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Easy Almond Coconut Florentine

Thursday, December 02, 2021

Chewy, nutty and buttery...these classic Florentine cookies are filled with almonds, desiccated coconut flakes, dried cranberries and a caramel. They are baked until golden and crisp with a slightly chewy center. Enjoy yourself or give as a homemade gift.

100 g Butter
70 g Sugar
50 g Honey
2 tbsp White spelt flour
50 g Desiccated coconut flakes
50 g Blanched almond sticks
50 g Dried cranberries, chopped
125 g Dark chocolate couverture

Melt the butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring frequently.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour then add the coconut flakes, almond sticks and chopped cranberries.
Heat oven to 190C/ 375F. Divide the mixture into 16 silicon muffin cups. Bake for 10 minutes until golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes until firm. Cool completely.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering saucepan of water. Turn the florentines over on the wire rack. Dip the bases of the cookies in the chocolate, then sit them upside down on a tray until set. If you like, use a fork to draw wavy lines across the chocolate when the chocolate is firm enough to hold its shape. Leave to set and then store in an airtight container.

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Baked Stuffed Onions with Ras El Hanout Chicken

Monday, November 29, 2021

Ras el hanout is a spice blend from North Africa, where it is used heavily in Moroccan cooking. This Moroccan spice blend is full of warm spices (like paprika, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cayenne and mace, etc.) that gives the dish a unique aroma and exotic, robust, but slightly sweet flavour. If you don't have ras el hanout, garam masala or curry would work too. Or just use your favourite seasonings.

6 Yellow onions
250 g Carrots
1 tbsp Olive oil (plus more for drizzling)
150 ml Chicken stock
1 tbsp Parsley, chopped (plus more for garnishing)
250 g Chicken mince
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 tsp Fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 tsp Ras el hanout
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut 1/2-inch slice from top of each onion and trim small amount from bottom end so onion stands upright. Peel away the outer skin. Using a melon baller or teaspoon, scoop out the insides of the onions, leaving two layers intact. Don't worry if you make a hole in the bottom.
Set aside the hollowed out onions, and coarsely chop the scooped out pieces. Peel and slice the carrots. Heat the olive oil and chopped onions in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and have a glossy look. Remove half of them and place in a bowl. Set aside to cool briefly.
Add the sliced carrots to the skillet with the remaining onions. Cook for a few more minutes. Pour in chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat until carrots are soft. Puree the carrot-onion-mixture until smooth. Stir in chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce into a casserole dish. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Add chicken mince into the bowl with onions. Stir in the garlic, ginger and ras el hanout. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide the filling between 6 hollowed onions and place them on the top of the carrot sauce. Drizzle the onions with a little of olive oil. Bake in the middle of hot oven for 40-45 minutes, or until onions are soft and cooked, and the stuffing has turned golden brown on top.

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Asian-inspired Cabbage Salad

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Quick and easy, this Asian-inspired flavourful cabbage salad with radicchio, apple, fresh herbs and roasted salted peanuts is the ultimate throw-together feel-good salad. You can team the salad with some pork chop, or grilled chicken to create a super speedy and family friendly meal.


800 g Cabbage (Napa, savoy or white), finely shredded 1/2 Radicchio or red cabbage, finely shredded 1 Green apple, finely shredded 10 g Cilantro or flat parsley, chopped 1-2 Spring onions, chopped 75 g Roasted salted peanuts, chopped	1 clove Garlic 20 g Ginger root, peeled and chopped 120 g Peanut butter 5 tbsp Sesame oil 5 tbsp Soya sauce 4 tbsp Rice vinegar 2 tbsp Sriracha sauce 2 tbsp Coconut sugar 2 tbsp Water

Place all the ingredients for the dressing in the cup of immersion blender. Process until everything is smooth and creamy.
Finely shred the cabbage, radicchio and green apple. Chop the herbs, and peanuts.
Add shredded cabbage, radicchio, chopped herbs and peanuts in a large salad bowl. Add in half of the dressing and toss everything together.

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Easy Curry Carrot Bread

Monday, November 22, 2021

A lovely yeast-leavened carrot bread boule made with organic bread flour, finely grated carrots and honey sweetened carrot juice. The unexpected use of curry powder and honey sweetened carrot juice give this bread a beautiful golden colour, and a warming, earthy and mildly sweet flavour that is perfect for any topping, as well as a nutritional boost. I spread it liberally with schmaltz, freshly milled black pepper and arugula. You can use butter instead.

500 g Organic bread flour
20 g Fresh yeast, crumbled (or 10 g active dried yeast)
2 tbsp Curry powder
1 tsp Sea salt
200 g Organic carrots, finely grated
210 ml Honey sweetened carrot juice (or water)
1 tbsp Olive oil

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together the flour, crumbled yeast, curry powder and salt. Add in finely grated carrots and carrot juice. Mix at slow speed until the ingredients come together, then increase the speed and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic, 7-9 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean towel and set aside at room-temperature for 45 minutes until double in size.
Gently press down the dough and shape the dough into a tight ball. Place it in a parchment-lined baking tray and brush with the olive oil. Dust the bread with a little flour.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Use a sharp knife, razor blade, or bread lame to quickly score the surface of the boule. I did a common "tic-tac-toe" pattern, but a simple cross will be great too.
Bake in the middle of hot oven for 50-60 minutes until crusty, golden and sound hollow when done. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

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6-Week Long Maturing Spelt Gingerbread Loaf

Friday, November 19, 2021

Nothing spreads the holiday spirit like a good homemade gingerbread loaf. This particular gingerbread is well-flavoured and incredibly delicious due to the 6-week long maturing process and the generous use of homemade spice blend. For a loaf with a soft crust and tender crumb, cover the gingerbread with a few slices of bread or fruit (I used clementines) for a couple of days before slicing. Glaze the gingerbread loaf with a simple lemon icing or chocolate ganache with some chopped nuts or just serve it with some whipped cream and some stewed plums for a festive brunch or try as a teatime snack slathered with butter.

Gingerbread Spice Blend	Gingerbread
2 tbsp Allspice, ground 2 tbsp Cinnamon, ground 2 tbsp Ginger, ground 1 tbsp Clove, ground 1 tbsp Nutmeg, ground A large pinch of black pepper	125 ml of Honey (or molasses) 100 g Coconut sugar (or raw brown sugar) 60 g Butter 3/4 tsp Baking soda 60 ml Milk 250 g White spelt flour 20 g Gingerbread spice blend 1 Medium egg

Combine all the ingredients for the spice blend in a jar. You don't need all the spices for the recipe. So half the recipe if you prefer.
6 weeks before Christmas: Gently melt the honey, coconut sugar and butter in a saucepan. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Set aside to cool for a bit. Add soda to the milk and mix. Whisk together the spelt flour and gingerbread spice, soda with milk, egg and cooled honey mixture. Mix well. Scrape the thick batter into a 20cm loaf pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge, undisturbed, for 5 weeks.
After 5 weeks: Preheat the oven to 170C/340F. Bake the loaf for about 50-60 minutes until nicely browned. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out. Wrap the loaf with a large piece of tin foil. Set aside at room-temperature for a couple of days or up to a week before serving.
If the gingerbread is hard, place a few slices of bread/apples/clementines on the loaf, then wrap with tin foil. They will help make the loaf tender and soft (change the bread/fruit each day with fresh ones). When the loaf is tender, glaze the gingerbread with chocolate ganache and sprinkle with some chopped nuts over, or simply dust the loaf with some powdered sugar and enjoy!