October 15th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Before it gets too cold, here are two ice cream ideas that are a little more hearty to set the mood for fall.
I’ve been wanting to try black sesame ice cream for a while now. At first, I was mostly intrigued by its deep asphalt grey colour, which is so uncharacteristic to ice cream or any dessert for that matter. Deviant ice cream. But then I thought about the flavour and realized that it would taste of halva and honey, and there was no stopping me then.
I also made some ginger ice cream to go with the grey batch. Ginger is another one of those warming, earthy flavours, which combines wonderfully with the sesame. I found the pairing of the two to be very comforting, almost soothing to have after a long day or to end a peaceful dinner.
Ginger Ice Cream
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-inch peeled knob of ginger plus 1/4 cup grated ginger
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of coconut milk with xanthan gum or arrowroot powder to form a thick slurry, set aside. Heat the rest of the milk, agave syrup, vanilla and the knob of ginger in a medium sized pan. Bring to a near boil, mix to dissolve the agave. Cover and leave to infuse until cool. Remove the knob of ginger and heat again. Add the slurry and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and add grated ginger. Let cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
Black Sesame Ice Cream
Black Sesame Paste
1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1/2 cup raw honey
Toast black sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat, shaking the pan often. Remove from heat immediately as you start smelling the toasted seeds. Grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Mix honey with the seeds.
2 cans full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup coconut sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons black sesame paste
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup coconut milk and arrowroot powder, making a slurry. In a medium sized pan, combine the rest of the milk, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, stir in the arrowroot/xanthan slurry and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Mix in the black sesame seed paste thoroughly. Let cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
To make raw ice cream, use this recipe for vanilla ice cream and add about the same amount of grated ginger or sesame paste. You may want to reduce the amount of agave for the black sesame ice-cream or use 1/2 cup of coconut sugar instead.
Tags: black sesame, dessert, ginger, ice cream, raw food, recipe, vegan
Tweet
April 22nd, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Say hello to our next guest bloggers, the Alkaline Sisters. Julie and Yvonne write a beautiful blog, where they inspire readers to cook pH balancing dishes with their delicious recipes and vibrant photography. Ever since discovering the Alkaline Sisters, and later Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet, I’ve been giving my meals a lot more thought in acidic and alkaline terms. Make sure to visit Julie and Yvonne’s blog to find more wonderful, healing recipes and stunning food photography. Here is Julie:
Sometimes it’s kinda nice for a change to nibble on finely textured veggies cuz somehow they seem to have a different kind of flavour when they mingle in fine shreds. That’s what I’ve discovered from my extensive veggie preparations. I end up experimenting with an array of textures, from finely diced, roughly chopped or shredded, to spiral noodles, thinly sliced and julienne cuts. Each texture seems to give the veggies a unique taste sensation exposing more or less surface area of the veggies in a recipe. Several flavours tend to marry more easily when finely cut. Incorporating fine sprouts like broccoli, radish, garlic or alfalfa adds yet another character.
Experimenting with select veggies that will julienne nicely or pass over a mandolin like fennel & apple w/ parsnip or perhaps a combo of peppers, jicama and carrots can yield pleasing flavours. A special peeler like this is an easy way to julienne most any vegetable (with short or long strokes) except small radish sized veggies which work best on a mandolin.
You can enjoy this small dainty salad as a nice opening to a meal or alongside another main dish. It’s a yummy recipe that will help to increase your nutrient intake with living enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants all the while alkalizing the body to balance your pH which in turn will help to minimize symptoms of disease.
We’ve always been told to eat our veggies since we were kids, right? But now that we’re adults…. we get to enjoy creative pretty salads to get our nutrients versus mushy peas and kaki coloured broccoli! So off to the kitchen and dust off a few of those gadgets and make your veggie flavours mingle and dance! You won’t regret it!
Petite Slaw of Celeriac, Broccoli Sprouts, Meyer Lemon and Thyme
(Makes 4 petite salads or 2 grande salads)
1 tsp zest of meyer lemon
juice of 2 meyer lemons
1/4 cup cold pressed avocado oil
2 drops liquid stevia or 1 tsp maple syrup
pinch fine Himalayan salt
pinch of black pepper
1 medium celeriac root – peeled and julienne cut
1 cup broccoli sprouts
1 large carrot – peeled and julienne cut
4 radish – julienne cut on mandolin
5 stems fresh thyme – leaves removed
1/2 c raw walnuts – roughly chopped
In a small bowl combine lemon juice, avocado oil, stevia or syrup, salt and pepper. Set aside. In a medium bowl toss julienned celeriac, carrot, thyme leaves and sprouts to gently mingle the veggies together (you may have to carefully pull the sprouts apart and toss veggies by hand). Chill until ready to serve. Place in individual serving dishes and whisk the dressing once again and drizzle generously over veggies. Garnish with a sprig of thyme and serve.
It’s been a pleasure and an honour to be here sharing tasty healthy food with Golubka readers, thank you for stopping in.
-Julie
www.alkalinesisters.com
Tags: celeriac, guest post, meyer lemon, raw food, recipe, salad, savoury, sprouts, thyme, vegan
Tweet
March 4th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Recently, we attended a birthday party that left me incredibly impressed and full of hope for the future. In fact, it was the first children’s party, where I didn’t need to bring special treats for Paloma and worry about what she might grab from the table.
Our birthday boy, Stuart, is lovingly called blue bird by his parents. Accordingly, the theme of the party was just that – a blue bird.
Stuart’s mom, Laura, took care of every single detail. There were two birthday cakes, bird shaped of course, one was for Stuart to play with and the other – for everyone else to enjoy. Laura used an organic flour mixture and substituted regular milk with the coconut kind.
Everything from fresh and yummy Mediterranean wraps to the birthday cake, was carefully thought out, nutritious, and beautiful.
Blue and white stamped paper bags looked so inviting filled with homemade sweet potato fries and kale chips. Kids discovered the kale chips and munched on them enthusiastically even after the cake was served.
The ice tea and chia-banana-chocolate pudding tasted amazing. And in addition to the feast, we were delighted with the live music performed by an accordion player from Serbia.
The party favours were incredible – Laura’s special cookies. The combination of texture, spices, and freshness of flavours was the perfect example of taste and health in one gingersnap.
Natalie and I brought some 3D flavour to the party. Natalie’s twitter board, a reference to the blue bird, gave guests an opportunity to “tweet” their wishes to Stuart.
I made fruit tarts using seasonal Florida strawberries and blueberries, as well as blackberries, raspberries, sour cherries, and blackcurrants. Kiwi and oranges joined the team too. I tried to make the tarts as festive and colourful as possible, calling for a rainbow of fruits as a welcome sign of spring.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Stuart!
Special thanks to Anastasia for the photo contribution.
Fruit Tarts
Tart shells
(makes about six 3.5″ tarts)
1 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup golden raisins, or pitted dates
1/4 cup golden flax seeds
In a high-speed blender, mix all the ingredients until well combined and until the mixture sticks together when pressed with fingers. You can do it in a food processor as well, but pre-grind your flax seeds in this case. Do not blend the ingredients too much to avoid them becoming too oily.
Place a generous 1/3 cup of the mixture in each tart shell with a removable bottom and press evenly against the bottom and sides of the shell. Place your tarts in the freezer for about an hour before serving, this will make the removing process much smoother. The shells can also be dehydrated if you want them to be stronger. In this case, soak almonds overnight and rinse well. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor, making sure to use ground flax seeds. Dehydrate the shells overnight at 115F. Remove from the forms and dehydrate until dry throughout.
Vanilla Cream
1 cup meat of fresh young Thai coconut
1 cup cashews – soaked for 4 hours
1/2 cup raw light agave syrup
1/2 cup purified water
seeds of 1-2 vanilla beans or 2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt (optional)
squeeze of fresh lemon (optional)
1/2 cup coconut oil – liquified
Combine all of the ingredients in a high speed blender until very smooth, adding coconut oil at the end with the motor still running.
Assembly
Fill 1/3 of each tart shell with the vanilla cream and top with fruit or berries. Optionally, sprinkle with ground pistachios.
I used a variety of berries – fresh raspberries, strawberries, blueberries ,and blackberries, as well as frozen sour cherries and black currants. I love the last two especially in all kinds of desserts for their truly unique flavour and color. If using frozen berries, thaw in a colander over a large bowl. Optionally drizzle with the sweetener of choice and dehydrate for an hour or two.
Tags: dessert, raw, raw food, recipe
Tweet
