Raw Coconut Yogurt

Ok, so I haven't updated and posted anything lately. It seems I can't find enough spare time these days. I suppose having super active, little baby is a full time gig.

Anyway, I have also been doing a little kitchen experimenting; fermenting and playing around with cultures. It's really fascinating.

On my old post there is a recipe on how to make yogurt (from cow's milk), but I have been playing around with alternatives to dairy and here goes.

Raw Coconut Yogurt

Ingredients:

3 fresh young coconuts (with the water)

1 sachet probiotic (anything with live bacteria of any lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophillus, and lactobacillus bifidus)

You will need sterilised glass jars or a glass tumbler to ferment the coconut cream.

How to:

Sterilise all equipmens either by boiling them or by rinsing them in vinegar. 

I washed them with soap and water and then spray them with vinegar and wiped with fresh kitchen roll.

Open and clean the coconut, strain and save the water. You will need the water from 2 coconuts, with the rest, you can either make it into a coconut water probiotic drink or drink it as- is.

Scrape the coconut flesh, make sure you discard the impurities like the shell and hair. A little brown bit is ok.

In a good blender, blend all coconut flesh and the water from 2 coconuts until smooth and creamy. When it has reached the desired consistency, add the probiotic and blend for 30 more seconds.

Transfer to a glass jar, make sure to fill only half way because it will bubble up and rise. Cover with towel or kitchen roll and secure it with rubber bands.

Keep in a warm dark corner of the kitchen, I put it in my oven (switched off), overnight (12-24 hours). 

Close with a lid and keep in the fridge afterwards and enjoy.

No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream

Quick and easy but delicious result, surprisingly creamy.

Ingredients:

• 1 can (397 gr/14 oz) sweetened condensed milk 
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scrape OR 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 2 cups cold heavy cream
• A pinch of salt
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How to:

• Mix together condensed milk, vanilla, and salt. Then using an electric mixer, whip cream on highest setting of your mixer until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. With a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into condensed milk mixture. Pour into a loaf pan. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours.

Chicken with Mustard Sauce

Easy and quick but very tasty. My family all time favourite chicken dinner recipe.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons dijon mustard (I use whole grain)

1/2 teaspoon salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1 sprig of rosemary

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons heavy cream

How to:

Mix together mustard, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, rosemary and olive oil. Marinate chicken in mustard mixture for at least 1 hour, you can leave them overnight in the fridge.

Preheat your oven on 180 C for 20 minutes.

Sear the chicken on a hot skillet or frying pan without oil (make sure the skillet or pan is really hot otherwise instead of browning, you will end up poaching the chicken), until they turn golden brown on 1 side, flip them and continue cooking for 30 seconds then put them in oven proof pan or pyrex. Add chicken stock and put it in the hot oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, add the cream 2 minutes before you take it out of the oven.

Serve with garlic mash potatoes or potato au gratin.

Homemade Soya bean Curd (Tau Foo Fah)

I always love this custard like snack, warm or cold, with ginger sugar syrup. Recently I found out that many store-bought soya bean curds use gypsum powder as a coagulant, yes gypsum, the stuff that you use on your walls (also known as plaster of paris!). 

Since I am not that keen to ingest building material, I started making it with GDL or Glucono Delta Lactone also known as gluconolactone, which is a food additive used as a sequestrant, an acidifier or a curing, pickling, or leavening agent. Pure GDL is a white odourless crystalline powder. GDL is commonly found in honey, fruit juices, and wine.

Ingredients:

250 gr soya bean

2 quarts (1.8 litres) water

Coagulant:

1 tablespoon cornflour

1/2 teaspoon GDL (Glucono Delta Lactone)

1/4 cup (60 ml) water

Ginger palm sugar syrup:

150 gr palm sugar (or brown sugar, if you can't get hold of palm sugar)

1 cup (250 ml) water

2 thumbs ginger, grated

1/4 teaspoon salt

All boiled together and then strained.

How to:

Soak the soya beans in water overnight or at least 8 hours.

At highest setting on your blender, blend with 1.8 litres of water, you can do them in batches to ensure smooth and even blending. Strain with muslin, cheese cloth or handkerchief.

Boil the soya milk. The foam will rise, take care not to let it boil over (take it off the heat if necessary) and cook again for a second boil.

Mix together cornflour, GDL and water and put it into a heatproof bowl.

Pour boiling soya milk on the GDL mixture from a height of 20 cm. Make a quick stir. Cover with kitchen towel then put on a tight lid. Leave it for 30-60 minutes.

Serve it with ginger palm sugar syrup.

Tiramisu

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  All time favourite Italian dessert, especially for coffee lovers. I used my homemade mascarpone cheese this time and it worked so well, this recipe will need 2 batches of the homemade mascarpone recipe from my earlier blog.
  
  
  Ingredients:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 100 g sponge fingers
• 200 ml good hot sweetened coffee
• 2 large free-range eggs (or pasteurised)
• 75 g caster sugar
• 350 g mascarpone (on how to make homemade mascarpone, see earlier blog)
  Cocoa powder for dusting
  75 g dark chocolate bar, grated

How to:

Line a bowl or earthenware dish (15 diameter and 12 cm deep) with the sponge fingers, then carefully drizzle the hot sweetened coffee all over the sponge fingers. Set aside.

Separate your eggs, putting the whites into one bowl and the yolks into another. Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk with an electric whisk on the highest setting for about 5 minutes, or by hand, until all the sugar has dissolved and the yolks are pale and fluffy. Mix in the mascarpone.

With and clean and dry whisk, whisk the whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks – they should be a similar consistency to the yolk and mascarpone mixture, and should hold their shape when you lift the beaters from the bowl.

Using a large metal spoon, add a spoonful of your whites to the yolk mixture and gently fold them in, then fold through the rest of the whites. Spoon and smooth this creamy mixture on top of your sponge fingers. Spread the grated chocolate. Repeat this in another layer. 

Dust the top with cocoa powder.
Pop the tiramisù into the fridge for at least 2 hours to set. 


*
To pasteurised your eggs, wash your eggs with cold water then in a pot cover them with water. Heat 
them until 60 C, leave them 2-3 minute on that temperature for 2 large eggs. Wash with cold water and eggs are ready to be used.

Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

Mascarpone cheese is delicious for cheesecake, tiramisu, frosting and much more, but store bought mascarpone is ridiculously expensive! Here is an easy way to make mascarpone cheese with everyday ingredients and costs a lot cheaper.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

11/2 teaspoon (15ml) of lemon juice 

How to:

1. Heat the cream over a medium heat until it almost comes to a boil, or once the temperature reaches 90 C (if you are using a thermometer). 
2. Remove from heat, and stir in the lemon juice. Return it to the heat and stir over a low heat until the mixture has thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let it cool to room temperature for approximately 20 minutes. Then transfer to the fridge to let it cool completely. Let it sit for 2 to 3 hours.
   
   
   
   Line a fine-mesh strainer or sieve with a cheesecloth (or butter muslin). Set it over a bowl to catch the whey (but there shouldn't be too much whey). Pour the thickened cream into the strainer, and let it drain in the refrigerator until thick, about 6-12 hours. Transfer the mascarpone to a covered container and store in the fridge. Will keep in the fridge up to 7 days.
3. Makes about 6 oz.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce is italian sauce that usually consists of tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs. I like to add a hint of rosemary in my marinara sauce (which I put in at the beginning of cooking and discard at the end of cooking) and basil which of course is a natural match for tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 large ripe beef tomatoes

1 can (100 gr) tomato paste

1 large onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 stalk of rosemary

1 small bunch of basil
21/2 cups water

Salt and pepper

How to:

Prepare some ice water in a bowl (an "ice water bath" - this will be used later). Boil some water in a medium sized pot. Wash the tomatoes and cut an "X" on the bottom of the tomatoes (not the stem side), add them to the pot while taking care not to crowd the pot (you can do it in batches, if necessary). Let the water boil for 30-35 seconds until the skin splits, then plunge the tomatoes straight into the ice water bath. The skin can then be easily removed. Remove the seeds and chop the tomatoes.

Saute onions, garlic and rosemary with the olive oil until translucent, season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and water, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the tomatoes become soft and the sauce thickens (usually takes about an hour). Remove and discard the rosemary. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. At the end, add the basil.  If you like the sauce to be chunky then your sauce is ready to use now. If you like it smoother, blitz it with your hand held blender until you achieve the consistency you like.

Homemade Yogurt

Making yogurt is quite easy, we made this in our house all the time. It only needs two ingredients: milk and yogurt. This can be kept in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Ingredients:

1 litre of milk
100ml of yogurt

How to:

First you turn your oven on until it is hot for at least 20 minutes, then turn it off.

Heat the milk until it almost comes to a boil, until there are bubbles on the edges of the pot. Then turn off the heat and let it cool until it is luke warm.
When it is lukewarm, thin out the yogurt with a little milk then add to the rest of the milk. Cover with a lid then put it in the turned off oven for 4 to 8 hours (you can leave it until 12 hours).
Transfer to the fridge in an airtight jar.

Whey Pancakes

If you have left over whey from making ricotta cheese (see earlier blog), or any other cheese making, don't throw the whey away (hey hey). It is highly nutritious and can be used for cakes, soups or anything else that requires liquid. Whey can be stored up to 3 months in the freezer.

Here is one of many ideas on what to do with the left over whey.

Whey Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 cup whey

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar (I used my vanilla sugar - see earlier blog)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon oil or melted butter

How to:

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set a side.

Mix whey, egg and oil until well incorporated, whisk in the flour mixture just until they combine. Do not over mix.  

Cook in a pan or skillet until golden brown.

Green Apple Salad

You can use green mangoes or pineapple instead of apple.

2 Granny Smith apples

1 small red chili, chopped

1 lime or 1/2 lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon palm sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

How to:

Mix together lime juice, chili, palm sugar and salt.

Slice the apples thinly. Mix with the dressing. 

Taste better if you leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes before eating.

#apple #salad

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

This is the easiest cheese to make, almost foolproof. I mean if I can make it, anyone can. Fresh ricotta is delicious for lasagna, pasta filling, desserts or even baby food!

It only needs 2 ingredients, milk and vinegar. Make sure you don't use UHT milk because the process makes the milk change and it cannot separate from the whey.

Ingredients:

2 litres milk (non UHT)

1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar

How to:

Heat the milk until it comes to a gentle boil, turn off the heat. Stir in the vinegar until the milk starts to separate from the whey. Cover for at least 30 minutes, I left it longer at times so I was left with firmer curds. 

Ladle the curds into a muslin lined colander (or you can even use a handkerchief), let it drain until you achieve the consistency you like.

Vanilla Sugar

Recently we went for holiday to Bali, Indonesia taking 3 children this time. We have been to Bali several times with our 2 girls but this time we had our new baby boy with us. I was preparing myself for the most hectic and tiring time ever, considering the baby was just 10 days away from being 9 months old. And what a nice surprise, it turned out to be quite a good holiday for all of us.

Of all the times we have been to Bali, we never knew that you can get good and cheap vanilla beans there! I had to find out from, wait for it....the internet!

Anyway, of course as an occasional baker I had the need and urge to buy it, and lots of it. So we ended up with close to 1 kg of vanilla beans.

The first thing I made was vanilla sugar, it was easy to make but has versatile use.

Vanilla Sugar

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

3 Vanilla beans

How to:

Halve the vanilla beans lengthwise, scrape the seeds out and put them with the sugar in a bowl. Mix it thoroughly then strain. Put the vanilla pods in an airtight jar, pour the vanilla sugar in. Can be kept up to 3 months.

#vanillasugar

The importance of pie