Never throw away a fruit

I think I haven’t invented this movement but since I was young my father always made impressive jams and fruit purees. Having an orchard helped a lot as we were always left with more fruit than we could possibly eat.

For a while we were there every week end. I knew that when the apple were falling the apple puree will arrive.

The second thing I learnt is that a fruit is never dead until you decide it is. That’s why I make a jam or a puree of my almost all rotten fruits.

Apple Purée

I will describe three recipes here. I try to make good combinations with what I found in our kitchen.

Strawberries and Squash Jam:

• 4 rotting strawberries
• Part of an already cooked squash (about a quarter of it)
• Sugar (less than the total weight of your fruit/veg)

To make the jam there is a tiny preparation, just remove the stem and cut in quarters. Don’t cut any part out! Keep everything.

I first heat in a saucepan the strawberries, the squash and the sugar.

I wait 20 minutes maintaining in a low simmer.

The result did not need to go through a blender or a chopper.

I put in a sterilised jam jar (you have to boil the jar and lid separately for 10 minutes)

The taste is interesting and new. Sweet and tangy, very smooth. I eat it for breakfast on a buttered baguette.

Pears and Orange Jam:

• 2 very ripe or rotting pears
• 1 very ripe or rotting orange
• Sugar (half of the total weight of your fruits)

Same procedure, heat everything in a saucepan. Wait 20 minutes and put in a sterilised jar.

Pears and Orange Jam

Apple and Sugar Water, not really a jam much more a Purée:

I used water in which R soaked dates for a homemade Nutella. She was about to pour it down the sink when I stopped her in extremis. I improvised the following:

• 300 ml of sugar date water
• 2 great apple
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder

To create the water you need to put 15 dates (cut in half) in a cold water bowl. After two hours, take the dates for their initial use (the homemade Nutella, more of this below). The dates release their aroma and sweetness in the bowl. If you taste the water it will be sweet.

Cut the apple in dice; keep the skin but not the core.

In a saucepan boil the water; add the apples, the sugar, and the cinnamon. Wait until the water disappear and looks like a syrup.

Put in a sterilize jar.

I eat this puree with plain yoghurt.

Stay tuned in for the homemade Nutella recipe, it’s delicious, healthy and completely addictive!

M.

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Orange glazed carrots - Intro to veggie nutrition

I have decided to become vegetarian for both ethical and health reasons. In order to do a smooth switch of diet I am actively researching nutrition information about the various nutrients you need and where to find them.

Funny I never used to worry so much about nutrients when I was an omni... I just ate lots of meat and dairy products as well as a little vegetable and some fruits and just assumed that I had all I needed. I was that person who struggled to fit those 5 to 10 daily fruits and vegetables in my diet and was super proud when I reached 3 (including the tomato slices in the lunch sandwich).

Now it seems I didn’t get all I needed and this going veggie endeavour has actually made me wiser.

It’s quite a nightmare to try to navigate in the nutrition world when you are not a professional. 

First because the information is very complex and cannot be summed-up into “so this is what you need, go and eat this and that and you’ll be set”. Duh? Well, it’s always nice to think that you can make information understandable so I will still try but this will have to be over the course of several posts. 

Second, because nobody agrees. It’s one of these fields where scientists and researchers battle with studies and databases. You can read somewhere that veganism is very good for your health and elsewhere that you will be missing nutrients. Some sources also give you different nutrient contents for the same food. And then that content changes according to whether the food is raw or cooked and depending on how it’s cooked. A bit of a nightmare for a beginner. 

However, thankfully there do seem to be a few elements where everyone agrees. SO, what did I learn exactly?

First that the majority of sources seem to agree that a vegetarian diet is healthier than an omni diet.

Image source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/h/healthy-eating.asp

 

Second, everything that you find in meat you can find elsewhere. You just need to eat more of a varied number of food.

Image source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/h/health_conscious.asp

 

Third, women need a lot more iron than men and should make sure they get enough. 

Image Source: http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=33485

In terms of cooking, what does it all mean? I have not eaten meat for 3 weeks now and have never eaten such a varied diet, tested such different meals and food combinations. So in terms of cooking it’s far FAR from the lone carrot and green salad which people imagine vegetarians eat.

You can find an example below. And there are plenty of others to come. Enjoy!

Speaking of carrot… For the past 26 years I have hated cooked carrot. I have a feeling however that it was mostly due to the way it was cooked, all bland in water or too predictable roasted in butter or oil. Abel and Cole came up with a recipe (http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/glazey-orange-carrots) which appealed to me even though it involved cooking those darn carrots. We tried it and it was simply delicious. M & I were literally scraping our plates.

The good news is that it’s also super easy and fast to make (about 20 minutes, including 15 minutes of cooking).

The original recipe mentions is feeds 4. We don’t agree, it feeds 2 and you will want more so don’t hesitate to double the proportions and refrigerate in a sealed container for a few day.

Ingredients

3-4 large or 8-10 small carrots

A mug of freshly squeezed orange juice

A the zest of 2 or 3 oranges, freshly grated

A bit of butter

Cut the carrots into batons or, if they're small, halve lengthwise for long, elegant pieces.

Arrange your carrots in a single layer in a lidded frying pan or shallow pot. Add juice and zest.

Cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 10-15 mins. 

Shake the pan from time to time. Check the juice level, too. Add more juice or a little water, if necessary, to keep the carrots moist.

When the carrots are tender and the juice has reduced to a sticky glaze, remove the lid. The carrots should be softened but still retain some firmness. 

Add a bit of butter or oil, and some pepper to taste.

The Orange Cake

It’s this time of the year again when the night falls fast, the temperature goes down and Christmas is over. We don’t know about you but we love winter. It’s all about being cosy at home, cooking comfort food and getting plenty of vitamins and minerals from seasonal fruits and veg. 

To keep it entertaining we’ve just used our oranges from this week’s box to make an orange cake. The first time we did it we made a mistake and put salted butter… and it was just delicious. We have now come up with a more balanced version:

·         4 large oranges

·         170 g of butter at room temperature (half salted and half unsalted)

·         130g of sugar

·         3 eggs

·         150g of flour

·         2 tbsp of baking powder (1 sachet)

·         125g of icing sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 160°C (Mark 5).

Grate the zest of two of the oranges; keep for later.

Mix the butter and the sugar until you obtain a homogenous dough. Add in the eggs and mix well.

Mix the yeast and the flour separately and add to the butter mixture slowly while mixing with a whip vigorously.

Include the zest and the juice of 1.5 oranges. You can modify the amount of juice depending on the consistency as the dough should not be too liquid, but you will need the juice of at least one orange.

Butter a cake pan and pour the dough. Put in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Check with a knife that it’s dry inside.

Once the cake is cooked and cooling in your kitchen, resit a bit longer!

In a pot, pour the juice from the remaining oranges and the icing sugar. Mix well until the sugar has dissolved in the juice. Bring to a boil and keep boiling for at least 7 minutes, until the mixture becomes a bit syrupy. You can test that by putting a bit of the icing on a spoon and cooling it. If it’s sticky, it’s ready.

With a ladle, pour gently over the entire surface of the cake, ensuring that the cake absorbs the syrup. Decorate with a few orange slices. 

Tuck in and enjoy!