Barely Baked Superfood Sweet Biscuit

I know it’s not a very inspiring title but I really didn’t know how to describe these chewy, sweet, satisfying ‘biscuits’. The combination of ingredients is perhaps not what a classic biscuit would have, nor is the method, but these are super quick, very easy to make, taste really lovely and you can feed them to just about everyone as they as so ‘allergen low’.

I used to love to cook with my daughters and their friends (much to other parents horror. We’d make everything from bread to cinder toffee – heyho they all lived). And even if you have tiny, barely walking toddlers I’d urge you to make these. The dough is entirely edible and a treat and you are getting some great stuff into your bubba’s body.

Another great one to make with small children (as long as they are not intolerant or allergic to sesame or gluten) is to mix equal quantities of tahini and malt extract (or honey if your child is coeliac). It makes an edible play dough rich in calcium and other nutrients you won’t find in shop bought confectionary.

I highly recommend investing in small bags of the superfoods – you only ever use a teaspoon at a time and so it lasts ages. But the good they do you is beyond the money you pay. If you don’t want to buy them or you don’t want to buy all of them, either substitute one for the other – add more of the one you have bought or leave them out completely. Perhaps add a teaspoon of a good vanilla extract instead.

So – give these a try and let me know what you think and how you get on 🙂 (and if you are confused or worried I’m happy to help if I can)

Dough Ingredients:

100g dried apricots, prunes or figs

100g organic sunflower seeds

40 g shelled hemp seeds

6 tsp xylitol or coconut palm sugar

1 tsp baobab powder

1 tsp suma powder

1 tsp camu-camu powder

1 tsp maca root powder

1/2 tsp kelp powder

1/2 tsp barley grass powder

1/2 tsp good quality sea salt (or else leave it out)

120ml filtered water

For rolling:

1 tbsp lucuma powder

Place all the dough ingredients, bar the water, into your food processor with the ‘S’ blade. Process until it is as fine as it will go – about 5 minutes.

At this point start to dribble in the water through the chute as the machine is running until the mix forms a pliable, firm-ish ball.

Tip it onto a clean work surface dusted with the lucuma. Roll the ball so its all covered with the Lucuma (or Maca Root Powder if you prefer – its absolutely my favourite – I stir it into warmed almond milk for a treat).

It’s at this point that you can leave the children to play with it, let them make shapes, figures, letters, numbers, eat it raw, roll it into snakes. Bake them as they make them.

Or roll it will a pin to 1/2 cm thick. Stamp out the shapes you like best and pop them onto a parchment lined tray.

If you have a dehydrator then you need to dry them at 38•C for about 6 hours. Or pop them onto your oven at the lowest setting and allow them to dry for 3 hours.

I made a Purple Caramel Jam to top them with

60g inca berries or golden sultanas

150g agave or maple syrup

2 tsp acai powder

1 tsp purple corn extract

1 tsp raw coconut oil

Just blast these in the food processor straight after the dough is made – no need to wash the bowl.

Stores in a jar for a good 6 weeks.

– but they are far more delicious with a smear of cashew nut butter of dark tahini (I love this stuff)

Enjoy

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Seedy Quinoa & Millet Loaf

This delicious and delightful recipe is an adaptation from http://detoxkitchen.co.uk/bible  It is full of really good recipes, not all to my taste but they are well thought out and I can see from reading them that they will work.

I often have the experience of reading a recipe and I know it won’t work, it must be very frustrating for people that commit to making the recipe to find they have wasted time and ingredients. But take heart – if a recipe doesn’t work it may well be that it is the recipe NOT you. There is a certain, very famous, female cook (she licks her fingers a lot and in often in her dressing gown eating from the fridge late at night) … I’ll say no more.

Makes 2 x 1 lb (450g) loaves or one large one.

Set your oven to Gas 6, 200˚C 400˚F.

Line the loaf tins with baking parchment or those natty loaf tin liners. They’re great, bit more money but do a proper job and save loads of time.

30g Chia Seeds Soak these for 30 minutes in 100ml of fresh cold water.

175g quinoa

175g millet

Measure these two together in a jug, make a note of the volume. Tip them into a clean pan and cover with double the volume of fresh, cold water. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes – no longer (it’ll be too wet). Drain and run through with cold water until it is properly cold. Leave to drain for a few minutes.

Tip the quinoa, millet mix into a food processor with the soaked chia seeds and blast for a good 5 minutes at top speed whilst you …

squeeze the juice from a lime (or 1/2 a lemon)

Mix that with 70 ml of the nicest olive oil you can get hold of (or you could try hemp, rape even vegetable oil if that will get you making this)

In a mixing bowl mix the oil and juice mix, quinoa, millet and chia seeds. Then add

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

40g pumpkin seeds (you can chop these a little if you like, especially if you want to slice the bread when it is warm as the seeds can be a little firm to start with – but after a couple of hours the seeds will have softened nicely)

50g sunflower seeds

Give it all a really good whacking mix and divide between the tins.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 60 minutes (that’s plenty unless your oven is very slow).

Cool for 20 minutes before removing from the tin.

I suggest mashed avocado, more olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

This can then be wrapped in cling film and frozen or wrap in greaseproof paper and keep it on the side for a couple of days. I can’t believe it will last longer without being eaten.

 

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Fig & Persimmons (Kaki/Sharon Fruit) with Most Excellent Greek ‘Yoghurt’.

Where to begin with the great stuff in this cheeky bowl of delights!

❤ Persimmons … Nevermind the antioxidant vitamin-C power, the vitamin-A, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zea-xanthin and cryptoxanthin helping slow aging and various disease processes. They contain health benefiting flavonoids (poly-phenolic anti-oxidants such as catechins and gallocatechins) and an anti-tumor compound, betulinic acid.

❤ Figs … Nevermind the potassium (helps to control blood pressure) it’s fiber-rich positive effect on weight management an in depth US study showed it had a positive impact on lowering Postmenopausal Breast Cancer … and then bam – its there helping prevent age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) too.

❤ Cashews … Nevermind that about 50% of the fat is heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, there’s Copper for antioxidant defenses, energy production, magnesium for healthy bones and … you carzy people…. Eating Nuts Lowers Risk of Weight Gain!

❤ Coconut & Coconut Oil …. Nevermind it’s unique combination ofpowerfully medicinal fatty acids (its them there medium chain triglycerides), it increase your metabolism, helping you burn more fat. It’s lauric acid content can kill bacteria, viruses and fungi, it keeps you feeling full. We are all mad on raspberry ketones but the fatty acids in coconut oil do the same.

Enough … I’m exhausted with all the excitement.

Actually I have a beautiful fig tree in my garden and it is in it’s first flush so I am very excited to be able to pop out my back door, grab 3 figs from thetree and pop them into a bowl with a persimmon.

The Most Excellent Greek ‘Yoghurt’ is actually a cashew and coconut blend.
Soak a cup of cashews for a minimum of 20 minutes. Drain and rinse, then pop them into a food processor with a cup of coconut milk, the juice of a lemon, 1 tablespoon of xylotol (or raw honey or have you tried the lovely coconut blossom nectar?) a pinch of himalayn salt and blitz it, add a quarter cup of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of sunflower lecithin and pour into a glass jar and chill for about 2 hours for a nice firm mix or you can enjoy it runny too

😀

 

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ScarletRosita

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5 Day Detox – realistic for normal human beings :)

Hello there m’dears. Been a while, I hope you are all doing well.

This is a bit of a special one as an aid to anyone that really wants a detox and has tried the commercial diets and extreme fasting detox’s and it’s all just been too much one way or another.

This will give your body enough of a break to get you feeling like everything is working well again and you can stride into the rest of the season feeling fighting fit.

Just so you know, myself, I had a small cup (125ml) of the alkalising green and some of my medicine balls this morning and I am pinging off the wall! So I am hoping that these recipes will do the same for you 🙂

So, to start here are four juices to have ready for the next 3 days, I will add into the recipes the various organic powders that I add when I make them, but you may not have them …. no matter, just make them without, they’ll still be really good for you 🙂
Each recipe is enough for the 3 days, you can cut the recipe into 1/3 and make them fresh each day, or make the batches, divide between cups for each day and freeze . Then the night before you need them take them out into the fridge and allow them to defrost ready for you to consume the next day. However you think about it, this is still a much better option than the pasteurised juices in the shops or the ‘fresh’ juices made from EU allowable blended stocks that allow them to still be called fresh.

Alkalising Green Restores balance to an acidic system.

1 cucumber
1 lime (well scrubbed with 2/3 of the zest removed)
a pinch of himalayan or sea salt
4 stalks of celery
a large handful of fresh parsley
3 eating apples
1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
1 tbsp organic barley grass powder
1 tsp organic wheat grass powder
1 tbsp organic spirulina powder
1 tsp organic kelp powder
1 tbsp organic maca root powder
1 tbsp organic lucuma powder
1 x 2cm piece of fresh ginger

Juice the fruit and vegetables. Grind the hemp seeds. Put 1/2 the juice and the powders, seeds and ginger into a blender and blend for 3 minutes. Push through a fine sieve collecting all the pulp from the underside.
This can be diluted with equal quantities of fresh, filtered water.

Radical Reducing Blood Builder

Nice sweet taste disguises this iron rich, infection fighting juice, high in betacarotene and the natural fungicide falcarinol. Great if you have skin problems 🙂
4 good local seasonal apples (what is close and fresh to you)- (scrubbed)
1 medium sized beetroot (scrubbed)
2 medium carrots (scrubbed)
2 small parsnips (scrubbed)
1 lemon (well scrubbed with 1/2 the zest removed)
1 tbsp organic lucuma powder (or 1 tsp local honey if you like)

Again juice the fruit and veg then blend with the powder.
This can be diluted with equal quantities of fresh, filtered water.

Fluid Balancer Great for that afternoon energy hit you need. This is rich in a diverse combination of nutrients, will help with fluid retention as it sorts out the imbalance between cells. And then the lemon scarifies the gut to make sure you feel all fresh and new 🙂
3 eating apples (seasonal and local)
2 sticks celery (scrubbed)
1 cucumber (scrubbed)
1x 2 cm piece of ginger
1 lemon (well scrubbed with 1/2 the zest removed)
1 tsp purple corn extract
Same process as before.

Soothing Cinnamon

Nice for the end of the day, settling the stomach and preparing the body for rest (I do hope you aren’t trying to lead a crazy life over these 3 days – be nice to yourself!) The bromalain in the pineapple will does great things in removing mucus from the body (great if you have a cough or cold) and the cinnamon does good things to blood sugar levels and helps the body readjust back to a healthy mode 🙂

1 medium sized pineapple
2 good local seasonal apples (what is close and fresh to you)- (scrubbed)
1/4 medium sized beetroot (scrubbed)
1 medium carrots (scrubbed)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp organic mucuma powder

Peel the pineapple.
Same process as before.

I will also mention something called ‘Medicine Balls’ these are my own recipe and if you are a regular purchaser of mine you may well have had them. You do see similar items in wholefood shops and some supermarkets and there is a wealth of recipes elsewhere on WordPress, they are called things like energyballs, or powerballs. Mine have no added sugar and the others I have mentioned rely very heavily on dates in the ingredients. I love dates, use them lots, but they are very high in naturally occurring sugar and my personal experience is that they cause a massive sugar high and crash – so mine do not contain any. But if you want to use them do. Otherwise at the point where I suggest eating a Medicine ball, you can perhaps have a herbal tea, or even a raw carrot 🙂

Day 1
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added (I cannot tolerate this so I have …) or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before 11.am.
2nd Juice: Radical Reducing, Blood Builder. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take after Midday.
3rd Juice: Fluid Balancer. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 3.pm. and 4.pm.
4th Juice: Soothing Cinnamon. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 6.pm and 8.pm.

2 hours before bedtime (this may well coincide with your final juice of the day) Gojiberry Ginger & Bee Pollen Medicine Ball

Day 2
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before 11.am.
2nd Juice: Radical Reducing, Blood Builder. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take after Midday.
3rd Juice: Fluid Balancer. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 3.pm. and 4.pm.
4th Juice: Soothing Cinnamon. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 6.pm and 8.pm.

2 hours before bedtime (this may well coincide with your final juice of the day) Super Seeds & Super Berry Medicine Ball

Day 3
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before 11.am.
2nd Juice: Radical Reducing, Blood Builder. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take after Midday.
3rd Juice: Fluid Balancer. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 3.pm. and 4.pm.
4th Juice: Soothing Cinnamon. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 6.pm and 8.pm.

2 hours before bedtime (this may well coincide with your final juice of the day) Hemp & Purple Corn Extract Medicine Ball

Day 4
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before eating anything. This is just a really great juice to get into the habit of having every morning – or perhaps just on a weekend morning – just start making it something you would want to include in your weekly food intake – in the same way as lots of people think about toast (I do not eat bread everyday and mostly I don’t even eat it once a week but I understand that people eat bread every single day of the year).

Green Medicine Ball: Now allow 20 minutes before you eat any breakfast.

Breakfast: Gluten Free Oats, soaked in warm water overnight. Add a little honey or agave nectar, a heaping tablespoon of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and as much soya, almond milk, coconut milk, goats milk, ewes milk or
any live yogurt you prefer.

Lunch: RAW! Kale & Sauerkraut Salad (from me)

or Nicoise Salad, made with a big handful of spinach leaves, a ripe tomato, a cold hard boiled egg, 2 anchovy fillets, a small can of tuna (drained), or a fresh one (seared for 2 minutes either side). Mix as a salad with a few olives if you like.

Dinner: 3 Bean and White Chard.

You can make this as a stew or as a soup. Very tasty, extremely good for your entire system. Small can of kidney beans, 1 small can of chick peas, 1 small can of flagolet beans. 1 red onion, 1 small carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 1 clove of garlic, a can of tomatoes, 8 leaves of white chard, a good tablespoon of rapeseed oil. Warm the oil and fry the vegetables (not the chard). Add in the other ingredients and 500ml of vegetable stock. Cook for 10 minutes. Really quick and good for you too 🙂 Make enough for tomorrows lunch.

Day 5
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before eating anything.

Breakfast: A ripe tomato, a slice of red onion. Fry in a tbsp of olive oil, add a handful of chopped parsley leaves and then stir in 2 large free range eggs to scramble.

Lunch: 3 Bean and White Chard. From last nights dinner 🙂

Dinner: 3 Chick Pea & Sweet Potato Bake. 2 large sweet potatoes (well scrubbed), boiled then mashed. Set the oven to 200˚C or Gas4. Heat a spoon of olive oil and add a diced onion in to soften, then add a clove of garlic, stir, 4 big handfuls of spinach and stir over the heat until they wilt. Add in a large can of chick peas and crush all together slightly. Pop into a oven dish. Top with the mash and bake for 20 minutes.

You are now good to go for the rest of the year 🙂

Come see me on Bermondsey Market in London on a Saturday.

Pumpkin Savoury Cakes

This is probably my favourite of the dishes I made 🙂

Pumpkin Savoury Cakes
750g / 1lb 8 oz roasted pumpkin flesh
250ml / 1/2 pt milk ( I used soya)
4 eggs
450g / 1lb plain gluten free flour
1 tsp Sea salt
125 ml sunflower oil

I used the pumpkin I had roasted.
Pop it into a food processor.
Add in the milk and blitz to a smooth paste.

Tip into a mixing bowl and add in the flour, eggs and salt
Fold in the flour until you have a consistency like a firm cake batter, if it’s too firm add a little water and if it seems too slack add a little more flour 🙂
It needs to be able to hold it’s shape without being so hard that it cannot expand a little as it cooks.
Heat 1/2 cm of the oil in a heavy based frying pan over a medium heat.

Use an ice cream scoop (or a couple of dessert spoons) to make up the cakes, I use one heaping scoop per cake, formed as I add them into the hot oil.
Allow them 3-4 minutes to brown to a nice golden colour, not any faster as they won’t be cooked through, so you’ll need to turn the heat down a touch. Any longer and they will be heavy and greasy – so turn the heat up a tad.

Turn them and press them down to about 1.5 – 2 cm thick.
As they cook pop them onto a warm plate with kitchen roll on to absorb the excess oil.

These are so light and fluffy and do not take up loads of the oil, they are slightly plain deliberately as I wanted to use them to pick up the savoury sauce from the stew.

Daughter No2 ate about 8 extra-just on their own. And the next day there were plenty for me to be able to use to scoop up some of me fresh made hummus -ahhhh bliss 🙂

Linseed Crackers No Added Fat No Added Sugar Gluten Free Wheat Free Dairy Free Soya Free No Nut Vegan Egg Free

This is a kind of mercy blog. I have had lots of people coming to buy various RAW! products from me, and they like the taste and quality but they find them expensive – which is fair enough, in a world of 2:4:1 offers in the supermarkets and their ability to crush producers down to minuscule margins then all RAW! products will feel more expensive.

In defence of RAW! foods it is really helpful to remember that because the foods are nutritionally dense there is not the need to eat to excess in the way that is normal with more conventional foods (better not even start on some of those terrible diet plans, where you pay to attend, are told you are not eating enough, routinely overeat, increase your tolerance of those quantities and when you are no longer on the diet you overeat on the calorific foods you were used to and suddenly you are 10% heavier than ever you started!) Also RAW! foods are very satisfying and you will have a spring in your step 🙂

Well, this is a recipe for a basic Linseed cracker, follow the recipe and you will have crisp, tasty crackers that will not get stuck in your throat or cause you a belly ache.

It is not exactly the recipe I use (as that would be telling) but you can add in various herbs and spices as you like – you will then have your own unique cracker. I have scaled back the recipe size to make 1 standard tray to fit either a Sedona or Excalibur dehydrator. This recipe will not work in an oven (really sorry – but it just won’t) or if you have your own sun-drier then spread it out to 1-2 linseeds thick.

A word about the dehydrator. I have a Sedona 9 tray. In the manual it says that it will function for 36 hours continuous use. I have had mine running continuously for 2 weeks and never had a single problem with it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I do not have any photos of the process -as I say this is being posted because there is a need for a good recipe.

I recommend you eat these with a fresh dip but as an emergency pack in your bag for those moments when all there is on offer is deep fried or covered in cheap chocolate – then these are worth their weight in gold.

Enjoy!!

😀

Linseed Crackers
No Added Fat No Added Sugar Gluten Free Wheat Free Dairy Free Soya Free No Nut Vegan Egg Free

500g golden Linseed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tsp dried parsley

Soak the Linseeds in 1 Lt water for a minimum of 4 hours but no more than 12 hours.
Place mixture in a large bowl.
Add other ingredients and mix until well-combined.
Spread dough over the dehydrator tray.
Dehydrate at 54°C for approximately 24 hours.

These are photos of my RAW! Sweet & Spicy Pepper Crackers – they’re very nice too.

Scapece (Zucchini)

This is a treat we would have right at the start of the summer. My Mum would only ever make it with the first zucchini/corgettes of the summer – before the seeds have a chance to thicken. I have made it as she used to with malt vinegar.

We would eat them after a day of steeping, simply on bread with a pinch of salt.

Sunflower or Extra-virgin olive oil enough to fill the pan you use to 1 cm depth
8 first of the season (young) zucchini
12 leaves fresh mint, torn in 2
4 cloves garlic, in thick slices
malt vinegar (coeliacs please use red or white wine vinegar)
Salt

Wash the fruit and cut off the stem. Then slice into a 1cm thick (not too thin not too thick)

Heat the oil in your chosen pan for frying.
Once it is hot add the zucchini to make a single layer in the pan. If you prefer you can do this in a larger pan deeper in oil 🙂

Fry until turning golden, then turn each slice to colour on the other side.
Allow the zucchini to cool on some kitchen paper.

Into a bowl or jar make the marinade of garlic, mint and the vinegar.

Do not add the salt at this stage.
Add in the zucchini, cover with a lid or cling film.
Leave in a cool spot (not the fridge though) and eat up over the next 3 days.

🙂

Lovely

🙂

RAW! Blueberry Caramel Layer Cake

This is another of my RAW! Fresh Cakes that I sell on the market. It is devised to be able to withstand not having to be served straight from the freezer. My stomach does not like anything straight from the freezer (even my ices have to be almost at room temperature otherwise I get a terrible belly ache). And this way the flavours have a chance to be bright and beautiful instead of muted under glacial temperatures.

Again this is one that has been asked ofr – but I still have no camera – really sorry but I just don’t have the spare cash and I don’t want to stop blogging – so I hope you will bare with me.

I am very grateful to those of you that have stuck with me through this ‘no camera/strapped for cash’ period. One day I shall reward you with a slice-o-cake 🙂

RAW! Blueberry Caramel Layer Cake
No Added processed Sugar, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Soya Free, Vegan, Egg Free.

Makes 18 slices

Base
120g / 4 oz hazelnuts
240g / 8 oz cashew nuts
120g / 4 oz walnuts
4 tsp Maca root powder (if you cannot find this no matter -but it adds a lovely flavour and is super good for you too)
1 tsp vanilla extract
240g / 8 oz Medjol dates
1 tsp sea salt

Blueberry Layer
240g / 8 oz raw cashews, ground
120g / 4 oz macadamia nuts
240g / 8 oz Medjol dates
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Lucuma powder
480g / 1 lb fresh blueberries (washed and picked over)
sprinkle sea salt

Caramel Topping
2 tsp vanilla extract
240g / 8 oz Medjol dates
240g / 8 oz ground cashew
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tbsp melted coconut oil

Line an 9″ x 9″ cake tray with cling film
If you have a dehydrator and suffer from digestive disorders then please – Soak the walnuts and cashew nuts over night. In the morning drain and dehydrate for 16- 24 hours until thoroughly desiccated.
All the nuts need to be processed to a fine flour. I use a coffee grinder for this.

For the base:
Add the dates to the bowl of the food processor with the blade fitted.
Start to process the dates. You will need to open the bowl and scrape it down several times.
Add remaining ingredients and really allow it to process until you have a stiffish dough that balls up. You may need to add a little water to get the right consistency.
Spoon into tray and press down.
Set to one side.

For the Filling:
Add all the ingredients to the bowl of the food processor with the blade fitted. Then blend together until very smooth and soft like a cream cheese.
Pour on top of the base and level off.

For the Topping:
Add all the ingredients to the bowl of the food processor with the blade fitted. Then blend together until very smooth and light and soft like a yogurt.
Just taste it now to make sure the ‘caramel’ is sweet as you like it – I don’t want it too sweet, I like the sour of the fruit to compete with the sweetness of the nuts 🙂
Pour onto the filling and spread evenly again.
Cover with cling film and store in the freezer.

This can be kept in the ice box for 3 months or in the deep freeze for a year.

Before you want to eat it move it to the fridge and allow it to soften for about 4 hours – or you can leave it covered, in a cool spot in the kitchen for about 45 minutes if you prefer.

Utterly guilt free and feels like a total indulgence.

I defy you to eat it and not only love it but feel amazingly well about an hour afterwards

It’s fine, it’s okay, it’s just what I do 🙂 

Mushroom & Wild Garlic Tart with Chestnut Crumble. (Vegan and Gluten & Wheat Free)

My lovely girl has decide to take Cookery as her GCSE exam, but at school she struggles. She cannot eat wheat and although the school have said they will accommodate this, they don’t really know how to use Gluten Free flour and so she is frustrated and feels she is no good at cooking.

When really all that is the matter is that she needs to be taught how to cook with Gluten Free flour as opposed to just following a wheaten recipe and subbing in the Gluten Free flour – mostly that doesn’t work, allowances have to be made.

Anyway, so I wanted to help her see she is very capable. SO we set about making this tart with a few fresh organic(!) ingredients I was able to pick up at the market on Saturday.

It all turned out fab, not only did it give her a little boost, we all got a lovely late breakfast – perhaps not a perfect nutritional balance – but utterly joyous!

I hope you all like it

😀

Mushroom & Wild Garlic Tart with Chestnut Crumble.

Filling
120g/4oz wild garlic

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic pressed
6 portobello (field) mushrooms, diced

Pastry

500g/1 lb Gluten Free plain flour
½ tsp sea salt

250g/8oz sunflower margarine at room temperature

75g/2½oz/heaped ½ cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds, finely chopped

250ml/10fl oz water with 1 tsp ground linseeds soaked in it

Tofu filling
400g/14oz tofu, patted dry

30ml/2 tbsp olive oil

40ml/3 tbsp lemon juice


1½ tsp sea salt

1½ tbsp dried thyme

1½ tbsp dried tarragon
1½ tbsp nutritional yeast (Engervita B12 is the one to find)

3 tbsp cornflour

Crumble
250g/8oz Chestnut flour
125g/4oz Cashew nuts
90ml/3 floz olive oil

Set the oven to 190°C/375°F Gas5
Make the pastry. Super simple to make this. Blitz the marg, salt and flour together until it is crumby. On a slow speed pour in the water and it will form a ball.
Use this to line a 29 cm flan case. When you roll the pastry do not worry that it break, there is not gluten so you can easily patch this pastry as you would when you were little playing with playdough. It will not suffer at all for it. It does not need to rest or be chilled as there is not stretchy gluten to make it misbehave. Line it with the parchment paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 35- 40 minutes until it is set.

To make the Tofu filling, process all the ingredients together in the food processor and set aside.
To make the Filling, heat a frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and cook the onions until they are starting to colour. Drain from the pan but leave in the oil and then fry the diced mushrooms until they brown too. Add the garlic and wilt in the chopped wild garlic. Tip in with the onion and set aside.

To make the crumble just blitz the ingredients until they make a nice crumble, set aside.

Take the case from the oven.

Mix the tofu and filling parts together and pour into the case. Top with the crumble and return to the oven for another 20 minutes until it is nice and brown.

You can serve it hot, warm, cold or chilled. We had it on it’s own (with a side of fresh fruit jam parts made from the scraps of pastry and a loaf of Fennel & Caraway Sourdough on the side 🙂

Heaven Sent Hummus & Scarlet Rosita Fuls

What a weekend! Got robbed again – do I look loaded?

So just have to keep going hey, what else is there to do?

Also got the online shop ‘live’. And that has been well received.

In case you would like to join in on the chance to win a selection of goodies then go to the FB page
https://www.facebook.com/ScarletRosita
and ‘like’ it, then share the below status to your own page 🙂

The draw is on the 24th May 🙂

Then have a bowl of this, the most divinely creamy hummus and fuls you will have eaten

😀

Heaven Sent Hummus

1 medium white onion
450g / 15 oz chickpeas 
30 ml / 1 fl oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic crushed through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
125 ml water or reserved chickpea cooking water
125 ml Olive oil

I suggest you use a can of chick peas but you are very welcome to use dried chickpeas if you can get hold of good dried ones. There are lots of very nasty dried chick peas that never seem to cook properly, so I leave that decision to you. But please note what I say. Not all dried chickpeas are born the same, do not feel that you have in any way cheated by using a can 🙂

To cook from dried: put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with at least twice their volume of cold water and leave them to soak overnight. The next day, drain the water and, pop them in a medium saucepan, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Skim any foam that floats to the surface – otherwise it will boil over. Cook for 30 to 50 minutes, sometimes even longer, depending on freshness, to become tender. When cooked they will break up easily between your thumb and forefinger.

Peel the onion and cut into quarters, slather in olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in a hot oven for 20 minutes until it is tender and sweetly fragrant.

Scoop a cup of the cooking water and set to one side. Now drain the chickpeas and refresh in cold water to cool completely.

Now if you have used the dried or canned chickpeas you will gently squeeze each pea to remove it’s skin. If you have chickens they will love these skins.

In a food processor, blend the chickpeas with the cooled , roasted onion and add in through the funnel the lemon juice, garlic, salt and olive oil and blend until pureed. Check the consistency (you’ll want it like a nice thick custard as over the next few hours, if left in the fridge, it will firm up nicely). If its too thick drizzle in some water or the reserved chickpea cooking water until you get the texture you want.

Pour it into a bowl and pop it in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the garlic to develop and the texture to firm a bit, but if you can’t hold off, then just grab a cracker.

Scarlet Rosita Fuls
1 Romano Red pepper
450g / 15 oz kidney beans 
30 ml / 1 fl oz balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic crushed through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
125 ml water or reserved cooking water
125 ml Olive oil
1 handful of fresh flat leafed parsley

Again I suggest you use a can of kidney beans but you are very welcome to use dried if you prefer.

To cook from dried: put the kidney beans in a large bowl and cover them with at least twice their volume of cold water and leave them to soak overnight. The next day, drain the water and, pop them in a medium saucepan, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Boil very ferociously for 2 -3 minutes, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 40 to 60 minutes, until they are nice and tender.

Wash the pepper and remove the green top and inner white seeds, slather in olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in a hot oven for 20 minutes until it is tender and sweetly fragrant. Allow to cool.

Drain the kidney beans and refresh in cold water to cool completely.

In a food processor, blend the kidney beans with pepper and add in through the funnel the vinegar, garlic, salt and olive oil and blend until pureed. If its too thick drizzle in some water until you get the texture you want.

You can add in a teaspoonful of Engervita B12 as it is essential for anyone following a Vegan diet to make sure they have a certain source to supplement this vitamin as it is not for sure that it will be eaten from natural yeasts etc.