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Victoria Sponge with Chia Jam and Coconut Cream

I made a disastrous version of this gorgeous cake on the telly here.Queen Vic would have turned in her grave. I was having too much craic in the kitchen with Lucy Kennedy.

Chiamania

When you need to recharge your superhuman powers, or your Bridge skills, try chia.

These weensy seeds are members of the omega-3 plant squad. Why such excitement? Omega-3 is a good fat, the kind that nourishes your noggin and not your waistband.

Our brain cells are primarily composed of fat. So too are many of our neurons (think of an internal electricity grid that lights up our thoughts). There is strong scientific evidence linking good brain health with omega-3-rich diets.

Most research involves controlled studies using omega-3 supplements. But what’s the point in necking expensive pharma-bullets when you can be merrily tucking into chia jam every morning?

Find black or white varieties in your local health food store and savvy grocers. Chia may initially seem expensive, but these tiny seeds actually swell to eight times their volume as soon as liquid touches their orbit.

Apart from being a tasty insurance policy against brain-drain, chia seeds deliver a surprisingly generous dose of calcium and iron too. Great food for mama and bump.

Victoria Sponge with chia jam and coconut cream

Not the traditional butter, cream, sugar and bleached-flour variety, this Victoria Sponge will make your taste buds fist-bump and your health insurer applaud.

Make it for a group of Brits, and you’ll have friends for life.

For the sponge:

1/2 cup / 65g coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup / 25g ground almonds

Good pinch of sea salt

4 medium (not large) eggs

2 tablespoons natural or soya yoghurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

just under 1/2 cup / 120ml unscented coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup / 125ml light agave, brown rice syrup or honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the chia jam filling:

2/3 cup / 125g frozen raspberries, defrosted

1-2 tablespoons chia seeds

Squeeze of lime (optional)

3 dates, pre-soaked and stones removed (optional jamminess)

4 tablespoons / 75g CoYo coconut milk yoghurt or thick Greek yoghurt

To make the chia jam, let the raspberries thaw first. Then whiz them in a food processor or hand-held blender with the chia seeds, lime and licky-sticky dates. Allow the chia seeds to thicken the jam for 40 minutes before using.

For the sponge, you’ll need to oil an 8×8 (20cm x 20cm) brownie pan, or a 10-inch (25cm) circular tin, and set aside. It’s also important to preheat your oven to 170 degrees, 150 for fan-assisted or 325 Fahrenheit. I find the best oil to use for greasing is unscented (as opposed to extra virgin and raw) coconut oil. Unscented coconut oil won’t turn the edges of the sponge infuriatingly dark. The meat of the coconut is lightly steamed before pressed, in order to remove the strong coconuty aroma.

Take out two large bowls. In the first bowl, sift your flour with the baking powder together. Stir through the ground almonds and some salt.

In the next bowl, whisk the eggs and yoghurt together, adding a splash of vanilla extract. Then pour in the melted coconut oil and sweetener, stirring vigorously to prevent lumps. Gradually drizzle in the lemon juice, whisking all the while.

Now, let the wet ingredients party with the dry ingredients, beating to prevent any cheeky lumps.

Scrape this sumptuously sticky mess into your prepared tin. Level with a spatula. Then bake for approximately 20 minutes, depending on the circumference of your tin (I use my 8×8 brownie tin). The deeper the tin is, the longer time it needs. If you leave it in longer than 30 minutes, I will throw a tantrum.

Remove the sponge from the oven, and admire. Let it cool for 60 minutes before ejecting from the tin. Then carefully slice the sponge in half (of course you could always double the recipe, and make two tiers instead). Smother great big clouds of coconut yoghurt over one half. Parachute a little chia jam on top of this. Then crown with the other half of the sponge.

Serve on a plate with many napkins and giddy fingers. And a side of Sinatra.

May 19, 2014

Lunchbox, Sides

The Holy Kale

(First published April 20, The Sunday Independent)

Kale is unforgivably trendy. During London Fashion Week, kale ice-pops were on the menu. I imagine one levitates with virtuousness after horsing into such a lolly. Every glossy magazine on the circuit seems to have a kale smoothie recipe by an equally glossy celebrity.

I fear what’s next. Cauliflower juice?

Truth is, kale is almost celestial. One leaf of this supergreen would have an acre of broccoli blushing.

For a start, it has more antioxidants than the much-coveted blueberry. We like antioxidants for their moves against damaging free radicals loitering in our system. Think Lara Croft in the blood stream.

Gram for gram, kale has almost twice the vitamin C as an orange. This vitamin is hailed as our skin’s greatest ally against aging (and dodgy office bugs). And kale’s stock of iron is even higher than spinach. Bad luck Popeye.

I’m still trying to make friends with this super-veg. It’s not easy. But here’s one way it canters onto our dinner table (see below). We love roasting the leaves on high for 8 minutes, and dusting with some sea salt, cumin and garlic granules. That’s also fab, and worthy of flirting with the next time a DVD night hollers.

Kale Pesto

This recipe is lightly adapted from “A Change of Appetite,” Diana Henry’s accidental pilgrimage to the rich lands of nutrients and superfoods.

I love it so much, I keep it under my pillow (the book, not the pesto).

We regularly serve kale pesto tumbled through a plate of baby potatoes and goji berries, but Diana recommends wholewheat linguine. For a double dose of greens, she adds steamed broccoli too. Expect a cavalry of antioxidants to charge through your veins.

300g Irish kale

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

10g flat-leaf parsley

2 good quality anchovies, drained of oil

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

50g grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese (cashews work well for a dairy-free version)

Big pinch of chilli flakes

Photograph “A Change of Appetite” by Diana Henry

Wash the kale well, and strip the leaves from the tough stalks. Toss the stems onto the compost, or juice them with apples and lemon for a ‘detox grenade.’ Stop sniggering, I’m almost serious.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, drop the leaves in and cook for 5 minutes. Strain the hot water, and transfer the cooked kale to an ice bath to keep its neon green glow and stop it cooking any further. Dry the bunched leaves thoroughly. I use a salad spinner for 2 minutes.

Put the chilled cooked kale into a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Briefly pulse for 5-10 seconds until you reach your desired consistency. We don’t want a puree, so go easy on the buttons Sargent. You’re aiming for little flecks of kale and anchovy. We doubled the quantity of anchovies, but I don’t think Diana shares my fetish for these chaps. You might not either.

Taste, and air punch. We used Desmond and Gabriel cheese made in Schull Co. Cork by Bill Hogan (who happens to be a former employee of Martin Luther King. You like him already, right?) Hogan is an outrageously talented artisan and cheese maker. His produce is like aged Irish Parmesan. This kale pesto is part shrine to Hogan, part shrine to Henry.

Bring it into the office with you, and let everyone rub your halo.

April 21, 2014

Lunchbox, Salads & Suppers, Sides, Vegan &/or Raw, Videos

Cooking Supergrains – Quinoa

It’s much easier to cook quinoa than pronounce it.

Once you give this super-grain a shot, you’ll be outraged couscous ever seduced you.

Cooking Quinoa – a 60 second demo from Susan Jane White on Vimeo.

What’s so snazzy about quinoa? Here’s the jazz from a post last January with a recipe for black garlic quinoa, and another for smoked paprika and cumin quinoa. Below, I’m including the recipe for Beginner’s Quinoa from the video above, to help get you started.

1 cup quinoa
1 & 1/2 cups stock or well-seasoned water
8–12 juicy baby tomatoes, halved
flesh of 1 avocado, roughly chopped
1 mild chilli, de-seeded and sliced
handful of rocket, chives, cress or coriander, roughly torn

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
sea salt flakes and a few twists of the black pepper mill

Wash the quinoa very, very well in a sieve under running water. Some grains have a pesky bitter coating.

Transfer to a heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil with the stock or well-seasoned water and cook for 12–15 minutes with a lid on. The longer you cook it, the softer and stickier it becomes. If you prefer it this way, add a little extra time and water.

Take the pan off the heat as soon as the quinoa has drunk up all the water. Let it sit on the countertop and fluff up in the residual heat of the lidded saucepan.

Leave the quinoa to cool a little before stirring through the remaining ingredients. Adding olive oil too early often makes it soggy. Give the black pepper mill a few twists and add a smattering of sea salt flakes.

You could pack the quinoa into an empty container for lunch at the office. I use the cardboard ones from my local deli’s salad counter. They seem far snazzier than my manky old Tupperware.

Some rice cookers have a special ‘grain’ setting that works perfectly for quinoa. Mine is the Tefal 8-in-1 rice cooker. I measure 2 Tefal cups of quinoa, and fill the basin to level 2. Press grain setting. Perfectly fluffy quinoa in 45 minutes.

April 4, 2014

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