berry yogurt cheesecake with [gf] granola crust

Want the divine decadence of cheesecake without all the heaviness and extra fluff? This recipe is a total spin on traditional cheesecake, that draws on whole + fresh seasonal ingredients, the resulting mini cheesecakes are like fluffy cheesy pillows of fruit crisp-ness. So forget the gelatin, condensed sweetened milk, icing sugar and corn syrup of cheesecakes past, and bust out the ; raw honey, coconut oil, granola, quinoa flakes, yogurt, old fashion cream cheese and freshly picked berries! * I am swooning over my first ever harvest of blueberries here on the home-front!

This granola crust is a great alternative to too sweet graham cracker crust… have you ever read the ingredient on the nation brand graham cracker crumbs, ACK! I will take my home made granola goodness any day.

holiday baking ideas…

I know some of you are chomping at the bit to get some holiday baking done, and that is why I have highlighted some of my all time favorite recipes for sweet holiday cheer. I’ll have plenty of new recipes to share starting next week. Some of these are vegan, some gluten free, some so buttery and wheat-y you’ll feel like your at grandmas.

Rosemary brown butter shortbread-cookies

Dreamy coconut pecan date bliss balls

Lemon ginger meringues

Scandinavian rosettes

Ginger Blissmas

Ginger pear chocolate buckwheat loafs

OMG cinnamon bun madness

Chocolate almond pretzel bark

Truffle kisses chocolate mousse

Vegan nut butter truffle balls

Pumpkin luv’in pie

Marvelous ginger marmalade

Now where to start?

harvest wedding desserts

Please excuse my absence over the past while, our friends equinox country wedding has taken over my culinary life for a time. I had the great pleasure of baking all of the desserts for their local harvest feast, along with the wedding cake, and some lovely condiments to go along with the exceptional charcuterie table, whole hog roast and the stunning seasonal dinner Chris Cho of Ayden Kitchan and Bar rolled.

quinoa cake + saskatoon berry syrup

My dear friend turned 50 this weekend, and I had to make a show stopping cake to help her celebrate in style. I decided on making that lovely chocolate quinoa cake I made a couple weeks back, and to go all out  I made two batches of cake and opted for a coconut milk chocolate mousse center finished with a stellar Saskatoon berry syrup. Then the whole cake got a coconut oil butter cream chocolate frosting and a final raw cacao nib crumble edge.

The whole cake was gluten free and flour free, and parts of it are vegan, other parts are powered with super foods… And although it is deeply indulgent, on the whole I would say it’s a pretty healthy option as far as chocolate cakes go.

qunioa chocolate cake

Wheat free, flour free, gluten free, dairy free cake that is divine and deeply chocolatey, it must be too good to be true, right? WRONG, and the kicker is I finally cracked the perfect vegan frosting dilemma! So my intolerant friends, rejoice you can have your cake and eat it too!

I have been carrying this magazine page in my cookbook for about 3 years, and never had the time or energy to make this quinoa chocolate cake made with whole grain cooked quinoa not quinoa flour… well finally the day arrived and I just so happened to have need of 1 delicious chocolate birthday cake and as it happened I had on hand about 2 cups of left over un-seasoned cooked quinoa… PERFECT.

mint cubed chocolate cupcakes

Inspired by the wafts of mint coming from our little mint bog My daughter and I found the time to squeeze in a batch of perfect little chocolate mint cupcakes on Saturday afternoon. The easy 1 bowl batter and the coconut milk gnache both were laced with peppermint essential oil, and then we topped them each with a whole fresh mint leaf. They are triple threat kind of mint muffins!

wild forage souffle; nettles, dandelions, mint and morels

So much foraging happening this time of year, wild food abounds! We have been eating nettles like crazy, also drying a good lot of it, same with the mint,  fresh in teas and dishes and drying it on mass to keep us cozy in the winters to come. Also the dandelions have been sunny and singing out to be made into another stellar batch of that dynamite dandelion jelly I made last year! And just today a tiny stash of morel mushrooms from the woods out back started to trickle in to the kitchen!

With such a big crew of folks to both help forage and keep well fed, the wild hunting is such a treat for all of us.

Today I tried my hand at a couple firsts:

1)  I made a cheese and nettle souffle, my virgin souffle, and it was lovely, golden and perfectly poof-ed and rich with nettles and a hint of sorrel.

2) I made two pretty darn nice looking loafs of caraway rye spelt bread.

coconut milk streusel coffee cake

I have been subbing out butter in recipes in exchange for coconut oil for some time, but more recently I am leaning on coconut milk instead, which offer’s another coconut flavor component to anything baked, or raw for that matter. Today I used my goto coffee cake recipe but opted to omit all the dairy (our latest farm intern is lactose intolerant). In place of sour cream and butter I used grapeseed oil and coconut milk, I made sure to add coconut into the cake batter as well as the streusel layer, and the result (although it took much longer to bake than usual), yielded a soft coco-nutty cake with the perfect tooth, and just the right sponge like spring, balanced with crispy deep dark crumble line through each slice.

quinoa dragon bowls with peanut sauce

Yum! Tonight I whipped up the most fabulous peanut-y satay sauce and it was the perfect addition to some quinoa, tofu, veggie bowls. I wish I had thought to make a cold peanut satay style sauce before now! This stuff is fabulous, I will certainly make this again and again.

PB+J pie

… a little reprieve (at least for the day from the pork-ness of the pig)

Our newest intern got a gold star cookie request for doing an ungodly task which saved me (and my flake-y constitution) from a barf-fest. His request was for peanut butter cookies, he also has a keen interest in learning how to preserve food. So I combined today’s jam making lesson with peanut butter cookie dough to make this really lovely peanut butter and freshly made jam tart with a sprinkle of sea salt and toasted peanuts.

Dave and I made two batches of jam this morning; the first was a double batch of saskatoon berrie jam, In the attempt to free up freezer space for our little piggies arrival, tomorrow. We used up the last of June’s frozen saskatoon harvest , and then we did a triple batch of raspberry jam, made with a trade-sie bag of berries from my best back road girlfriend. I think we got all of 4 raspberries from our new canes last year.. looking forward to a better yield this time around.

brownie double tap

I think we can mostly all agree that everyone loves brownies; fudgey dense chocolately squares, rich and dark… not to cakey, certainly not under-baked and gooey. Now when your imagining the perfect brownie what could make it even more perfect, aside from a fudgey frosting? What about a second layer of brownie, and yet another slap of frosting. Let me attest that a brownie double tap does indeed make for an even more perfect brownie, especially when your recipe (like this one) makes the quintessential brownie.

I didn’t actually set out to make a two layer brownie, but sometimes in the kitchen you just go with the flow and remarkable things happen. I knew this recipe would fill a 9×13 pan… but frankly I really dislike the rounded corners of pyrex bakeware and I opted to use my smaller rectangle tart pan with a scalloped edge and a push through bottom (which makes for dreamy presentation). Because of this I had about 1/4 of the batter left over and decided to add to it 1/3 cup of strong cold coffee, whisk well and bake off in a smaller rectangle tart pan. Ta-Da brownie slab was born.

red pepper relish quinoa

This might be the most amazing quinoa ever! And frankly you won’t be able to duplicate it at home, but I can tell you how you might a) use up some pantry items and b) make something kinda closely resembling this deliciousness, bear with me here…

Back in the fall I plotted and pulled of (with lots of help) a wonderful celebration of canning in my community “Pickle Palooza” which featured a canning contests and jar swaps along with how to’s + puttin’ up demos etc… One of the entries I enjoyed a great deal was a ginger relish, and when I was given the opportunity to swap some jars I grabbed for one of those jars first off! No idea what exactly is in it… other than the obvious: ginger, garlic, vinegar, and sugar (come to think of it, I will dig through the entry ballots and get back to you all on what else was in this lovely relish)… not that that is the most important detail here. I really think most any crazy relish you have made or been gifted would be so nice with quinoa! It tastes like summer BBQ in a hot side dish, especially if you add a hearty dollop of Italian red pepper spread and then add ginger seared beef and red peppers with caramelized onion on top. YUM  That is what this dish tasted like somewhere between hamburger , summer time, and skewer of Mediterranean gilled veg, with that sweet relish POP!

apple butter brown betty

I totally forgot just how divine the ginger apple butter I canned this fall is! It’s great and this recipe is a lovely way to use a pint of a golden rich deep apple spread to infuse oat crumble with fall goodness. After spreading apple butter on the crust of this dessert i liked the spoon and swooned, I think it’s time to bust open a jar for toast topping!

I used the same crumble crust recipe as I used for the fabulous balsamic fig dessert I made a couple weeks back, but this time I added slivers of dried apple chips to the topping for a double hit of apple preserve. I also kicked up the cinnamon warmth and the results were perfect, this dish was my contribution to a permaculture pot luck, and my sweetie dashed around all night soaking up the glowing reviews telling everyone how hard he worked at the dessert all day!

quinoa coffee cake + masala spice pack give away!

Think about this for a minute… Gluten free chocolate quinoa cake laced with the deep dark flavors of coffee and masala spice, are you drooling yet? What about dreaming up winning $60 worth of the best organic hand-ground  spices ever?! Maybe I have your attention now?!

Today’s recipe is a tribute to my favorite masala maker; I baked a chocolate coffee cake to die for (gluten free especially for her), the recipe is posted below, but first lets talk about my eatingwithSOLE, first ever GIVE AWAY:

You all know how much I adore Chamela Giri’s hand-ground traditional organic masala spice blends, I always use them and can’t imagine going back to making my own sub-par blends again. Here are some of my favorite recipes I have shared over the years here that feature her premium masalas: masala hash, slow cooker vindaloo, kale + goat palak, my garden grown korma, cosmic chocolate chai cookies, roasted eggplant  masala, cinnamon chai hemp twists, channa masala guyanna style,  & chocolate chai pansy cake.

Well the exciting news is that Chamela Giri has offered up to one of my followers a masala gift package worth over $60! It features all of her spice blends ( a package each of her: winter chai, summer chai, chat masala, garam masala along with a package of her new and deeply divine masala coffee (which I am totally addicted to), AND 3 sample vials of her handmade all natural powdered perfumes!

balsamic fig + currant oat bars

A few years ago, my sister-in-law and I made a huge batch of balsamic fig spread after picking stunning figs from her fraiser valley neighbor. I haven’t got my hands on any fresh figs since and my cheese and cracker platers have been missing that sweet spread for so long! Well when I was placing a big bulk grain order with our wholesale organic food supplier I noticed they had dried mission figs for a pretty good price, so I ordered a bag and today I set to work testing out a little batch of jam to see how well they would reconstitute and puree. Success! Sweet balsamic maple success.  This amazing jam needed a perfectly golden baked “oattie” welcome to my pantry so I whipped up an old school (super easy) oat and jam bar.  I will be processing a bigger batch of this jam soon and will post canning details then, for now here is the small quick batch recipe I used, and the details on how to make a lovely oat bar. 

vegan banana rum bread with coconut glaze

I finally got sick of looking at 5 black mushy bananas occupying prime real-estate in my freezer and set them out to thaw… destine for some banana bread of sort. I scanned through my goto banana bread recipes (most of which use sour cream or butter) and opted to experiment with a vegan version. The result was nice and not to sweet, but dense perfectly moist and layered with some lovely tropical flavors… dark spiced rum, coconut, cardamom, apple, and banana. If you don’t have frozen overripe bananas lurking in your freezer and your using freshly browned ones I would recommend you roast them as your bringing the oven up to temp, to add a deeper banana flavor.

flakey prosciutto chicken pot pie

I had a chicken carcass from a roast dinner with family and friends the other night along with some lovely left over gravy and pan drippings, and I set out to make good ‘ol chicken noodle soup, but had a hankering to bake something lovely, with this urge I decided to make a flakey spelt pie crust and bring together a thick and savory chicken pot pie with roast potatoes cabbage and slivers of prosciutto ham.  This is so funny;  we haven’t had TV for years and years and years and only just got good internet out here in the bush so over this holiday time I have been knitting and streaming food porn, mainly master chef. I watched the first 3 seasons in the last 2 weeks, so now as I cook anything I can here Ramsey addressed each of my steps. “Just look at that pastry… flakey, golden… it’s (dramatic pause) absolutely perfect” I can here him saying.  Master chef, that is a reality show I would love to rock! But enough about Gordon, lets talk about pot pie. You can make a bang up veggie pot pie, in fact I do that more often, as we only roast a couple chickens a year in this kitchen. Mushrooms, onions, potatoes, carrots, peas, and squash slowly simmered in a thick mushroom gravy,  all makes for a divine pot pie. Tonight I veered from the veggie train and assembled a luscious lemon infused herb chicken gravy that you could literally eat with a spoon.

ginger blissmas

In case the world does end tomorrow, I thought I should at least bake one last batch of cookies, and the holidays just wouldn’t be sweet without chewy sugar rolled gingerbread cookies. Just like grandma used to make, these are awfully close to the Gingerbread we made by the millions and sold at my cookie shop (or the dough hole as I lovingly refer to it as). I think you’ll love these as much as we have been.

chocolate peanut butter pie

For someone who loves so much to cook and bake as much as I do, I must admit I have had some challenging equipment to “enjoy” over the past few years of mountain living. This smallholding adventure started with only a fire pit and camp stove  to cook on, which was fine, even novel and fun in the spring & summer, but by fall I was thrilled to upgrade to a 2 burner electric cooktop and the infrared oven!  Finally a vintage wood / electric stove from the 50’s caught my eye (it was love at first sight), however the love dwindled as the reality of cooking with ancient wiring where scald or burn were the only two settings I had. All in stride I managed to pump out some very lovely meals in volume for the last 2 years, enjoying my single oven rack in it’s cozy  16″ oven. Well that all change yesterday when we installed my spanky new convection range! yip convection range! The hum of the mixer called to me and I was eager to get baking and test out just how even the convection baking could be!

spelt berries ‘n greens

Wheat-berries are new to me, although I have enjoyed eating them a few times, last night was my first attempt and cooking them, and they couldn’t be easier. After so much pantry eating; meat and potatoes, root veggies and such I was aching for some iron and deep dark greens. (Begrudgingly) I purchased a bunch of dark leafy green kale, and a bag of green beans and set off to sauté them along with caramelized onions, toasted almonds and wheat-berries all drizzled with a little lemon and tamari, kicked off with some ginger and garlic. Mmm glorious greens.

apple sauce coffee cake

Ok so here is the reason I spend all this effort cooking and milling and canning apple sauce endlessly in the fall… So I can enjoy quick and easy apple sauce baking the rest of the year. This loaf is laced with walnut cinnamon strussel  and made with spelt flour and coconut with a pint jar of homemade apple sauce to add just the right amount of sweetness and moisture. This tastes like your grandma grew the apples and baked the loaf herself, I promise you’ll love this homey loaf.

Combine in a large bowl:

1  cup cane sugar

1 pint homemade applesauce

3/4 cup grapeseed oil

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

slowly add in:

2 1/4 cups sifted spelt flour

1 tsp bp

pinch of fine sea salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tsp blend of the following ground spices: nutmeg, allspice & cloves

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped coconut

In a small bowl make streusel:

1 tbsp cane sugar

1 tbsp walnut pieces

1 tsp cinnamom

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp coconut oil

pinch sea salt

combine into crumb

 

Into a prepared loaf pan pour 1/2 of the batter, then sprinkle 1/2 of the streusel crumble, and top with the rest of the batter, finish with the rest of the streusel and bake at 350 for about an hour and ten minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm with a hot ‘cuppa!

pow wow carrot cookie

Sweet Potato Pow.

That was my baking piece-de-resistance. About 11 years ago I was developing vegan and gluten free recipes for my new organic wholesale bakery when I created the most amazing vegan cookie ever!  People still talk about it and just for fun, I googled it, and found a number of bloggers trying to replicate this baby! It is truly a knock out cookie. I sold the company years ago, and signed all sorts of legal agreements swearing me to cookie secrecy, which as it turned out was unnecessary because I lost my book of test recipes, and sadly and have never been able to recreate the prefect batch of pows until now!

This months Burwell General Store recipe swap called for a carrot pie, that recipe read a whole lot like a sweet potato pie I used to make for holiday meals, and in fact that pie is how I ended up creating my famous sweet potato pow cookies… which got me thinking.. how about some sweet roasted carrot pows? Oh ya.

Just 1 attempt and it yielded the perfect ‘just like the old days batch of intensely deep roasted soft chocolatey nutty parcels of carrot heaven! The smell really took be back to days of baking in the BIG kitchen in high heals rushing off to some big sales gig! ‘Ha ha what a long way from that I am now, as I duck out in my wellies to feed the chooks!

Here is the original recipe challenge:

* I should disclose that although my statute of limitations has long since passed, this isn’t the exact recipe we used back at the factory… but for a from scratch off the top of my head after 5 years of not mixing a single batch of this dough, it’s damn close and just as wonderful as the original was! Now without further ado, here is your ticket to roasted carrot POW WOW vegan cookie perfection:

slow roast

4 large carrots at 350 until fork tender (try to keep them from blackening)

puree the carrots skin and all along with 2 tbsp of molasses

In a stand mixer combine:

3/4 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup organic cane sugar

1 tbsp homemade vanilla

once well mixed add 1 1/4 cup carrot puree

scrape down the sides of the bowl and incorporate:

2 cups of sifted spelt flour

1 tsp each bs+ bp

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp each: nutmeg, clove and all spice

add:

1 cup of the best quality dark chocolate you can afford

1 cup pecan pieces

combine gently (don’t over mix)

Portion dough on to parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 300 for about 20, until the bottoms are just toasted and the tops no longer appear wet. Allow to cool completely before you start shoveling them into your mouth one of two cookies at a time. This is a big batch so be sure to share lots, make some new friends!

VEGANS REJOICE!

Make sure you take some time to enjoy all the other recipe swap challengers take on this carrot pie!

roasted squash & ricotta gnocchi

A handmade gnocchi is like a hug from your italian grandmother (which I don’t have) but I would imagine her being round and soft and sweet, just like these pillows of heaven. I was given some squash from a friend, not sure the type but the flesh was deep and dark and orange, and I decided to roast it up and mash it up with equal parts of ricotta cheese, then once turned into dough cut into tiny mouthfuls and simmered in brown butter with a garlic and sage infusion finished with a glug of white wine and sprinkle of a robust cheese. ‘Um heaven indeed.

These start off mostly healthy, and certainly you could boil them and toss them with a drizzle of your favorite pasta sauce, but if you really want to enjoy these in all their gnocchi goodness then go for the brown butter fry!

The dough is simple:

equal parts (2-3 cups) of mashed squash roasted (not boiled) and ricotta cheese

add 2 eggs

aprox. 3 heaping Tbsp spelt flour (don’t get carried away and add too much flour)

season with a handful of fresh herbs of your choice (I used chili flakes, rosemary and sage)

and a sprinkle of fine sea salt

toss into a bag and refrigerate for at least and hour (but overnight is good too)

* HALF of this dough recipe will make dinner for 4, the balance can be frozen, or used up within a couple days.

The to form the gnocchi’s you can use any number of techniques, there is many a web page dedicated to how to form the perfect gnocchi. I opted to roll out the dough from little balls into long snakes (on a well floured surface) then cut the snake into little 1cm thick “ovals” which you can then roll down the back of a fork or off a butter paddle… or if you rushing of to a knitting night with the gals, just chop and plop them into a pan filled with bubbling brown butter.

Pan fry each side for about 3 minutes until golden brown then toss browned gnocchi in a large bowl. Once all of them are cooked and waiting patiently in the bowl you can add 1 large minced garlic glove into a pan and brown, add a pad of butter and a splash of white wine (about 1/2 cup) simmer quickly and add a handful of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary and parsley were my herbs at hand) pour  the “sauce” over the gnocchi along with a handful of freshly grated grana or parmesan and gently toss until well coated. I threw a handful of fresh ribbons of kale in with the garlic too which was a nice addition.

Anyway your coat or cook these they are hug-i-lishious fabulous.

ginger pear breakfast loaves

These luscious little parcels of warm fall flavors were my simple solution to the cool breezy new season blues today. I needed a mid day warm up and the over-ripening scent of pears in the air were beckoning for a cozy baked home.

Like all muffins, these come together quickly and after a ginger cinnamon sugar sprinkle the top crisped up with a doughnut like lace finish. Yum. Made with spelt flour and two kinds of ginger, just enough coconut and a hint of cardamom, these are perfect for a blustery day in the garden.

In a large bowl combine:

3/4 cup cane sugar
4 oz melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 splash of real vanilla
2 cups spelt flour
1/2 cup coconut
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp fresh ginger zest
1 tsp cardamon
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup almond milk
2 1/2 cups pears, unpeeled and diced small

Portion into prepared muffin tins (I used coconut oil to grease the cups)

Sprinkle with a blend of cane sugar, ground ginger and cinnamon

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oh enjoy at least one warm or at least with a warm cuppa.

rosemary raisin focaccia

Even though the temperature has been soaring here I have had for some crazy reason this desire to start baking bread! What poor timing, although I figure since I am melting and canning anyway might as well add the oven to the heat storm. I started this adventure by trying out a large batch of “5 minute a day bread” with mixed albeit tasty results. I then tried a batch of focaccia, and reached for my baking bible the Art & Soul of Baking to lead the way.

Here is my abridged recipe (same ingredients, however I will be way less graceful on my step by step)

Warm 2 1/4 cups of milk and place in bowl mixer

Sprinkle 1 tbsp dry active yeast and 1 tsp of sugar on to the milk, whisk in 1/4 cup of flour.

Allow to stand for 10 minutes while the yeast bubbles away.

Then add 2 cups of flour (I used white spelt) and mix with a paddle attachment for 4 minutes.

Add 2 cups of raisins and two sprigs of fresh rosemary, mashed and chopped.

Then add with 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp salt.

Attach dough hook and mix for 2 minutes on low, finally add another 2 3/4 cups of flour, and kneed for 2 more minutes, scrape side and turn mixture over before kneading for 2 more minutes.

Oil a bowl and put dough into it to allow it to rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours (or until it has doubled in size). Then punch down the dough and place it on a large oiled baking sheet. Begin to pull and stretch the dough into your desired shape. Using your finger tips tap little pockets over the top of the dough, and then allow it to rise again for at least 30 minutes.

Bake in a 375 oven for about 35 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before brushing with olive oil and and finishing sprinkle of sea salt and more rosemary.

This bread was served with balsamic and olive oil for dunking and was really nice left over toasted with a dollop of honey!

sneaky cheesy herb squash bread

There is a saying I love…. “if you haven’t got any zuchinni, then you haven’t got any friends”, well I am blessed with both, as I am sure many of you this time of year are too! So what to do with all this damn zuchinni?

My sweetie resents my baking anything chocolaty with hidden veggies in it.. so I was hunting for a more savory approach when I stumbled upon a Jamie Oliver (bless him, my celebrity crush) recipe for cheesy zucchini bread. I gave it a go and it was fabulous, obviously I put my standard SOLE spin on it (never one for following orders to well) the bread was dense and rich, packed with herbs and whole spelt goodness. I used yellow star burst squash because it makes the bread look even cheesier. It past my sweet heart test and I plan to make a 4x batch tomorrow and fill the freezer with some extra loafs… they are perfect for a hearty bowl of soup or as an open faced fried egg sandwhich!

In a large bowl mix:

500 g spelt flour

make a well in the center and add:

1/2 cup warm water

1 tbsp yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

combine with a fork then add:

3 cups of shredded squash

1 handful of fresh chopped herbs (what ever is abundant)

2 handfuls of shredded cheese, again whatever you have

Mix until you have a sticky dough.

You may need to add another splash of water, if your squash is old or dry.

Kneed on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes (don’t compensate for the stickiness by adding more flour)

Oil a bowl and your hand and form dough into round, set in bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and let to rise for 30 minutes (somewhere warm and draft free)

Punch down and form again, place in lined oiled loaf pan, and allow to rise for anther 30 minutes.

Finally bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 until deeply golden and firm. Cool completely before serving.

This loaf makes for delicious toast!

roasted tomato quinoa caprese

Caprese ensalanda is my favorite Italian starter… and baby buffalo bocchini’s call to me. This salad is a warm spin on my favorite. Made with oven roasted fresh local tomatoes, ribbons of basil from the garden and pillowy soft bocichinni with quinoa and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic. Perfection.

I started with about 8 small fresh tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces each, tossed in a generous amount of olive oil, sea salt and balsamic vinegar, along with a sprinkle of dried parsley. Roast at 425 for about 40 minutes, or until nicely roasted.

In a separate bowl combine 4 cups of cooked quinoa with 1 cup of sliced bocchini cheese.

Season with:

S+P

a good glug each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

a handful of fresh basil sliced ribbon thin

and 1 small hot pepper diced finely

Set aside to soak up the flavor while the tomatoes roast.

Once the tomatoes are done to your liking add them to the quinoa along with all the roasting juices, gently toss and serve.

hemp oh la granola

I am back on the granola train these days… and was getting a little fed up with breaking the bank on granola purchases when I knew making it was super easy! Also I just stocked up on some good organic bulk grains and thought it was about time I busted open some brown bags and got granola toasting. So glad I did.

I like the rich nutty-ness of brown rice syrup and use it often in my baking, so that is what I used in this recipe but you could use honey or maple syrup or agave instead or any combination of them. I opted to make this gluten free but the grains are also totally interchangeable so you could throw in spelt or rye flakes, or what ever your heart desires. I loaded this granola with my 3 favorite super seeds; hemp, chia and flax but again you could use any nuts or seeds you like. Dried fruit would be nice too, but I kept this batch friendly to my picky fruit hating daughter! Have fun with this recipe just keep the ratios the same and you’ll be all right! The process couldn’t be easier…

In a large bowl combine:

4 cups whole rolled oats

1 cup hemp seeds

1 cup chia seeds

1 cup flax seeds

1 cup coconut

2 cups quinoa flakes

2 cups millet

1 cup chopped almonds

In a saucepan over medium high heat to a rolling boil:

1 cup brown rice syrup

1/2 cup hemp oil

1/2 cup grape seed oil

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

a pinch sea salt

2 tsbp cinnamon

2 tbsp vanilla (try this easy homemade version)

 

Stir often and after about 5 minutes of boiling remove from heat and pour over dry ingredients.

Stir in until well coated then pour granola onto two parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 300 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and store in large air tight jars! Enjoy.

foraging and harvesting

Wow it’s like the food bomb just went off this week! Suddenly there is food everywhere… wild harvests abound!  We have been picking saskatoon berries, cherries, strawberries, mint, and even cat tails have been collected by the dozens for both winter basket weaving and we have been eating the starchy crunchy sweet tender roots in all manners of preparation.

I was so flush in fact with free berries yesterday I had to get baking even though the heat was intense! I settled on making a couple batches of my favorite spelt cream cheese puff pastry, and busted out 2 extra large and 9 mini triple berrie tarts. We had friends for dinner who brought a lovely almond flour strawberry cake, and for dessert we had a trio of berry celebrations including: a slice of my berry tart, a slice of her strawberry cake, and a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt slathered in saskatoon strawberry syrup I bubbled up! Over the course of the day I must have eaten a pound of fresh sun warmed strawberries even before dessert was served!

So today I am sharing my easy quick berry berry pie filling recipe, which was divine with this no fail spelt puff pastry, but would be ideal in a classic pie crust too, even drizzled over ice cream or granola or yogurt, or even canned as a fruit topping!

As I said this batch yielded a HUGE amount of filling so if you are wanting to do just one pie cut it by 1/3! But I will share the recipe as I made it which would get you through at least 3 pies.

In a large heavy bottom stainless pot combine over medium high heat:

4 cups cherries

4 cups of strawberries

4 cups of saskatoon berries

stir and warm for about 5 minutes before adding:

1 cup arrow root powder mixed into

3 cups of organic cane sugar

Stir sugar into fruit and allow to boil for about 5 minutes before turning off heat and allowing fruit to cool slowly.

Use this fruit filling as you see fit and you will certainly enjoy it!

sesame butter bliss

Another SOLE spun Tassajara recipe, that rocks! These nut free cookies taste just like peanut butter cookies, but they are way better. With rich creamy tahini and toasted sesame seeds they are a stunningly simple spelt flour cookie. One of our new interns here at the “farm” is allergic to peanuts so I figured what better time to try out this recipe!

In a stand mixer beat together:

2/3 cup organic veggie oil (I used coconut oil)

1 cup cane sugar

1 fresh egg

1 tbsp vanilla

2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp lemon juice

mix until well combined, then slowly add:

2 cups of whole spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup toasted coconut

1 cup toasted sesame seeds

a pinch of fine sea salt.

Portion into desired cookie size, and fork down. Then bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

cardamom rye date nut drops

This recipe combines some of my most favorite flavors; rye, dates, hemp seeds, cardamom and coconut. These are all balanced in a dense and sweet (yet no sugar added) vegan dough laced with walnuts and a hint of cinnamon spice. mmm.

Inspired by my newest cookbook: Tassajara lunches, picnics and appetizers, I made a rye hemp adaption on their date and coconut cookies. For a girl who dislikes cookies so much, I have sure been baking lots of them these days! Keeping the troops happy and fueled.

 

Start by pulsing in a processor:

1/2 cup of dates (pitted)

1/2 cup walnuts

then mix in a large bowl:

fruit and nut mix

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup coconut

1  1/2 tsp nutritional yeast

1 cup white spelt flour

1 cup fine rye flour

a pinch of fine sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom ground

then mix in

3/4 cup aguave syrup

1/2 cup organic veggie oil (I like grape seed for baking)

 

Once combined  portion into small balls and bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

share and enjoy over a cup of tea!

best ever banana bread

Organic spelt flour, milk chocolate chunks, walnuts pieces and  flax seeds in a perfect crumb cake made with roasted bananas… seriously this is the ONLY banana bread recipe you’ll ever need, and you can adapt it endlessly; nuts, fruits, seeds any combination will please a crowd (or just your breakfast plate, as it may be)

In a stand mixer start by creaming:

3/4 cup of butter

1 cup of organic cane sugar

3 ripe bananas (roasted at 350 for about 40 minutes)

2 tsp vanilla

2 large farm fresh eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk (or sour raw milk)

mix until well blended, scraping down the bowl a few times.

in a separate bowl sift together:

2 cups white spelt flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

gently mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients

Then toss in:

1 cup of chocolate chunks

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup walnut bits

Pour into prepared bread pan and bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes (or until a toothpick come out clean)

Total banana heaven!

chicken wax bean soup with hungarian nokedli

Our permaculture intern is of Hungarian descent and as I am so interested in global food and cultural eating I have been  prying him for details on traditional dishes and his favorite foods, when he presented the sweetest little cookbook his mom made him. In it I found some tasty sounding dishes but was drawn especially to a recipe for Hungarian dumplings (nokedli)  in a wax bean soup. Yum. I used his mom’s nokedli recipe and instructions but ended up forming the “noodles” in the fashion my German friend taught me when I got my spetzle lesson. The lazy lumpy noodle dumpling are delicious and are well worth the effort. As there is nothing quiet as comforting as homemade chicken soup bursting with homemade noodles, or nokedli as it may be.

As for the soup goes it started it’s life as a roast chicken carcass that spent two day simmering away in onion and garlic broth, and then it got a Hungian sweet paprika treatment and the addition of the last of my frozen wax beans from last years harvest. The soup was great and although I took all sorts of slack for not serving it with sour cream (sorry to you traditionalists, and to Jordans Mom… I just don’t stock very many creamy white dairy type items in my fridge), everyone seemed to enjoy the soup immensely!

I won’t tell you how to make chicken soup, only that the addition of wax bean fried in butter and doused in sweet hungarian paprika made this my own take on the bean soup recipe in the cookbook. As for the nokedli, here is how it came together:

In a bowl mix 4 eggs with enough flour to make a thick gluey dough, that will fast become very hard to mix. But carry on mixing well until silky and thick. I used Anita’s white spelt flour (which is my favourite easy spelt sub in, it can be used in every manner one would use white flour, with out any of the traditional whole-grainy spelt issues to contend with)

Let the dough rest at room temperature for a time, and about 10 minutes before you want to serve dinner, get your soup up to a rolling boil and start to form the dough dumplings and let them boil for 8 minutes. Jordan’s mom’s technique was to cut little bits of dough over the edge of a bowl using a wet knife. My German friend showed me to use a large wooden paddle and a flat dough scraper to cut bits right into the boiling liquid. This is no easy task, but with some experimenting you will get a flow down. You want semi-consistent bite size lumps, which will start to float to the top once cooked.

Serve the soup with a hearty garnish of parsley and I used garden fresh peppery watercress in my garnish as well. And for those of you who enjoy sour cream, apparently this is the place for it! Go on give it a go (the nokedli I mean not the sour cream)

Enjoy, and thanks Jordan’s Mom, for sharing both the recipe and your super son!

chai chocolate pansy cake

Remember a couple weeks back when I posted this delicious spelt espresso vegan cake recipe, well when I was enjoying a bite of this dense and moist cake I though about how great it would be with chai spice rather than espresso, and so I busted one out to take to a lovely dinner party, and I was right… it was FABULOUS with a spicy chai kick. My daughter picked little purple pop up pansies from all over the garden and they were the perfect finish for this divine vegan dessert.

I didn’t tweak too much from my original post but I did double the batch to yield a whopping 12” spring form pan that made for 12 hearty portions (easily could have served 24)

I used in this recipe both a chai concentrate liquid as well as a chai spice blend. If you don’t have both I am sure just the concentrate (or a stiff brewed chia tea) would do, but you may want to add a pinch of a few chai essential spices from your pantry; especially cardamom and cinnamon and clove.

rhubarb almond buttermilk cake with hemp streusel crumb

Today started with a chill in the air and baking is just the right way to take the edge of a mountain morning. I have been watching my new (thanks to my back road buddy) rhubarb plant explode in the yard, and I finally went out this morning and chopped of 4 large (enough) stocks and fired up the oven. hmm what to bake? At present I no longer have a good source of affordable or trade-able local butter and I cringe everytime I pay $10 for a lb of organic butter at the grocery store. So I have been baking alot more vegan treats… yet I am flush with little happy eggs from my girls and ripe with new spring time growth around me. This recipe is a collimation of all of these element coming together in one damn tasty and beautiful looking cake.

Start by creaming together (by hand-

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup cane sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla

Then in a separate bowl sift together:

2 cups spelt flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch of fine sea salt

Now gently alternate mixing

1 cup buttermilk

into the sugar cream along with the sifted flour

finely stir in 2 cups (4 stocks) of chopped rhubarb pieces

and 1 cup ch

For streusel topping combine:

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup dark sugar

Sprinkle topping over cake or cupcakes and bake at 350, until a tooth pick comes out clean. This recipe will make enough cake for a 9×13 pan or you could get a 9″ round cake and 6 mini muffins. My 9″ cake took 25 minutes to bake and the cupcakes took about 18 minutes. Makes ure your pans are well brushed with oil, or parchment or butter (your recuperation method of choice)

*Sorry for anyone who was looking over this recipe earlier.. it appears the last bit cut cut off and some weird bits added… anyway all fixed up!

Happy baking!

Oh and I served this with a dollop of whipped cream mixed with 1 tbsp of my dandelion jelly which was marvelous!

easy vegan mocha spelt cake

This is about as easy a cake recipe as I can imagine. It comes together in minutes and takes only 25 minutes to bake. A rich moist chocolate coffee cake drizzled with cafe icing served with a hot espresso, this is the perfect solution for an afternoon sugar attack.

Simply combine all ingredients in a bowl pour into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

1 cup strong coffee (or chai tea concentrate would be lovely too!)

1/4 cup organic veggie oil

1 tbsp homemade vanilla

1/2 cup cane sugar

pinch of sea salt

1 cup chocolate chunks

1 tbsp coffee finely ground

1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour

1 tsp each baking soda and baking powder

 

That’s it that’s all.

yummy and simple.

 

 

 

 

quinoa hemp seed chickpea slaw

My father in law passed this delicious recipe on to me last week, and I have been eager to make it since tasting it!

I made very few tweaks to the original recipe, and thought the results were delicious!

In a large bowl combine

1/2 head of green or savoy cabbage shredded fine

2 green onions finely sliced

2 cups of soaked and cooked or canned chickpeas

1 cup of cooked quinoa

1/2 cup of hemp seeds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Dress with

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp dried oregano

S+P

serve and enjoy!

good morning hemp glory muffins

I think I am slowly working my way through my dislike of muffins. Recipes like this make  it easy. We make a vegan version of this at the bake shack (using apple sauce instead of eggs) and it’s always a hit. I happen to have many eggs these days so I opted for eggs today. You could also sub apple sauce in for the sugar and make a great sugar free start to your day.

I used spelt flour as usual, and today I blended hemp oil into my grapeseed oil.  These are loevly, moist and dense, sweet with all the fruit bits and full of omega power. They look so lovely, and are perfectly fluffy and raise nicely, certainly they are NOT hockey puck muffins!

In one huge bowl bring everything together:

2 large carrots shredded

1 apple sheredded

1/2 cup rasins

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/4 cup coconut

3 eggs

3/4 cup grapeseed oil

1/4 cup hemp oil

2 cups of spelt flour (half whole / half white)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

 

Portion into prepared muffin pan, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I used a rectangular mini loaf pan as well as a mini mini cast iron muffin tin, and yielded 8 mini loafs and 5 tiny muffins.

hummingbird spelt cake

Admittedly the name of this cake drew me in and after I stumbled upon this recipe a few weeks back I was dying to rush out and buy a can of pineapple, and crack into the mountain of over ripe frozen bananas in my freezer. Who would have thought this banana bread / carrot cake hybird would be so delightful.  I had no idea this cake even existed… Those southern bells sure do dream up some lovely treats. Slow roasted bananas in a dreamy cake slathered in pecan laced cream cheese frosting. Oh my.

ginger pear cinnamon apple muffins

yum yum yum.

What a great use for apple sauce or as it was in my case apple pear butter (which I slaved over for days.. literally) back in the fall when I was drowning in apples and pears I made batch after batch of sauces and butters. I found I really love my ginger pear butter slathered on toast, but I don’t so much love the apple butter straight up… So this is the perfect solution for “using up what I have been putting up”, soft fluffy spelt muffins filled with oats, flax and hemp seeds with fresh ginger and shredded apple, all topped with a cinnamon sugar sprinkle, oh my.

In a large bowl combine:

1 cup grapeseed oil

2 cups of apple butter or apple sauce

3 eggs fresh and still warm from my feathered friends

1″ fresh grated ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

3 cups of spelt flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flax course ground

1/2 cup hemp seeds

and a pinch of sea salt

 

Spoon batter (which is thick) into oiled muffin pans, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick come out clean.

happy pantry snacking.