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Chilled Cucumber Soup with Prawns and Dill

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Cool and refreshing cucumber soup with succulent prawns is just perfect for the summer months! Probiotics in both kefir and yoghurt can help maintain regular bowel movements, especially the kefir is a powerhouse of good bacteria for your gut, and support the immune system. The addition of fresh dill also helps stimulate digestion if you struggle with bloating.


2 Lebanese cucumbers, deseeded and grated 1 tbsp Chopped dill fronds 250 g Greek yoghurt 200 g Kefir Sea salt Fresh milled white pepper 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 slice Sandwich bread 1 tbsp Butter 1 clove Garlic, minced 100 g Prawns, cooked and peeled, leaving tails intact

Wash the small Lebanese cucumbers well. Dry and remove the seeds. Finely grate the cucumber using a box grater. You can also cut them into the very small dices.
Wash, dry and finely chop the dill. Mix the Greek yoghurt and kefir in a large bowl. Stir in grated cucumber and chopped dill. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Divide the soup in 2 soup bowls.
Cut the slice of bread into cubes. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-heat. Stir in minced garlic and bread cubes until crusty and golden. Add in prawns and cook briefly.
Top the soup with crusty crountons and prawns. Garnish with more dill fronds if desired.

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Stirfried Lamb Sweetbreads with Garlic and Rosemary

Friday, July 10, 2020

Sweetbreads are the pancreas and thymus glands of veal, lamb and pork. The thymus gland has an elongated shape, while the pancreas is larger and has an oval shape. Both of them are velvety creamy, tender and moist. And unlike many other organ meats, like kidneys or liver, sweetbreads have a rather mild flavour. Traditionally, they are given a seasoned flour coating and fried until golden and crisp. For me, that's overkilling the delicate flavour of sweetbread. So I have opted to quick stirfry them instead. They taste the tenderest and best when they just start to colour all over, about 5 minutes.
Before cooking, it's advisable to soak them in water, or milk in advance to remove impurities, and enable the sinew and membranes to be removed easily. You should also change the water a couple times. To further remove impurities from sweetbreads, you might also want to blanch them shortly and shock in ice water before cooking. This time I skipped the step and didn't taste the difference.

500 g Lamb sweetbreads
1 sprig Fresh rosemary, chopped
1 clove, Garlic, minced
3-4 tbsp Tallow or ghee or olive oil
1 tbsp Sherry vinegar
Hawaiian black lava sea salt
Pink peppercorns, for garnishing
A handful of arugula

Place the lamb sweetbreads in a bowl and cover with cold water. Drain the water and repeat one more time, then fill the bowl again with fresh water, leaving the sweetbreads to soak for an hour, then drain well.
Finely chop rosemary and garlic. Set aside.
Add the tallow to a pan, place over a moderate heat and add the chopped rosemary and garlic. Cook gently for 2 minutes until softened and aromatic. Add the sweetbreads and cook until they just start to colour all over, about 5 minutes. If you prefer them more caramelized and crisp, then continue to cook for a few more minutes.
Once the sweetbreads are cooked to your liking, deglaze the pan with sherry vinegar and season well with black lava salt.
To serve, arrange a bed of arugula salad on the plate. Top with the lamb sweetbreads, then crush some pink peppercorns over. Drizzle some pan sauce over.

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Chilli Honey Prawn Platter with Avocado Whip

Monday, July 06, 2020

Ready in just 15 minutes, this recipe is easy and super-fast yet jam-packed full of layers of delicious flavours.
The sweet and spicy flavours of the honey chili sauce are perfect with the prawns. And the light and creamy avocado whip comes together with just 5 ingredients and complements the whole dish so deliciously. It can be served as a dip or as a sauce. Add your own touches with fresh herbs like coriander, basil or parsley.
I used ready-cooked prawns from ALDI, but you can of course get some raw jumbo prawns and cook yourself.

	Chilli-Honey Sauce	Avocado Whip
250 Cooked prawns Coriander leaves	1/2 Chilli pepper, thinly sliced 2 Garlic cloves, minced 1 Shallot, finely chopped 2-3 tbsp Lemon/lime juice 1 tbsp Honey 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil Salt	2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted 60 g Full fat sour cream (or Greek yogurt) 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice 1 Garlic clove, crushed 1/2 tsp Salt

To make the chilli-honey sauce, in a medium bowl, combine chilli, garlic, shallot, 2 tbsps of lemon/lime juice, honey and oil. Season chilli-honey sauce with salt and more lime juice, if necessary.
To make the whipped avocado crema, in a food processor or blender, process or blend avocado, sour cream, lemon/lime juice, garlic and salt until completely smooth. Spread crema in an even layer over a serving platter.
Coarsely chop 1 tbsp of the coriander. Add to the chilli-honey sauce with the prawns and toss to coat evenly.
Spoon the prawn mixture over the avocado crema on the platter. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander. Drizzle the rest of sauce over.

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Frisée Salad with Blue Cheese, Avocado and Soft-boiled Eggs

Thursday, July 02, 2020

Frisée (pronounced "free-ZAY") is a variation of endive. It has a slightly bitter flavour, similar to radicchio, or Belgian endive, but a lot milder.
This keto friendly, gluten-free, deliciously healthy and different salad is full of flavour and texture and makes a stunning salad starter for any festive occasion or as a light, yet satisfying workday dinner. If you don't find this distinctive curly lettuce in your grocery store, just pick up some salad mixes, like mesclun or your favourite mix of baby greens.
I have added wasabi (Japanese horseradish) for some heat and a bit of garden herbs for the freshness to the homemade mayonnaise. Feel free to use your favourite salad dressing instead.

Salad	Wasabi Herb Mayonnaise
3 Eggs, medium 1/2 head Frisée 50 g Radicchio, thinly sliced 1 Red onion, halved and thinly sliced 1 Avocado 100 g Blue cheese, cubed or crumbled 1-2 Apricot, sliced, optional	3/4 cup Mayonnaise, homemade or storebought 2 tsp Wasabi paste 2 tbsp Fresh herbs, finely chopped (I used a mix of cilantro and basil)

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and fill a small bowl with ice water. Carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes for soft-cooked. Transfer the eggs to the ice water to cool. Carefully peel the eggs. Cut the eggs in half lengthwise.
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. Blend all the ingredients together. Chill until ready for use.
Trim the root end from the frisée and coarsely chop the frisée. Thinly shred the radicchio. Cut the red onion in half and thinly slice. Cut the avocado in half. Remove the pit, scoop out the flesh, and cut the flesh into bite-size pieces.
In a large bowl, toss together the frisée, radicchio, red onion, avocado, and blue cheese. Transfer the salad to individual plates and top with the eggs and apricot slices if using. Serve with wasabi herb mayonnaise.

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Spiced Olive Oil Banana Bread with Hazelnuts

Friday, June 26, 2020

A very easy quick bread to make, healthy and increidly moist thanks to the oilve oil and Greek yoghurt. I flavoured the bread with cardamom, cinnamon and ginger powder, but you can also use your favourite spices, like nutmeg or allspice. Chopped hazelnuts were added for extra crunch, feel free to use other nuts or chocolate. If you want to use honey or maple syrup instead of raw sugar, then reduce the olive oil to 80 ml as honey and maple syrup add a lot of moisture to the batter. This recipe is very versatile and forgiving, so you can easily adapt it to suit your own taste.

180 g All-purpose flour
1/3 tsp Cardamom powder
1/3 tsp Cinnamon powder
1/3 tsp Ginger powder
1 tsp Baking powder
1/3 tsp Salt
100 g Raw sugar
80 g Hazelnuts, chopped

2 Very ripe bananas, mashed
2 Eggs, medium
50 g Greek-style yoghurt, full fat
100 ml Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 175/350FC. Lightly grease a 10cm x 20cm loaf pan and line base and sides with parchment paper.
Sift flour, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, and salt into a bowl with the raw sugar, then add in the chopped hazelnuts.
In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then stir in the eggs, yoghurt and olive oil. Add into the dry ingredients and gently stir together until they're just combined - don't overmix.
Scrape the batter into prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool the loaf in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Slice and enjoy!

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Watermelon Salad with Cucumber and Gorgonzola

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Juicy, sweet watermelon adds a burst of colour and freshness to this simple cucumber and Gorgonzola salad. Enjoy it as an appetizer or pair it along with some burger patties or grilled chicken for a healthy summer feast. Use rich and tangy Feta or milder goat cheese instead if you ain't fance for sharper blue cheese.

	Mint Yoghurt Dressing	Mango Chilli Dressing
1 Organic cucumber 700 g Seedless watermelon, peeled and cut into triangles 80 g Gorgonzola, crumbled Fresh mint and basil leaves	125 g Plain Greek yoghurt, full fat A handful of fresh mint leaves 1 clove Garlic 1 tsp Freshly grated ginger Salt and pepper	1 Sweet ripe mango, peeled and diced 2 Peperoncini / hot chilli peppers 1 tbsp Fresh lime or lemon juice 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp Garlic infused honey or pure honey A handful of fresh basil leaves Salt and pepper

To make mint yoghurt dressing. Blend yoghurt, mint leaves, garlic and ginger in a blender until well combined. Transfer to a bowl and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge until ready for use.
To make spicy mango dressing. Blend together the mango, chilli peppers, lime juice, ACV, honey and basil leaves until smooth and combined. Season with salt and pepper. Store in the fridge until ready for use.
Use a vegetable spiraliser to cut cucumber into noodle-like strands. Place a small bowl of either dressing in the centre of a large round serving platter. Place watermelon and cucumber noodles around dressing on the platter. Sprinkle with blue cheese and some fresh mint or basil leaves. Serve immediately.

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Detox Nettle Green Tea Pullman Loaf

Monday, June 15, 2020

Braided Loaf with the same dough

Unlike the classic Pullman bread (or pain de mie in French), this butter-enriched Pullman bread with detox nettle green tea and raisins is soft, tender and fluffy with a crisp golden crust. This bread is rather easy to make, but only takes slightly longer because I let the dough rise (2nd rise) in the fridge overnight so the flavours develop. This recipe is good enough for a 13x4-inch pullman pan, but mine is slightly smaller, so I weighted 750 grams of dough for the pan and use the rest to make 2 dinner buns. I have also baked a braided loaf with the same dough, and a lot more raisins.

12 g Fresh yeast
200 ml Whole milk, lukewarm
480 g Plain flour
6 g Detox nettle green tea (3 tea bags)
3 tbsp Raw sugar
2/3 tsp Sea salt
2 Eggs (medium)
80 g Unsalted butter, softened and cubed
80 g Raisins, roughly chopped (next time I will use 150g)

Crumble the fresh yeast in the lukewarm milk in a bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes. Place plain flour, detox tea, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer with a dough hook.
Add in eggs and milk-yeast mixture. Mix on low for 3 minutes. Increase the speed to the second level and mix for about four minutes more. Next, add the softened butter one cube at a time. Once all the butter is in, knead again for 2 minutes until smooth and elastic and soft. Add in raisins and knead briefly.
Remove the dough from the mixer and shape into a smooth ball. Lightly grease the mixer bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in volume. Turn out and punch the dough down. Cover again and let rise in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
Next day, remove the dough from the fridge and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently knead the dough so it became smooth and soft. At this point, I divide the dough into 750 grams for the pullman (26x12x9cm) and the rest I shaped into 2 dinner buns. I have also baked a braided loaf with the same dough, but a lot more raisins.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle, and roll it up just like you do the jelly roll and pinch the seam together. Place into the greased pullman pan with seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, but not more than 18 hours. The dough should reaches about 1/2 inch from the top of the pan. Next day remove the bread from the fridge and allow it to warm to room temperature while waiting for your oven to preheat. (Or you can just leave the bread in a warm place to proof until it reaches about 1/2 inch from the top of the pan. This could take from 90-120 minutes.) Cover the loaf with the pan lid.
Preheat the oven 190/375F. Place the loaf pan on the center rack in the hot oven. Bake the pullman sandwich loaf for about 40 minutes until nicely golden brown. Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Allow the bread rest for at least an hour before you cut into slices.