November 4th, 2015
I recently came back from a short stay in NYC with Masha (older daughter and Golubka photographer), where I was happy to get a glimpse of autumn with its turning trees and crisp air. Fall is something I miss a lot after being a resident of almost seasonless Florida for so many years.
All the falling leaves and a minor sniffle got me thinking about comforting soups, which are the best answer to being under the weather or any general cravings for warming, healing food.
This soup is simple in preparation, but full of powerful flavors and anti-inflammatory properties. I started with a play on chicken noodle soup, the classic ‘get well’ food, by using roasted spaghetti squash in place of noodles and making a nutritious broth. The broth is infused with the best of the best – turmeric, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and plenty of lemon. The sweetness of roasted carrots balances out the tartness and spiciness of the broth. Puy lentils complete the soup with body and substance. If you can get your hands on kaffir lime leaves, which can be found frozen at Asian markets, do not hesitate to include them, you’ll be in for a real treat.
I created this recipe as part of a healthy recipe package for Food & Wine online, see the detailed recipe here.
Tags: carrots, garlic, ginger, kaffir lime, lemon, lemongrass, lentils, soup, spaghetti squash, turmeric
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August 28th, 2013
When it comes to ice-cream, for me, the stranger and less common the flavour, the better. My track record includes lavender, cardamom, black sesame, avocado, spiced apple and rose petal ice-cream, to name a few. This summer, the ice cream recipe I’m most proud of is this Kaffir Lime and Mango one.
I’ve been dreaming about flavouring ice cream with kaffir lime leaves for a while now. Although they are most commonly used in savory dishes, the leaves have that aromatic and zesty taste that I imagined would work beautifully in many desserts. And my imagination did not fail me this time – the ice cream came out absolutely out-of-this-world delicious.
Ripe mangoes have been falling off the trees all over the neighborhoods around us lately, which means very happy times for me. I have a few friends who are just as enthusiastic about getting their hands on the freshest local mangoes, and we set out on mango hunts around the neighborhoods whenever possible. But if a sweet ripe mango is out of reach where you live, you can omit it – the bright flavours of the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and coconut milk will do a wonderful job on their own.
I made a lime reduction to accompany the ice-cream with an extra-zesty kick, but it is entirely optional.
The Vietnamese owner of the market, where I usually buy frozen kaffir leaves, recently asked me what I do with all these lemongrass stalks and lime leaves, and was amazed to hear that I use them to make delicious ice cream. I have to admit that I felt a bit accomplished in surprising him, as I always feel that he knows much more about cooking than I ever will.
Kaffir Lime Mango Ice-Cream
2 cans full fat unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
3 lemongrass stalks – cut into 2-inch pieces and bruised with the back of a chef’s knife
2 large handfulls kaffir lime leaves – bruised
1 large or 2 small ripe, sweet mangoes – peeled and pitted
zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup light agave syrup or other sweetener of choice
1. In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of coconut milk with xanthan gum or arrowroot powder to form a thick slurry. Set aside.
2. Heat the rest of the milk, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in a medium sized pan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and leave to infuse for 1 hour.
3. Transfer into a blender (preferably high-speed) and blend until smooth. Strain the solids through a fine-mesh strainer. Rinse the blender.
4. Pour the strained mixture back into the blender, add in the slurry, mango flesh, lime zest and juice and agave, and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until well chilled, preferably overnight.
5. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
Notes:
1. If you have a high-speed blender, such as Blendtec or Vitamix, you can eliminate the first step. Just heat the whole amount of milk in step 2 and add the xanthan gum in step 4 along with the rest of the ingredients.
2. You can also eliminate step 3 if your blender is not very strong, just strain out the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves after infusing the milk, without blending them. The flavor may be not as pronounced in this case.
Lime Reduction
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice – from about 5 limes
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lime zest
1-inch piece fresh ginger – minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1. Combine the lime juice, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and keep it gently boiling for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until reduced by 3/4 and syrupy.
2. Add the zest, ginger and lemon juice and let steep for about 5 minutes. Strain and cool. Add honey or agave if the reduction is too strong and zesty to your taste.
Tags: ice cream, kaffir lime, mango, recipe, vegan
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August 4th, 2013
This summer has been unusually mild for Florida, and we’ve been able to come out of our AC shelters and enjoy the outside. Evenings are almost cool, especially here on the island, with nice breeze coming through from the gulf. We even decided to celebrate Paloma’s fifth birthday outside, at our beach park this year and I’ve been busy making ice-cream and sorbets for the party. Paloma is very concerned about the menu and has me consulting her on every dish.
These veggie burgers will be one of the main dishes at the party. If I ever had to choose a favourite out of all the recipes I’ve come up with, these Asian flavored burgers will probably take the prize. I must admit that veggie burgers have always seemed boring to me, but after seeing these two, I became fascinated with the idea of creating my own.
Heirloom black Forbidden rice is a fairly recent culinary discovery for me. I love its purplish color and unique texture, especially when cooked in coconut milk with kaffir lime leaves. When first fava beans appeared at the market, I could not resist making a burger featuring the dramatic combination of black and purple rice with the spring green of fava. Since then, I’ve made a few variations of this burger using fresh fava, green peas and edamame – all to amazing results.
These burgers alone contain fireworks of bright flavors and will be delicious with any fixings that you use for your veggie burgers. I like to make asparagus fries to accompany the burger. Their spicy and zesty flavor can convert any asparagus hater.
Another serving idea for the burger are marinated beets. These are a variation of a very popular Russian-Korean salad, where thinly julienned carrots are marinated in a spicy vinaigrette. It’s a mandatory item at any food market in Russia and is often a welcomed dish among the many plates on a holiday table. In Russia we call this salad, literally, Korean Carrots.
Serve the burger on your favourite bread or burger bun, or wrapped into collard green leaves with a thick slice of juicy tomato.
Asian Flavored Veggie Burgers
(makes 8-9 patties)
for the rice
1 cup black Forbidden rice
1 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk
handful of kaffir lime leaves – bruised with the back of a knife
pinch of salt
to prepare the rice
Mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
for the burgers
2 cups shelled edamame or fresh shelled fava beans or green peas
1 cup untoasted pistachio nuts or pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 cups coconut black rice (from above)
1/4 cup ground chia or flax seeds
3 soft dates – pitted and mashed with a fork
2 tablespoons sesame tahini
1 shallot – minced
3 garlic cloves – minced
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 small red chili – seeded and minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Large handful fresh mint leaves – chopped
sea salt to taste
to make the veggie burgers
1. Blanch the edamame for 3-4 minutes in a large amount of well salted boiling water. Transfer into an ice water bath, drain when chilled. If using fresh fava beans, blanch them for 1-2 minutes, then shock in an ice water bath and squeeze each bean out of its outer skin when chilled. If using peas, blanch for 30 seconds, then shock.
2. Grind the pistachio nuts or pumpkin seeds into a coarse meal in a food processor. Grind the coriander, cumin and mustard seeds in a mortar with a pestle or in a designated coffee grinder.
3. In a large bowl, partially mash the edamame, fava or peas with potato masher or fork, leaving bigger pieces and some whole beans here and there.
4. Preheat oven to 475 F. Add rice, ground pistachio nuts, chia meal, dates, tahini, ground spices, shallot, garlic, lime zest and juice, chili, pepper flakes, mint and sea salt.
5. Mix thoroughly with your hands, form burger patties and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Let cool and serve between slices of this bread with fresh lettuce leaves, marinated beets and a few mint leaves, or wrapped in a collard green leaf with a slice of tomato and marinated beets.
Asparagus Fries
2 tablespoons ground chia or flax seeds
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons purified water
1 asparagus bunch – about 25-30 pieces
1/4 cup ground pistachio or other nuts, or pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds – ground
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
to make the asparagus fries
1. Choose asparagus spears of medium thickness, they shouldn’t be too thin in order to hold their shape. Trim the hard ends of each asparagus spear and discard.
2. In a shallow dish, whisk together the lemon juice, water and chia meal. Set aside and let it form a thin gel.
2. Mix the rest of ingredients in a bowl or shake them in a ziplock bag to combine thoroughly. Pour about 1/3 cup of this mixture onto the large plate.
3. Preheat oven to 395 F. Dip the asparagus, one spear at a time into the lemon-chia mixture, then transfer it to a plate with the dry coating. Using a fork, generously cover it to coat, avoiding touching the spear and the coating with your hands in order to keep the coating on the asparagus and as dry as possible.
4. Carefully transfer coated asparagus spears onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Continue to add more of the coating mixture to the plate as it gets used up. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the coating is dry and golden.
5. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. The leftovers will get soggy in the fridge, nevertheless will be still delicious and great for placing between a slice of bread along with the burgers and vegetables.
Marinated Golden Beets
1/2 lb golden beets – thinly julienned
2 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 tablespoon coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 small garlic clove – minced
1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground hot chili pepper
to marinate the beets
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, mix thoroughly, cover and let marinate for 4 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Stir again and serve.
Tags: asparagus fries, beets, black rice, coconut milk, edamame, fava, kaffir lime, recipe, vegan, veggie burger
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