Served with a side of poached salmon ..
Sprinkled with salt and black pepper, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar..
Simple, effective and delicious!
Dressed:
A #true #Christmas #wreath …ala Tomato, Bocconcini, Basil & spinach salad
Category: Vegetarian
Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake #almostketo
I have been discovering almond flour and coconut flour to make low carb/no carb cakes through lockdown here in Sydney. We’re pretty much out now, but I like them so much I’m going to stick with them .
Not only do they taste great and are much lighter, they are easy to make. This coconut flour chocolate cake is moist and delicious. It’s almost totally carb free and is lactose free.
Here’s a link to BBC Good Food on Health benefits of Coconut Flour.
If you want to be super-conscientious you can use sugar substitutes and no sugar chocolate, I made it using normal caster sugar and real chocolate chips for the ganache. Use the best quality natural cacao powder for the best taste.
Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes
- Ingredients
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 400ml can coconut cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- For ganache: 1/3 can coconut cream, 4 tablespoons or thereabouts of small chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons icing sugar. Additional desiccated coconut for decoration.
Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease a 9 inch baking tin of your choice. I used a small ring cake tin with butter or oil.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together coconut flour, cacao powder, desiccated coconut and baking powder until well mixed.
3. In a seperate bowl whisk together just the eggs and sugar for 1 minute until well combined and sugar has dissolved.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour egg mixture in, then add coconut cream and vanilla. Whisk together all the ingredients to form a smooth, lump free, silky batter. It will seem a bit runnier than normal cake batter but don’t worry about that.
5. Bake in oven for 50 minutes, check to see skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes.
6. Allow to cool completely before icing with ganache.
7. Make ganache by heating coconut cream in small pan over low heat, add chocolate chips stirring to make sure they don’t stick or burn, add icing sugar half a tablespoon at a time, stirring until glossy until adding next heap.
8. Scoop ganache over the cake or use a squeeze bottle if you want to be more precise. Spread evenly, allowing to drip over sides, sprinkle with desiccated coconut.
Store cake in fridge. Just buzz quilled in microwave if you want it moister. Not too long though.
Green beans, #broad beans and #artichoke with #anchovies and tomatoes
A delicious accompaniment to our grilled veal cutlets! Added some sage and parsley…based on BBC Good Food recipe below.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/broad-beans-tomatoes-anchovies
Stuffed #artichokes
Made these last week but added parmesan cheese to the stuffing which was a delicious addition. Used blood orange juice in the mayonaise for an extra zingy flavour plus a lovely pink colour!
Here’s the original recipe, just add 1/2 cup grated parmesan to breadcrumb mixture for a cheesy version and use a blood orange for pinky Mayo. Zesty stuffed artichokes with orange mayonnaise sauce
Roman #Cauliflower? #Broccoli?
Found this beautiful looking vegetable at the EQ markets in Centennial Park, amongst the boring white caulis.
Googled when I got home and discovered it is known as a Roman or Romanesco Cauliflower.
Thanks Wikipedia: Romanesco broccoli (also known as Roman cauliflower, Broccolo Romanesco, Romanesque cauliflower, or simply Romanesco) is an edible flower bud of the species Brassica oleracea. First documented in Italy in the 16th century, it is chartreuse in color, and has a form naturally approximating a fractal. When compared to a traditional cauliflower, it has a firmer texture and delicate, nutty flavor.
Roasted it in the oven and served alongside minty carrots. Delicious nutty flavour and crisp texture, Happily high in vitamins C and K. If you’re lucky enough to find it – make sure you try it!
#Cipollini Onions #agrodolce
I found some cipollini onions at the market on the weekend and they reminded me of a recipe I have always “seen” in Alistair Little’s Italian Kitchen Cookbook…one of my favourite recipe books of all time. But then of course I couldn’t find it!
What are they? According to TheKitchn…”Their name literally means “little onion” in Italian, and indeed they are! Cipollinis are about the size of a golf ball with a slightly flattened appearance. They’re thin-skinned and have translucent white flesh with more residual sugar than your average yellow or white onion.”
But I figure baby onions would be fine with this same treatment and worth it just have the sweet and sour, agrodolce sauce.
So I googled what I could remember and realised that the recipe must be “agrodolce” or Italian sweet and sour …so this is what resulted! A new discovery of deliciousness that will be a new favourite for sure!
Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 5-6 cipollini onions or baby onions
- 1/2 cup of raisins
- Salt and pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoons sugar
Method:
1. Place raisins into bowl and cover with hot water, allow to sit for next 30 minutes. You want the raisins to absorb the water and get close to bursting. This is key to the agrodolce sauce’s success.
2. Meanwhile, peel the onions. Heat the oil in a small pan that fits them all in one layer. Heat oil until hot, add onions, salt and pepper and ….then Cook onions slowly for 10-15 minutes until brown on all sides and tender.
3. Drain raisins (after 30 minutes), add to pan with onions, add sugar, balsamic vinegar and allow to bubble until vinegar evaporates and some of the raisins burst to form a sauce. Onions will caramelise and absorb some of the sauce. I added 2 tablespoons of water to help the process along a bit too.
4. Place directly onto platter and serve alongside grilled vegetables and roast meats. Perfect to have in the fridge so next time I am going ro make double this batch!!