Sugar-free Banana Carrot Loaf

To be honest, the reason why I don't bake a lot is because I can't bring myself to measure out the cups of sugar or mounds of butter that are so often required in most traditional baking recipes. So when I find a sweet-thing recipe that has minimal amounts of either, I'm almost immediately sold.

These days, there's no shortage of recipes accommodating the 'sugar-free' lifestyle, but I find it interesting to note how they substitute other ingredients for regular white or brown sugar. Often, I find it's honey, maple syrup, or dates; but even more often it's slightly obscure (read: expensive) options like agave syrup, rice malt syrup, stevia (a plant-derived sweetener), or coconut sugar - to name a few.

Without a doubt, I prefer recipes which use the former, mostly for cost and even familiarity to an extent, and seeing ingredient lists things like rice malt syrup, I'm almost immediately turned off. So for those reasons, I love the following recipe because it uses good ol' fashioned dates and bananas.

I discovered this recipe a few months ago on My New Roots - an inspired, natural foods and nutrition-based blog by Canadian, Sarah B., who bases herself in Copenhagen. She writes incredibly accessible healthy recipes with thorough nutritional information about key ingredients. To be honest, I haven't made much from her blog - reading it more for inspiration and guilt-free food porn - but her 'Best Friends Banana Carrot Cake' inspired me to get baking.

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Sugar-free Banana Carrot Loaf makes a 9"x13.5" loaf

// from My New Roots //

I've renamed this a 'loaf' instead of 'cake', as I never feel the need to ice the finished product as Sarah B. does in the original recipe. If you feel lost without icing, I'd recommend cream cheese swirled through with maple syrup or honey; otherwise, I love it plain, or with a dollop of full-fat organic yoghurt and some honey for a comforting spike of sweetness. A perfect option for breakfast or an anytime-of-day treat.

2 c wholemeal flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp fine sea salt (*less if using salted butter)
3/4 c finely chopped walnuts
110g unsalted* butter, heated until just melted
1/2 c dried dates, seeded & finely chopped into a paste
3 ripe bananas (1 1/4 c), mashed well
1 1/2 c grated carrots, about 3 medium
handful each of raisins, dried pineapple, coconut flakes - or anything like it that you fancy (chocolate included)
1/2 c plain yoghurt
2 eggs, lightly whisked

Preheat oven to 180degC / 350degF. Line a 9x5x3" loaf or 8x8" cake pan with parchment paper. Sift flour, b.p., cinnamon, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in walnuts and set aside. Stir dates into melted butter, breaking up dates slightly.

In large separate bowl, combine banana and carrots, and add date/butter mix, stirring together and breaking up dates as you go. Whisk in yoghurt and eggs. Add flour mix and stir until everything just comes together. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for about 50-70 mins (with a loaf pan, mine is ready around 60-65 minutes, it will be less if using a cake pan where the thickness of the cake is less), or until a toothpick tests clean in the centre. Remove from oven and cool.

Instead of icing, serve simply with full-fat natural yoghurt.

Chinese New Year: Simple Noodle Soup

Mushroom and Bok Choy Noodle Soup

Any excuse for noodles! But here, the soup brings it all together.

To a base chicken stock, add slices of ginger, garlic, spring onions (the white part), soy sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes, removing aromatics. Taste for seasoning. Pre-cook dried noodles in a separate pot of boiling water, drain and set aside.

I experimented with the mushroom (I had portobello, but dried shiitake would be ideal, especially for adding the hydration liquid to the soup base) - pan-frying half in reserved chicken fat for super flavour (there is no vegetarian alternative for flavour here), leaving half raw to be cooked by the soup.

To assemble // Over a spoonful of chicken fat (optional, but inspired by Japanese ramen preparation), place cooked noodles in serving bowl. Soft poach an egg separately (or prepare a boiled egg), while bringing soup back up to a gentle boil and poaching bok choy for up to a minute, until just cooked. Remove and arrange with noodles. Add mushrooms and place egg atop. Add soup to bowl, gently pouring over everything to reheat. Leftover chicken would be a most welcome addition.

I Heart Noodles: Korean Buckwheat Noodle Salad

I've talked before about my preference for savoury breakfasts so with that said, I'd like to add: I am a noodle girl. All the way. It might be an Asian thing, but I could eat noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it would be a dream come true (including European-style noodles too, e.g. spaghetti, späetzle... you name it!).

And lately, I've been indulging in that dream. Fragrant Vietnamese noodle salads, fiery fried Chinese noodles, nourishing and aromatic chicken noodle soups... and, happily, I've just discovered bucatini, a hollow spaghetti, which has also been giving me a lot of joy.

Of that theme, my favourite breakfast at the moment is a Korean-style Buckwheat Noodle (Ngaenmyeon) Salad. Ngaenmyeon is made from the flour and starches of various ingredients including buckwheat, wheat, and sweet potato, and is therefore chewier and more elastic than, say, its Japanese counterpart, soba.

I'm aware that Korean food isn't the most popular of Asia's cuisines, and I think I understand why: a lot of its core flavours are created from fermentation (e.g. kimchi) and this can be overpowering when unaccustomed. However, the health benefits of fermented foods are indisputable and definitely worth looking into if you are trying to eat healthier and especially if you have any digestion problems.

In any case, this dish is definitely Korean lite. And while kimchi would be a worthwhile addition, I'm keeping it simple. And never mind the breakfast thing, this would equally make a great lunch or light dinner.

Korean-style Buckwheat Noodle (Ngaenmyeon) Salad

The Humble Herring

When I first arrived in Amsterdam in April, I was told that I must try raw herring (haring), that this was Holland's food star, next to Stroopwafels and Gouda cheese. I looked and looked, but realised the timing wasn't right. I was too early. Fishmongers catch these special (minimum 16% fat) herring from mid-May to mid-July in the North Sea, and the first Hollandse Nieuwe ('Holland's new herring') only start to appear on the market at the beginning of June.

Instead of being raw, like sashimi, the herring is actually soused. This means that it's been marinated in a brine which enhances the herring's natural flavours, gives the fish a gorgeous melt-in-the-mouth texture, and preserves them for months of future enjoyment.

Rotterdam Blaak Market

Broodje Haring literally translates to 'herring sandwich' 

When I returned to Holland in June, this was one of my missions: find raw herring. And happily, I didn't have to look far. As a nation-awaited Dutch delicacy (also signalling the beginning of summer), the Hollandse Nieuwe was being celebrated at every fishmonger in sight. I eagerly ordered a broodje haring (herring sandwich) at the Rotterdam Blaak market and as soon as I bit into it, I was in heaven. The fresh, soft-as-goose-down-bread roll was a delightful backdrop to the raw herring and accompaniment of diced white onions, whose sweetness accentuated the herring's mellow yet rich flavour and texture.

My Love for Mexico, Part 2

If you're coming fresh to Part 2, see Part 1 for the lead-in. This is my ode to Mexican food and uses the leftovers from my Mexican-marinated chicken tacos with homemade cooked salsa, refried beans and avocado.

A note on refried beans: for convenience, I used a prepared can (La Costeña, to be exact) for the recipe. To save a couple dollars, and for homecooked-wholeness and health, if I had the time and foresight, I would soak some dried black beans overnight and cook them until tender in unsalted, boiling water. After draining, and retaining 1/4 cup of water, I'd add a generous amount of olive oil (start with a few tablespoons), the water and one finely chopped garlic clove to the beans, heating gently. As the garlic cooks through, stir and mash beans with a fork. Add either more water or oil to achieve a consistency you prefer (definitely not runny!). Season with salt and pepper, and a shake of smoked paprika for extra flavour.

So... you've got some cooked salsa, refried beans, red onion/cilantro, avocado, and tortillas leftover? And some eggs? Perfect, huevos rancheros it is!
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Huevos Rancheros (The below recipe is for 1, for more, you just need more salsa and eggs!)

I love cooking eggs like this. Basically, you're poaching the eggs in a sauce that also seasons and makes it into a complete meal. The Moroccans and north Africans do something similar, called 'shakshuka', where the tomato-based sauce features cumin and roast peppers more prominently.

2 eggs
Enough salsa to fill a small 15cm pan with a generous layer

Reheat salsa over medium heat, and when bubbling, make two wells in your salsa for the eggs. The deeper the better. Crack eggs, one at a time, into the formed wells. Reduce heat to low and cover pan with a lid. Check after 3-4 minutes. You can tell if the eggs are cooked by how much the yolks jiggle when you shake the pan. I prefer mine a little soft.

My first well (top) wasn't quite deep enough

As the eggs cook, prepare the rest of the dish. Reheat refried beans, and warm through tortillas in a dry pan over medium heat. When eggs are ready, you should be able to slide the eggs/salsa easily onto a plate. Season eggs with a pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve tortillas and refried beans topped with avocado (seasoned with black pepper) on the side. Top with cilantro/onion and a generous squeeze of lime juice.

Best breakfast/brunch/lunch, ever.

So, so good. And especially for the fact that it's full of good, healthy stuff! Even the black beans are very good for you, too. Let's face it, you can't be guilty with this one.

A most versatile dish

Quiches are great.  Egg, bit of cream, a myriad of different flavour combinations, pastry... What's not to love? Cooking one at home however, that pastry base always puts me off.  One part is being too lazy to make one, while the other is having the mindset that if I can go without it, I should.  The solution? The frittata.

Google image search for "quiche"

Besides the pastry, they have only a few differences. The quiche is French (arguably), while the frittata is Italian. The former is cooked entirely in the oven, while the latter is cooked in a skillet, started on the stove and finished in the oven (though if need be, can be done entirely in the oven, too).  I would also suggest that the egg mixture of the quiche requires cream, whereas the frittata is more similar to an omelette which uses water.  So for all intensive purposes, they're really very similar.

Google image search for "frittata"

To compensate for the lack of pastry, the common frittata (also similar to the Spanish tortilla) often uses slices or chunks of cooked potato as part of the base recipe to help hold it all together.  As a rule of thumb, it's a great place to start as most flavours that go with egg fend similarly with the potato.  From here then it's all about the flavour combinations of the other fillings.

And in my opinion, the ideal circumstances to conjure up an occasion for the frittata are leftovers.  Christmas is perfect: ham off the bone, roast vegetables, cheese platter remnants... you couldn't ask for better.  If after a Sunday roast, make the most of the leftover chicken with some cherry tomatoes, stuffing and basil; or, maybe you simply need to use up what's in the fridge: a bit of bacon, black pudding (if you are that way inclined), with a few sliced green onions and grated cheddar could be all you need.