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Buckwheat chocolate cake (gf) and unfettered ambitions
My latest goal in life is to photograph Hugo and Java together, at the same time, in the same place and, if at all possible, sitting still. Never let it be said that I lack ambition. I recently told Hugo — well asked really; Hugo isn’t the sort of dog you order about — to sit while I took a photo of him. Since then, the moment he catches a glimpse of a camera lens he sits and tilts his head just enough to do his profile justice. I think he may be the reincarnation of one of Pavlov’s dogs. Java, on the other hand, not so much. Once she’s outside, under no circumstances does she ‘do’ sitting. Or even standing still. So I have one unnaturally static dog pouting into the camera and flaunting his best side like a runway model who’s just tossed her cookies, and the other who is nothing but a distant white blur. I have a feeling that I set the bar pretty high for myself, because so far all I’ve managed are these: The Pout and The Blur.
This cake, on the other hand, was a great success. Inspired from a David Lobowitz recipe, it really is one of the lightest, most delicious chocolate cakes ever…
Ingredients (10 servings)
170g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa)
115g coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (optional)
4 eggs, separated
100g cane sugar
100ml plain yoghurt
70g ground almonds (you could substitute ground hazelnuts)
40g buckwheat flour
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and prepare a medium-sized loaf tin. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil until smooth and add the vanilla extract and rum. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and yogurt until light and smooth and then combine with the melted chocolate/coconut oil. Mix the ground almonds, buckwheat flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda together and then combine well with the egg yolk and chocolate mixture. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks and gently but thoroughly fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the tin and leave to cool. Delicious served alone or with Greek yoghurt or ice cream.
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Crab avocado and playing chicken
Once again I find myself at my wits’ end. The Spring is a very busy time for me as I’m out every night until at least midnight escorting invaders off the premises. There are so many animals coming out of hibernation in a foggy daze, having forgotten who’s boss and needing to be reminded of their boundaries. I actually think I’m being charitable; they’re probably not in a six-month sleep-induced daze at all, they’re just disrespectful, trespassing hooligans. As if this isn’t enough for my nerves to contend with, Java, having finally understood that she must eat neither the hens nor their eggs, has decided that she should play with them instead. I suppose her rationale (if she’s capable of such a thing) is that they must be useful for something (er, Java have you and the hens actually met?). Of course, this makes them screech, which in turn makes Bossy screech and the general mayhem is such that I can’t catch up on my sleep. I sometimes think it’s a shame that dogs don’t hibernate…
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 tablespoon Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon chilli powder
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g white crabmeat (I used tinned)
2 ripe avocados, cut in half with the stone removed
5 basil leaves, shredded
Combine the yoghurt, lemon juice, mustard, garlic and seasoning in a small bowl. Add the crabmeat and mix well. Fill all four of the avocado halves with the crab mixture, scatter with the basil leaves and serve. Makes a delicious starter. -
Sunbathing is good for you
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White wine chicken casserole and apple turnovers
It’s that time of year again: The time of year when, in this area of France at least, the countryside becomes speckled with well-stuffed apple turnovers. Upon closer inspection (admittedly not always advisable), the apple turnovers morph into ladies of a certain age, neatly folded in two tending to their vegetable patches. Whenever I see them, I have an overwhelming urge to pick them up by the waist and set them down in our vegetable garden. Perhaps they wouldn’t even notice, and if they did, surely the change of scene would be welcome, although I imagine one patch of weeds looks much like another. In the meantime, my husband serves as our apple turnover, although he’s not nearly as generously-stuffed as some…
Ingredients (serves 4)
8 chicken thighs (you can use a mixture of breast and thigh if you prefer)
1 tablespoon flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
20g butter
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
30g pancetta
5 mushrooms, sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
Sprig of rosemary
350ml dry white wine
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
200g fresh garden peas
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Place the chicken in a bowl, coat with the flour and seasoning and set aside. Heat the oil and butter in a medium-sized casserole dish, add the onions, garlic, pancetta and mushrooms and cook until softened. Set aside and place the chicken in the casserole dish and cook for just over five minutes, turning to brown evenly. Add the carrots, rosemary and wine and continue to cook until reduced by about half. Add the stock and the set aside onion/pancetta and bring to a boil. Cook in the preheated oven for about an hour, adding the peas (and more stock if necessary) 20 minutes before the end of cooking. Delicious served with minted, mashed, potatoes. -
Pineapple piety
Southern Sunrise
Color of lemon, mango, peach,
These storybook villas
Still dream behind
Shutters, thier balconies
Fine as hand-
Made lace, or a leaf-and-flower pen-sketch.
Tilting with the winds,
On arrowy stems,
Pineapple-barked,
A green crescent of palms
Sends up its forked
Firework of fronds.
A quartz-clear dawn
Inch by bright inch
Gilds all our Avenue,
And out of the blue drench
Of Angels’ Bay
Rises the round red watermelon sun.
Sylvia Plath
I’m even more devoted to pineapple than I am to chocolate, which is saying something. For better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health I go through at least half a pineapple a day. And when I consider the health benefits, I wonder what sort of sorry state I’d be in if I didn’t…
Christopher Columbus first brought back pineapples to Europe after one of his expeditions to South America. They are absolutely packed with vitamins and minerals; vitamin C, manganese and copper are unusually abundant, but they are also a good source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, beta-carotene, vitamins B1 and B6, folate and iron.
Pineapple contains a powerful enzyme called bromelain, which has impressive and well-documented anti-inflammatory properties, making it an excellent food for arthritics. Bromelain also enhances the absorption of nutrients and has the ability to break down proteins and fats, making them more easily digested. Be sure not to discard the tougher inner core as this is where the highest concentration of bromelain is to be found.
Bromelain can also help reduce pain and swelling and prevent the formation of blood clots. The combination of bromelain and potassium is excellent for circulatory health, but what really makes pineapples so good for your blood is the healthy dose of copper. Not only is copper an efficient anti-inflammatory, it also reduces the effect of harmful blood clotting and helps to deliver a steady supply of healthy blood to your brain.
While pineapples are a naturally acidic plant based food, once digested they have an alkalizing effect on the body. An alkaline body is an environment in which bacteria and disease cannot flourish, and overall health and energy levels are increased.
Thank you Christopher Columbus!
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Chocolate coconut cream and a dry sense of humour
Léo told me that he’d been chatting to one of his teachers today and that the subject of careers had come up. Apparently he had said that he wasn’t tempted to follow in the footsteps of either of his parents, as his mother was a drug dealer and his father a lumberjack. The worst thing is, the next time I meet this teacher, I’ll obsess so much about coming across as normal and un-drug-dealerish that I’ll certainly end up doing my very best impression of a high-security psychiatric ward escapee strung out on crack cocaine.
I’m reminded of when Léo was three and had just started nursery school. He was chatting to his teacher (sensing a theme?) and told her about the day his grandmother, who was meant to be looking after him, had left him to fend for himself while she took off to her dentist appointment (!?) on her Harley Davidson.
I just hope that Léo’s teachers will continue to appreciate his sense of irony, because the day he ‘chats’ to one that takes what he says at face value, we could be in for a visit from social services…
Ingredients (makes 4-6 ramekins)
200ml coconut milk
2 eggs, beaten
120g dark chocolate, melted
75g honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (optional)
Prepare six ramekins. Heat the coconut milk until just before boiling, add the eggs, blending well. Add the chocolate, honey, vanilla extract and rum if using and continue to heat for a few minutes being sure not to let the mixture boil. Pour the mixture into the ramekins and chill in the fridge for at least four hours before eating. -
Waldorf salad and committed to film
Java has a new Favourite Thing: Rolling around energetically on the grass (or even better, mud) next to a fast-flowing river with high banks until ‘accidentally’ ending up in the water with a back flip. Rince and repeat ad infinitum. The first time she did it, Hugo looked on quizzically and I thought that he was probably thinking ‘OMG what an absolute tool – whatever next?’ But I misjudged him; he watched her do it a few times to study her technique and then got down and did it himself. It was most out of character, but very amusing and I couldn’t drag them away. He did stop rather abruptly though as soon as I got my ‘phone out to video them. He obviously wasn’t prepared for his frivolousness to be committed to film, although he didn’t seem to object to Java making a spectacle of herself.
Ingredients (serves 2)
200g celery, chopped into 1cm chunks
100g apple, cut into cubes
50g walnuts, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, sliced and chopped
1 head of chicory, chopped
10g flat parsley, chopped
For the dressing:
50g natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon mustard
Juice of half a lemon
Clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Paprika to taste
Combine the celery, apple, walnuts, onion, chicory and parsley in a medium-sized salad bowl and mix. Make the dressing by whisking together the yoghurt, mustard and lemon and then adding the garlic and seasoning. Drizzle over the salad, mix and serve! -
Chicken and coconut curry and gastronomy courses for dogs
I seem to remember Bossy writing a post about my food preferences recently. I don’t always read what she writes because I often find her anecdotes too irritatingly trivial for words. Unfortunately I did read this and my response is: I’m not a whingeing fusspot, I’m discerning. Please learn the difference. My palate is refined and subtle and I won’t be fobbed off with any old food, unlike some dogs I know whose names begin with ‘J’. I’m currently looking into gastronomic appreciation courses for ‘J’ because her lack of taste is beginning to depress me. It’s difficult to live with someone with so little culinary culture, or any other culture for that matter.
Bossy and Noisy went on holiday for a few days recently, not that I’m familiar with the concept of holidays, never having had one *woeful and exploited doggy sigh*. The Tall One is easier to
manipulatenegotiate with than Bossy and the leftovers are far more appealing as he doesn’t eat anything green or strange when she’s away. Also, he doesn’t know that I’m supposed to have vitamins added to my food, so that’s one less battle to fight. All in all we had a very peaceful time and even ended up by agreeing on the best camembert to buy. Result!I’d better go now – Bossy is uttering very naughty words because she just unloaded the washing machine to discover that one of Noisy’s pockets was stuffed full of popcorn. I’ll leave the state of Bossy’s nerves and the inside of the washing machine to your imagination…
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed1kg chicken legs and thighs, skinned
1 red pepper, sliced
4 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 stick cinnamon
2 teaspoons curry powder
3 kaffir lime leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
400ml coconut milk
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Heat the coconut oil in a medium-sized casserole dish or dutch oven and soften the onions and garlic. Add the chicken pieces, frying for a few minutes on each side and then add the pepper and carrots. Add the spices and seasoning and continue to brown for a few more minutes. Finally add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook in the oven for at least an hour. It may be left for longer, in which case you may need to add a bit of water or stock.
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Chocolate pound cake and an imminent trip to China
Customer service in mobile phone shops in France has done a 180: The motto, ‘the customer is always wrong’ used to be de rigueur, and the only way to get what you wanted was either to flirt outrageously or scream like a harridan (I had both techniques down pat). Now it seems all of a sudden that ‘the customer is always right’, which is oddly disconcerting.
Yesterday I visited not one, but two mobile phone suppliers. Before anyone thinks I’ve totally lost it, let me quickly point out that this was out of absolute necessity and not choice. One of the horses had tested the sturdiness of my phone’s glass screen with its hoof (hoof: one, phone: nil) and as a mobile phone is essential given my inclination to fall into deep ditches in the middle of nowhere, replacing it was a matter of urgency.
The first boutique was unable to help me because, despite having the phone I had painstakingly tracked down, ordered and already paid for online in their possession, they claimed that ‘my order had failed’. They unequivocally agreed that it was outrageous/unbelievable/infuriating/beyond obtuse and criminally time-wasting, which completely took the wind out of my sails. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do because their ‘management are scumbags’.
After a 45 minute wait surrounded by people with banana-shaped upper bodies, it was much the same story in the second shop. It would appear that from a telecom point of view, I have ‘special needs’ far too complex to fulfil, especially in view of the fact that everyone’s bosses are unprincipled reprobates. I’m still not sure how I feel about having my phone requirements sentenced to the ‘special needs’ category.
Despite returning home 20 years older and still phoneless, I was able to muster just enough courage to once again locate what I wanted online. It was delivered the next day and I was so anxious to get it up and running that I inadvertently set the language to Chinese. It was a long and arduous task – 長和艱鉅任務 – coaxing it back to French, but I definitely felt it was a sign; in future I’m off to Beijing to buy my phones – it’ll be far less hassle and I’m keen to test my new-found language skills.
This recipe uses raw cocoa powder which means that the cocoa beans have been processed without using the high temperatures detrimental to its nutritional content. Raw cocoa powder contains natural mood stimulants as well as arginine, an essential amino acid that helps to reduce blood pressure. It is also a very rich source of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals, including high levels of magnesium to aid heart health, build strong bones and relax the muscles and the mind.
Ingredients
100g spelt flour
75g almond flour
75g raw cocoa powder (can be replaced by regular cocoa powder)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
125g butter
125g extra virgin organic coconut oil
200g cane sugar
4 large organic eggs
1 teaspoons almond essence
2 tablespoon rum
Sift the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together and set aside. Cut the butter and coconut oil into cubes and leave to soften at room temperature for a few minutes. Beat with an electric mixer for about ten minutes until fluffy and then gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk for another few minutes. Lastly, add the rum and almond essence and gently fold in the flour. Transfer the mixture to a buttered loaf tin and cook in a non-preheated oven at 160°C for about an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
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Honey mustard chicken and lots of beefing
I don’t know whether it’s a January thing, but I’m surrounded by whingers. First there’s Léo who says I should take a leaf from his grandmother’s book and buy him clothes that are big enough. According to his theory, I refuse to buy him bigger clothes because I don’t want him to grow up. He might have a point – there’s something very disconcerting about rollicking a 6ft tall 13-year-old. But to be honest I think it’s more to do with the fact that clothes shopping turns me into a perspiring, hyperventilating, irascible wreck. Even more so than usual. You know those parents that complain that their teenagers don’t talk to them? Well that’s not me; mine talks to me in spades and the words are incisive and abundant. I’m preparing myself for further stories of woe about freezing-cold ankles and wrists.
And then there’s Hugo who is displeased with his new food. As you might imagine, he’s not subtle in his revulsion and sneers at his bowl before leading us to the cupboard in search of something more palatable. He is also very put out by the fact that we prefer he lie on his bed than the sofas and, to top it all off, is quite underwhelmed by our new choice of camembert.
On the other hand there’s little Java. I bought her a new collar and, if her look was anything to go by, I don’t think the colour can have been her absolute favourite. But did she go on and on about it? No, she graciously refrained from chewing it to bits and quickly moved on to other things. Oh the joys of the innate Attention Deficit Disorder of young English setters!
This dish is very easy and very delicious, perhaps even more so as I used my husband’s rather expensive, fragrant honey. Anyway, we won’t dwell on that or I’ll be in for another ticking-off. Mind you, it’ll be water off a duck’s back because I’m about to invest in some heavy-duty earplugs.Ingredients (serves 4)
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 chicken thighs, skins removedPreheat the oven to 180°C. In a small saucepan over a gentle heat, whisk together the mustard, honey and olive oil. Add the garlic and seasoning, mixing well.
Arrange the chicken thighs in an oven-proof dish and pour the sauce over the top, making sure that the thighs are well covered. Bake for abour 45 minutes or until the sauce begins to caramelise. I serve this with mushroom risotto and a green salad.