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Pearled Spelt Zucchini Salad with Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Enjoy the lively colours of late summer with this tasty salad full of healthy nutrients combining the sweet nutty little pearled spelt (grains of spelt with the outer husk removed), with zucchini, cranberries, then tossed with a tangy sundried tomato vinaigrette. If you can’t find polished spelt, use pearled barley instead.

Salad	Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette
180 g Organic pearled spelt 700 ml Water 150 g Zucchini, diced 2 tbsp Dried cranberries 3 tbsp Fresh parsley, chopped 1/2 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp Freshly mulled black pepper	10 Oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and diced 70 ml Balsamic vinegar 1 clove Garlic, finely minced 70 ml Olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp Fresh parsley, chopped

In a saucepan, add in pearled spelt and water. Bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour. Drain.
Whisk together diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and minced garlic. Add olive oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped parsley.
Rinse, dry and dice zucchini. Combine drained pearled spelt, diced zucchini, dried cranberries, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Pour the vinaigrette into the salad. Toss well.

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Red Currant Banana Tart

Sunday, August 12, 2012

When I first saw the ‘blueberry banana tart recipe’ on Roxana’s Home Baking, I knew for sure I had to make it. However, I have gently tweaked the recipe to my convenience and to suit my husbands taste.
The bright colour and tart flavour of these delicate red currants are harmoniously balanced by honey, bananas, almonds, and nutty spelt.

150 g Wholegrain spelt flour
100 g Almonds, ground
50 g Brown sugar
1/3 tsp Salt
120 g Butter, cut into small pieces and slightly softened
1 Egg yolk
2 tbsp Cold water
350 g Fresh red currants
2 Bananas
3 tbsp Honey
Blueberries and mint leaves to garnish

Place the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well and add in butter, egg yolk and cold water. Using your fingertips, mix until it forms a smooth pastry dough. Roll it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.
Grease a 11-inch tart pan with a little butter and sprinkle with a little flour. Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to a circle, 1/8 inch / 3 mm thick, and use to line the prepared tart pan. Cover with a plastic film and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Fill the crust with red currants, then top with banana slices, and drizzle with honey. Bake for about 30 minutes. Garnish, if desired, with blueberries and mint leaves. Cool slightly before slicing.

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Rolled Spelt Flakes Cheddar Crackers

Thursday, August 09, 2012

These crackers are unique rolled spelt crackers with cheesy and nutty flavours. They go well with a yogurt dip and delicious with soups too. Rolled spelt can be replaced with old-fashioned rolled oats.

Rolled Spelt Flakes Cheddar Crackers

adapted from Food and Wine

Cracker	Egg Wash
45 g Rolled spelt flakes 60 ml Milk 90 g Refined spelt flour 1/4 tsp Baking powder 1/4 tsp Salt 100 g Cheddar, shredded 30 g Cold butter, cut into small pieces 1 Large egg, lightly beaten	1 Egg yolk 1 tbsp Milk

Combine rolled spelt flakes and milk in a bowl. Let stand 5 minutes until rolled spelt flakes soften slightly.
Whisk together refined spelt flour, baking powder and salt until blended. With your fingers, rub in cheese and cold butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
Add the egg into the softened spelt flakes, then add into the cheese mixture. Mix until a dough forms. Scrape the dough onto a large sheet of plastic film and gently knead a few times until thoroughly blended. Pat into a round and wrap it up. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Work with half of dough at a time. On a lightly floured work surface, cover the dough with a plastic film. Roll out to 1/8-inch / 3 mm thick. Quickly cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares or stamp out different shapes. Place them on the prepared baking sheets. Chill until the rounds are firm, about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Whisk the egg yolk and milk together. Lightly brush the crackers with the egg wash. Bake for about 15 minutes until the crackers are golden brown.

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Quark Dip with Chive and Shallot

Sunday, August 05, 2012

The light, tangy flavour of German fresh cheese is complemented by chives, shallot fritters and minced garlic for this healthy and tasty dip. It is perfect with crunchy vegetable sticks, crisp baked potatoes, and grilled meat. It is even nice as a spread on a hearty rye bread.

250 g Low fat Quark (German fresh cheese)
70 ml Milk
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp White wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp Shallot fritters
A handful of chives, chopped

Stir Quark, milk, minced garlic and white wine vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Add in shallot fritters and chopped chives. Stir until combined. Garnish with more fritters and chives if desired.

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Plum Spelt Crumble Cake

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

In this delicious summer coffee cake, juicy, sweet and tangy plum halves are embedded in a buttery spelt crust and covered with a crunchy crumble topping. If you can’t get spelt, use wheat flour instead.

Plum Spelt Crumble Cake

adapted from essen und trinken

100 g Wholegrain spelt flour
200 g Refined spelt pastry flour
1 tsp Baking powder
2/3 tsp Cinnamon powder
100 g Sugar
Pinch of salt
200 g Butter, diced
1 Egg yolk
800 g Plums
2 tbsp Almonds, toasted and ground

Place spelt flours, baking powder, cinnamon powder, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add in diced butter and egg yolk. With a hand-held mixer, stir until well combined.
Press 2/3 of the dough onto a 8 to 10-inch springform pan lined with parchment paper. Wrap the pan and the rest of dough separately with plastic film. Chill for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, wash and dry the plums. Cut them into halves and remove the stones. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
Prick dough thoroughly with a fork. Sprinkle the ground almonds over, then place the plum halves, cut side up, onto the pan. Crumble the rest of dough on the top of the plums. Bake in the center of the hot oven for about 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve, dust with powdered sugar or with ice cream.

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Bulgur Whole Wheat Bread

Sunday, July 29, 2012

This is an easy everyday bread made with a mix of coarse bulgur, wholewheat and all purpose flours. The bread has a softer, springy texture and a mellow, slightly sweet taste from nutty bulgur and honey. It is excellent for sandwiches, or toast.
Bulgur, a Middle Eastern staple made from precooked wheat berries, has a wonderful nutty flavour and a lighter texture than cracked wheat made from raw wheat berries.


50 g Bulgur 85 ml Boiling water 390 g Whole wheat flour 200 g All purpose flour 2 tbsp Wheat germ 8 g Table salt 20 g Fresh yeast 420 ml Water, lukewarm 80 g Honey 4 tbsp Olive oil

Place bulgur in a large bowl. Add in the boiling water. Set aside to soak for an hour until tender. Line two loaf pans with parchment paper.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, stir together the flours, wheat germ, and table salt. Crumble the fresh yeast over.
Stir water, honey, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the puffed bulgur. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix at first at slow speed for 4 minutes or until the dough comes together then increase the speed and stir until the dough has become smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit oil. Return the dough to bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth or plastic wrap, and let dough rise for about an hour or until doubled in size. Punch down, and divide the dough into three portions. Round up each portion of dough. Cover them with a kitchen towel and rest for 10 minutes.
Deflate the dough ball. Shape two of them into balls and one into a log. Place two dough balls in the larger pan, and the log into the smaller pan, then brush the tops with olive oil and dust with some whole wheat flour. Cover and let rise 1-2 hours until doubled in volume.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Cut an 1/2 inch deep slash down the length of the loaves. Bake in the center of the hot oven for about 40-50 minutes until nicely brown. Cool in the pans on a rack for 5 minutes. Turn out and cool.

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Wheat Berry Salad with Watermelon

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

A delicious, light yet filling salad recipe of chewy, subtle nutty wheat berries and juicy watermelon tossed with a simple tangy raspberry vinaigrette.
Wheat berries are high in fiber, low in calories and packed with vitamins and minerals. and are as easy as rice to prepare — perfect for a meal any time of year. You can purchase wholewheat berries at your local whole foods market or specialty food store.

50 g Wheat berries
300 ml Water
500 g Watermelon
Flat parsley leaves
Olive herb needles
2-3 tbsp Raspberry vinegar
1 tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Cayenne pepper to taste

Combine wheat berries and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until tender, about 50 minutes. Drain and let cool.
Cut the flesh from the watermelon and cut into bite size pieces, removing and discarding the seeds, and add into the wheat berries together with parsley leaves and olive herb needles.
In a small bowl, combine raspberry vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper, and whisk until salt is dissolved. Whisk in the olive oil until well blended. Pour the dressing over the wheat berry mixture and toss gently until everything is coated and evenly mixed.

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Banana Rolled Spelt Cookies with Fresh Stevia Leaves

Sunday, July 22, 2012

These banana cookies are free of sugar and so healthy that you can even enjoy them with a glass of milk as the breakfast. Feel free to replace rolled spelt flakes with old fashioned oats and fresh stevia leaves with other sugar substitutes or honey.

3 Overripe bananas
240 g Rolled spelt flakes
120 ml Skim milk
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Peanut butter
10 Fresh stevia leaves, chopped

Preheat the oven 160C/320F, fan forced. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mash overripe bananas and mix with rolled spelt flakes, skim milk, egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Fold in chopped fresh stevia leaves.
Place heaping tablespoon-sized batter onto the prepared baking sheets and cook for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Makes about 2 dozen of cookies.

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Lemon Thyme Spelt Bars

Thursday, July 19, 2012

These lemon bars, adapted from Giada De Laurentiis via foodnetwork, are more of a shortbread with a thin lemon glaze. They don’t have the same texture as a lemon bar.

Bars	Glaze
130 Refined spelt flour 2-3 tbsp Fresh lemon thyme leaves, chopped 1/2 tsp Fine sea salt 120 g Unsalted butter, at room temperature 60 g Powdered sugar 2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp Pure vanilla extract	2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice 70 g Powdered sugar

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 165C/325F. Line an 8-inch baking tray with parchment paper.
In a small bowl combine flour, lemon-thyme and salt. Set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together softened butter and powdered sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.
Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Using damp fingers, press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes until golden. Cool for 30 minutes.
Whisk the lemon juice and powdered sugar together for the glaze in a medium bowl until smooth. Spoon the glaze over the cooled crust. Allow the glaze to harden, at room temperature, for at least 1 hour.
Lift the parchment paper to remove the crust from the pan. Cut into the bars and arrange on a serving platter or store airtight in a plastic container at room temperature.

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Fig Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Monday, July 16, 2012

This simple yet delicious fig salad incorporates with all wonderful flavours of the saltiness of Parmesan, the sour tang of vibrant red currants and the sweetness of figs and balsamic reduction.

60 ml Balsamic vinegar
1/3 head Lollo rosso lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
2-3 Ripe figs, cut into wedges
2 tbsp Parmesan, shaved
1 handful Red currants
1-2 tbsp Argan oil
Salt and freshly mulled black peppercorns

Heat a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add in balsamic vinegar and reduce for about 5 minutes until thick and syrupy.
In a salad bowl, combine lollo rosso lettuce, figs, shaved Parmesan, red currants and argan oil. Divide between two serving plates and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Season with salt and pepper to taste.