Snacks / vegetarian
Easy Frozen Dessert, Just Add Ayelada!
For our family dinner on July 5th I wanted a dessert that was easy to make, refreshing and cold but not too sweet or heavy. The answer was easy- a quick homemade almond pie crust filled with locally made frozen yogurt from Ayelada, topped with cultured whipped cream and fresh berries. I'll be making this dessert a lot this summer, it's gluten free, very low in sugar and a perfect way to end a healthy meal!
Ayelada Pie
First you'll need about a pint and a half of your favorite frozen yogurt. I went with blueberry from Ayelada in Pittsfield - they only add a small amount of sugar to their frozen yogurt and source local milk and yogurt from Side Hill Farm, among others. I let the completely frozen pints sit out at room temp to soften up while I made the crust and the topping.
Or you can make your own frozen yogurt by freezing organic whole milk yogurt. Just give it a stir every ten minutes or so, keeping it in the freezer in between. When the yogurt gets to the right frozen yet still spreadable consistency it's ready for any additions, like fresh berries.
For the Crust
- 2 cups almond meal/flour - I like Bob's Red Mill brand.
- 3 tablespoons cold coconut oil or butter
- Dash of sea salt
Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until it forms a crumbly meal. Press evenly into a glass pie dish and bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned and toasted. It will smell delightful when it's done!
To Assemble:
Let your pie crust cool completely then fill with softened frozen yogurt, adding in any berries or other fruit you like.
Top with whipped cream or use a mix of half whipped cream and half creme fraiche whipped together with a bit of vanilla extract for more healthy probiotics and a nice complementary tang.
Put the pie in the freezer to let the soft frozen yogurt firm up a bit, about 20 minutes should do it.
Enjoy a slice, or two topped with fresh berries. Happy Summer!
Coconut Love Bombs
This is my new favorite sweet treat. It's just five organic ingredients and is super simple to put together. This raw, vegan treat is packed with lots of energy from coconut oil and shredded coconut. You can sweetened this recipe with raw honey, maple syrup or even vanilla stevia for a sugar free version. I added in some other variations at the end. I'm sure there are even more to try. Recipe can be halved or doubled. So get going and make some Coconut Love Bombs to share with the ones you love!
Ingredients for 32:
- 1 Cup Coconut oil - room temperature works best, it should be a little soft, like cream cheese and easy to blend. Liquid oil needs to be cooled in order to work well in this recipe.
- 1 1/2 Cups Unsweetened Coconut flakes
- 6 Tablespoons Honey or a few drops of Vanilla Stevia
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (If not using vanilla Stevia)
Method:
- Mix everything together well.
- Use a 1 Tablespoon scoop to shape the dough into little half moons.
- Place on a baking sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes.
- Keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator and serve cold.
Variations:
Substitute 1/2 cup of coconut oil for 1/3-1/2 cup peanut butter or coconut manna. I used Peanut butter and they came out better than Butterfingers!
Substitute the honey with 4 tablespoons maple syrup or agave.
Add 1 teaspoon Chai spices to the original recipe
After freezing, dip in melted chocolate, freeze again til the chocolate coating is set.
The original recipe sounds good too, I found it on the side of my Nutiva Coconut Oil container:
Best 100% Sourdough Rye Bread
I have finally found a simple, easy and reliable 100% Rye sourdough bread recipe. I have been making this recipe once a week for the past 4 weeks, it only takes a few minutes of my time on days one and two. Day three, it's a few minutes at each step, with rising time in between. Since I'm usually working from home on Fridays, this is when I bake. Rye bread like this has a lot of health benefits and I do enjoy a piece once in a while. My family, on the other hand, goes through the two loaves this recipe yields in less than a week!
This recipe comes from Zeb Bakes who was taught to make this by Simon Michaels of the Wild Yeast Bakery during a day course in the Forest of Dean. Sounds pretty cool.
I was able to write this recipe down on one 3x5 card, I'll try to be a bit more explicit here, but, like I said, this is the easiest bread recipe I've come across. And the results are moist, healthy rye bread!
Day one:
Feed your starter. I usually take my starter out of the fridge in the morning, add 1/4 cup of rye flour and about 1/4 cup of spring water and mix well. If you have city water you'll want to boil and cool the water to drive off any chlorine which will interfere with the yeast living in your starter. And you'll have to do this any time you add water to any bread recipe.
Now that spring is here you can easily make a sourdough starter by adding equal parts rye and de-chlorinated water to a bowl. If you have a few organic raisins add them to the mix, they have yeasts living on them. Let the bowl sit overnight on the counter, covered with a cloth. If you can let some fresh air in that would also be helpful. Give the starter a stir, then keep it out, til it starts to form bubbles and smell tangy and a bit sour, about 3 days. Mine sometimes smells like apple cider. If it smells like sweaty socks, it's gone off, throw it on your compost and try again. The link above should be very helpful!
Or, you can go to your favorite sourdough bakery, like Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Housatonic, and ask nicely for a bit of their starter. This is what I did since it's nearly impossible (I tried twice) during the cold winter months to get a new starter going, there's no fresh air and not much living yeast in the air.
Anyhow, once you have an active starter, feed it and let it sit out til the next day in a warm place (70-75 degrees), covered with a tea towel, to reactivate.
Day Two
In the late afternoon or evening, take out 3 1/2 ounces of your starter and mix it with 2 1/2 cups of spring water. Add to that 14 ounces of rye flour (grind your own rye berries for best flour results). Mix well and let this pre-ferment sit in a warm place, covered with a tea towel, til the next day.
Add some flour and water to your starter (anywhere from 2 tablespoons to a 1/4 cup each) mix well and let it sit overnight as well.
Day Three: it's time to mix and bake!
In the morning, put the lid back on your active starter and put it back in the fridge til you bake again next week. I keep my starter in a ball jar.
Your preferment should look like this:
Now you can add the rest of the ingredients:
- 6.3 ounces of lukewarm water
- organic unsulphered molasses, up to one ounce or none at all
- 3/4 ounce of salt
- 16 ounces of Rye flour
Mix everything together well, it will be like stiff cake batter:
Cover the bowl with the towel again and let it rise in a warm place for at least 3 hours, til it has risen significantly, like this:
Now you'll need to grease and flour two bread pans, mine are about 4 x 8. I use plenty of butter and a generous dusting of rye flour.
Be gentle as you spoon/pour the sticky dough evenly into the two pans. You want to keep as many of the bubbles as possible! Generously dust the top of the loaves with rye flour.
Cover both loaves with the towel and let them rise for the last time, after a couple of hours they should be significantly taller. Be careful not to bump the pans, you don't want to knock out any of those little bubbles holding your bread up!
I bake my bread in the middle of a pre-heated 410 degree oven with a small pan of water on the bottom rack to help them stay nice and moist, you will probably see steam coming out of your oven during the 50 minute baking process. After 50 minutes, take out one of the loaves and turn it out into a clean tea towel. Knock on the bottom of the loaf, if it sounds hollow, it's done!
Take the loaves out of the oven and let them sit in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool. Once cool let the loaves rest over night in a paper bag or for at least 12 hours before cutting into them. Rye bread gets better with each day. You can keep it on the counter in the paper bag, or for a softer crust, in a plastic bag.
Buttermilk Biscuits
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt
- 2 Tablespoons almond flour- Bob's Red Mill makes a superior almond flour.
- 2 Tablespoons finely ground flax
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- add 6 Tablespoons (a heaping 1/3 cup) of cold coconut oil or cold, unsalted pasture butter, broken up into small chunks.
Crumbly flour and butter mixture.[/caption] Combine in a separate bowl:
- 1 generous cup of buttermilk- I buy Evan's Farmhouse brand at the coop and I use it to start my creme fraiche too.
- 1 large egg
Evan's Cultured Buttermilk is great to bake with.[/caption] Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold to combine. 
The batter will be very wet, but as it sits for a few minutes the coconut flour will fully absorb the excess liquid. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop out biscuits, I have used 1/4 cup measure as well as an ice cream scoop. Make them as big - 8 biscuits or as small - 16 biscuits- as you like. Use your hands to flatten them a bit into shape. Bake for 18-22 minutes- til browned and set. They will be more fragile that regular grain biscuits so let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet first. Eat immediately or let cool completely and keep in an air tight container in the fridge. [caption id="attachment_525" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
Warm buttermilk biscuits topped with creme fraiche.[/caption]
Cucumber Salad
This recipe is a Huebner family favorite.
Ingredients:
- Cucumbers
- White onion
- Fire Cider
- Salt
- Lots of freshly ground black pepper
- A splash of olive oil
- optional: chopped fresh dill
Cool and refreshing![/caption]
Procedure:
1. Peel and thinly slice as many cucumbers as you want to eat. This salad gets better with time so make enough to have for lunch tomorrow. Put the slices in a large bowl, add salt and toss. Let stand for at least a ½ hour then drain/squeeze out excess moisture – this concentrates the flavor!
2. Thinly slice enough white onion so that you have about 3 times as many cucumber slices as you do onion. Mix the onion in with the cucumber.
3. Add a splash of organic, extra virgin olive oil. Liberally add some Fire Cider and mix well. Taste and adjust salt and Fire Cider.
4. Top with as much cracked black pepper as you like, the more the better. Add some dill if using and mix again.
5. Let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Enjoy now or the next day and stay cool, healthy and hydrated!
Kale Chips
Curly Kale makes great chips.[/caption] If necessary, wash torn kale pieces and spin dry in a salad spinner or dry with tea towels until they’re very dry. Bonus: if you grow your own kale or know the farmer that did, chances are you won't need to wash it! Spread the kale on your baking tray and drizzle with olive oil to coat and a couple of splashs of Fire Cider. Add salt and black pepper and work everything into the kale using your hands. Make sure the kale pieces are well covered on both sides with the olive oil mixture. Spread the kale out evenly in one layer on the baking sheets and roast in the preheated oven until mostly crisp, up to 35 minutes. Season with more salt and eat immediately! [caption id="attachment_48" align="aligncenter" width="460"]
Crispy, salt n Fire Cider kale chips, ready for snacking.[/caption]
