Flour-less Chocolate Cake
Here is
a recipe for a flour-less chocolate cake adapted from a book by Harry
Eastwood “Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache” all the cakes and
buns in the book use vegetables see link at the bottom of the page.
The secret ingredient for this cake is “Aubergines”. So its
technically 1 of your 5 a day too. It tastes so delicious you
wouldn’t even know there were aubergines in it.
Ingredients:
2 Small Aubergines
300g of
dark chocolate
50g coco powder
60g ground almonds
3 medium free range eggs
200g of honey
2tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Salt
9” Cake tin...
Instructions:
Heat
oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/gas mark 4. line tin with grease
proof paper and brush the base and sides with a little oil.
Puncture
the aubergines with a fork. Sit in a bowl and cover with cling film
and cook in the microwave for 8 minutes on high. They should be
cooked and limp allow to cool for a few minutes then remove the dark
flesh and puree while still warm add the 300 grams of chocolate
broken up stirring to allow to melt completely.
While
the chocolate is melting get another bowl and whisk the eggs, coco,
almonds, honey(caster sugar), baking powder and salt for a minute
until mixture is bubbly on top. Then fold the melted chocolate and
aubergine into the egg mixture until incorporated. Pour
the mixture into the cake tin and place in the oven for 30 minutes .
Cool
in the tin for 15 minutes before putting on a wire wrack.The cake
keeps well over night just cover cake tin with foil. Finally Dust
with coco powder before serving. Delicious!
Fresh pea risotto
This is loosly based on a recipe for a classic Italian risotto Risi E Bisi or Pea and ham to Norn Iron folk. I used as many fresh peas as I could find and chorizo instead of ham.
Ingredients serves 4
75g butter
1 small onion (thank goodness, they are all small on my plot!)
1 litre of chicken stock - simmering in pan
275g risotto rice
150 ml white wine plus glass for yourself whilst stirring
225g fresh peas
115g cooked ham diced or chorizo
salt and pepper to taste
50g parmesan freshly grated
Place stock in pan and simmer on heat. Melt 50g butter in large frying pan, I quickly fried chorizo to release oils, remove. Add onion and cook gently, stirring for 3 minutes until soft. Add rice and stir until it swells. Add wine and stir until most has been absorbed then add a small ladle of stock and stir continuously until all has been absorbed. Add remaining stock, a ladleful at a time and stir continuously until it has all been absorbed before adding more. Add peas when all stock has been added, stir for a further 5 minutes then add ham or chorizo. The rice should be al dente with a little bite, moist and creamy. Add remaining butter, stir through and check seasoning. Serve with parmesan and bread of your choice.
Courgette Cake
Somewhat similar to carrot cake, useful if you can't grow carrots and have loads of courgetts. Keeps very well wrapped in cling film and freezes too. Perfect for picnics. Serve on its own or toasted with butter.
 |
| Courgette, large and small loaf tin |
400g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bic. soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
300g caster sugar
 |
| Perfect for tea parties |
100g demerara sugar
3 eggs, beaten
200ml sunflower oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
380g grated courgette
75g chopped walnuts (optional)
Butter and flour 2 med loaf tins 13 x 23 cm or 1 large, 1 small (see picture)
Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well - flour, bic. soda, salt, baking powder, spices and sugars. add beaten eggs, oil, vanilla extract and grated courgette to dry ingredients and mix well. Add walnuts if using. Divide between prepared tins of whatever size you have and cook for 1 - 1 1/4 hours at 150C / 300F until a skewer stuck in middle comes out clean (time will depend on size of tin). Cool in tin for about 20 mins then turn onto wire rack to cool.
Lorna mca
Martins Tomato Bread
Martin made this lovley bread at out last bbq it was devoured in lightning speed.
Ingredients
400g plain flour
200g fine semolina (chinese supermarket)
Approx 200ml water
Approx 200ml passata, 1tsp balsamic vineger & grind of black pepper
1tbl caster suger (or same of honey) & 1/2 tbl salt
2 packets dried yeast
Sea salt for topping and lashings of good olive oil
If making by hand:
1. Warm the water and combine with the tomato mix sugar and yeast, sift the salt flour and semolina make a mound on the table and make a well in the middle.
2. Start adding the fluids slowly bringing everything into the middle (you may need to add some more warm water if too dry or less ) once you get a nice workable piece of dough knead it for 6 or 7 mins then pop in bowl cover with tea towel or cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for about 1hr.
3. After 1hr it should have doubled in size so take it out and knock the air out of it, shape to whatever shape you like, place on baking tray cover and leave to rise for a further 1hr approx
4. Heat oven to 220degrees
5. Carefully uncover bread sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 mins at 220d and a further 15-20 mins at 180d until golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom
If using food mixer with dough hook:
6. Place all dry ingredients in mixer add water and tomato mix in machine for 5 or 6 minutes and turn out onto floured service knead by hand for one minute and continue as above.
You can add any toppings you wish,
Red onion and olives Pine nuts and mozzerella Basil and anchovies Yum Yum!!
By Martin McCann (MCA)
Delightful Rhubarb & Fruit Crumble Sundays Dessert
I would just like to share my favourite use of Rhubarb from my allotment
this dish I make on a regular basis as I am not the biggest fan of Rhubarb on its own,
I have improvised by adding other fruits to the mix to make it not so Rhubarby but more sweet and tasty.
Recipe
Ingredients:
Rhubarb 2-3 stalks
Strawberries (or any fruit of your choice raspberries, tinned pears in winter)
100 g Sugar (can be adapted to suit personal preference)
200 g Plain Flour or gluten free plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
100g margarine
Method:
1. Chop rhubarb and strawberries/fruit up into baking dish. Sprinkle 50g of sugar over fruit, you can add more if you like it sweeter but the fruit adds natural sweetness.
2. Crumble: Sieve 200 g of plain flour and salt into a bowl or food processor with sharp blade. Chop margarine into the flour using a knife and rub between fingers or whiz up in food processor until mixture looks like fine bread crumbs.
3. Add 50 g of sugar to crumble mix and mix up. Scatter over chopped rhubarb and strawberries.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 5 for 40 minutes. Check to make sure crumble is golden brown and rhubarb and fruit mixture is bubbling up the sides. Remove from oven and allow to cool until warm. Serve with cream/ice cream.
Fidelma Maher
MCA
Poppy Seed Cookies
My allotment may not be the most productive as I am weak and cannot weed out flowers especially if they seed themselves, therefore it is covered in callendula marigolds,sunflowers and poppies. I've been told poppy seeds are great for baking with. As I am useless at bread, time to get out the old family favourite cookie recipe.
Recipe makes loads and can be adapted - raisins, chocolate, berries etc, etc
225g unsalted butter, softened
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
400g plain flour
2 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp poppy seeds
Oven 170C (150C fan) 12-14 minutes.
Cream butter and sugars in large bowl along with vanilla extract. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift in flour and bicarbonate of soda. Add poppy seeds, collected from site when thouroughly dry, and mix well. Spoon onto a lightly greased baking tray - be careful, a little dollop expands so 9- 12 dessert spoons or 6 -9 tablespoons on large tray. Bake until barey puffed and starting to colour at edges, 12 - 14 minutes. Freeze surplus dough, in logs and slice off when required. Excellent cooked or uncooked with ice cream.
Shall not be making chocolate beetroot muffins just yet - beetroot crop failed. Harvested some rather small and rather tough beetroot, which dyed my only good top. My lesson for not watering enough...
Lorna mca
Magdas Dumplings
Here is the recepie for the lovley dumplings Magda made for us at christmas.
Ingredients
to make dough you will need:
0.5kg plain flour
1 egg
some water or if prefered- milk
salt
Method
1. Mix all the ingredients and form the dough (add more water/milk if you find it too dry or more flour if too sticky)-; the dough needs to be good enough for very thin rolling, which means it won't tear when you roll it and it won't stick to the rollong pin;
2. Once rolled- use a round cutter-in practice: a cup, a glass or anything that has round shape... to cut out circles; in the middle of the circle put a filling (usually full teaspoon of filling on a 'cup' measured circle); bend the circle with a filling in half and stick the edges of formed now semi-circle (if you want to have a lovely looking finish-use a fork to press the edges, however forming it with fingers is less stressful...);
3. Put into the boiling water (when you bring the water on to boil-add some salt and a bit of oil/olive, so the dupmlings won't stick);
4. Keep the pot on a heat and once the dumplings start to "float" on the surface- take them out from the pot on a plate, separating from each other until they dry;
5. melt the butter in a souce/frying pan and add some breadcrumbs, let it fry for 1-2minutes then spread on dumplings;
now, everything you can do is just simply ENJOY YOUR MEAL! SMACZNEGO!
PS
as a filling you can use nearly everything-I did it with white soft cheese that has been mixed with 1 yolk and vanila sugar; very good alternative to this are summer friuts and berries, but also meat or veggies-anything you firnd worth experimenting!
Magdalena Rachańska (MCA)
