Hello, fellow chocolate snobs.  Or should I say, true chocolate lovers.

This recipe is for you.  It’s all about using the best quality raw cacao ingredients that you can find.  In Australia, that means Loving Earth – their single origin, fair trade, organic and truly raw cacao products are insanely amazing.  Unfortunately I don’t know about overseas suppliers but feel free to share your favorites in the comments (without being spammy please!).

Chocolate and hazelnuts were meant to be together.  There’s not too much more to explain here, except to note that as usual I’ve opted for natural sweeteners and minimal processing.  The result?  Dark, rich, decadent, chocolaty, nutty, not overly sweet, and chock full of minerals, antioxidants and natural bliss chemicals.  What’s not to love?

Go on, embrace your inner chocolate snob.  I did – my friends and I ate them all before I could even snap a photo!

Equipment:

• Food processor
• Mixing bowl
• Plate or tray
• Large pyrex or metal bowl
• Large saucepan
• Mixing spoon
• Parchment paper

Ingredients for Filling:

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts plus 16 whole nuts
• 1/2 cup brazil nuts
• 8 juicy medjool dates
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 heaped Tbsp raw cacao powder
• large pinch of himalayan or sea salt

Ingredients for Coating:

• 1/2 cup raw cacao butter
• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• 2-3 Tbsp honey or agave (to taste)
• drop or two of vanilla extract

Step-by-Step:

1. Set aside 16 hazelnuts for the inside of the truffles.
2. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup hazelnuts and brazil nuts in food processor and whir until crumbly (even better if it gets smooth like nut butter).  Add dates and coconut oil and whir some more until fully combined.  Add cacao powder and salt, whir a bit more, and remove to a mixing bowl.
3. Form the filling dough into a large ball.  Divide in half and half again.  Repeat until you have 16 little portions.  Use your hands to form each little ball around one of the whole hazelnuts.  Set aside.
4. Add about an inch of water to the saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Put cacao butter into the pyrex or metal bowl and suspend the bowl over the saucepan.  Stir constantly until the cacao butter has melted.  Reduce the heat if the cacao butter gets too warm.
5. Turn off the burner but leave bowl suspended over saucepan.  Add cacao powder, sweetener to taste and vanilla.  Stir until fully combined.  Add more sweetener if you like.
6. Remove molten coating from heat.  Dip the filling balls into the coating one at a time, then place on a plate or tray covered with parchment paper.  Place plate into the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
7. Take the truffles out the freezer and give each one another coat of chocolate.  You can reheat the coating over the double boiler again if it gets too thick – but remember you don’t want to coating to get hot, just melty.  Repeat 2-3 times, freezing in between layers, until you have a nice thick layer of chocolate around each truffle.  If you have extra chocolate coating, why not dip some strawberries or dried fruit in it?
8. Store in an airtight container.  If you live in a warm climate you may like to keep these in the refrigerator, otherwise they will be fine at room temperature.  If they last that long.

Miso soup is a healthy, satisfying, warming and nourishing snack or meal.  Macrobiotic adherents suggest a bowl of miso soup every day to encourage healthy bacteria in the gut, which improves digestion.  But all those little paper packets get to be a bit of a strain on the old wallet – not to mention the environment.

It’s easy to make a bowl of miso soup from scratch in less than 5 minutes.  Forget about the takeaway containers and the instant soup sachets.  With a few ingredients you can find at your local Asian grocery, Homemade Miso Soup is now Easier Than Instant.

Stuff

• a small saucepan
• 1 cup water
• 1 large handful dried seaweed (wakame or kelp)
• 1 scallion/spring onion
• 1 heaped Tbsp miso paste
• any chopped vegetables of your choice (optional)
• a handful of cubed tofu (optional)

Step By Step

1. Fill a small saucepan with the water and seaweed.  Bring a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
2. Tear or chop the scallion/spring onion into tiny pieces.  Add to the soup.
3. Add any other chopped vegetables and/or tofu (optional)
4. Simmer for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat.  Stir in miso paste until fully dissolved.
6. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!

This post originally appeared on my handmade living blog Messy Bessie.

The Culprit: Sauerkraut

Why From Scratch?

Sauerkraut falls into the family of living foods – cultured and fermented products that are incredibly beneficial for their good bacteria, keeping gut health in balance and aiding digestion.  But most brands found in shops have been pasteurized – that is, heated to kill bacteria.  Doh!  I get it – we don’t want our foods becoming contaminated when they sit on shelves.  But doesn’t that defeat the purpose of eating cultured vegetables?  I mean, it still tastes nice, but it takes away all the health benefits by killing the good bacteria along with the bad.

So the obvious solution is to make your own!  Yes, it’s a little bit messy, but it doesn’t take too long and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  One head of cabbage, which costs under $5, produces 5-6 1 litre jars of kraut – which would cost about $8-$10 each in a shop.  And you can flavor each batch to your liking.

Step By Step

1. Get your jars ready.  You’ll need 5-6 1 litre jars for a whole head of cabbage.  Give them a good wash, then submerge in boiling water to sanitize.  We don’t want any bad bacteria getting in there!  Leave them to dry while you make the sauerkraut.
2. You need to get your cabbage really small.  The easiest way to do this is to chop it into chunks and feed it through your food processor using the slicing blade.  Alternatively, if you’ve got good knife skills, you can cut it up by hand.
3. Put all that shredded cabbage in a big bowl.  For each head of cabbage, add 2 Tbsp of the best quality salt you’ve got – I like Himalayan or sea salt.
4. Time to get messy!  Roll up your sleeves, give you hands a good wash, and start massaging your cabbage.  Imagine you’re kneading bread or giving your girlfriend a nice backrub (hint, hint).  Keep going for 3-5 minutes, until your cabbage has released a lot of liquid and reduced in volume by about 1/3.

   

   Steps 1-4: jar bath, shredding, pre-massage, post-massage

5. Add your seasoning.  The traditional seasoning is caraway seeds – you’ll need about 1 tsp for each head of cabbage.  I am also fond of a simple seasoning of minced garlic and chillies.  You can get inventive here!  Whatever you choose, mix it through thoroughly.
6. Stuff your sauerkraut into the jars, pressing down as you go.  Make sure to add some of that liquid that the cabbage released as you massaged it.  Leave a little bit of space at the top before tightly securing the lid – things will get bubbly as fermentation occurs.
7. Leave your jars in a dark, out-of-the-way place for 3-5 days.  It takes less time in warm weather, more time in the cold.  Check on them periodically to see the magical transformation in action!
8. When your sauerkraut is ready, it will be significantly lighter in color and taste like, well, sauerkraut.  Stored in the refrigerator,  it will keep for many months.
   

   Steps 5-8: seasoning, jarring, bubbling, ready to eat

   This post originally appeared on my handmade living blog Messy Bessie.

Nut milks are a creamy, delicious drink for those who prefer to stay away from their processed dairy and soy counterparts.  Nuts are full of the good fats that our bodies need to build strong tissue and glowing skin, but eating lots of them can be tough on the belly!  This simple drink makes the health benefits of nuts easier to access, as well as providing a great alternative to other types of milks.

Health food stores sell packaged almond and other nut milks.  But why spend lots of money on the packaged and pasteurized version when you can make your own quick, living version?  You can use almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, hemp seeds, or my favorite, brazil nuts – or any other nut or seed that you have on hand!  Each has its own subtle flavor, which you can enhance by adding honey, agave or dates to sweeten if you like.

Homemade Nut Milk is healthier, tastier and Easier Than Instant!

Stuff

• A food processor
• A blender
• 1 cup nuts or seeds
• 3 cups water
• a mesh strainer or piece of muslin/cheesecloth (optional)
• A mixing bowl (optional)
• A couple of large glass jars

Step By Step

1. Place nuts in the food processor and whir for 30 seconds, or until the nuts are grounds to a fine powder.  Some fattier nuts will almost become nut butter in this time – that’s okay!
2. Remove the ground nuts and place in the blender with water.  Blend for 30 seconds, or until the milk is white and well combined.
3. Optional: Strain the milk through a strainer, cheesecloth or muslin into the mixing bowl.  Press down on the solids with a large spoon to get out all the liquid.  Note: This step is optional – I often drink my milk unstrained, especially when I’m using fattier nuts that dissolve better like cashew or brazil nuts.
4. Pour the milk into jars.  Will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.  Use just like you’d use dairy or soy milk – on cereal, in coffee, in smoothies, in baking, or just for a refreshing drink!

This post originally appeared on my handmade living blog Messy Bessie.

The Culprit: Salad Dressing

Stop what you’re doing right now, and go check that inner door of your fridge.  Have you got anything that looks like this hanging out there?  Now listen carefully.  Grasp it carefully between your thumb and index finger, and toss it in the rubbish bin.

A fresh green salad is a beautiful thing, and there’s no reason to douse it in a concoction of water, cane sugar, white vinegar, food acids (citric and #332), salt, fresh garlic, vegetable gums (#407, 410, 415 and 440), parsley and natural flavour. (Ingredients from Praise Fat Free French Dressing.)

A simple vinaigrette takes less than 2 minutes to make, and can pop with any flavors that you fancy.  The basic recipe is below, but please go ahead and experiment with different types of vinegars, oils, herbs and spices.  The possibilities are endless, the labor is minimal, and the taste is leagues above that of bottled dressing.  Vinaigrette is Easier than Instant.

Stuff:

• 1 Tbsp mustard (dijon, seeded, honey mustard, etc.)
• 2-3 Tbsp vinegar (white wine, red wine, balsamic, champagne, etc.)
• 1/4 cup oil (olive, flax, sesame, avocado, walnut, etc.)
• any herbs, spices or flavorings that you fancy
• a medium sized mixing bowl
• a whisk

Making vinaigrette: Start with mustard, add vinegar, whisk in oil

Step by Step:

1. Plop the mustard into a medium sized bowl.
2. Add vinegar and whisk together with the mustard.
3. Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking constantly with the other hand.  Stop periodically and whisk until well combined and thick, then add more oil.
4. Mix in any other flavors you like – dried or fresh herbs, minced shallots or garlic, a bit of honey, a little tamari, etc.  The possibilities are endless!
5. Toss with your green salad and enjoy!  This is not a hard and fast recipe, so adjust the quantities to suit your taste and the volume of salad you’re making.

Here’s a great use for those salad dressing bottles once you’re rinsed the contents down the drain:

This article originally appeared on my handmade living blog Messy Bessie.

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: not all hummus is created equal.  There’s the good: creamy hummus, warm hummus, spice-spiked hummus, garnished hummus, hummus with ful, hummus with pinenuts, garlicky hummus, hard boiled egg topped hummus.  The good is found in tiny dingy restaurants across the Middle East – and around the world wherever Middle Easterners have settled – usually down some back alley, and hummus is pretty much all they serve, along with hot pita bread to mop it up.

Then there’s the bad: grainy, watery, too lemony, too garlicky, too bland, made with canola oil, stale, dry, boring. The bad is found in tiny plastic tubs in supermarkets, and is often the only hummus that local residents are familiar with.  If you’re one of those people, listen up: THIS IS NOT HUMMUS!  This is a poor imitation of the creamy delicious joy that is real, fresh hummus.

If you live in one of these places where this is the only hummus you’ve ever known, you absolutely must try making it from scratch.  It’s a world of difference, I tell ya.  Please resist any urge you might have to take the canned-chickpea shortcut – it’s not worth it.  The flavor and texture achieved by using fresh chickpeas is sublime, and the canned versions just taste, well, metallic and mushy.  All it takes is a little advance planning and you can have your own warm, creamy, delicious hummus – from scratch.

Stuff:

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• large bowl
• water
• saucepan
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• sea or himalayan salt
• food processor

Step-by-Step

1. Measure 1 cup of dried chickpeas into a medium sized bowl.  Add water, filling the bowl until the water is about 1 inch higher than the chickpeas, as they will soak up most of the water.  Leave to soak overnight.
2. The next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas.  Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water, add chickpeas, and bright to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for about 20 minutes, or until chickpeas are soft.
3. Drain chickpeas but retain the cooking liquid.  Place chickpeas, tahini, olive oil and garlic into food processor and whir until smooth – this will probably take several minutes.  Just let the food processor continue to run until you have a really smooth texture.  If it’s not getting smooth enough, add some of the chickpea cooking liquid (I usually add about 1/4 cup).  Add salt to taste.
4. A few fun ways to serve your hummus:

• drizzled with olive oil
• sprinkled with za’atar, a gorgeous spice blend whose feature ingredient is sumac
• sprinkled with smoky paprika
• topped with chopped hardboiled egg
• topped with chopped fresh parsley or coriander/cilantro
• topped with some extra cooked chickpeas
• topped with a handful of pine nuts
• drizzled with chili oil

The possibilities are endless! However you garnish your hummus, you’ll need a nice plate of fresh, warm pita bread and/or a bowlful of various crudites to scoop up the creamy goodness.

This post originally appeared on my handmade living blog Messy Bessie.

Wholemeal pizzas topped with a) pesto, caramelized onion, pumpkin & goat's cheese and b) pesto, mushrooms, zucchini, sundried tomato and goat's chese

Maybe you are a lucky soul sitting in a gorgeous Italian piazza right now, watching elegant ladies strut past ancient fountains while you sip your chianti and scribble in your Moleskin. But if you’re reading this post, chances are you’re experiencing something a bit more mundane. Maybe you’re curled up on the couch with your laptop like me, or sitting at your desk pretending to work while actually reading blogs. Either way, really good pizza is not as accessible to us as it is to our fabulous piazza-sitting friend.

My solution for the no-Italian-pizza blues is to whip up this quick dough.  What I learned from my culinary adventures in Italy is that the best pizza is made of a simple base, stretched thin and covered minimally with high-quality toppings. I’ve one-upped the health factor of this recipe and used wholemeal flour, because it’s important to pack some nutrition in there. You can top this base however you like – lately I’ve been whipping up a simple pesto, caramelizing some onions, and dotting blobs of goats curd here and there.  Bellissimo.

Stuff:

• 3 c. unbleached flour (preferably wholemeal)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1⁄2 tsp salt
• 1 375 ml (12 oz.) can or bottle beer
• oil for greasing
• medium mixing bowl
• 2 baking sheets

Topping pizza bases with homemade pesto

Step-by-Step

1. Preheat the oven to 230° C (450° F).
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in mixing bowl and mix well.  Add beer and mix until fully combined. Dust a little flour on a clean work surface and place dough on it. Knead for just a minute or two until the dough comes together – it will still be somewhat sticky.
3. Grease both baking sheets with a little oil. Divide dough in half and spread across baking sheets, stretching as thin as you can without tearing.
4. Bake bases for 5 minutes, then remove from oven and top however you like.
5. Return pizzas to oven and bake another 7 to 9 minutes. Check for doneness by gently lifting the base – when the bottom has begun to brown, the pizzas are done.

This post originally appeared on my handmade living blog, Messy Bessie.