a stir and then combine it with the dry ingredients. Combine and stir in the ginger chunks. Knead on a surface coated in the 50/50 flour/sugar mix, divide in 8 parts, throw it on a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until just golden brown on the edges and on the bottom.

The milkbone (TM) biscuits looked like this:



Same recipe with double the soda, 2 Tbsp honey (no sugar) and cooked in larger portions for longer. The only reason it was edible was all the honey I poured on top. That's a giant chunk of honey comb up there; local honey is great for helping with seasonal allergy symptoms, or so I've heard.

And there you have it.


coming up:

Breakfasts
popstarts
bird's nest

Dinner
eggplant tikka masala

Lemon tart!

There I was, on a fishing vessel on the Bering Sea...

now if you watch TV, especially the discovery channel, you might be thinking: Oh wow! How exciting! And it can be... under the right circumstances. But on a trawler in bad weather with long ol' steams between the fishing grounds and land it can get pretty slow... slow enough that one starts to search for all forms of entertainment. I'd boarded this vessel with one piece of intel from a prior fish biologist: they have an amazing cookbook. It's all white. If you find it, get me the name of it.

Well JD, if you're out there, it's America's Test Kitchen's epic book of recipes. That's not the exact title but a google search will get you there.

It made for some great reading. It had all sorts of science and pictures and insight; all sorts of things to geek out on, essentially. So here's my adaptation of their lemon tart to get things going.


Disclaimer: This tart is a pretty involved process. The crust has to be formed, cooled, rolled out and put in the tart pan, frozen and then baked. To add to the process the crust has to be warm when the lemon curd is poured into it or it wont cook properly. Timing is pretty important. It's a great project to take on when you're around the house doing laundry or killing time while unemployed. It's not such a great project when you have places to go or are especially distracted.

Alright, with that out of the way, it's fun. And your first bite will validate the whole process.

Zest and juice the lemons before putting the filling together... it's just easier that way.
New toys in the kitchen so everything (I remember to weigh) is going to have a mass equivalent.

Crust

1 cup rice flour (generous) or 135g
1/4 cup cornstarch 35g
1/4 cup tapioca flour 30g
2/3 cup confectioners sugar 100g
1/4 tsp salt 3g
8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into chunks

1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk the dry stuff together and cut in the butter with a pastry cutter. If you don't have a pastry cutter get one. They're cheap and they make a mean pastry. A food processor, especially one with the bowl and blade chilled in the freezer first, would also make a good pastry but half the fun of baking is getting your hands in it. Most electrical appliances are overkill and extra dishes.
Pastry recipes generally call for cutting the butter in until you get to a consistency of something between coarse cornmeal and pea-sized chunks. I could get into a whole deal about gluten being like building blocks that form long chains and get gluey during preparation, but I'll do that somewhere else. The flours in this recipe are lighter and prone to forming wet dough in quantities equal to wheat flour, so the consistency you're shooting for in this case is like lumpy flour.

Beat the egg yolk, cream, and vanilla together, add to the mix, and combine with a fork, big wooden spoon, your hands, what ever works best, until you have a uniformly soft and workable dough. If using your hands be quick so you don't melt all the butter and wind up with wet and sloppy mush. Form the dough into a six inch disk, wrap in wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Once the dough is chilled roll it out on a floured surface (I like using a 50:50 mix of rice flour and confectioners sugar for this part) and work it into a 9 to 9 1/2 inch tart pan. Stick it in the freezer for 45 minutes. This is a good time to get started on zesting and juicing lemons unless you're a pro and can do this at lightning speed. Cutting yourself on the grater is a bad idea. Lemon juice sucks in cuts.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. When the crust is fishished in the freezer fit a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper over it and cover in a layer of pie weights (beans, rice, ceramic balls designed for this purpose, and bake for 30 minutes. Start on the filling.
Rotate once half way through. Remove the foil/parchment and bake for another 5-8 minutes until it's golden brown. Turn the oven down to 350 when the crust comes out at the end.

My crust sort of sank the first time I made this recipe because I was a bit light on the flour. I used a spoon to push it back up the sides; it's really soft before it goes back in the oven for that last 5-8 minutes.

Filling

7 large egg yolks, plus 2 large eggs
1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2/3 cup juice and 1/4 cup finely grated zest from 4 or 5 medium lemons

4 Tbsp unsalted butter cut in chunks

3 Tbsp heavy cream

Whisk the yolks and whole eggs together in a non-reactive (e.g. glass) bowl. Whisk in sugar until combined, add juice and zest and whisk some more then transfer to a non-reactive sauce pan. Add butter. Use a wooden spoon to stir constantly while heating to 170F over med-low heat. This takes a while but when the change in consistency happens, it happens quickly. It will curdle if you ignore it. Push through a strainer into a clean non-reactive bowl, stir in the cream and then pour it into the warm crust. Throw the works back in the oven (now turned down to 350F) for 10 to 15 minutes, until it's shiny and the center 3 inches are jiggly. Cool for 45 minutes then remove from tart pan.

That's it folks. Enjoy!