Paleo Tiramisu

I love Tiramisu. It is one of my favourite dessert but it is not really Paleo, is it? 

There is the obvious choice to replace the Mascarpone to a custard made from coconut cream but I wanted to try something else. Something which is creamy and sweet itself like custard: the custard apple. 

It is a winter fruit - sorry, my Australian readers - and unless you have your own tree, it is quite expensive. However, you need one only. 

The best thing in this Tiramisu is that there is no added sugar in it. Not even a gram. 

Worth to try :)

Ingredients for the sponge cake

2 eggs

8 tbsp almond flour (almond meal from blanched almond)

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

zest of a lemon

Preheat the oven to 180 C.  Prepare a 20x20cm baking tin with baking paper.
Separate the eggs and whip the whites and the apple cider vinegar with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes. Mix the egg yolks and add them to the hard egg whites gently so you don't deflate the egg white mixture. Mix the almond flour, the zest of a lemon and bicarbonate soda, then add gently to the egg white mixture. 
Pour the mixture to the prepared tin and bake it for about 15 minutes or until it is golden brown. 

Ingredients for the cream

1 custard apple (approx. 350ml mashed custard apple without the seeds)
1 egg white
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp gelatin dissolved in 50ml hot water

Cut the custard apple in half and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. Discard the seeds then make a puree of the flesh by a food processor. Pour the mash into a colander lined with cheese cloth and let it drain above a bowl while beating the egg whites.
Whip the egg white with the apple cider vinegar with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes. While beating, slowly add the dissolve gelatin to it. With a wooden spoon, mix the custard apple gently to the hard egg white.

Layering

150-200ml fresh espresso coffee or nescafé, cooled
splash of almond liqueur
sugar free cocoa powder, eg. Dutch cocoa

Cut the sponge cake to 15x100mm stripes. Lay half of them to a 12x12cm glass or ceramic dish.
Combine the coffee with the liqueur. With a spoon, pour some from the coffee mixture to the sponge cake.
Cover the sponge cake with half of the custard apple mixture. Repeat the layers one more, ending with the cream. Dust generously with cocoa then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Alternatively, you can use agar-agar or psyllium husk instead of gelatin. This case you have to add them to the custard apple instead of the egg whites.

Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Homemade Margarine

... for people who believe that margarine can have a healthy version.

Yes, I am serious :)
There are people who have dairy intolerance, so cannot eat butter. 
It is easy to make at home and works just as the store bought version. 

Ingredients

40g coconut oil, melted
2 tbs olive oil or macadamia oil
4 tbs grapeseed oil
1 egg yolk
salt

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Blend them until they are well incorporated.
Place the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes then blend the mixture again. It should be creamy, just like butter. 

You can keep it in the freezer for up to a month. 

Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Chai Tea Spice Mix

Chai tea was new for me a few years ago despite of being quite known in Australia. 
You can find many variations in the shops (as many brands as many mixtures) but if you do it yourself, even better. It's very easy, actually. 
I'm already preparing the Christmas presents - almost all of them from the kitchen - and one of them will be the Chai Tea.

Ingredients for spice
2 part ground cinnamon
2 part ground ginger
2 part ground cardamom
1 part ground star anise
1 part ground clove
1/2 part vanilla powder (you can leave it out, if it's hard to get)

Those spices which are not ground, grind in a coffee grinder, then measure the quantity you need.
Mix all the spices thoroughly.

What can you do with it?
It's already a perfect gift as it is but you also can do a tea mixture.

Ingredients for the tea
80g black tea leaves (not infused)
3 tsp Chai Spice above

Place the tea in a seal-able container or jar, add the spice, close it and shake it. Shake it like you mean it :)
Keep it in a dark place for a week at least, so the tea leaves can infuse the fragrance from the spice. 

Instead of tea, you can use the spice mix also in cakes, biscuits, granola or hot milk. 

Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Pork Stew in Brasso Style (Hungarian dish)

This is one of my favourite Hungarian dishes which I cook quite often. It is not just simple but also quick 'slow' stew :) Much quicker than a beef stew, actually.

As every national dish, there is no one and only recipe for this stew either. As many house in Hungary, as many recipes.

I cook it the same way as my mother: with onion because that makes the juice thick.

Ingredients

1 kg diced, stewing pork*

2 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped

few cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2-3 tbsp duck fat / lard

salt & pepper

Do not trim the fatty bits from the pork! Without them the meat will dry out. 

Sauté the onion in the fat and add garlic and meat, stirring continuously. 

Season with pepper. Cover and simmer slowly in its own juice for an hour. 

Stir it occasionally and replace any of the juices that evaporate with a little warm water if necessary. This pork stew should be cooked in small amount of liquid.

When it is ready, remove the lid, season with salt and on high heat make the juice thick. 

Traditionally cooked-fried potato is the typical side dish for it but we eat paleo way.

Some side dish tips:

• mashed carrot
• mashed cauliflower
• mashed parsnip
• cooked-fried celery
• chokes cubes shallow fried in oil

* Do not buy lean meat.

Tips

- Always buy the meat at the butcher. The prepacked meat in supermarkets usually does not have enough fat which is so important in this dish.

- You can buy lard in big supermarkets. I prefer duck fat which I get at Coles or at the butcher.

Enjoy :)

With mashed carrot

 With mashed parsnip and herbs

With mashed cauliflower 

With celery 

Variations for wellbeing
Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Stracciatella Ice Cream

The easiest and quickest ice cream on the Earth! If you have a banana in your freezer :)

As we had a very hot day today, I put some peeled and sliced bananas in the freezer early in the morning. 
When we finished our lunch, I just mixed them with coconut cream and diced chocolate and voilà! the ice cream was ready. 

Ingredients

3 bananas
270 ml coconut cream (I love Ayam)
30 g dark chocolate, min. 85 %, diced
1 tsp vanilla paste

Put all the ingredients to a blender and mixed them well.
That's it.

Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: make sure to use dairy free chocolate.
Gluten intolerance: make sure to use gluten free chocolate.
Paleo: make sure to use dairy, gluten and soy free chocolate with high cocoa mass content. 

Hungarian Beef Pörkölt (Slow Stew)

This is a typical Hungarian dish. You can make it from poultry, beef, mutton, vension or, as the most preferred in Hungary, pork.
I cannot imagine that there is family in Hungary which does not cook this meal. Everybody has the best recipe, everybody knows how to cook it to get the best flavour. 


My mum learnt lots of recipes from a cookbook written by Ilona Horváth. She is a kind of Julia Child for us, except that she was not on TV. Her book which includes all the most typical recipes has been published since 1955. There must be one copy of it in every household. 
My version belonged originally to my mum - she was not very happy that I 'borrowed' it long time ago - and was one of the very few books I brought to Australia when I came here the very first time. 
So if I want to cook something really Hungarian, I do not need the internet but this book only. 


This recipe is from Ilona Horváth or how my mum cooks it. And now on me too.

Ingredients


600g beef for slow cooking (leg or shoulder)
2 tbs oil or 30g lard / duck fat
1 large brown onion
1 tsp Hungarian sweet ground paprika
salt


Cut the meat onto 2 cm cubes. 
Finally chop the onion. Sauté the onion in the fat, and remove it from the heat. 
Add the paprika and meet. Return to the heat and cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously. 
Season with salt. Pour it up as much water as much covers the meat but no more. Pörkölt is always cooked is short liquid.
Cover, and leave to cook for approximately 2 hours. 
Replace any of the juices that evaporate with a little warm water if necessary. 
Instead of water, we can add red wine as well. 


Although potato is the typical side dish for it, we eat with smashed cauliflower.


Tips
- Always buy the meat at the butcher. The prepacked meat in supermarkets usually does not have enough fat which is so important in this dish.
- Use real Hungarian sweet ground paprika. It gives more colour and flavour than other types. You can buy it online: Herbie's, Ebay, Szegedi Paprika. 
- You can buy lard in big supermarkets. I prefer duck fat which I get at Coles or at the butcher.

Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake. 
I remember when I got my very first cook book (still my favourite) how surprised I was to see that carrot cake really exists, not in jokes only. We didn't know it in Hungary, you know.
Then the first tea houses opened in the nineties and there they come the carrot cakes with. When I went there I always asked for one. Or, I should say, that's why I went there :)


I have tried lots of carrot cakes since that. I cannot tell which one is the best but I must say, this recipe is one of them. 
This time I made Teresa Cutter's recipe. If you don't know her, she's called the Healthy Chef in Australia. 
And, not at last, she's started to follow Paleo just recently. 

Ingredients


500 g (3 large) grated carrots
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups (300 g) almond meal
¼ cup (60 ml) macadamia nut or grape seed or olive  oil
¼ cup honey or 2 tbsp xylitol
1 cup raisins (you can use prunes instead)
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

Please read the rest here.

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Hot Chocolate

There is nothing better than a creamy, thick hot chocolate on a cold, winter night sitting next to the warm fireplace. 

It's not easy to make it without dairy and starch; not easy, but possible :)

Ingredients per cup
1 tbsp 100% cashew spread
1 tsp Duch cocoa powder,
1-2 tsp sweetener of your liking (eg. honey, stevea, Natvia, agave...)
approx. 1 cup hot water


Place the cashew spread, cocoa powder, sweetener and a few teaspoon of hot water into a sauce pan and mix them well. 
Pour the rest of the water while continuously stirring. Heat on medium-high temperature until it's creamy and thick. Pour more water if necessary. 


Enjoy :)


Variations
With vanilla: add 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste or vanilla essence at the beginning. 
With cinnamon: add 1 tsp of cinnamon at the beginning.
With mint: add a few drops of mint essence to the mixture at the end. 
With chilli: add a little chilli powder to the mixture at the beginning. Be careful not to overdose it.

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Home Made Mayonnaise

I don't buy Mayonnaise in supermarkets. It's not just easy to make it at home but also you know all the ingredients you put in it. My version never has soybean oil, sugar, natural flavour or calcium disodium for example. 
You can keep the mayonnaise in a closed jar in the fridge for quite a while, so don't worry if you need with a tablespoon only. 

Ingredients
1 egg yolk
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp mild mustard
200ml grapeseed oil
freshly ground white pepper


Place the egg yolk in a large mixing bowl and add mustard and lemon juice. Beat well with a whisk for a couple of minutes.
Begin to pour in the oil in a very thin stream beating all the while. 
Once it's all incorporated, add the salt and pepper and mix in it.


Enjoy :)


I prefer grapeseed oil to olive oil. On my opinion, olive oil has a very strong flavour, while grapeseed oil is neutral. You can use groundnut oil instead.


Tip
Use 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard instead of the mild mustard.

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Coconut & Apricot Balls

The easiest treat ever! It's also gluten free, dairy free, nut free, sugar free, vegan and paleo. And yummy :)

Ingredients
300g dried apricot
desiccated coconut + some extra for rolling in
2 tbsp water or rose water


Place apricots in a food processor for a few minutes until chopped finely. Add water or rose water, then add coconut. Once combined well, scoop out a small portion using a tea spoon and roll into a small ball. Finally, roll in coconut. 
Alternatively, you can roll out and slice it to little squares. 
Store in fridge.


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Chocolate Covered Marzipan Balls

Do you think it is hard to make marzipan? Not at all. It needs almond meal, water, rose water - and sugar.
Well, we don't eat sugar but there is a healthier solution.

Ingredients
150g blanched almond meal
100g xylitol
1 tbsp rose water
1 tbsp almond essence
100g 85% dark chocolate (eg. Lindt)


For the coating you will need toothpicks, aluminium foil and flat polystyrene. 


With a blender or a coffee grinder grind xylitol into a fine powder, the same consistency as icing sugar.
In a big bowl, mix almond meal and icing xylitol with rose water and almond essence and make a dough.
Take a teaspoon full of the dough and between your palms form a ball. Repeat it until all the dough is gone. Keep the balls in the freezer while you melt the chocolate but no longer.


Chop the chocolate roughly. On low temperature melt half of the chocolate. Remove from the heat then stir the rest of the chocolate in it. Leave it to melt.
Cover a flat polystyrene with aluminium foil. Stick a toothpick into a marzipan ball and swirl it around in the chocolate so that it's totally covered. Shake it a bit before you stick it into the polystyrene, so you won't waste too much chocolate. If the balls are cold enough, the chocolate will be hard very quickly. 
Once done, repeat till all your marzipan balls are covered with chocolate.

You should see something like this

If it's needed, place the balls into the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
When the chocolate coating is hard, you can cover the balls in coloured aluminium foil. 


Alternatively, you can roll the marzipan balls in Dutch (or raw) cocoa powder instead of the chocolate.  


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: make sure to use dairy free chocolate.
Gluten intolerance: make sure to use gluten free chocolate.
Paleo: make sure to use dairy, gluten and soy free chocolate with high cocoa mass content. 

Strawberry Salad with Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar

This dish shows an example of the use of the Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar. 
I love fruit in savoury salads. I think it's great as the sweet, salty and chilly flavours are mixed together. We eat this salad as a side dish with meat, like lamb or duck.

Ingredients
150g  rockets, washed and dried
200g strawberries
1 red onion
a handful of pine nuts
extra virgin olive oil
Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar
salt & pepper


Chop the strawberries and red onion into thin slices. 
In a dry pan, fry the pine nuts until they are fragrant and golden brown. 
Place the rockets, strawberry and red onion slices into a bowl. Pour olive oil and vinegar over the salad and season it. 
Scatter pine nuts over the top.
Serve immediately. 


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar

As a foodie, sometimes you can find unique products which sound fancy but quite dear and you not even know what to use for. Like this Vanilla & Cinnamon Vinegar.


I tasted once on a wine market and fell in love with it immediately. It was so yummy! I didn't want to spend twenty-some dollars for a small bottle, especially, that I didn't know what kind of dish I could use it with. 
I checked the ingredients - as always - and found it quite simple. So, I came home and made it. 
Now I use it all the time. It's perfect with savoury salads with fruit or with special desserts. It's also a great kitchen gift. 
And, not at last, it costs a fraction of the shop price.

Ingredients
good quality balsamic vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod


Place cinnamon stick and vanilla pod into a dark bottle and fill it up with balsamic vinegar. Cover tightly. 
Leave the bottle in a dark place for 2-3 weeks then you can use it. Longer you let it infuse, more intense flavour you get. 
When it's run out you can fill it up again.

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Home Made Bounty - Coconut Filled Chocolate

Nowadays it's easy to make your own filled chocolate. The first mold I had I bought from Ebay but they have become so cheap since then that even Aldi sells them - well, not continuously but occasionally. 
I made these little coconut filled chocolates a week before Easter but I almost had to make a new portion as  every time we drank a cup of cappuccino we ate a little chocolate heart with it. 


I always use 85% Lindt dark chocolate because it doesn't have dairy or soy, although there is sugar in it, only 5g in a 100g bar which I think is acceptable.
So these home made Bounty bites are not too sweet at all unlike the original one with milk chocolate. 
Try it :)

Ingredients
100g Lindt 85% dark chocolate
home made Coconella


Roughly chop the chocolate bar to small pieces. 
Place half of it into a sauce pan and heat on low temperature until the chocolate is almost totally melted. 
Put the sauce pan aside. Pour the rest of the chocolate pieces into the sauce pan and stir.


Fill your mold cavities using a teaspoon about 1/3 full then paint the inside with a brush. The chocolate should leave a thin coat everywhere. Place the mold in the fridge (Sydney is too hot for making chocolates) and rest it for 3 minutes.
Using a brush only make another coat in the cavities. Rest the mold in the fridge again for 3 minutes.
With a piping bag or a small coffee spoon squeeze Coconella into the cavities making sure not to fill more than 3/4 of the way up the sides. 
When all the cavities are filled, set the filled shells to a cool place to let the filling hard again. 
Spoon chocolate to fill in the top. You also can drag a straight edge across the cavities to flatten the bottom. 
Place the filled mold (cavitiy side up) on a flat, cold surface (preferably in the fridge) to harden.


The chocolates are ready to be released when the chocolate pulls away from the mold slightly. 
Once you think the mold is ready, turn it over on parchment paper. If your chocolate is tempered properly and it is completely hardened, the chocolates should just fall out of the mold. If they don't, give the mold a little tap on the bottom to help release the chocolates.


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: make sure to use dairy free chocolate.
Gluten intolerance: make sure to use gluten free chocolate.
Paleo: make sure to use dairy, gluten and soy free chocolate with high cocoa mass content. 

Barramundi with pesto

Have you been in Collaroy yet? 
There is a little deck restaurant right next to the beach. Actually, it is part of the Collaroy Beach Hotel to be correct.
It's a perfect place for people with kids as they can play in the sand while you are waiting for your meal. It has a beautiful view - there is no car between you and the ocean, only the orangy sand. 
The meals are very reasonably priced but don't expect Michelin star; a very rare place in Sydney.


This is the restaurant where I tasted this dish the first time. They serve it with the fish of the day and call the vegetables 'Mediterranean'. I don't know why, I think there is nothing Mediterranean about sweet potato...
Anyway, this dish is delicious and I have cooked my version of it quite often of late. 

Ingredients
4 barramundi filets
1 sweet potato
1 eggplant
1 red bell capsicum 
4 tbsp lemon pesto

Wash the eggplant and cut it into 7mm tick slices. Put the slices in a bowl and salt both sides. 
Cut the sides of the capsicum into 4 slices. 
Peel the sweet potato and slice it up about 7mm tick.
Add oil to a frying pan and cook the sweet potato and capsicum slices until they are soft. 
Wash the salt from the eggplant slices, dry and cook the same way as the other vegetables.
Keep everything warm while you cook the fish.


Add oil to a frying pan and cook the barramundi fillets for 4 minutes. Turn the fish and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until cooked to your liking. 


Put a tablespoon of pesto onto each plate and place the fillet on it. Top with the vegetables then season with salt and pepper.


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Lemon Pesto

Well, this is a pesto without lemon, despite the name.
It does have Lemon Basil in it, however, which really has a lemony basil smell.


I have lots of herbs in my garden and they have grown very well this Summer.  I was quite successful with Basil unlike last season. I have Sweet, Greek, Thai, Purple and Lemon Basil. The last one is my favourite for making pesto. 

Ingredients
1 bunch Lemon Basil
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp pine nuts
corse salt
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmezan
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil


Wash the basil carefully and allow to drain. Chop in a food processor, together with the garlic, pine nuts, and a pinch of coarse salt. Gradually add the grated cheese and work into an even paste. 
Finally, slowly mix in the olive oil, until a creamy consistency is achieved. 

Come back in a few days and you'll see what I use the lemon pesto with :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: choose real Parmesan matured for 1-2 years. 
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Home made Raffaello

It's so easy to make it at home! And, I think it's also healthier than the original. Let's see what the ingredients are in the shop version: 

Ingredients: Desiccated Coconut (23.5%), Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Skim Milk Powder, Vegetable Fats, Whole Almond (8%), Wheat Flour, Whey Powder, Flavourings, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Rye Flour, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Salt. "Contains milk, almonds, gluten, soy"

So people with dairy or gluten intolerance cannot eat Raffaello. Unlike my home made version :)


Ingredients


1 jar (200ml) home made coconella 
approx. 16 almonds, blanched
desiccated coconut 


Put a teaspoon of coconella into your hand and place the almond into the centre. 
Bring together the outer edges. Make sure that the almond is covered completely, then roll in between your palms to form a nice ball. 
Put desiccated coconut in a small bowl and roll the coconut balls in it one at a time. 
Store them under 20 C. 

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.

Coconella - coconut spread with vanilla

I always read product labels. Not only because of the ingredients I want to avoid but also because I might be able to make it at home myself.
I saw coconut spread the very first time at the local health food store. I was interested but found it quite dear. I read the label - and put it back to the shelf. So easy!

With paleo banana bread

Ingredients
200g desiccated coconut
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp honey or light agave nectar 
approx. 3-4 tbsp coconut oil, melted


Put desiccated coconut into a food processor and chop for about 5 minutes. Add coconut oil, vanilla paste, honey or agave and chop for another 1-2 minutes. It should be a smooth spread. You can add more coconut oil, if necessary. 


Coconut spread can be use the same way as Nutella: you can put in cakes or eat with bread. 
Or, you can make the most delicious, home made Bounty or Raffaello :)


Enjoy :)

Variations for wellbeing

Dairy intolerance: enjoy as is.
Gluten intolerance: enjoy as is.
Paleo: enjoy as is.