Evil Chocolate Breakfast Spread
Evil because its crammed with all sorts of wickedly good for you superfoods…cunningly disguised in something like a fudgey dark chocolate Nutella. I love this spread on a thick slice of San Francisco sourdough. I have heard through the grapevine that this spread is also the key component in a heavenly hot chocolate …? Recipe please!
- 1/2 recipe Silky Chocolate Ganache
- 6 – 8 capsules blue green algae*, or more
- 1/4 c finely powdered raw cacao
- 2 T dried goji berries, finely ground in high speed blender
- 1/4 t almond extract
- 1/4 to 1/2 t salt, to taste
- 1/2 cup smooth raw almond butter
In a high speed blender, combine all ingredients except almond butter and blend a minute or so on high, or until everything is a smooth as can be. Lower speed and add almond butter – blend just to combine.
Finish mixing by hand (do not over-blend or the mixture will split). Adjust for sweetness, taste and chocolate intensity, and store in glass containers. Can be kept at room temp for 1 -2 weeks.
Play with this recipe:
- Use roasted and/or chunky almond butter (my favorite)
- Try hazelnut butter!
- Add blue mangosteen powder for even more antioxidant boost
* I use Crystal Manna, because it has a very subtle flavor which is easily masked by chocolate. But you can use any type of bg algae or greens powder – just start with less and see how far you can push it.
Maple Tart Tatin – Breakfast of Champions
This is one of my favorite tarts, and my favorite breakfast! It’s such a beautiful simple way to use fresh seasonal apples (and/or pears) from the CSA or the farmer’s market, and its so easy to make! Sometimes I whip one up while I am making dinner and my boyfriend Hannes and I eat half for dessert and half the next morning. Unlike the traditional French recipe which uses caramelized white sugar, I found that caramelized maple syrup or agave syrup works really really well and makes you feel a lot better afterwards. Also, because the two of us have no trouble devouring an entire tart in one day, I found that with this tart you can get away with using a very small amount of pastry (only 5 T of butter for the whole thing – and tons of fruit!). This allows room to add a rich topping for a decadent dessert, or to keep it clean and simple.
Maple Tart Tatin:
Preheat oven to 375°.
- 1/2 recipe Pure Butter Pastry (freeze the other half – makes it so easy to whip up the next one!)
- 1/2 c. maple syrup, or a mixture of maple and agave syrup
- 1 T butter
- pinch of salt
- 5 -6 apples, mixed varieties if possible, always organic or locally grown
Caramelized Maple/Agave Syrup:
Boil the maple/agave syrup in a 9″ ovenproof skillet/saute pan over a medium high flame for about 5 -8 minutes, swirling and gently shaking liquid regularly to avoid burning. Be very careful here – this stuff is screamingly hot, and sticks – good to keep a glass of cold water nearby just in case.
Take off heat and add butter and pinch of salt, tilt and swirl pan carefully to incorporate. It will really look like caramel here. Let pan cool while you roll pastry:
Prepare the Crust:
Roll the chilled pastry out thinly, to about the same size as the pan. Chill while you prepare apples:
Prepare the Apples:
Only half-way peel the apples so you have stripes of skin showing still. This will allow the fruit to full absorb the syrup, but to keep some of the color, shine, and nutrients of the skin. Quarter each apple vertically, and slice out the core. This can be done very simply in one cut once the apples are quartered.
Arrange apples round side down, on top of caramel in pan. Pack in as many as you can in a roughly geometric pattern. Top with round of pastry, gently tucking extra pastry edges in around the apples.
Bake at 375° for 20 minutes, reduce temp to 350° and bake for another hour. Remove from oven and let sit 20 -30 minutes to absorb juices.
Place a large serving plate over skillet and quickly invert tart onto plate – give a shake to release apples from pan. (I do this over the sink, wearing a baking mit or towel to protect my hand from any hot juices.) This sounds more intimidating than it is – say 1, 2, 3 and then do a bold, quick flip – the faster you do it the less chance of juices escaping.
Options!
- Make this with pears instead of apples, or a mixture
- Add a bit of chopped crystallized ginger
- Add a sprinkling of fresh or frozen whole cranberries before you put the crust on
- Make this using all dark agave syrup instead of maple, and add 1/2 t of vanilla to the caramel after the butter.
*Caramelizing maple or agave syrup is a little trickier than using white sugar because if you are using dark maple or agave, you will not be able to tell by color. After 4 -5 minutes the mixture should start to thicken, boil more slowly, and start to smell more caramelized. If it starts to smoke or smell burned or bitter take it off the flame immediately, and add the butter. This recipe is very forgiving – so don’t be afraid to go a little dark or light with it – you will find your own personal preference. You are just looking to concentrate the sugars from a liquid syrup to something of a hard-crack stage which means it will be crunchy when cool, but still a thick honey-like syrup when boiling. If in doubt, dip a dry wooden spoon tip in the syrup, then dip for a 5 seconds into your a glass of cold water. It should turn into a maple tipped wooden lollipop…. Mmmmmm….
Quasi-raw, butter, and my favorite Peach Gallette
For a while I have been thinking about my own eating habits as being “quasi-raw”… this could be anywhere from 75% – 95% raw, and is totally flexible depending on whats in season, what’s on hand, what country I happen to be in, and who is coming for dinner.
I do believe in the virtues of raw food, and although much of the flavor of fresh (see Addicted to FRESH), comes from uncooked foods, I love also being able to mix it up by taking more traditional cooked/baked recipes and loading them up with really fresh seasonal fruits or veggies, and turning people ON to that freshness in other ways.
Since my background is that of a professional pastry chef, and I LOOOOVE food, all sorts of food…I want to say that there are some things that are not great for you, but cannot be substituted for by anything else, and one of them is butter. Really good butter. Fresh from the farmers market, organic, grass fed when possible, or at least French or European. (You have to be able to smell it, or it doesn’t count).
Can you smell it when you look at this photo? What I love about this tart is the incredible simplicity of it – the flavor is simple bright fresh peach, nestled in a flaky pure butter crust, the shape is as organic and free-form as you want to make it, and it takes no time to pull together with any fruits you happen to have on hand.
Fresh Peach Gallette
Perfect Butter Crust:
- 1/2 c butter, frozen
- 1 1/2 c unbleached white flour (can use up to 1/2 c wwheat pastry flour)
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 ice water, with squeeze of lemon
This can be done by hand, but its incredibly easy and fast in a food processor or mini-prep:
Chop butter into 8 -10 pieces and combine with flour in mini-prep. Pulse until butter is no larger than course bread crumbs. Stop, add salt and 4 -5 T of the iced water and pulse just a few seconds more to slightly combine. Turn out into a medium mixing bowl and toss lightly with a fork, adding 1 -2 T water if nessesary until the mixture just holds a ball. Pat lightly into a 1 inch circle and chill for at least 1/2 hour, while you prepare the fruit.
Preheat oven to 375. Prepare fruit:
Peach Mixture:
- 4 -5 peaches, washed and sliced thinly
- 1 t vanilla
- 1/4 t almond extract
- 1/4 c Agave syrup, to taste
- 1 t arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
- pinch salt
- pinch nutmeg and cinnamon
Combine fruit and remaining ingredients and allow to macerate for 10 -15 minutes while you roll the crust.
Roll the chilled dough into a large circle, 3 -4 inches beyond diameter of the the pan you are using. This is a freeform tart, so you can make it in anything you have – its supposed to be rustic. I like using an 11′ glass quiche pan (shown above).
Pile fruit in center of crust, even out, and then fold the pastry sides gently towards the middle, so they lay directly onto the fruit, leaving the middle exposed. Crazy, uneven shapes are fine – part of the charm of this tart.
Bake for about 40 minutes at 375, then reduce to 350 and bake for another 20 -30 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the peach juice is thickend slightly.
Remove from oven and brush the exposed peaches with a bit of the juice form the tart to moisten them and make them shine. Serve warm for dessert, and then finish off the next morning for breakfast!
Options:
- Add a smattering of blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries
- Replace cinnamon with zest of 1/2 lemon
- Replace peaches with nectarines, plums, or any other stonefruit in season
- Replace stonefruit with apples or pears, or combination.
- Try adding chopped crystallized ginger and a few cranberries.
- Use maple syrup instead of agave, or use a combination
Dragon Crackers
This raw cracker recipe is an adaptation from the recipe in Roxanne Klein and Charlie Trotter’s gorgeous book Raw. In my not-so-humble opinion, Roxanne and Sarma have been the leading edge in making raw food stylish and sexy.
For Crackers:
- 1 1/2 c golden flax
- 2 c white sesame
- 1/4 c black sesame
- 2 c water
- 1/4 c agave (dark is best) or maple syrup
- 2 T nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)
- 2 dried chipotle chili peppers, stem and seeds removed
- 1/2 t red chili flakes
- 1 t salt
- 1/4 c sesame oil (toasted is nice)
For topping:
- 2 Tbs agave/maple syrup mixed with 1/4 c water
- salt, or smoked salt
- paprika, or smoked paprika for sprinkling (optional)
Mix all cracker ingredients together and soak overnight.
Blend 3 cups of the soaked mixture (make sure you get the chipotles in there) in a blender or food processor for a couple of minutes. Add 1/4 cu sesame oil and up to a cup of water as necessary to keep things moving. The idea is to break up some of the flax and sesame to make it more digestible and give a nice cracker base, but not to make it a homogenized pulp. Flecks are good.
Combine with the unblended mixture and adjust for taste. Should be slightly sweet and spicy- not too salty.
Split between 4 Teflex sheets and spread evenly. Add more water to batter if needed – it will just evaporate. Dilute agave in water and lightly spray or brush on tops of crackers. Sprinkle lightly with salt and smoked paprika.
Dehydrate overnight or until dry enough to flip. Flip over and break into big jagged shapes and dehydrate for 1 -2 more days on screens until they are crunchy. Taste and adjust the salt/sweet hit along the way by spraying agave/sprinkling with salt.
These crackers take a long time to dry and if you use agave rather than maple syrup, they make always stay just a little bit chewy. Really nice though – everyone loves these crackers.
Flavor Trick: with crackers and snacks I always try to hit a nice sweet salt balance on the surface, so the flavor explodes on your tongue. That makes the brain happy and paves the way for all the other nuances to come out as you chew.
Herbed Walnut Hemp Quackers
I call these raw crackers “Quackers” in tribute to Sarma Melngailis’ retail store One Lucky Duck. This recipe comes from a combination of two of her recipes in Raw Food Real World.
- 5 c raw walnuts (soaked 5 hours or overnight)
- 5 c diced zucchini
- 1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 1 hour or more.
- 1 shallot, peeled and chopped
- big handful of fresh herbs
- 1/4- 1/2 c water (or tomato soak water, if not too salty)
- 1 c ground golden flax
- 1/2 c hemp seeds
- 2 t salt
In food processor or high-speed blender, grind walnuts to a rough powder one cup at a time. Transfer to a bowl. Blend zucchini, tomato, shallot, herbs and water and grind to a thick paste. Little flecks are good. Mix in bowl with walnuts, add remaining ingredients and adjust to taste. Add a little tomato soak water or more water to make a spreadable batter.
Spread mixture onto 4 Teflex sheets and sprinkle tops lightly with salt. Dehydrate at 115 6 – 8 hours or overnight. Flip over, cut into any cracker shape you like, and continue drying on screens until completely crunchy and dry. Store these crackers in the refrigerator.
Flavor Trick: with crackers and snacks, I like to keep the batter lightly salted and add a little salt (and sometimes sweet) on the top so you get an immediate flavor hit when you bite in. Most whole foods release their flavor as you begin to chew, but our Western palates have been conditioned by Doritos and such to expect a flavor explosion at the first bite. So do it!
Kashi Porridge
I grew up in the 70’s with a hippy mom who went through great lengths to get me to eat healthy food (thanks Mom!) and I have a tortured childhood memory of staring at the pile of cooked buckwheat on my plate and wondering how I was ever going to survive… so I was really surprised at how delicious and deeply satisfying this breakfast cereal is, made entirely of buckwheat and raw sunflower seeds! You have to try it!
Serves 4
- 1 c raw buckwheat groats
- 1/2 c raw sunflower seeds
- 1 t salt
- 4 1/2 c water (or soy, or hempmilk, or apple cider!)
Blend buckwheat and sunflower seeds in a hi speed blender to a fine meal, with a little texture to it still.
Dry roast in a heavy bottomed pot, (large enough for porridge) for 4 -5 minutes, stirring contstantly, just to get a nice toasty flavor.
Add salt and water, whisking constantly (be careful when you first add the water the the hot pan – it will steam up).
Let cook 4 -5 minutes, or until buckwheat is soft and cooked through.
Warm Winter Carrot Soup (raw)
Raw soups in winter never sound great to me, so I wanted to do something really rich and satisfying. If you have leftover parsnip pasta from the Creamy Parsnip Fettucine recipe, just use this in place of the wine-soaked parsnips below. Yum!
Serves 4
- Macerate 2 c shredded parsnips with 1/4 c white wine and 1/2 t salt. Let stand overnight.
- 1 c raw cashews or macadamia nuts, soaked 2-4 hours and drained
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced
- 2 cups carrot juice
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 T coconut oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Blend parsnips, soaked nuts, ginger and one cup of the carrot juice in a high-speed blender until its a super-smooth creamy base. Slow machine and add in remaining carrot juice until you get a rich creamy soup consistency. Whiz in coconut oil and adjust for salt and seasonings.
Warm this soup very carefully on a pot on the stove just before serving. Make sure it does not get too hot (hover over it and keep sticking your finger in the pot). Soup should not go over 115°F which is just slightly over lukewarm.
Serve in pre-warmed bowls with a few cilantro leaves as garnish.
Play with the flavors!
- Make a Curried Carrot Soup by adding a pinch of ground cumin, coriander and turmeric!
- Add meat and juice of one fresh young coconut, and lime for a more tropical taste
Super Green Smoothies
It was a revelation to me that you could throw a bunch of greens in the blender and have it turn into a refreshing drink that is completely delicious and satisfying. (Really! You have to experience it to believe it.) Sarma Melngailis has dedicated a whole section to her love of greens in Living Raw Food with some fantastic green blender drink recipes which is really inspiring. The best thing is you can do all of this in a Vitamix which is much easier to clean than a juicer.
You can play with this with whatever greens you have on hand, and the base I usually start with is the grapefruit, lime and agave to sweeten.
Serves 2
- 1 grapefruit, in chunks, with peel cut off
- 1 cucumber
- 1 whole bunch fresh cilantro, washed well, but stems and all!
- 1 bunch of any greens, washed well, any tough stems removed.
- 4-5 ice cubes
- 1 lime (or lemon) in small chunks, with peel cut off
- 1/4 c agave, or to taste
The only trick to this is the order you put things into the blender – make sure you put the juicy stuff in first (graperfruit, cucumbers) so you get a liquid going before you start adding the greens. Then, bunch by bunch, just stuff all those greens in and blend up until its all completely smooth. Add a little water if you need to. Add ice cubes as you go to keep it nice and cool, and finish with the agave and lime. These are the key ingredients that make this all taste so good – don’t be afraid to make this fairly sweet. You will be surprised at how refreshing and addictive this is.
Play with this recipe!
- The grapefruit can be substituted with oranges, tangerines, pineapple etc
- The cilantro can be replaced or mixed with parsley
- Experiment with using combination of lettuce or fresh sunflower sprouts with the greens
- The cucumber is really refreshing but not necessary – in NY in the winter I usually don’t have these laying around so I just add more water/ice.
- For a lower carb version, 2 pkts of stevia can be substituted, or try a combo…
- Try fresh coconut water instead!
Rosemary “Cream” Sauce (Raw)
This recipe is a slight modification from the one in Sarma Melngalis’ new cookbook Living Raw Food. Get this book – its awesome.
- 1 cup of Cashew “Boursin” Cheese
- 2 t. lemon juice
- 1/2 small clove garlic
- 1/2 t. fresh rosemary
- 1/3 c water
- salt and pepper to taste
Blend everything up in a high-speed blender until completely smooth and creamy. Use to make Parsnip Pasta with Marinated Mushrooms.
Creamy Parsnip “Fettucine” with Marinated Mushrooms (Raw)
This is blow your mind delicious alternative-to-pasta dish. Its easy to make but you have to get into the “Zen of Parsnip Peeling”…or have a couple of kitchen helpers around – it’s fun to do with friends!
Parsnip Pasta (Serves 4)
I love parsnips! They seem to be a very under-rated vegetable since no one seems to know much about them. They are wonderfully sweet and have a mellow wintery satisfying flavor and if you peel them into Fettuccine-like noodles with a simple vegetable peeler, they develop a delicious silky mouthfeel that is completely satisfying with a rich creamy nut sauce.
Texture Trick: the trick to the vegetable pastas is in how you cut it. You much slice or peel with the grain of the parsnip (or zucchini, or goldbar squash). DO NOT use one of those cool spiral slicer gizmos to make a vegetable pasta. Cool as it may look, those slicers will cut through your vegetables against the grain, resulting in a rough and mealy mouthfeel which is not good for a pasta dish.
- 8 medium sized parsnips, thoroughly peeled to take off all the tough skin.
- 1 zuchinni or goldbar squash, very lightly peeled, just to take off the smooth outer skin
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 T olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
Peel the parsnips into fettucine shaped “pasta” the same way you would peel a carrot, rotating the parsnip by small turns until you run into the core. Keep peeling away as long as the parsnip is sweet and tender. Depending on the parsnip this might be the whole thing, or you might have to stop at the core which is sometime woody. (yes – you will have to keep munching on the raw parsnip as you prep… watch out, it’s habit forming).
Peel the zucchini into fettucine the same way, stopping short of the seedy core. We are just going for texture here.
Add salt and gently massage into the tangled mass of shredded veggies until they begin to soften and get slippery. This helps to break down the viberous nature of the vegetables and to give it that nice, smooth “cooked” feel in your mouth.
Now add the wine and the olive oil and massage in for a minute or two. Taste for salt, add pepper. It should be completely delicious even at this stage.
Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour for vegetables to soften and marinate in the wine. You can do this up to 24 hours ahead.
Marinated Mushrooms
- 1/2 lb brown crimini, king oyster, or mix of other fresh wild mushrooms, cleaned.
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1/2 t finely crushed garlic
- 1 T finely chopped fresh parsely
- course salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Cut mushrooms into thick slices or bit sized chunks and toss with remaining ingredients- massage marninade into mushrooms gently with your hands for one minute. Adjust for taste (it should already be delicious at this stage).
Warm in dehydrator for 1 – 3 hours until mushrooms are soft and sauteed tasting. (Dehydrating is optional – you can simply leave out at room temperature and it will taste great).
In a large serving platter, top pasta with Raw Rosemary Cream Sauce, and finish with a heap of mushrooms in the center. Enjoy!
Note: any leftover parsnip pasta can be made in the base for the Warm Winter Carrot Soup.
Conscious Food Choices 