How To Puff Your Seeds And Toast Your Nuts

the guilty suspects

Quinoa is quite the trendy little seed these days, isn't she?  Known by the Peruvians for a few thousand years, we are just catching up to her versatility and good-for-you-ness.  (That other trendy item- kale - remains no friend of mine - tee hee.)  So I made quinoa/cacao nib bars the other day.  The recipe called for puffed quinoa, which wasn't easy to find.  I didn't fancy an extra trip to the local Health store to get it, so I decided to make my own.  And the saga began...

I checked up some recipes on the Net; some said to wash and dry it before popping it; some said to dry it for half an hour, or an hour, or overnight.  Some said don't bother to wash it at all.  I went with not washing it.  I grabbed a small pan, threw in a bit of oil, let it get hot then tipped in the Peruvian quinoa I had bought at the Bulk Store (along with other items of interest.)

popping my quinoa in a hot pan

Nothing seemed to happen; it got oilier, and darker, and started to burn.  But yes it made popping sounds and jumped about.  Still the same tiny grains, just browner, and crunchier.  I was about to throw it out when I read up that puffed quinoa DIDN'T puff up like popcorn or get any bigger.  What?!  So I kept it and used it in the bars.  Seemed okay, if a bit crunchy.

rinse the quinoa 

drying out the quinoa on a lined tray before going in the oven  

after drying in the oven, throw the quinoa into a hot pan with a tiny bit of oil

Next day, I thought okay, I'll do the whole washing and drying thing.  So I rinsed it under the tap, laid it out on a lined baking tray, and left it for half an hour to dry.  A new bit of paper, more drying time then into the lowest oven I could get = 120C for 15 minutes.  Now into the hot pan with 1/4 tsp of veggie oil.  Same thing: a tiny bit of popping, no puffing, going dark and brown.  And burns easily so watch out.  Verdict?:  either buy it or use something else!

Now for toasting your nuts.  This can depend on your oven, but basically I toasted brazil nuts @ 170C for 10 minutes.  Put them in a single layer on an unlined baking tray, and into the oven.  They will start to look golden and smell toasted.

golden nuts

The pepitas went in @160C for 10-15 minutes (mine took 14mins.)  On an unlined tray, and into the oven.  They start to get golden edges, and look crisp.  And taste delicious.

crunchy pepitas

And my last tip for the day: chop up those prunes with scissors and a rubber glove if you don't want to get covered in gooey, sticky stuff.

very sticky so use scissors and a glove  

quinoa farmer and his crop on Lake Titicaca 

                   (image: Wikimedia: author Michael Hermann; crops of the future.org)

Smoky Quinoa And Cacao Nib Bars

Quinoa (keenwah) - hard to say but not to eat.  I have used it in salads before, but this was new to me.  I mean the puffed bit, and using it in a sweet treat.  I have to be honest here -  this first turned out to be quinoa and cacao rubble rather than bars.  Mr P. said he would add clusters of it to his morning cereal.  I then made some adjustments to the recipe, which was already delicious but just didn't set as hard as it should have.  So I did a bit of recipe renovating.

This recipe is from Simon Bajada's book Nordic Light, which I have enjoyed reading.  I also enjoyed his Scandi photos, now that he lives in Sweden with his Swedish wife.  This has become more of a chocolate sweet treat rather than Simon's healthy bar, but it is still full of the nutty, seedy good stuff.  I have checked similar recipes to this one on the Net, and they all suggest using just coconut oil or a similar substance.  Just not sure how it would set.  Don't worry, with this amount of melted chocolate, you will succeed. 

ingredients gathered

ingredients:


220g. pitted soft prunes, diced

2 tbs butter or coconut oil

150g. nut butter - I used a mix of hazelnut, cashew and almond

50 mLs plain vegetable oil like peanut or rapeseed

1 tbs honey

(big) pinch of cayenne pepper

150g. pepitas, lightly toasted

20g. cacao nibs or chocolate bits

25g. puffed quinoa - or quinoa flakes or puffed amaranth or even rice bubbles!

90g. brazil nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

200g. dark chocolate, melted

a large pinch of smoked sea salt

for the topping:

100g. dark, milk or white chocolate, melted

1/2-1 tbs smoked sea salt flakes


Method:


Mash the prunes forcefully with a fork in a bowl till well-squished (or cheat and throw the prunes into a small food processor)

Add the prunes and the butter (or coconut oil) to a large saucepan over a medium-low heat

Stir in the nut butter, the veg. oil, the honey and the cayenne pepper

Grasp your wooden spoon and mash it all together

Keep stirring over a low heat for 2-3 minutes till beautifully squishy

Remove from the heat and add the pepitas, cacao nibs, the puffed quinoa, the brazil nuts, the melted dark chocolate and the pinch of smoked sea salt

Mix with gusto!

Take your lined loaf tin or baking tray and press the mixture very firmly into the tin with a big spoon or your hands

Melt the 100g. of chocolate and drizzle over the mixture

Sprinkle on the salt flakes and whack into the fridge for a few hours

Take it out of the tin and cut into nice sized bars



Notes:


I chopped the prunes up with kitchen scissors - so much easier

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second bursts

I started off with a loaf tin, and ended up putting it into a tray (30cm x 20cm) the next morning when I realised that it hadn't set.  I then melted the 200g. of chocolate and stirred it in to the crumbly mix

Back it went into the fridge with a piece of baking paper and a couple of heavy tins on top - you don't have to do this!  Basically just follow the recipe and you won't have to worry about all the other stuff that I did to fix it up:=) 

mash the prunes with a fork

mash up the prunes and butter in a large saucepan

yep looking murky at this stage   

seeds and nuts in

mixing in the melted chocolate

press down very firmly with a spoon or hands 

You caught me out - yep I licked the spoon.  And somehow I seem to have chocolate all over my fingers too.  How did that happen?:=)

chocolate and smoked salt ready to go on top 

looking tasty and kinda pretty

slice it up as big or small as you like 

deliciously salty, chocolatey and nutty 

If you are feeling brave, try making it without the 200g. chocolate to bind it together.  I'd love to know how you go!

my seedy doodle

Nordic-Style Chocolate Potato Cake

I think the Nordic food rage is still raging, so I have tried another recipe from The New Nordic by Simon Bajada.  This one is a chocolate and potato cake; unlike my fave Belinda Jeffery version which only has 60g. of raw, grated potato, this one has 400g. of cooked and mashed veg.  Phew!  Talk about interesting. 

I have long been a fan of vegetables in cakes; witness my attempt at a choc/zucchini cake when I was a poor student living in a share house.  I didn't have a car, and the shops were not close, so I "borrowed" a cup of extra virgin olive oil from a house mate. Little did I know how expensive it was (for a poor student like him-or me), and how far he had ridden on his push-bike to get it.  Ooooh, he was not a happy camper.


Serves 6-8:


ingredients:


400g. of potatoes, unpeeled

2 very large eggs (I used 66g. eggs - jumbo)

70g. caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

100g. butter, softened plus extra for greasing the cake tin

4 tbs good quality bitter cocoa powder

25g. breadcrumbs for the cake tin - I zapped some wholemeal bread

2 tbs icing sugar to decorate

200 mls whipping cream to decorate




Method:


Boil or steam the potatoes till tender (10-15 mins), then cool slightly, peel and mash, and put in the fridge to cool!

Place the eggs, caster sugar, baking powder and butter in a large mixing bowl

Whisk for 5 minutes - I used a whisk but you could try electric handbeaters I reckon

Add the cocoa powder and whisk for another minute

Now add the mashed potato and fold in very gently just till the potato disappears into the batter - careful not to overmix or it will get gluggy

Grease a 20 cm tin with butter then tip the breadcrumbs around, and discard the excess

Spoon the thick batter into the tin, and smooth over

Bake at 150C for 35 minutes till a skewer comes out of the middle clean

Let it sit for 10 mins. in the tin to cool

Serve with icing sugar and lots of whipped cream


Notes:

Use a ricer to mash the potatoes if possible; you need this to be very smooth and lump-free

I would suggest adding more sugar than Simon says; perhaps 100-120g. rather than 70g.

Simon says to use unsalted butter but I like the saltiness it gives to the cake

Don't worry if the batter looks curdled after whisking; once the cocoa goes on, it comes together

I found the breadcrumbs gave the cake a slightly odd taste and texture; perhaps use almond meal or just flour after greasing

throw any leftover breadcrumbs in the freezer for next time

ingredients gathered

peel the cooked potatoes

whisk the ingredients together sans cocoa 

mash about to go into the chocolatey batter  

thick and gloopy batter but that's okay  

ready for baking @ 150C for 35 mins.  

I threw some chocolate over the top as well as spreading Macabella paste under the cream     

To be brutally honest, I would not make this cake again.  Not without a lot of tweaks. Our guests - I will call them The Dudes Family - said it was "not bad".  The birthday dude said it needed heaps more sugar.  To me, it tasted like potatoey chocolate.  Mr P. said it was okay, and he couldn't taste the veg. part.  I think it needs less potato, more sugar and lots of chocolate ganache dripping over the side.  I did spread some Macabella over the top to add a more chocolate/sweet taste under that thick layer of cream.

This is not a bad cake; it just isn't a great cake and I wonder if the author had actually done much taste testing.  I think it is meant to be a bit savoury and a bit unusual; he says it is in the Nordic style rather than a true Nordic recipe.  Give it a go and see what you think.:=) 

my baby potato doodle  

Asparagus Forced In French Rolls

I had such fun doing my History of Royal Food course.  And heaps of fun making and eating the weird dishes which were part of it.  I didn't make this one at the time as the only asparagus you could then get was from Mexico.  Mexico!?  So I waited till Spring and now I have been able to use good old Aussie asparagus.  I know it sounds weird and looks kinda weird, but amazingly it was pretty delicious.  

looks cute huh?

I don't think I had ever eaten asparagus till I was an adult, and probably even then only from a jar.  My parents were Ye typical British stock kind of eaters - meat and 2 veg, boiled to death.  And yet I remember eating tinned lambs' tongues; our Nanna used to give mum weird care packages which included whole coconuts and pink musk sticks. Oh yeah, not strange at all. :=)  
  

This is a late Georgian side dish, taken from the Housekeeper's Instructor c. 1800. The intent of this amusing little item was to "subvert Nature and engage the intellect". Phew, and there was I thinking it would just make a great Sunday lunch.



ingredients:


2 bunches of asparagus - about 16 spears

5 x 15cm. French bread sticks - or cut a long baguette into 15cm. lengths

30 - 40g. butter 

2 tsp of olive oil

454 mls of cream

3 large egg yolks, beaten with a fork

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/8 - 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

a few grinds of black pepper 

2 level tsp of cornflour

1 tbs (20mls.) water

1/2 cup parmesan, grated 



Method:


Steam or boil the asparagus till tender

Chop each spear into 4 equal lengths and put aside

Cut out the tops of the bread sticks making sure you leave plenty of the sides - like a little boat

Dig out most of the crumb from the sticks and put aside

Carve out a couple of holes in the tops if you wish to create the "small grass" effect; I only did one as an example

Melt about 10g. of the butter in a frying pan till it sizzles

Place the sticks in the pan and let them go golden

Turn them once or twice so they don't burn

Add the oil and more butter as you go

Once the sticks are golden, put them aside till the custard is ready

Grab a medium saucepan and pour in the cream

Add the beaten egg-yolks and whisk them in

Put onto a low heat and keep whisking till it starts to thicken; don't stop otherwise you risk scrambled eggs

When it is looking thick enough - i.e. it leaves a thick ribbon on the surface, add the salt, nutmeg and pepper

Here is where I added the cornflour slurry as my custard refused to go thick - so stir the cornflour and water together and add to the hot custard.  Mr P. was stirring for me, and he said it went instantly thick.  If your custard looks thick enough to you, leave out the slurry

Now take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheese

Gently add the chopped asparagus into the custard mix

Let it cool slightly

Make (or get hubby to make like I did) some alfoil boats for your sticks

Place the bread into the boats, fill with custard, place the lid on top, squish the alfoil around the base so it is all secure

Bake at 180C for about 10-12 minutes



Notes:


FYI - a regular baguette is around 65 cm.

454mls is an old UK pint of 16 fluid ounces which is used in this recipe (UK pint is now 20 fl. oz.)

Use your fave cheese if you don't have parmesan


Bake the crumbs and any leftover French stick in a 180C oven for a few minutes till dried out, then blitz in a processor.  Whack the crumbs in a freezer bag and bob's your uncle for next time you need bread crumbs

ingredients

steam the asparagus  

cut out the tops of the French sticks and pull out the crumbs   

dig out the holes; a bit like a Zorro mask

fry them in butter and oil

throw in the salt, nutmeg and pepper once the custard has thickened  

stir in the asparagus 

ready to stuff the sticks with custard 

into the alfoil boats for baking  

cheesy, oozy and damn fine

my asparagus doodle 

Original recipe Henderson, Housekeeper’s Instructor, c.1800 Cut a piece out of the crust of the tops of three French rolls, and take out all the crumb; but be careful that the crusts fit again in the places from whence they were taken. Fry the rolls brown in fresh butter; then take a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs beat fine, and a little salt and nutmeg. Stir them well together over a slow fire till it begins to be thick. Have ready a hundred of small grass boiled, and save tops enough to stick the rolls with. Cut the rest of the tops small, put them into the cream, and fill the loaves with them. Before you fry the rolls, make holes thick in the top crusts to stick the grass in. Then lay on the pieces of crust, and stick the grass in, which will make it look as if it were growing. This makes a very handsome side dish at a second course.

Thyme To Dry Those Herbs

Regular readers may remember me bemoaning the plague of possums, bugs, birds - especially bush turkeys - that ravage our garden.  Well, what used to be our garden. Once upon a time, we had a herb and veggie garden full of beautiful tomatoes and herbs swaying in the sultry Brissie sunshine.  The sea breeze that picked up in the afternoon would waft the heavenly aroma of basil and rosemary through the house, but alas no more. The above-mentioned plague of beasties took over!

there is still a tiny rosemary bush in the garden bed - the possums aren't fans?:=)  

So now I buy from markets and stores, or badger friends for their home-grown produce. I used to be one of those naughty people who buy a herb, use a bit and throw the rest away.  But I am more frugal and careful these days, so I chuck soft herbs straight into the freezer, or blitz them into purees, and store in ice cube trays or plastic bags.  


I had a big bunch of left-over thyme this week, and was wondering what to do with it.  I Googled it of course and found this superb method of drying hard herbs in just a couple of minutes.  I was a bit sceptical when I read it, but now I am a convert.  


So first rinse and dry the herb very carefully if needed.  I bought one of those packets that are already washed so I just laid it down on a piece of kitchen paper so it could air after being in the fridge.

  lay it down to dry/air   

Now you just need to give it 30 seconds in the microwave.  And keep doing this till it is dry and crumbly.  Turn it over each time you put it back in the microwave.  You may need to do it for 4-6 bursts so about 2-3 minutes.

after 30 seconds in the microwave  

In the first 30 seconds, it spattered and steamed up a bit so I was worried!  But I took it out and it had already started to dry out.  I ended up giving it 5 bursts of 30 seconds = 2.5 minutes.  I think it was actually ready after 4 bursts but I wanted to be really sure.

all done after 2.5 minutes

The stems were easily stripped of the dry leaves after the 2.5 minutes.  I was amazed to be honest.  I didn't really think it would work but it did.  Throw away the stems and place the leaves in a storage jar.

all done!

Here it is all done, and in the jar to be used over the next few weeks or so.  I am a happy little cook having found this useful way to save herbs.  And I feel so darn virtuous. 

Buttered Eggs - courtesy of Mrs. Charles Darwin (deceased)

creamy, buttery buttered eggs   

I love eggs; who doesn't?  Well vegans I guess.  I was just reading that you can use apple sauce instead of eggs in recipes.  Maybe not when you are scrambling them though :=)  I love brunch dishes too so when I got hold of Mrs. Charles Darwin's Recipe Book, I just couldn't go past this lovely little recipe for buttered eggs.  No worries about cholesterol in the Darwin household my friends.

So basically you take as many eggs as you want, add to cream and butter, and heat over a double boiler till you have a deliciously soft, creamy, luscious eggy delight which you pour over your buttered toast.  Yep, more butter.  Are you still worrying about cholesterol?


Serves 2 generously

ingredients:

5 eggs

for each egg - use 5g. of butter and 1 tbs of cream so I used 25g. butter and 5 tbs of cream

salt and pepper to taste

2 slices of toast per person


Method:

Whisk those lovely eggs till well mixed

Add the salt and pepper and whisk in

Grab a double boiler (or a bowl over a pan of simmering water)

Tip in the butter and cream

Heat very gently till the butter is melted and the mixture is bubbling sweetly round the edges

Pour in your whisked eggs and keep stirring till you have a lovely, smooth consistency - or if you really have to, till it gets well done and rubbery:=)

Spoon over the buttered toast and throw on a handful of chopped herbs if you have them

easy on the bank balance - just a few ingredients    

ready for action  

whisk the eggs

tip the eggs into the warmed butter and cream   

take it off the heat just before it starts to set too firmly  

very delectable  

Tips:

Maybe 2 eggs per person is plenty!  They're very rich, and even Mr P. was getting full. 

You may need to take the bowl/pan off the simmering water every so often so the eggy mix doesn't get too hot.  Just take it off, let it cool while stirring then put back over the water.  Make sure not to let it get too rubbery; it will keep cooking once you lift it off the water


I really enjoyed flipping through Emma's recipes.  They would have had access to their own animals for meat, eggs and milk; thus we see instructions like - "cut up the pig's head and cut off ears, tongue and cheeks".  Her husband Charles (yes he of  'Origin of Species' fame) had a poor digestive system so the recipes had to be for wholesome, family food.  

Emma had a busy houseful of children and servants, so feeding them all well would have been quite a task.  I love her handwritten recipes throughout the book, and the botanical illustrations. Recipes come under headings such as Dairy, Fish, Meat, Puddings etc. There are also sections on Preserves and even a cold cream recipe - as in beauty cream made with spermaceti which is a fatty substance found in the head of a whale.  Mm, don't think I will try that one:=)

A really enjoyable read if you are at all interested in food history.  

Emma Darwin née Wedgwood
  (artist George Richmond-public domain)

     can't you guess?  it's a bowl of eggs!