Chocolate-Macadamia Cookies

Today is a perfectly idyllic day, so I shall post this recipe quickly and then go outside. Highly recommended, but then I don't post anything that I don't find absolutely smashing. By the way, you can substitute the macadamias with any nut (walnuts are especially good).

The recipe makes 12 cookies, but by the time the lighting was right only these were left.

Chocolate-Macadamia Cookies

• 55g canola oil
• 100g ground jaggery (or sub raw sugar, but jaggery is HIGHLY recommended because it tastes like caramel and is very wholesome)
• 35g dark agave nectar (or maple syrup, or golden syrup, or even sugar syrup if you don't have this)
• 20g warm soymilk (or other non-animal milk)
• 8g vanilla extract
• 103g white flour (I have used both white and wholemeal and like both, but if you're used to cookies made with white flour then use that)
• 32g cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• pinch salt
• 50-60g macadamias, toasted until golden (I put raw macadamias in a small non-stick frying pan and let sit on a medium-low flame for about 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently)

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease a cookie sheet.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oil, jaggery, agave, soymilk and vanilla until the jaggery has dissolved completely. I usually stick the mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds to speed the dissolving up. Make sure your mixing bowl is microwave safe!

Sift in the dry ingredients and stir to form a sticky dough. Add the macadamias.

Spoon 12 blobs of dough on the cookie sheet and flatten slightly (they do spread so leave gaps). 

Bake 8-10 minutes for soft and chewy cookies (they will come out looking undercooked, but as long as you can lift them up in one piece it's fine, because after you cool them they'll firm up a bit.)

Bake 10-12 minutes for crispy cookies.

Leave to cool COMPLETELY before storing in an airtight jar, or they'll go soggy from the steam.

Fast Refried Beans

This isn't a traditional refried beans recipe, but a very quick red kidney bean mash flavoured with spices. Eat on wholemeal toast, topped with chopped baby spinach, sliced red capsicum, a Hass avocado and extra-virgin olive oil. Not only is it extremely photogenic, but I can proudly state that it is one of the most virtuous recipes on this blog. I ate this a lot last summer, because avocados were cheap and I was trying to gain weight after falling sick. Enjoy the photos :)

Fast Refried Beans

• about 150g cooked red kidney beans
• 1/4 tsp fresh minced garlic
• juice of 1/2 lime, or to taste
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• to taste: red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, black pepper, sea salt
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Mash all ingredients together with a fork.

To serve:

• bread (toast if you like)
• 1 small Hass avocado, sliced (say about 120g after slicing?)
• about 50g red capsicum, chopped
• a good handful of well-washed baby spinach, chopped
• about 2-3 tsp of extra-virgin olive oil

Spread beans on bread, then layer ingredients over, drizzling with the olive oil as you go. I like to use quite a robust, peppery olive oil with this particular dish. You use what you like :)

This is one batch, but I made two very substantial sandwiches from it. The sandwich on top is made with quinoa-flaxseed bread, and the one below is wholemeal-seed.

And on toast:

I promise to post my muesli recipe next! Hopefully once I re-make it and take better photos :)

Bonbons à la noix de coco et chocolat noir

In my less-enlightened days*, I used to have a particular affinity for Coco Pops and Bounty bars. These little chocolate and coconut bonbons are infinitely more wholesome and at least twenty times more palate-pleasing than those highly-processed pseudo-foods (although I must confess I still have a fondness for Coco Pops). Highly recommended (my bonbons, not Coco Pops). I made them last night and have been dipping my hand into the box in the fridge ever since; as a matter of fact I believe I ate six yesterday alone. You may use agave nectar for a sweeter bonbon; I find the brown rice syrup to be sweet enough without being cloying.

There were eighteen yesterday.

Bonbons à la noix de coco et chocolat noir (Dark Chocolate-Coconut Bonbons)

(makes about 20 little bonbons, provided you don’t keep tasting)

·        45g (1½ cups) puffed rice (I used white, because brown costs three times as much, but if you have brown then I suppose you can use that and feel virtuous)

·        55g coconut butter (simply whiz desiccated coconut in a blender until smooth and creamy – takes 45 seconds in my Vitamix for a 200g batch)

·        20g 100% cocoa dark chocolate (I bought Ghirardelli online from iHerb, it’s cheaper than Lindt)

·        80g brown rice syrup (viscosity similar to honey and with a gentle sweetness that is somewhat buttery and seem-ply divine, dahlings!)

·        5g vanilla bean paste

·        tiny pinch salt (I use about a twist of ordinary sea salt that I bought because I feel so much cooler twisting salt as opposed to shaking it)

Combine all ingredients except rice in a microwave-safe jug (I use my 250ml Pyrex) and heat in microwave until melted (this takes approximately 30-40 seconds). Whisk briskly with a spoon. Pour over the rice and stir well to ensure that every grain is coated with the melted chocolate. Spoon into patty pans using two spoons or a spoon and your finger – this gets messy.  Permit ze bonbons to set dans le frigo.

*days prior to age 12 when I was omnivorous

Five mysteriously disappeared while I was photographing them.

Ils sont si beaux, mes petits bonbons. 

Rose-Cardamom Cashew Kulfi

As promised, mes petits chatons, here is the kulfi recipe I 'ave created since last blog post. It is truly divine, and certainly the cashew base is perfect for kulfi, but I shall not be completely satisfied until I have made the saffron-pistachio version, as that was always my favourite (I have a predilection for expensive things). The rose-cardamom flavoured version is still delicious, and I encourage you all to try it, especially those of you who do not usually eat Indian desserts. This is a recipe for which a Vitamix or similar super-powerful blender is not vital, as once the cashews are soaked they are fairly easy to blend.

Notice how there are no ice crystals? Kulfi should never have any ice crystals. Traditional kulfi made with bovine mammary secretions often does, but this much better version doesn't, and is far less labour-intensive. 

Rose-Cardamom Cashew Kulfi

• 135g raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 3 hours (keep in fridge). Once these are soaked, re-weigh and add water to bring weight up to 280g.
• 50g sugar (I used raw)
• 1/2 tsp rose essence (use more or less, depending how concentrated yours is. If you use rosewater, which I don't, reduce water added to cashews accordingly)
• 6 cardamom cloves. Crush these (only the seeds - not the pods!) to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle 

Blend all ingredients to a smooth paste, then freeze in freezer until solid. Do not use an ice-cream maker.

Next time:

Home-made muesli made with freshly toasted oats, roasted cashews, juicy semi-dried apricots, etc.