Today is gorgeous. One of those days I always want to bottle up and save forever like an expensive flask of Italian wine – just to know I’ve got a nice day to uncork anytime I want. (Argh! I’m such a control freak! :)

I’ve been out doing yard work – mowing, weed-eating, and weeding the strawberry patch, soaking it all in – never getting enough. After the work is over, I’m going to finish off the mint ice cream I made last night.

If you’ve never tried fresh mint (yep, the green stuff that grows like crazy! ) ice cream then you are in for a treat!

Our mint comes back every year and tends to wind it’s way into the cracks and crevices of the green house, along with the Bermuda grass that is SO hard to control. I think mint and Bermuda are best friends…or at least closely related. They have the same behavioral patterns anyway.

At least mint tastes good!

Anyways, you’ll need about one cup of mint leaves for this recipe…

• 2 1/2 c. whole milk
• 1 1/2 c. cream
• 1/4 c. raw honey or 1/2 c. sugar (or more to taste). If you don’t care for a slight honey flavor in your mint ice cream, go with the sugar. My personal preference is sugar in this recipe, but then it’s not as healthy that way.
• 1 c. mint leaves
• pinch of sea salt

Combine everything together in to the blender and blend away.

Line a bowl with a large tea towel and pour the blended mixture in, making sure there’s plenty of towel left hanging over the edge.

Gather up the corners and let the liquid drain into the bowl. Be sure to squeeze out the very last drops of minty flavor. It will be a bit brown toward the end.

It’s ready to churn. I use a 4 quart Cuisinart – the kind that has the frozen bowl. Very handy for small amounts.

Oh yum! Using the suggested honey amount in this recipe makes it just barely sweet, which is perfect for drizzling on some caramel sauce made with honey!

You’ll find that recipe here @ CDKitchen.

And there you have it…the perfect sunny day dessert.

Top with strawberries if you like…

Or shave some dark chocolate over the top.

What variation do you have in mind?

For those who haven’t heard, Weston A Price was a dentist who traveled the world researching the primitive diets of people who didn’t have modern processed foods available to them and then, those of the same descent, who did. He found all the primitive diets had something in common – they were high in saturated fats like seal fat, cream, and fish oils and fermented foods like sauerkraut, fish sauce, sourdough breads, and laco-fermented pickles. These people were strong and healthy and had beautiful teeth without decay and cavities. When modern foods were introduced to them their health declined and there was a marked difference in the next generation – crowded teeth, cavities and degenerative diseases.

Price died in 1948, but his research and valuable findings in dentistry and nourishing traditions have been passed on to people like Sally Fallon and others who are passionate about eating to be healthy. Sally’s book, Nourishing Traditions, is an extensive volume that encompasses the when, why, and how of soaking, fermenting, sprouting and souring of grains, meats, milk, legumes and seeds. The book is loaded with recipes, health information, and interesting histories about food.

We’ve owned a copy of Nourishing Traditions for several years now and over the years I’ve experimented with different techniques using her recipes. To give an honest review, I’d have to say I don’t agree with everything Sally teaches, but for those interested in getting back to the old paths of eating nourishing food – and making foods easier to digest, I would recommend this book for your library without hesitation.

Sourdough bread is one of these foods our family has thoroughly embraced. Soaked grain pancakes or waffles or sourdough pancakes are never turned down either. Water kefir is a constant in the pantry (Usually lime ginger these days. Check out my water kefir post for recent flavor and tip updates!) and I usually have milk kefir, some kind of yogurt or raw milk product and occasionally, sauerkraut and kombucha on hand. I think we might, just might,  be getting enough healthy probiotics into our systems. :)

So, for the last two weeks I’ve had all the information from the seminar crazily racing around in my brain. What better way to process it than to bake some banana bread? Not any kind of banana bread though. It had to be moist and flavorful and…why not soak the wheat?

So I did.

I took pictures of the second to last piece. See, it was another one of those wasn’t-going-to-blog-about-it-but-too-good-not-too things. At least I got a picture before it was all gone! I’m glad it’s gone, too. I definitely don’t need this stuff laying around looking all innocent and healthy and delicious.

That’s it…You know you want just one more bite!

Here’s what you need for 1 loaf…oh wait! Who are we kidding? Why make one when making two is just as easy?

• 1 c. milk kefir or buttermilk
• 2 c. whole wheat flour

Combine together in a glass bowl, cover and let sit overnight.

In the morning, or whenever you get around to it, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and cream…

• 1 c. rapadura, coconut palm sugar, or sucanut
• 1 c. butter
• 1/4 c. honey

Add…

• 4 eggs
• 2 c. mashed banana (about 4 medium)
• 1 t. orange extract
• 1 t. almond extract

Beat well, then add your soured wheat mixture.

Combine…

• 1 c. chopped pecans (optional)
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. salt

and mix into banana mixture.

Butter the bottoms of  2 loaf pans. Pour the batter evenly between the two. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool before trying to remove from pan. We didn’t and it was not right.

Well, the crumbles were good.

If you’re a REAL Sally Fallon follower, slather each piece with 3 Tablespoons of delicious raw butter and eat it in a bowl with a spoon! ;)

It’s so easy for me to just get in the kitchen and “go with it” and I don’t think about blogging until later…when it’s usually too late.

And then there’s the recipes I try that aren’t even worth the pixels…or the megabytes on the hard drive. I’ve done a few of those lately. We have a lot of frozen bananas that need to be used up, so I’ve been experimenting. Hemp crackers sweetened with banana, Coconut cookies sweetened with banana, banana ice cream floats using vanilla water kefir… All VERY interesting experiments, but not anything I found favorable enough to share with you, my readers.

You’re welcome.

Anyhow, this recipe was a last minute accident. See, I made a smoothie for breakfast the other morning and had too much to drink at one time (EDIT: there was too much smoothie to drink at one meal :P ), so the smoothie remaining in the blender got doctored up with chia seeds, cocoa powder and honey. That went in a jar in the frig for an afternoon pre or post workout snack.

The end result was this delicious, nutrient dense, healthy chocolate pudding.

Your children/family will never guess there are greens in this! I bet you wouldn’t either if you weren’t putting them in yourself. I think you’ll like it!

First let me tell you just a little bit about some of these power foods you are about to use…

Baby spinach – I can’t tell you how many “Top 10 Superfoods” lists there are out there, but spinach seems to make it on to every one of them.  Packed with calcium, iron, folate, vitamin K, vitamin A and  beta-carotene, spinach is the king of healthy greens (though kale is fighting for it’s popularity status). I wonder how much Popeye the Sailor Man had to do with that… Did you know sale of spinach went up 30% during the decade the Popeye cartoon came out?

Chia seeds are full of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, calcium, phosphorus and manganese. These seeds can absorb up to 12 times their weight in water, so are very filling. Aztec Indians used to eat chia seeds for energy boosts and even used them as currency since they were so valued.

Raw honey is one of the healthiest sweeteners available to us. Honey is a great source of the following vitamins: B1, B6, B12, C, E and Biotin. It also has anti-oxidant properties that help get rid of free radicals that destroy our cells. On top of that, it’s antibacterial. Eating local raw honey can also help fight against allergies. Cripple Creek Farms in Guthrie is where I get ours. You can take your own glass jars and Randy or Teresa will fill them for you. They are also working on opening their farm up for bee and goat dairy tours. Can’t wait!

Blueberries are another nutrient packed food that makes its way on to many of the “top 10″ lists. Like chia seeds, they fight free-radicals with their anti-oxidant properties and host numerous vitamins and minerals. Native Americans once called them “star berries,” because the five points of blueberry blossoms make a star shape. I like that!

Cocoa powder/dark chocolate. While I can still argue that coffee is unhealthy, I’ve made up my mind about dark chocolate. No ifs, ands or buts about it, dark chocolate is definitely healthy. It lowers high blood pressure, is a potent anti-oxidant and makes people happy. So there ya go!

Coconut oil is a healing oil. It is antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial and soothing. It’s good for just about everything and I’m always learning about other ways that it makes life better. In fact, my Mom recently sent me a link to a blog that uses a paste of coconut oil and baking soda to take sticky labels off glass bottles so they can be reused for storage containers. I’ve been using it since.

So you want the recipe?

1/2 c. yogurt or milk kefir

1 handful baby spinach

2-4 T. chia seeds

1/2 avocado

2 T. honey, or to your taste

1/2 c. frozen blueberries

4 T. cocoa powder

1 T. coconut oil

Well, once again, I bought the ingredients for guacamole intending to blog about it and, once again, ran out of time. This time though I had a brilliant idea. See, I have this brother that makes some of the best guacamole ever and he just happens to be a photographer and it just so happened that he was home last night. Yes!

“Jer!”, I yelled up the stairs (We don’t have intercom…although I guess we do have cell phones…yelling is still more convenient.) “Would you do me a favor?”

Jeremy likes making guacamole and he likes taking pictures and he likes doing nice things for people, so, thanks to Jeremy, I present to you his version of some of the best guacamole you will ever taste.

All guacamole photos taken by Jeremy. Check out more of his work on his website Clear Angle Photography or his Facebook page. He also does web design, in case you’re looking for someone.

Cube the avocado. This will result in a chunkier guacamole that doesn’t have that mashed texture. No one likes mashed texture, right? The word mashed is just unappealing.

Add the salt. Sea salt for that extra boost of minerals, plus, it just tastes better.

Chop and drain tomatoes.

He uses a serious knife, did you notice?

Chop cilantro, green onion, and jalapeno.

And add to avocado.

Squeeze on the lime juice.

Mix with a big spoon just until combined.

Taste.

Sigh with bliss and taste again….and again. Go ahead, this stuff is SO good for you!

Here’s the recipe to follow -

• 9 avocados (We figure 1/2 – 1 per person + one or two for good measure. :) ), cubed
• 2 t. sea salt
• 3 small to medium tomatoes, chopped and drained
• 1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped (more if you like heat)
• 4 green onions, chopped
• juice of one lime

Feeds seven…of us.

I don’t know how you can get much more exciting than fresh guacamole, but I have to share my latest endeavor with you – homemade corn tortillas. (I apologize for the photos. Remember I ran out of time? So it was dark out. And I was using Jeremy’s camera, but for some reason it doesn’t behave for me like it does for him. After seeing his photos you’ll probably never come back to see mine again, huh? )

I never attempted corn tortillas before because I thought one needed a tortilla press and it sounded difficult to do without. But last night I tried it and, using the technique I’m going to share with you, I easily made corn tortillas that look store bought and taste great.

I used Bob’s REd Mill Golden Masa Harina and the recipe on the back, but I want to find masa harina that is made from organic corn to avoid GMOs. Anyone know where to get that?

So I started off making balls from the dough and rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper. Here’s how that came out…

Not impressive.

After trying to use sheer strength (Jeremy aided in this department) to press the dough thin enough for a tortilla, we gave up on that. Finally, I rolled the dough out (again with parchment to keep from sticking) and used a plate to cut perfect circles. A lightly greased griddle cooked the tortillas with ease.

Let them rest a bit after cooking for them to gain elasticity.

Serve with guacamole, of course!

I was going to call this recipe Decadent Chocolate Brownies, but, on a whim, looked up the word decadent in the dictionary. See, I have this tendency to throw words out there that I’ve heard all my life. I know the context they <usually> are used in and the general idea behind the word, but sometimes I’m surprised when I look them up. Well, decadent was one such surprise and, since I didn’t want to deceive my readers into thinking I’m giving them a recipe for brownies that were in “the process of falling into an inferior condition or state, deteriorating or decaying”, I chose a more appealing word and one that doesn’t so readily come to mind, or didn’t until today – ambrosial. The definition is a favorable fit for these chocolatey brownies – “exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; delicious or fragrant. Worthy of the gods; divine.”

So there you have it!

I don’t believe you’ll find an easier recipe for brownies, so without further ado I bring you…

Ambrosial Brownies

1 c. butter or coconut oil

1 c. sucanut, organic cane sugar or coconut palm sugar

1/2 c. unsweetened  cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 T. vanilla

3 T. coconut or almond flour

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1 c. dark chocolate chips (optional)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan. Remove from heat and add sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
• Add eggs and beat to combine. Stir in nut flour and then nuts and chocolate chips.
• Pour into a buttered cast iron skillet, 12 muffin cups, or a 9×9 casserole dish. (For easy greasing, place a small amount of butter in your dish and put in the heating oven for a few minutes until the butter starts to melt. )

Bake the skillet sized pan for 20 minutes.

Bake muffin tins for 15 minutes.

Allow to partially cool to avoid burning your tongue and enjoy with whipped cream or ice cream.

Can someone explain to me why decadent ever became a popular word to describe food?

My brother and a friend both rated this as an 8 out of 10 in the chocolate chip cookie world. I’d say the two of them are CCC connoisseurs, so it’s better than most. Add some orange zest and almond extract and I’d be happy. You know what I realized? Chocolate Chip Cookies aren’t my favorite. Crazy right? Yeah, I know.

Filed under: Bakery, Desserts Tagged: chocolate chip cookies, orange almond chocolate chip cookies ]]> http://cheffingit.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/operation-chocolate-chip-cookies/feed/ 21 sarahbec IMG_9546 IMG_9524 IMG_9535 IMG_9523 IMG_9533 IMG_9526 IMG_9532 IMG_9537 IMG_9521 IMG_9518 IMG_9550 IMG_9553 IMG_9542 http://cheffingit.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/a-cup-of-chai/ http://cheffingit.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/a-cup-of-chai/#comments Wed, 06 Mar 2013 01:09:15 +0000 Sarah http://cheffingit.wordpress.com/?p=2126 Continue reading →]]> There is something about a warm mug of tea hugged between one’s two hands…

I don’t know, it just makes me think happy thoughts. Fluffy down comforter, flickering flames in the wood stove and a book that pulls you into the story page by page (notice I didn’t say swipe by swipe of the finger tip ;)  – those are the welcome companions of a cup of tea.

That, and a dash of milk, a smidgen of honey and some whipped cream, of course.

Not to mention the heavenly smell of spices wafting through the house.

Have I talked you into a cup of Chai?

Toss your choice of the following into a sauce pan:

• freshly grated ginger
• pepper corns
• cinnamon sticks
• whole cloves
• whole cardamom pods
• a vanilla bean, sliced in half
• whole allspice
• star anise
• black tea leaves

Add about 6 cups of water.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for an hour or two.

Strain into a mug.

Add some milk and enough honey or sugar or maple syrup to bring out the spicy flavors. It’s a lovely color isn’t it?

Top with whipped cream and sip ever so slowly.

You may store the rest in a jar for later. Keep the spices in the liquid for more intense flavor.

If you could have a good hour on a rainy day with a warm beverage and a book, what would you drink?

Double points for telling us what you would read as well!