Figs with Almonds and Cranberries

I asked Adrian if he'd like to have Vegan Coconut Chocolate Pudding or something Ethiopian for dessert. I didn't think he'd choose the latter given his preference for western sweets. A good round up for our first Ethiopian night though.

The original recipe uses prunes and raisins. I didn't want to buy them since I figured figs and dried cranberries might well be substitutes. I liked the complex sweet and tartness of the fruit and nut compote. Adrian had this ingenious idea of serving it with dark chocolate. It was a hit.

Ingredients:
(make 2 servings)

• 4 dried figs, chopped
• a handful of whole almond
• a handful of dried cranberries
• 2 whole cloves
• Natural brown sugar
• pinches of ground cinnamon
• 2 TB apple cider vinegar
• 1 Cup water
  

1. In a bowl, soak dried fig in boiling water for 10 - 15 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, soak whole almonds in boiling water for 30 minutes.
3. Mix together all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened. Stirring frequently.
   

Broccoli Slaw

This is a no-brainer salad slaw. Besides, how can it possibly fail with mayonnaise as ingredient? I prepared it the night before and just let it sat marinated in the fridge overnight. You may substitute dried cranberries with raisins. I thought I would use cranberries since it's for Thanksgiving dinner.
For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk (lemon juice+milk)
  
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoons natural cane sugar
• pinch of sea salt and black pepper
  

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

For the salad:

• 2 cups broccoli florets
  
• 1/2 cup. whole almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  
• 1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped

1. Toss all ingredients together in a salad bowl.
2. Pour dressing over the salad. Toss well. Taste and season accordingly.
   

Homemade Spiced Pecan Milk

It's dairy free, vegan, and it's raw. You can drink it warm, chilled, or with ice; pour it over a bowl of cereal; or have it in place of milk or soy milk over an espresso. What is it? It's Homemade Spiced Pecan Milk.

Pecans are jam packed with antioxidants, proteins and unsaturated fats. The plant sterols in pecan have been shown to lower high cholesterol level. And ladies, listen up: a diet rich in nuts helps lower risk of gallstones in women. Men, save yourself.

Nutrition aside, this is so super cool. You can do the same with other tree nuts and even sunflower seeds. If you intend to use the milk for other purposes, simply omit coconut milk and the spices. If you'd like a smoother beverage, pour the pecan milk through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. You can do a few things with the strained pecan meal: dehydrate it, turn it into flour and throw in to your bread or pastry.

When I made the milk I realized how many unnecessary ingredients there are in commercial non-dairy milk (as the almond milk carton in the refrigerator shows). Not only is there lots of sugar, but also ingredients that I don't recognize. Besides, it hurts whenever Adrian craves for almond milk; it's insanely expensive. I may not have the mathematics worked out, but it doesn't take a genius to figure the cost of making it at home is less than buying from store. I think I'm on to saving big money.

Updated: I made almond milk in pretty much the same way: blend together soaked almonds, water and honey. A few questions:

1. Why the need to drain the soaked water and blend with fresh ones? Why is it ok to retain pecan-soaked water but not almond-soaked water?
   
2. Why the need to add salt in soaking pecan but not with almond?

Anyway I did add some salt eventually: it brought out the otherwise missing nutty flavor in the milk. Speaking of which, do you know the almond we buy are actually mutant from its potentially toxic wild bitter almond? This common, domesticated, delicate almond has evolved from its Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern origin - it grows and matures under much colder horizon.

Back to the milk.

I strained the milk of its almond meals, roasted them in the oven and am looking for ways to use them in future baking. As they baked, they continued to give out sweet smell from the honey - I found myself inhaling deeper each time I tossed them around.

Without wasting time, I immediately put the fresh homemade almond milk to good use: Vegan Chocolate Pudding! Yum Yum Yum =))

Ingredients:
1/4 C pecan
4 C water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup raw honey
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Additional honey for sweetening.

1.)Combine the pecans, salt, and water in an air-tight container. Seal and leave to soak in the refrigerator for overnight.

2.) Pour the soaked pecans and the water mixture into a blender. Add the honey, coconut milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Process on high for two minutes or until the mixture is well combined and smooth. Sweeten to taste and store in the refrigerator. This will last one week refrigerated in an air-tight container.

Camembert and Blue Cheese Turnover

I'm going to be teaching Yoga at Cocoa Island in Maldives for the month of July and August. That's a total of 7 weeks away from my husband. Big Deal! What's he going to do with food? I've got to make sure there's 'something' in the fridge for him. Here's two easy to make sweet turnovers. They are perfect for breakfast with a cup of espresso (Adrian's take).
Despite the incessant assurance and encouragement from Divya (my Canadian Indian neighbour), I'm still hesitant about making my own dough. Hence, I took the easy way buying the ready made puff pastry from the store. I have to say they are really good. I just don't like waiting to defrost.

Sweet Baked Camembert
Ingredients:
Puff pastry sheet
Homemade raspberry jam
Dried cranberry
Almond slivers
Camembert
Maple syrup
Ground cinnamon

1. Prepare puff pastry sheet as instructed. I divided one sheet into four quarters and used a quarter of a round camembert for each quarter of the pastry sheet.
2. Sprinkle each quarter with dried cranberry (or raisins) and a couple tablespoons of raspberry jam. Top with slivers of almond.
3. Fold the pastry into desired shape. If you are not baking them yet, wrap each pastry with plastic or cling film and store in zip lock bag in the freezer.
4. To serve, preheat oven to 180C. Defrost the pastry at room temperature.
5. Make a few small holes on the pastry using a fork. Drizzle the top with maple syrup and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

It's the same steps for the blue cheese turnover except it's paired with chopped pecan and dried figs.

Sweet Baked Blue Cheese
Ingredients
Puff pastry sheet
blue cheese
chopped pecan nuts (or walnuts)
4 Dried Figs, quartered
Maple syrup
Ground cinnamon