Brazilian Avocado Mousse

I still remember how my taste buds were blown away the first time I had this traditional Brazilian dessert. We were visiting the colonial town of Paraty and the 'pousada' where we stayed served it for breakfast.
Fresh, simple and amazing. Later on I would have it many more times, made by Sabrina, whom we met in Paraty that time, became friends and are now god parents to her twin boys!
Today we are expecting a sunny spring day and we are shooting for barbecue with friends Lotty and Jan. I will surprise them with my 'paleo' version of the exotic avocado mousse which I like to prepare resting on a bed of nuts to give it 'more body', and cover with a strawberry blanket -to add color.

What you need
•blender or food processor
•cooking rings (1)
•aluminum foil
•strainer

Ingredients (for 4 or 6)
For the crust
•50 g walnuts
•50 g almonds
•50 g pecans
•30g black currents
•30 g coconut oil (solid) + extra for greasing
•1 1/2 tbs date molasses (or heavy honey)
For the avocado cream
•the meat of 3 medium sized ripe avocados
•2 tbs of lime juice
•4 tsp of agave
•2 heaping tbs of coconut cream (2)
For the strawberry sauce
•200 g of ripe strawberries
•1 tbs of agave nectar (3)
•3 tbs of water

What you do
•put all the ingredients for the crust in your blender and chop everything together. Stop before nuts become too small; you do not want powder
•take each ring and grease the inside of it with some coconut oil
•place the rings on a chopping board which you have previously covered with some aluminum foil
•press the nuts evenly into the bottom of each ring
•put the avocado meat, agave nectar and lime juice in the blender/food processor and blend till the content looks creamy
•remove the blade and spoon in the coconut cream, carefully folding it into the avocado
•now fill up each ring with avocado mix
•freeze (min. 2 hours)
•now wash and clean the strawberries, dice them and put them in a small pan with the water and the agave. Let them simmer at medium heat till they become soft (approx. 5-10 min.). Keep the lid on the pan so the moisture does not evaporate
•remove them from the fire and pass it all through a strainer; let it cool down
•remove the avocado rings from the freezer 3 hours before serving
•10 minutes out of the freezer, place the ring on the serving plate and carefully slide the ring off by pushing the avocado dessert down; keep the dessert in a cool dark place (pantry) till is time to serve
•decorate with some cold strawberry coulis just before serving

Remarks
(1) I say the ingredients could serve 4 or 6. It will depend on what kind of rings you decide to use. My rings have a diameter of 8 cm and are 4 cm tall. The dessert is quite rich, so you could easily decide to use smaller rings. Also, it is possible to fill the rings up to the top, or not. Play with it and you will find your own perfect balance.
(2) for the longest time I wondered what people meant when they talk about 'coconut cream'... First of all, not all coconut milk cans have coconut cream... I have bought brands that when I open them, everything seems to be mixed into 'milk'. Others I find have hard coconut on the top of the can and see-through liquid in the bottom. And some, like the one I finally found, have cream on top and thick milk under it... This is the kind you want.
How can you tell from the outside what 'kind' of coconut milk you are buying? (Because all these cans will read 'coconut milk' in the label!). Pick the one that has NO additives! My experience so far is that only the brands that have 'just' coconut milk in them, with have the right texture....
Will your dessert flop in instead of 'creamy' coconut you use 'runny' coconut milk? Probably not. You can compensate in texture if you serve it just before it has fully defrosted...
(3) if the strawberries are sweet, you might find you don't even need to add the agave nectar....

Indonesian Rendang (Beef Stew)

In the Netherlands we find amazing Indonesian restaurants and 'tokos', take-aways with home made food. What a challenge to try to even come close to anything the original Indonesian immigrants can prepare!

I recently came across a simple recipe for the classic beef stew called 'Rendang'. After some changes and trial runs, here it is.

What you need
•blender

Ingredients (for 4)
•2 red chili peppers, seeds removed
•4 shallots, peeled and halved
•3 cloves of garlic, peeled
•2 tbs almond pasta
•60 gr cashew nuts
•1 tbs of turmeric powder
•750g of preferably grass fed or organic meat for stewing
•2 tbsp coconut oil
•2 lemon grass sticks (sereh), halved lengthwise
•skin of 1/2 lime, very well washed (specially if non-organic)
•500 ml of meat stock
•200g of 'santen' (concentrated of coconut cream)
•salt and pepper

What you do
•put the chili peppers, shallots, garlic, almond pasta, cashew nuts and turmeric into a blender and make a paste; set aside.
•cut the meat in cubes, add salt and pepper to taste and then saute it in a warm pan with the coconut oil. Sear it for approximately 5 min and then drain any fat; set aside
•warm up the yellow turmeric paste in a pan at low heat for about 5 min and add the skin of 1/2 a lime (in one of several chuncks)
•add the meat cubes, the meat stock, the coconut cream and stir till the coconut dissolves
•let it simmer for 3 hours in very low heat
•remove the lime skin and the lemon grass sticks before serving

Remarks
•Rendang is usually served with white rice. If you want to avoid the grains, like I do, opt for a neutral root mash (see the ideas I posted under Potato Blues but go easy on the spices. Only add a pinch of pepper and salt if that).
•Do check out the health benefits of turmeric. It's mind blowing....

Salsa Verde

Now that our climate is heating up, I like to spend more time outside in the garden -and less in the kitchen. So lately, I am all about practicality!
This green gem will enliven any plane-Jane fish in no time.
You will find many recipes for 'salsa verde' (green sauce), the typical Italian topping that can complement any kind of white fish, whether it has been previously grilled or baked in a pan or oven. I quite like this traditional one.
Even though salsa verde will peak in taste when it is freshly made, I find it keeps very well in the fridge for quite some weeks -specially if stored in a clean jar you can seal.


Ingredients (for at least 8)
•a fist full of fresh parsley leaves, washed
•a fist full of fresh basil leaves, washed
•4 anchovy fillets (tinned) or 4 tsp of anchovy paste
•2 tbsp of capers
•2 medium garlic cloves
•9 pitted green olives (preferably previously marinated in garlic)
•1 tbsp of white wine vinegar
•250 ml extra virgin olive oil
•salt and pepper

What you do
•put all the ingredients into a food processor (except for the salt and pepper) and...process!
•taste and add some pepper (salt if needed)
•remove the white fish from the oven pan or grill and apply some salsa verde on top before serving

Remarks
This recipe is just a basis for your own creation. Play with the balance of tastes adding more basil that parsley (or the other way around) or by making it more runny (add more olive oil and vinegar but keep the proportions). O try it with different kinds of olives. The sky is the limit!

Excited about Spinach

A few weeks ago I was able to buy fresh organic spinach for the first time in months. I am just so excited! I am steaming some as we speak!
I love spinach and it has so many health benefits that there is way too much to list!
But beware...  Non-organic spinach leads the category of leafy greens with the highest amount of detectable pesticide residue (approx. 50)!
So if you cannot afford to buy organic all the time, at least do it for spinach.

Spinach is amazingly versatile, but it does not like to be reheated. Spinach leaves contain (high concentrations of) nitrate. When you reheat previously cooked spinach, these nitrates can turn into nitrites and then into nitrosamines -many of which are known to be cancerous.

Here is a simple way to prepare spinach.


What you need

•steaming basked

•large pan

•strainer

Ingredients (for 2)

•1 kg of spinach leaves; washed

•2 small (or 1 big) onion; sliced

•1 clove of garlic; pealed and chopped
•1 tbs of coconut oil
•salt and pepper


What you do

•place a steaming basked in a large pan and add a bit of water (covering the bottom of the pan but making sure the steaming basket is not submerged in the water)

•warm up the water at medium heat and once you see steam, lower the heat

•put as much clean spinach as possible in the basket and close the pan with the lid

•once the spinach has welted (it will take approx. 3 minutes), remove it and put it in a strainer

Depending on how big your pan is, you might have to repeat this a few times

•once the steamed spinach has had the chance to cool down, grab the spinach with your hands and squeeze all the remaining moisture out of it
1 kg of spinach will make 2 fists of steamed/drained spinach like the ones you see on the chopping board below

•now chop the spinach

•in a pan, place the coconut oil and once it is warm, add the onions and garlic to the pan

•when the onions are soft and you can smell the garlic, add the spinach

•finish off with some salt and pepper to taste and serve