Monday 28 March 2011

Curly Kale Chips


En Français au bas de la page!

I got some lovely organic curly kale from the organic stall on Broadway Market last saturday.
I love making kale salads but this time i wanted to experiment and make some chips in my dehydrator. 
Raw fooders very often know about them and usually they are a huge hit.

Kale is a fantastic source of iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin A. 

To prepare your chips:

  • Remove the hard stem of the kale and shred it in mouthful pieces. Place them in a bowl.
  • Sprinkle with sea salt, add a dash of apple cider vinegar, some olive oil and massage the kale with your hands. The kale will wilt slightly.
  • Place on the mesh screen of your dehydrator, dehydrate for about 5h at 115°F.
  • Store in an airtight container.
  • Yum!


EN FRANCAIS:


J’ai trouvé du chou Kale bio du Devon chez le marchand bio du marché de Broadway Market samedi dernier.


J’adore faire de grosses salades avec le choux kale mariné dans de l’huile d’olive, du citron, sel et poivre. Mais cette fois j’ai préféré expérimenter et j’ai fait des chips de choux kale au déshydrateur.

Monday 7 March 2011

Chocolate macarons




Raw chocolate macarons
EN FRANCAIS AU BAS DE LA PAGE!



This is a recipe I have been wanting to post for a long time as it is one of my favourites and one of the first recipes I made with raw cacao.

Raw cacao means that it has not been heated above 40°C and therefore has kept all of its nutritional value whereas “normal” cacao has been produced by roasting the cacao bean.

Raw cacao is very potent and is full of minerals (a lot of magnesium) and vitamins. It’s a great antioxidant.

It is also a stimulant. I have recently experienced what happens if you eat too much of it: a great burst of energy but also a racing heart. So be wise, it is definitely a food too eat very moderately.


This recipe is adapted from the beautiful book “Raw food real world” from Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raw-Food-Real-World-Recipes/dp/0060793554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299349641&sr=8-1

If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can just put the macaroons in the fridge to set and eat them as they are. Also if you can’t find raw cacao powder, you can use normal cacao powder (Van Houten is good)


Raw chocolate macarons

3 cups / 270g shredded coconut
1 ½ Cups / 115g Raw cacao powder
1 Cup/ 250g Agave syrup
50g coconut butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
A pinch of sea salt

Mix everything in a bowl, form little pyramid shapes and place on a teflex sheet if you dehydrate them. Dehydrate for about 12h at 115°F, or until crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.

If you don’t dehydrate them, simply form pyramids or balls and place on a tray. Refrigerate until set.


Enjoy!

En français


Cela fait longtemps que je veux publier cette recette. C’est une de mes préférées et aussi une de mes premières recettes avec de la poudre de cacao crûe.

Contrairement au cacao « normal », le cacao crû n’a pas été chauffé au-delà de 40°C. La fève de cacao est généralement torréfiée avant d’être moulue tandis que pour fabriquer le cacao crû elle n’a pas subit de traitement de chaleur, ce qui lui permet de conserver toute sa valeur nutritive.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Amazing Doli extra virgin olive oil


"Sallie Rose left her home in North London and followed her adventurous heart to Greece. Arriving in the traditional mountain village of Doli, she purchased an exceptional plot of land overlooking the sea. As autumn approached she noticed the ancient trees scattered across the terraces, which were dripping with an abundance of fleshy black olives.


Walking along the old donkey path to the sea, she met a local shepherd tending to his flock of sheep. They formed an instant rapport and Takis offered to help her harvest her fruits. He arrived next day with his donkey and together they harvested 20 sacks of olives. The local Olive Oil Co-Operative converted them into pure Green Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
This is the story of how Doli Oil began and still continues . . ." ( from http://www.organic-olive-oil.co.uk/index.php)

I met Sally Rose a few weeks ago and bought some of her Olive oil.
I found it so delicious that it made me want to tell you about it!

To read more about how it's produced visit http://www.organic-olive-oil.co.uk/index.php

This oil is so full of flavour that it's delicious on its own.
As I wanted to create a recipe using this beautiful oil, I decided the best way was actually not to use too many ingredients and not do much to it to really let the taste of the oil come out!
I sometimes think it's so delicious to really taste the produce as it is, transforming it as little as possible and not mixing it too much with many other ingredients.
This way you can really taste the "finesse" of the ingredient in its purest state... bliss!

Sallie told me that when she cooks a dish she likes to add a few drops of oil at the end of cooking. It brings out flavors and gives creamyness to the dish.

As for me, I had it simply with sliced avocado and a broccoli and alfalfa sprout salad, all sprinkled with pink peppercorns, sea salt and Doli olive oil. A treat!!

Sallie sells her delicious oil to some of the top restaurants in London, Arbutus with Anthony Demetre is one of them.
Of course you don't need to be a michelin star chef to enjoy and buy Doli Olive oil!
You can order Doli olive oil online at http://www.organic-olive-oil.co.uk/index.php.