Primal Naan Bread

Following on from last week’s blog post, we’ve recently been going through a spicy phase at our house. We love curry, which is a good thing because for the past week we’ve been eating it most days whilst I tried to figure out how to make the perfect grain-free naan bread accompaniment. Happily (actually I am ecstatic!), Primal Plate has cracked the code for a grain-free naan bread that looks and tastes as close to an authentic Indian flatbread as you can get, without using traditional ingredients.

I had to go from memory when developing this recipe because with rice, legumes and grains all off-limits, I’ve not eaten out at an Indian restaurant or had an Indian ‘take-away’, for a very long time. I always remember the best naan being soft, chewy and subtly sweet, so my first thoughts turned to tiger nut flour, which I knew would give my naan a slight sweetness, without adding sugar. 

Traditionally, naan is made from plain wheat flour and leavened with yeast before baking. To get the taste, smell and texture of traditional naan it seemed important that the raising agent for my naan was also yeast, although I wasn’t certain whether this was a Paleo/Primal-approved ingredient or not. Consulting Mark’s Daily Apple, I discovered that if you drink wine or beer, the type of yeast used to make both is the same as the yeast used for bread making. And, assuming you’re not yeast sensitive, there are some nutritional benefits to eating it, especially if you avoid animal products. As a primal, vegetarian wine drinker, I concluded yeast was good to go! 

For the rest of the recipe I got my inspiration from the queen of Indian cuisine, Madhu Jaffrey. However, when refined wheat flour, the primary ingredient of naan bread isn’t an option, I had to find alternative ingredients and put them together in just the right amounts so that my naan bread would look and taste like the real deal.

To be honest, my first attempt included a high proportion of green banana flour (a brilliant source of resistant starch, which is one of the best foods to feed our good gut bacteria) but it turned out almost exactly like wholewheat pitta bread instead (another recipe for another day). For naan, I wanted it to be altogether softer and fluffier.

Substituting ground almonds for banana flour and changing the ratio of ingredients finally did the trick. The virtually no-need-to-knead dough rose better (doubled in size at the first proving), looked like I’d used plain flour rather than whole-wheat (more naan-like) and had the desired soft, fluffy texture I was looking for.

It was another ‘Eureka!” moment in my Primal cook’s career. I am still totally amazed that each new recipe I attempt to develop with the same handful of ingredients - albeit in differing amounts - can be transformed into an endless variety of grain-free, refined sugar-free cakes, breads, biscuits, scones and pancakes that look and taste no different to those made with conventional ingredients like wheat flour and sugar. 

If you're trying to lose weight and eat low-carb please be aware that these naan are extremely moreish! They’re lovely as an occasional treat, but don’t go overboard. Although a well known supermarket’s plain naan has 50% more grams of carbohydrate than Primal Plate’s naan bread, I have in fact gained 2 pounds this week, which I can only attribute to multiple testing of this recipe. It was worth it!

PRIMAL NAAN BREAD (Makes 3 decent-sized naan)

Ingredients

75ml hand hot milk            

1 tsp raw organic liquid honey                

5g (about 1 heaped tsp) dried active yeast

150g tapioca flour

20g coconut flour

30g tiger nut flour

1½ tsp baking powder                    

¾ tsp xanthan gum

50g ground almonds

½ tsp tsp sea salt    

1 tbsp olive oil + ¼ tsp for greasing            

50ml yogurt, beaten

1 medium egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp butter or ghee, melted - for brushing        

Instructions

Gently warm 75ml milk to ‘blood’ temperature with the honey. Put the milk/honey in a bowl. Add the yeast. Stir to mix. Set aside for 15-20 minutes or until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture is frothy.

Meanwhile, sift the tapioca, coconut, tiger nut flours, baking powder and xanthan gum into a large bowl. Add the ground almonds and sea salt and make a well in the centre. 

In a separate bowl, combine the beaten egg, olive oil and yogurt, then pour it into the well, along with the bubbling yeast mixture. Gradually bring the mixture together with a fork then gently knead with your hand for a few minutes until it forms a soft, smooth ball of dough.

Pour ¼ tsp oil into a medium/large bowl and roll the ball of dough in it. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside for 1-1½ hours in a warmish place until doubled in size. (I heat my oven to 40℃, then switch it off and put the covered bowl of dough in the closed oven to prove).

Tip the proofed dough out of the bowl onto a work surface then briefly knead again. Divide the dough into three equal balls. Lightly cover with cling film and set aside whilst you melt the butter or ghee in a small saucepan over a low heat. 

Heat a heavy non-stick frying pan over a high heat for 5 minutes or so and put the oven on low. 

Meanwhile, gently flatten each of the balls between two sheets of cling film then lightly roll or press into a tear-shaped naan, about 25cm long and 13cm wide at its widest point and slightly thicker around the edge. Keep lightly covered until you’re ready to cook them. 

Put the naan into the hot frying pan (no oil is needed) and cook until it starts to puff up and is tinged brown in patches (about 1-2 minutes), then using a flat bladed spatula flip the naan over and cook the other side until that too is patched with brown (another 1-2 minutes). Turn it back over one final time and cook for about another 30 seconds or so until cooked through and there are no doughy bits remaining.

Brush the cooked naan with the melted butter or ghee and put in the warm oven whilst you make the other flatbread(s). Serve with curry. 

Notes

If the dough seems too sticky when you’re trying to knead it, add more tapioca flour - a very little at a time - only just enough so that the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and isn’t sticking to your fingers.

You may have guessed that I regularly cook for three people (hence a recipe for three naan). For a family of four or more, simply double the ingredients to make six. Alternatively, divide the existing dough recipe into four balls to make the finished naan smaller.  

We struggled trying to determine the best and simplest way to cook the naan - or at least that was our excuse to keep taste-testing them! As well as cooking them on top of the hob, they can be baked in a super-hot oven for 5 minutes. Firstly, pre-heat a heavy baking sheet in an oven set to its highest temperature. Literally, ’slap’ each prepared naan down onto the hot baking sheet. It will puff up. Bake for 2½ minutes then turn over and continue cooking for a further 2-2½ minutes. Wrap each naan in a clean tea-towel and keep warm whilst you make the rest in the same way. 

Naan bread cooked in the oven will turn out more evenly golden but not quite as soft and chewy as when cooked on top of the stove in a frying pan. We finally all agreed that the pan-cooked ones had the ‘edge’ i.e. looked and tasted the most authentic. 

Carbohydrate 52g  Protein 8g - per serving

Grain-free, gluten-free Primal Naan Bread is the perfect sharing bread to eat with curries and Indian food, shown here with Cauliflower & Mushroom Curry

Best Ever Vegetable Curry

Fifty years ago I was at catering college (a career I never pursued) and there is one particular memory of my student days that’s stayed with me. One afternoon Mr Green, our lecturer, demonstrated the methodology for making meat stew and afterwards we students, who had all been given identical ingredients to work with, were told to recreate the dish from scratch. 

Given the constraints of a predetermined set of ingredients, it was truly bizarre to experience how differently our individual interpretations of a simple recipe for beef stew turned out, which varied between downright inedible to very tasty indeed. It was then I realised that cooking isn’t just about acquiring skills - it’s an instinct.

From a food blogger’s perspective this has taught me that I need to create and test recipes very precisely to ensure there’s virtually no room for error in their translation. Not an easy task when ‘season to taste’ is purely subjective and people don’t know what’s wrong or missing from a recipe unless, like me, they instinctively do. You’d be surprised at how many times I read a recipe and ‘know’ it’s not going to work before I’ve even cooked it. 

I have five golden rules for success:

• Read every recipe through at least twice before you start to cook it.
• Prepare everything in advance e.g. assembling ingredients, chopping vegetables, lining tins etc. 
• Taste your dish each step of the way - add extra seasoning etc. cautiously.
• Consider the overall balance of the meal -  colours, taste, texture, ratio of protein to carbs etc. 
• Delegate - there is nothing more bonding than cooking a meal with people you love, then sitting down together to eat it.

Sadly, none of this is an issue for people who’ve already been persuaded by the food industry that it’s better to stay out of the kitchen and let someone else (in a factory) do their cooking for them. In my view, this is precisely why factory-farming and other ecologically unsound food production methods have flourished. The demands of big business supplying ready-meals and cheap convenience food has consistently applied pressure on farmers to keep driving food production costs down. Economies of scale now forces millions of factory farmed animals to live and die in abject misery and to be treated with less respect than a fruit farmer must give to a crate of apples to prevent them from being bruised - all in the name of profit. 

Feeling energetically connected to the food you eat goes with the territory for the instinctive cook, so in the face of gross acts of cruelty to these sentient beings, I feel compelled to create vegetarian meals that taste as good, if not better, than meat-based ones. Morally, veganism would be better, but since both grains and legumes are off limits for a Primally inspired lifestyle, it is an impossible decision to make if I want to continue living healthily. My best hope is to encourage readers to roll up their sleeves and acquaint themselves with the sheer pleasure and satisfaction of cooking real, nutrient dense foods that don’t exploit animals and aren’t at odds with nature.

I created this weeks’ recipe for the Best Ever Vegetable Curry (indeed the best-of-any-type of curry I’ve ever tasted), for that reason. John, Sarah and I needed something to eat at my son-in-laws recent 40th birthday party, because although his favourite curry house delivered enough food for 50 guests, none of it was compatible with our self-imposed no meat, no legumes, no grains diet. 

I’ve called this fresh-tasting, fresh-looking, aromatic vegetable curry ‘Best Ever’ because Sarah and I only had to take one mouthful before we both excitedly announced “This is the best tasting curry I’ve eaten…ever!” Perfectly balanced - not too hot, not too spicy, not too creamy - I spent most of the evening congratulating myself! 

Craving curry? This one ticks all the boxes. It’s delicious, it’s inexpensive, it’s vegetarian (I like that many Indians are strict vegetarians), it’s a complete meal in a bowl and, because it’s one of those dishes that tastes even better the next day when the flavours have been allowed to fully develop, it’s the perfect make-ahead meal for family and friends. Served with Coriander & Mint Chutney, it’s in a flavour-packed league of its own that could convert even the most dedicated meat eater.  

For those of you that already follow the Primal eating plan and think that curry nirvana can’t exist without naan bread, I agree! There is no better way to get curry into your mouth! Which means that a Primal Plate recipe for grain-free naan bread is already in development and (fingers crossed) will be posted soon. Watch this space!

Best Ever Vegetable Curry (Serves 4)

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, finely diced

walnut-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (about 1 tbsp when grated)

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 green chilli

1 dsp organic tomato paste

1 dsp Marigold organic reduced salt vegetable bouillon powder

350g organic sweet potatoes

250g organic carrots

1 small celeriac (about 500g unpeeled weight) 

1 x 400g tin organic plum tomatoes

160ml organic coconut cream

3-inch piece cinnamon stick

Sea salt (about 1½ tsp) and freshly ground black pepper (about ¼ tsp)

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small bite-sized florets

120g baby spinach, washed and dried

Coriander and Mint Chutney - to serve

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large deep sauté / frying pan. Add the onion, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until beginning to brown. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook with the pan lid on for another 8 to10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onion is deep golden brown.

Peel and chop all the root vegetables (carrot, sweet potato, celeriac) into even-sized dice (about 15mm / ¾ inch) - you should have about 950g prepared vegetables in total.

Halve, deseed and finely chop the chilli. Peel and grate the ginger. 

Add the chilli and ginger to the onions; cook, stirring, for 1 minute to combine the flavours. 

Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric; stir for another minute to toast the spices. Add the bouillon powder and tomato paste and stir for another minute until well blended into the spice mix.

Add the diced vegetables, stir to evenly coat them in the aromatics, then cover the pan and continue to cook over a medium/low heat whilst you open the tomatoes and drain the juice into a measuring jug. 

Remove any daggy stalk ends, bits of skin etc. from the tomatoes, then chop them and add to the pan. Make the drained tomato juice up to 300ml with filtered water and add that too. 

Add the coconut cream, cinnamon stick, salt, and freshly ground pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium/ low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the root vegetables are almost tender. 

Add the cauliflower florets, stir well, cover and cook for a further 10 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Remove the cinnamon stick. 

Stir in spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes more. Check the seasoning, adding more salt if necessary. 

Serve in warmed bowls topped with a generous spoonful of Coriander and Mint Chutney.

Courgette Linguine With Cashew Pesto and Marinated Mushroom and Broccoli

Although at Primal Plate we’re more than happy to occasionally have our grain-free, refined sugar-free cake and to eat it too, there comes a time (usually after a second slice of said cake) that I begin to pull back from borderline over-indulgence to something altogether more healthy and savoury. 

Sugar is sugar, and although raw honey, coconut palm sugar and pure maple syrup are much healthier options than refined sugar, they are still sugar. Even fructose, the natural sugar found in fruit, is unhealthy when eaten to excess. I know that because I used to make myself what I thought was a healthy multiple-fruit smoothie, which oftentimes boasted more than my ‘five-a-day’ in just one potent glass full. During this time I developed an inflammatory skin condition, which my doctor initially diagnosed as shingles. In fact it was a severe case of atopic eczema, which became infected. Within two weeks of switching to a low-carb Primal diet, which meant I stopped drinking excessive amounts of fructose in my breakfast smoothie, the rash disappeared for good.

The occasional sweet treat probably doesn't do much harm, but eating too much sugar (this applies to virtually everyone who eats a processed, high-carb Western diet and doesn’t do significant amounts of exercise) can have harmful effects on metabolism and is pro-inflammatory. Inflammation can lead directly to the development of all sorts of diseases throughout the body including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer and undoubtedly it was sugar-linked inflammation that caused my erstwhile eczema. 

So, after developing and testing last week’s recipe for Tiger Nut Victoria Sandwich, which involved baking and eating two cakes within three days, I came across a recipe in Paul Gayler’s book Pure Vegetarian that is the perfect antidote to sugar overdose. 

My adaptation of Courgette Linguine With Cashew Pesto and Marinated Mushroom and Broccoli is a refreshing, vegan plateful of gorgeous colour and outstanding texture. Classic, Asian-style flavours come together in perfect harmony for one of the healthiest, zingiest, freshest-tasting meals ever! With virtually no cooking involved, it is also surprisingly simple to make. 

Try this almost raw ‘detox’ recipe if you don’t cook / won’t cook, if you need an instant energy boost or if you simply want to make amends for some recent foodie indiscretion. Good to look at, good to eat and oh so good for you, it really is health food at its best. 

Courgette Linguine With Cashew Pesto and Marinated Mushroom and Broccoli (V) (Serves 4)

Ingredients - for the cashew pesto

50g raw organic cashews

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

2cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated

100ml extra-virgin olive oil

25g fresh coriander

15g fresh mint leaves

15g fresh basil leaves

Juice of 1 lime

Sea salt

Instructions

Place the cashews in a blender and blitz until broken down. 

Add the ginger, chilli, oil and herbs and blend until pureed.

Add lime juice, then season with sea salt to taste (I used ½ teaspoon) and briefly whizz again to incorporate.

Cover and set aside.

Ingredients - for the marinated vegetables

200g organic chestnut mushrooms, cleaned (I just wipe them over with a damp paper towel)

100ml organic extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)

1 organic spring onion, very finely chopped

2cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated

100g organic broccoli, cut into small florets (without stalk)

50ml fresh lime juice (approx. 1 large or 2 small limes)

4 crispy and firm organic courgettes

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Slice the mushrooms very thinly, place in a large bowl and add the oil, soy sauce, onion and ginger. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes (no longer than this or they create too much juice)

Meanwhile, steam the broccoli for about 2 to 3 minutes until it turns bright green but is still crunchy in texture. Quickly remove and add to the mushrooms along with the lime juice and season to taste.

Cut the ends off the courgettes, then using a kitchen mandolin, spiralizer, vegetable peeler or sharp knife, slice as thinly as possible lengthways into long strips or ‘linguine’. 

Toss with the mushrooms and broccoli, adjust the seasoning and serve with a dollop of cashew pesto on top. 

Carbohydrate 13g Protein 8g - per serving

A Spirilizer makes perfectly thin and even courgette 'linguine'

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

In our neck of the woods (North Nottinghamshire, UK) I’m fed-up with waiting for summer to arrive. As far as I’m concerned, 14℃ day-time temperatures don’t hack it at the end of July. Recently, I’ve even resorted to taking a hot water bottle to bed! 

I don’t know whether it’s symptomatic of global warming or personal stress levels at the height of the wedding season that’s to blame (Mirror Imaging is my second day job) but I’ve felt unseasonably cold for this time of year. Meanwhile, Sarah’s been threatening a sore throat for the past week. This means that whether the weather fails to get any warmer, or is actually getting colder, a bowl of bright-red Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup is just the thing to improve our disposition.

Peppers and tomatoes hail from warmer Mediterranean climes - the very thought makes me feel more cheery - and are incredibly healthy, being stacked with vitamins and minerals, so they’re perfect for staving off a cold.

So, if we can’t just dive into summer this year, at least we can pretend by bringing a little bit of sunshine into cooler summer days with this great tasting soup. Roasting the peppers and tomatoes really gives a delicious depth of flavour to the end result. Simple to make and gorgeous to look at, I can say with absolute conviction, “Eat soup, be happy!”

Meanwhile, I’m really hoping for a hot and sunny August.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup is a vibrant red colour - serve with a drizzle of cream and some shredded fresh basil leaves for a simple but impressive garnish.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup (V) (Serves 4)

Ingredients

500g ripe plum tomatoes, halved

2 red peppers, halved, de-seeded and chopped into smallish pieces

1 onion, quartered

2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 heaped tbsp organic Marigold vegetable bouillon powder

900ml water, freshly boiled water

1 tbsp organic tomato paste

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2-3 drops liquid stevia - optional

To finish:

Double cream

Fresh basil leaves, finely shredded  

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 220℃ / 425℉ / Gas mark 7

Place the tomatoes, peppers, onion and thyme into a large mixing bowl, drizzle over the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix everything together well so that the vegetables are evenly coated in oil, then tip onto a large non-stick baking tray in a single layer and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until wilted and slightly charred all over. 

Meanwhile, make a vegetable stock with the bouillon powder and freshly boiled water.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a large saucepan, cover with the vegetable stock and add the tomato puree. Cook over a moderate heat for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool down for 5 minutes before proceeding to the next step.

Ladle the contents of the pan into a blender container (you will need to do this in several batches), then blitz until completely smooth. 

As you go, strain each batch of blended soup through a fine sieve into a clean pan. 

After the final batch of soup has been strained, adjust the seasoning (if it tastes a little acidic, add 2-3 drops of liquid stevia) then re-heat to just below boiling point.

Pour the hot soup into 4 warmed bowls, add a swirl of cream and sprinkle with shredded basil. 

Notes:

Crumbled feta cheese sprinkled on top of the soup just before serving, is a tasty alternative to cream.

I suppose it’s sods law that the minute I decide to blog a hot soup recipe, the weather forecast for this weekend is that Summer 2015 is back on. If so, Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup is a lovely soup to take on a picnic!

Carbohydrate 15g  Protein 3g - per serving

Sweet red peppers and ripe, juicy vine tomatoes are the basis for this delicious soup.

Chocolate Tiger Nut Stollen Bites

If you had a go at making Tiger Nut Horchata last week, you might be thinking that despite the tiger nut pulp leftovers (I just feel guilty for throwing it away), horchata is such a delicious, healthy drink it deserves to be a ‘keeper’. If so, today’s recipe for Chocolate Tiger Nut Stollen Bites answers the need for thrift by transforming tiger nut pulp into a superfood energy bite that’s as enticing as tiger nut milk itself.

On the other hand, if you haven’t yet tried homemade horchata, this week’s recipe might just be the means to an end…

Chocolate Tiger Nut Stollen Bites are simply yummy - chocolatey, fudgy, fruity and nutty all at the same time - but they won’t cause your blood sugar levels to spike. A really healthy option when you’re craving something sweet, these chocolate-coated balls of fibre-rich goodness are packed full of  vitamins, minerals and protein and are perfect to enjoy anytime you feel the need for an energy-boosting snack. I find them seriously addictive with my favourite morning Nespresso, so the next time I make a batch of Tiger Nut Horchata, I’ll be using up all the residual tiger nut pulp in one go and doubling up the recipe below for these irresistible, no-added sugar sweeties!

They’re also dainty and elegant enough to serve as after-dinner petits fours.

Chocolate Tiger Nut Stollen Bites (Makes 32 ‘bites’)

Ingredients

50g whole almonds

50g pecans

100g tiger nut pulp (left over from making horchata)

100g (about 6-8) Medjool dates, with stones removed

50g organic Goji berries

30g coconut butter

45g dark chocolate chips

¼ tsp sea salt

For chocolate coating (optional)

75g chocolate chips, melted

Extra Goji berries, for decoration (optional)

Instructions

Put half the almonds and pecans into a food processor and pulse together until they are coarsely chopped into small pieces (the texture should be slightly coarse with some bigger pieces, to add ‘bite’ to the final mixture). Tip the chopped nuts out into a bowl and set aside.

Add the remaining almonds and pecans to the bowl of the food processor and whizz until very finely chopped. Add the tiger nut pulp and whizz some more until everything is well combined.

Add the pitted dates to the mixture and whizz again until the mixture becomes sticky and starts to form a dough. 

Add the Goji berries and coconut butter and process again until well incorporated. Keep whizzing until you have a thick smooth paste (the texture of almond paste/marzipan).

Add the chocolate chips, sea salt and the reserved chopped nuts and pulse (minimally) several times to ensure that the chocolate and nuts are evenly distributed throughout the mix whilst still retaining their texture.

Roll the mixture into small balls between the palms of your hands (10g per ‘bite’ is just the right amount) and store in the refrigerator.

For chocolate coating, melt 75g of chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl set over a barely simmering pan of hot water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the surface of the water).

When the chocolate is melted, stir with a metal spoon until it is smooth and glossy then remove from the heat. 

Using a couple of teaspoons to help you, carefully drop the tiger nut stollen balls one at a time into the melted chocolate and turn them over and around until evenly coated. Allow any excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing each coated bite onto a baking tray lined with waxed paper. Leave alone until completely set. Decorate each with a single Goji berry, if liked.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week - though they’re highly unlikely to last that long!

Notes:

You don’t have to cover Chocolate Tiger Nut Stollen Bites in melted chocolate but I think the chocolatey-taste-hit and ‘snap’ of the cold chocolate shell surrounding a soft, fudgy centre makes for a decidedly more decadent experience.

Dark chocolate can develop a whitish-grey ‘bloom’ on its surface when kept in the fridge. Although blooming may make the chocolate look less appetising it is still perfectly safe to eat. I deliberately didn’t ask Sarah at Mirror Imaging to photograph my tiger nut stollen bites until they were four days old and, as you can see, they look fine - not as glossy as chocolate kept at room temperature but still looking good. 

I coined the name ‘Stollen’ (a traditional German Christmas cake) for these little bites because that’s what their taste and texture remind me of, though I didn’t want to wait for next Christmas to share the recipe! When the time is right, a dash of ground cinnamon added to the mix would certainly make for a distinctly Christmassy treat.

The Goji berry is a nutritionally rich, dried red fruit from Tibet, Quinghai Province that is packed full of minerals, including zinc, calcium, selenium and iron. Goji Berries contain more than 11% protein, including 18 amino acids and all 8 of the essential amino acids. They’re also very rich in beta-carotene and supply up to 500 times more vitamin C than oranges! 

Carbohydrate 7g Protein 1g - per bite

Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart

This week was the start of Wimbledon (think strawberries and cream) and culminates in Independence Day (Saturday, 4th July) - think, ‘Happy Birthday’, to my beautiful daughter, Sarah! After that Mirror Imaging is into a run of photoshoots and weddings on five consecutive weekends that will keep us both busy until the end of September. So with that in mind, I really wanted to make an extra special summer birthday ‘cake’ for Sarah, not only to celebrate her birthday but also the last of our leisurely weekends for the foreseeable future!

Today, I am so excited to be able to bring something completely new to the party - a delicious summer fruit tart made with tiger nut pastry. “Tiger, erm what?”…I hear you say!

Q. When is a nut not a nut? A. When it’s a tiger nut! 

Tiger nuts, also known as ‘earth almonds’ and in Spain, ‘chufas’, are the sweet, brown, nutty, ‘super’ tubers of the sedge plant (a stubborn, weed-like grass), which is grown and harvested like potatoes. And, they are incredibly good for you. 

Truly Primal/Paleo (our early human ancestors used to forage and feast on this nutrient dense wonder food), tiger nuts have a nutritional profile that really holds its own against red meat, olive oil and even human breast milk. In fact, tigernut milk (recipe for Spanish style ‘Horchata de Chufas' coming soon) is the healthiest substitute for dairy milk because it is rich in monounsaturated fat and does not contain inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids like other nut milks do. Tiger nuts are also full of dietary fibre, particularly resistant starch, are high in minerals (magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, calcium and iron) and Vitamins C and E. Sounds to me like the under-utilised tiger nut might well be the answer to 795 million people around the world still struggling with hunger and malnutrition! 

And, in modern society, where people are often overfed and under-nourished, research suggests that tiger nuts can help reverse or stop the progression of degenerative diseases such as  diabetes, heart disease, circulatory problems, digestive disorders, autoimmune diseases and some cancers, including colon cancer.

I’ve only just re-discovered tiger nuts (they were sold as sweets when I was little) as part of my ongoing search for grain-free, gluten-free and now nut and allergy-free alternatives to grain flours. To say I’m chuffed with the way my chufa pastry lined Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart worked out, is an understatement! This new kid on the block for lovers of Primal/Paleo treats, ticks all the boxes for healthy, nutritious food that makes you glad to be alive - indeed a little bit smug - because who would guess that this gorgeous Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart would be entirely compatible with a low-carb, refined sugar-free diet?

When cooked, this tigernut pastry has more the taste and texture of a biscuit cheesecake base than it does shortcrust pastry per se, but I like this. As pastry goes, it’s very user friendly. It rolls out like pâte sucrée (French name for sweet shortcrust pastry) and was incredibly well behaved when I lined the flan case - although a chunk fell off one edge when I lifted my rolled pastry disk off the work surface, it was easy to patch up and press everything back together again with my fingers, once it was in the tin. 

Best of all, because tiger nuts are naturally sweet, you don’t need to add sugar or other sweeteners. I’ve been wanting to devise a recipe for Primal cheesecake for some time, so when I do I’m certain this recipe will double-up, adapting itself to both sweet tarts and cheesecakes beautifully.  

Meanwhile, I hope you’ll make the most of summer’s juiciest berry-fruits in this exceptionally lovely looking tart - I think summer celebrations will be the sweeter for it. 

Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart (Serves 10)

Ingredients - for tiger nut pastry

225g tiger nut flour (available online from The Tiger Nut Company)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp pure vanilla essence

30g unsalted butter, melted

1 large organic egg, beaten

a little extra melted butter (about 5g), for greasing 

Instructions - to make the pastry case

Pre-heat the oven to 180℃ / 350℉ / Gas mark 4.

Grease the base and sides of an 8 inch loose-bottomed fluted flan tin with melted butter.

Combine the tiger nut flour, baking powder and vanilla essence in a bowl.

Mix in the melted butter, then add the beaten egg and stir with a fork to combine.

When roughly combined, abandon the fork and bring the mixture together with your hand to achieve a firm but moist dough. 

Roll out to a round thickness of 3mm-6mm between two sheets of plastic cling film (to avoid the dough sticking to your worktop or rolling pin). As you roll, turn regularly to achieve an even round shape that is approximately 2½cm/1” larger than the circumference of your tart tin (this allows for the sides of the tart). 

Carefully peel off the top layer of cling film, then loosely wrap the pastry around your rolling pin removing the bottom layer of cling film as you do, then using the rolling pin to support the pastry, lift it one piece directly into the tart tin. If it splits or breaks in transition (mine did!), don’t worry, just patch it back together by pressing it firmly and evenly into the base and up the sides of the tin with your hands. N.B. Since tiger nut flour is gluten-free it’s easier to handle than normal shortcrust pastry, because it doesn't get harder and tougher if you need to re-work it. Once it’s settled in the tart tin in an even thickness, trim any raggedy bits of pastry off the top edge by going around with a sharp knife (chef’s privilege to eat these pastry off-cuts raw!)

Prick the base of the tart all over with the prongs of a fork. 

Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned and crisp. Leave to cool completely in the tin before transferring to a serving plate.  

Ingredients - for lemon cream filling

150ml Primal Lemon Curd

150ml Crème Fraîche (I used Roddas)

150ml Double Cream

Instructions - to make the lemon cream filling

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until the mixture thickens and will stand in soft peaks.

Cover and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble your tart. 

Ingredients - for fruit topping

250g fresh strawberries, picked over and cleaned as necessary

175g fresh raspberries 

100g fresh blueberries

A few sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm, to decorate

Instructions - to assemble the tart 

Not more than an hour before serving the tart, place the pastry case onto a serving plate. 

Spoon the lemon cream filling into the tart case and spread out evenly.

Arrange the fruit attractively on top of the lemon cream filling, then garnish with sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm. 

Notes

Although this tart looks like ‘fancy-pants’ French patisserie, please do not be intimidated by the recipe. Rolling out the pastry and lining the tart tin is the only challenge - and only then for the novice cook. Everything else is quick and easy to do - including making the pastry and assembling the tart. If you need to, just follow the photographs for how to arrange the fruit topping.

I suggest you make a batch of yummy Primal Lemon Curd up to several days in advance (in readiness for the lemon cream filling) and store (hide!) in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble your tart. 

I like the visual treat of using several different types of summer berries as the topping for this tart - and the particular selection I’ve chosen all marry well with the lemon cream filling. However, just one type of fruit (blackberries, cherries, sliced peaches, apricots, etc.), or any combination you like, will work. Just select the sweetest, juiciest and most visually appealing fruit you can find.

Refrigerated in an airtight container, this tart still eats really well the next day.

Carbohydrate 26g Protein 5g - per serving

Griddled Asparagus & Tomato with Pecorino with Parmesan Crusted Chicken / Twice-Baked Cheese Soufflés

There’s a debate going on in our household. A sort of ‘Daddy or Chips?’ to-ing and fro-ing. Sarah thinks I should feature more meat recipes on Primal Plate’s blog and I’m not finding any reason to do so. In fact, the opposite is true - I am not interested in promoting meat consumption.

Mass cruelty is going on, and millions of factory-farmed chickens, pigs and cows are suffering the consequences, without any encouragement from me. Most people don’t want to know how the food they eat arrives on their plate, because if they become fully aware of the heartrending, unmerciful, intense farming methods, kept ‘under wraps’ by agribusiness and food advertising agencies, natural empathy will force them to change their eating habits, or at least make them willing to pay the extra price for compassionately and ethically reared farm animals. I have a solution. If you think you can’t afford to buy organic, free-range, grass-fed meat, stop eating meat! Or, if you must eat it, save it for special occasions when you are happy to pay a little more for the privilege.

So now my intention is clear, I can indulge Sarah and look to those people who like to draw attention to the fact that meat is most often missing on Primal Plate’s blog. Today’s post should make the point admirably. 

Griddled Asparagus & Tomato with Pecorino is a fresh, light-bite that’s been slightly modified from an original Waitrose recipe. More than a cold salad but not quite a hot dinner, this dish captures all the flavours of summer with the minimum of fuss. With the exception of griddling the asparagus spears (which only takes about 6-8 minutes) everything else can be pre-prepared and quickly assembled when you’re ready to eat. 

It’s delicious with Parmesan Crusted Chicken (buy your chicken here) assuming you’ve taken on board the importance of provenance - but here’s the thing, it’s twice as good (and a lot more convenient to serve) teamed with Twice-Baked Cheese Soufflés (recipe adapted from Rose Elliot’s book Vegetarian Four Seasons).

This is my sort of food - tasty soft pillows of all-protein goodness, topped with golden, crunchy, cheese - and no animal suffering in the making thereof! When it comes to deciding which is more enticing to eat, I think the photographs here say it for me!

Still, I’ve included the recipes for both chicken and soufflés, so you have the choice. However, I entreat you to please stop supporting the horrors of intensive animal farming by paying the extra money for free-range, outdoor bred, organic chicken - without exception. Thank you.

Griddled Asparagus & Tomato with Pecorino (V - see note below) (Serves 2-4)

Ingredients

250g tomatoes, halved (I used Pome dei Moro)

500g asparagus, trimmed

Fast and easy vinaigrette

30g pine nuts, toasted

25g pack fresh basil, shredded if leaves are large, or left whole if small

30g Pecorino, Parmesan or Twineham Grange cheese, finely grated

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 150 ℃ / 300℉ / Gas mark 3

Arrange tomato halves in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking parchment . Cook in the pre-heated oven for up to 1 hour. N.B. Because oven temperatures can vary considerably, check the tomatoes progress after 45 minutes - they should be semi-collapsed, semi-dried and slightly caramelised when they’re done - definitely not scorched! Remove from the oven and set aside.

Gently toast pine nuts in a small dry frying pan over a low heat until golden - watch like a hawk, don’t let them burn!

Make the fast and easy vinaigrette. Set aside.

Wash asparagus, drain and dry. Snap off the bottom of the spears and peel the lower third with a potato peeler. Drizzle the prepared asparagus with olive oil, coating them evenly, then season with salt and pepper and set aside. 

Just before you’re ready to serve, heat a griddle pan to hot. Cook the asparagus in a single layer until lightly charred and tender (takes about 5-8 minutes)

Arrange the cooked asparagus on a large serving plate, scatter with the tomatoes. Drizzle generously with the vinaigrette then top with pine nuts, shredded basil leaves and grated cheese…in that order.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken (Serves 2) 

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 

1 egg white, lightly beaten

60g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

A generous grinding of freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp Clearspring organic sunflower frying oil

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 200℃. 

Combine freshly ground black pepper with grated Parmesan.

Dip each chicken fillet into the beaten egg white and then firmly press the chicken into the combined Parmesan and black pepper.

Heat the oil in a non-stick oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat. When it is hot, cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Do not be tempted to move the chicken around the pan - it will be crispier if you leave it alone. 

Put the frying pan into the pre-heated oven for a further 8-10 minutes until cooked through. N.B. if you’re not sure if it’s completely cooked, cut through the middle of one of the chicken fillets with a sharp knife and check.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 3 minutes before serving. 

Twice-Baked Cheese Soufflés (V) (Makes 8 soufflés - serves 4 for a main course, 8 as a starter) 

Ingredients

Butter for greasing 

8 tbsp ready-grated Parmesan cheese

225g full fat cream cheese (I used Longley Farm)

4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

150g Gruyere cheese, finely grated

5 large egg whites

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180℃ / 350℉ / Gas mark 4. Boil a kettle of water.

Generously grease 8 ramekin dishes, then sprinkle the insides with 4 tablespoons of the ready-grated Parmesan.

Put the cream cheese into a large bowl and mash with a fork until it’s smooth. Gradually mix in the egg yolks, then add half the grated Gruyere. Season with sea salt and black pepper. 

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a clean grease-free whisk (preferably electric if you’re not feeling energetic) until they stand in soft peaks.

Stir one tablespoon of the whisked egg whites into the egg yolk mixture to loosen it, then using a metal tablespoon gently fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Spoon the mixture into the ramekins to come level with the top, but don’t pile it up any higher.

Stand the filled ramekins in a roasting tin, pour the boiling water round to come halfway up the sides and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are risen and set.

Remove from the oven and allow to get cold - they’ll sink a bit. Loosen the edges and turn them out. It’s easiest to turn them out into the palm of one hand, then transfer them to an ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere cheese, then with the rest of the Parmesan cheese. 

They can now wait until you’re ready to bake them. Then, pre-heat the oven to 200℃ / 425℉ / Gas mark 7.

Bake them for 15-20 minutes or until they are puffed up and golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Notes

It’s impossible to make Pecorino or Parmesan cheese without using animal rennet, so they are not suitable for vegetarians. Twineham Grange cheese is made with a vegetarian rennet in place of the animal rennet and is the only cheese of its type to be Vegetarian Society Approved. For more information click here.

Twice-baked cheese soufflés are excellent for a special brunch served alongside slices of wild smoked salmon and accompanied by a glass of freshly squeezed orange and pink grapefruit juice. They can even be made and frozen in their dish, ready to be quickly defrosted and baked.  

The cooking times for chicken breast fillets depend on their size and thickness so I have allowed some latitude in my timings. Try to ensure that both fillets are the same weight so you’re not juggling around with different timings for each. Ultimately, you have to use your discretion but, if in doubt, nothing will spoil if you cut one open, just to make sure it’s nicely cooked all the way through.

Carbohydrate 6g Protein 8g - per serving of Griddled Asparagus & Tomato with Pecorino/Twineham Grange cheese

Carbohydrate 0g Protein 44g - per serving of Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Carbohydrate 2g Protein 28g - per main course serving of 2x individual Twice-Baked Cheese Soufflés (1g carbohydrate 14g protein - per soufflé)

Keralan Fish Curry with Crispy Shallots

Since I started my blog writing career (can’t believe it’s only 3 months ago!), I’ve been focused on researching and developing recipes à la Primal - basically, dissing all junk food and substituting healthy ingredients for grains, refined sugar, unhealthy fats, beans/legumes. Then my sister phoned last weekend asking for “simpler things to cook”. She has a point.

Beyond the consideration of limiting my list of ingredients to Primal-friendly and the creative endeavour of bringing them together in harmony for visually exciting, flavourful food, what if some people can’t, or don’t have much time, to cook? I don’t want to cop out by ignoring the problem, so I’ve rummaged through my collection of recipes and found some fast and gloriously easy food to make. Today’s recipe is an adaptation of Keralan Fish Curry taken from a Waitrose recipe card (February 2012) found lurking in the back of my kitchen cupboard!

This tamarind-tangy, yet delicately sweet and spicy fish curry, looks and tastes ‘the business’ but actually takes less that 30 minutes to prepare and cook.

True, I’ve added one extra cooking process by dressing my version up with crispy fried shallots because a) I don’t like raw onion in any of it’s guises (so anti-social when you breathe near someone else!) and b) crispy shallots are fantastic for adding extra flavour and texture - especially juxtaposed against the creamy and aromatic flavours of this curry. They shouldn’t cause ‘cook meltdown’ because they can be made several hours ahead, or even the day before.

Keralan Fish Curry with Crispy Shallots (Serves 4)

Ingredients - for the fish curry

4 x (200g each) sustainably sourced haddock fillets, skinned 

2 tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp chilli powder

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

25g (1oz) coconut oil

2 onions, very thinly sliced (I use OXO’s hand held mandolin slicer)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

400ml (15 fl oz) full-fat organic coconut milk

1 tbsp tamarind paste

5 cm (2”) piece fresh ginger, grated

225g (8 oz) frozen peas

Handful of fresh coriander leaves (or coriander micro sprouts)

1 long red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced

Crispy shallots slices (see separate recipe below) or 2 spring onions, finely sliced

Instructions:

Combine the turmeric and chilli powders. Sprinkle the fish fillets with the combined spices, season with sea salt and black pepper and set aside.

Boil a kettle of water. Measure the frozen peas into a heatproof jug, pour the boiling water over the peas to defrost them, strain through a wire sieve and set aside.

Melt coconut oil in a large pan over a moderate heat and gently fry the onions with the cumin and mustard seeds for 10 minutes, or until golden. 

Add the coconut milk, tamarind paste and grated ginger, stir well and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the fish to the pan, cover and simmer gently for 5-6 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. 

Add the peas to the pan, bring the sauce back to a gentle simmer and cook for a further minute.

Using a fish slice, carefully transfer the fish fillets to 4 warm soup plates/bowls. Spoon the sauce over and around, then top with fresh coriander leaf, slivers of chilli and crispy shallots.

Serve immediately.

Crispy Shallots (based on a David Tanis recipe)

Ingredients

175ml / 6 fl oz good quality oil, for frying (I used Clearspring sunflower frying oil but organic ghee or coconut oil are also safe/healthy oils for cooking)

4 medium-sized shallots, peeled and finely sliced 

Sea salt

Instructions:

Put the cold oil into a smallish saucepan. Add the sliced shallots and place over medium heat. 

Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until they gradually become brown (turn down the heat if the shallots seem to be colouring too quickly)

Place a fine-meshed sieve over a bowl. Transfer the cooked shallots to the sieve and let them drain well.

Tip the shallots onto a plate lined with a paper towel. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and allow to cool - they will crisp up as they do. 

Notes:

I like my fish fillets left whole, but if your pan isn’t big enough to hold them in a single layer, cut into bite-size chunks and reduce the cooking time i.e. from 5-6 minutes (for fillets) to 3-4 minutes (for chunks). 

If you don’t want the extra effort (not much, apart from slicing!) involved in making crispy shallots, you can finish the dish with 2 finely sliced salad onions instead. 

Crispy shallot slices are fantastic sprinkled over chops and burgers, and just as good on salads or steamed vegetables. They may be made several hours ahead, or even the day before. The flavourful cooking oil is ‘pure gold’ for cooks so save it in a sealed container and use it for other recipes.

Carbohydrate 19g Protein 39g - per serving of fish curry

Carbohydrate 1g Protein 0g - per serving of crispy shallots

Carrot Hummus With Orange & Feta Salad

Primal eating and lifestyle principles are trail-blazing strategies that can transform human beings from fat and flabby to lean and toned, from lethargic to energised, and from a degenerative diseased state to optimum health. I for one, am totally sold! 

However, in my opinion, the basic premise of Primal eating, which is to eat real food e.g. farm to table grass-fed livestock and vegetables grown in organic soil, and to avoid sugar, grains, unhealthy fats and beans/legumes, isn’t far enough removed from the deeply ingrained (forgive the pun) idea that the ideal meal consists of a big hunk of meat with a smaller side of vegetables. 

In my view, this has more to do with fulfilling an emotional need (for greed) than it is about satisfying the body’s physical requirements. It doesn’t take into account the moral dilemma of what it can actually mean (untold suffering of animals and the destruction of environment) for us to continue eating disproportionate amounts of meat, fish, seafood and dairy. 

For this reason, Primal Plate would like to propose a paradigm shift in people’s thinking. I believe now is the time for us to learn how to structure meals around a higher proportion of vegetables to animal protein. My role is to encourage a change in eating habits by offering vegetarian-friendly recipe ideas that defy expectations, and hopefully inspire you to cook and eat more ecologically produced food.

I have to say, there are many challenges to overcome when combining Primal principles with my leaning-towards-vegetarian hedonistic tendencies! I’ve come a long way with Grain-free Scones, Chocolate Cake, Shortbread, Souffléd Cauliflower with Gruyère Cheese Sauce and Meat-Free Cottage Pie, but there are so many classic vegetarian recipes that are seemingly off-limits because they contain potato, pasta, rice, corn, beans and other legumes (*see note below). Which slightly miffs me, because I used to consider traditional hummus and crudités a really healthy snack. Furthermore, my fennel and lemon risotto and vegetable chilli were always comfortingly delicious, and there are still times when I could kill for a buttery baked potato or homemade chips! 

Necessity being the mother of invention, this recipe for a chickpea-free Carrot Hummus with Orange and Feta Salad conforms to the ‘no legumes’ rule, but happily places proper-tasting hummus well and truly back on the Primal menu. Inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s carrot hummus in River Cottage Veg Everyday! and Maria Elia’s houmous and feta salad in The Modern Vegetarian, this colourful starter or light lunch is a play on textures and flavours that delivers on every level. Creamy carrot hummus combines with salty feta, juicy oranges, crunchy almonds and tasty, visually delightful leaves, to create an explosion of tastes that holds your interest right up until the last forkful. 

I think that this mélange of healthy vegetation would be further enhanced by sitting the whole arrangement on top of some spicy carrot pancakes à la Maria Elia style (Primal recipe still to be devised and tested!) for a gorgeously ‘green’, ethically sound main meal. To my mind, this sustainable ‘veggies come first’ approach to fine dining is the start of the future of food. It is my intention that Primal Plate will help make the transition a truly pleasurable one for Primal orientated carnivores, pescetarians and vegetarians alike.

Carrot Hummus With Orange & Feta Salad (V) (Serves 4)

Ingredients - for the carrot hummus

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

4-5 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp raw clear honey

500g (1lb 2oz) organic carrots, peeled (prepped weight about 460g/1lb)

Juice of 1 organic lemon

3 tbsp smooth almond butter

2 tbsp raw organic sesame tahini

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients - for the salad

Bunch of watercress, thick stems removed

1 organic orange, peel and pith removed, cut into segments

25g (1oz) shiso (or any micro) sprouts

25g (1oz) coriander sprouts (or coriander leaf)

12 mint leaves, torn

50g (2oz) alfalfa shoots

25g (1oz) flaked organic almonds

50g (2oz) organic feta cheese, crumbled

Ingredients - for the vinaigrette

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp raw clear honey

3½ tbsp raw cider vinegar

100ml (3½ fl oz) organic olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions - for the carrot hummus

Pre-heat the oven to 200℃ / ℉ / Gas mark 6

In a small dry frying pan over a medium heat, toast the cumin and coriander seeds until they’re fragrant - this only takes about a minute, do not let them scorch! Tip into a pestle and mortar (or use a small bowl and the end of a rolling pin) and grind to a fine-ish powder. 

In a large bowl whisk 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the honey and toasted spices.

Cut the carrots into 4-5 cm (about 2”) chunks and add to the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Tip into a small roasting tin and roast for 35 minutes (turn the carrots over halfway through the cooking time).

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Then scrape everything into a food processor (or use a hand-held blender). Add the lemon juice, the almond butter and tahini and blitz to a smooth puree (you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice as you go).

Taste to check the seasoning and texture. If necessary, add a little more lemon juice, olive oil or salt and pepper and blend again to incorporate well. Refrigerate until required. 

Instructions - for the vinaigrette

Find a clean recycled glass jar (or plastic food container) with well-fitting lid, add the vinaigrette ingredients to your chosen container in the order listed above. 

Secure the lid tightly, then shake the contents vigorously. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 

Before serving, shake again then drizzle or spoon the vinaigrette directly from the jar on to your salad as needed (it’s best to do this incrementally, as you want your salad nicely dressed not drowned!)

Instructions - to make the salad and assemble the dish

In a medium sized mixing bowl, loosely combine all the salad ingredients together. Add 1-2 tablespoons of the dressing and gently toss everything together so the salad is evenly coated (I prefer to do this with my hands so I don’t bruise the leaves or break up the individual ingredients too much).

Spoon the hummus onto 4 individual serving plates, and pile the salad evenly on top, making sure you can still see the hummus underneath. 

Drizzle a little more of the dressing around the outside of the plate and serve immediately.  

Notes:

The carrot hummus, vinaigrette and toasted almonds can all be prepared well in advance, making this an ideal starter for entertaining.

The hummus will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week. The vinaigrette will store at room temperature for several days.

The hummus would also make a great sandwich filling (only in Grain-Free Sandwich Bread, of course!) - I’d add grated raw carrot and watercress for a really tasty, wholesome vegan sandwich and probably crumbled feta too, for the rest of us.

Tracking down shiso sprouts and other micro leaves, especially if you live in the sticks, isn’t easy! To find your nearest supplier, go to Westlands and click on ‘Where to get our products’. I got really lucky because I just happened to ask at the counter of a local ‘foodie’ farm shop if they ever stocked such a thing. To my astonishment they had the most fantastic range behind the counter (for local chefs) and they kindly let me have free choice out of about eight different varieties. Thanks Maxeys Farm Shop, I shall be back for more this weekend!

* Whilst peas and green beans are, strictly speaking, legumes, they are okay to eat as part of the Primal lifestyle because they’re eaten when they’re young and fresh - not dried. Naturally lower in lectins and phytates than dried varieties, both peas and green beans are simple to cook (which further reduces/de-activates any toxicity) and are very easily digested. In addition, the carbohydrate content of both fresh peas and green beans is also much lower than that of dried peas and beans. 

Carbohydrate 23g Protein 9g - per portion

Classic Prawn Cocktail

I think I was lucky to have lived my teenage years in the swinging sixties. For me, it was a most exciting ‘happening’ time to be alive. Everything was in a state flux and turmoil. Fashion - forget the mini skirt - Sarah listened in disbelief the other day when I told her that topless dresses went mainstream! Music - ‘Love Me Do’ took the world (and me), by storm. The pill (Yipee!), women’s liberation (what the heck happened to that as a concept?) and not least, the sexual revolution.  

It all just freaked my poor dad out, and there were several times when he threatened to make me a Ward of Court! Actually, I was a rebel, but in a good cause! We both survived the tsunami-style disruption and I quickly gained my freedom and learned to stand on my own two feet. To my credit (or perhaps my Dad’s), I was never promiscuous or took drugs.  

Other fond memories of the 1960s are mainly food related. Back then, asking friends around for dinner was the norm and almost every Saturday night I was hosting a dinner party. Served alongside a Steak Diane, Beef Wellington, Duck a l’Orange or Coq au Vin, the Prawn Cocktail and a bottle of Mateus Rosé somehow epitomised the dizzy pink heights of our culinary sophistication!

It’s good to reminisce and, since I am so reminded, I thought that I would revive the ubiquitous prawn cocktail as a classic retro introduction to last Sunday’s lunch. It was Gary Rhodes that said “In my opinion, delicious food is created when you get the very best ingredients you can find and do as little to them as possible” No more is this so than when you’re trying to locate decent-tasting prawns - is it only me that thinks farmed Asian king prawns taste of absolutely nothing? 

But, besides flavour, there are even more important considerations - facts that will (or should) make you sit up and take notice. Please take the time to read the article The VERY Unsavoury Truth About Prawn Cocktail (yuk!) and watch Revealed: Asian Slave Labour Producing Prawns for Supermarkets in US, UK. Then decide…

As with today’s food industry in general, ethically and sustainably sourced prawns are increasingly difficult to come by. And unfortunately, that means my ‘Is it okay to eat?’ list seems to be being shrinking by the day! Whilst this is one more good cause to carry around inside my head (visit Environmental Justice Foundation), how much more ‘diddle, swindle and plunder’ involving torture, slavery, the degradation of the oceans, the environment and your health can you tolerate? In this instance, only CP Foods, supermarket shareholders and a handful of corrupt slave drivers profit. My hope is that the Information Age and ‘people power’ will soon put an end to it.

For now, I’ve done my homework and opted for MSC certified Marks & Spencer extra large cooked Greenland prawns for this recipe. Although I gasped at the price (£7 for 350g bag), I was rewarded with sweet, nutty prawns that tasted just like they used to. With the addition of diced avocado, a generous squeeze of lemon and the crunch of some finely chopped celery, this classic starter is made even better. I think it looks fresher and eats lighter than a typical 1960s prawn cocktail, which as I remember it, all too often sank beneath the weight of an over-zealous smothering of Marie Rose sauce!

However, properly made with quality ingredients this quick and delicious little salad is perfect for a spring or summer lunchtime starter.

Classic Prawn Cocktail (Serves 4)

Ingredients 

350g frozen cooked cold water prawns, defrosted

6 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise - preferably homemade

2 tablespoons organic tomato ketchup (I used Mr Organic)

2 organic little gem lettuce hearts, finely sliced

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1 avocado, finely diced

2 tbsp of lemon juice

Cayenne pepper

Slim bunch of chives, finely chopped - to serve. I actually used celery micro leaves instead - simply because I had them in the fridge and they look so cheffy!

Instructions:

Mix together the mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and prawns in a bowl. Stir in the chopped celery and season with cayenne.

Halve the avocado, remove the stone, then peel. Chop into small dice, then toss in lemon juice to stop it discolouring. Add half of the avocado dice to the prawn mixture and stir in lightly.

Shred the lettuce finely and transfer to 4 glasses or serving plates. Divide the prawn mixture equally between them, piling it on top of the lettuce but leaving some of the greenery on show.

Spoon the remaining avocado on top and around, garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.

Notes:

If you want large raw ‘king’ prawns for cooking, look out for organic or Madagascan tiger prawns. The only country from which you can currently buy certified organic tiger prawns is Ecuador. They are stocked by Waitrose.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label is also a sign that prawns have been farmed sustainably. 

Carbohydrate 4g Protein 13g

Lemon Curd Filled Chocolate Cubes With Melba Sauce

Easter Sunday was such a beautiful, warm and sunny day. A reminder that summer’s on its way and it’s time to lighten up and enjoy the new season’s zingy, fresh flavours.

The menu I’d chosen for our Easter celebration lunch was Prawn Cocktail (recipe coming soon), Pea & Pistachio Soufflés, Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce with locally grown Chantenay carrots and baby courgettes and, after much deliberation (was I in danger of going into egg and lemon overload?), a springtime lemon curd based dessert with raspberries. I mean, I love eggs and lemons and they are so quintessentially Easter-time, but savoury soufflés and an egg-based dessert? Lemon hollandaise and lemon curd? Anyway, I found a recipe for the lemon curd, so all I had to do was reduce its carb count and substitute raw organic honey for refined granulated sugar.

Not entirely fazed, I knocked up the lemon curd in the time it took my husband to make me tea and toast after a lengthy Mirror Imaging pre-wedding meeting on Saturday morning. In the early hours (which is when this food blogger’s imagination runs riot!) I’d been toying with the idea of transforming it into lemon curd ice-cream with melba sauce or lemon curd mousse. However, this first ever attempt at making homemade lemon curd was a remarkable revelation! It was so utterly delicious and tangy eaten directly from a spoon that I just couldn’t bring myself to diminish its clean, fresh lemony flavour or colour by adding anything to it. 

Still, to my mind, you can’t just serve up lemon curd and call it pudding! I’d already purchased some ready-made dark chocolate cubes several weeks ago in anticipation of creating an Easter-related ‘surprise’, but felt lemon and chocolate wasn’t an easy combination to pull off. As it turned out, none of this mattered.

Come the day, hungover from an excessive wine-drinking-session the night before and a serious lack of sleep whilst still ruminating on my dessert dilemma, I announced Easter was cancelled this year! Happily, John and Sarah ignored me and got on with the food prep regardless. By 2pm I cautiously accepted a half glass of champagne and the party was back on! By then, there was no time to backtrack and create something more elaborate for dessert, so unadulterated lemon curd spooned into chocolate cubes it was, and Easter joy of Easter joys, it was sublime!

I think that this easy, make-ahead dessert is an absolute triumph. A new go-to recipe for a special celebration lunch or dinner party, expect gasps of appreciation (even a round of applause!) when you serve this as a finale, and moreover, intense satisfaction on guest’s faces as they experience all the sensory delights this perfect little pudding offers. From the first snap! sound as you break into the dark chocolate cube with your spoon, through to the cool, smooth tangy sweetness of the lemon curd, the semi-tart raspberry melba sauce and the silky lingering back notes of good quality chocolate, it delivers everything you could possibly want from a pudding - with little or no effort.

In conclusion, sometimes the most wonderful things come together when you’re in a state of enforced ‘let-go’. Another glass of champagne anyone? 

Lemon Curd Filled Chocolate Cubes With Melba Sauce (V) (Makes enough lemon curd and melba sauce for 8)

Ingredients - for the lemon curd

3 large organic eggs

120g  raw organic ‘runny’ honey

80ml fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons worth)

60g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces

1 heaped tbsp lemon zest, finely grated

Ingredients - for the melba sauce

250g British frozen raspberries, defrosted (I used Windmill Hill Fruits)

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

8-10 drops of liquid stevia - I used 8 drops because I think the melba sauce needs to be on the right side of tart for a perfect balance of flavour

72% superior quality dark chocolate cubes, fresh raspberries and lemon balm leaves (or mint leaves) to serve

Instructions - for the lemon curd

In a stainless steel bowl, whisk together the eggs, honey and lemon juice until well blended.

Cut the butter into small pieces. 

Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Do not let the bottom of the bowl come into contact with the water. 

Cook for approximately 10 minutes, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk (to prevent it from curdling) until the mixture becomes thick (like soured cream or hollandaise sauce). Don’t get distracted, the mixture can quickly and suddenly turn from thin to thick! 

Remove from heat and immediately pour into a clean bowl. 

Add the butter to the mixture and whisk until it has melted, then add the grated lemon zest and give everything a good stir.

Take a sheet of plastic cling-film and immediately lay it directly onto the surface of the lemon curd to stop the air getting to it (to prevent a skin forming). Allow the mixture to cool completely. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Keep covered and refrigerate until needed.

Instructions - for the melba sauce

Tip the defrosted raspberries into a food processor or blender with the lemon juice and blitz to a smooth puree. If the mixture seems a little too thick, add 1-3 tablespoons of cold water and blitz again until it’s the right consistency i.e. thick enough to hold together but thin enough to pour.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Add 8 drops of liquid stevia to the melba sauce and stir well to combine. Taste, if you think it is too tart, add another one or two drops of stevia (less is more!), then cover and refrigerate until needed.

Instructions - to assemble the dish

Just before you’re ready to serve, spoon a generous quantity of lemon curd into each chocolate cube (1 cube per person) 

Place each one onto a flat plate and drizzle the melba sauce around. 

Stand three fresh raspberries on top of each and garnish with lemon balm.

Notes: 

You must use freshly squeezed lemon juice and freshly grated zest (preferably from organic lemons) for this recipe - not imitation bottled lemon juice or Jif squeezy lemon juice.

Store the chocolate cubes in their original wrapping at room temperature or a coolish place until you need them (not a refrigerator, unless it’s the height of summer and you don’t have air conditioning!)

The lemon curd and the melba sauce will keep covered in a refrigerator for up to a week.

Carbohydrate 17g Protein 3g - per portion (incl. melba sauce & raspberry garnish)

Pea & Pistachio Soufflés, Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

If you watched the BBC2 documentary Eat To Live Forever on 18th March 2015, with food critic Giles Coren setting out to test three allegedly extreme anti-ageing diet regimes, including the Paleo diet and the less restrictive Primal diet (as endorsed by Primal Plate), you might have been persuaded that devotees of the Primal Blueprint are basically people that are peculiarly afflicted - in the sense that, if they’re not monkeying around and wielding the equivalent of a club in Stone Age style in order to keep themselves fit, they’re gorging themselves silly on heart-attack-inducing animal fat and meat.

Nah! Not true! It seems to me that this is history repeating itself and misinformation, promulgated by vested interests, is damaging to public health! Hence we’re still in the grip of a high-carb, low-fat, calorie counting, portion-controlling, obesity and diabetes crisis! They’ll always find a way to discredit, undermine or silence pioneering thinkers. In 1972, in a book entitled Pure, White and Deadly, Professor John Yudkin tried to warn us about the dangers of sugar and it cost him his career. Distorted information (actually, downright lies!) wilfully fed to the public, causes confusion and so brought the Atkins Diet into disrepute. As for the high carb, low fat, cholesterol scare-mongering advice that’s ravaged the nation’s health for the past fifty years and…well basically, I’d advise you not to blindly believe anything you’re told.

Since it only takes 28 days to seriously test out the low-carbohydrate, higher-fat lifestyle for yourself and discover what’s true, it could be the most worthwhile investment in your health, and the health of your family, that you’ll ever make. You’re not alone, in 2013, Sweden was the first Western nation to reject low-fat dietary dogma in favour of low carb, high fat nutrition.

Most people have been conditioned into thinking dietary fat, especially saturated fat (did you know that olive oil has 9 times the saturated fat of pork?), is unhealthy. Not so. Natural, health-giving fats and oils (I do so love butter), should not be feared or avoided because they are nutritionally essential. And, when you diss the grains and refined sugar you do not even have to think about calories, much less count them! Remind yourself, it is sugar in all its forms that gets stored as fat in your fat cells, not actually the fats that you eat!

However, there is a killer fat on the loose in today’s society called trans fat, also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. The raison d’être of an allegedly desirable “heart healthy” low-fat spread promoted by the British Heart Foundation (in collusion with Unilever!), you might think from what you’ve been told that it’s good for you because it helps to lower your cholesterol (it does, but not in a good way). Trans fats are a cheap, crap, man-made substitute for natural cold-pressed oils and hand-churned butter and are really injurious to health. They’re everywhere… in commercially baked foods (biscuits, cakes, breads) convenience foods (ready-meals, breaded fish, french fries) food from many fast food restaurants (that use hydrogenated vegetable oils for frying) and ironically, those supposedly ‘good for your heart’ spreads and margarine. 

Trans fats accumulate in the body, can’t be metabolised and are implicated in many serious health problems including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and asthma. I urge you to read and digest this article then check all the labels of the foods you’ve already purchased for the ingredient ‘partially hydrogenated vegetable oil’. If it’s listed, you know what to do!

So beautiful butter it is then, which brings us to today’s Easter celebration lunch for vegetarians and Primal people not in the mood for meat, because there’s no better or more natural time of year to enjoy a savoury dish based around eggs. Pea & Pistachio Soufflés, Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce has both the green colour and zingy freshness of lemon that I associate with springtime, so rather than eating any feather, fur or scale related friends (which always makes me feel a bit cheerless) this elegant, low-carb main course will be the one to grace our table next weekend. A compassionate extension, if you will, to Meat-Free Week, which seems to me to be far more appealing and relevant for a festival celebrating fertility, birth and new life. 

Pea & Pistachio Soufflés with Hollandaise Sauce is ideal when English asparagus is in season (only for two months in May and June) but since the flavour of asparagus is so harmoniously aligned with these delicate soufflés and lemony hollandaise sauce, I make no apologies for using good-looking foreign-grown asparagus, when English isn’t available. Just make sure the spears are crisp, not discoloured and decent sized - you don’t want the fine variety of asparagus called sprue for this dish. Other spring-like vegetables that work well with Pea & Pistachio Soufflés and Hollandaise Sauce are tender stem broccoli, baby or Chantenay carrots and cauliflower. Try as I might to persuade Sarah that it might just be okay to eat them as a one-off treat, she simply won’t let me wander into Jersey potato territory!

I hope you will enjoy Easter and the transition to spring as much as we do. I think this is a very pretty and fresh-looking meal that wakes up the tastebuds and is a delicious introduction to the flavours of the new season approaching. Happy days!   

Pea & Pistachio Soufflés, Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce (V) (Serves 4) 

Ingredients - for pea & pistachio soufflés 

Butter, for greasing

2 tbsp olive oil

450g (1lb) leeks, trimmed, washed and finely chopped

225g (8oz) frozen peas 

60ml (2fl oz) water

120g (4 oz) unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts

Large handful of fresh dill, stalks removed, finely chopped

4 organic eggs

4 tbsp crème fraîche

Fresh dill and lemon slices, to serve

Ingredients - for the asparagus and hollandaise sauce

450g (1lb) asparagus

150g (5oz) butter

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 organic egg yolks

Celtic sea salt

Instructions - for pea and pistachio soufflés

Pre-set the oven to 190 ℃ / 375 ℉ / Gas mark 5. Grease 4 x 250ml (8oz) ramekin dishes and line the bottom of each with a circle of non-stick baking parchment. Boil a kettle of water.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Add the finely chopped leeks, cover with a circle of greaseproof paper (cut to the diameter of your land) and cook with the lid on for 5 minutes.

Remove the lid and paper and stir in the frozen peas. Add the water and cook with the pan lid on for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Finely chop the pistachio nuts in a food processor, add the cooked leek and pea mixture and blend until smooth. Add the chopped dill, eggs, crème fraîche and seasoning. Blend together thoroughly, taste and add more seasoning if necessary.

Pour the mixture into the ramekin dishes, filling to the top. Place in a roasting tin and pour boiling water (from the kettle) around the ramekins until it reaches half way up the sides, then carefully place in the oven and cook for 35 minutes until slightly risen and set.

Take out of the ‘bain marie’ (water bath) and leave to stand for 2 to 3 minutes. With a small sharp knife, loosen the edges of each soufflé and turn straight onto a warm plate. Garnish with dill and lemon and serve immediately with the Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce together with a further selection of lightly cooked vegetables.  

Instructions - for asparagus and hollandaise sauce

Boil a kettle of water.

To make the hollandaise sauce: heat the lemon juice in a small saucepan to just below boiling point.  

Put the egg yolks, mustard, sea salt, cayenne pepper and hot lemon juice into a food processor or blender and whizz together until it’s pale and smooth.

Meanwhile, gently melt the butter in a small saucepan over a moderate heat and when it is very hot and foaming transfer to a heat-proof jug.

Switch the blender / food processor back on and with the machine continually running, slowly pour the melted butter in a steady trickle through the feed tube of the food processor - do this very gradually until all the butter has been added and the sauce is thickened, glossy and pale yellow in colour. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Allow the mixture to stand for a minute or two before serving with the asparagus. (see note below) 

To cook the asparagus: snap the tough ends off the stalks of asparagus, then using a potato peeler trim the bottom of the stalks further if necessary. Wash well.

Pour the boiling water from the kettle into the bottom half of a steamer, then steam the asparagus with the pan lid on for about 5-6 minutes, or until it is just tender.

Serve immediately

Notes: 

It can be difficult to keep Hollandaise Sauce hot without it splitting or becoming overly thickened. Ideally, it should be made quickly at the last minute, which isn’t an easy task if you’re entertaining. The simplest solution is to pre-heat a wide-necked Thermos flask with boiling water, then seal it and set aside whilst you make your sauce. When the hollandaise is ready, quickly pour the water away and transfer the sauce directly from the food processor to the flask. Seal and serve within 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, I didn’t use the Thermos flask trick on this occasion and, as a result, the Hollandaise Sauce shown in the photograph above is a little too thin. This is because it wasn’t allowed to stand for a couple of minutes before serving. It seems to go with the territory of food blogging -  there’s always an anxious 10 minutes for Sarah and I whilst we rush to get the food on the plate, photograph it and get it back to the table before someone’s dinner has gone cold!

Carbohydrate 16g Protein 19g - per soufflé

Carbohydrate 1g Protein 2g - per serving of hollandaise sauce

Carbohydrate 4g Protein 2g - per 100g serving of steamed asparagus

Meat-Free Primal Cottage Pie

The initial inspiration for starting to write this Primal Plate food blog came about as a result of my newly acquired Primal/Paleo diet, and the numerous health benefits and incredibly easy weight loss I can attribute to a higher fat, low-carbohydrate, grain-free lifestyle. Today, I feel compelled to bring something new to the party because, hand-on-heart, I cannot totally subscribe to the Primal Blueprint, which prioritises eating animal protein and fat. 

If you glance through the Primal Plate’s recipes you’ll currently see only one that’s listed under meat. Try as I might (and I’ve some fantastic meat recipes that I could share!), I just cannot bring myself to massively promote meat eating. My reluctance has nothing to do with health and nutrition. I concede that for optimum health, human beings do occasionally require meat, although perhaps the less popular organ meats rather than prime steak would better fulfil our nutritional objectives!

The problem is that the modern Paleo/Primal diet relies heavily on eating meat, albeit the free-range pastured variety. The consumption of grass-fed meat is indeed healthier for humans and kinder to animals than the brutal insanity of factory farms and slaughterhouses supplying most of our diet. But, regularly eating any animal that’s been farm-reared and killed for meat is certainly not aligned with how ancient hunter-gatherers obtained their food. Meat, although actively hunted, would have been an occasional supplement to a diet of berries, fruits and plants - not the daily ‘pig-out’ (pun intended) that almost everyone nowadays takes for granted. Agribusiness has geared-up to meet the incessant demand, but there’s a high price to pay. The whole system is massively destructive, unfair and viciously unkind to millions of starving people (one-third of the world’s grain supply is diverted for animal feed), to factory farmed livestock (OMG, the hidden suffering), the environment and wildlife.  

Let’s look at what ‘free-range, pastured meat’ can mean for the environment. Grazing animals on non-arable land (largely grassy hillsides, where you can’t grow crops) compact the soil and prevent trees and other vegetation from growing, which means no natural habitat for wildlife and no deep plant root systems that would otherwise hold down the earth and conserve water. Consequently, during heavy rain and thunderstorms, there is nothing to prevent the soil and water running off downhill, causing the landslides and flash-flooding downstream that have become so familiar on the news over recent years, and which regularly devastate food crops and people’s homes. 

If we are truly committed to eating as our ancestors did, we will stop mindlessly consuming meat. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to meat-eating, it is madness. Reverence for life and respect for the food on your Primal plate begins with education. Forget the ‘cutchy-coo' petting farms, which collude with our wanton disassociation from keeping and killing living things. The school curriculum should make it compulsory that all children are taken to a factory farm where they ‘grow’ pigs or chickens in overcrowded sheds, then on to the abattoir where they are slaughtered and finally to the butchers where dinner is made ready - all nicely sanitised and cling-wrapped. If the very idea freaks you out, that’s the point. If you cannot bear the thought of seeing the food you eat being ‘made’ then stop eating it - or at the very least, eat it occasionally with absolute awareness and compassion for a life given as a gift to you and your family.

Could you go meat free for one week? I invite you to join Meat Free Week between 23rd-29th March 2015. It's a practical choice that can make a massive difference.

Meanwhile, to help you adjust to the idea that meat-eating can and should be reserved for special occasions, here is a delicious and comforting cottage pie that may surprise you. Entirely meat and potato free, it is so satisfyingly rich and ‘meaty’ you will be hard-pressed to convince your family they’re not eating the classic version of this very British, and much loved pie. 

Meat-Free Primal Cottage Pie (V) (Serves 4)

Ingredients - for the pie filling

100g onion, peeled and finely chopped

165g leek (1 medium-sized), top and bottom cut off, two outer leaves removed, washed and finely sliced

100g (about 2 outer stalks) celery, trimmed and cut into small dice

300g sweet potato, peeled and cut into small dice

250g parsnips, peeled and grated

250g carrots, peeled and grated

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 level tbsp Marigold organic bouillon powder

200ml decent quality red wine ( I used a McGuigan Merlot )

2 tbsp Clearspring tamari sauce (wheat-free) 

300g closed-cap chestnut mushrooms, wiped clean and cut into ½cm slices 

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

Sea salt (about 1tsp) and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients - for the celeriac mash

800g celeriac, peeled and chopped into ¾ inch cubes

100g good quality strong Cheddar cheese, finely grated

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions - for the pie filling

Firstly, get organised by pre-preparing all the vegetables - chop the onion, sweet potato and celery; slice the leek and mushrooms; grate the parsnip and carrot. Finely chop the thyme and parsley

Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan over a moderate to high heat. Add the onions to the pan and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add the grated parsnips, carrots and celery to the pan, plus a little extra olive oil if it seems too dry, and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.

Add the sliced leek and diced sweet potato, turn up the heat and continue to stir-fry the vegetables for several more minutes until they are soft and starting to brown. Take the pan off the heat.

Stir in the bouillon powder, mix well then add the tamari sauce and red wine. 

In a separate large non-stick frying pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and stir-fry the mushroom slices over a high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes until the juices begin to run and they’re starting to turn golden. 

Add the cooked mushrooms to the other vegetables, mix well and season with sea salt (about 1 level tsp) a good grinding of freshly ground pepper and the chopped thyme and parsley. 

Ladle the vegetables into an ovenproof baking dish, cover with cling film and set aside whilst you make the celeriac mash.

If eating straightaway, pre-heat the oven to 190℃ / 375℉ / Gas mark 5.

Instructions - for the celeriac mash

Boil a kettle full of water.

Peel the celeriac and cut into even-sized (about ¾ inch) cubes. 

Put the celeriac in the top half of a steamer, pour the boiling water in the bottom pan and cover with the pan lid. Steam for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until the celeriac is soft. 

Drain the celeriac well and allow to steam dry before whizzing in a food processor or blending with blender to make a smooth puree. Add half the Cheddar cheese and whizz again. Taste, then season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Pipe or spoon the mash on top of the vegetables to cover evenly, then rough up the surface with a fork. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Bake at 190℃ for 20 to 25 minutes. Finish off under a very hot grill if you like your cheesy topping really brown and crunchy!

Notes

Use organic vegetables, if possible.

This dish is ideal for entertaining as all the preparation can be done, and the pie fully assembled, in advance. Take the pie out of the refrigerator about half an hour before you want to cook it to allow it to come to room temperature before baking.  

To make lighter work of grating vegetables, I use the fine grater on my Magimix food processor. 

The point of chopping, slicing and grating the different vegetables is to create the right amount of texture - trust me, the finished dish can really fool your brain into thinking you’re eating proper cottage pie! 

For this recipe, I’ve allowed pedantic Primal dietary recommendations to eat higher fat/low-carb to go a little out of sync in favour of creating a nutritious cottage pie that’s full-on umami flavoured, without loss of life. On the plus side, it also does not contain other Primal debarred ingredients such as lentils, beans and potato (that most other vegetarian versions of cottage pie usually do!) 

If you’re trying to lose excess fat, (which in general is agreed possible when you eat no more than 100g carbohydrate per day), this recipe will use up around one half of your daily limit, so adjust the rest of your day’s meals accordingly. Click to read more about the Primal dictum “Carbohydrate drives insulin, drives fat”

The carbohydrate content of this recipe is based on the prepared weight of the vegetables i.e. once they’ve been trimmed and peeled. If you wanted to substitute organic swede for the parsnips, or butternut squash for the sweet potato, this would decrease the carb count significantly - although the balance of flavour and texture in the original recipe might also be lost.  

Carbohydrate 50g Protein 7g - approx per serving

Pea & Mint Soup

I love soup…always have.

My mother left home when I was five years old, which meant my father was left to raise myself and my two siblings alone. He was a good dad and I am grateful that my upbringing was more male orientated than most. It can’t have been easy. Although my sister and I were away at boarding school during the week, we were at home at the weekends and during long school holidays. Meanwhile, my older brother stayed home and proved to be a perpetual sword in Dad’s side!

The upside of a world-weary, though infinitely refined, gentleman having to cope with the demands of running his own business and bringing three children up ‘on his tod’, was that every Easter, summer and Christmas we spent our holidays in grand seaside hotels and were often taken out to eat at the best restaurants.

As a little girl trying to contend with making intelligent choices from oversized á la carte menus, I frequently got into trouble! Much to my dad’s irritation (though he kindly never vetoed my decision), soup and bread rolls spread lavishly with butter, was always my preferred ‘appetiser’. Consequently, I was always full-up before the main course arrived, which meant my father paying full whack for half-eaten food!

It’s obvious what the problem was…soup and bread IS (especially for small tummies) a nutritious, warming and satisfying meal in and of itself!

As a parent, I can now appreciate how wise my dad was to graciously accept my mistake and not disrupt my eating pleasure no matter how wasteful the learning process! The upshot is, sixty years later, here I am writing about a love for soup!

The making of soup is probably as old as cooking itself. Originally known as sop, which referred to a liquid broth for dipping bread into, soup-making is basically the art of combining ingredients together in one pot to create a filling, nutritious and easily digested meal.

As I discovered at a very early age, soup can be one of the most satisfying of foods, but it can also be a modern, colourful and adventurous introduction to a meal - especially if you forego grain-laden bread!

Pea & Mint might sound like an English summer soup but not when Bird’s Eye frozen peas are available all year round it’s not! In fact, because frozen peas enable this soup to be cooked so quickly they’re all the better for retaining its brilliant green colour and natural taste.

It’s a delightfully simple soup to make, which should take no longer than 15 minutes hands-on time, so please give it a go and post your comments below. I look forward to your feedback.

Pea & Mint Soup (V) (Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 medium-sized leek (about 175g unprepared weight), top green part discarded, 2 outer layers removed, finely sliced 

1 medium onion (about 55g unpeeled weight), finely chopped

750ml (26 fl oz) vegetable stock (made with water and 4 level tsp Marigold organic vegetable bouillon powder) 

450g (1lb) frozen peas

15g (½oz) fresh mint leaves

150ml (5fl oz) single cream

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

A little extra cream, fresh pea shoots or chopped mint, to serve

Instructions

Fill and boil a kettle with 750ml fresh cold water. Make a stock with the bouillon powder and boiling water and pour into a large saucepan.

Bring the stock back to the boil, then add the chopped leeks and onions. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Add the frozen peas and mint leaves and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and add the single cream. 

Ladle the soup into a food processor or blender and blitz until completely smooth.

Pour back into a clean pan and season with sea salt (about 1 tsp or to taste) and a good grinding of black pepper. Re-heat the soup until it is really hot (just below boiling point)

Divide the soup between four bowls , swirl a teaspoon of cream on the top of each and decorate with pea shoots or chopped mint. Serve immediately. 

Carbohydrate 12g Protein 8g

Banana Cashew & Rum Ice Cream with Hot Chocolate Sauce

It’s not really warm enough outside to be thinking about ice cream but when faced with yet another bowl of over-ripened bananas, what to do? 

Well, it could have been Banana Poppy Seed Cake with White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Frosting, but in fact it was a recipe for Banana Cashew Ice Cream in last month’s edition of Waitrose Kitchen adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s latest book River Cottage Light & Easy: Healthy Recipes for Every Day that really grabbed my attention because it looked to be, and in fact is, dead simple to make, problem-free and above all, refreshingly delicious.

My ice cream just naturally evolved into Banana Cashew & Rum Ice Cream because banana flavour marries so well with rum that I couldn’t resist adding a tablespoon or three of alcohol to the recipe! Nor is my version dairy-free, since the colour (the bananas discolour whilst you’re waiting for the mixture to cool) and the texture are enhanced by adding double cream (it makes for a paler and creamier ice). Furthermore, as the total carbohydrate count is identical for both recipes there’s no need to beat myself up over the extra indulgence! In fact, in for a penny in for a pound, I suggest you serve this ice cream with hot chocolate sauce spooned over.

As ever, the quality of your ingredients will determine the results. Hold your nerve with the bananas - they need to be ripened to the stage where the skins are beginning to be mottled with black. Also, make sure that you buy the finest chocolate you can afford (at least 70%). You can then sit back because you will have created something totally scrumptious.

Banana, rum and chocolate is simply a flavour match made in heaven, add to that the contrast between hot and cold and we could all be screaming for ice cream!

Banana Cashew & Rum Ice Cream with Hot Chocolate Sauce (V) (Serves 6)

Ingredients - for the ice cream

75g (2¾oz) raw organic cashews - soaked in cold water for 4-6 hours (or overnight) and drained

2 large or 4 small slightly over-ripe bananas (about 400g / 14oz unpeeled weight)

125g (4½ oz) clear organic honey

½ lemon, juice

125ml (4½ fl oz) double cream

3-4 tbsp rum

Instructions

Peel the bananas and break into chunks. Put them in a blender with the drained cashews, honey, lemon juice and 100ml cold water and blend until smooth.

Pour into a jug and press a piece of cling film directly on top of the liquid and up the sides of the jug to prevent air getting to it - this will minimise the bananas discolouring. Chill until cold.

When cold enough, stir in the chilled double cream then gradually start adding the rum a tablespoon at a time, tasting as you go. Even if you like it strong, 4 tablespoons is probably the optimum amount you’ll need.

Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker until it is the consistency of very thick cream, then quickly transfer to a plastic freeze-proof container and freeze until solid.

If you don’t have an ice cream machine, pour into a plastic freeze-proof container and freeze for about an hour until the sides start to get solid. Then mash with a fork to combine the solid ice cream at the sides of the container with the still liquid centre. Straightaway, put it back into the freezer for another half-hour then take it out again and repeat the mixing and mashing. Continue doing this every half hour until the ice cream is soft-set, then let it freeze solid.

Take out of the freezer and put in the refrigerator 20-30 minutes before serving to allow the ice cream to soften slightly.

Ingredients - for the chocolate sauce

200ml (7fl oz) whipping or double cream

100g (3½oz) good quality dark chocolate, chopped (I use Callebaut’s finest dark chocolate chips, which saves me the bother of chopping!)

1 tsp pure vanilla essence

Knob of good quality salted butter (I used Rodda’s)

Instructions

In a small pan heat the cream to scalding point (just below boiling). Take the pan off the heat. 

Add the chocolate to the cream, whisking continuously until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth sauce.

Add the vanilla essence and finally whisk-in the butter.

Gently re-heat the sauce if necessary but do not allow it to boil. Spoon immediately over ice cream.

Alternatively, keep warm over a pan of barely simmering water until you're ready to serve.

Carbohydrate 34g Protein 2g - per serving of ice cream

Carbohydrate 9g Protein 3g - per serving of chocolate sauce

Ratatouille with Roast Cod and Parmesan Crisps

In my book, ratatouille made from multi-coloured Mediterranean vegetables is probably one of the best vegetarian meals ever invented!

I was first introduced to this classic dish in the 1960’s through A Book of Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David. Up until then, fresh, sun-ripened ingredients such as aubergine, courgettes and bell peppers were relatively unheard of, and virtually impossible to source in the UK. Thankfully, food shopping has come a long way since then!

Originally, an ancient French peasant dish made from coarsely chopped fresh summer vegetables (the word ratatouille comes from the French touiller, which means to stir), this iconic vegetable stew made from onions, tomatoes, courgettes, sweet peppers and aubergines is now an all-year-round favourite - although in the depths of winter I think you would be well advised to use tinned plum tomatoes instead of the seemingly non-existent fresh ripe ones!

There are numerous modern interpretations of this dish but it seems to me that this simple version, which is made on top of the stove rather than in the oven, is the most authentic and thus ratatouille at its basic best. I’ve loosely based it on Raymond Blanc’s recipe in Cooking For Friends.

For this blog post, I’ve suggested taking ratatouille into dinner party territory by partnering it with Roast Cod and Parmesan Crisps - although, as French peasants obviously knew, it is equally good for every day eating. Keep it simple, serve with our grain-free bread still warm from the oven and a salad for a main course, or as a side dish. It really comes into its own served cold the next day too. I also like to use it in ratatouille omelette. In fact, serve it hot, serve it cold, serve it any way you like! This low carb medley of vegetable goodness will remind you of summer. 

Ratatouille (V) with Roast Cod and Parmesan Crisps (Serves 4)

Ingredients - for the ratatouille 

50ml (2fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

25g (1oz) butter

150g (5oz) onion, finely chopped

1 large red pepper

1 large yellow pepper

1 medium aubergine

1 large courgette

2 ripe plum tomatoes (I used Mr Organic tinned plum tomatoes)

1 sprig of fresh thyme, leaves only

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Cut the stalk end off the aubergine then cut it into 1cm (½ inch) dice. Layer the aubergine dice into a colander liberally sprinkling them with salt as you go. Put a plate underneath the colander (to catch the juices) and another plate on top, weighted down with something heavy (I use a kettle filled with water) Set aside to drain for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the top and bottom off the courgette and remove the stalks and seeds from the peppers. Cut all the vegetables (courgette, peppers and tomatoes) into 1cm (½ inch) dice. Keep the vegetables separate at this stage. If you’re using tinned tomatoes remove any core, skin or daggy bits before roughly dicing.

In a large deep frying/sauté pan heat the oil and butter together over a medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and thyme leaves to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Do not let the onion brown.

Dry the aubergine on paper kitchen towel, then add the aubergine and pepper dice to the onion and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil 1 litre (1¾ pints) water in a kettle. Pour the boiling water into a separate pan, add some salt then blanch the diced courgettes for 3 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water.

Add the courgettes to the rest of the vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes until they are turning golden, then add the tomatoes. Give everything a good stir, cover with a lid and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes until all the vegetables are meltingly tender. 

Taste, then  season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Ingredients - for the roast cod

4 x 225g (8oz) sustainably sourced cod fillets, skinned

1 tbsp Clearspring organic sunflower frying oil

15g (½ oz) unsalted butter

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Lemon juice, to serve

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200℃/ 400℉/ Gas mark 6. Skin and bone the cod fillets (if this hasn’t already been done for you by your fishmonger).

Heat the oil and butter together in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When the butter has stopped foaming place the cod fillets into the pan, presentation side down i.e. skinned side uppermost.

Pan fry the fish until lightly browned (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.

Carefully turn the fish fillets over and transfer to a non-stick baking tray (now skinned side down) and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Finish with a little more sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

Ingredients - for the Parmesan crisps (makes 8) 

150g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200℃/400℉/Gas mark 6 

Place a 7cm ring or cutter onto a large non-stick baking tray.

Sprinkle 2-3 teaspoons of Parmesan into the middle of the ring and use your fingers or the back of a spoon to compact the cheese down. 

Remove the cutter and repeat - leaving sufficient space in-between so that the crisps don’t merge into each other when cooking.

Cook for 4-6 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the baking tray. 

Remove from the tray with a palette knife and store in an airtight container. 

Use within 7 days. 

Notes

It is always best to get organised by preparing all the ingredients listed in a recipe before you actually launch into cooking or bringing everything together. Professional chefs call this “mise en place” (putting in place) and it is a very effective way of staying on top of the situation when you’re cooking at home too. 

The ratatouille and the Parmesan crisps can be prepared well in advance - several days ahead, if needs be!

You can re-heat the ratatouille or serve it cold as an hors d’oeuvre.

Parmesan crisps are also great served as no-carb nibbles with pre-dinner drinks.

Carbohydrate 15g Protein 4g - per serving of ratatouille

Carbohydrate 1g Protein 38g - per serving of cod

Carbohydrate 0g Protein 12g - per parmesan crisp

Souffléd Cauliflower with Gruyère Cheese Sauce

Back in the 1970’s, due to a lack of money and much to my husband’s irritation, cauliflower cheese, along with jacket potato and tuna bean salad used to be the mainstay of our diet. It was the repetitive appearance of cauliflower cheese that offended him the most. We’re not together now but I do wonder if he’s carried his grudge against cauliflower with him for the past thirty-five years!

If so, it would be a pity because today’s recipe for Souffléd Cauliflower with Gruyere Cheese Sauce is a far cry from the boiled cauliflower with the flour-based béchamel cheese sauce of our yesteryears, which I confess (too late as far as my ex is concerned!) was a truly monotonous thing to eat no matter how liberally I attempted to mask it in cheesiness.

This no-grain, low-carb version is really an elegant deconstruction of boring old cauliflower cheese that I think is simply brilliant as an imaginative vegetarian main course or as an accompaniment to fish, chicken or meat. It’s amazing what a little bit of height and lightness can do for cauliflower jaded appetites and with the silky-smooth Gruyere cheese sauce poured over, it’s totally transformed into something enticingly delish.

Do not be intimidated by the thought of making a soufflé - they’re really not as difficult or as temperamental as you might think. You’ll need a 6-inch diameter top (No.2 size) soufflé dish for this recipe. 

Souffléd Cauliflower with Gruyère Cheese Sauce (V) (Serves 4)

Ingredients - for souffléd cauliflower

I medium size cauliflower

1 fresh bay leaf - optional

10g-15g (½oz) ground almonds and softened butter (for souffle dish)

Grain-free béchamel sauce (made with 30g/1oz of butter, 20g/¾oz ground almonds, 1 tsp arrowroot powder, ¼ tsp dry English mustard powder, 142ml/¼ pint milk)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 large egg yolks 

4 large egg whites

1 tbsp ready-grated Parmesan (for dusting)

Ingredients - for Gruyère cheese sauce

250ml (8fl oz) créme fraîche

125g (4½oz) Gruyère cheese, finely grated (I used the Co-op’s Truly Irresistible Premier Cru Gruyère cheese - it is the best Gruyère I’ve ever tasted!)

½ tsp Dijon mustard

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 190℃ / 375℉ / Gas mark 5. Boil a kettle of water.

Butter the soufflé dish and dust with the ground almonds. To allow the soufflé to rise above the dish, tie a deep band of non-stick baking parchment or greaseproof paper around the outside of the dish to come 2-3 inches higher than the top of the dish.

Cut the florets off the head of cauliflower - you don’t need much stalk so just use the florets. Put the florets in a single layer in the top of a steamer, sprinkle over with salt and tuck the bay leaf in-between. Pour the boiling water from the kettle into the bottom half of the steamer and steam the florets until they’re tender (about 7 minutes).

Refresh the cauliflower in cold running water, remove the bay leaf (if used) then drain well and tip the cauliflower on to a clean tea towel to dry. Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor into a puree (alternatively, push the cauliflower through a strainer). Put the cauliflower puree into a bowl.

Prepare the béchamel sauce. In a medium pan set over a low to moderate heat melt the butter, when the butter is melted add the ground almonds, the mustard and arrowroot powders and stir everything together really well.

Keep stirring continuously whilst you gradually add the milk to the pan a little at a time. Make sure after each addition of milk that it is evenly and smoothly incorporated into the butter and flour mix before adding more milk. When all the milk has been added to the pan, bring the sauce up to the boil to allow it to thicken - continuously stirring until it does.

Take the pan off the heat and mix the béchamel sauce in with the cauliflower. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Separate the egg yolks and whites. Thoroughly beat the yolks and add them to the cauliflower mixture. With a clean whisk whip the egg whites to a firm snow.

Using a large metal spoon, quickly fold a third of the egg whites into the cauliflower mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites being very careful not to knock the air out of the mixture.

Turn into the prepared soufflé dish, dust with the Parmesan cheese and stand it on the centre shelf of the oven. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until it is well risen and brown. The soufflé should be a little soft in the centre.

Whilst the soufflé is baking, prepare the Gruyère cheese sauce. Heat the creme fraiche in a saucepan without letting it boil. Add the cheese and Dijon mustard and whisk continuously until the cheese melts.

Remove the pan from the heat and set the sauce to one side until you need it.

Just before the soufflé is ready, gently re-heat the sauce and tip into a warm sauceboat.

When the soufflé is cooked, serve it immediately with the Gruyère cheese sauce handed separately. 

Carbohydrate 12g Protein 12g  - per serving of souffléd cauliflower

Carbohydrate 1g Protein 10g - per serving of Gruyere cheese sauce

Wild Smoked Salmon & Prawn Pâté

The deliciously deep rosy colour of this Wild Smoked Salmon & Prawn Pâté with its soft texture and sweet flavours that hint of the sea, is food to fall in love with. Quick and easy to make, it is a truly indulgent starter for any special occasion.

Spread it lavishly on slices of crisp crostini (see the recipe for perfect crostini here) and serve with a glass of chilled Champagne and I think you could literally have your lover eating out of your hand!

I specifically chose wild Alaskan smoked salmon for this recipe because by going wild you get a firmer less fatty fish with a natural intense colour. Besides, it just doesn’t seem very loving to feed my man farmed fish that’s been fed on pellets containing antibiotics, growth hormones and artificial colour!

To make this seafood pate even more luxurious (and a little less salty) I combined the smoked salmon with some big juicy Canadian cold water prawns.

If this little number doesn’t impress your Valentine, I don’t know what will!

Wild Smoked Salmon & Prawn Pâté (Serves 2)

Ingredients

50g (2oz) wild Alaskan smoked salmon 

25g (1oz) large Canadian cold water prawns, defrosted

100g (3½oz) full-fat soft cream cheese

50g (2oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

½ small lemon, juiced

Large pinch cayenne pepper

2 lemon slices

8 whole prawns, defrosted

Flat leaf parsley 

Instructions

Cut the salmon and the prawns into small pieces (I used kitchen scissors). Place the salmon and prawns in a blender with the cream cheese, melted butter, cayenne pepper and lemon juice.

Pulse the ingredients until mixed together well but not completely smooth - you need to retain a little texture. Taste the pâté and add a little more lemon juice if needed.

Spoon the mixture into two small ramekin dishes. Level the surface, cover with cling film and chill for 2 hours.

When you’re ready to serve, cut a thin slice from a whole lemon, cut it into two halves (remove any pips) then slice each half from its centre to the rind (don’t cut through the rind) then turn both ends in opposite directions to make a ‘twist’ and place one lemon twist on top of each pâté. Arrange two prawns on each side of the lemon slices (4 prawns per person) and garnish both with a small sprig of flat leaf parsley.

Notes

Wrapped tightly in cling film, this pâté will keep for for several days stored in a refrigerator.

Don’t add any salt as the smoked salmon has enough salt to sufficiently flavour the pâté without.

If you don't have time or don't feel confident enough to make crostini, whole red Belgian chicory leaves are a fresh and flavourful accompaniment to the pâté. They're also virtually carb-free and the pale red leaves look very pretty!

You could also add some finely chopped fresh chives or dill to this pâté but I much prefer its unadulterated rosy pink colour. For the same reason, I used cayenne pepper rather than freshly ground black pepper because I think black flecks running through the mix would spoil its appearance. 

Carbohydrate 2g Protein 10g - per portion

Chocolate Mousse

A chocolatey climax to a romantic Valentine’s dinner, what’s not to love?

Sarah actually wanted me to write about her all-time favourite chocolate mousse, which is a Raymond Blanc recipe (not the one with lemon juice!) but frankly, I prefer all my ingredients to be fully used up rather than having to store an excess in the refrigerator, where there’s always the risk of it getting pushed to the back and being forgotten. So, sorry Sarah but the disparity between using one egg yolk to ten egg whites in that recipe, sends me into a tail spin whilst I try to figure out what to do with the remaining glut of yolks! I suppose I could have blogged mayonnaise and hollandaise sauces but since I’m focused on cooking for two people this week, I wanted an altogether more streamlined chocolate mousse recipe that has no need for added sugar.

The one I finally settled on is an Elizabeth David recipe, which really appealed to me because, at its simplest, you only need an ounce of quality dark chocolate, a tablespoon of water and an egg per person. My chocolate mousse calls for the same ingredients except I’ve swapped the water for a ‘shot’ of strong espresso coffee and added a smidge of salted butter for a little more sophistication. I think it  is the perfect finale to an intimate celebration meal for low-carb, Primal diet aficionados.

Surprisingly quick and easy to make, the taste and texture are in my view balanced to perfection - not too sweet, light as a feather and deeply chocolatey.

Quality ingredients are vital. Being short on the number of ingredients it’s not expensive to make, so buy the very best 70% dark chocolate (no more than 70% cocoa solids, as this can turn your mousse ‘grainy’), decent quality butter and the freshest organic free-range eggs you can find. I used a Nespresso Kazaar coffee pod to make a fresh strong espresso to further enhance the chocolate flavour.

The result is a divinely unctuous dessert that provides mouthfuls of pure pleasure. I really can’t think of anything more appropriate for the occasion! 

Chocolate Mousse (V) (Serves 2)

Ingredients

60g (2oz) fine quality dark chocolate, chopped - I used Callebaut Finest, Satongo dark chocolate chips (saves the time and hassle involved in breaking or chopping up a chocolate bar!) available from an amazing website called Chocolate Trading Co

2 large eggs, separated

10g salted butter

2 tbsp strong espresso coffee

Instructions

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of barely simmering water. (alternatively, you can put the bowl of chocolate in an oven switched down to it’s lowest setting). Leave it to melt.

When the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat. Stir in the espresso coffee and the butter.

Separate the egg yolks and whites into two separate bowls. Beat the egg yolks thoroughly, then stir them into the chocolate mix.

With a clean whisk beat the egg whites until they are white and thick but still fluffy. Don’t overbeat them and let them get too stiff or they will be difficult to combine with the chocolate.

Stir a third of the egg whites into the chocolate to loosen it, then immediately fold in the rest. Be very gentle with cutting and folding in the egg whites but be thorough - if you’re too heavy-handed you’ll knock the air bubbles out and end up with a flat mousse, but if you don’t combine the egg whites into the chocolate completely you’ll have white streaks running through it.

Pour the mousse into two individual glasses or ramekin dishes and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. The longer it’s left the more dense it becomes.

Notes

There are a few tricks to making good chocolate mousse:

• The eggs and butter should be at room temperature before you start
• Don’t stir the chocolate whilst it’s melting because it may ‘seize’ up
• Use a large metal spoon (not a wooden one) to fold the egg whites into the chocolate

N.B. If you have any concerns about eating raw eggs (to the extent that you won’t eat a soft boiled egg) sadly, this recipe is not for you.

Carbohydrate 9g Protein 8g  - per portion

Carrot & Ginger Timbales with Tomato Sauce

This recipe for Carrot & Ginger Timbales is very close to my heart, so as it’s Valentine’s day this Saturday, I’m thinking it’s not only a good time for me to share it with you but that it might also be just the thing to ‘ginger-up’ that special someone in your life.

Nineteen years ago it was part of a menu I devised for Sarah to compete in Junior Masterchef. She made it to the televised series but as Loyd Grossman drawled to me afterwards, “You must be really disappointed but we’ve already had a vegetarian menu go through to the finals in this morning’s cook-off!”

Sarah’s heat wasn’t scheduled for filming until the afternoon and as there was no room for two vegetarian finalists, that as they say, is show biz! They even had to edit out Rick Stein’s comment for the benefit of television viewers because during the judging (overheard in the green room because the film crew had inadvertently left the audio link ‘live’) he’d said to Julia Sawalha and Loyd Grossman “Taste that, just taste that! That’s the best vegetarian food I’ve ever eaten!!”

Sarah cooked this to perfection in-front of a camera crew at age 15, so it should be feasible for anyone to cook at home for the man or woman they most want to impress on Valentine’s day.

During this coming week I hope to put together a complete menu for dinner à deux that should give your romance an added edge. These elegant Carrot & Ginger Timbales with Tomato Sauce are the main event and should definitely dazzle with some gorgeous greens such as sugar snap peas and wilted spinach served alongside.

Carrot & Ginger Timbales with Tomato Sauce (V)

Ingredients - for the timbales (Serves 2)

25g (1 oz) butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 inch fresh ginger, skinned and finely grated

350g (12 oz) carrots, coarsely grated

60ml (2 fl oz) filtered water

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 drop liquid stevia - optional

1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

2 large organic free-range eggs, beaten

60g Gruyere cheese, finely grated

Butter for greasing

Extra coriander leaves, to garnish

Ingredients - for the tomato sauce (Serves 4)

25g (1 oz) butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 x 400g (14 oz) plum tomatoes (Mr Organic is my preferred choice)

1 tsp tomato puree

1-2 drops liquid stevia

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 dsp tomato ketchup (Mr Organic is my preferred choice)

Instructions - for making the timbales

Pre-heat the oven to 190℃ / ℉ / Gas mark. 

Grease two ramekin dishes and line the bottom of each with a disc of baking parchment.  

Melt the butter in a medium pan over a moderate heat and cook the onion and ginger for about 5 minutes with the pan lid on until the onion is transparent but not coloured (I also use a disc of parchment paper - cake tin liner - pressed down on top of the vegetables to help keep the steam in and to stop them from browning).

Add the carrots to the pan and cook a further 5 minutes until tender.

Add a drop of liquid stevia, salt and pepper. Stir to combine the seasonings, then add the water and continue cooking until all the water has evaporated. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Boil a kettle of water.

When the carrot mixture has cooled, add the eggs, cheese and coriander.

Stir everything together thoroughly, then check the seasoning. 

Spoon the mixture equally into the two buttered ramekin dishes.

Cover the tops with non-stick foil and place in a small roasting pan.

Pour the hot water from the kettle around the ramekins so it comes halfway up the sides of the dishes.

Bake for 30 minutes until firm.

Instructions - for making the tomato sauce

Melt the butter in a medium pan over a moderate heat.

Add the finely chopped onion, cover with the pan lid and cook gently for about 5 minutes.

Add the can of tomatoes, breaking them up slightly with a wooden spoon.

Add the tomato puree, 1 to 2 drops of liquid stevia, sea salt and pepper.

Cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Pour into a food processor and liquidise. Pass through a strainer into a clean pan.

Add tomato ketchup, check seasoning and gently re-heat.

To serve

Unmould the carrot and ginger timbales on to warmed dinner plates (don’t forget to remove the paper disc!)

Spoon a pool of the tomato sauce next to each timbale. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Timbales - Carbohydrate 16g Protein 17g

Tomato Sauce - Carbohydrate 5g Protein 2 g