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Healthy chocolate chip cookies and mutant mosquitos
Monumental rainfall followed by stifling heat means mosquitos. Of course here, it doesn’t just mean common or garden mosquitos, it means huge, mutant reprobates with an agenda: namely to make me look as if I’m suffering from a very nasty infectious disease. And as if a nasty infectious disease isn’t punishment enough, I’m also covered in bruises from walking around the house in the dark because I’m too scared to put the lights on.
Léo is injured too and has his arm in a sling (something to do with walls, daredevilry and being a ten-year-old boy). Since his skateboarding tricks are somewhat impeded, he decided we should make chocolate chip cookies; I decided that they should be reasonably healthy and this is what we came up with.
Ingredients (makes 25-30 cookies)
125g spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
65g virgin coconut oil
75g cane sugar
40g organic chocolate chips
15g chopped hazelnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, beaten
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and rub in the coconut oil until the mixture is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, chocolate chips and nuts. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until the mixture becomes a stiff dough. Knead the mixture on a floured surface and roll into a sausage shape, roughly 5cm thick. Refrigerate for several hours or even overnight.
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cut the dough into slices of just under a centimetre and arrange, spaced out (the cookies, not you ;-)) on a greased baking sheet. Cook for 12 minutes and leave to cool. -
Spelt brioche and a water-locked house
We had almost as much rainfall overnight as we usually have during May and June combined. Here it doesn’t rain, but it pours; the house was surrounded by an impressive moat this morning that I don’t recall being there when we signed on the dotted line. We now also boast a second river, which sounds fine in theory, but is not so practical in reality as we’re not very well-equipped boat-wise. Hugo took one look outside this morning and went back to bed, sighing heavily, the hens are developing webbed feet and learning to swim and I was out early drying off the horses with my hairdryer. All-in-all an appropriate morning for brioche.
Ingredients
300g spelt flour (or plain flour if you prefer)
100g butter, melted
100g coconut oil, melted (you can substitute this for a further 100g of butter)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1½ teaspoons dry bakers’ yeast
2 tablespoons cold water
4 eggs, beaten
40g cane sugar
Dilute the dry yeast in 2 tablespoons’ luke-warm water and set aside for 10 minutes. Mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, beaten eggs, melted butter and oil. Either knead by hand or beat in a mixer (better if you’re lazy). The dough must stay elastic in consistency so add a drop more water, if necessary. Leave the dough to rise in the mixing bowl for about an hour at a temperature of between 25-30°C (it should double in volume). Beat and knead the dough and leave to rise for a further hour. Beat and knead again and put the dough in the loaf tin. Leave to rise one last time. Preheat the oven to 200°C and cook for 25 minutes. -
Chickpea flour cauliflower cheese (gf) and the case for the defence
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
I’ve decided that I’m a dab paw at blogging, so off I go again. I’d like a chance to set the record straight; I felt the last post was rather slanderous (I found that word in the dictionary I got for my birthday). First of all, I do not dribble. And second of all, I only toot the car horn when I feel that The Bossy One has talked to whoever it is she’s talking to for quite long enough and it’s time to get home. She seems to forget that I have things to do: keep the hens in order, bark at the horses if they’re in the wrong field (or for no good reason whatsoever ;-)), check the boundaries for stray deer, wild pigs and badgers, empty the rubbish bin in the kitchen… I could go on – a dog’s work is never done. Especially if he sits in the car all day *sigh*.
Anyway, I think she must have felt a bit guilty for bad-mouthing me because this was produced last night and she let me ‘clean’ the dish. 🙂
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1 cauliflower
25g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
60g chickpea flour
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon mustard
200ml milk
100ml chicken or vegetable stock
50g comté (or other hard cheese), grated
50g parmesan, grated
Begin by cooking the cauliflower florets in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
For the sauce, place the flour, butter, olive oil, seasoning and milk into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat. Whisk until it reaches a gentle simmer. Continue whisking, adding the mustard and then the stock little by little, for just under five minutes. Add half of the cheese and whisk again until it melts. Pour over the cauliflower florets which you will have arranged in a baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese over the top and add a little more paprika. Cook for about 45 minutes. -
Potassium, your invisible friend
An excellent and informative post from Dr Malcolm Kendrick, Author of ‘The Great Cholesterol Con’.
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Mini salmon terrines and getaway strategies
It’s starting to be tricky to escape in the car alone; Motoring is Hugo’s absolute favourite. He prefers the front seat and I have, in the past, resorted to belting him in rather than take on the chore of coaxing him out of the car. Naturally, he takes it very badly if I kick him out. If, on the other hand, I leave him in the car and need to stop off somewhere, he presses on the horn with his chest if he feels I’ve ‘abandoned’ him for too long. He also dribbles on the seat. So it’s a toss-up between his being put-out and potentially depressed at being ditched, and my being mortally embarrassed by a high-maintenance, disruptive dog and wet front seat. I’m spoilt for choice.
This salmon terrine is an attempt to recreate a dish we had in our hotel in the Pyrenees this winter, as requested by Léo. It is, according to him, ‘quite edible’; Praise indeed. 🙂
Ingredients (makes 6 mini terrines)
2 salmon filets (250g)
juice of half a lemon
25g butter
150ml cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, chopped
½ teaspoon ginger, freshly grated
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Pastis
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons of diced cucumber
4 leaves of fresh mint
2g Agar-Agar powder
Place the salmon filets steeped in lemon juice in a frying pan and add the butter and cream. Bring to a gentle simmer and add all the other ingredients with the exception of the Agar-Agar, cucumber and mint leaves. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and the liquid partly evaporated. Once cooked, add the mint leaves, blend briefly in a food processor and set aside. Dissolve the Agar-Agar in a small amount of water and bring to the boil (according to the instructions on the packet). Once boiled, mix into the salmon with the diced cucumber and distribute the mixture into moulds (I used silicon muffin moulds). Compact the mixture well. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and serve chilled.
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Canelés de Bordeaux
There is an exquisite patisserie called Pariès in Bayonne, which is the capital of the Basque country in south-western France. They recently produced a book of their recipes, which Idrooled overdiscovered the other day. Bayonne is famous for its chocolate, amongst other things, and was one of the first places in Europe to produce chocolate in the early 17th century. There is always a deliciously rich, chocolate-laden aroma in the streets of the city centre. It’s sometimes worth just strolling around there to get a fix!
I will be sharing some of the chocolate recipes from this absolute gem of a book, but today I made another regional speciality: canelé [kan-ul-ay]. A canelé (or cannelé) is a small French pastry with a moist custard-like centre and a dark, thick caramelized crust. It is the shape of a striated cylinder approximately 5 cms in height and is a specialty of Bordeaux.
These contain too much sugar for me to claim that they’re positively good for you. Having said that, I made them with cane sugar and spelt flour (of course!) and as they contain rich, ‘real’ ingredients they are most definitely a healthier choice as a treat than anything in packaging! I had to make a second batch to photograph because the first batch disappeared far too quickly; They’re that moreish!
Ingredients (makes about 12)
You will need a special canelé mould to make these. The best are made from copper, although I used silicon.
400ml milk
20g salted butter
2 egg yolks
1 egg
140g sugar (I used cane sugar)
120g flour (I used spelt flour)
1 vanilla pod
10cl rum
A little extra butter for greasing the moulds
Beat the egg yolks, egg and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the flour and vanilla and continue to mix gently. Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan, remove from the heat and immediately add the butter. When the milk has cooled to lukewarm, add to the other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix well. Leave the mixture to rest in the fridge for at least 24 hours, 48 hours if possible. This is important as the mixture must be as ‘airless’ as possible or it will rise during cooking. Also for this reason, it must always be mixed gently, taking care not to add too much air.
To cook the canelés, preheat the oven to 220°C. Remove the mixture from the fridge and very gently stir the (what will now be separated) batter until homogenous. Add the rum at this stage too. Fill the buttered moulds about 7/8 full. Cook for 10 minutes at 220°C and then turn the oven down to 190°C. Cook for a further 40 minutes. Leave to cool before eating. -
Spelt flour pizza base and stark-raving lunatics
The moon is full tonight. If you have animals anything like ours and had intended sleeping through the night, a word of warning: it ain’t gonna happen. 🙂
The horses will spend all night ‘partying’ (galloping from one end of the field to the other, whinnying to anyone who will listen and ‘fighting’ on their hind legs). They’ll be exhausted by the morning (thank God) and spend the whole day sleeping it off.
The hens are, at his very moment, on the terrace table doing a sort of flamboyant chicken tango, which involves much flapping, flirting, fluttering and hissing. In fact it’s so flamboyant that one of them fell off the table *snigger*.
Which bring me to Hugo. Being a bit of a primo uomo, Hugo makes sure that his behaviour trumps that of the other animals. Having pulled his chair away from the wall with his teeth, he has created a little game for himself. He charges the chair, throwing himself into it heavily to see how far it will ‘skid’ across the tiles. After several good ‘skids’, he runs dementedly around the house, blanket over head, seeking praise for his talent. Just shoot me now.
There are times when only pizza will do. This base, being made from spelt flour, is light, tasty, nutritious and more easily digested than a regular pizza base.
Ingredients (6 slices)
250g spelt flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sachet bakers yeast (dilute in lukewarm water 10 minutes before use)
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Beat or knead for about 6 minutes, progressively adding a tiny bit of water, teaspoon by teaspoon. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will become sticky. Leave the dough to rise at a temperature of 25°C to 35°C for an hour, then re-mix (or re-knead). Put it in the fridge for an about an hour and then roll out ready to apply the topping. I used fresh tomato sauce, black olives, chorizo, anchovies and parmesan. Cook in a preheated oven (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. -
Savoury chickpea pastry parcels and dog walking, matador-style
If you ever happen to be in the ‘Landes’ forest and spot someone dressed in full body armour, brandishing a big red cape, matador-style, that’ll be me. Hugo’s 30 kilos of muscular dynamisn, a by-product of daily triathlon training, plus an ardent passion for ‘walkies’ have become a mortal combination. He charges back and forth like a bull, playing ‘chicken’ with my unsuspecting shins and leaving it to the very last possible second to swerve to avoid them (or not as the case may be!) He also grabs my shoes in his jaws, willing them to move faster. I’ve been knocked flying on several occasions, which unfortunately has only ever served as a pretext for much guilt-induced licking which, frankly, I could live without…
These savoury parcels are finger-licking good, as well as being very nutritious and quick and easy to make. They are wheat-free.
Ingredients for chickpea pastry (makes about 4 parcels)
80g spelt flour
50g chickpea flour
50g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly 6 tablespoons of cold water
Ingredients for filling
1 courgette, grated
1 potato, boiled and chopped into cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons pine nuts
6 fresh mint leaves, cut into pieces
Sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
To make the pastry, begin by cutting the butter and into small cubes. Sift the flours and a pinch of salt together into in a mixing bowl, also adding the cubes of butter. Rub in and blend by hand until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the olive oil and combine well and then add the cold water, mixing rapidly with a spoon. Remove the mixture from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you obtain a ball of pastry (if the mixture isn’t ‘sticky’ enough to form a ball, you may need a drop more water). Wrap in a clean cotton tea towel or some cling film and leave to ‘rest’ in the fridge for about two hours. This relaxes the dough and makes it easier to use.
To make the filling, combine the ingredients in a bowl, mix well and then press a little with your fingers so that the mixture gains in density.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll the pastry out on a clean, dry, floured surface. Cut into squares of approximately 15cm, put a good tablespoon of mixture into
the middle and then fold back the edges to meet in the middle and form a parcel. Press the edges together until the pastry sticks.
Place the parcels on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for 20 minutes. -
Tandoori chicken and shameless squatters
I’ve arrived at the conclusion that our animals need to be brought to heel. When we were first married, someone actually suggested my husband bring me to heel (yes, really :lol:), but don’t let’s go there today. The hens, having been told in no uncertain terms that hoarding is NOT on, have now taken up squatting. I suppose bad habits are never really eradicated, just replaced with other bad habits – they’ll no doubt be smoking and chewing gum next. Unfortunately they are particularly fond of squatting the most comfortable chair on the terrace, the only one we own that doesn’t dig menacingly into your back. Having made Tandoori chicken yesterday, I’m thinking of investing in a Tandoor oven and was wondering whether they would understand the veiled threat 😉 ?
A Tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven, typically found in Central, Western and Southern Asia. The heat source is a wood or charcoal-burning fire and temperatures can reach over 450°C. If you don’t have a Tandoor to hand, obviously a hot regular oven will do.
Ingredients (serves 4)
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 red onion, chopped finely
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the marinade :
150ml greek yoghurt
1 piece of fresh ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon sea salt
Slash the chicken thighs several times then cover them with the lemon juice and chopped onions. Set aside in a deepish dish. Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over the chicken, making sure that all bits are well covered. Leave to chill for at least an hour or overnight if possible. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Carefully place the chicken thighs on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for about 25 minutes, depending on the size of the thighs. They are cooked through properly when the juice runs clear when prodded with a fork. May be served with basmati rice, naan bread, chickpea pancakes (recipe here), or vegetable curry. Delicious with chutney too. -
The fats you need for a healthy diet
I totally agree with this interesting ‘history of fats’…
