Ultimate Mango Almond Smoothie

Skepticism hits hard when I see ‘best’ and ‘ultimate’ and ‘crazy-good-scrumptious’. Really? How good does good have to be before the ultimate (haha) mainstream adjective succumbs to usage?

…Well, I guess it’s just that good then.

There’s not much to it, yet there’s everything to it.

One simple base recipe accompanied by a myriad very suitable toppings, some of which you may feel free to leave out. It’s a quickie-breakfast-morning kind of thing, the best excuse to chuck a couple of things into your blender and emerge from the kitchen triumphant. No sweat. I’ll keep this one short and sweet, so you can indulge in something short and sweet, yes?

Mango Almond Smoothie (serves 1)

Ingredients

half a frozen banana

160g frozen mango

60ml almond milk (or any milk of choice)

one tablespoon almond butter (or any nut butter)

In a blender, blend the above listed ingredients. Top with creme fraiche, frozen raspberries, more almond butter, and, in my case, granola and matcha powder (!!) That part is unorthodox and optional, but if you have those lying around, then give it a shot. The bitter and fragrant powder elevates the sophistication of this otherwise simple (and obviously healthy) breakfast. Or leave it out!

Posted on April 30, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Banana and Raspberry Stuffed Buttermilk French Toast

Lately I’ve been intrigued by a few things.

– Plexin D1, a gene which plays a part in body fat distribution. Apple? Pear? Somewhere in between? This may be the reason why. Scientists carried out their experiments on zebrafish, and those genetically engineered to lack the gene showed less abdominal (visceral) fat. Interestingly enough, humans with Type 2 diabetes have more Plexin D1. The beer belly syndrome is a highly underrated danger; those with more of a paunch have a much higher chance of contracting heart disease. Evidently, the implications of the exercise are pretty mammoth. The experiments were carried out on zebrafish because they have transparent bodies. Imagine being a zebrafish! That’s really taking the phrase ‘I can see right through you’ to the next level.

– The burning sensation you get when you hold a mouthful of coke on your tongue

– The Myers-Briggs test (ENTJ, anyone?)

– The fact that one can turn anything, anything into French toast.

I had the urge to make my favourite breakfast dish ever yesterday morning because my dear mom always returns home on the weekends after running errands with bags full of junk snacks (I’ll pass on a few) and fresh bread from the bakery (yes!!!). I was actually planning to make my own loaf, with some exotic fillings or less-touched flour type (hey, spelt or rye), but the chocolate swirl brioche was just screaming to be dunked in a lush, eggy bath, after being stuffed silly with fruit, and in the case of this particular morning, an almond butter cream. More on that a little later. It’s a pity I forgot to take a shot of this cream, but I guess imagination can right a wrong.

Fruit combinations are always a problem for me; my relationship with these mature divine ovaries is like that between monkeys and bananas– any type and degree of ripeness works fine with me. I go with flow, peel a few random things and throw em together. It’s a fruity party here all the time. Yesterday morning, I grabbed half a banana and fresh raspberries which I bought to use a little later in the week, ignoring my initial plan to mix a bit of blue and gold, for I did acknowledge the existence of some frozen berries and mangoes the day before. Sometimes, things demand spontaneity. The sweet banana of medium ripeness played up the pleasant sourness of fresh raspberry, the aftertaste of flowers bursting like the dawn of summer in my mouth. The almond cream is definitely optional, but I love how it adds a earthy flavour component whilst binding the fruit and stodge together nicely on the inside, especially if the batter only penetrated the surface of day(s)-old bread. You get a wonderful, slightly gooey plate of eggy bread, moist and saturated all the way through.

Banana and Raspberry Stuffed Buttermilk French Toast (serves 1)

Ingredients

half a banana, sliced into coins

handful of fresh or frozen raspberries

one egg

knob of butter

splash of buttermilk and one tsp vanilla extract

1 thick slice (2 inches is perfect) of brioche/challah, can be 1-2 days old

*almond butter cream: mix together a tablespoon of almond butter and a teaspoon of almond milk (or any milk, really)

*optional

Preheat your pan on a medium heat, and ready some butter. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and vanilla with a fork. Take your bread and, with a knife, cut a deep horizontal pocket into one of the the 4 2-inch sides of the french toast. You could cut your slice horizontally all the way so you end up with 2 thinner slices of bread to sandwich the filling, but I like the cute idea of a pocket holding everything in nicely together. Once you’ve cut a pocket, stuff the inside with the almond butter cream, then fill to the brim with the banana coins (you can mash the banana, if you wish, but I prefer cutting/biting into the gooey chunks) and raspberries.

Butter the pan and let it sizzle. The pan should be hot when you hold your hand a few inches above the surface of the pan. Dunk one side of the bread into the buttermilk-egg mixture and let the bread soak for 5-10 seconds. Flip and let the other side soak for a little while less. Lift the slice and let any excess batter drip off. Lay the slice on the hot pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. You should hear a sizzle once it hits the pan, else it’s not hot enough. Fret not. Simply wait a little while longer and take a peek at the doneness with your spatula. Once browned, flip and hear the sizzle once more.

To serve, place on a plate (may cut in half however which way you want, and this step is highly recommended for visual pleasure– watch that goo!), then top with whipped cream and maple syrup or honey.

Posted on April 27, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Banana Oat Pancakes with Cashew Sauce (eggless, flourless, easy!)

We are drowning in information, but starving for wisdom.

This was the heading for an article I read this morning, and although its meaning and intention had nothing to do with the thoughts that flickered through my head (the merits of a liberal arts education) upon first seeing the quote, there is definitely an implication that resonates with me. This is all a little random, but I do feel as if more should be shared on this space than just the occasional recipe or review. Heck, it’s why I love the Internet. Variety underpins sensory awareness, exposure, curiosity. One reason why I love blogging about food is because I don’t see the stuff as merely something to eat, but as complex edible objects which hide more abstract, profound meanings, relevant to little aspects of our everyday lives. I remember to take things a little slowly when spreading soft, salted butter on my toast, the pale creaminess reassuring. A sticky, sweet medjool date makes me lose myself just for a second. Pause. Ponder. It sounds silly, I know. Is it just me?

Information, and so much of it, is the nexus of the 21st century. But though it’s everywhere, in the form of the news or the hippest TV series or the next best recipe (oh, just you wait), wisdom is rare. It may be argued that the accumulation of knowledge naturally leads to this to this point of discernment and judgement. I like to think of it as a meal: the info is the appetiser, the formulation of opinion or analytical discussion comprise the main course. The dessert, further debate, perhaps division or (!) discovery. But the intriguing bit lies in the waiting time between appetiser and main course. Our information thresholds, where we draw the line between absorption of the world around us and internal debate. I like that thought; it’s interesting to consider just how different our thought processes are. As we prowl possibility, awaken a hidden psyche. That is what leads to understanding and progression. I’m guilty of being a robot sometimes, to squander away time doing meaningless activity, to have stuff go in one ear and come out the other. I mean hey, it’s ok to be a vegetable! It is, sometimes. I just think it more necessary in this current day and age to be that much more perceptive, instead of gulping air, nodding, regurgitating.

I shall now introduce you to my new favourite pancake recipe: Eggless, flourless, practically everything-less (vegan readers, you there?) banana oat pancakes, with a decadent cashew sauce. I should like to clarify the name of the sauce here; I say cashew because I’m currently going through a serious, unrelenting vanilla cashew butter phase, and the cashew butter is the primary component of the sauce, but really you can use any nut butter you have lying around. It is the tang of this sauce, thanks to the yoghurt, coupled with the naturally sweet, earthy nature of these glorious pancakes, and milkier aftertaste of the cashews, which makes it the most divine breakfast for days on end.

I like making normal pancakes, I do. You know, with actual flour, eggs, the whole motley crew. They’re easy easy easy, and the recipe is just standard stuff after a few goes.

But these. These! I couldn’t believe how sweet, fluffy and flavourful these pancakes turned out to be! When I first starting experimenting with healthy, or at least healthier ingredients, I was incredibly skeptical of the turnout. They would never taste or look as good, I bet on my life, I always thought. I associated things like wheatgrass and acai and oat flour with the life of a poor rabbit. How wrong I was. How terribly wrong. The ripe banana here makes these naturally, not overly sweet, and if you are inclined to leave a few chunks in the batter then you get nice pockets of cooked, sweet banana in your breakfast. The oat flour makes it all folksy, almost cultured, and using it for the first time in pancakes brought to mind thatched countryside roofs and battered wheat and yoga. It brought me down to earth, and it always feels good to treat my body well, to give the french toast and white/fancy breads a break.

Banana Oat Pancakes with Cashew Sauce (makes 5 4-inch wide pancakes)

For the pancakes:

2 small or 1.5 medium bananas, the riper the better

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp yoghurt (or sour cream)

4 tbsp almond milk (or any milk of choice)

1 tbsp coconut oil (or vegetable oil, or melted butter)

60g oat flour (I ground 60g rolled oats in a blender, so there’s really no need to buy oat flour. It takes a mere couple of minutes to grind em up into a fine flour.)

1.5 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon cashew butter (or any nut butter of choice)

1 tbsp yoghurt

1 tsp honey (or maple syrup)

Preheat a pan on medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, salt and baking powder. In another medium bowl, mash the bananas, then mix in the remaining wet ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mix, and use a large spoon or spatula to slowly incorporate everything until just combined.

Drizzle a little coconut or vegetable oil to the preheated pan, and, using a tablespoon, ladle on enough batter to make a circle around 4 inches wide. This part is completely up to you; make them as big or as small as you want. Cook the first side for around 2 minutes/ You’ll notice the edges firming up and turning a slightly darker colour than the middle, and that’s when you should take a spatula and slide it under the whole pancake in preparation to flip. If it shakes or wobbles too much on top, let it cook for a while longer. After flipping, cook the second side for around 30 seconds, for the pancake itself is already mostly cooked by this point. Let the cooked pancakes rest on a paper towel while you finish up the rest of the batter, or in an oven preheated to 160C if you wish to consume everything immediately.

Make the sauce! In a small bowl, mix the 3 ingredients listed above. The consistency should be on the thicker side, but not gloopy and unmanageable. To serve, stack a few pancakes on top of each other, top with the nut butter sauce and fresh fruit. The pancakes are naturally very sweet so I don’t think maple syrup or honey necessary, but go ahead if you feel like it. Pancake eaters do what instinct tells em to.

These pancakes freeze very well. After cooking and letting rest on a paper towel for around 5 minutes, transfer those which you’re not eating immediately into a ziploc bag, laying them in a single flat layer. Pop in the freezer, and whenever you’re in the pancake mood, take however many you want out and microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Posted on April 23, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 2

Blueberry Almond Cheesecake Mousse For One (no bake, raw)

I quote again from my Instagram: clearly I was too excited to let the stuff sit properly in the fridge, hence the less-than-ideal consistency. But this yields a wonderful firm, mousse-like texture after 4 hours in the icebox! ‘Wow Alex. There’s no cheese in here but it tastes like cheese? It’s GOOD.’-Dad With a magnificent almond-date crust. Am I out of my mind? Not quite. I think you’ll be as pleased with how easy and bloody delicious this is as I. The raw phenomenon has taken the world by storm, and although I initially wished to be left out of the craze, inspiration and my own health inclinations have gotten the better of this selfish shunning. Dearest Emily is a huge raw fan, and her sweet vegan recipes always look too inviting. How could I not give something a go. What better way to get into the raw groove than by experimenting with my own stock of nourishing ingredients? It’s funny, these phenomenons, these supposed fads. You think it all insubstantial, lets-be-pseudo-health-nuts. No. I’m not saying I’m the healthiest eater out there, but I make it a point to treat my body well most of the time. I’m as partial to oatmeal, fruit and vegetables as I am to brioche and mounds of butter and jam. Eating well has become part of me; whipping up something nourishing and delicious is never, ever a chore. Simply second nature. You take a bunch of fresh, nourishing ingredients, throw it together in a blender, and 5 minutes later (or less, actually) you’ve got a Mini Jubilee Jar. All for yourself. Share if you have to, share the joy. The lemon in this recipe works splendidly against the sweet, dense almond-date crust, which is really just a bit of almond butter and one date blended together. The good thing about this recipe is that I found it a pleasure to eat even with little bits of blueberry or almonds in the mousse, not seamlessly blended together, and streaks of date at the bottom. Perfection within imperfection.

Blueberry Almond Cheesecake Mousse for One (fits in one mini 4-inch wide mason jar) For the cheesecake mousse:

25g fresh or frozen blueberries

10g raw almonds (optional, for crunch)

juice and zest of half a lemon

1 heaping tablespoon of almond butter

1tsp milk of choice (I used coconut)

For the crust:

one teaspoon almond butter

one date

In a blender or food processer, blend together the crust ingredients (date and almond butter) until everything is well blended (or not, it’s up to you and the world is your oyster). Scrape the contents of the blender into your mini jar and press down into an even layer. Pop the jar in the fridge to set whilst you put together the cheesecake mousse. Don’t wash the blender! There’s no need.

Throw in the ingredients for the cheesecake mousse and blend everything together well. I liked the addition of raw almonds for a bit of crunch, but you can leave those guys out. Once everything is well blended, pour the mix, which should be thick but slightly wet, into the mini jar. Let this set in the fridge for at least a couple of hours. This actually makes a rather good breakfast treat so make this the night before, and the rest is blissful history! Before eating, top with fresh blueberries and more lemon zest. I imagine some yoghurt and a bit of honey would be lovely too.

Posted on April 20, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Mini Lemon Bundts

Lemon’s taking up all the oxygen in the room. It’s a good thing. If you’re as obsessed with the ingredient as me, that is.

FYI, I cut the tops off the guys before removing them from the pan just for the picture; it’s twice as efficient to remove them with their domes first (I may be dim but not toooo dim)!

There’s something so endearing about each mini bundt I popped out of the pan. This recipe yields exactly 12 light, springy, lemon-filled balls of sponge. Sponge of medium density, of average sophistication, of half-cake-half-gooey-sponge pleasure. The secret lies in the use of plain yoghurt, which made the little cakes moist but not doughy, and sufficiently dense but well-risen. I adapted the recipe from Nigella’s cookbook, and it’s my personal go-to for something simple, light, lemony, and pleasing. See the tops I cut off? Oh goodness, please save those. The tops boast the sugary, browned crusts, sharp and bit stiff when bitten into, giving way to the most pleasurable, mildly sweet and lemony bite. Coo for crust. These have it all.

Mini Lemon Bundts (makes 12 4-inch wide mini bundts)

150g all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

75g melted, unsalted butter, cooled slightly

zest of one lemon

juice of half a lemon

2 eggs

110ml natural yoghurt or sour cream

large pinch of salt

125g white caster sugar

For the icing: 170g icing sugar, one teaspoon vanilla extract and the juice of one lemon (do this to taste)

Preheat the oven to 170C. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. In a measuring jug or smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, lemon zest, juice and yoghurt. Pour the wet into the dry mix and slowly mix everything together, transferring from a wooden spoon to a spatula. the batter should a little thick, of spoon-dropping consistency. Make sure that there are no lumps or streaks of flour at the bottom. Grease your mini bundt tin and pour the batter into the molds. Bake in the preheated oven for 23-25 minutes.

Whilst waiting for the buns in the oven, make the icing. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. The mix should be thick and runny, not too opaque, and won’t harden after a few seconds of stirring in the bowl. If you need more liquid, add more water, drop by drop. Once the bundts are done, remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Pour the icing on once they’re cool; it’s actually fine to do so when they’re still a little warm because the heat will help the icing along down the sides.

Posted on April 16, 2015February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 2

alexcrumb

recipes, catering, creativity