Category: Sweet bits

Just the other day, I was looking for a vehicle for some exclusive (yeah, expensive) cheese and I ran into Norwegian knekkebrød-  it was coup de foudre!  So good that I tossed the cheese: the pedestrian cardboard-looking vehicle became the center piece!

Here is my version of the cracker: tastes awesome, incredibly healthy, and laughably simple to make. If you are like me and order a smattering of grains and flour with the click of a button (from Shiloh Farms, say), here is a fantastic way to put them to use. And, if you don’t, maybe it is time you started since all these quaint whole grains and flour will keep your body’s biology on its toes (I am told).

Special tools:

Sheet pan with a silicone mat (Silpat) or parchment paper.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour (1/4 cup whole wheat  flour + 1/4 cup buckwheat flour + 1/4 cup dark rye flour + 1/4 cup millet flour) + 1/2 tsp baking powder + sea salt +  1 tbsp EVOO
• 1/3 cup seeds (pumpkin seeds + sunflower seeds + black and white sesame seeds + flax seeds)
• 2/3 cup whole grain (canahua/quinoa+ kamut flakes -not berries- + barley grits -not whole grain-)

Method

Mix all ingredients with a whisk. Add just enough cold water so that it holds together. Then spread it thin (about 3-5 mm thick)  on a silpat or parchment paper.  This makes approximately an 8 X 12 inch rectangle. Score the surface to make a dozen squares (see picture).

Bake in the top rack at 300 F for 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. You can mix and match any grains you like- just keep the proportion of flour:seeds:grains as in the recipe.
2. Be careful about the whole grains– I have used grits and flakes but not berries as they may not cook. I use the baking powder to soften a wee bit.
3. When I use uncooked quinoa or canahua, I find the texture a little gritty. If that bothers you, then use cooked quinoa.
4. You can also place the silpat directly on a wire rack and bake for a crispier (but not browner) version.
5. For an even lighter taste bake at 275 F for 1 hour.

I thought I was hitting most of the notes in the food pyramid, until I realized that chocolate/cacao dominated my sweet palate.  I started looking for interesting, but simple, ways to tempt the appetite with seasonal fruits. If there is anything that can beat the produce as they tumble out of the farmers’ baskets, it is grilled fruits with some tantalizing accents.

Here, I also include the savory cucumber and zucchini which are still too timid to join the big-boys’ grill-troupe of meats, burgers and potatoes.

Special tools:

Stove-top grill pan.

Ingredients

• Sweet fruits:  2 one-inch thick slices of cantaloupe;  2 doughnut peaches slice in half and pitted
• Sweet glaze:  1/4 tsp of saffron threads crushed in pestle and mortar + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) + 2 tbsp honey + juice of 1/2 lemon + a pinch of salt
• Green fruits: 2 small cucumbers halved lengthwise; 2 tender zucchinis halved lengthwise
• Flavored salt: 1 tbsp porccini flavored salt + 1 tbsp Sicilian salt with lemon & mint
• Sweet garnish: lavender + lemon zest

Method

Brush the cut sides of the fruits with sweet glaze. Brush cucumber and zucchini with EVOO and sprinkle the flavored salt on it. Heat a stove-top grill pan. Place the sweet fruits in one half and the green fruits on the other half; each with cut side down.  Brush the top of sweet fruits with the glaze and the green fruits with EVOO and salt.  Grill on each side for two to three minutes.  Let cool slightly. Chop (or, not)  and serve.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. An alternative sweet garnish is to use pollen grains (yes, pollen that you can order online or from the farmer’s market) instead of the lemon zest.
2. Use any flavored sea salt of your choice, or even make your own.
3. An option is to serve the grilled fruits with yogurt.
4. You can add the grilled green fruits to your regular salads.
5. If in a rush, you can simply dry-roast the sliced stone fruits in a non-stick pan for 2-3 mins on each side. As the sugar caramelizes, it gives an unmatched  depth of flavor. Here is a pluot (a cross between a plum and apricot) and some peaches without the whole shebang of glaze and garnish.
   

I pay silent homage to different cultures for conjuring up simple but incredible concoctions. Today it is to the rice paper from the Indochina geography or Southeast Asia. Exploiting the starch in the rice to make this paper-thin skin, for rolls and wraps, is an exceptional technique. When dried they store well and transport well. Even available in the food markets in North America- the imprint of the bamboo-weave left on the dry paper skin is indicative of  the confluence of the old traditions with the new.

I always love the summer rolls in the restaurants in the US although this is not as ubiquitous as in Australia and New Zealand: the chefs there have taken to rice-paper-rolling with a vengeance, which is heartening to see.

For a canicular July day,  here is a distracting dessert (or even a sweet healthy snack), fashioned along the irresistible Thai/Vietnamese summer rolls. If you worry about the white rice, note that it is less than a teaspoon of rice per roll!

Fruit-roll

mulberry in cherry rum

Special tools:

None.

Ingredients

• 6 Thai/Vietnamese  rice paper
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into spears (lengthwise)
• 1 banana peeled and cut into spears
• 1/4 papaya, peeled and cut into spears
• 1/4 cup fresh cherries, pitted
• 6 mint  or basil leaves
• Topping or Dipping sauce: 2 tbsp dried mulberries, 1 tsp dried goji berries  soaked in 1/4 cup black cherry rum for one hour

Method

The fruits are cut into spears so the summer roll does not flop around and holds its shape when handled.   Fill a flat bowl (or a shallow frying pan) with warm water straight from the tap. The water should feel  comfortably warm to the fingers. Make a small working station with the flat bowl of warm water on the left, a flat platter in the center and the fillings on the right.

To soften the rice paper, dip it in the warm water for 30 seconds or so. It may turn very limp if left any longer- a timing that you have to adjust to.   Lift up the rice paper from the water with both hands and avoiding any fold overs in this delicate rice paper and place it flat on the center plate.  Place the fruits like a little bundle along the right edge of the rice paper. Fold the edge over it; then fold the other two edges over it. Place the mint leaf flat on the  far end and roll as tightly as you can without tearing up the paper.

Chill the rolls. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. The paper rolls are available in Asian markets (Thai or Vietnamese).
2. Mastering the wrapping process is not terribly difficult: you may not be as adept as the street vendor in Bangkok or Hanoi but you can still impress your family and friends.
3. A non-alcoholic dipping sauce can be made with apple juice with a dash of lime juice and some sweetening honey.
4. You can use other fruits; just make sure you that there are some that can hold the shape the roll.

Mango is native to India and cacao to Central America, and today not only are the two grown in a much larger (tropical) belt  than their places of origin but also familiar and accessible globe-wide.  In my day job of dabbling with genomics, I came across mango researchers from Australia and I mused to myself “Really ?”.

White chocolate is technically the cacao butter. Thanks to very creative processing they are available in most supermarkets in the baking section as sweetened morsels.

You will find that the most ardent mango fans are Indian– the keen eyes of  some stand-up comedians are also picking up on that. These gourmands are the purists with a dont-mess-with-that-already-superdelicious-fruit attitude.  Yet I dared to try my concoction on one such aficionado, who doesn’t hold his brutal criticisms back.  I am happy to report that this received a massive endorsement and I share the recipe with you.

white chocolate mango

mango white chocolate

Special tools:

Food processor, steaming basket

Ingredients

• pulp of 4 ripe medium sized ripe mangoes
• 1/2 cup white chocolate morsels
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• a pinch salt

Method

Put all the ingredients in a food processor.  Process for 1-2 minutes. The white chocolate morsels will shatter but not blend completely. It is quite alright since it will melt in the steaming process.

Pour into (three)  individual ramekins or cazuelas.  Do not over-fill  since it rises a little in the cooking process.  Steam for 10 minutes.

Serve warm with a garnish of a few chocolate morsels.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. I used the Mexican Ataúlfo mango in the picture above.  This is a very sweet cultivar, also called the champagne mango. But feel free to use any other sweet variety that you can lay your hands on.
2. Tastes good even chilled and also at room temperature (to compete with a fresh mango!).
3. For steaming: bring water to a rapid boil. Place the covered steaming basket with the ramekins and steam on rapid boil. I am very partial to the Chinese bamboo steaming baskets and use that for almost all of my steaming.
4. As an added flavoring agent, you could add 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder. An interesting addition is a final flourish of a dash of Grand Marnier liqueur.