My wish for you is to Live Better, Strive Harder, Be Bolder, Dream Bigger, Climb Higher and Seek Greater.
My vision is to help people create food that is delicious, easy to make and high in nutrition, so that food once more becomes a vehicle to fuel your body, mind and soul.
‘Travel leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller’
Mr B loves Brussel Sprouts, so when we saw these beauties at the farmers market, he couldn’t resist. I am always thinking of new recipes of these interesting morsels and was inspired by a product we bought on our travels in Italy this year. We were in Modena, the place that supplies the worlds only true source of aged balsamic vinegar and so of course they have lots of different products to try. One of the products we sampled, was balsamic honey, which was sweet and tart, so this recipe is an ode to this Italian umami.
We spent an hour talking to this supplier, talking through the history of Modena, Balsamic Vinegar and the different products that he had created. He was so passionate about where he lives and what he does, so much so that you could taste his love for the ingredients.
‘Doing what you love is freedom, loving what you do is the secret to everything.’
Try the balsamic honey mix on strawberries or a fruit salad or on cheese for an extra kick.
Ingredients
20 Brussel Sprouts
2 tbsp. coconut oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp. Aged balsamic vinegar
Method
Preheat the oven to 400F
Line a baking tray with parchment paper
Half the brussel sprouts and pull some of the leaves away from the core
Drizzle with oil
Season with a little salt and pepper
Bake for 15 minutes or until leaves are crispy and sprouts are starting to soften
Remove from the oven, add more seasoning if needed
Mix honey/balsamic in a bowl and drizzle over the top
‘The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude – Julia Child 1912
Whether it is in cooking or life, a fear of failure can stop you doing so many things. It’s strange that we develop this much later in life, as we become attached a perfect image of ourselves. As babies it is vital that we fail, trying to form words or moving from crawling to walking. It’s why so many parents have videos of the first time their child walked. They have seen their child try over and over again, with a quizzical look on their face and a lot of the time a smile. What if we could learn to try new things, to dare to fail, with a smile on our face. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
In cooking it is vital you open yourself up to failure, when trying a new concept or recipe. When I first saw this recipe, I was terrified. It looked more complex than it was and I couldn’t conceptualise how you could get from the raw ingredient to the final dish. In reality it was much simpler than I thought, I just broke it down into a few stages.
The recipe is from wickedly healthy, a team in the UK originally from New England, who have been breaking the boundaries of healthy cooking, creating new ways to incorporate more plants into our day to day diet.
Whether it is this dish or another, I encourage you to embrace the concept in cooking and life. There is no failure except in no longer trying.
Ingredients
• 4 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 lb Maitake mushrooms, in a few clusters to make the steaks
• 1 tbsp. BBQ seasoning
• 2 cups. BBQ sauce (vegan)
• Salt and pepper
Method
Heat a large heavy pan (such as cast iron) over medium heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, swirling to coat the pan. Add half of the mushroom clusters and use a second heavy pan to weight down and press/sear the mushroom clusters. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove the weight and the mushrooms to a work surface.
Add another 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, swirling to coat. Flip the mushrooms and season the cooked side with the seasoning. Return the mushrooms to the hot pan, raw-side down. Return the weight to the mushrooms and press/sear the other side. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove the weight and flip the mushrooms in the pan. Season the newly cooked side with the BBQ seasoning.
Return the weight to the mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes. Repeat this process of flipping, weighting down, and searing the clusters until the mushrooms are condensed and pressed into crispy golden-brown steaks with almost no liquid left in the pan, about 10 minutes total. Poke the mushrooms to test whether they are finished cooking. They should feel compact yet fleshy. Repeat with the remaining oil and mushrooms.
When the mushroom steaks are compact and golden brown, remove them to a baking sheet. Brush generously with a thick layer of sauce on both sides and let marinate at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
Heat the oven at 350F and bake until bubbling and sticky
Serve with taco’s, scallions and chipotle sauce (see last recipe for smoked chipotle cashew sauce)
‘Food can be expressive and therefore food can be art’ – Grant Achatz
I love new combinations and new techniques, it’s like getting new colored crayons as a child, it gives you the sense of endless possibilities. Matthew Kenney’s cook books are art and food; everything is extraordinary in its presentation and I am constantly finding new inventive techniques to try.
This recipe is great without smoking it, as the paprika does a grand job. I just wanted to play with my new toy, which I got as a gift, with the suggestion of smoking my vegan cheese.
In reality everyone knows how much I love smoked items as I have used smoked maple syrup, smoked honey, smoked salt in many dishes. I also have smoked gin, almonds and a variety of other foods and love using liquid smoke to make vegan ‘bacon’. Mr. B marvels at how I am a vegetarian at all with my love of this wonderful aroma, to which I note that it is only the association in his mind that links it to meat, in mine it is linked to anywhere my imagination and the ingredients can take me!
Ingredients
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. sea salt
½ cup water
Method
Blend all the ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy. It will taste smoky due to the smoked paprika. If you don’t have a smoking gun, the dish is ready to serve!
If you have a smoking gun, smoke the mixture using apple wood. Place in a bowl with the smoking tube inside (be careful not to touch the mixture) and let the smoke sit in the bowl, covered in cling film for 10 minutes.
I spread this, like hummus, onto a cracker and added some micro greens and watermelon radish for some extra nutrients and a pop of colour
This is a heavenly cake from Ottolenghi, one of my favorite chefs. He is Isreali-English which is why you see souk ingredients such as rose water and cardamom. These are ingredients used in mainly middle eastern and Indian desserts. The smell of the food takes you on a journey to a different time and place.
These fragrances and spices are used in Ayurveda to heal, thus combining food and health into one beautiful dish.
I made this for a friends birthday. He is an artist and so I had to think outside the box to make sure this was aesthetically pleasing as well as tasty. The feedback was great. Noted as moist, fragrant and enticing.
Ingredients
1 tsp. cardamom powder
1 cup pistachios
1 cup almond meal
170g fine semolina
1.5 tsp. baking powder
300g unsalted butter
1.5 coconut sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp. juice
2 tbsp. rosewater
½ tsp. vanilla
Syrup
100ml lemon juice
1/3 cup rosewater
½ cup caster sugar
To serve
2 tbsp pistachios
10g edible rose petals
Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking tray and line with baking paper. Grease a 23cm springform cake pan and line with baking paper
Finely ground the pistachios using a blender, add the cardamom powder and blend again
Transfer to a bowl and add almond meal, semolina, baking powder and ¼ tsp. fine salt
Place butter and sugar in a separate bowl and beat until well combined, add egg slowly and continue to mix
Fold through the dry mixture until well combined
Add the rosewater and vanilla and fold through
Add the lemon and lemon zest and fold in
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and use a palette knife to smooth the top
Bake for an hour at 350F or until a skewer inserted comes out clean (expect a little oil from the nuts)
For the syrup, place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring to the boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven drizzle with the hot syrup, the hot cake will absorb it.
Sprinkle with pistachios and rose petals for decoration
‘In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips’
I liked this recipe for two reasons, because the main ingredients are oats and bananas and because it is a blend and bake recipe. It has the same ingredients as your morning porridge but is easier to grab and go. I see this as a great breakfast, Mr B likes this as a sweet treat in-between meals, as he likes to have one hand permanently in the cookie jar.
The ingredients in this cookie can be mixed up, try orange and cranberries, blueberries or raisins, chocolate chips and coconut.
Ingredients
3 medium ripe bananas
3 tbsp. peanut butter
3 tbsp. maple syrup
120g oats
50g blueberries
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cup. Vegan chocolate chips (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven too 350F and line a baking tray with parchment paper
Mash the bananas in a bowl, add the peanut butter, coconut and maple syrup, stir
Fold in the blueberries and chocolate chips
Spoon onto the baking tray, spreading a little to make them round
‘My cooking is simple ingredients, plus umami’ – Nobu
My father in law often delivers me an array of vegetables from his miracle grow garden and baby eggplants are my favourites. They are great as they take very little time to cook and they are oh so cute.
This recipe is quick and full of umami, a stir fry till the eggplant slices are cooked and a quick sauce, which can be used as a dipping sauce or a sauce for the dish and some rice to soak it all up.
Ingredients
6 baby eggplants, quartered
1 tsp. coconut oil
1 tbsp. plum sauce
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. tamari
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
Method
Melt the coconut oil in a pan and stir-fry the quartered eggplants until soft
Make the sauce by combining the rest of the ingredients apart from the sesame seeds
When the eggplants are ready, pour the sauce over the top and remove from the heat, stir until evenly covered
Beautiful, vibrant, rich and tasty may be a description of your ideal partner but for me it is what I look for in the perfect dish.
This recipe is actually the recipe for my grandma’s pasta sauce. Every Indian household has one. It’s a kicked-up version of arrabiata, with the family’s signature mix of spices.
As a kid I liked the sauce and didn’t like the pasta (I wish I had that issue as an adult) and so would just eat the sauce as a soup.
As the nights start to get colder and the light fades a little earlier, I thought this would be the perfect dish to recreate. Warming both in your hands and in your tummy.
Ingredients
1 tbsp. coconut oil
6 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
¼ piece of cinnamon
½ tsp. mustard seeds
½ tsp. fennel seeds
½ tsp. cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large shallots
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
2 pounds tomatoes
1-quart vegetable broth
2 tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. garam masala
½ tsp. chili powder
½. Cup fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Roast the tomatoes at 350f, until soft and bursting through the skin
Once cooked allow to cool and blend
Heat the oil and add the whole spices, peppercorns, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, fennel and cumin
Add the ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant for a few minutes, being careful not to burn
Add the tomato mixture and stir, add the broth and simmer for 10 minutes until all the flavours are well combined
Add the powdered spices and adjust for seasoning
Serve hot on its own, with pasta or with fresh crusty bread
Happiness is watching a friend try Van Leeuwen vegan ice cream for the first time
Happiness is watching Mr B licking the bowl when I make homemade ice cream
Van Leeuwen ice cream started off in 2008 as an ice cream truck in NYC. They set out to revive the art of traditional ice cream making using just a handful of natural ingredients, celebrating farmers and artisans from across the world.
The secret to the vegan ice cream is the perfected recipe which has the same amount of fat as the non-vegan ice cream, which makes the mouth feel, decadent and smooth. This is what surprises everyone when then taste it, as they are surprised that you can create that gelato texture without milk and eggs.
My friends and I have spent a fair share of our time and retirement money in Van Leeuwen and so for my birthday I received the recipe book and an ice cream machine. I got the hint and started to make my way through the recipes. First the toasted coconut ice cream and next the caramelized banana. The caramelized banana recipe makes your house smell delicious and toasty with a combination of the roasted walnuts and bananas caramelizing.
Ingredients
For the bananas
4 bananas
1 tsp. vegan butter
½ cup coconut sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup cashew milk
¾ cup sugar
½ cup cocoa butter
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tsp. sea salt
½ cup chopped walnuts
Method
Pour the coconut and cashew milk in a larger bowl and set aside
To make the cashew nut milk, add one cup soaked (overnight) cashews to 1.25cup water and blend in a nutri-bullet
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with ¼ cup water and stir over a low heat until dissolved
Stir in the cocoa butter and coconut oil until melted, add the salt
Gently pour the mix into the milks, blend
This is the base to most vegan ice-creams at Van Leewen
To make the caramelized banana’s, place bananas, sugar and melted butter on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes or until caramelized
When ready add these to the blender with the rest of the mix and blend
Place the mixture into the fridge for 1-2 hours to cool
Pour the chilled ice cream base into an ice cream machine, churn according to the instructions of the ice-cream maker
At the last-minute pour in the roasted walnuts
To make the walnuts, place them on a baking tray and bake for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Chop to create smaller pieces for a more even distribution
Once done it will resemble soft serve, place in the freezer for a harder consistency
I lived with my grandma (Bigmama) for part of my childhood and she influenced so many parts of my personality in those former years, including my love of food. For my grandma food was a tool. A means to show love, a way of bringing her family together, a way of connecting to the community and a way of retaining the parts of her heritage she had left so far behind.
One of the first memories I can recall from living with Bigmama was the incense she used to use with prayers at 4am in the morning. Scents of earthy sandalwood would enter my dreams, taking me to enchanted places as the sun started to rear its head over the horizon.
At 6am, the smell of poppy seeds being tempered in oil would start making it’s way up the stairs and into my dreams coaxing me awake; signalling the start of a new day. By the time I got down the stairs the table would be set with chutneys, all different types, spicy carrot, sweet mango and sour tamarind, as well as different types of poppadum’s, fried, baked, flat, round, all giving a different texture when mixed in with the Khichuri. As we sat and mixed up our porridge my grandma would talk about her life before coming to the UK, bringing up her children and the shop she had run in Zambia, Africa, where she would import food from all over the world, creating a liturgy of foodie children.
Khichuri was a dish my grandma and I ate a lot. It was simple, filling and yet easy to digest. It was strangely comforting in the way a good home made chicken soup is to many people, almost medicinal in nature, both for the body and spirit.
Khichuri is a universal dish, with similar versions across the world including congee in China, risotto in Italy and Kedgeree a derivative of the dish, served in Scotland today. Khichuri is widely eaten in various forms across India as a warm dish when it is cold and damp after the monsoon rains. As Rhitu Chatterjee[1]puts it so beautifully, ‘my memories of eating Khichuri go back to the monsoon seasons of my childhood, when billowy thunder clouds rolled in and soaked us and the parched earth with relentless rains. The monsoons are beloved across India – they are a much-awaited reprieve from several months of unbearable heat. But it can get chilly and damp sometimes – the kind of weather when you crave something warm and filing, like Khichuri.’
My grandma was originally from Northern India, and whilst it was eaten with a lot of additions of toppings in other areas, even with sugar and milk in the west, in the north it was typically associated with sickness or when you had an upset stomach, which is how my grandma served this to us as children. It was so comforting to me that I would request it every Friday and Sunday night for that matter.
According to Colleen Taylor Sen, author of a liturgy of books on Indian food history and culture, ‘archaeological records suggest people on the subcontinent were eating rice and legumes as far back at 1200 B.C.’. The reason she notes is due to the power of kichuri and its adaptability to different tastes and needs. ‘It’s probably the most adaptable dish (on the subcontinent)’ says Sen, ‘it can be a very simple dish that poor people eat…or it can be very elaborate’, as seen through a recipe from the court of Akbar, the 16thcentury Mughal emperor, which calls for equal parts lentils, rice and ghee, making for a very rich dish indeed.
This food really sums up my grandma’s food philosophy, using her food to warm you, cure you, bringing people to the table regardless of whether they were poor of rich, regardless of where they came from.
Ingredients
Porridge
1 cup basmati rice
¼ cup split green moong dal (Mung Bean, Moong is the Sanskrit word)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. Ghee or oil
2 tsps. Mustard seeds
Method
Soak the rice and dal together for an hour
Bring to the boil with 4 cups of water, skim the white foam off the top
Add salt and leave to simmer, c. 30 minutes
Cook till you get a soft texture and taste to add more salt if needed
Mash with a potato masher, manual whisk or the back of a spoon
Heat oil/ghee in a separate pan and add the mustard seeds, when they crackle add them to the cooked porridge
Mix it and serve hot
My grandma served the porridge with chutney’s like spicy mango pickle, baked or fried papadum and homemade yogurt. Each person would then add according to their own constitution. I liked it plane – soothing, my mother liked it with chili – adding more fire, my father liked it with yogurt- cooling and my grandma liked it with everything – balanced.
[1]Khichuri: An Ancient Indian Comfort Dish With A Global Influence (npr.org)
This recipe is from the first mess, a beautiful blog then book. It reminded me of the tea I had in Tibet over 20 years ago. The tea was made of Yak milk and had a little butter on the top. This sustains the caffeine in the tea. It certainly worked for the people in Tibet, who would walk and climb for hours with what seemed like an endless amount of stamina.
The same theory has been used in the west with products like Bullet Proof Coffee, which adds butter and MCT oil and claims that it provides lasting energy, boosts mental clarity and supports fat loss by suppressing hunger.
For me this tea does satisfy me and gives me energy and so it is a great way to start the day. It is also greatly comforting and so a nice treat when curling up on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon.
Ingredients
2 Earl Grey tea bags
1 cup boiling water
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
½. Tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. coconut butter, melted
Method
Steep the earl grey teabags in boiling water for 4 minutes
Strain and set aside
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk to a gentle simmer
Pour the milk into the blender with the rest of the ingredients
