The Sunny Raw Kitchen

Recipe of the Week: Pajon Bread

2008-05-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

In spite of all that's going on lately, I've somehow managed to have a savory D day this week as our reserves of breads and crackers were getting dangerously low. It's no wonder... that's pretty much all we've been eating other than chocolate candy in the last little while! lol I got bold and tried a few new bread recipes, and the amazing thing is that they all turned out fabulous! I'll do my best to report in greater details in the coming days, but in the meantime, here's my favorite of the bunch: Cheflandria's Pajon Bread. It's pliable, super tasty and visually beautiful. I can tell I'll be making this one a LOT!

Pajon Bread
Posted by Flandria on Raw Freedom Community

I love this “pajon” bread. “Pajon” is a Korean Onion/Green Onions pancakes served as an appetizer. It’s delicious and finally got to eat a raw version of it. It is so good with a big salad with a sweet oriental dressing. A great compliment. If you try this, let me know what you think!

1/2 cup almond flour, dry or dehydrated pulp
1/2 cup flax seeds, grounded
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp nama shoyu
1 stalks of green onions, chopped
1 bulb of shallot, sliced thin
1/4 - 1/2 cup water

Mix everything in a bowl except water, green onions and shallots. Mix well. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix. Make sure the consitency is like a soft bread batter, add more water one tablespoon at a time if needed until consistency is achieved. Soft bread batter where you can still spread the batter into the teflex sheets about 1/8 inch thick.

Spread with a butter knife in a teflex sheet. Dehydrate for about 4-6 hours. It should still be soft in the middle and pliable to cut into 2×2 inch squares. Serve right out of the dehydrator with salad. Enjoy!

Carmella's Notes:
~ I used organic tamari instead of Nama Shoyu and sweet onion instead of shallot.

~ It was a little too salty for me so I made a mental note to cut down on the salt next time.

~ The batter took a lot longer to dehydrate, but that's probably because I used too much water. No matter... This bread was sooooooo delish!!!

~ The above recipe doesn't yield very much so you might want to double or even triple it.

Here's Flandria's rendition. As you can see, her pieces are a bit thicker than mine...

Oh, and make sure to pop by Gone Raw for more of her yummy recipe creations.

Enjoy!

Recipe of the Week: Pasta in Creamy Alfredo with Mushrooms and Asparagus

2008-05-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

So much is going on around here these days! Between my recent chocolate marathon, organizing Raw Freedom Community's First Anniversary Draw, the release of a new recipe ebook and the upcoming move, it's a wonder I find time to prepare food at all! Whenever it gets that busy, I always fall back on simple and easy dishes.

As Don picked up some lovely fresh asparagus at the local market today, I jumped on the opportunity to make the following recipe Rawbie posted a few weeks back on RFC. I was planning on using some pine nut parmesan I had sitting in the freezer, but completely forgot about it. No matter, this was absolutely delicious anyways!

Zucchini Pasta
1 - 2 medium zucchini squash per person, transformed into pasta using a spiral slicer (or hand shredder)

Creamy Alfredo with Mushrooms and Asparagus
By Cherie Soria of Living Light Institute

Yield: 1 1/3 cup (Serves 4)

6-8 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon tamari
1 teaspoon olive oil
---
1/2 cup pine nuts, soaked 2 hours, rinsed, and drained
1/2 cup cashews, soaked 2 hours, rinsed, and drained
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoon agave nectar
2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
2 teaspoon light miso
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt, or salt to taste
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of white pepper
---
4 stalks asparagus, sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons Pine Nut Parmesan, optional garnish (see recipe, below)

For the Marinated Mushrooms:
Toss the mushrooms, tamari, and olive oil together and set aside.

For the Alfredo Sauce:
Put the pine nuts, cashews, water, lemon juice, and agave in a blender and blend until creamy. If the mixture is too thick for the blender, add a very small amount of water (by the teaspoon – just enough to blend). When the mixture is smooth and creamy, add the nutritional yeast, miso, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, nutmeg, and pepper and blend briefly to mix.

Assembly:
To serve, squeeze out the excess liquid from the mushrooms. Toss the mushrooms, asparagus, and pasta together well.

Garnish with optional Pine Nut Parmesan. Store any leftover sauce in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Carmella's Notes: I marinated the asparagus along with the mushrooms and used part cashews and macadamia nuts for the sauce.

Pine Nut Cream or Pine Nut Parmesan

Yield: 3 cups cream or 1 1/2 cups parmesan

2 cups pine nuts, soaked in water for 4 hours
1 cup or more water
1 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt
1/4 teaspoon probiotic powder

Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender, adding more water, if necessary, to achieve a smooth, creamy texture. For Pine Nut Cream, use as is; for Pine Nut Parmesan, spread 2 cups of the batter evenly on a dehydrator tray lined with a non-stick sheet and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 12 -18 hours, or until crisp. Scrape the dried batter off the sheet and refrigerate in a glass jar for up to 1 month. Use as a topping for pastas and salads.

For more awesome pasta recipe ideas by Cherie Soria, click here!

For The Love of Chocolate

2008-05-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhh Raw Cacao!

Gosh, it's hard to believe it's only been a little over a year since I've rediscovered chocolate. As I was mentioning in my All Things Chocolate post, Don and I hadn't had chocolate for many years when we heard the good news, that raw cacao is in fact a superfood, unlike it's infamous cooked cousin. Who would have thunk it, eh? Since then, I've been playing with raw cacao in its different forms - powder, beans, nibs, butter and paste - taking raw desserts to a whole new level. Bliss by the mouthful!

The one area I had yet to experiment with in earnest was chocolate candy. My curiosity has been increasing over the months, but I finally reached the "OK, I really gotta get into this!" stage earlier this week, when rawererin shared her latest experiment on Raw Freedom Community. No more procrastination! Fancy candy molds or nay, I took a deep breath and dived decisively in... a sea of chocolate! Of course, now I'm asking myself: "Why oh why, did I wait so long!?!"

Chocol-Art
Maitres chocolatiers around the world will agree that making chocolate is a skillful art. 'Regular' chocolate is usually obtained by combining roasted cacao, cacao butter, milk, sugar and lecithin. The conventional method consists of a number of delicate steps, including conching and tempering. (See this article about "How Chocolate Works"). I have no doubt that raw chocolate making can be just as intricate a process, but I am in all respects still a toddler in the realm of chocolaterie, so I kept it simple. I've come to learn a few things along the way which I thought you might find helpful too.

One of the questions that immediately springs to mind in regards to making raw chocolate is: "How does one get the finished result to harden?" I've found that it's all about ratios... Most basic recipes seem to call for equal parts coconut or cacao butter, cacao powder and sweetener. From there, you can then experiment in order to achieve the taste and consistency you're looking for. For instance, add more coconut or cacao butter and your mixture will be firmer, a higher ratio of sweetener and you'll end up with more of a chocolate sauce. As is often the case, it's a trial and error thing, but don't be afraid to experiment. After all, the result will almost certainly taste yummy...

The Ingredients
Before I get into all the scrumptious confections I've been making, let's have a quick look at the ingredients that go into chocolate candy:

Coconut Oil/Butter - Coconut butter or oil (same thing, by the way) is firm at room temperature and is often used in order to harden chocolate. You can find coconut oil (make sure the label specifies that it's raw or processed at low temperatures!) at most health food stores. However, I find it can be outrageously expensive, especially when you use a lot. For my part, I prefer to order it online in pails. The Raw Food World sells Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil in a variety of sizes (15oz, 29 oz, 54 oz and 1 gallon pails) at super reasonable prices.

Cacao Butter - This is what white chocolate is made of. Cacao butter is the pure oil of the cacao bean. It melts at approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which means it is even firmer than coconut butter at room temperature. This stuff is simply a-ma-zing!!! Makes for absolute decadent desserts! Cacao butter usually needs to be ordered online. I buy mine from Real Raw Food (a Canadian raw food distributor) or The Raw Food World.

Cacao Powder - The most common and popular form of cacao. Again, I prefer to buy online, as my local health food store sells it at an exorbitant price. You can find it at The Raw Food World in 16 oz packages for $19.95. Even Amazon carries it in its grocery section: 2 16 oz pouches for $25.00! Great price!

Cacao Paste - This is considered to be the best form of chocolate for making chocolate treats. (It's what my friend Chantale uses for the raw chocolate bars she sells at her raw deli.) Cacao paste is raw cacao beans processed into a super smooth consistency. It naturally contains about 50% cocoa butter. As I was working on this post, I found out that The Raw Food World is having a mega sale right now, offering it at cost until June 1st: $22.95 for a 2.2 lb Block - instead of the usual $34.95. Wowsers! If you've been meaning to experiment with cacao paste, this is your chance! But more about cacao paste a little later...

Cacao Beans and Nibs - Technically speaking, these could also be used to make chocolate candy, although it might be difficult to grind them finely enough to obtain a lovely smooth consistency.

Carob Powder - Carob has a sweet taste similar to chocolate, but with less fat and calories. It can be used as a substitute for, or in combination with, cacao powder in any recipe.

Sweeteners: Most recipes I've found call for either agave nectar, or maple syrup. The latter is not raw but provides a particularly rich and voluptuous flavor to the chocolate.

Added flavors - A variety of ingredients can be added to the basic chocolate mixture:

Vanilla (in extract, whole beans or powder form)
Nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts...)
Raisins
Superfoods - gogi berries, mulberries, lucuma, maca
Various extracts (almond, orange, hazelnut, peppermint...)

By the way, again, The Raw Food World is offering some of these items also at cost until June 1st, in case you'd like to stock up your pantry:

Cacao Beans (Naturally Covered in Dried Cacao Fruit) - $9.95, Normally $14.95
Cacao Beans 16oz - $11.95, Normally $17.95
Vanilla Powder - $13.95, Normally $22.49
10 Vanilla Beans - $13.00, Normally $21.00

Alrighty, time to delve into the fun part! Join me on my Chocolate Odyssey...

Old Favorites With A Raw Twist
After making rawererin's wonderful Perfect Chocolate Bar which I shared with you a few days ago, I came up with my own chocolate treat. Oh My Goodness! Can it get any better than this? It reminded me of Cadbury's Fruit & Nut bar. Mmmmmmm... I have to say that both Don and I have a soft spot for this one. The almond extract gives the chocolate a subtle and yummylicious touch.

Carmi's Fruit & Nut
1/2 cup melted coconut butter
1/2 cup cacao or carob powder (I used 3 part cacao/1 part carob)
1 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend until smooth in high speed blender or food processor.

Transfer to a bowl, then add by hand:
A few drops pure almond extract
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup almonds, chopped

Spread mixture on plate or pan lined with parchment paper and set in the fridge or freezer. You can score the chocolate with a cookie or pizza cutter after a few minutes or break into pieces once fully set.

Alternatively, you can pour it in chocolate molds or little muffin pans, being careful to oil these first for easy removal.

Carmella's Notes:
~ The first time I made this, the mixture was solid enough so that I was able to drop it by the spoonful on parchment paper. Don and I had a piece after only a few minutes of it being in the freezer and the inside was still a bit soft. Good gracious! Was it ever good!!! Reminded us of Belgian chocolate.

A Couple of General Tips When Making Chocolate Candy:
~ The chocolate mixture can be blended with the help of a food processor, blender or even by hand. In the case of the latter, you might want to pass the cacao or carob powders through a sieve first to avoid any lumps in the mixture.

~ The consistency of the chocolate mixture will vary depending on the temperature of your working space. For instance, I've had it nearly seize up on me one day when our house was cool. If that happens to you, all you need to do is stick the mixture in the dehydrator for a few minutes.

As I was playing Sherlock, I stumbled upon another rawified chocolate candy bar recipe: Almond Joy. The traditional version consists of a coconut-based center topped with an almond and coated in a layer of milk chocolate. I started off with chocolatestRAWberry's recipe posted on GoneRaw, but the coconut filling's texture wasn't quite right. Also, as I preferred a chocolate coating that would harden up rather than a sauce, I used the basic recipe from my Fruit & Nut bars. Wow, another chocolate treasure; no wonder they call it Almond Joy!

Raw Almond Joy

For this you will need:
Coconut Filling
Dry or Soaked Almonds
Chocolate Coating

Coconut Filling
2/3 cup young coconut meat
3/4 cup + 2 tbs dried coconut
2 tbs agave nectar
2 tsp honey
2 tbs coconut butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 pinches salt

Blend until smooth in high speed blender. Transfer mixture to a bowl and put in fridge to set.

Chocolate Coating
1/2 cup melted coconut butter
1/2 cup cacao or carob powder (I used 3 part cacao/1 part carob)
1 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend until smooth in high speed blender or food processor.

Assembly
Once the mixture has firmed up, form into a small ball then slightly flatten down. Top with an almond and return to the fridge or freezer to set.

Dip each coconut mounds into chocolate coating. Allow a few seconds for excess chocolate to drip, then transfer to parchment paper. Put in fridge or freezer to set.

If the Raw Almond Joy candies are stored in the freezer, make sure to transfer them ahead of time in the fridge to allow the coconut base to soften up.

I also found a couple of raw renditions of Nestle Crunch, using sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat groats, but as I didn't have the latter on hand, I decided to keep it for another day. As it is, I think we're stocked up in chocolate candy to last us 'til next Easter anyways! (Editor's Note: Don and Manu say: "Don't count on it!" lol) I thought I'd include one here while I'm at it...

Rawified Nestle Crunch
Posted by rawererin on GoneRaw

Makes a very large rectangular cookie sheet full, about 1/4'' thick.

This recipe is highly adaptable as you can see, but it turned out really well.

1½ cups Cacao butter (melted in dehydrator after measuring)
1½ cups Cacao powder (or less to taste)
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1 cup agave nectar (I like mine sweet, use less or more to taste)
2 cups Soaked, dehydrated buckwheat groats

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT buckwheat till super smooth. You may have to periodically put this back in the dehydrator if it starts to get to stiff. Stir in the dehydrated buckwheat, start with a little, and adjust to your liking. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and spread mixture out, or you can pour it into moulds, cover with a sheet of waxed paper and put in freezer to harden. You can score them with a cookie cutter or a pizza cutter before you put them in the freezer to harden, or about a 1/2 an hour to 1 hour after they’ve been in the freezer. This was a huge success, it has the perfect texture, crispy, smooth, creamy, sweet, and chocolatey!

Perfect for the munchies!

Snowdrop posted a similar recipe a while back on Raw Freedom Community, using coconut oil instead of the cacao butter.

Next on the list was another recipe I've been eyeing for ages: Chocolate Mint Candy. I kept thinking I needed to get proper candy molds, but somehow that never happened. I'll have to go shopping online at this place or this place sometime. Cool chocolate mold shapes galore! This was yet another delicious candy! One of Manu's favorites!

Chocolate Mint Candies

Posted by Tracy on Raw Freedom Community

1 c. coconut oil
1/2 c. raw cashew butter or almond butter
1/3 c. agave nectar
1/8 c. raw carob powder
1/2 c. cacao nibs or carob powder
10 drops peppermint essential oil or peppermint flavoring

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Pour into molds or a pan; freeze for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Tracy's Notes:
~ You do want to oil the molds to make it easier to get the candy out.

~ I used all carob powder because I will not give my kids cacao. I also used almond butter.

Carmella's Notes:
~ I used about half cacao and half carob.

~ I poured the mixture in an oiled ice cube tray. Not as pretty as Tracy's, but it did the trick.

All these rawified old chocolate treats gave me the idea to try to re-create my all time favorite: Ferrero Rocher. The traditional confection consists of a whole roasted hazelnut encased in a thin wafer shell filled with nutella/hazelnut cream and covered in milk chocolate and chopped hazelnuts. Ah man! I used to adore that stuff!

My research turned up a couple of raw versions of nutella, which certainly was a good place to start. I opted for the one posted on Gone Raw, but it didn't do the trick for me. I'm thinking I didn't process the hazelnuts long enough to release the oils. The resulting mixture was very dry and didn't come anywhere close to the SAD spread. Hum, what to do? After a little tweaking and a touch of water to smoothen it up, I finally had something fairly decent to work with. I also put the mixture in the freezer in order to make it more workable. Next time, I might give this version a try.

For the coating, I used the basic chocolate recipe I used for the Raw Almond Joy (again!) in which I folded in some finely chopped hazelnuts.

Ferrero Rawcher

For this you will need:
Hazelnuts (for center)
Nutella Filling
Hazelnut Chocolate Coating

Nutella Filling
1 cup raw hazelnuts
3 tablespoons raw cacao or carob powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon Bamboo coffee substitute (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon raw honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon melted coconut butter
1 tablespoon flax or nut oil
Water until desired consistency is reached

Food process raw hazelnuts for several minutes until clumpy and oily. Add the rest of the ingredients. Then add water until you reach desired consistency. Place in freezer to set.

Hazelnut Chocolate Coating
1/2 cup melted coconut butter
1/2 cup cacao or carob powder (I used 3 part cacao/1 part carob)
1 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
---
Handful hazelnuts, finely chopped in food processor

Blend until smooth in high speed blender or food processor. Transfer to a bowl and fold ground hazelnuts in.

Assembly
Take a spoonful of raw nutella (once firmed up) and tuck a hazelnut in.

With your hands, roll into a ball. (Wet fingers/palm help!)

Return balls in freezer to set.

When firm, dip each ball into Hazelnut Chocolate Coating. Allow a few seconds for excess chocolate to drip, then transfer to parchment paper. Put in fridge or freezer to set.

If the Ferrero Rawcher candies are stored in the freezer, make sure to transfer them ahead of time in the fridge to allow the hazelnut filling to soften up.

Superfoods All Around
I've been drooling over the following recipe for more than a year, since my days back on Raw Food Talk. Now I can understand why Sheryl and pretty much everybody else who's made this were so thrilled. This is absolutely in-cre-di-ble!

I have to tell you that I had a bit of a mishap making this; all my fault though, not Sheryl's! Maybe I should elaborate a little, you know, so that you don't end up making the same booboo. See, my idea was to whip up only half a batch, something I often do when I first make a recipe. Call it 'damage control'. lol However, in this case, there wasn't enough mixture for my Vitamix to properly work with so I decided to add more agave, cashews and coconut oil instead of the cacao butter. Hum, not good! I ended up over processing the mixture and the oils separated. The result was more of a fudge consistency than a chocolate bar. Ah well, always something new to learn...

Orange Goji Berry White Chocolate
Posted by Sheryl Duruz on RFT

Okay here we go.... I have to say again.. this is AMAZING!!! Just amazing. The best raw dessert ever!! Better than chocolate carmel divine and easier too!

Grind up:
1/2 cup goji berries (usually sticky, not really a powder)

Blend until smooth:
1/2 cup melted cacao butter
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup agave nectar

Blend in Goji powder

Then by hand mix in whole:
1/2 cup cacao nibs (optional)
1/2 cup whole goji berries
The zest from 1 orange finely zested

Spread in a glass pie plate (think chocolate almond bark).

Chill in the freezer until firm.

WOW! WOW! WOW!!

It's this brilliant red/orange color, with the crunch of dried goji berries and cacao nibs. A sweet dessert, and also HUGE in antioxidants too!

WOW! WOW! WOW!!

It actually reminds me strongly of orange cranberry desserts that are quite common in Canada. YUMMY!!!

The best thing about raw chocolate... you have like 20 g and you're satisfied. We've only eaten the smallest chunk out of this fudge. Show me that happening with a regular family and a standard chocolate bar! Never!!

Happy chocolate experimenting!

Carmella's Notes:
~ I would recommend grinding the cashews first for easier processing.

~ I used 1/2 cacao butter and 1/2 coconut butter and the mixture didn't set properly for some reason. *scratching her head* Could have been due to the fact that I processed it a little too much.

~ I cut down on the sweetener a bit... used more like 1/4 cup agave as I prefer it not too sweet.

Since I had more white chocolate mixture than I expected and as the base is the same, I tackled the following superfood bar next. I then poured the mixture in a bowl and added by hand some lucuma and maca, as per Ginger's suggestion. Unfortunately, this one didn't set well either, but the taste was still fantastic!

OMG It's A Nestle Crunch Bar!!
Posted by Ginger on The Raw Path

No really, it is EXACTLY like those toxic, glow in the dark, chemicalised animal 'pus' chocolate bars... only this tastes way better!! Same texture & everything, it's amazing!

Ingredients
White Cacao Butter
Agave nectar
Cashews
Dried White Mulberries
*any superfoods/superherbs you like!

Equal parts agave-white cacao butter-cashews, like one cup each for example.

Add a tsp of ho shou wu (fo-ti), a tbsp maca, a tbsp lucuma *IF YOU HAVE THESE*, I know not everybody does.

Instructions
Melt the cacao butter in a measuring cup in your dehydrator, add to blender with agave & cashews. Blend till smooth. Stir in by hand a big handful of dried white mulberrys (got mine at WFM) and then pour the mix into molds to harden up. Thin slice into chocolate bars and OMG

Carmella's Note: As for the previous recipe, I used 1/2 cacao butter and 1/2 coconut butter and used less sweetener.

Dreaming of Creamy Truffles
When I told Manu about my chocolate experiments, he suggested a truffle with a soft coconut center. Cool idea! However, it also presented a bit of a challenge: how to form the soft center before coating it with chocolate? (Hum, kinda sounds like the old Caramilk bar secret when you think of it. lol You know... How do they manage to get the darn caramel in there?) After some trial and error, I finally came up with a solution that not only worked, but was also super easy.

Koconut Kream Kisses

For this you will need:
Koconut Kream Filling
Chocolate Coating

Koconut Kream Filling
Adapted from Cafe Gratitude's Live Coconut Cream Pie

1/2 cup + 2 tbs coconut milk (simply blend 1 part dried coconut with 3 parts water in high speed blender)
1/4 cup + 2 tbs young coconut meat
1/4 cup + 2tbs packed, chopped soft dates
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 1/2 tbs lecithin powder*
1/4 cup + 1 tbs melted coconut butter

*Lecithin is derived from soybeans and acts as an emulsifier. Look for lecithin (preferably non-GMO), in granules or powdered form, at your local HFS. If using granules, make sure to grind them up in a high speed blender of coffee grinder.

Blend all ingredients except last two until smooth in high speed blender.

Add lecithin and melted coconut butter and process some more.

Transfer to a bowl or container and set in fridge or freezer.

Assembly
With a piper, form little 'kisses' on parchment paper. Place in freezer to set.

When firm, dip each kiss into Chocolate Coating. Allow a few seconds for excess chocolate to drip, then transfer to parchment paper. Put in fridge or freezer to set.

If the Koconut Kream Kisses are stored in the freezer, make sure to transfer them ahead of time in the fridge to allow the hazelnut filling to soften up.

Carmella's Note: I used left over Hazelnut Chocolate Coating to make the 'kisses' in the above picture.

Based on this basic method, you could make these delicious creamy truffles with a number of fillings. Ohhhhhh, the possibilities! Here's one that's definitely next on my list...

Hazelnut Kream Kisses

For this you will need:
Koconut Kream Filling
Chocolate Coating

Hazelnut Kream Filling
1 1/2 small avocados
1/2 cup hazelnut milk
1/8 cup medjhool dates
2 tbs agave nectar
2 tbs maple syrup
3 tbs cacao powder
1 " vanilla bean
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp bamboo (coffee substitute)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tablespoon lecithin powder*
1/4 cup melted coconut butter

*Lecithin is derived from soybeans and acts as an emulsifier. Look for lecithin (preferably non-GMO), in granules or powdered form, at your local HFS. If using granules, make sure to grind them up in a high speed blender of coffee grinder.

Blend all ingredients except last two until smooth in high speed blender.

Add lecithin and melted coconut butter and process some more.

Transfer to a bowl or container and set in fridge or freezer.

Chocolate Coating
1/2 cup melted coconut butter
1/2 cup cacao or carob powder (I used 3 part cacao/1 part carob)
1 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend until smooth in high speed blender or food processor.

Assembly
With a piper, form little 'kisses' on parchment paper. Place in freezer to set.

When firm, dip each kiss into Chocolate Coating. Allow a few seconds for excess chocolate to drip, then transfer to parchment paper. Put in fridge or freezer to set.

If the Hazelnut Kream Kisses are stored in the freezer, make sure to transfer them ahead of time in the fridge to allow the hazelnut filling to soften up.

Chocolate Making With Style
Finally, no post on chocolate making would be complete without a few words about cacao paste. I was telling you how this is what most professional chocolatiers use, as the smoothness it lends the chocolate is far superior to what you could achieve with cacao powder or home ground nibs or beans.

To make chocolate bars or candies, simply melt cacao paste in a dehydrator or with the double boiler method on low heat, stirring constantly. Add agave nectar until desired sweetness is reached. Add whatever flavorings you want. Pour into chocolate molds, drop by the spoonful or spread on parchment paper. Set in the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes or so. Voila! You've just made your very own scrumptious, professional looking chocolate treat!

Say it With Raw Chocolate!
Wow, this has turned into some chocolate marathon! After 3 days straight of being in chocolate up to my elbows, I'm getting dangerously close to overdosing. lol See, I wanted this post to be out in time for Mother's Day, and I've made it! Yippee! All that's missing is cute little metallic paper cups, and you're all set for the most rawesome Mother's Day gift ever!

Enjoy!

*~*~*~*~*
Photo Credits

Rawified Nestle Crunch by rawererin
Chocolate Mint Candies by Tracy
Orange Goji Berry White Chocolate (sorry, I forgot where I got this one from!)
Nestle Crunch Bar by Ginger

Recipe of the Week: The Perfect Chocolate Bar

2008-05-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Bet the title got your attention, eh? It got mine too! ;-)

I didn't get a chance to play with chocolate at Easter (unlike last year 's Choc-A-Fest), but I sure am making up for it now! During the week, rawererin shared on Raw Freedom Community what she thought might very well be "the perfect chocolate bar". Didn't take much convincing for me to go ahead and see for myself. And you know what? She wasn't kidding. Chocolate lovers beware... this is total heaven in your mouth!

The Perfect Chocolate Bar
Posted by rawererin on Raw Freedom Community

OMG - it is so good! Not too dark-chocolatey, I think this is the closest I've ever come to raw milk chocolate, sweet enough, smooth...

The recipe is really simple, and I'm not to sure I was even that creative with it... here you go though...

1/2 C Coconut oil
1/2 C Cacao powder
1/2 C Maple syrup (the more I use this the more I have found that it really compliments chocolate so well!)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 C Chopped almonds

Blend liquid ingredients until super smooth. You can add more sweetener or more chocolate to suit your tastes.

Transfer mixture to separate bowl and stir in chopped almonds. (Feel free to add other goodies...coconut, berries, etc)

Spread on a plastic wrap lined plate or dish and place in freezer to cool.

Carmella's Notes:
~ I used less maple syrup as I prefer it not too sweet. Yum! Yum! Yum!

~ You can score the chocolate with a cookie or pizza cutter after about 1/2 an hour to 1 hour after it's been in the freezer or break into pieces once fully set.

Still don't know what to offer for Mother's Day? Coming up next on The Sunny Raw Kitchen is a feature on raw chocolate candy making!

Gotta go, my chocolate smeared Vitamix is calling my name... ;-)

What's Uncookin' Good Lookin'? - Episode IV

2008-04-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

At last, it's starting to look like Spring around here. Mind you, we got a few inches of snow during the week, but the sun has also been showing up long enough for us to dare a little sun-worshipping, and even a picnic or two. As the warmer weather is gradually settling in, our diet has naturally begun to lighten up some: rolls, wraps, pasta... You know, stuff that can be easily assembled and doesn't require dehydration.

Here are some of the food that was placed on our raw table lately...

We've been beginning our late afternoon meals with a few staples, such as Cream of Zucchini Soup, Cream of Spinach and Cream of Leek. (Guess we had a bit of a cream theme going on, eh?) We also got around to making Manu's Sauerkraut Soup again, but he forgot to pay attention to the measurements. (Bad, bad Manu! That means more dessert for us! lol) However, I did manage to re-test his Creamy Arugula Soup which I shared with you some time ago. Since I had no sesame milk on hand, I used almond milk instead. It didn't occur to me as I was making it that almonds have a higher fat content than sesame seeds (duh!), so the result was very rich. I'll make a mental note to skip the olive oil called for in the recipe if I go the almond milk way again.

On the salad front, I have kept to some of my tried and true favorites: my House Dressing and Dill-icious Dressing which is a variation of the first. For something a little different, I came up with the following cucumber and tomato salad. So light and refreshing! We'll be making this one in the summer months for sure.

Dilled Cucumber Tomato Salad

Serves 2 or 3

2 cups cucumber, chopped
1 cup tomato, chopped
2 tbs green onion, chopped
1/4 cup arugula, chopped
1/4 cup dilled, finely chopped

Dressing:
2 1 /2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp raw tahini
1 tbs lemon juice
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
Sea salt or tamari, to taste

Optional:
1 avocado, cubed
A couple of tbs hemp hearts

Assembly:
Put salad ingredients in a bowl.

Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a spoon. Transfer to salad bowl and toss well.

Serve on a bed of fresh sprouts.

As I was just saying, for the most part, our entrees have been light and quick to prepare. I've already shared the yummy Nori Rolls with Ginger Sunflower Pate shown on the left as my Recipe of the Week.

After some initial reservation, Don and I are really getting into using collard leaves as wraps. We cut these along the edge of the spine so as to obtain 2 pieces. Since the collard greens we find around here are gigantic, we also usually cut each piece in half. We find that the key is to cover these in warm salt water and let them soak for an hour or so, in order to soften them up. You can then fill the leaves with whatever spread and veggies you have on hand.

Matt Amsden's Tuna Salad caught my eye as I was flipping through his Rawvolution book, so I decided to give it a try. I was a little disappointed when I first sampled the result. Then I realized that I've come to associate 'tuna salad' with Ocean's recipe, which is unbelievably good. Kinda hard to beat such a gem! In the end, after much tweaking, I did come up with something to my liking. (My taste buds are turning me into a picky little brat! lol)

Rawvolution's Tuna Salad wrapped in collard greens

Asparagus is starting to hit the shelves of my local HFS - yay! - a sure sign that summer is really on its way. I was gonna make one of the droolsome pasta sauces posted here, but ended up doing a little impro with what we had around the kitchen. I tossed zucchini linguinis in basil and spinach pesto I still had in the freezer, and added some finely chopped arugula, marinated mushrooms and pine nut parmesan. Wow, it turned out fantastic! I was too hungry and skipped the photo shoot, though. (My turn to be bad!)

We also had a hot dog dinner one evening after a long and tiring day in town. I was looking for something that could be easily whipped up, so that perfectly fit the bill. All I had to do was dig some of Snowdrops' raw vegan hot dog wieners out of the freezer, pop 'em in the D for a half hour or so, and voila! I served them in a soft veggie wrap, with a generous squirt of home made honey mustard, button mushies marinated in olive oil, tamari, crushed garlic, and lettuce. Yummy stuff!!! Manu was totally impressed. Sorry, no pic again. The thought came to me as I was opening my mouth wide to take my first bite, but I didn't have the courage to put my loot down and fetch the camera.

Last entree for this time around: Sudo-Burmese Salad. Portobello mushrooms marinated in an almond butter dressing, then tossed with sprouts, arugula, cilantro, green onion, avocado and tomato. On Libby's suggestion, I decided to serve this deliciously exotic dish on a bed of zucchini noodles. Excellent!

Sudo-Burmese Salad

Posted by Libby on Raw Freedom Community

Serves 2

Mushrooms and Dressing:
1 portobello mushroom
1 tbsp raw almond butter
1 tbsp nama shoyu
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tea. water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 inch ginger, peeled and minced (save peels for tea, if you like)
Sprinkle of sprouted sesame seeds that have been dehydrated again for crunch (optional)

Salad:
1/4 cup sunflower sprouts
1/4 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup finely chopped arugula
1/4 cilantro
1/4 cup of green onions
1/4 cup matchstick chopped zucchini
1 whole avocado
2 tomatoes, diced

Topping:
1/4 cup peanuts, sprouted and dehydrated, then chopped

Procedure:
Combine all wet ingredients for dressing into bowl and stir vigorously to incorporate the almond butter. Slice the mushroom lengthwise and lay pieces down into mixture. Marinate in fridge for a few hours.

Combine all greens, zucchini, avocado, and tomato in large bowl. Toss with hands. Then retrieve bowl of mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms to achieve smaller pieces. Toss mushrooms and marinade with the greens.

Top salad with crunchy, dehydrated peanuts.

Libby's Notes:
My suggestion is to add half the dressing and toss. Then add the second half slowly, as you may find that the whole amount is a little much. It is a matter of taste.

Another variation on this might be to use a zucchini "noodle" as a base.

I adapted this recipe from a website by adding a few ingredients (like the cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, zucchini)... but I cannot recall which. Sorry!

I have a hunch that turmeric powder would be outstanding in the dressing... I'll have to give it a try a report.

Carmella's Notes:
~ I used more like 1/2 cup of bean sprouts.

~ As I served this salad on zucchini noodles, I omitted the zucchini called for in the recipe.

~ I topped the dish with chopped cashews instead of the peanuts.

And finally, desserts. Come to think of it, the tendency to lighten up is reflected in that department as well. We've been mostly enjoying a few cookies with raw vegan ice cream. I made Vanessa Sherwood's Chocolate Ice Cream which had been getting raving reviews. Although it tastes fabulous, Don and I weren't thrilled about the texture. It's got that ice crystal consistency rather than being creamy and smooth. Might be due to the fact that we don't have an ice cream maker. I guess I'll have to try processing it a bit more in the Vitamix, see if it helps. I'm thinking I'll experiment with a version using cashews and macs instead of the young coconut.

I also whipped up a batch of Cherie Soria's Maple Walnut Ice Cream. Sooooo darn yummy! Actually, I'd say it's one of my favorite ice cream recipe thus far. A must try! Totally decadent with warmed up chocolate cookies.

Maple Walnut Ice Cream
By Cherie Soria of Living Light Institute
Posted on Vegetarians in Paradise

Serves 8

* 2 cups walnuts, soaked 8 to 12 hours
* 1 cup cashews
* 2 1/4 cups water
* 1 cup pure maple syrup
* 1/4 teaspoon maple extract
* pinch solar-dried sea salt
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, soaked for 8 to 12 hours, then dehydrated (optional)

1. Drain and rinse the walnuts.

2. Put the soaked walnuts, cashews, and all remaining ingredients, except the chopped walnuts, into a blender and blend until completely smooth and creamy. The mixture should resemble the consistency of a thick milkshake.

3. Pour the walnut cream into ice cube trays and freeze until hard.

4. Put cubes through a Green Life or Champion Juicer outfitted with the homogenizing plate.

5. Stir in the chopped walnuts and return to the freezer for a couple of hours. Serve immediately or store in the freezer until ready to use. Keeps in the freezer, in a sealed container, for 1 to 2 months.

If you have an Italian ice cream maker, simply follow the directions to make your ice cream, then fold in the chopped walnuts when the process is completed or before returning the ice cream to the freezer.

Carmella's Note:
~ I didn't have the maple extract so I omitted it. Insanely good anyhow!

~ I put the cubes in the Vitamix instead of a juicer.

After seeing the scrumptious parfaits Heathy has been serving to her dinner parties, I decided to play with the concept a little. In spite of my looking and looking through the cupboards, I couldn't find any Martini glasses, so I settled for whatever I could lay my hands on. My first experiment was a Caramel and White Chocolate Trifle made up of brownie, white chocolate, cheesecake and caramel layers.

Now, before you get all excited, I have to tell you that this recipe needs further tweaking. Since the caramel consists mostly of dates and maple syrup, it lent the final dessert an over-sweet taste. Lots of potential though; it would just be a matter of adjusting the amount of sweetener in the other filling mixtures.

Here's the Trifle again, cake style...

Once I've perfected the recipe, you'll be the first to know, I promise! ;-)

I also came up with the following variation of the lovely Chocolate Mousse Cakes I shared with you last week.

Chocolate & Cream Parfait

Brownie Crumbs
1 cup walnuts (dry)
1/4 cup raw cacao or carob powder (I like to use both)
3/4 cup soft dates (pitted and unsoaked)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Mousse
2 medium ripe avocados
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup + 2 tbs water
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 tablespoon carob powder
1/2 cup raw honey or agave nectar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 whole vanilla bean
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

Whipped Cream
1 cup cashews
1 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh coconut milk (simply blend 1 part dried coconut with 3 parts water in high speed blender)
3 tablespoons raw honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut butter, melted
1 tablespoon lecithin powder*

*Lecithin is derived from soybeans and acts as an emulsifier. Look for lecithin (preferably non-GMO), in granules or powdered form, at your local HFS. If using granules, make sure to grind them up in a high speed blender of coffee grinder.

If you don't have access to lecithin, you can replace it with 1 tbs + 1 tsp psyllium flakes (less if you're using powder). Please note that the consistency won't be as fluffy and hold its shape as well at room temperature.

To make the Brownie Crumbs:
Place walnuts, cacao or carob in food processor, and blend until you obtain the nuts are chopped small. Add dates and vanilla extract and process until crumbly.

To make the Chocolate Mousse:
Blend all ingredients in high speed blender until smooth.

To make the Whipped Cream:
Blend all ingredients except lecithin until smooth. Add lecithin and blend until thoroughly mixed. Pour into a container and set aside in fridge or at room temperature until ready to assemble.

Assembly:
Sprinkle some Brownie Crumbs at the bottom of a small glass or bowl. Then put a few spoonfuls of Chocolate Mousse, followed by a layer of Whipped Cream. If desired, repeat these three layers.

Carmella's Note: Even though I thought the glasses shown in the pictures were quite small, I could hardly finish mine. Next time I might go with more Mousse and a single layer of Whipped Cream on top.

That about wraps it up for now. I've got a few exciting ideas floating around my head, namely something along the lines of a hazelnut chocolate dessert. Mmmmm... I'm drooling just at the thought of it!

'Til next time!

Recipe of the Week: Nori Rolls with Ginger Sunflower Pate

2008-04-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

I know I've shared a few versions of nori rolls over the months (you can even see me in action here), but what can I say? They can't be beat in terms of deliciousness and ease of preparation. Another great thing about nori rolls is that you can use whatever pate and veggies you have on hand.

Here's the variation I came up with this week. As I'm not a big fan of cauliflower-based rice, I was interested in Cafe Gratitude's recipe which calls for parsnip. I like to keep some basic sunflower pate in the fridge so I gave the latter an Asian twist by adding a bit of garlic and horseradish.

Colorful, super quick to assemble and tasty; the perfect summer food!

Nori Rolls with Ginger Sunflower Pate

Ginger Sunflower Pate
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
1 garlic clove
1 tbs lemon juice
1" piece fresh ginger, grated
1/8 tsp grated horseradish
Salt or tamari, to taste

Blend until smooth in food processor.

'Rice'
Adapted from Cafe Gratitude's I Am Grateful

2 cups parsnip, roughly chopped
1 med. garlic clove
3 tbs pine nuts
1/2 tsp salt

Process parsnip and garlic in food processor until rice-like consistency.

Add pine nuts and salt and process some more.

Toppings
Red or yellow peppers, julienned
Carrots, julienned
Cucumber, julienned
Thinly sliced avocado
A few sunflower or radish sprouts

Assembly
Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of 'rice' mixture on the nori sheet and spread evenly across the bottom third of the sheet leaving 1 inch of space exposed at the bottom.

On top of the rice, spread a little Ginger Sunflower Pate, roughly the size of a cigar.

Top with red bell pepper, carrot, cucumber and avocado slices.

Finish off with a few radish or sunflower sprouts.

Fold the bottom of the sheet up and over the filling, and roll the nori tightly using a bamboo mat or your fingers. (I like to use my fingers.)

Wet the top part of the nori sheet with a little water so as to seal the sushi.

Let the roll sit for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Using a sharp knife, cut the nori roll into 5 or 6 equal parts. Use a gentle see-saw motion to make it a perfect smooth cut.

Arrange on a plate. If desired, serve with Nama Shoyu, tamari or this dipping sauce in a small bowl.

For a lighter version...
First, put a nice layer of alfalfa sprouts, covering nearly half of the nori sheet.

Spread a little Ginger Sunflower Pate, roughly the size of a cigar.

Proceed as described above.

Oh and before I go...

Since we're on the topic of raw Asian food, you might want to take a peek at some other posts along the same theme:

Get Your Chopsticks Out! Part I
Get Your Chopsticks Out! Part II
Time to Fetch Those Chopsticks Again

Enjoy!

Recipe of the Week: Chocolate Mousse Cakes

2008-04-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Avocados are an integral part of our diet, providing some creaminess to both our daily smoothies and soups. We like to keep lots of avocados at various stages of ripeness on hand to ensure a constant supply. Once in a while, though, we end up with way too many of them begging to be used up all at once. I know that there's always the 'Guac Solution', but last week I felt like creating something a little more exciting.

After toying around with the idea of an avo based chocolate mousse, I came up with the following cute little cakes. I think I'm falling in love with raw cacao all over again... ;-)

Chocolate Mousse Cakes

Crust:
1 cup shredded dry coconut
1 cup macadamia nuts
1/8-1/4 cup packed pitted dates, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest

Chocolate Mousse
2 medium ripe avocados
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup + 2 tbs water
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 tablespoon carob powder
1/2 cup raw honey or agave nectar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 whole vanilla bean
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons lecithin powder*
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

Whipped Cream
1 cup cashews
1 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh coconut milk (simply blend 1 part dried coconut with 3 parts water in high speed blender)
3 tablespoons raw honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut butter, melted
1 tablespoon lecithin powder*

*Lecithin is derived from soybeans and acts as an emulsifier. Look for lecithin (preferably non-GMO), in granules or powdered form, at your local HFS. If using granules, make sure to grind them up in a high speed blender of coffee grinder.

If you don't have access to lecithin, you can replace it with 1 tbs + 1 tsp psyllium flakes (less if you're using powder). Please note that the consistency won't be as fluffy and hold its shape as well at room temperature.

To make the Crust:
Place dry coconut in food processor and blend into a fine powder. Add nuts and salt and blend until a texture of coarse meal. Add dates and orange zest and process some more until mixture is crumbly and holds together when pressed tightly.

To make the Chocolate Mousse:
Blend all ingredients except the last two in high speed blender until smooth. Add lecithin and coconut oil and blend some more.

To make the Whipped Cream:
Blend all ingredients except lecithin until smooth. Add lecithin and blend until thoroughly mixed. Pour into a container and set aside in fridge or at room temperature until ready to assemble.

Assembly:
Press crust mixture at the bottom of silicon muffin cups. If using non-stick metal ones, line these first with plastic film for easy removal.

Pour Chocolate Mousse filling, leaving some room for the Whipped Cream.

Finish off with a layer of Whipped Cream.

Set in fridge or freezer for a few hours.

If desired, serve with orange fillets.

Carmella's Notes:
~ You'll end up with extra whipped cream (what a shame!), but as I always like to say, no doubt you'll find plenty of other uses for it. ;-)

~ If you prefer one large cake instead of smaller ones, simply assemble in a 7" spring form pan.

~ For a decadent chocolate pudding, make the mousse filling omitting the lecithin. Pour into bowls and chill before serving.

Enjoy!