Baked Apples

Baked Apples seemed to be an appropriate welcome back, New Years resolution, apple desert recipe.  What better way to satisfy your sweet tooth while watching your waist line. Plus baked apples are a cinch to make… core, stuff, bake. That’s it. No fuss no muss.

Olivier’s parents have an apple orchard in France and this year they were overwhelmed with the yield. There were enough apples for the Russian army I tell you. So each week we receive a top up, which means I continuously have a bag of these golden red globes in my fridge. I would be complaining except that they are absolutely delicious and make wonderful apple sauce, pies, cakes, muffins not to mention baked apples.

RECIPE :  Erika Alliston – Sweet Pea Blog, BAKED APPLES

• 6 cooking apples
• 1 handful whole almonds
• 1 handful raisins
• a pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 15g melted unsalted butter

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (355°F) convection heat.
2. Coarsely chop the almonds, set aside
3. Melt the butter.
4. Add the chopped almonds, raisins, spices and brown sugar to the butter, stir well, set aside.
5. Prepare the apples; remove the core. Using a sharp knife draw a line around the middle of each apple (see picture). Stuff with the nut/spice mixture till it reaches the top of each apple.
6. Cook for 45 -60 minutes (depending on the size of your cooking apples), until apples are very tender when poked with a knife.
7. Serve immediately

Broccoli soup

BROCCOLI SOUP with BASIL CREAM

I have been on a green theme lately, avocado, pesto, swiss chard…. it wasn’t conscious I tell you. I take inspiration as it comes. This time it was from the general direction of the fridge, where two broccoli’s & half of a cauliflower were staring me down. Add to that my lack of inspiration for dinner (happens to the best of us right), plus a lonely bouquet of basil and this soup was taking shape.

I have always felt that cream of broccoli soup was missing something, that it needed a little pick me up to tweak the taste buds. Here’s where the basil cream came in. It is not overpowering, in fact you may need a few spoonfuls to put your finger on just what makes this sumptuous soup so much better than the rest.

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

• 350 gr broccoli florets
• 130 gr cauliflower
• 1 medium white onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 100 mL warm water
• 400 mL chicken stock
• 300 mL boiling water
• 1 bunch of basil
• 100 mL light cream
• salt & pepper

1. Wash & cut the broccoli & cauliflower into florets, set aside
2. prepare the onion: coarsly chop, heat the oil on medium heat, cook onions until soft (approx. 5 mins)
3. Add 100 mL of warm water, salt & pepper, cook covered until almost all the liquid has evaporated
4. Add crushed garlic, stir
5. Add broccoli, cauliflower, chicken stock & boiling water. Cover and cook until vegetables are cooked (broccoli easily pierced with a knife, but still bright green)
6. Drain and keep the stock.
7. In a blender, mix the cream & basil. Set aside.
8. In the blender mix vegetables, and gradually add the stock.
9. Finally add the bail cream to the soup.

Avocado, goat cheese, red quinoa salad

Quinoa -  simply delicious, with a little crunch and nutty flavour, makes a nice change from eating rice and cous cous. Add to that chunks of ripe avocado, pieces of creamy goats cheese, some garlicky pesto + toasted pine nuts, and you have a great salad!

I often find myself stuck for inspiration when it comes to lunch and craving something different, but at the same time not having hours to spend in the kitchen. This recipe checks all the boxes. I even made the quinoa the nightbefore, so it was just a matter of quickly chopping up the avo, toasting the nuts and throwing the salad together.

Thank god my avocado was ripe this time, as I have been on streak of bad luck lately, to the point of having to return two to the grocerystore as they were completely uneatable.  I figure at CHF2.50 an avocado, you should have something good to show for it!

And for those vegetarians out there, quinoa is a great hidden secret, a fab grain-like, pseudo cereal, which are actually edible seeds.  It comes in red or white, and is a great source of protein, while being gluten-free and easy to digest. What more could you ask for!

Also I just received a note from Michelle of Bleeding Espresso Blog who is hosting a great food contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, called O Foods, so take a look HERE!!!

RECIPE : SWEET PEA blog

• 100 gr red or white quinoa*
• 1 ripe avocado
• 3-4 tablespoons goats cheese
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 5 tablespoons pesto (or more if you like) (PESTO RECIPE)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

*I prefer the red, as it has a more nutty flavour, but is generally more expensive to buy

1. Cook the quinoa as per box instructions. Leave to cool to room temperature.
2. Prepare the avocado: put lemon juice in a medium sized bowl. Cut avocado into chunks and toss in lemon juice, set aside.
3. Toast pine nuts in a non stick pan until lightly golden.
4. Mix quinoa and olive oil. Add pesto & toasted pine nuts, mix gently – you want clumps of pesto to remain. Gently fold in the avocado, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve, with pieces of goats cheese on top.

Tofu & swiss chard

TOFU & SWISS CHARD

Who wants to eat tofu ???? I mean soya bean curd in a cube, the meat for the non-meat eaters. Appetising….. well actually yes ,very! I think the carnivores have seriously been missing out here - the herbivores are on to  a great thing, that is both nutritious and delicious.  Once you get over the stereotype of ‘tofu burgers’ and ’tofu dogs’,  it adds great variety to the weekly menu and goes well with Asian inspired sauces and many vegetables, like Swiss chard.

In case you aren’t familiar with Swiss chard, here is a link and there is a photo with my recipe. I make large quantities of this dish which is a delicious blend of the white, crunchy, slightly sweet part of the Swiss chard, with the slightly more bitter leaves, and herb tofu sautéed with black sesame seeds and garlic!

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

• 4 Swiss Chard
• 125 gr tofu (I prefer Japanese tofu with herbs)
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves
• 1 large white onion
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoon sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• salt & pepper

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1. The sause:  by mixing all the ingredients together. Set aside.
2. The onions:  chop into very small pieces. Heat one tablespoon olive oil,  cook onions on medium low heat until just slightly golden. Add crushed garlic to onions when almost cooked.  Set aside
3. The swiss chard: A) Separate the green leafs from the white stalks (see picture). Cut the leaves into thin strips. Set aside. B) Chop the white part into small cubes. Heat one tablespoon olive oil & the butter, add the chopped white part and lemon juice, cook until just slightly soft. Set aside. C) Heat one teaspoon sunflower oil on high heat, add the green chopped leaves and cook until wilted but still bright green. Set aside.
4. The tofu: cut into small cubes. Heat one teaspoon sunflower oil, and sauté until slightly golden.
5. Add the cooked onions, garlic, and white + green swiss chard to the tofu, toss, add salt, pepper and sesame seeds.
6. Place in a serving dish and drizzle with the sauce.

Note: I prefer to use sunflower oil instead of olive oil to cook the green leaves of the swiss chard and the tofu as a higher heat can be achieved with this oil that is better for sautéing these ingredients.

FRENCH CARROT CAKE – a Journey

Can I tell you a secret?

I have always had a terrible weakness for American style carrot cake – the soft, moist slices, filled with spices and topped with thick cream cheese icing. However when it came to the subject of nuts – as far as I was concerned they had no business being in my carrot cake. That was until now.

It all started with my new French cook book, Des Recettes du Potager. On first glance this little green book is filled with savoury recipes for garden vegetables, but on closer inspection I found 1 or 2 sweet treats nestled inside. One of these was le carrot cake, made with ground toasted hazelnuts!

The French are famous for knowing a thing or two about baking, so why oh why did I have so much drama with this new recipe??? The first time I made this cake I followed the recipe to a T, and from an outsiders perspective I had triumphed – the cake rose well, had a nice crusty golden outside & soft moist inside. I especially like the small twist of flouring the cake pan with brown sugar (cassonade), which added a sweet caramel effect. But that’s where the joy ended. Taking a bit of this lovely looking cake, my 1st thought was, oh how delicious …., then wait, hold on, what’s that funny aftertaste, a sort of acidity that rests on your tongue, lingering in the background. Another bite confirmed that I was not hallucinating.

So it was back to the drawing board, for trail N°2. This time I replaced the ground toasted hazelnuts with almonds  & used chestnut flour instead of all-purpose white. The result was better, as the aftertaste was less noticeable, but it was still there, lingering, & I wasn’t happy.

You see – drama drama drama drama.

At this point you’d think that common sense would have prevailed & I’d have moved on. But you would be wrong. Perhaps I can blame my stubborness on the fact that I am born under the sign of the Ram & tend to drive on not matter what…. apparently even when it comes to carrot cake.  I just couldn’t let this recipe go – there was something intrigued about it. The fact that they could sneak in ground nuts to replace part of the flour & it worked, was enough justification in my mind to journey on.

So I geared up for trial N°3, this time using only untoasted ground almonds and replaced the butter with vegetable oil. Please don’t cringe. I love butter and normally do not cave in to using oil. But in my defence I have recently read many a carrot cake recipe, to discover that several called for oil instead of butter (justifications of WW2 & shortage of butter, plus the binding of oil working better with flour).

And it work, by golly it worked!!! Just call me Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes. Gone was that little aftertaste that had been offending my taste buds, while keeping all the things I truly loved about this cake from the beginning. Plus this is a gluten free cake recipe, using only 1/2 a cup of oil (unlike some recipe which call for twice that), so you can have your cake & eat it too!!!

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

• 2 to 3 large whole carrots (250 gr)
• 125 gr ground almond meal
• 100 gr (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 100 gr brown sugar (cassonade) + extra for flouring the cake pan
• 50 gr chestnut flour (us all-purpose white flour if you prefer)
• 3 1/4 teaspoons baking powder (1 sachet if you are in France)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• sprinkle of ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• icing sugar for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C / 410°F
2. Butter a cake pan with removable bottom & then “flour” it with the extra brown sugar
3. Peel & finely grate carrots. Set aside
4. Beat the eggs till light & frothy, then add the grated carrots and almond meal
5. Add the oil, sugar, flour, baking powder & cinnamon. Mix well. The batter will be liquidy.
6. Pour the batter in the cake pan and cook for 35 -40 minutes or until a cake tester (toothpick) comes out clean.
7. Wait 5 minutes before removing the sides of the cake pan.
8. Dust with icing sugar & serve.

NOTE : this cake keeps well, remaining nice & moist. It is just as good the 2nd or 3rd day!

AMARETTI These well known Italian almond cookies, get their name from the Italian word ‘amaro’ meaning ‘bitter’ as they are made with bitter almonds & ‘etti’ indicating that they are small. Don’t be scared off, as most of you know, these cookies are anything but bitter, and the ones I make are not small!

Though I have to say that the Nona’s out there must have a hidden family secret or simply a magic fairy in the pantry, that allows them to make this recipe perfectly every time. Let’s just say that I was a ‘virgin amaretti maker’ a ‘babe in the kitchen’ and was in serious need of 1. a pair of training wheels 2. a Nona with a black belt in Italian patisserie and 3. to “borrow” that little magic fairy….

As my 1st attempt produced a very sad, poor excuse for amaretti …. they were lifeless and flat, and while the exterior was shiny & crispy, the biggest disappointment was yet to come – as biting into the cookie you were to discover – NOTHING, AIR, VOID, HOLLOW SPACE…. oooh that cannot be good I though.

So I went back to the drawing board. After much reading & baking, I came accross Yvonne’s recipe for amaretti’s. For this I have to say ‘chapeau’, my hat goes off to her – so impressed was I with these cookies, that I was inspired to create my own version based on her recipe - omitting the cocoa powder & almond decoration,  and using pure almond essence. These amaretti cookies are easy to make, have a lovely almond taste and a wonderfully soft centre!

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

• 680g (1 1/2 pounds) ground almonds (almond meal)
• 440g (2 cups) white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond essence (see NOTES below)
• 30g of icing sugar for dusting the tops of the amaretti
• 2 pinches of salt

1. Position the oven rack so that it is at the bottom of the oven.
2. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F)
3. Check that your ground almonds are as fine as possible. You can always pass them through a blender to make sure.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds, salt and sugar, mixing well with a fork.
5. Next mix in the eggs (all at once – no need to beat in advance), and almond essence.
6. Line two cookie sheet with baking paper, and using a tablespoon, make round balls of cookie dough and place them on the baking sheet (leaving 2cm of space between each).
7. Cook for 10 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven, then move the rack to the middle of the oven and bake of an additional 5 minutes.Leave to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack.
8. Using a small sieve, sprinkle each cookie with a light dust of powder (icing) sugar.

NOTES: if you take 100g of whole almonds and grind them = 100g ground almonds. Yvonne’s recipe calls for 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa which is a nice alternative and should be combined with the almonds/sugar/salt. She also rolls her amaretti cookies in white sugar before baking them which you may prefer – instead of dusting them with icing sugar. If you do not have pure almond essence and are using almond extract (which is not as strong), you will need to using about 3 tablespoons in total – taste as you go!!

Earl Grey Chocolate Cake

CHOCOLATE CAKE :

As the story goes… when my mother was pregnant with me, she used to crave chocolate so badly that she would eat several bars a day! Yet dispite this early training, I came into the world without the ‘chocolate gene‘, and therefore never truly understood what all the fuss was about when it came to desserts like chocolate cake (cries of NO & SHAME!!!)

This was until my friend Evelyn sent me her recipe for “Flourless Chocolate Brownies“. With my mother’s birthday approaching and knowing her weakness for anything chocolate, I thought what better an opportunity than to try out what Evelyn described as the most deliciously, delectable chocolate dessert she had ever tasted.

Being without a brownie pan, I decided to turn the recipe into a cake, and instead of using only plain 70% dark chocolate, I substitute 3/4 “DOLFIN” Earl Grey Tea 70% dark chocolate . The only thing left to say is that after some 20 odd years I have finally found …… chocolate cake!

CHOCOLATE CAKE Recipe - ERIKA ALLISTON Sweet Pea Blog

• 140g Dolfin Earl Grey Dark Tea Chocolate (52% cocoa)
• 85g solid dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
• 100g unsalted butter
• 175g icing sugar (sifted)
• 4 large eggs (room temperature if possible)
• icing sugar for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
2. Seperate the egg whites & yolks into two seperate bowls (use a large mixing bowl for the egg white) and set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter together and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Whisk egg yolks & icing sugar until creamy, then gradually add to the chocolate mixture.
5. Finally, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff white peaks – and then fold gently (so as not to loose their lightening effect) into the chocolate mixture.
6. Pour into a greased and floured 25cm bottom cake dish and bake for approx. 20 minutes until slightly cracked on the top. Once completely cool, using a sive dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.

NOTES: This chocolate cake is nice served with crème fraiche! Despite its velvety rich texture it remains a light cake, which can be made a few days in advance and stored outside the fridge covered it aluminium foil without loosing its lovely moist quality. The other advantage to this cake is that it is GLUTEN FREE – for those looking for gluten free recipes due to allergies !!