world's food recipes: June 2011

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Spelt Farfalle Recipe with Olive Caper Sauce

Spelt Farfalle with Olive Caper Sauce

A healthy and satisfying Mediterranean wholegrain spelt pasta with brine-cured green olives, tangy capers, pine nuts, and a hint of heat from pepper flakes.

The olive herb has an amazing pickled olive flavour. It’s wonderful used in pastas and pesto. It pairs well with lettuce for salads, sauces, cheeses, and marinades.

200 g Wholegrain spelt farfalle
1/2 cup Green olives, pitted
1 tbsp Capers, drained
2 tbsp Pine nuts
90 ml Olive oil
1 tsp Hot pepper flakes
Olive herb for garnish
Salad leaves

Spelt Farfalle Recipe

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. When water comes to a boil, add pasta, stirring constantly for the first minute to help prevent pasta from sticking together. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.
Finely chop pitted olive, capers and pine nuts. Toss with olive oil and pepper flakes. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil. When hot, add chopped olives, capers and red pepper flakes. Saute for 3 minutes over medium high heat.
Drain pasta in a colander, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water. Add pasta to the sauce and toss to coat completely. Add pasta water if you need to thin out the sauce a bit. Serve, garnished with olive herb leaves. on a bed of salad.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Cornmeal Cookies Recipe with Apricots and Lemon Thyme

A crunchy cornmeal cookie recipe from Martha Stewart studded with dried apricots and fresh lemon-thyme. Lovely to go with a cup of tea or serve them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a light dessert.

Cornmeal Cookies with Apricots and Lemon Thyme

adapted from Martha Stewart

240 g All purpose flour
180 g Yellow cornmeal
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
220 g Unsalted butter, softened
160 g Sugar
2 Large eggs
100 g Dried apricots, diced
3 tbsp Fresh lemon thyme, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in dried apricots and lemon thyme.
Using a tablespoon or a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop, drop rounded balls of dough onto lined sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
Bake, rotating and switching positions of sheets about halfway through, until pale golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Cornmeal Cookies

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Carrot, Fennel and Strawberry Salad

An incredibly easy spring salad, which is quick to prepare, frersh and versatile. Toss with your favourite dressing and enjoy the very best of the season.

Carrot, Fennel and Strawberry Salad

1/2 Fennel, thinly shredded
1 Carrot, shredded
1/2 Red onion, cut into thin half moon slices
150 g Strawberries, cut into smaller pieces
Mint leave, shredded
2 tbsp Raspberry vinegar
1 tbsp Argan oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Clean and dry the vegetables and strawberries. Thinly slice the fennel and carrot. Cut the red onion into thin half moon slices. Cut the large strawberries into 2-3 chunks. Place the cut vegetables on a large serving plate. Add in strawberries and shredded mint leaves.
Whisk raspberry vinegar and argan oil in a small bowl. Season to taste. Drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Carrot, Fennel and Strawberry Salad

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Pasta with Green Asparagus and Black Olives

A quick, tasty everyday pasta made with green asparagus, tomatoes, and olives for a stress-free supper.

120 g Pasta
300 g Green asparagus, trimmed and cut into chunks
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Large clove of garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
200 g Chopped can tomatoes
2 tbsp Black olives, pitted
Parmesan for dusting
Cilantro leaves for garnishing

Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water for about 8 minutes or according to package instructions until al dente.
Trim, rinse and cut the green asparagus into 2-inch chunks. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in green asparagus chunks and crushed garlic, stirring occasionally, cook for 2-3 minutes.
Pour in chopped can tomatoes and pitted black olives. Stir to combine all the ingredients until incorporated and asparagus chunks are tender.
Drain the pasta and mix with sauce. Serve with chopped coriander leaves and grated Parmesan.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Rhubarb Wholegrain Spelt Yogurt Scones

These delicious scones are made with nutty wholegrain spelt flour, juicy rhubarb and homemade yogurt. They have buttery flavour with moist and soft texture. Perfect for breakfast or as a snack with rhubarb sauce.　

Probiotic yogurt is essentially any yogurt with live culture bacteria like lactobacilus, which means that most natural or regular yogurt is a probiotic food. Besides yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, dark chocolate, tempeh, miso, etc. are all probiotic food, that are believed to improve our mood, to help maintain healthy digestion and to be beneficial to our overall health.

What Are Probiotics?

You may have heard about probiotics in the news or seen probiotic products at your local grocery store, but what exactly are they? And, more importantly, why should you care?

First of all, your digestive system is home to more than 500 different species of bacterium. These help you to digest food and keep your intestines healthy. It’s also believed by many in the scientific community that these bacteria in your gut help to maintain a healthy immune system.

These probiotics reside in some of the natural foods that you likely already eat, such as yogurt and cheese. Understandably, the thought of eating live bacteria may be a little odd, but this practice can be quite healthy. Think of it as taking an antibiotic, which are essentially good bacteria designed to fight off bad bacteria. The consuming of probiotics, on the other hand, whether in supplements or the foods you eat, helps to replenish the balance of good bacteria in your body.

So, why the necessity to take probiotic supplements or eat probiotic rich food? After a case of diarrhea or a round of strong antibiotics to fight an infection, for example, the good bacteria in your gut can be flushed out or killed off. As mentioned earlier, this good bacterium helps with digestion and assists to maintain a strong immune system. If they are not present, you may suffer from more digestive or intestinal problems, such as constipation or upset stomach. Also, you will be more susceptible to colds and flues. So, that’s why it’s important to maintain the good bacteria that already reside in your body.

Rhubarb Wholegrain Spelt Scones

inspired by Kuechengoetter

220 g Rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1cm pieces
110 g Sugar
2 Eggs
60 g Probiotic yogurt or Homemade yogurt, plain
300 g Wholegrain spelt flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1/5 tsp Salt
1 tsp Lemon zest
100 g Butter, cut into smaller pieces
1 tbsp Sugar crystals

Rinse, peel rhubarb and slice into 1cm pieces. Place them in a large bowl together with 30 grams of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
Stir together the eggs and yogurt. Whisk together 80 grams of sugar, spelt flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl.
Add in butter pieces and rub into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Now add in egg-yogurt mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add in rhubarb mixture.
On a lightly floured work surface, shape the dough into a 20cm round. Cut it into 8-12 wedges and place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the tops with the sugar crystals and bake in the center of oven for 15 -20 minutes until beautifully golden brown. Serve warm with rhubarb sauce.