Monday 24 June 2013

Happy and healthy banana bread

                                                     Simply scrumptious :)


You will need:

3 big bananas, ripe
2 cups of spelt flour
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of natural yogurt
2 eggs beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilia essence 
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
few walnuts chopped(optional)
25g of dark chocolate chopped(optional)


Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan and put it on the side.  In the meantime stir all the dry ingredients together including walnuts and chocolate if you are using them.

In smaller bowl mash the bananas with a fork until finely smooth.
This one did not really want to be in my bread ;-)

  Add the beaten eggs and the rest of wet ingredients and mix well.  Batter should not be too fine. Pour the mixture into the pan.  Sprinkle a little bit of cocoa powder on top.

Bake it until the top of the bread has got brown and firm.  I would suggest about 45 to 50 minutes.

Remove it from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving.


It tastes heavenly when warm but it can also be enjoyed cold and can be kept up to 5 days :)


Monday 10 June 2013

Gooey chocolate pudding!

Chocolate pudding ingredients  for 2 :

1 egg + 1 egg yolk
100g of dark chocolate
2 tsp of caster sugar
3 tsp of whiskey
50g of butter + some more for rubbing
             3 tsp of grated almonds       
                                                                                                                                                                    
Prepare 2 small tart trays or muffin ceramic pots  and set the oven for 220. Rub the insides of the ramekins with butter and dust with grated almonds.


Then break the chocolate into small pieces, dice the butter and put them in a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water to gently melt. Whisk every now and then until both are perfectly melted. In another bowl whisk the eggs and the sugar until smooth. Eventually gently mix the melted chocolate and butter into the egg mixture and add the whiskey. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pots.


Bake them for 10 minutes, until the edges are set and nearly firm and cracking.
Serve immediately with some very cold vanilla ice cream. Can also be enjoyed cold and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.


Yummy :)


Asparagus risotto with honey marinated scallops

I love risotto and I think that lovely dish is great for a special occasion :)


Ingredients for 2:

1 cup of risotto rice
bunch of asparagus
3 cloves of garlic chopped
small red onion chopped
3 cups of vegetarian stock
3 tsp of grated Parmesan
1 tsp of pine nuts roasted
2 bags of wild Irish scallops
butter and olive oil for frying















Marinade for the scallops:


1 tsp of honey
3 tsp of olive oil
2 tsp of lemon juice 
salt + pepper


First of all you need to marinate the scallops.
Mix the olive oil, lemon juice and honey together with the seasoning and add the scallops to it. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking.















Then slowly fry the asparagus,onion...



 ...and garlic on low heat all together for about 10 minutes.


Then add the risotto rice and stir in gently and cook for a minute...



 ..then add little bit of the vegetarian stock ,just enough to cover the rice and slowly let the rice absorb it. Continue doing that until all the stock has been absorbed.

In the meantime heat the pan with olive oil and 1 tsp of butter and place the marinated scallops on it.

Fry them for 2 minutes each side and serve on top of the risotto...


...with some roasted pine nuts and Parmesan sprinkled on it.


                              Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.






Warm avocado,spinach and mushroom salad with roasted new potatoes

Lovely and healthy dish for hot summer days.


For the salad for 2 you will need the following:


8 mushrooms (I used wild mushrooms)
big bowl of fresh spinach leaves
3 spring onions
half of small red chili
few asparagus
3 cloves of garlic
pinch of Parmesan
1 avocado
few cherry tomatoes
1/2 small bunch of chives chopped
sea salt
pepper






Vinaigrette sauce for the salad:

2 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of lemon juice
salt+pepper








First you need to fry in the pan with olive oil the mushrooms together with asparagus, chopped chili...


...spring onions and chopped garlic for about 10 minutes.



Then add the spinach, tomatoes and avocado, season well with salt and pepper and stir gently.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and chives before serving.




For the potatoes you will need:

8 small new potatoes
small bunch of dill
olive oil
sea salt
pepper









Cook the potatoes for about 30 minutes until soft inside. Drain them and put on the baking tray with some dill leaves and whole garlic on the side, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the very hot oven (220) for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy.


I served the potatoes in the little ceramic muffin tins because I think that way the look even more delicious. 




                                                                        Enjoy!