Saturday, April 7, 2012

Brownies a la bean

I really like using surprising ingredients that add a healthy twist to a recipe without compromising taste or enjoyment. After a couple of trials of a brownie recipe that included canned beans (original recipe from My darling lemon thyme) as its main ingredient, the below came out as my best version and voted as amazing by 100% of people. It's fudgy, sweet and delicious.


Brownie a la bean
1 tin of beans - white beans, black beans or kidney
3 eggs 
4 tablespoons oil - coconut or macadamia
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c Xylitol (starch based natural sugar)
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 c LSA (like almond meal but more cost effective)
3 heaped dessert spoons flaxseed meal (works to bind in the absence of flour)
1 t vanilla essence
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Optional
2T espresso and 1T coconut flour. Coconut flour is like a sponge - so if your mixture is too wet this will bring it back (use sparingly)
Chopped chocolate
Nuts 
Whatever other tasty additions you like. You could also ice with the avocado icing from here

Preheat oven to 180 and grease a loaf pan or small square tin.
Line with paper if you like.
Mix your dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
Tip beans into the bowl of a food processor and blend to form a smooth paste. Add all the wet ingredients to the beans and pulse to combine. Add sugar to bean mixture and combine.  
Pour bean mixture into a mixing bowl and slowly mix in the dry. Stir through whatever delicious additions you have.
Pour into your tin and bake for 30-35 mins - it should be a fairly wet mix. the top should spring back when done.
Cool in the tin
This is seriously good and you will want to eat it all.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Homemade peanut butter

I love peanut butter - gotta be crunchy. Eat it by the spoonful, on toast, crumpets, with jam, on celery or carrots, as satay, mixed into iceceram. So much tasty goodness.  Check out the label though and perhaps you'll notice a disconcerting difference between percentage of nuts and the full jar. Considering the food's name basically makes up its content, it's unappetising thinking about what makes up the missing approx 11%. Ew.

So I decided to make my own. After searching the supermarket for berloody ages to try and find your common peanut I managed to secure 250gms of homebrand roasted unsalted peanuts. I would have preferred to try unroasted / organic too, but it took many shopping trips just to find the ones I got. If anyone knows where to buy organic peanuts in Sydney let me know.

These cost $2.20 while a $500gm bag which I found on line at woolworths.com.au cost a mere $3.20. Keep in mind cruddy old factory made peanut butter is twice the price for 375gms / 500gms respectively.

And unless you wanna make your butter with a mortar and pestle the completion of this recipe is easy as.

Peanut butter
250gm peanuts
1T oil 
Salt to taste

Put your peanuts in your food processor, and blend up. Add some oil (I used macadamia) about 1T more or less till you get the consistency you desire. Salt the mixture. Pour in a glass jar and pop in the fridge (no preservatives here).

The consistency of my first batch doesn't have the bigger chunks like store bought - more grainy due the consistent grinding motion of the processor. You could add more roughly chopped up nuts into the final mix if you like.  This recipe, of course, works for any nuts you please.

Enjoy x


Saturday, February 4, 2012

Iced coffee

Coffee is probably not the first drink you think of when there's a steamy hot day brewing. The kind of day where you're sweating as soon as you jump out of bed. Alas being the die hard coffee fan that I am it is the first order of the day. Today like no other the french press, dutifully filled. I always make a full plunger as I'll drink it through out the morning. After a few chores cup refilled, I grabbed some still defrosting milk from the fridge (hot tip - yes you can freeze milk, very handy)

What happened was a deliciously icy coffee hit. It's easy, you should make it next time you do brunch. Of course you can fancy it up with cream, chocolate sauce, vanilla and the rest.


You need:
Cup of cooled strong coffee
Defrosting milk (leave a frozen 1l carton in the fridge over night) It should have milk icebergs still in it
Sugar to taste

Go 3/4 coffee and 1/4 milk.


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Slaw salad

This delicious salad will pop with freshness in your mouth. A play on slaw with some extra treats, all dressed up with a light yet satisfying dressing. Make it tonight.

Enough for two, my favourite amount :) 




























Slaw salad

1/8 green cabbage - sliced thinly
Two handfuls mixed leaves - chopped
1/4 cup flat parsley - chopped
10 cornichons chopped, these are tiny gherkins
1 large T of low fat thick Greek yogurt
1 small lemon juiced
2 boiled eggs (to your liking)
Shaved grana pandano cheese (a younger sweeter parmasean)
Walnuts chopped


In the bottom of a sald bowl combine the yogurt, lemon juice, parsely, salt and pepper. This is your dressing.
Place the cabbage, mixed leaves, cornichons into the bowl and mix well into the dressing.
Plate up with the quartered boiled eggs, walnuts and cheese.


Simple and delicious.