Chiffonade, from the French word Chiffon meaning "made of rags", is a cutting technique in which herbs or leafy green vegetables are cut into long, thin strips.
1. Stack the leaves, rolling them tightly, like a cigar.
2. Cut across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine ribbons
or when your gut tells you to buy some limes (even though that aren’t on your grocery list; they are only 5 for $1 for Christ sakes) instead of listening to your not-so-adorable-today, three-year old screams at the top of her lungs for some gummy bears, please for heavens sake get the damn limes!
Or you might end of making a lemon pie, because you got plenty of lemons, those were on the freakin’ list.
Take note: I said pie and not tart. The catastrophe of being away from the raw kitchen for so long is all your neat tart pans and molds and other gadgets gets utilized as utensils in the kids’ sandbox.
'Want another sandy mud tart, mom? '
Now, I'm using an aluminum pie tin left over from Christmas.
Instead of making Matt Samuelson's Coconut Lime Tarts, I ended up with a very delicious Lemon Coconut Pie. Thank heaven's for disgruntle three-year-olds.
Lemon Coconut PieCRUST2 cups almonds, soaked for 6-8 hours
1 cup dates, pitted and soaked for an hour, reserve soaking water
4 tablespoon reserved date water
2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
FILLING3 cups coconut meat (from 2-3 Thai coconuts)
1 1/2 cups coconut water 2 tablespoons coconut oil (liquid)juice of 1 large lemon1/4 cup agave nectar1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract1/8 teaspoon sea salt
CRUST In a food processor, process almonds, dates, date water, vanilla extract and sea salt until well combined. Remove almond mixture and press mixture into a 9-inch pie pan.
STRAWBERRY SAUCE Process strawberries and agave in a blender.
FILLING Blend coconut meat, coconut water, oil, lemon juice, agave, vanilla and sea salt in a blender; process until smooth and creamy. Pour filling into crust. Chill in the refrigerator for two hours. Drizzle with strawberry sauce before serving.
This post is dedicated to Bitt. She wanted to know about a product I use on a fairly regular basis. Mila.
Mila is created by a network-marking company called Lifemax. Mila "The Miracle Seed," as it is called by the company, is said to have the highest and safest concentration of Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, fiber and phytonutrients of any source on the planet.
What makes Mila different from your basic, run-of-the mill chia seed? I really can't say. (Sorry, Bitt)
What I can talk about is what the information I have read from the company and I can share a bit of my own personal experience with the product.
To start off, I believe chia seeds (no matter the brand) promote weight loss and overall health. And I have enjoyed using it in my recipes. Yeah, chia!
What makes Mila...well...Mila?
Here is my contribution to the holiday. Please enjoy.
Essene Stuffing
3 cups diced Herb Essene Bread
¼ cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 In a large bowl, combine diced bread, onion, celery, poultry seasonings and sea salt.
2 Place mixture on Teflex sheet. Dehydrate at 100 degrees for 3 hours.
I'm taking next week off for Thanksgiving. I feel so blessed that my wonderful stepson has entered our lives again and I want to spend this week reflecting on what my family means to me.
I pray everyone enjoys the "day" and has a happy and healthy time. I'll see in a week or so.
Peace,Terilynn A special thanks to Beth and another kind person for sharing resources on where to get the Coconut Pipe Knife. http://www.superholder.com/product3.html ANDhttp://cgi.ebay.com/FURA-COCO-COCONUT-OPENER-TOOL-FROM-BRAZIL_W0QQitemZ250183400635QQcmdZViewItem
The Daily Raw Blog kids
My kids inspire me. Five different personalities running rampant, with five different thoughts, ideas and possibilities. Wow! I can't wait to see how they take on the world. Love them very much. During this time of year I like to take stock in what is important to me, what inspires and well, you get the point. Who (or what) inspires you?
"Inspiration: Life" Coming January 2, 2008
Mushrooms and Scallions in Miso Broth
serves 4
juice of one lemon (or lime)
2 cups sliced mushroom
2 tablespoon miso 4 cups warm water 1/2 cup diced scallions
1 Marinate the mushrooms in the lemon juice for one to two hours.
2 In a large bowl place miso, add water. Stir until miso is dissolved. Add mushrooms and scallions.
Well it's a berry world and I'm just living in it. Remember to give the cream a chance to get chilly in the refrigerator, it makes the process of stuffing much easier. I hope you enjoy the theme that's developing, if you haven't already guessed, the rest of the week will have recipes containing berries.
COCONUT CREAMMeat from 2 young coconuts (about 1 cup)1 T coconut oil, soften at room temperature (not liquid) 5 T water 1/8 t sea salt
In a blender, whip coconut meat, coconut oil and sea salt. Gradually add water until a creamy consistency is achieved. Add more or less as needed. Place in refrigerator for an hour to firm up.
1 pint strawberries, cleaned
1 cup dried coconut flakesRemove stems from strawberries and stand upright on flat side. Make a deep "X" from the tip of the strawberries towards the bottom.
Place coconut cream into a piping bag with a tip. Pipe into each strawberry and arrange on a serving platter. Garnish with dried coconut flakes.
photo by [OP]
Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K, plus the antioxidant benefits of lycopene*. They are a fruit, but they are usually served as a vegetable.
*Lycopene is the pigment that makes tomatoes red. The redder the tomato, the more lycopene it has.
Season: Available year-round but tomatoes are at their peak June-September
How to select: Choose firm tomatoes, richly colored and noticeably fragrant.
photo by babybee
How to store: Ripe tomatoes should be stored at room temperature and used within a few days.
photo by Pieter Pieterse
Tip: Don't store tomatoes in the refrigerator, cold temperatures kill the flavor and turns the flesh grainy.
Tomato Salad 6 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces 1 small red onion, thinly sliced1 orange or yellow bell pepper, sliced in strips (de-seed)1/2 cup basil, cut into stripsHemp oil (or your favorite oil)
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sea salt, to taste
1. Place tomatoes in large salad bowl, add slice onions on top.
2. Layer with bell pepper and basil.
3. Drizzle hemp oil and vinegar over the top of salad. Sprinkle with sea salt and gently toss. Fun Facts: The tomato is in the same family as the potato, pepper, eggplant, and petunia (nightshades). Tomatoes are also known as the 'apple of love' There are at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes
Thanks very much to the hundreds of people who came out today to my cooking demo at the Boston Vegetarian Society Food Festival! 400 samples of the recipes I cooked today were prepared, but we ran out faster than expected. Apologies to all who were not able to try a sample of what was made today. For those who missed a copy of the chickpea polenta recipes, and for all of those who could not be there with us today, I am posting it below along with a link to the olive oil cake recipe that was also demoed today.
Among the many reasons to love this dish are its elegance and relative simplicity to make, the rich creaminess of a custardy polenta made with chickpea flour, just like the Romans did it hundreds of years ago, and the flavorful, multi-textured bite of mushroom with a light crunch of leek. Serve with sautéed greens or a salad for a complete and beautiful dinner. The cool autumn months when locally foraged mushrooms are available and winter leeks are thriving is the perfect time to prepare this dish.
Look for chickpea flour in health food stores, ethnic food sections or Italian or Indian markets. In Indian markets, this flour is sometimes called chana flour, gram flour or besan. They are all made from chana dal, a cousin of chickpea. Though there are slight variations in texture and flavor, they are perfect substitutes for one another.
4 cups cold vegetable brothPrepare:
1 ½ cup chickpea flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and roughly chopped
½ cup dry white wine (recommend Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc or Pinot Grigio)
1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 large or 4 small leeks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces (about 2 cups) sliced wild mushrooms (miattake, chicken of the woods, chanterelle, oyster, morel, porcini, or other)
8 ounces (about 2 cups) sliced domestic mushrooms (cremini, white button, etc.)
2 tablespoons dry white wine
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
⅛ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Oil a 9” springform cake pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a food processor or blender, blend the vegetable broth and chickpea flour until well combined and frothy. Leave food processor work bowl or blender carafe attached to base unit.
In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil over a medium heat. Add chopped garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes or until garlic is golden and crisp. Pour white wine into pan and stir to scrape up any bits of garlic clinging to pan. Briefly pulse the chickpea-broth mixture before pouring into saucepan. Bring to a boil and then turn down heat to medium-low. Stir frequently and vigorously for 10 minutes. Add sea salt, nutmeg and parsley. Mix well to combine.
Pour polenta into oiled pan, brush the top with olive oil and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until top is golden and lightly crisped.
Clean leeks and slice into very thin pieces, 2-3 inches in length.
Place olive oil in a skillet and toss the leeks in it. Sauté over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until leeks have wilted. Transfer to an 8x11 baking pan and place in the oven. Stir every 5 minutes through baking time and continue to bake about 20 minutes or until leeks have browned and lightly crisped.
Using the skillet in which the leeks were wilted, heat olive oil over a high flame. Add mushrooms and toss with oil. Cook about 4 minutes or until mushrooms have softened slightly. Add wine, salt, nutmeg, white pepper and stir well to combine. Cook about 2 more minutes or until mushrooms are softened and well coated in spices. Add parsley and combine before turning off heat.
To serve:
Allow baked chickpea polenta to cool at room temperature about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan and releasing the springform. Cut into wedges and place on a plate. Top with mushrooms and finish each wedge with a generous pile of crisp leeks.
Recipe for the olive oil cake with orange macedonia and cocoa nibs may be found at American Feast.
Today is the last day to win a Deni Automatic Ice Cream Maker from the sweetness that is HiHoRosie's Place. Hurry over.
Day 55
8:39 a.m. green juice at work
You can’t get any simpler than Jameth and Kim’s Original Flax Crackers, p. 168.
One cup of flax seeds and 1 ½ cups water. There you go, that’s it.
Of course there’s the customary soaking of the seeds, using purified water and the dehydrating at 110 degrees for a day or two. Surely a small price to pay for a cracker filled with Omega-3 fatty acids.
The recipe is a basic flax cracker recipe. A great jumping off place to make your own creations, playing with spices and seasonings.
One of my favorites is raisin flax crackers, you don’t get a crispy cracker with raisins but I love chewy-ness of it.
What about you? What’s your favorite flavor flax cracker?
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