chocolate & sweet potato cake

Chocolate & Sweet Potato Cake

(on the left is the original recipe from Bushveld Banquets, on the right is my heavily modified recipe)


180g butter at room temperature (100g)
360g brown sugar (50g)
4 eggs
450g cake flour (120g rice flour, 30g corn starch)
100g cocoa powder (50g)
15ml baking powder
180g dark chocolate
400g sweet potato, cooked, peeled and grated/mashed
400ml buttermilk (25ml normal milk)

Ganache (I didn't make)
20ml instant coffee powder
400ml cream
300g dark chocolate
120g butter

Cream butter & brown sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the eggs one by one. Sift together the flour, cocoa & baking powder and fold into the creamed mixture. Fold in the melted chocolate, sweet potato and then buttermilk and mix well. Pour batter into a greased tin (or 2 if you're making a layer cake) and bake at 180C for 30 min until tester comes out clean (mine was a loaf pan and much thicker, I baked it for about an hour with aluminum foil on the top to keep it from getting too dark). Cool on a wire rack.

Ganache
Combine coffee powder, cream, chocolate and butter in the top half of a double broiler. Heat over simmering water until the ingredients have melted to a smooth mixture, stirring occasionally. Cool and then cover the sides and top of the cake.

mac & cheese

Homemade Mac & Cheese
(2 servings)

* Cook and drain pasta for 2 people
* Saute 1/2 an onion in 1 tbsp butter
* Grate 2 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese (mine was white cheddar but either one works)

Set all the different components to the side.
* In a saucepan:

Mix 1/2 liter of milk
2 tablespoons of corn starch (maizena)
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Over low heat continuously stir until the white sauce (bechamel) thickens and if you run your finger over the back of the spoon the sauce is thick enough to stay off to the sides.
Quickly mix in the cheddar and the onions. Stir until the cheddar is melted and smooth then pour onto the pasta and mix all together. Serve with a pinch of paprika on top.

galettes de sarrasin

Galettes de Sarrasin

Here is the recipe I used for my batter for 2 people (2.5 galettes each)

* 125g farine de sarrasin (buckwheat flour)
* 1 egg
* salt
* about 50cl water

I started with a little less water and then kept adding some until the batter was the right consistency (should run a thin ribbon when poured with a spoon or ladle and swirl around easily inthe hot pan.)
Then we flipped them once and then filled them with ham, cheese and a cracked egg on top, (or anything else you want!) YUM!

chicken stock

Chicken Stock

1 chicken carcass (or 4 or 5 big legs, several wings etc) with the leftover meat and skin on
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
parsley/thyme etc
salt/pepper

Put the chicken in a big pot, fill with enough water to cover the bird. Add all the veggies roughly chopped and skins/leaves included. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let cook for several hours until the chicken has basically fallen apart, meat off the bones etc and all the veggies are very soft. Drain through a colander or cheesecloth saving the water and discarding the veggies. Use as is or bring to a simmer and reduce even further. As it cools it will gel and the fat will rise to the top, you can skim it off (my chicken seems to be very lean and there isn't much to skim off) or leave it in for flavor.

Freezes very well, in mini Tupperwares or ice cube trays. You can use any veggies you want or have lying around, I've also added bell peppers, garlic, potato skins etc Just make sure they're washed.

This is a great way to use up chicken that you normally would be throwing away for future soups, risottos and anything else that calls for chicken stock. It has FAR less sodium than bouillon cubes or prepackaged stock and tastes delishous! ;-)

risotto

Risotto

1 onion
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups risotto rice (the round kind)
veggies
1 liter chicken stock
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dice the onion and saute until clear in the olive oil and butter. Add the rice and mix well. Add the white wine and lower the heat to a simmer. As the rice absorbs the liquid start ladling in the chicken stock letting it absorb between each ladle full. When you're about 2/3 through the stock add diced veggies (zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers etc) and any meat (turkey, chicken, seafood) and continue to simmer and add half the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let sit 5 minutes.

Serve with more Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top!

When the rice is just cooked through remove from heat and add 1/2 package of

pecan pie

Maple Syrup Pecan Pie

1 prepared unbaked pastry shell, 9-inch (try a gluten free crust)
3 eggs
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups pecan pieces or halves

Preheat oven to 350° and place rack at lowest position. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add maple syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Blend well and stir in pecans. Pour into prepared pie shell. Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and the filling is set.

(there is no Karo (corn) syrup in France but this recipe is just as yummy!!)

apple pie take 2

Gluten Free Apple Pie

3/4 c brown rice flour
3/4 c ground almonds
25g butter chilled
1 egg beaten
2 medium apples
1/4 c applesauce

For the crust:

mix the brown rice flour and ground almonds together. Add the egg and butter and mix together. The dough remains very sticky!
(I spread it into the piepan with the back of a spoon dipped in water to smooth it out. I guess you could add more flour but I was so happy with the end result I wouldn't change anything!)
Put pie weights or dried beans/rice and prebake the crust for 10 minutes at 180C.
While baking peel and thinly slice the apples.

Finishing the pie:

When the crust is done spread the applesauce over the bottom and arrange the apple slices on top - bake for another 15-20 minutes until the apples are cooked and just starting to turn brown. the crust was very yummy, had just a slightly nutty taste and was almost like a "pate brisee" like a big cookie :-) yum!

spaghetti sauce

Spaghetti Sauce

2.5 kilos fresh ripe tomatoes (chopped)
2 small onions (minced)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 steak hachee
1 small green pepper (minced)
mushrooms (sliced
olive oil
basil
thyme
oregano

In a large pot sautee onions, garlic and green pepper in olive oil until soft. Add the crumbled pieces of steak hachee (or hamburger meat) and mushrooms (and any other veggies, I threw in some leftover zucchini. Cook until the hamburger is browned.

Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Salt, pepper and other spices to taste.

Cook down until the tomato has broken down and the consistency looks good.