I stumbled across this recipe, which just seemed to tick a lot of boxes for me, including many things I love (miso, tahini, olives, lemon), and having a good lot of walnuts in it (we have endless quantities from our tree, it feels like sometimes)... So thought I'd better try it. Pretty tasty.
10 oil-cured black olives, pitted and chopped (we only had the dry salty kind so I rinsed them a bit before using)
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1 1/2 tsp miso
1 tbsp tahini
1/4 tsp oregano (used dried)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Toast the walnuts, let cool, and then pound them gently in a pestle and mortar until they have a roughly-chopped consistency. Tip into a bowl, then use the pestle and mortar to smash the olives and garlic together.
Put the olive oil in a small saucepan, add the olive mixture, and stir over low heat, until the garlic is aromatic, a minute or so. Remove from heat, and then add the walnuts, miso, tahini, oregano, and lemon juice. Use immediately, or cover and store refrigerated for a few days.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Corn tortillas
We bought some masa harina for making tamales a while ago, and it's been sitting neglected in the drawer ever since. I was thinking about making some chilli, avocado, rice, beans, lime type of a dinner, and it struck me that the most obvious use of masa harina is simply corn tortillas, and maybe I should at least look up how to make them... Which I did, and it turns out it's easy, way easier than I expected - the lack of gluten means the dough is really easy to work with, and you're not even supposed to roll them but press between sheets of clingfilm instead so very little mess (no flouring a board or dirtying a surface or rolling pin). So somehow they ended up being made as part of our Friday evening feast...
2 cups masa harina
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Mix masa harina and salt in a medium bowl with a fork. Add 1 cup warm water and stir until absorbed and crumble-like. Add the rest of the water, a couple of tbsp at a time, stirring regularly, until you have a kneadable dough.
Make golfball sized balls, then flatten one at a time between 2 sheets of clingfilm using something heavy and flat (I used our big round Le Creuset enamel pan and it worked a treat). Heat a large frying pan and then put the disc of dough in it. Cook on the first side for 10 sec then flip. Cook 1-2 min on the second side. Flip back to the first side and cook 1-2 min again. Transfer to a clean tea towel and wrap up to steam until needed. Then flatten another ball, and repeat the cooking process, adding to your stack in the tea towel.
This made a good amount for dinner with a bunch of other stuff - tacos! I kept the last few in a paper bag thinking they'd dry out and then I could try making tortilla chips but they didn't dry out, they went a bit mouldy and I had to throw them out. So might have to either dry them out in the oven or keep them in the freezer until needed if wanted to try again to make tortilla chips.
2 cups masa harina
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Mix masa harina and salt in a medium bowl with a fork. Add 1 cup warm water and stir until absorbed and crumble-like. Add the rest of the water, a couple of tbsp at a time, stirring regularly, until you have a kneadable dough.
Make golfball sized balls, then flatten one at a time between 2 sheets of clingfilm using something heavy and flat (I used our big round Le Creuset enamel pan and it worked a treat). Heat a large frying pan and then put the disc of dough in it. Cook on the first side for 10 sec then flip. Cook 1-2 min on the second side. Flip back to the first side and cook 1-2 min again. Transfer to a clean tea towel and wrap up to steam until needed. Then flatten another ball, and repeat the cooking process, adding to your stack in the tea towel.
This made a good amount for dinner with a bunch of other stuff - tacos! I kept the last few in a paper bag thinking they'd dry out and then I could try making tortilla chips but they didn't dry out, they went a bit mouldy and I had to throw them out. So might have to either dry them out in the oven or keep them in the freezer until needed if wanted to try again to make tortilla chips.
Berry pancakes
Another small S and me Sunday morning cooking adventure - thought it was about time he tried pancakes again (he dissed them pretty hard the last time, but aren't all kids supposed to like pancakes? Thought berries should sweeten the deal; these ones seemed to have a good lot of berries in them.
200 g self-raising flour (c. 190g / 7.5 oz plain flour + 2.5 tsp baking powder)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 egg
300 ml milk (used oat)
knob butter
75 g / 2.5 oz berries (used frozen mixture) (plus extra for eating)
sunflower oil or a little butter for cooking
golden or maple syrup for eating
Mix together flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the milk, then make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and whisk in the milk mixture gradually to make a thick smooth batter. Beat in a knob of melted butter, and gently stir in the berries.
Heat a teaspoon of sunflower oil or small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Drop a large tablespoonful of the batter per pancake into the pan to make pancakes about 7.5cm across. Make three or four pancakes at a time. Cook for about 3 minutes over a medium heat until small bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake, then turn and cook another 2-3 minutes until golden. Cover with kitchen paper to keep warm while you use up the rest of the batter.
Serve with golden or maple syrup and more berries.
Just realized I used 2X as much berries in the pancakes as the recipe - that'll be why they were so berry-y... Which was delicious, although perhaps a little excessive. Should try again with the right amount of berries... coincidentally it's pancake day tomorrow...
200 g self-raising flour (c. 190g / 7.5 oz plain flour + 2.5 tsp baking powder)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 egg
300 ml milk (used oat)
knob butter
75 g / 2.5 oz berries (used frozen mixture) (plus extra for eating)
sunflower oil or a little butter for cooking
golden or maple syrup for eating
Mix together flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the milk, then make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and whisk in the milk mixture gradually to make a thick smooth batter. Beat in a knob of melted butter, and gently stir in the berries.
Heat a teaspoon of sunflower oil or small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Drop a large tablespoonful of the batter per pancake into the pan to make pancakes about 7.5cm across. Make three or four pancakes at a time. Cook for about 3 minutes over a medium heat until small bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake, then turn and cook another 2-3 minutes until golden. Cover with kitchen paper to keep warm while you use up the rest of the batter.
Serve with golden or maple syrup and more berries.
Just realized I used 2X as much berries in the pancakes as the recipe - that'll be why they were so berry-y... Which was delicious, although perhaps a little excessive. Should try again with the right amount of berries... coincidentally it's pancake day tomorrow...
White chocolate, cranberry and macadamia cookies
I was given some of those nice hot chocolate sticks, the ones with a big lump of chocolate on the end of a little wooden skewer. But I am a bit of a chocolate purist, and only really fancied drinking mugs of the darkest stuff. So ended up with 2 lumps of white chocolate on sticks, that I was never going to use for making hot chocolate. I was reflecting on how I do like white chocolate but only in certain situations, e.g. cookies, and then realized there was nothing stopping me from chopping the chocolate off the sticks and using it to make cookies! Other situations that I like white chocolate in are with cranberries and with macadamias, and weirdly I'd just also been given a packet of dried cranberries, and had spontaneously purchased a little packet of salted macadamias. This recipe sounded totally perfect, so I followed it - although I only made a quarter of the amount, because I needed to scale it to the amount of white chocolate I had. It made about 20 cookies, one whole baking tray,
which seemed like about right for us tbh. The full amount would have
been way too much - they're pretty full-on (although delicious).
(quantities for 20 cookies)
3/4 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 cup (56.7 g / 2 oz) butter, room temperature
1/4 cup packed golden-brown sugar
3/16 cup white sugar
1/2 a large egg (used 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 1 tbsp boiling water)
1/4 tbsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 oz dried cranberries
2 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
1/4 cup (1 oz) coarsely chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts
Heat oven to 177C / 350F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Mix flour and bicarb in a medium bowl with a fork. Beat butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until blended. Beat in egg, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended, stirring in cranberries, white chocolate chips, and nuts in the final strokes.
Space approx. tbsp sized flattened balls on baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake until just golden, about 15 min. Cool on sheets.
(quantities for 20 cookies)
3/4 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 cup (56.7 g / 2 oz) butter, room temperature
1/4 cup packed golden-brown sugar
3/16 cup white sugar
1/2 a large egg (used 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 1 tbsp boiling water)
1/4 tbsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 oz dried cranberries
2 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
1/4 cup (1 oz) coarsely chopped roasted salted macadamia nuts
Heat oven to 177C / 350F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Mix flour and bicarb in a medium bowl with a fork. Beat butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until blended. Beat in egg, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended, stirring in cranberries, white chocolate chips, and nuts in the final strokes.
Space approx. tbsp sized flattened balls on baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake until just golden, about 15 min. Cool on sheets.
Kid-friendly coconutty ‘flapjacks’
I stumbled upon this 'flapjack' recipe and it sounded really like something small S and I would both like - not too sweet, lots of tasty stuff. It took me a while to get around to making it but when I did I discovered that I was so right: we both love it! I've been making a half quantity in a loaf tin (I don't have a bigger square or rectangular baking tin) and that lasts us about a week. We have been developing a little tradition of baking snacks together on Sunday mornings that small S can eat after vuggestue through the rest of the week. We've made these a couple of time now. Also, I have discovered that I love pretty much every Anna Jones baking recipe I have tried so far - she uses all my favourite things!
4 tbsp chia seeds
200g rolled oats
150g dried fruit (used a mixture of dried apricots and raisins)
1 medium carrot
1 apple
100g desiccated coconut
100g pumpkin seeds
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
70g coconut oil, melted
Heat the oven to 200C and line a 20cm × 30cm baking tin (or large loaf tin for a half quantity) with greaseproof paper. In a small bowl, soak the chia seeds in four tablespoons of water, then set aside (did 2 tbsp chia in 3 tbsp water for half recipe - the chia mixture felt too thick the first time).
Put the oats in blender and blend until you have a scruffy flour, then tip into a large bowl. Put half the dried fruit into blender and blend until broken down and a little mushy. Scrape into the bowl with the oats.
Grate the carrot and apple (no need to peel them... also ok with double apple no carrot or double carrot no apple, depending on availability) into the bowl, and add the remaining dried fruit, coconut, chia mixture, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, spices and melted coconut oil. Mix well.
Spoon into the tin, smooth the top with the back of a spoon, and bake for 40–45 minutes (c 30 min for half quantity), until golden brown. Leave to cool a little in the tray, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Slice into pieces.
4 tbsp chia seeds
200g rolled oats
150g dried fruit (used a mixture of dried apricots and raisins)
1 medium carrot
1 apple
100g desiccated coconut
100g pumpkin seeds
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
70g coconut oil, melted
Heat the oven to 200C and line a 20cm × 30cm baking tin (or large loaf tin for a half quantity) with greaseproof paper. In a small bowl, soak the chia seeds in four tablespoons of water, then set aside (did 2 tbsp chia in 3 tbsp water for half recipe - the chia mixture felt too thick the first time).
Put the oats in blender and blend until you have a scruffy flour, then tip into a large bowl. Put half the dried fruit into blender and blend until broken down and a little mushy. Scrape into the bowl with the oats.
Grate the carrot and apple (no need to peel them... also ok with double apple no carrot or double carrot no apple, depending on availability) into the bowl, and add the remaining dried fruit, coconut, chia mixture, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, spices and melted coconut oil. Mix well.
Spoon into the tin, smooth the top with the back of a spoon, and bake for 40–45 minutes (c 30 min for half quantity), until golden brown. Leave to cool a little in the tray, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Slice into pieces.
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