RECIPES
Gravadlax
A good brain friendly starter or lunch with salad. Easy to make.
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We have Gravadlax every Christmas - it lasts for days and is very versatile. It tastes like a softer version of smoked salmon. The 'cure' cooks the fish so it isn't raw.
Ingredients Fresh salmon (two identical fillets) Rough rock or sea salt Raw or coconut sugar About the same amount of salt and sugar. This will be wiped off before eating! Handful of dill Grain mustard |
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH WALNUTS AND STRAWBERRIES
A delicious cake that has a number of brain enhancing foods in it. Chocolate, walnuts, strawberries. Be sure to use top quality chocolate with no sugar. The small amount of added raw or coconut sugar will sweeten it. Cake:
Place chocolate and coconut cream in a saucepan over low heat. Cook stirring constantly for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Spread over top and side of cake. Stand for 10 minutes or until icing has set. Decorate with strawberries |
Ingredients
Cake
Topping
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CREAMY COCONUT OATS
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My favourite breakfast - and so good for the brain with oats, walnuts, bananas and strawberries. This serves 4 Ingredients 2 cups unrefined oats 2 cups water 1 cup coconut cream 1/2 cup dessicated coconut 1 banana 1 cup walnuts handful of strawberries Tbsp pumpkin seeds pinch salt Extra cocunut cream for serving |
Gluten, dairy and sugar free fruit cake
This is a rich, fruity cake that can be laced with Brandy if you like that sort of thing (I do)! The icing is to make it look pretty - but not for eating! If you like, you can serve it topped with nuts rather than icing.
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Ingredients:
Cake: 600 g mixed dried fruit Brandy or orange juice for soaking 1tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp nutmeg 4 eggs 3 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (melted) Zest of an orange 200 g ground almonds 50 g walnut pieces Topping White water icing or walnuts and glace fruits |
This cake will keep for a few months in an airtight tin. In fact, if you use brandy, it will improve in flavour over a few months.
I like to make it at least a month before Christmas.
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Kingfisher Cottage Kimchi
Fermented foods are great for maintaining and building the right gut bacteria. They can be expensive to buy, but they are relatively easy to make. To me, Kimchi is a more varied and interesting (and spicy) version of Sauerkraut.
There are many variations of this Korean recipe for fermented vegetables. The process is the same. Cabbage is a normal base for any other veg you might have (I use broccoli, green beans, kale, beetroot and beetroot greens etc.). Korean families eat this at every meal – I have it every day. Eat with rice dishes, pastas, salads – virtually everything! Along with Kefir, this food has been shown to encourage better gut bacteria and long term mental and physical health. Here is the basic recipe:
Ingredients
1 whole cabbage
1 whole Daikon radish (those large, white ones)
4 spring onions
I tbsp coconut sugar
Paste
Thumb size piece of ginger, turmeric and 4 cloves of garlic
Chili flakes to taste – I use about a teaspoon
3 tablespoons of fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of cornflour
¼ cup of Kosher or Sea salt (not treated with iodine which prevents fermentation)
Water to cover the cabbage (filtered – chemicals in tap water may kill the good as well as bad bacterial growth)
Method
Stage 1 prepare the cabbage
Stage 2 make the paste
NB I am not too fussy about exact ingredients or measurements. This is a forgiving recipe! I find it best to get a feel for your own preferred taste as long as the basic rules are followed. If a white mould grows on the top – simply scrape it off and make sure the cabbage has brine covering it (this stops the mould).
ere to edit.
Stage 1 prepare the cabbage
- Use a large food safe bucket
- Chop the cabbage into pieces and remove the core
- Use gloves to massage the salt into the cabbage then cover with water
- Put a plate with a weight on it for 1-2 hours until it is soft and dangerous bacteria killed
- Wash cabbage three times but retain some of the brine
- Drain for about 20 minutes
Stage 2 make the paste
- Combine garlic, turmeric, ginger and chili
- Mix the fish sauce with the cornflour into a paste and the add the combined spices above
- Trim other veg – radish, spring onions in this case (other veg can also be added here, but reduce the amount of cabbage to compensate or there won’t be enough sauce!
- Toss all the vegetables together in the bucket with the cabbage and the sauce. Mix by hand – use gloves for this. Mix thoroughly
- Pack the kimchi into large jars (I recycle old yogurt jars)
- Top up each jar where necessary with some of the left-over brine
- Make sure the veg is covered but leave about an inch gap to allow for fermentation
- Stand at room temperature for up to 5 days where it will ferment. Bubbles and overflow are normal – make sure the jars are on a tray!
- Check daily and push the veg down below the brine. Put into the fridge when you like the taste.
- This can be eaten straight away or kept in the fridge for another week or two to fully mature. It should last for up to 3 months after that as long as the liquid covers the contents. If not, just top up with some more brine
NB I am not too fussy about exact ingredients or measurements. This is a forgiving recipe! I find it best to get a feel for your own preferred taste as long as the basic rules are followed. If a white mould grows on the top – simply scrape it off and make sure the cabbage has brine covering it (this stops the mould).
ere to edit.