blissful eats with tina jeffers: Strawberry Fool

It’s not quite strawberry season in my garden yet but I when I saw the first local berries appear at the market this week I couldn’t resist.  There are a few things that I refuse to buy when they are out of season and strawberries are at the top of the list.  Eating with the seasons makes the anticipation of their arrival all that more exciting.   Strawberries that haven’t been produced to be shipped across the continent tend to be more fragile and you need to eat them within a day or two of purchase but their vibrant perfumed sweetness blows their bland, tasteless supermarket counterparts away.  I have always loved the combination of berries and cream but wanted to lighten it up a bit so this is my take on a traditional English fool or Eton mess. 

Traditional fools are usually a combination of pureed fruit, whipped cream and sugar layered together.  This is more a combination of a fool and an Eton Mess, a mixture of meringue, softly whipped cream and fresh fruit.  I wanted an alternative to heavy cream and decided to use Greek yogurt instead, it lends a tangy bite to the dish and the addition of the balsamic and black pepper adds a nice little contrast to the sweetness of the berries.  If you don’t want to take the time to make your own meringues you could easily pick up a package of meringue cookies at the grocery store.  The cookies couldn’t be easier to make, any they’ll keep for a long time so it’s easy to bake them a few days before you want to serve them.  The next time you are looking for a quick, easy dessert to impress your company give this dish a try!

 

Strawberry Fool

Ingredients:

For the meringue:

2 large egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped

½ teaspoon almond extract

For the berries:

2 cups strawberries

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To assemble:

1 cup greek yogurt

sliced almonds

basil

Method:

For the meringues:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on medium-high speed in a medium bowl until white and foamy.  With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar by tablesoonfuls, beating until meringue is stiff and glossy.  Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean.  Add almond extract and continue to beat until vanilla is evenly dispersed.  Drop meringues by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheet.  Alternatively you can pipe the meringues

Bake until dry and slightly golden about 90 minutes.  Let meringues cool on sheet (they will crisp as they cool)

For the berries:

Heat 1 cup strawberries, sugar and the vanilla extract or the vanilla bean seeds if using.  Cook the strawberries until berries just begin to soften and release their juices.  Remove from heat, stir in remaining berries and let cool completely.

To assemble:

Layer ¼ cup yogurt, ¼ cup berry mixture and crumble 2 or 3 meringue cookies.  Garnish with the almonds and some roughly torn basil and serve.

blissful eats with tina jeffers: Japanese sesame spinach

This is the most exciting time of the season for me in the garden.  The weather is just starting to warm up and the first crops are starting to mature.  I thought I'd share some photos of the garden.  It's my pride and joy, I love to wander the paths and see all the changes a day can bring.  I think that is one of the reasons that I love to grow vegetables, watching the cycles of life in play.  It's amazing how a tiny seed once planted in the ground can grow into something that can nourish and feed a family.

This week I had my first harvest of spinach and I wanted to find a way to utilize it in the simplest way possible.   When I was a kid one of my favorite dishes was a sesame soy spinach side dish that my mom served me with a steaming bowl of white rice.  I loved it, I have always had a special fondness for spinach, I even loved the pureed stuff in a jar when I was a baby.

It always amazes me how much spinach cooks down when you prepare it but it is so worth stuffing huge bunches of it into a pot and watching it wilt down ready to be dressed with something like this nutty sesame dressing.  It’s a dish that I had completely forgotten about and I regret that it took me so long to realize how easy and simple it is to prepare myself.  If you aren’t a huge fan of spinach I highly recommend giving this recipe a try, it pairs beautifully with grilled salmon, chicken or tofu.  

Japanese sesame spinach

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds baby spinach, washed

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon rice vinegar or mirin

½ teaspoon dark sesame oil

Method: 

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.  Fill a bowl with ice water.  Blanch the spinach for 10 to 20 seconds in the boiling water and transfer to the ice water bath using tongs.   Drain and gently squeeze out the excess water.   Chop coarsely.

Make the dressing.  Toast your sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat shaking the pan constantly until the seeds turn light golden brown and smell nutty.  Transfer 2 tablespoons to a mortar and pestle or a spice mill reserving the rest for garnish.  Allow to cool and then grind the seeds just until crushed.

Combine the soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the rice vinegar then stir in the sesame seeds.  Toss the dressing with the spinach until it’s all lightly coated with the dressing.  To serve drizzle with the sesame oil and reserved sesame seeds.

blissful eats with tina jeffers: Home made almond milk

I think it’s clear by now that I like to make things from scratch when possible.  If I can avoid eating foods that contain ingredients I can’t pronounce I’m all for it.  Most commercial brands of almond milk have added preservatives and stabilizers that increase shelf life so why not make it yourself?

This was my first attempt at making my own nut milk but I can tell you that you should never buy it from the store again.  It’s super simple to make, delicious and extremely versatile.  If you want to use it for a savory dish just omit the vanilla and sweetener.  You can also flavor your milk to suit your taste. Flavor your milk with a sprinkle of cinnamon or an infusion of cardamom or nutmeg.  Sweeten it up with honey, maple syrup or agave to use in smoothies or with your favorite cereal, the possibilities are endless.  Swap the almonds for cashews, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds or hazelnuts.  Whatever nut or seed you decide to use make sure that they are raw and unprocessed. 

Your milk will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days; if it separates just give it a quick stir before using it.

Most importantly, don’t throw away the nut pulp!  You can spread it out on a baking sheet and bake it at 300 degrees for about an hour and use it in any recipe that calls for almond meal.  I’ll be experimenting with some recipes that utilize nut pulp in the coming weeks and I’ll let you know if I come up with any winners.  There are a ton of great recipes floating around out there and even a website dedicated to the very subject.  I would love to hear if you have any creative uses for leftover nut pulp!

Home made almond milk

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds

4 cups water plus water for soaking

1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-3 tablespoons agave or maple syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

Method:

Place almonds in a bowl and cover with water by one inch.  Soak almonds 8 hours or overnight.

Drain almonds and rinse until the water runs clear.

Combine almonds and 4 cups water in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth 2-3 minutes. 

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve or a double layer of cheesecloth.

Return the milk to the blender.  Scrape the vanilla bean and add the seeds to the blender or add the extract if using.  Add the agave or honey and salt and blend until combined.  Taste and adjust the salt and sweetener to suit your taste.

blissful eats with tina jeffers: Hazelnut honey oat bread

There are some things that you should really try to create in your kitchen from scratch at least once.  Bread is at the top of my list; I know that it can be an intimidating process full of potential disasters and wasted ingredients.  However, the pleasure of pulling a warm, fragrant loaf of bread out of the oven and slathering it with sweet creamy butter is one of life’s great pleasures.  Bread made by your own two hands is always infinitely more delicious and memorable than anything you can buy in the store. 

I’ve had my share of bread baking disasters.  Once I spent 2 weeks cultivating a sourdough starter then another 1 ½ making a dough and letting it rise, shaping it, resting it numerous times and then when I was trying to warm up the kitchen to get it to rise a final time I had the loaf sitting too close to the back of the stove and it ended up baking on the stovetop into a crusty horrible mess and I had to scratch the whole thing.  Now if I can bake bread after that debacle than you should try it to and this is infinitely more simple and enjoyable.

If you’ve hesitated trying bread baking before this is the perfect loaf to start with, it’s practically foolproof.  There is no yeast so there’s no time waiting around for it to rise and you can have it ready to pop into the oven in a matter of minutes. 

It’s ideal for a last minute addition to dinner, delicious paired with a nice steaming bowl of soup or perfect for breakfast lightly toasted with a drizzle of honey.  If you don’t have hazelnut meal you can just use 2 cups of whole wheat flour instead or experiment with almond, spelt or millet.

If you’ve always been convinced that you can’t bake bread give this loaf a try, if you love it like I do freshly baked bread can always be at your fingertips any time you like.  If you would like to see some more of my recipes visit me at www.scalingbackblog.com

Hazelnut honey oat bread

Ingredients:

•  4 tablespoons olive oil

•  1 cup whole wheat flour

•  1 cup all-purpose flour

•  1 cup hazelnut meal

•  1/2 cup rolled oats

•  1/2 teaspoon baking powder

•  1 teaspoon baking soda

•  1 1/2 teaspoons salt

•  3/4 cup buttermilk

•  1/4 cup water

•  2 tablespoons honey

•  a little bit of buttermilk for brushing

•  2 tablespoon oats

 

Method:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.  

Put the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix to combine the ingredients.  Add the four tablespoons of oil, then the buttermilk, half of the water, and the honey.  Mix the dough until it comes together and forms a well-defined, barely sticky ball.  If it's too dry, add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together.

Form the dough into a round and put it on the baking sheet.  Slash a deep cross into the top of the dough 2/3 of the way through.  If desired, lightly brush the top of the loaf with one tablespoon of buttermilk and sprinkle with a tablespoon of oats.  

Bake the loaf for 35-40 minutes or until the loaf is golden and crusty on the top and bottom and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely before serving.

blissful eats with tina jeffers: Pina Colada Sorbet with sesame crisps

I’ve never had a pina colada but I always thought they sounded so exotic and fancy, probably from all those times I listened to the pina colada song in my bedroom when I was a kid.  Now that I’ve totally dated myself with that obscure reference let’s get onto this weeks recipe.  It’s almost too simple to call a recipe, a few simple ingredients pureed in the blender, a quick turn in an ice cream maker and you’ll be  transported to a warm sandy beach with the cool breezes running through your hair. 

This sorbet is light, refreshing and as a bonus it’s vegan.  The sorbet is delicious on it’s own but for a dessert that is worthy of a special occasion serve it with the wonton crisps for some nice added texture and crunch.  The crisps make a great snack and you can vary the toppings easily, swap out the sesame seeds for some sliced almonds, cinnamon or crystalized ginger.  You could also layer the crisps with some lightly sweetened yogurt and fresh fruit for a super simple, quick and impressive dessert. 

Pina Colada Sorbet with sesame crisps

Ingredients:

For the sorbet: 

3 cups fresh pineapple, peeled and cored

½ cup cane sugar

1 15-ounce can lite coconut milk

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons dark rum

For the wonton crisps:

Cooking spray

8 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons milk or soymilk

¼ cup unsweetened coconut 

Method:  

For the sorbet:

Cut the pineapple into chunks.  Puree all the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Prepare an ice bath by combining two cups of ice with cold water in a large bowl.  Pour the sorbet mixture into the bag, seal tightly and submerge the mixture in the ice water for 30 minutes. 

Once the mixture is thoroughly chilled freeze in an ice cream mixture according to your manufacturers instructions.  Alternatively you can freeze the mixture in a 8x8 baking pan until solid and then then pulse the mixture in a food processor until smooth.

For the sesame crisps and toasted coconut:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Arrange the wonton wrappers in a single layer on a large baking sheet and lightly spray the tops with cooking spray.  Brush the tops with the milk or soymilk and then lightly sprinkle with the sugar and sesame seeds. 

Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.  Transfer crisps to a wire rack to cool. 

Meanwhile on a separate cookie sheet spread the coconut in a single layer and cook until lightly toasted 3-4 minutes.

Serve wonton crisps with sorbet and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.