Nut ring with currants. (Sand cake)

Get
200g blanched almonds
100g currants
100g macadamia nuts
250g butter
4 heaped tbsp honey
8 eggs
350g wholemeal organic spelt flour
1 tbsp pear schnapps
butter paper

Do
Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Grind 150g almonds with a hand mill. Wash and dry currants and roll them in a little flour to keep them separate. Chop the remaining almonds and the macadamias.
Separate the eggs. Beat the whites stiff. Add 1 tbsp honey and beat again until very stiff. Set aside.
Beat the butter smooth. Add the remaining honey and beat together. Add egg yolks one at a time and beat well each time. Beat until smooth.
Add a little flour to the egg yolk mixture and mix it in. Add alternately flour and almond meal beating each time. When the mixture becomes too thick, add some of the beaten egg white alternately with the flour and almond meal.
Lightly mix under the egg white foam and the remaining flour and almond meal. Lift under the chopped nuts and the currants. Lightly mix under the schnapps.
Butter a 28cm baking ring form and powder the surface with a little flour.
Add the mixture evenly and press down lightly. Flatten the surface.
Bake in the oven on the second shelf from the bottom for 40 minutes. Then cover the cake with a piece of greaseproof paper and turn off the oven. Leave the cake in the closed hot oven for a further 20 minutes.
Remove from the form and cool.

Tip
An alternative to schnapps is rum, e.g. Bundaberg rum.
Image 2: Part of Vallotton, Felix, via Zeno

Macadamia Falafel

get
200g Macadamia nuts
4 tbsp hulled tahini
1 small onion
several tips of fresh thyme and lemon thyme
4 tbsp erganic wholemeal spelt flour
water

do
Grate the macadamia nuts with a hand grinder into a large bowl. Chop the onion finely and add it. Chop and add the thyme. Add the tahini and mix thoroughly into a thick mass. Press it down firmly with a spoon.
Place the flour on a large plate.
Pour some water into an open bowl.
Use 2 tablespoons or one spoon and 1 clean hand to make the falafels. Wet your hands in the water. Wet the spoon(s). Scoop out one spoonful of the mixture and flatten it with your wet hand or the other wet spoon. Remove from the spoons. It comes off easily because the spoons are wet. Roll the falafel in the flour and leave it on the flour. Repeat with all the mixture wetting the spoon(s) and/or hand each time. Add more flour if necessary. Roll from time to time in the flour.
Fry the falafels in olive oil on a low flame until golden (light brown).
Serve with hummus and tabbouleh

Tip
Some cultures find it unacceptable to use the hands directly with food preparation, others find it essential, albeit if they are clean. In Germany, it is widely held that a lettuce cannot be cut with a knife but must be torn with hands. Some research shows that a cut lettuce releases bitter substances. Knigge asserts (German) that a lettuce should never be cut with a knife.
Image: Ambrosius Bosschaert, Still life, Fruit and Grasshopper, approx. 1635–1640

Baked macadamia pumpkin

Get
1 butternut pumpkin, (Cucurbita moschata) about 1 kg
1 small brown onion
100g macadamia nuts
fresh thyme tips or lemon thyme or both
150g cheese for baking, e.g. young gouda, or low-salt elbo style cheese with vegetarian enzymes (”Nimbin”), cheddar

Do
Cut pumpkin lengthwise in two. Remove the seeds.
Steam the halves until quite soft for about 30 minutes depending on the size. Not too soft or it will become unstable. Let it cool down briefly for handling.
Place the halves face up in two baking dishes or in one large one.
Scrape out most of the flesh into a bowl leaving about 1 cm depth above the skin.
Mash the flesh. Add the finely chopped onion. Grate in the macadamia nuts with a hand grater. Add the chopped thyme. Mix all ingredients together.
Fill the mash into the pumpkin shells.
Top with cheese.

Bake at 190°C on the second shelf of the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until they are golden.

Tip
The amount of ingredients depends on the size of the pumpkin. The above amounts are for a small butternut, but should be increased proportionally for larger pumpkins. This recipe is also delicious with other types of pumpkin, especially if they are fleshy rather than watery. It is important that the flesh is cooked soft.
Images: 1. Pumpkin, not Butternut and 2. unshelled macadamia nuts

Black Sapote

Most people are familiar with the orange persimmon fruit, but the black variety is better than any chocolate mousse.The Black Sapote (Diospyros digyna) has been cultured in Mexico, Central America and India. The green fruit can be obtained, the flesh will ripen into a chocolate-like mousse ("Chocolate pudding fruit"). One has to get the timing right – because over ripeness can change the taste a lot. In Mexico the fruit pulp is mixed with orange juice and honey, but it is awesome just on its own.Thanks to the Nahuan language speakers of Mesoamerica, yet again for culturing this plant.
More Images at Google

Hummus and Tabbouleh

GET
Chickpeas
1 cup organic washed chickpeas
3- 6 cloves of garlic
200 g organic hulled tahini
4 lemons, lemon juice (do not use preserved lemon juice!)
cooking water, to make a paste
Olive oil

Tabouleh
1 cup of organic Bulghur
2 bunches of flat (organic) parsley or more
6-7 medium organic ripe tomatoes
3 sprigs of mint, (round leaf for tea)
3-4 cloves of organic garlic
1 lemon
Olive oil

Bread
Flat bread or organic white sesame bread - all toasted

DO
Chickpea Hummus
Soak the chickpeas overnight. Drain, add a lot of fresh water and cook. It can take longer than you think for them to get soft. When they can be squashed between your fingers, they are ready. Drain and keep the cooking water.
Put half of the slightly cooled peas into a large bowl.
Prepare the lemon juice, 3 Tbsp. of olive oil, the garlic and the tahini.
Add half of that mixture to the chickpeas and mash ( I use a puree stick, food processors probably do the trick too) Then add the rest of the chickpeas, the tahini mixture and mash.
Should it be too stiff, add some of the left-over boiling water, as if making a mayonnaise. There should be no chunks, just a smooth cream.
Most people add salt here, I prefer to leave it up to the eaters to add. Flatten in a bowl or two, sprinkle with olive oil. Refrigerate. Should you want to eat it immediately, leave one bowl out, as it tastes much better at room temperature. Before serving, stir, add some parsley or tomato wedges etc to decorate.

Tabbouleh
Soak bulghur in cold water for at least 30 min. Drain well and sprinkle with some lemon juice. Chop the parsley, not too fine. Cut the tomatoes into fine cubes. Cut the mint leaves fine. Mix it all gently together. Mix olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic. Pour over 'salad' and mix.

This ancient Middle Eastern dish is excellent for hot days or picnics. In Lebanon it is served with Falafel, but nut burgers are ok too. Mint tea also goes well with it.

Images:
August Macke, 'In the Bazar' and 'Turkish Cafe', 1914, via Zeno

Sausages ! "Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill"

Banksy's animatronics installation in NYC "Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill" focuses attention on " our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing." News about " the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and welfare and the environment" seem to be sparse in the media...
Video via banscopetstore

Baked honey marzipan

get
500g insecticide-free almonds
3 tbsp good quality honey
a little spelt flour

do
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.
blanch the almonds, dry them in the sun and grate them finely with a hand grater. Add the honey. Mix and knead to a thick mass of marzipan. Cool for at least 30 minutes.
Sprinkle very little flour on a linen tea towel to prevent sticking. Turn a rolling pin in the flour so it becomes dusty.
Place the marzipan on the tea towel and roll it out. It should not be too sticky. Roll it out quite thinly, as much as possible given that it is more sticky than pastry, but avoid mixing too much flour into the marzipan. Stamp out biscuit shapes and collect the off-cuts for the next batch.
Place the marzipan shapes on a buttered baking tray and bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden.
Cool.
Store in a paper-lined tin.

Baked honey marzipan is a simple recipe and depends greatly on the quality of its ingredients. The result is easy to chew sweet nuts. Make sure the honey you use is one you really like. I prefer it to be mild but aromatic for this recipe with almonds, such as organic coastal Australian heath honey
Image: Flegel, George, still life with parrot and mouse, 1610, via Zeno

Omelet with mushrooms and thyme

get
6 medium mushrooms, e.g. champignons, chanterelles, porcini
a few tips of fresh thyme, or best lemon thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
50g goats milk fetta cubed
4 organic, free-range eggs
2 tbsp water

do
Slice mushrooms in 4. Fry in a large pan in the olive oil on both sides until golden and dry on a low flame. Add thyme tips. Push to one side of the pan.
Add the butter.
Beat the eggs and water well with a fork until smooth. Pour into the pan next to the mushrooms. Let it fry until almost set on top and golden underneath. Cut across the middle and look under the omelet to see if it is stable. Flip the halves from the round side so they keep their shape.
Place half of the fetta cubes on each omelet half. Fold lengthwise to cover the cheese so it has the shape of a quarter circle filled with fetta. Let it melt briefly. Then serve with toast. Some mushrooms will be incorporated into the omelet, others next to it.
Image: Boletus & free range organic eggs

Satay Tempeh with Rice

GET
Brown organic rice

1 packet of unflavoured organic Tempeh
Soya sauce, organic
Tasmanian Pepper, (Tasmannia lanceolata) or any other fine pepper
Olive Oil
Apricot Jam
3 (hot?) chilies

'Satay' sauce
3 Tbsp. of Peanut butter (or better organic Macademia/Cashew butter)
1 tin of organic coconut milk
1 Lemon grass stick, 3 x 2 cm of the white bottom bits
2 Limes
Soya sauce
1 sm. onion
3-4 large cloves of garlic
3 - 4 Chilies of your desired 'hotness', 'Birdseye'
1 tsp. of rapadura sugar

DO
The Rice
Take a cup (mug for 2 people) of the rice, wash it. Add to pot with good lid. Add 2 1/2 of the same cups of water. Boil up for 5 min. Turn down the heat and simmer with the lid closed. Do not open! After 45 min. switch off the heat and let it stand on the warm oven for another 15 min.

The Sauce
Fry the finely chopped onion golden. Add chopped chillies and garlic. Fry for a short period. Take off the flame. Add the peanutbutter/macadamia butter, stirring. Add the coconut milk. Add 3 small hot 'Birdseye' chilies, 1 Tbsp of soyasauce, 2-3 pieces of the lemon grass, 1 lime/juice, the rapadura sugar, let it gently simmer for a short time, or till it has a sauce consistency. Switch off and let it rest for a while on the warm stove.

The Tempeh
Mix soya sauce, apricot jam, 2 Tsps. Olive oil, Tasmanian pepper and 3 small chilies, let it rest
Cut up Tempeh, paste mixture on the pieces, cover and let it soak in the marinade for at least 30 min. ( if not more.) Fry golden in olive oil.

Serve with freshly copped coriander leaves, mango slices and a lychee-drink. The dish also makes for a nice 'picnic' or as a skewered BBQ.
Image:
Koehler's Medicinal-Plants 1887, Arachis hypogaea - 163, uploaded via Wikipedia
Links:
Diy Tempeh
Tempeh burger recipe

Meat and gastro - What is the human caused connection?

97% of bacterial gastro-enteritis in humans is traceable to 'domesticated' meats. " Chicken and cattle are the principal sources of C. jejuni pathogenic to humans..." Animals living in their own habitat only accounted for 3 %. Campylobacter jejuni, living in the gut of poultry and mammals is being distributed into the human food chain. Preparing or consuming the infected meat is the main route for infection.
A lot needs to be done at the source of meat-production, transportation and processing, to not 'spill the guts' around. Sporadic gastro-enteritis through water or restaurants is very common. Even by being a vegetarian, one is still exposed to this 'slop-back' via water and implements. What a 'culture'!
The DNA sequencing research was conducted by Daniel Wilson, of the University of Chicago, and formerly Lancaster University, United Kingdom
via Wilson DJ, Gabriel E, Leatherbarrow AJH, Cheesbrough J, Gee S, et al. (2008) Tracing the Source of Campylobacteriosis. PLoS Genet 4(9): e1000203. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000203
Image: Egyptian relief, Berlin Museum 08

Bread - Storage - with Linen and Cinnamon

Organic bread is best bought daily from a place that stores it in an airy, dry place on untreated wood. It can be tossed directly into a washable cloth bag (no packaging necessary), thrown into the bike or backpack. In the household it is best to place it in a washable pure-linen bag. In summer it is slightly moistened and then it is placed tied up into a large pot. Quality bread stays fresh that way for a long time.

In the fast-life, industrial bread has to travel long carbon-belching distances. Freed out of its plastic bag, it is quickly befallen by black bread mold. A new paper has been developed that is coated in cinnamon essential oil and solid wax paraffin which it is said should enhance anti fungal activity.
Maybe, one could add a cinnamon stick to one's bread bag/container?

Update
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia ) May Prevent Common Types Of Foodborne Illnesses, 0714

Cacao & Vanilla

Cacao a la mexicana - for four cups

Get
½ litre of milk
½ cup of dark, organic cacoa powder
2 tsp. of Rapadura (cane) sugar
½ teaspoons of cinnamon powder
1 pinch of salt
1 small vanilla bean
½ cups of whipped cream, optional

Do
Heat up the milk.
Add the the scraped out vanilla bean to the milk
Mix in a bowl all dry ingredients and add to the hot milk while quickly stirring it.
Allow to boil and than remove the chocolate from the stove. Now stir in (the cream and) the vanilla.

- Recipe in altered form via Vanilla Trade
- Thanks to the pre-Columbian Mayan cultivators who have " been managing their forests for millennia to cultivate cacao and to make chocolate, and we know they were also cultivating vanilla to use it as a chocolate spice.The Maya created these forest gardens by introducing different types of species of wild cacao and vanilla from the surrounding forests, which meant that species that had previously been geographically separated were then able to hybridize because they were in the same place. That's the scenario we present in our research paper for how Tahitian vanilla got started. It is an evolutionary product, but also a Maya artifact." Pesach Lubinsky, University of California, Tahitian Vanilla Originated In Maya Forest, via Science Daily 260808

Hot chocolate without sugar

Coriander pesto

get
1 large bunch of coriander
1 large piece of garlic
100g cashews
200g goats’ milk fetta cheese
10 tbsp olive oil

do
Pluck the leaves from the coriander. Wash and drain them. Chop very finely.
Press or grate the garlic into a bowl.
Finely grind the cashews with a hand grinder.
Roughly grate the fetta cheese into the bowl.
Add the coriander.
Mix.
Add the olive oil while mixing until a thick green paste forms.
Press down in the bowl and add the remaining olive oil on top to cover the paste.
Store cool covered with a plate.

Serve with noodles of your choice. Goes well with noodles and tomato sauce. Also goes well with potatoes.
Can also be made with parsley, basil, or a mixture of herbs. Macadamia nuts are a good alternative to cashews.

See
Macadamia Pesto

Image: 'Anacardium occidentale', from Koehler's 'Medicinal-Plants' (1887) via Wikipedia

Tomato sauce with noodles

Get
1.5 kg Tomatoes (e.g. Roma, fleshy)
lots of Garlic
4 Tbsp Olive oil
Pepper corns
Bay leaves
Noodles of your choice.



Do
Heat the olive oil in a large pan or flat, wide saucepan.
Press the garlic into it. Fry it just a little - do not brown or burn.
Put tomatoes in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes slowly, so they stand in the hot water for a few minutes. Then pour in cold water. This loosens the skins.
Peel them and remove any hard core.
Add to the hot garlic. Cover with a lid.

Cook at a very low heat all day, occasionally removing the lid for a while. Add the pepper and bay leaves after a couple of hours.
Most of the liquid should evaporate away leaving a thick 'sugo'.
Boil a large pot of water. Add noodles to fast boiling water and keep it boiling.
Cooking time depends on the noodles. Test them from time to time.
Pour off water when ready and add the noodles to the sauce. Serve immediately.

Goes well with Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano) either grated or sliced thinly. Also goes well with a pesto made of basil or coriander. And a green salad.

A variation on this sauce for non-vegetarians is the Italian style sauce which includes just one sardine in the initial stages with the garlic. (thanks Sabine of Zweitrad)