I have just moved all the post from myberlinerluft into this new site, but there wlll definately be regular updates!!!

I arrived in Madrid last month and will be spending the next couple of weeks here. From day 1 I experienced a culture shock and after day 6, my body is slowly getting used to the rhythm here. My body should indeed be smiling all over, as this seems to be a culture where eating and eating and snacking and well…. primary activity. Work is a mere distraction from all of the eating and snacking it seems to me.

I certainly have no problem what-so-ever with this. However,  the late dinner hours does take time for me to get used to. Normal dinner hours are around 9 or 10 lasting way up until who knows. But, I figure how best to get to know a culture. So, when in Spain, I shall do as the Spaniards do.

According to tradition, it seems that most people head to work around 9am, eat a breakfast…that is breakfast number one….work a bit, then take a 2nd breakfast before working a bit more and then heading out for lunch!!!

Simply fantastic!!!

Out of the breads, I always opted for one which was toasted with a thin tomato sauce on it, called very matter of factly…pan con Tomate. It is really like Bruchetta, but instead of visible pieces of tomato, it sports as thin layer of tomato sauce.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Torrijas, which are what I knew only as French Toast. A piece of not too-fresh-bread dipped into a batter of eggs and milk and pan fried. It is usually served with either a dab of honey or a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar. when they are made freshly, they can be absolutely delicious, light, moist inside with a slight crunch on the outside, drizzled with honey. 

Then of course, there are the Churros. I had actually never had one before, as I was always maintained a snobby attitude towards them, deeming them nothing more than unhealthy globs of flour and water deep fried in bad oil. Well, in fact, they are just that. But this time around, I decided that I should at least taste one before casting judgement. After having taken my first bite, I decided that, well when heavily dipped into the accompanying think chocolate sauce, they are actually not that bad!  

The accompanying chocolate was more than a delight. Although I will more than likely not eat any of them for a while, the thing that most intrigued me was the combination of the chocolate with the Churros. For my taste, Churros is nothing much without the chocolate. It is really what gives it its allure, its excitement, taste, and well…everything, as far as I am concerned. 

Honestly, the warm velvety texture of the sauce combined with the crisp, yet tender consistency of the Churros made me just smile!!!

After going to countless churrerias to get an idea of what they really should taste like,  I headed home and made my own batch…here is the recipe:

CHURROS

• Vegetable or Olive Oil for frying
• 1 cup water
1/2 cup margarine or butter

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 3 eggs

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

To make the churros dough, place the water in a saucepan and add the butter and salt and cook this mixture until it boils. As soon as it starts to boil, stir in the flour. turn down the heat to low and keep on starring the flour in the mixture until it forms a ball. Remove this mixture from the heat and let this sit for a couple of minutes to cool off. Now beat the 3 eggs and add them to the flour mixture. Stir the eggs in until you have a consistent dough.

Now, spoon this dough mixture into a churros tube or any cake decorator tube with a star top.

Prepare the oil by filling a frying pan with about 1cm. or 2 inches of oil. heat oil to about 360 degrees F or 180 degrees C. Now, add the churros dough by squeezing about 3 or 4 inches of the dough out at a time for one churros. You can squeeze out enough dough to fry about four churros in one batch.

Fry them for about 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown. Take out the fried churros place them on paper towels to drain off some of the oil. Now, roll the churros into the powdered sugar and they are now ready to be eaten with the chocolate sauce!!!!!

for the Chocolate Sauce

• 1/2 cup (or about 115 grams) of high quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces

• 2 cups of milk, divided equally into 2 cups

• 1 tbsp of cornstarch 

• 3 tbsp sugar

Place the chocolate and one cup of the milk in a sauce pan and heat under medium heat until the chocolate is melted. Now mix the cornstarch in the remaining cup of milk until the cornstarch is dissolved.

Add this mixture into the chocolate mixture and then add the sugar. Cook this mixture on low heat, stirring until the mixture begins to thicken. Cook for about 5 minutes until it has reached the desired consistency. Should the mixture not be think enough, you can always add a small bit of cornstarch. Remove from heat and give it a last stir until it is smooth. Now pour into cups and you are ready to dip and dunk!

I had a rather wonderful week-and actually found myself skipping along the streets of Berlin on a couple of occasions (Yes, I am a HUGE child)!  

In between my working on my desk and heading off to my meetings, I decided to treat myself to a dose of chocolate at a near-by chocolate store. As I walked-I mean skipped ( and I do mean literally skipped) into the chocolate store on this particular afternoon-my senses were immediately stimulated by the magical smell of the various chocolates within the shop. They had everything a chocoholic could ever desire!!!

I was honestly overwhelmed by this experience . After a couple of minutes, I ended up just standing in the middle of the shop, trying to gather my composure when a beautiful little girl tapped on my hand. As I looked down and caught the gaze of her gorgeous eyes, it suddenly downed on me that she was begging. I have no idea why I the first thing to come out of my mouth to ask her why she was not in school (ok, that’s the educator in me-oh dear!)-and she actually responded that she could can’t because she had to make money- She then turned her head in the direction of a lady who was standing next to her. I had not even noticed her before, and then asked her if that was her mother and she said-yes-

We continued speaking a bit-and I kept on pushing the learning issue (as I said-do not ask me why?) So, during our perhaps 3-4-mintues conversation, I was able to get from her that she was 10 years old, and well, like all members of gypsy communities-moves from place to place begging and earning money for her family-or whoever had organised this. She spoke a rather broken-German and, as such I was not able to understand everything that she was telling me. But I got enough-Her mother-or the lady standing beside her was not able to understand but became seemingly restless at our exchange and urged the little girl to leave.

The little girl and I decided that she should have the most wonderful piece of cake she could find in the shop. Her eyes widened and her smile became even larger, greater and brighter as she scanned through the shelves of the shop. She ordered the creamy ricotta-mandarin cheese cake and gave me the gift of her wonderful smile-which truly truly warmed my heart-She wanted to say something else to me when her mother grabbed her and she ran off-turning back to look at me as she was running off.

This is indeed my own interpretation-but I really felt as if this girl was not happy, and trying to tell me  something. I watched her run off as far as my eyes could see-

After this interaction, I wasn’t skipping anymore-but felt rather terribly disturbed –disturbed that I was not able to do more-something-anything!!! I cannot seem to get this little girl and who knows how many more such girls and children in such circumstances out of my head.

If all the food I made could be turned into money and given to their comunity, such that children would no longer have to spend their days begging in the streets?

If these children could somehow be paid to go to school-and taken off the streets to beg-could this begin to break their cycle?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

For about 1 cup of Ricotta, you will need:

• 1 liter (or 4 cups) of fresh goat’s milk
• 1/3 cups of buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• Cheesecloth or a loosely woven cotton napkin
• Equiptment:
• Heavy Pot
• Wooden spoon
• Colander
• Deep bowl wide enough to place a colander on top of it.

Place the goats’ milk and buttermilk into a heavy pot and turn on the heat to medium. Once the milk begins to steam, stir gently using a wooden spoon. Continue to cook the mixture until tiny bubbles begin to develop.  Continue to keep the mixture at the lightly bubbling point for about 5 minutes and add the lemon juice.

Stir gently and you will notice that the mixture will begin to curdle. Stir gently, slightly turn down the heat and cook until the curds will begin to separate from the whey. This took me about 3 minutes-

Take the pot off the burner and let it sit for about a minute.

Now line the colander with the cloth and place the colander over a deep bowl. You are ready to pour the mixture slowly into the lined colander. You will catch the whey in the bowl and the curds will be left in the cloth. Once the entire mixture had been poured into the colander-Let it sit until the whey is drained out of the curd. Now, the longer you drain the curd, the drier your ricotta will be. I drained my own for about an hour yielding a rather creamy ricotta.

Lift the cheesecloth up by each corner and twist it ever-so-gently. If the whey comes out clear, squeeze it a little more. If the whey is milky, then there is no more need to squeeze and you are done!. Place the ricotta into a tightly sealed container-and refrigerate. It will last for about 5 days!

You know have your ricotta!!!

I was inspired a couple of weekends ago by the most delicious taboulé I ate at a friend’s house!  In fact, I was inspired all that I ate there.

I am not sure that I was the best of guests, however. I must admit that I strategically placed myself rather near to the food buffet-where I spent a great portion of evening -quietly-and (hopefully) inconspicuously taking a bit of food here and there happily eating my way through the evening!

Of course this experience served as the inspiration for one of my meals last week. It is a meal richly marinated in exotic, fresh, herbs and spices. It is a meal which combines the flavours of Persian cuisine influenced by Turkish with a- I would say Lebonese touch? Hm—-does that make sense!!

Yes, I think it does! 

OK-so here it is or rather was:

·         Persian-inspired-marinated goat shoulder with a kumquat- cinnamon sauce, which I swear is one of the most succulent meats I have ever had!

·         Quinoa Tabloule with parsley and fresh coriander (, I had no bulgar in the house. So, I decided to try Quinoa instead. Great and healthy alternative-

·         Hummus-and because I soaked way to many chickpeas to make enough hummus for an army- I used the rest to make

·         Home-made Falafel.

Before I go into the recipe, this meal reminded me of-yet another taxi experience I had recently. Driving home one evening, I was taken home b a lovely man.  As soon as I stepped into the car he asked me where I was from-and I asked him to guess. I told him where I was born-and this did not satisfy him. He wanted to know where my ethnic roots were?

Well, I paused and began to talk about where my family comes from and the various regions in the world from which my ethnic roots are be found.  I saw his face in the rear view mirror-and he looked noting less but confused. He then responded by saying that he comes from Iran-“I am Persian” he told me-proudly-“only that and nothing more”.

And at that, we began to talk about his Persian culture and of course, the best part of it! Its food!!!! He gave me some great tips as to where I can find the best Persian food in Berlin and then invited me to him home, where he swore the best would be found there! “My wife makes the best Persian food” he said twice, as if I did not believe him. And I saw in his smile, the manner in which his face lit when he spoke about his wife’s great cooking-that the old saying must indeed be true-

 The best way to a man’s’ heart is through his stomach!! 

For the goat you will need:

• 1 kilo or 2 pounds of boneless goat shoulder  

You will need 2 days at best to prepare: Marinate the goat in the following marinade for about 2 days to really get the lovely flavours of the marinade soaked in-

For the marinade you will need:

• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cups of lemon oil
• ¼ cup of white wine Vinegar
• ¼ cup of finely chopped onion
• ¼ cup tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander
• ¼ cup Tablespoons of fresh parsley
• 1/8 cup of freshly chopped mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 garlic clove chopped

For the kumquat sauce you will need

• ½ cup of kumquats-cut into small pieces

 Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over the goat and let is just sit and ready for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Once marinated, you are ready to go-most of the work is already done!

Pre-heat the oven to 200 Celsius-or about 400 Fahrenheit, and place the marinated lamb into a roasting try and turn down the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 320 degrees Fahrenheit. I covered the goat with a bit of foil to avoid overbrowning and then let mine cook slowly for 2 hours, at which point is was perfectly done! Save the juices.

Once done, wrap in foil and now you can begin to prepare the sauce.

For the kumquat sauce-use about ½ cup of the juices which would have the come from the lamb as the base and add about ½ cup of red-wine. Cook this mixture at middle temperature for about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid down to about half the amount. Then add ½ cup of kumquats. Cook for about 15 minutes stirring constantly-adding salt or pepper to taste. You will end up with an almost marmalade-like-looking sauce-not quite as thick, but with a nice gloss and slightly thick and lush consistency.

Finish with a dash of cinnamon and serve over the meat! You can garnish the entire dish with a tiny bit of freshly cut coriander and or parsley!

I have been thinking nonstop–no-daydreaming-and dreaming about seafood-every single type of seafood lately! Each time I think about seafood-I think about blue waters, waves, sun and wonderfully blue skies. Yes, oh how much I would love to experience that right now. Here I am In the middle of Berlin-where the sun is struggling –truly struggling to find its way out there amongst the grey clouds-and cold air.-This is the real reason behind my magnanimous desire for seafood right now.

The thought of seafood carries me right back to my last vacation in the Caribbean-in Antigua for be exact. There I was amidst the blues, and greens and yellows of the this little Caribbean Island-There I was amidst the most exotic of fruits and vegetables-where the avocados looked like overgrown juicy green balloons compared to those that I get here. There I was, with a selection of fresh seafood which just made me dizzy from excitement. And I took every advantage of it- I savored those moments-hoping desperately that they would last forever.- I wish desperately  that I could,  with just a tight close of my eyes-be taken back to that moment at anytime.

As I ate my meal last night, I did indeed close my eyes and tried to feel that warm West-Indian air caressing my body, I tried to sense the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves. And you know what?!!?!

-for an ever so brief moment- I was there-I was taken back-into that place! –

I enjoyed my meal and completely forgot that it was grey and cold and wet outside.

I hope that this meal can bring you a moment of peace and warmth-as it did me!

Lobster Thermadore You will need:

• 1 entire lobster (my lobster was 2.5 Pounds, 1 Kilo)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• The juice of a large lemon
• 1 finely cut onion
• bouquet garni

For the (thermadore-like) sauce

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream
• 1 pinch (or more) of saffran
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons of finely cut bacon
• 2 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 5 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
•  Large pot, Large bowl of ice water

You will need a large pot (one large enough to hold the lobster) Fill it ¾ with water and add about 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring the water to a mild simmer (about 90 degrees F) and add the lemon juice, the onion and the bouquest garni.

Now this is the most difficult part of the recipe for me, at least-lovingly place the lobster to the barely simmering water and cook for about 10 minutes. Once the lobster is in the water, you can turn up to heat to allow it to fully simmer.

After 10 minutes, take the lobster out of the water and place it into the bowl of ice water, to stop it from cooking any longer.

Now you are ready for the sauce-

Set the oven at 350 Degrees. So, I melted the butter in a saucepan, and added the minced shallots making them just barely translucent. Then add the mustard and the wine. Let is cook down for about 5 minutes and add the cream. Cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the saffron, this, I found adds a wonderful ever so slight mild sweet flavor. Now finally, stir in the remaining ingredients, except for the parsley.

Now, take the lobster out of the iced water and cut in half. Take off the tail, and then remove the meat from the tail. Keep the shell, because this will serve as the serving dish. Put back the meat into the tail shell and pour the sauce over it.

Place the lobster tails onto a baking sheet and put them into the oven for about 5 minutes. This is really just to warm everything up and have the juices of the sauce soak into the lobster nicely. Take out of the oven and sprinkle with the parsley.

That’s it! Enjoy! I served this with the scallops and shrimps on a bed of pasta.

This is utterly ridiculous! This is unheard of! This is NOT the way I planned to live my life!!!

I began this blog earlier this year as a means of finally devoting some time to the things I enjoy most-I began writing on a regular basis and photographing just about every thing I ate-

Much to the dismay and often disapproval of those who were eating with me. The meal would not begin unless a series of photos were taken.

It is funny how life is-or at least how my life life, and then again funny is not the word-more sad than funny!

I promised myself that I would continue working on this blog as long as I ate, as long as I continued to cook and bake. So much for promises!!! My last entry was June-this is 6 months ago!!! 6months-and I cannot really tell you why, nor what has really happened within that rather long space of time!

I certainly did not stop eating, and I well-did not really stop cooking and baking. Perhaps not to the extent at which I would have liked, but at least I have not stopped completely. I have just writing about it!

It s terribly saddening for me to realise how easily I can become swamped by work and how easily I am able to let go of those things which really matter to me. What in heavens’ name have I done with the time-what have I become?

Do you guys ever feel this way-or is it just me???!!!

I do recall saying to myself-back in July when I realised that a month had gone by without an entry , that I must take sometime and write an entry into my blog-and these moments became days, and then weeks and then months and now half a year!

I am writing this entry at 01:46am, after an all-nighter the night before, and I really should be in bed. I was actually in bed already but called my brother across the Atlantic to say hello. I told him about the pumpkin seed pesto that I had made recently (and tonight again) and the wonderful raw food restaurant at which I ate last week in London (a truly culinary highlight!!!). He asked me if I had put these experiences into my blog because his girlfriend was looking for things I mentioned having made recently and was not able to find them.

I paused when he mentioned this to me. I was not even aware that his girlfriend knew that I had a blog, and that she even had an interest to take any time to even look through it!! This completely dazzled me.

It dazzled me enough to climb right out of my nicely warmed up bed (which took forever to warm up), and finally, after 6 long months I am ignoring my “sleepiness”-from the night before-ignoring that fact that I have umpteen things on my work agenda for tomorrow -ignoring everything else and I shall now forget all space and time and delve into my passion-that is of course-food. Why?

Because life is simply too short not to take time out to enjoy the things one enjoys most!!!!

Thank you Liz!!!

What great pleasure a scoop of ice cream can offer!!!

I made my first batch of ice cream for the season last month. I wanted to make chocolate ice cream and my partner wanted raspberry. I could very well have made 2 batches, but decided against that and made a classic instead-French vanilla ice-cream, with a chocolate sauce for my serving and a raspberry sauce for my partner’s.

As soon as the weather warms up here in Germany, everyone goes out for ice cream or Gelato. In fact, way before it even really warms up!!! When I first arrived in Germany I spent some time in a little quaint town called Detmold. I recall the lines of people waiting to get their gelati. It was pretty much one of the only things to really do, as the town was rather small and “Picolli” (I think the name was) was really at the heart of the town-a meeting spot for all and a place to just hang out and lick delicious gelato.

I have a number of pivotal ice-cream experiences, all of which I recall to this day. It was during my first visit to Italy that fell in love with hazelnut gelato and since then I am a devoted lover. As a young child, I loved ice cream from a place called Baskin Robbins. I recall being in the USA for my 10^th birthday and asking my parents if we could get a tub of chocolate peppermint ice cream-I recall that it was an oddly light green colour with flecks of chocolate. During my college years, I spent countless nights staying up and studying over tubs of Häagen-Dazs ice-cream. I tried all of the flavours initially and fell in love with pralines and cream. At this point, I graduated to what I then referred to as more “grown-up” flavours and took over pralines and cream as my all-time favourite.

Nowadays, I cannot enjoy the store-purchased varieties at all-even the so-called gourmet brands. Something is just missing. Perhaps it is just that personal touch-that taste of someone mixing the ingredients, of someone cracking the eggs into the bowl-the passion and the love behind creating something by hand. Whatever it is, I can certainly tell the difference!

This recipe is rather decadent in that I used only fresh organic cream and no milk at all, which made it yes, well….utterly-ultimately-wonderfully-awesomely-creamy. I will keep this one as my standard recipe for

French vanilla ice-cream

You will need:

• 6 large egg yolks
• ½ cup of sugar
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean cut lengthwise
• 1 teaspoons of cognac

Mix the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until slightly thick in consistency.

In a saucepan, warm the 2 cups of heavy cream to medium heat, just barely allowing it to simmer. Once it just reached that simmering point, remove from heat and then por the mixture into the egg and sugar mixture.

Mix thoroughly.

Return this cream, egg and sugar mixture to the saucepan. Scrape the vanilla pods out of the seed and add to the mixture.

Heat the mixture again over medium heat until it thickens into a custard-like consistency. It should just cover the back of a spoon. When you have reached this point, remove from heat and add in the remaining cup of cream and add the cognac.

Place the liquid into a container and place in the freezer until it is completely chilled. Once it is chilled you are ready to put the mixture into your ice-cream maker and…..well, the rest is up to you!!!

Enjoy!!! Tip: It is best to let the ice cream “ripens” in the freezer for at least 2 hours before serving. It just brings out the flavour!

I went to a neighbourhood in Berlin called Kreutzberg, which is known as the “Turkish section” of Berlin. In fact, some refer to it as “little Istanbul”, due to its heavily populated Turkish community (I just discovered that Berlin has the third largest population of any other city in the world).

Apart from finding wonderful Turkish shops, Kreutzberg offers an array of restaurants, cafes, boutiques and much more. It is a young and hip neighbourhood with a mix of just about everything and everyone. So, a few weeks ago, a friend was driving me home and he needed to buy some fruits on the way. As we passed through Kreutzberg, he mentioned that the farmer’s market is still on and asked if we would not mind stopping by for a few minutes.

I was thrilled! I was in heaven!  And what should have been a few minutes ended up being much much longer. I really had to pull myself away. It was absolutely awesome!!!!

I walked through one stand after another filled with extremely cheap fruits and vegetables of all sorts…

Turkish baked goods such as pita breads, stuffed breads with spinach and goat cheese…

…ring breads…

….flat breads…

…olives, Turkish herbs, spreads, spices…

…goat cheeses, shredded cheeses…

…all sorts of beans…

…wine leaves….

They even sell clothes and meters and meters of fabric!

…and African foods…

I was literally high from all the smells and sites and “colourfulness” of both vendors and buyers alike! I wanted to taste everything and took a bite (or two) out of all of the various little treats I got.

That week, I was inspired to make my own homemade hummus and home-baked Pita bread. Ill post the recipes this week!!

Having dreamt about chocolate for countless nights in a row, and not wanting to break the health-week that my partner and I had promised ourselves, I began trying to think-up (once again) some yummy, but healthy chocolate treat-recipe. My experiment some weeks of using black beans for chocolate brownies was a success, but I did not have any black beans at hand.

On my way home last night, I passed by a cupcake shop and gazed inside. There was a decadently frosted chocolate cupcake sitting in the centre of the stand. On closer look, I realised that it was a chocolate cupcake frosted with a huge mass of peanut butter frosting on top. It looked seriously dangerous, and so I left immediately!

I had read some time ago about a recipe using silken tofu for cakes to replace eggs and butter, and was interesting in experimenting with this. Now was the time! So, I stopped off at my health-food-store, picked up a package of silken tofu, some peanut butter and made my way home to make a not-so-dangerous set of chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. This recipe contains no eggs, no dairy and no sugar-and trust me-you would not be able to tell!

This recipe is taken from Ania Catalano’s book: Baking with Agave Nectar, and I made just a few alterations. The recipe is simply a must try and will be a standard in my repertoire. It honestly looked as decadently delicious as those I saw in the cupcake shop-and I am sure tasted even better.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse-filled Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cups agave nectar
¼ rice syrup
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup firm silken tofu
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Filling
12 ounces lite firm silken tofu
1/2 cup light agave nectar
1 cup unsweetened peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method
Make the filling first blending the tofu in a food processor until very smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes. Add agave nectar and blend again. Add the peanut butter, vanilla and salt and blend thoroughly until very light and smooth. Refrigerate for at least one hour to firm up before filling cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees (165 C degrees). Line two cupcake pans with 18 paper liners. Fill any empty cups halfway with water to prevent scorching.

To make the cupcakes, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large bowl. In a food processor, blend oil, agave nectar, rice syrup, almond milk, tofu, vanilla and vinegar, scraping down the bowl often.

Blend until very smooth, with no chunks of tofu visible, about 2-3 minutes. Combine wet ingredients with dry. Stir well and spoon into prepared pans, leaving some room at top of each cup.

Bake for about  20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and place on cooling rack. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

To assemble the cupcakes, you will need a pastry bag fitted with a large, plain smooth tip (you can make your own pastry bag with a Zip loc bag, and a tiny piece from the tip diagonally. Fill bag with peanut butter mousse and insert tip halfway into top of each cupcake. Squeeze the filling inside each cupcake until it starts to expand. My first cupcake actually exploded as I put far too much pressure onto the bag-so be careful!

Vegan Chocolate Ganache Frosting

 8 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate
1 cup of agave nectar
3/4 cup soy cream

Combine the chocolate, agave nectar and soy cream in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. To spread easily, the ganache should be slightly warm, and the consistency of hot fudge.

Spread ganache evenly over tops of cupcakes. (If the frosting is too firm, heat in microwave for a few seconds to soften up.) These lasted hardly a day and a half in my 2-person household (o.k. I did share some with my friends). Do let me know how long they last for you!

Warm apple-almond-quinoa has recently become one of my favourite morning start-offs. As the summer months emerge, I am rapidly loosing my craving for my typical morning oatmeal porridge, which really does sustain me through the dreary winter months and gets me going. However, instead, I crave something equally as sustaining, equally as nutritious, but much lighter-not as filling.

Hmmmm???

I had been recently experimenting with various ways to use quinoa and used it for risottos, gratins and various things for dinner. I had never thought about using it for breakfast until about 10 das ago when I was making my morning milkshake with almond milk.

What if I just cooked the quinoa in almond milk?

Of course I then added cinnamon, berries, raisons, a few roasted almonds, pecans and sweetened it ever so slightly with maple syrup. It is something in between an oatmeal porridge and a Swiss müsli. However one wishes to describe it, it certainly hit the spot and has become our perfect way to start the day! We have had this every morning since then.

P.S. I have this awful habit of becoming obsessed once have found something that I like. I must -simply must try to temper this. So, next week, I will try something else.

Warm Apple-Almond Quinoa 

• 1 cup of quinoa
  ¾ cup of almond milk
  1 apple-shredded or sliced
  1/3 cup of toasted nuts (I used a mixture of pecans and almonds)
  ½ cup of raisons or cranberries
  1 tps. cinnamon
  1 tsp. maple syrup (or more depending on taste)
• For sprinkling:
  2 tsp. of goji berries optional

Wash the quinoa thoroughly with warm water. Pour ½ a cup of the almond milk into a saucepan and place on medium heat. Add the rinsed quinoa and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the shredded apples, and nuts and cook until the mixture becomes thick and rings begin to appear around each grain.  The cooking time will depend on what type of quinoa you are using. Now add the cinnamon, and maple syrup to taste. Sprinkle each serving with  goji beries if desired and serve as is. OR if you jsut happen to have a papaya hanging around, slice it in half lenghtwise, take out the seeds and spoon in the quinoa-lovely combination I tell you!!!.

What is that? Well, it is just about any loaf of bread I make that is full of grains nutritous healthy things in it. I picked up the term from my dear Aunt who lives in Trinidad (where my mother comes from).

I have a family with several cousins and Aunts and Uncles and whenever I used to visit Trinidad as a child, we would all have a grand time. I spent most of my time with my cousins, as they were all around my age, so “one-on-.one” talks with the elder members of the family were, until I became much older rather scarce.

The first “one-on-one” conversation I shared with my Aunt, was in her kitchen. She was entertaining and was going back and forth from the dining room to the kitchen. I decided to follower her into the kitchen on one of her trips and noticed a loaf of bread on the kitchen counter. I asked her what it was and she mentioned that is a Nutriloaf- basically, a loaf packed with nutrition.

My curiosity was piqued and I immediately asked her how she made it. From there, we began talking about other things. We actually really shared stories for the first time that day, and it is one I shall never forget.

Since that day, I have made many a Nutri-loaf and each time I think fondly of my Aunt, think about our first talk and smile!

My doctor recently gave me a recipe for a bread with quinoa and I tweaked it heavily to create my own Nutri-loaf.

So, each time I eat a nutri-loaf, I feel really good about myself somehow. Not only because of all of the wonderfully nutritious things in it, but also because it reminds of the relationship that I share with my aunt- -the stories we have shared-the advice she has given-and just the nice feeling I have to have such a great aunt in my life!!

Nutri Loaf # 1

2-cups whole-wheat flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
1/4-cup corn flour
1/4 oats
1/8 cup quinoa
¼ cups of dried coconut flakes
¼ cups of shredded carrot
1-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup of ground almonds
3 tbls. flaxseeds
¼ cups of raisons
1/8 cup of sesame seeds
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds
½ -teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
3-teaspoons baking powder
½ cup maple syrup

2 large eggs
1/4-cup olive oil
1/8 cup of coconut oil
1/2 apple Juice

Line a loaf pan with baking paper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F- 180 degrees C.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the eggs, the oil, syrup, and juice and stir until the mixture is combined.

Bake until the top is brown and slightly puffed. It took me 30 minutes.

My partner is a huge meat-eater and when I serve a meal without meat, he is hardly ever satisfied; as if I have only served him the first course of something special to follow, which he never gets. Well anyway, after a regular check-up at the doctors sometime ago, he was told that, although he had an almost perfect clean bill of health-the doctor suggested that he take it easy on the wine, meat, and egg intake. Hmmmm….I have been saying this all along! Never mind-so, somewhat provokingly, I told him that I could not imagine him staying off of his wine, meat, eggs or wheat (I just threw that one in there) for any extended period of time.

…and with that statement…..he took the challenge!!!

It has been 2 weeks now, and I am really impressed at the dedication. I have heard no complaints, and even grand compliments. He has actually stopped eating his own self-made morning-creation-of fried eggs with parmesan cheese, Parma ham, bread with lots of butter and coffee! I never thought it was possible that he could do without this.

So, on the first day of the challenge, when I told him that we would be having a meatless zucchini spaghetti dish, he naturally assumed that we would have some sort of a zucchini sauce served upon a bed of egg noodles as we very often have them. He was actually fine with this and shook his head in agreement. Then I more explicitly told him that we would be actually having a tomato-based sauce and served upon a bed of raw zucchini. He shook his head in agreement once again, but this time, with much less certainty.

Zucchini-Tomato sauce on a bed of Basil-Zucchini Spaghetti

1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 zucchini chopped into tiny squares
½ teaspoon of dried basil
½ teaspoon of dried oregano
1 medium onion-chopped
2 tsp. of freshly chopped garlic
2 tablespoons of finely chopped or sun dried tomatoes (put in a food processor to blend)
2 cups of finely chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoon of finely chopped or pureed black olives
1 tsp. of balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
½ a cup of fresh ricotta cheese (divided into 2)
A handful of fresh basil leaves 
Place the olive oil in a saucepan and swirl to cover the pan.

Turn on heat to medium and add the zucchini squares. Cook the zucchini for about 2 minutes until they are just soft. Then add the oregano and basil and stir for 1 minute.

Then take them out of the pan and place into a bowl and set aside.

 Place the onions into the same pan. Sauté the onions on medium heat until translucent and soft.

 Add the garlic and the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for a further minute.

 Pour in the chopped tomatoes and cook until for about 10 minutes.

Add the black olives, the balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 5 minutes until the sauce has reached the intensity and consistency you desire. Shortly before serving, stir in the zucchini squares, ¼ cup of the ricotta and salt and pepper to taste. To serve, crumble a bit of the remaining ricotta on top of the sauce and tear up some fresh basil leaves.

For the Basil-Zucchini-Spaghetti

2 zucchinis
1 tsp. of olive oil
2 tablespoons of fresh pesto 

Use a spiral-slicer or a saladacco to make the zucchini noodles out of both zucchinis. Place the oil in a pan and place on medium heat. Add the zucchini noodles and cook for just about a minute-just until they become warm. Stir in the pesto, toss to spread and there you have it!. They actually can be eaten as is, which I did when I finished the tomato sauce.

When you are ready to serve, pour some of the zucchini-tomato sauce onto the bed of noodles and crumble a bit of the ricotta cheese on top and tear some of the fresh basil to complete! 

It is wonderfully rich in flavour, light and yet “fillingly” satisfying.

As I admitted earlier, I have a definite multi-culinary-identity disorder. Yup!  I am always changing my culinary identity depending on my mood- one week carnivore, one week vegetarian, another week a raw foodie….yea, you get the picture. The one constant, however is that I am always careful in my selection of foods-always organic, non-refined ingredients.

So, I began experimenting with both raw cooking and gluten free cooking a couple of years ago, when I started feeling totally “stressed and burnt-out”. I soon realised that changing some rather minor aspects of my diet, yielded quite noticeable differences in my health and the general way in which I felt.

I do not suffer from celiac disease or have any allergies (luckily), however when I do feel somewhat “under the weather”, I begin to reject certain foodstuffs and veer towards more raw-gluten free foods. Although, I seem to operate in phases, I thought that it was enough to warrant dedicating this section to my experiences and discussions about raw and gluten free foods.

After I made the baklava, I still had some left-over Phyllo dough!

All the millions of things which one could create with phyllo dough!:) I chose to make a sweet potato-goat cheese pie-just because I had both at-hand.

Sweet potatoes remind me of my dad. As far as I am concerned, my dad defines the term “academic”, in that he really lives to read his academic books and journals. He really gets lots of excitement, joy and great pleasure from delving into this materials for hours and hours, waking up at wee hours of the morning to get in as much as he can. Yea-right-O.K.

I clearly missed out on those genes, and certainly do not live to read academic stuff-although I do adore doing through cookbooks-does that count? I don’t think so!!!

So, I asked me dad the other day what his favourite foods is. He paused a bit, and responded (try to imagine a very articulate, matter-of-fact-voice here) “well, you know food is not really something of which I can have a favourite. I see food as a mere necessity such as gas is to a car”. Then he went on to say that it is not the “what”, but rather the how”. When I asked for further explaination, he added that he likes food when it is nicely prepared; when the person preparing the food cares about his or her craft!

There you go..that’s my dad for you! However, espite the fact that he said he does not really a have favourite food-I know for a fact that he loves sweet potato pudding-a pudding which accomapnies his childhood and which when we visit my grandmother, there is always some freshly baked sweet potato pudding ready for us to eat!

I will give you the reipce oor that in a later post, but for now here is the reipce for the sweet potato-goat cheese tart.

Sweet Potato-Goat Cheese Tart

For 4 servings you will need:
2 medium sized sweet potatos
4 ounces of soft goat cheese
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly cut rosemary
1 tbp. of honey
1 tsp. of Dijan Mustard

Butter 4 casserole cups and line each with a rectangluar piece of Phylo dough. I used 1 sheet of phyllo dough per casserole, by cutting each sheet into 4 pieces-lenghtwise. Place one piece in to the casserole such that the edges will hang over. Place the second piece in a cross on top of the first piece, also letting the extra bits hang over and repeat the procedure for the last 2 pieces. press dwn with your fingers to shape the dough into the shape of the casserole cup. You will use the “overlapping pieces” to cover the filling at the very end, so leave them hanging until then. 

Put some water to boil in a medium sized saucepan. Place the sweet potatoes in the boiling water, turn down the heat to medium and cook the sweet potatoes for about 15 minutes. The potatoes should be just soft enough to cut.

Peel the cooked sweet potatoes and slice them thinly. Place about 6 slices of the sweet potato on top of the phyllo dough lined casserole. Now cut a slice of the goat cheese and place that on top of the sweet potato. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary and a ½ teaspoon of olive oil. Cover up the filling using the phyllo dough which should be hanging over the sides of the casserole. Dampen your fingers slightly to make the dough more pliable and “tuckable” if necessary. Make sure that the entire filling is covered with the dough.

Bake at 370 F degrees (190 degrees C) for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy. Once out of the oven, mix together the honey and the mustard and drizzle a bit it over each tart. Yummers!

To complete the Lemon-Rosemary Shortbread, I placed a dollop of tomato jam on top. The combination of the rosemary, lemon, and tomato in a sweet form was very lovely-as each flavour came out in a delicately subtle way.

Tomato Jam

You will need:
10 large Tomatoes (make sure they are ripe)
½ cup of Agave syrup
1 tps. of freshly squeezed lemon juice
a dash of pepper

Equipment
Large pot
Large saucepan
Slotted spoon

Fill a large pot with water and cook until the water is boiling. Meanwhile, making sure not to cut too much into the tomato meat, make an “X” on the top of the skin of each tomato (this will help to take off the skin later on). Then place the tomatoes into the pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds and remove them with a slotted spoon. By now, the skin will be nice and soft and supple enough to peel off with your hands.

After the skins have been taken off from each tomato, cut them in half and remove all the seeds. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and now they are ready to be made into jam!

Put the tomatoes into a large saucepan and add the agave syrup and lemon juice. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture becomes bubbly and thick. The cooking time will depend on the tomatoes you are using. It took me about 20 minutes before the tomato mixture became thick. Once thickened, sprinkle some pepper on top and stir!