Chocolate Lovers Ganache Tart / Vegan and Paleo

This may be the most simple decadent chocolate dessert. Chocolate ganache in a chocolate nut crust, serve it with whipped coconut cream and berries (or whipped cream for you milk lovers). Bring it along to a pot luck, or if you are like me, cut thin slivers off the leftover piece in the fridge, eating them standing up in the kitchen. Somehow it all disappeared too quickly.

cocoa and coconut syrup for the crust.

I needed to whip up a dessert to bring to a girlfriends dinner party over the weekend. I was late, as usual I had overbooked my day, and had not left much time to bake. Rifling through my recipe box the ganache stared at me. It had been staring at me for a few weeks. I used to make it often, but it had been ages. It would be fast, simple, and with minimal baking time of about 10 minutes. Perfect! 

Flax seed hydrating in water.

I whipped it up, no problem, and threw it in the fridge to set. But, I needed to be getting on my way over to the party and it hadn't quite set yet...really not much at all...it was still jell-O jiggling. So I fitted a basked with ice packs and my chocolate tart and crossed my fingers that any chocolate flood would stay off the car carpet. Miraculously not a drop was spilled, we stuck it in her fridge when I arrived. By the time for dessert it was well set and ready to slice with a sharp knife. 

Serve small pieces, it is quite rich and depending on the chocolate you use, can be on the bitter side. Better to see who really loves chocolate and wants to come back for more. 

If you have even a moderately stocked kitchen, you can probably throw this together from things in your panty. Usually I make one large tart in a fluted pan with a removable bottom. A very elegant, shinny, solid chocolate presentation. This time I used a throw away aluminum pan because I misplaced my tart pan. And sometimes, I make small personal tarts, they are easy and adorable. The crust to ganache ratio is different, but with some berries would be quite balanced. 

Chocolate Lovers Ganache Tart / Vegan and Paleo

• 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (sifted makes your life easier)
• 1.5 Tablespoon coconut syrup (honey, or maple syrup)
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can coconut milk (full fat)
• 1 lb (16 ounces) bittersweet chocolate (Taza or other vegan chocolate)
• 1 Tablespoon dark rum

Preheat oven to 350°. (makes a 9" or 10" tart pan, a 9" pie plate, or about 10 small tartlets)

Mix flax seed and water in a bowl. Let sit to hydrate for 5 minutes. 

Add cocoa powder and coconut syrup to the flax seed. Mix together with a rubber spatula. If you wisely sifted the cocoa powder this will go easily. If you are absent minded, like me, and didn't sift, you will now need to mush up many of the cocoa clumps. Sing something good, it goes by faster.

Add the almond meal and salt to the chocolate mixture. Mix everything together using the spatula. It will be dry and difficult at first, mix for about 1 minute and you will find it becomes more like a moist dough. 

Lightly grease your pan. Using your fingers, press the chocolate dough into a crust in your tart pan. Go up and sides and make sure there are no holes. If your hands get sticky, rinse them under cool water and return to crust making. 

Blind bake the crust for about 10 minutes in the 350° oven. Looking for it to puff slightly and smell a little toasted. There is nothing which needs to be cooked out, the flax will set and the almonds will be toasted. You can't mess it up, is what i'm saying. Just don't forget it and burn it. 

You can do this next step while the tart is baking. Open a can of full fat coconut milk, put in a saucepan and put on a medium low heat. Weigh out 1 pound of chocolate bits. If you have a chocolate bar, cut it into pieces. With a spatula, stir the coconut milk so it warms up but does not scorch. Heat it to just less than a simmer, just a few bubbles around the edge of the pan.

Turn off the heat. Pour in all the chocolate bits. Nudge them with your spatula to submerge them. But don't stir. (Double check the flame is turned off!) Give it a moment to melt all on its own.

About now you can remember to remove the tart crust from the oven to cool a bit.

Give the melting chocolate a stir or two. It will melt with no more heat, just stir with the spatula, it likes that. Once it is all velvety and smooth, you are home free. Stir the rum into the chocolate, stir to combine, and pour all the amazing melty chocolate into the chocolate crust. Dab the spatula on the top to flatten out the ripples. Place in the fridge to chill. This should happen in an hour or two, depending on how thick your tart pan is. 

I embark on a Freezer & Pantry Challenge - no grocery shopping allowed!

A confluence of events has lead me to challenge myself to a Freezer & Pantry Challenge. How long can I cook meals in my kitchen without going food shopping?

Thinking of ditching my grocery shopping habit this is what I feel:

But then I thought: 

So this is the question: how creative can I be with all the things in my pantry and freezer? I also include the contents of the fridge, but that is currently pretty empty. 

Why, you wonder. For one, I am tired of all the "fresh" food I purchase going bad in days. Potatoes grow sprouts or shrivel up, lettuce melts into slime overnight. Food in Massachusetts is bleak in February. If I had all the time in the world, I would recommend shopping more often during the week. But for many people, including myself, that is not a reality. Work schedules, car sharing, snow related parking bans, all make grocery shopping less than simple. 

I normally food shop once a week. I went a week ago and decided to skip this weekend's shop in light of challenging myself. 

Two other reasons.
1) My husband rolls his eyes at the amount of food I have in the kitchen and still feel the need to go out an buy more. I like having a good selection and I have this feeling I like to be prepared, like if the zombie apocalypse ever happens. I will be able to barricade myself in my kitchen eating gourmet meals for weeks. If that happens, and you are really nice, I'll share with you.

2) Lets be honest, February was a rough month here for those of us not on salary.  All those snow days don't pay the bills.

Pictures of my pantry before I start. As I was taking these pictures I began to feel that I was really exposing something to you here. Is there such thing as a food hoarder? Do I have that problem? My large upright freezer certainly seems to. Disclaimer: I did not include a photo of my chocolate bin.

Ok, so there are loads delicious summery things in my freezer that totally should be eaten up. I deserve to take on this challenge.

To begin the Pantry Challenge, I had a nice lunch yesterday, Mushrooms, Green Peas & Black Beans. Easy as pie and it took only minutes. For one portion, sauté about 1/2 cup frozen green peas and the same amount of frozen cooked mushrooms in some olive oil. Once they are hot and sizzling add 1/2 a can of organic black beans. Add a pinch of cumin, salt and simmer until hot and steamy. 

The mushrooms give the dish a meaty element. The beans are full of fiber and protein, the peas are green and nutritious. Of course it could be made using fresh ingredients. It is just so fast and easy this way. And a good stand by for those days when you feel like "there is no food in the house." 

Because if your freezer looks like mine...there is. Stay tuned I have a busy week ahead there will be some slow cooker and pressure cooker meals comin' up!

Millet, Oat, Peach & Apple Gluten Free Muffins, and thoughts on Snow

Winter is here. Waist high snow fall and towering eight foot piles of it have zapped much of my energy and enthusiasm for life.  At good moments I like to marvel at the surreal landscape around us, wind carved drifts and epic icicles.  I am most grateful for my new snow boots keeping me warm and dry. Seriously, if you are looking for the best boot ever, look no further. 

And I think it may be wise to invest in some Westeros Wildling fashions. 

Because, see, winter is here. These are my windows after the last storm. And we live on a raised first floor, I usually have to stand on my tiptoes to reach the windows from the outside in the summer. 

I have not been outside today, since this scary guy seems to be out there right now... 

Winter and I are not friends. Mostly I have been making meals out of melted cheese and various corn products; tortillas, chips, corn bread. Cooking out of the freezer and the pantry a lot. And filling the rest of my calories with chocolate in the form of vegan brownies, and obviously hot cocoa. This is me with winter the winter snow sadness, nachos in one hand and rum laced hot cocoa in the other. Actually the two do not taste so well together, don't try it.

I did make an effort of cheerfulness with some peach muffins for breakfast. Inspired by the Millet and Oat muffin recipe in Le Tartine Gourmonde, I of course changed some things by adding peaches and removing some sugar.

This is how I keep my oatmeal; with the ratio on the front for making oatmeal so I don't have to wonder if my brain is remembering correctly first thing in the morning!

Mixing up the muffin batter up is easy.

for a double batch of muffins which makes 24. I used one bag of frozen peaches. Defrost them to make slicing easy.



Fill your muffin cups 3/4 of the way with batter. Divide the peach chunks evenly around them, poking them into the batter a bit. Sprinkle the tops with dry oats. My peaches did not sink much, you can see them here on the baked muffins. I find the frozen peaches have a good flavor, but are less tender and juicy than fresh ones. In muffins this might be a bonus, as prevention against soggy muffins.



Millet, Oat, Peach & Apple Gluten Free Muffins
makes 12 muffins

2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons tahini paste (well mixed)
3 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup millet flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup oats (plus more for topping)
5 ounces cut peaches (frozen is OK!)

Preheat oven to 350°

Mix eggs and sugar in a bowl until combined and sort of creamy. Add oil, tahnini paste, apple sauce and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine the millet flour, sorghum flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl, ensure there are no lumps. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add the oats. Stir until it is well mixed, with no dry spots.

Line a muffin pan with papers, or grease it. Or if you have a super easy silicone mold like mine, it needs no grease! Scoop 3/4 full of batter. Add peaches. Poke into the batter. Sprinkled with oats for garnish.

Bake for 25 minutes. Check that a toothpick comes out clean, indicated they are done.

Enjoy :)

Horchata Cachaca Cocktail, it is not Eggnog, but tastes like a holiday!

All good ideas come from somewhere, I found this one at La Brasa in Somerville. They feature a small but mind bogglingly global menu with local sources.

Our table was throughly impressed. A dinner full of punchy unexpected flavors and a really laid back vibe from the whole place.  

(clockwise: pickled beet eggs, lamb shepherds pie, flan, coconut tapioca pudding with spiced pears, awesome soup spoons.)

The element that stuck with me was the horchata. Spiked with rum (honestly I don't know what kind) it became a joyful creamy, cinnamon laced experience. Something like a Mexican white Russian or Eggnog. However, much thinner than eggnog, as horchata is made from almond or rice milk, and dairy free! It sparked a discussion with my friend about coquito, a Puerto Rican coconut holiday drink, which I am going to mix up and bring to her later this week. (Stay tuned for coquito.)

Here is La Brasa's dreamy horchata over crushed ice.

What is HORCHATA, you ask? A milky drink made from rice (or almonds or chufa) soaked with cinnamon. Sugar is added and sometimes other spices or vanilla. It is special, simple and refreshing.

So I had this new discovery, horchata with rum. Here I was, going along, thinking virgin horchata was perfect. So I had to try it again. However, not in the mood to make horchata or even crush ice,
here is my lazy version.
I totally just bought an horchata from my local taqueria and brought it home. Shout out to La Victoria Taqueria, you rock. (Finally a good taqueria around here. You make me so very very very happy.) When I go in there to get food I always order an horchata because it is awesome, it is delicious, creamy, sweet, goes with spicy food, makes me smile, and think of California. And when I ask for the horchata, the same girl always looks me in the eye and smiles like "Oh, yeah, good ordering, you know whats up!" I love that feeling. If I was her, I would sip on horchatas all day long.

But this is an horchata for after work, hear that everybody? So bring home your takeout horchata, try not to drink much on the way, this is the hardest part of it all.

Toss in a jigger of Cachaca and some optional ice. Done!

Cachaca is a white spirit, like rum, that is made in Brazil from sugarcane juice. It was a great flavor pairing with the cinnamon and creamy elements.  Instead of cachaca you could use white or light rum.

This is obviously not a precise science, it will likley taste superb no matter what you do. I swear you will not regret it. You will only regret when the horchata is empty and that you didn't buy a second one.

Maybe one day I will make horchata from scratch and then I will link to this post. For now, save yourself time and find your closest most awesome taqueria.

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Ok, so I have been on hiatus from writing for a week or two. Life got busy and between running from jobs to projects, getting to the gym and back, and lets be honest- Netflix, the blogging lost out. I have been cooking a lot, things like soups which turn out well, but I took no photos of the process because...its just a soup and I was hungry. So I am back, and here is a weekend pancake recipe to kick off the Thanksgiving week with ingredients like cranberries, pumpkin and spices. Happy weekend before thanksgiving, which means menu planning and planning all the planning ahead we can do. Like, what day should I make my pie crust? As of now, still undecided. 

It is paleo, and thus low sugar. Wanting more sweetness in the pancakes, but not having any sort of sweet juice in the house I used an unusual technique of soaking dried fruit to extract some of the sugary flavors. Prunes, figs, or dates work well as they have a high sugar content. I used prunes here. So take about a 1/4 cup of dried fruit (9 prunes) cover with boiling water, let steep for 5-10 minutes, while you whip together the rest of the pancakes. You will want 1/4 cup of this fruit juice to put into the pancakes, the now soft dried fruit can be eaten or used on oatmeal tomorrow, or chopped up and put into quickbread, stuffing, or whatever!

So grab a can of pumpkin, some coconut oil, eggs, and your favorite "milk" product and lets go. Melt your coconut oil, I throw the jar into the microwave for 30 seconds and that does the trick. Whisk the eggs, pumpkin, "milk", and oil together.

Measure the arrowroot and almond meal into a bowl, break up any lumps before adding it into the wet ingredients. Add the spices and other dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. (spices from top, clockwise are: cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and clove.)

Then add anything we missed, like maple syrup, prune juice, vanilla and apple cider vinegar. The batter is thick and custard-like.

Fresh cranberries are easily run over with a knife for chunks and bits which cook quickly in the batter. I always have some fresh cranberries in my freezer, which can easily be sliced up while still frozen. Stir the beautiful red berries into the batter and away we go.

I find success in a medium low heat, number 3 on my stove. And in my cast iron griddle pan which takes up two burners. I use coconut oil to grease the pan, since there is already coconut oil in the pancakes themselves. And because it is tasty and makes pancakes brown nicely. (Yes, butter is awesome too, I'll leave this choice up to you.)

Pour batter onto the griddle in 2"-3" rounds. If it does not flow easily, add more "milk". Cook slowly, bubbles will appear across the surface of the pancake when it is ready to flip. These can be delicate and my favorite tool is a fish spatula, it has an angled tip and is very thin, so it slides right under the pancakes. 

Once flipped over, they PUFF up, and when the pancakes reaches a puffy stage which is at the maximum puffyness and just before it begins to deflate...this is when it is done. Remove the pancakes from the griddle and begin to pile them up. Pour, cook, flip, cook, pile up. Repeat until done. 

Call everyone to the table and serve pancakes with maple syrup and cut apples.  

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Serves 3-4

Wet ingredients: 
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2.5 T coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or 1 packet stevia)
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup fig juice (something sweet)
1/2 cup hemp or almond milk (more as needed)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup arrowroot flour (or potato starch)
1 cup almond meal (or quinoa flour)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 t salt

Fruit:
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
Sliced apple for serving
maple syrup for serving


Enjoy! ;)

Warming Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Black Bean Vegan Casserole

Aren't sweet potatoes the most pleasing things? Comforting, soft, warm, bland but not tasteless. And they come in different colors, I got orange ones and white ones with purple skins for this recipe. They look stunning in alternating rows. This recipe takes just a bit of roasting, and is so pretty presented on the table. I made a southwestern inspired casserole here, some chipotle, some wine, some beans. All the good stuff. 

Savoy cabbage waits next to a bowl of sliced sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, sage and mexican oregano. This way they are nicely coated with oil to brown up in the roasting of the casserole process.

One head of savoy cabbage is sliced up into roughly 1/2" - 1" wide pieces. Rustic is ok! White wine, olive oil, and a sprinkling of chipotle powder are added into the pan for flavor. Lets begin the roasting, 350°.



Look, after 15 minutes or so in my convection oven the cabbage is won over. Wilted into silky strips, with charred tips which say lots of flavor.



The sweet smokey cabbage is placed in the bottom of my most beloved baking pan. (Anthropologie makes the craziest dish-ware, I love it!)
What is a casserole anyway? Instead of describing the food, its comes from the French word for the pan itself, used in both the oven and serving of the food. Casserole meaning both the very cool cookware one receives as awesome wedding gifts, and of the vegetables layered inside of it. Clearly casseroles have an image problem in popular culture, but I have no problem with them. I think anything baked together is probably better than baked alone!



Spoon a layer of black bean on top of the cabbage. Next time I make this casserole I will experiment in putting the beans at the bottom and cabbage on top of them. I feel it would make the beans more succulent. You could try it either way. So, about beans, I made mine using a dried heirloom variety, soaking and then cooking in my pressure cooker for 20 minutes. You can use black beans or pinto beans out of a can, that is easy. Remember to rinse them.



Sprinkle some chipotle on top of the beans if you are in the mood. Next comes the very fun part. Craft time with food! Arrange the slices of sweet potato in scolloped rows, alternating by color.




Bake entire cassarole in a 350° oven for 30 - 45 minutes. Crisped sweet potatoes and warmed through.

The potatoes retain their color difference after roasting, although I lack a really good photo because the evening lighting in my house is lacking and it didn't look pretty the next day. We had devoured it and it was a mangled mess of leftovers. We will make do with this one until I make this again!  Or you make it and send me the photo perhaps?

It was really impressive looking. Dinner party or pot luck worthy. Even Thanksgiving perhaps? We ate it along with salad and mustard on top. It served about 6  portions that way. Next time Ill take better measurements in the kitchen, but honestly it was really good, just wing-it, you can't go wrong.

Warming Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Black Bean Vegan Casserole

4-6 sweet potatoes
1 savoy cabbage
1 1/2 cups cooked pinto or black beans
1 teaspoon dry sage
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
olive oil
salt pepper
1/3 cup white wine
1 teaspoons chipotle powder

Parsnip, Mushroom and Sage Soup, vegetarian and dairy-free

Parsnips, mushroom, celery, onion and sage. I never have a recipe for vegetable soup, it always comes together magically, a little of this and a little of that. I share this parsnip soup more for the idea then the exactness of anything. There is no great story here, just some chilly evenings and this one reminded me how much I love eating soup. I find it satisfying, and comforting. Soup is a good meal for when you are eating alone, with our schedules that is most meals of the week. It uses hardly any dishes that need to be washed, there are lots of leftovers!  

I decided to puree this soup from the get go. So, it does not matter what the veggies look like when you chop them. Except, this is an important thought, celery. Celery doesn't puree up very well, the stringy parts always stay stringy. So if you cut the celery thin to begin with, the strings disappear!

Put all the veggies into the soup pan with olive oil. Heat, until everybody is sizzling nice and hot. Then pour in a good dose of white wine. Give this time to cook off, leaving just the flavor behind. 

Add water to cover the veggies by an inch or so. You can always add more. Simmer your soup for about 30 minutes, it will be ready when the parsnips (the hardest vegetable in there) are soft and can be shushed with the back of a spoon.

This is a job for an immersion blender if you are ok with a "country style" puree, meaning with some variety of texture still there. For a super smooth soup, send batches of it through a traditional blender for the best texture. If you are trying to impress somebody, you can send it through a strainer, a la French. 

Serve hot in soup bowls, with something crunchy on top. I like to toast pepitas in a small frying pan with a tiny bit of oil and salt. They sizzle like crazy when spooned onto the soup, and make a nice crunch. 

• Parsnip Vegetable Soup
• 
  
• 1 head celery
• 2 pounds parsnips 
• 1 red onion
• 8 oz sliced brown mushrooms
• 5 leaves of sage (or 2 teaspoons powdered)
• salt and pepper

Make soup, as directed above. Puree before serving. Keeps for 1 week in the fridge.