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Healthy gluten-free chocolate brownies. Take II.
Despite living a kilometre from our nearest neighbour and more from the nearest tarmac road, there are nights I hardly sleep a wink due to noise pollution. First, there are the cuckoos that I find very challenging; there’s something extremely provocative about the way they ‘cuck’ at random intervals. Then there are the barking deer – they apparently ‘bark’ to mark out their territory. Deer: as appealing as you are, please go and mark out your territory out of ear-shot, or in the daytime. Alternatively, take a leaf out of Hugo’s book and cock your leg (silently) on a tree. On cool nights, the horses rejoice with much noisy, vigorous galloping and bucking. Then there are the ‘break dancing toads’ that amuse themselves at night by dancing in front of our light sensors to switch them on and off, making Hugo bark furiously and at great length. Idem, hedgehogs (the dancing, not the barking). Lastly, from November to February, we have migratory cranes that fly overhead in the very early morning squarking loudly as they go.
These brownies somewhat compensate for lack of sleep. For me dark chocolate and prunes is a match made in heaven.Hugo and Léo catching up on some sleep
Ingredients (makes about 12):
10 prunes, pitted
55ml Armangnac or rum
1 tin of cooked chickpeas (400g), rinsed and drained
50g almonds
2 tablespoons organic cocoa powder
2 eggs
2 tablespoons agave syrup
200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids min.)
20g butter
20g organic virgin coconut oil
Ideally, you should soak the prunes in the alcohol overnight. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Blend the chickpeas well, then add the soaked prunes, cocoa powder, almonds, agave syrup and eggs. Blend a little more until the almonds are roughly chopped and the eggs are beaten. Slowly melt the chocolate, butter and coconut oil in a saucepan or bain-marie, being careful not to burn. Once melted, add the chocolate mixture to the chickpea mixture and combine well. Spoon into a tin roughly 25 x 25cm (or equivalent). Cook for 25 minutes. -
Healthy chocolate brownies and eccentric culinary methods
Nobody makes a French Fry quite like my husband. Despite this, I think it’s best that he stay away from the kitchen for the time-being. It started with an absolutely exhausting explanation for the benefit of his son-in-law on Optimal Methods for Stacking a Dishwasher. In case you’re interested, this entails rinsing everything (thoroughly) first, then stacking from the back forwards according to size and then according to pattern (assuming of course there’s any pattern left following manically frenzied rinsing). The rules of total segregation and compartmentalisation should be implemented for forks, knives and spoons. I could go on, but you probably get the drift. The final straw though, was when patient son-in-law became witness to his ‘trick’ of how to tell if butter is hot enough to fry. In case you didn’t know, you spit into the frying pan and if it sizzles that’s your green light. Anyway, one man’s green light is another woman’s red light; Mr Healthy Epicurean has been banished from the kitchen for the foreseeable.
These brownies are not only 100% spit-free, they’re healthy and delicious too.
Ingredients
50g butter
50g coconut oil
100g dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
60g oatmeal
30g oat bran
Pinch of salt
30g organic dark cocoa
2 tablespoons flax seed
3 tablespoons agave syrup
100g almonds, chopped
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Melt the chocolate, butter and coconut oil in a small saucepan with about 4 tablespoons of water. Once melted, add the other ingredients one by one, stirring all the time. Once you have obtained a homogenous mixture, spoon into a 20cm baking tin and cook for 30 minutes. Cut into squares in the tin and leave to cool.
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Gluten-free crumble topping and luxury for horses
I’m a big fan of pashminas (yes I know, they’re so last decade darling but see if I care) and have always thought they must be one of the most versatile, luxurious garments ever invented. I now have further reason for thinking this; out walking Hugo (the bi-polar canine), I spotted a familiar equine shape in the distance; Texas, my husband’s retired racehorse. We are pretty relaxed about freeing him to graze in the grounds during the day, based on two assumptions: 1) being 30 (positively ancient in horse years), he won’t stray too far and 2) he sometimes needs a bit of ‘downtime’ from the others’ hijinks. Apparently our first assumption is wrong as he was about a kilometre from home. Anyway, off came my pale pink pashmina, which I used first as a lasso and then as a halter and leading rein. You don’t get much more versatile than that. It did the trick and then some; he usually shakes his head in irritation and fusses when being led with a halter but you could see the bliss in his eyes when I slipped the soft cashmere around his neck and he followed me home like a lamb.
Crumble topping is also extremely versatile, although I don’t think you could use it to lead a horse home. It can however be used sweet on fruit crumble or savoury on vegetable or meat dishes. In this case I used the topping for a fruit crumble of pineapple, banana and pear that had been poached in rum and a tablespoon of yacon syrup.
Ingredients -
Mini chocolate hazlenut cakes (gluten-free)
I’m stunned: I just read a newspaper article about losing weight that actually made good sense. It advocates walking/skipping/moving yourself in whatever way you fancy over going to the gym. It favours eating full-fat dairy products in moderate quantities over highly processed food and lastly it advises turning your central heating down or off. It’s all based on the principle of turning white fat (lazy fat) into brown fat (active fat). I can’t see it catching on though — ‘Common Sense and Beige Fat’ is hardly bestseller title material is it?
Here are some delicious mini chocolate cakes, to be consumed with moderation after a brisk walk in the fresh air and the central heating down low.
Ingredients (makes 16)
200g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
150g butter
130g cane sugar
4 eggs, beaten
60g powdered hazelnuts
60g powdered almonds
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Melt the chocolate and butter together. Combine the beaten eggs and sugar, gradually adding the powdered almonds and hazelnuts. Add the melted butter and chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and combine well. Pour the mixture into mini cake moulds and bake for 20 minutes. -
Yvette’s choux fritters and the French ‘paradox’
Yvette is our nearest neighbour; a traditional Landaise farmer’s wife and testament to the so-called French ‘paradox’* (the Gascons consume more fat than anywhere else in the world, but have one of the longest life expectancies). Almost everything she eats she has either grown or nutured herself and she has no qualms about cutting off a chicken’s head to make her Sunday roast (unlike yours truly wimply here 😉 ) What’s even more amazing is that she’s still speaking to us, despite being woken up on a fairly regular basis by the thundering of our escaped horses’ hooves, churning up her land.
These little delicacies are light, airy, crisp and moreish – or so I’m told – this version contains wheat flour so I can’t eat them, but I shall be trying out a wheat-free version soon.
Ingredients (makes about 20 fritters)
125 ml cold water
50g butter, cut into small cubes
100g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of rum
1 litre of vegetable oil (grapeseed)
Sugar for decoration
Put the cold water in a medium-sized saucepan together with the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Place the saucepan over a moderate heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter has melted and the mixture comes up to the boil. Remove from the heat immediately and throw in the flour, whisking well until you obtain a smooth ball of paste that leaves the sides of the saucepan clean (this will probably take about a minute).
Next beat the eggs well, then add them into the mixture, little by little, mixing well. Beat until you have a smooth glossy paste, which you should then leave to cool for about 30 minutes.
Just before cooking, add the rum to the paste and heat a litre of grapeseed oil to 180°C. Cook tablespoon-size balls of paste until they flip themselves in the oil and are golden-brown all over. Toss in the sugar and serve hot or cold.
* I put the word paradox in inverted commas because I don’t believe it to be a paradox at all. It became known as such simply because it went against the grain when trying to prove a link between high-fat consumption, cholesterol and heart disease. See here.
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Fig and honey mousse (for when you’re so over fig jam)
We’re savouring the last of our figs in this delicate, fragrant mousse. My husband decided that 346 pots of jam was probably jam enough to last until next year ;-). Not a moment too soon if you ask me – I’ve been able to reclaim my kitchen.
Ingredients (serves 8)
1 cup greek yoghurt
3 cups pureed peeled figs
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon of grated ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon rum
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup chilled cream
Combine the yoghurt, figs, lemon zest, ginger, honey and rum and leave to chill.
Whip cream to until stiff and gently fold in with the chilled fig mixture.
Serve immediately for mousse OR spoon into a mold and freeze for frozen mousse. -
Chocolate ginger cake (and canine neurosis)
With the hunting season in full-swing, I’m having to deal with a labrador hovering on the brink of nervous breakdown; he doesn’t like the sound of guns (despite the fact that, technically at least, he’s a ‘gun dog’). It’s a touch and go situation and I’m still sticking to my vegetarian resolution in solidarity, so this cake contains no meat whatsoever 😉 Just a word of warning: it does contain grated courgettes so if, like me, you live with men and children with entrenched prejudices about how and when vegetables should – or, more to the point, should not – be consumed, my advice is to keep the recipe under wraps. It’s delicious and that’s all they need to know. As cakes go, this one is also exceptionally healthy: buckwheat flour is gluten-free and full of fibre, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, courgettes speak for themselves and organic cocoa powder is rich in iron.
Ingredients (roughly 10 slices)
1 cup buckwheat flour ½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch of bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt (fine grain)
1 cup organic cane sugar ½ cup cocoa nibs (optional)
¼ cup organic coconut oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of almond or oat milk (or regular milk if you prefer)
3 cups’ grated courgettes
1 teaspoon of fresh, grated ginger
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, cocoa nibs, salt , bicarbonate of soda and baking powder) in a bowl and mix well. In another bowl, combine the ‘wet’ ingredients (eggs, milk, grated courgettes, ginger and melted coconut oil) and mix well. Combine both sets of ingredients, folding the mixture to obtain a smooth batter. Pour the batter into a loaf tin (preferably pyrex) roughly 25cm long by 6cm deep. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean. -
Low-GI chocolate mousse with cocoa nibs
I needed a delicious dessert to make for a lunch party today and, as our kitchen has apparently recently been transformed from family kitchen to medium-scale fig jam processing plant (see previous post!), it had to be something quick and easy. My husband and I married for better or for worse, but absolutely NOT to be cooking in the kitchen at the same time.
This mousse is really divine. It’s rich but simple and not too sweet. The recipe is a slightly adapted (I’m incapable of leaving a recipe intact) Montignac recipe, so its GI rating is good (ie low!) because it contains absolutely no added sugar. The rum I used is very luxurious and deliciously fragrant but I’m sure any rum will do.
Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants. Cocoa is a good source of vitamins and minerals including magnesium, calcium, iron, sulphur and manganese. It also contains B vitamins. Cocoa nibs have all the same benefits as chocolate in a purer, more powerful form.
Ingredients (serves 4)
200g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa)
4 eggs
1/2 glass of rum (5 cl)
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs
pinch of salt
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a casserole with the rum. Separate the eggs and beat the whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Once the chocolate has melted, add the beaten egg yolks to the mixture and stir rapidly for about a minute. Stir in the cocoa nibs and then delicately add the mixture to the egg whites, stiring well to obtain a smooth, homogenous texture. Transfer into four ramekins or glasses. Chill for at least five hours before serving. -
Fig jam and irritating scrubbers
My passion for figs is similar to my passion for tomatoes; it starts out all guns blazing, only to die a sudden death after the second consecutive week of thrice-daily consumption. Figs are pure nectar, either eaten straight from the tree still warm from the sun, in a salad with proscuitto or Bayonne ham, in Greek yoghurt with almonds, or with ice cream and hot honey sauce…
Once your two weeks are up and you would rather gnaw your own arm off than eat another fresh fig, you can make jam. This jam is reasonably healthy because it isn’t too sweet and the cinnamon regulates your insulin reaction to the sugar there is. Figs are a great source of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.
A few words of warning: the first is that jam sticks to pans if left unattended. My husband made an enormous pot-full, left it to simmer and then went to mend a fence (as you do!). Consequently, not only was I exposed to some very rude words, but also the unbearably grating sound of metal scrubbing metal for most of the evening. The second is to make sure to remove the fruit-picking ladder from underneath the tree every evening. Hens may not be very bright, but if the reward is delicious enough, they will find a way to climb a stepladder…
Ingredients
1 kilo of fresh figs
500g cane sugar
30g fresh grated ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
half a lemon
200ml water
Cut the figs into quarters and add to the water in a large saucepan (preferably non-stick!). Cut the (washed) lemon into small pieces and add to the saucepan. Finally add the sugar, ginger and the cinnamon and gently bring to a simmer. Stir frequently and leave to simmer for about an hour. Transfer into sterilised jam jars. -
Flying school and birdseed sundae
There seem to be an awful lot of irresponsible parents around here. They have countless offspring and then leave them to fend for themselves while they go off galavanting, without even taking the time to check that their babies can fly properly first.
Luckily Léo, my son, is here to rescue them; He has a knack for finding himself in the vicinity of their nests when they tumble out and he snatches them up before sharp canines, beaks or hooves can cause irreparable damage. He feeds and waters them, gives them a bed in his bird youth hostel and then teaches them to fly. The only thing his hasn’t yet mastered is a feeling of satisfaction and contentment when they fly away from him for good; tears are shed. 🙁
In honour of our quick-to-learn, high-flying baby birds I created this delicious sundae. The only thing that is slightly unhealthy is the ice cream but as long as you use a good-quality full-fat one without too much sugar or additives it’s well worth the sacrifice. Ice cream also has fairly low GI, lowered further by the addition of the yoghurt, nuts and seeds. The rum aids digestion – that’s my excuse and I won’t be told otherwise. 😉
Ingredients (serves one)
10 cherries, pits removed
Two scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream
Two tablespoons of greek yoghurt
A tablespoon of dark rum
1 teaspoon each of : chia seeds, cocoa nibs, pumpkin seeds, dessicated coconut
2 teaspoons of raisins
2 teaspoons of chopped almonds
2 squares of 80% cocoa dark chocolate
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
Melt the dark chocolate with the coconut oil and a tablespoon of water over a low heat. Prepare the sundae, starting with the cherries, then adding the ice cream, yoghurt, rum and raisins, followed by the seeds, cocoa nibs and coconut. When the hot chocolate sauce is melted, pour it over the ice cream, yoghurt and seeds and finally add the chopped almonds.
