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Chocolate Stars with Pink Peppercorns

Thursday, November 08, 2012

These chocolate star cookies are special for the holidays or any time you crave sweets. The cookie dough was prepared with spelt flour, cocoa, and marzipan, and formed into stars. They are very tasty and pretty enough, thanks to the white chocolate coating and pink peppercorns, to decorate the X’mas tree or give away as the presents.

Chocolate Stars with Pink Peppercorns

adapted from Küchen Götter

310 g Refined spelt flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
50 g Cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
100 g Powdered sugar
1/5 tsp Nutmeg powder
1 tsp Orange zest
150 g Unsalted butter, diced
50 g Marzipan paste, diced
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla extract
200 g White couverture
4 tbsp Pink peppercorns

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together spelt flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, powdered sugar, nutmeg and orange zest. Add in diced butter, marzipan paste, egg and vanilla extract. Mix until you have a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a disc, then wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.
Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F, fan-forced. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it between two pieces of plastic film. Roll it out to 3mm thick. Cut with a 5cm star cookies cutter or any shape you prefer. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes. Remove and cool on pans.
Meanwhile, cut the white couverture into smaller pieces and place them in a heat proof bowl. Set the bowl on a pot of hot water. After 10 minutes, give the chocolate a good stir until completely smooth. Dip the cookies with white chocolate and garnish with pink peppercorns. Place coated cookies on wax paper and let stand until firm.

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Apple, Ginger and Treacle Tart

Monday, November 05, 2012

Treacle tart, a classic English dessert, is sweet, comforting and moreish. It is made using shortcrust pastry, with a decadent filling made of golden syrup, also known as light treacle, breadcrumbs, and lemon juice. The tart is normally served hot or warm with fresh cream or custard. The use of lemon and apple cuts through the sweetness and turns this into an unforgettable treat.
The word treacle refers to all forms of syrups made during sugar refining, from golden syrup through to black molasses. I have used walnuts to replace half of the breadcrumbs and added 2 tablespoons of crystallized ginger for a nutty and spicy filling.

Apple, Ginger and Treacle Tart

adapted from Food, Fork and Good and Taste

Crust	Filling
150 g Wholegrain spelt flour 100 g Walnuts, ground 40 g Icing sugar, sifted 1/3 tsp Salt 120 g Butter, cut into small pieces and slightly softened 1 Egg	100 g Buckwheat bread 100 g Walnuts, ground 2 tbsp Crystallized ginger, finely chopped 50 g Raw sugar 350g Homemade invert sugar syrup or golden syrup 100 g Butter 50 g Palm sugar 1 tbsp Lemon juice 2 tbsp Coconut cream 1 tbsp Homemade vanilla extract 1/2 tsp Nutmeg 2-3 Pink lady apples, peeled and cut into wedges 2 tbsp Almonds, chopped, optional

To make the pastry, mix the spelt flour, ground walnut, icing sugar, salt and butter to a crumb-like consistency. Add the egg and, if necessary, a tiny drop of water to bring the dough together. Shape dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour.
Heat the oven to 190C/375F. Roll out the dough thinly on a lightly floured surface and line the base and sides of a 28 cm/11 inch tart tin. Trim the excess, line with baking parchment and dried beans, and bake for 15 minutes until starting to colour. Carefully remove the paper and beans, then bake for a further 10 minutes until pastry is golden. Cool.
In a food processor, blend together the buckwheat bread, walnuts, chopped crystallized ginger and raw sugar until fine breadcrumbs form. Set aside.
Place invert sugar syrup, butter, palm sugar, lemon juice, coconut cream, vanilla extract and nutmeg in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and well-blended. Whisk in prepared breadcrumbs until combined. Pour into tart shell.
Quarter apples, core and cut each into 2-3 wedges. Starting at the edge of the tart, arrange apple wedges in concentric circles. Scatter the chopped almonds over if using.Bake for 35 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature dusted with extra icing sugar or whipped cream.

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Black Radish Salad with Truffle Vinaigrette

Friday, November 02, 2012

With the black rough peel and pungent white flesh, black radish, aka black Spanish, can be grated or sliced, eaten raw or cooked. They are a good source of vitamin C and very low in calories.

2 Black radishes
10 Grape tomatoes, cut into half
1 tbsp White balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Spring onion, cut into thin rings
2-3 tbsp Truffle oil
Fine sea salt and white pepper to taste
Rose peppercorns

Rinse and dry the black radishes. Using a grater with small holes, shred one radish. Cut another radish into thin half-mooned slices.
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the white balsamic and truffle oil until combined. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the grated radishes, grape tomatoes and spring onion rings to the truffle vinaigrette. Toss so that all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Arrange the sliced radishes on a serving plate, and mound the grated radish in the center. Crumble rose peppercorns over and serve.

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Black Rice Bread with Peanuts

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

A nutty, mild sweet loaf made with a mix of wholegrain spelt and bread flours. Thanks to the black venus rice and roasted peanuts, this light-textured everyday bread is exquisitely nutty, nicely moist, distinctly delicious and makes a nice change from a plain sandwich loaf.

200 g Wholegrain spelt flour
220 Bread flour
8 g Dried yeast
190 ml Milk, lukewarm
40 ml Olive oil
1 Egg
30 g Raw sugar
6 g Sea salt
150 g Cooked black rice
120 g Roasted and unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped

In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the spelt flour, bread flour, and dried yeast. Make a well in the center, add in milk, olive oil, egg, raw sugar and sea salt. Stir at first on low speed until a rough dough begins to form. Increase the speed and beat until the dough is smooth and elastic. Now adjust the speed to low again, add in cooked black rice and chopped peanuts. Stir until they are well-distributed throughout the dough.
Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Return it to the mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel leave it in a warm place for an hour or until it’s doubled in size. Divide the dough into 3 portions and shape each into a round. You can also divide the dough 12-15 portions and make them into dinner buns.
Place 3 round balls into a parchment paper lined loaf pan. Cover again with the towel and set aside in a warm place for a 50 minutes to rise.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. When the loaf has risen, brush the surface with water and bake for 30 minutes until nicely golden brown.

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Marinated Fig and Parmesan Salad

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Fresh sweet figs marinated in mild tangy balsamic marinade contrast with powerful pungent shaved Parmesan in this elegant salad adapted from Tom Kime via BBC Good Food.

8 Ripe figs, stalks trimmed
4 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Fresh thyme, chopped
Parmesan shaves
50 g Arugula leaves

Cut each fig lengthways into four wedges. Make a marinade by whisking the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste.
Stand the fig wedges up in the middle of a large shallow serving dish, keeping them close together. Scatter the lemon zest and thyme on top, then drizzle with the marinade. Leave to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
To serve, lightly torn arugula leaves round the figs, scatter with Parmesan shaves, and drizzle with a little olive oil.

I am sending this to October Your Best Recipe.

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Black Venus Rice Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pistachios

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Black Venus Rice is a medium-grain rice with a dark purple colour and a mild, nutty taste that requires slightly longer cooking time than traditional white rice. This black rice, with Chinese roots and modern Italian applications, is also know as "forbidden rice" or "emperor’s rice".
With a mix of luscious textures, rich flavours and bright colours, this salad makes for a delicious and nutritious lunch.

300 g Sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 tbsp Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
200 g Black Venus rice
350 ml Water
2 Scallions, chopped (or parsley)
1 handful Pistachios
3 tbsp White balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Orange juice
2 tbsp Argan oil
Diced mango, optional

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Toss the diced sweet potatoes, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss well and place them in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes until they are fork tender.
Bring black rice and water to a boil in a sauce pot on high heat. Season lightly with salt. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
Add white balsamic, argan oil, and orange juice in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Mix the rice, roasted sweet potatoes, chopped scallions, pistachios, diced mango if using and dressing. Toss gently to combine. Taste to season.

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Pumpkin Puree layered with Pepita Pesto

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Silky puree of roasted hokkaido pumpkin flavoured with coconut milk and lemon juice layered with pepita pesto with lemon balm and parsley that will leave your picky family members begging for more. Indulge yourself, family and friends with this light and wonderful seasonal appetizer!

800 g Hokkaido pumpkin
150 ml Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
40 g Pepitas, toasted
1 cup Lemon balm leaves
1 cup Flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 clove Garlic
25 g Parmesan, grated
100 ml Coconut cream
2 tbsp Lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Quarter the hokkaido pumpkin. Remove the seeds and place them, cut side down, in a baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in 1 cup of water and wrap with a large piece of tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
Toast pepitas in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden in spots and puffed, about 4 minutes.
Place lemon balm, parsley, pepitas, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and salt in food processor. Cover and process just until smooth. Gradually add in olive oil with machine running. Process until well blended and smooth.
Allow the pumpkin to cool 10 minutes. Then, scoop out the cooked pulp and discard the skins. Puree the pumpkin pulp in a blender with coconut cream and lemon juice until smooth. Layer the pumpkin puree with pesto in glasses.