Chocolate mousse

1 can of coconut milk - skimmed (see here)
50ml almond milk (or any other preferred milk substitute)
50g dark dairy free chocolate
½-1 tablespoon sugar or Agave nectar, depending on how sweet or bitter you want it

Note: You can also change this recipe up by adding natural peppermint extract, a tablespoon of your favourite booze like, whisky, brandy, grand marnier and so on, or finely grated orange zest heated up in the 50ml of almond milk, setting it aside to rest for 10-15min, then strain and ad to the chocolate.

Skim the coconut milk and transferee to a bowl, whisk for a few minutes until it gets a bit fluffy.
in a small saucepan on low heat, melt together chocolate, almond milk and sugar/Agave, until smooth.
In a slow stream while whisking, add the chocolate mixture to the skimmed coconut milk and whisk until the ingredients are all mixed together to a smooth chocolate mousse.
Transferee to a serving dish or to individual ramekins, then transferee to the fridge to set for a few hours or overnight.

Enjoy.

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Skimmed coconut milk

This is a very good technique I learned from chef Chloe's website, it make you use coconut milk in dishes that normally require cream to make them dairy free.

Don't be scared of trying this if you don't like coconut, because when you put it together with other ingredient like chocolate, you can't really taste the coconut, I have served this for a few friends that didn't like coconut that was all surprised to find that the dishes was made with coconut milk.

It is very easy, make sure not to shake the can of coconut milk, place it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, open can and scoop out the creamy coconut milk until you get to the coconut water (discard the coconut water or use in cooking).

Easy peasy.

I can recommend the Blue Dragon Organic coconut milk, as it is really creamy and smooth when using in deserts.

Recipes where skimmed coconut milk used:
Chocolate peanut crunch squares
Rocky Road
Chocolate mousse

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Tabouleh

I got introduces to this salad at a Mediterranean cafe, where I had it in a pita bread with falafel, and it was sooooo good. But I haven't had it for years but got reminded off it today when my boyfriend mentioned something about pita bread, so I decided to make it.

I once had a recipe for it, but don't know where it is now, so kind of made this recipe from memory, and I think I used to much bulgur, so have reduced it in the recipe below.

Note: if using Quinor, you might need to drain some of the excess fluid from the vegetables.

200g Bulgur wheat (or Quinoa if you want gluten free, about 2 cups, cook after directions on the package)
350ml boiling hot water
½ Cucumber (seeds removed)
200g tomatoes
4-5 spring onions
1 clove of garlic pressed
Big bunch of Parsley
little bunch of mint (about 1/3 the amount of the parsley)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fine black pepper
½ teaspoon fine Cumen
juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons olive oil

Put the Bulgur in a bowl and ad the boiling hot water, cover with a lid and leave it to steam for at least ½ hour.

If you have a food processor this next bit is very easy, just place the rest of the ingredients in the food processor and pulls until you get a chunky salsa consistency, and then just mix it with the Bulgur/Quinoa. Cover at let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

If you don't have a food processor,  it is still very easy, just chop up all the vegetables and herbs finely, and mix it all the ingredients in with the Bulgur/Quinoa. Cover at let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

Serve with warm pita bread, meat skewers or falafel. Enjoy.

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Lemon curd

left made with homemade butter and right with coconut oil.

A friend recently wrote about lemon curd on facebook, which made me think if it was possible to make it lactofree, so I tried making it two different ways, one with homemade butter and one coconut oil.

And there wasn't a lot of difference in taste, the coconut oil one was a bit creamier and a bit lighter in colour, so think I might make it with coconut oil the next time just because it makes it easier.

4 lemons, zest and juice
200g sugar
100g coconut oil or homemade butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

Wisk sugar, eggs and egg yolks well until white and fluffy in a bowl
Then whisk in coconut oil or butter, and ad lemon zest and juice (don't be afraid if it starts to curdle, it will come together on the stow).
Transfer to a pan and heat over low-medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly using a wooden spoon, until the lemon curd coats the spoon.
pour the lemon curd through a strainer and into 1 big or 2 small sterilized jam jars.
put in fridge overnight to set and then enjoy.

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Tom Yum Soup

It has been over 10 years since someone gave me this recipe, and it has been a steady part of my life ever since. Don't think it is a very original recipe, more of a fusion recipe, but never the less it is very comforting and filling.

Tom Yum soup with calamari rings and prawns

 Serves 6.

1 bag of Tom Yum paste
1 onion
2-3 carrots
200g mange tout
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1½ Litre vegetable stock
400g flat rice sticks (noodles)
300g seafood.

Notes: You can make this soup with any kind of seafood I have found, if using fresh seafood, fry them off with the onions and set aside and ad for a minute or two at the end. if using pre cooked, ad for a minute or two before ready.

Put rice sticks in a bowl and cover with cold water, and set aside.
Peel and cut onion and carrots in preferred size pieces.
Fry of onion (and seafood if using fresh, see notes above), add carrots and fry for a few minutes until lightly cooked.
Ad chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil.
drain the water from the rice sticks, and ad them to the soup, letting it boil for a minute on medium heat.
Now add the seafood and mange tout, and let it cook until the rice sticks are al dente (as it will keep cooking in the hot soup), and the seafood properly heated though.

Enjoy

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Gazpacho Soup with homemade croutons

This soup is like summer in a bowl for me, and it really makes me wish I had a little green house where I could pick the ingredients right of the plant to make it.

Besides being perfect for a hot summers day, this soup inspired by a Ina Garten recipe,  is extremely easy to make if you have a food processor.

Serves  4

Gazpacho:
2 slices of day old bread
1 small or ½ an red onion
1 green pepper fruit
1 red pepper fruit
1 cucumber
4-6 tomatoes depending on size
handful of parsley
1 litre tomato juice
2-3 cloves of garlic (pressed or finely grated)
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons freshly grinded black pepper
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
5 tablespoons virgin olive oil

Croutons:
6-8 slices of day old bread
2-3 table spoons of olive oil
1 clove of garlic
½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoons freshly grinded pepper

Wash and prepare all the ingredients. with the cucumber, cut it in half and remove seeds.
Starting from the top of the ingredient list, pulse the ingredients one by one until you get a fine but not pureed texture, and transferee to a bowl. stop when you come to the tomato Juice.
Add the tomato juice to the chopped vegetables  and the rest of the ingredients, give it a good stir to combine it all, and then let it rest in the fridge for about one hour, for all the tastes to come out into the soup.

preheat oven to 200°C
Remove crust of the slices bread and cube it. Transferee to a bowl.
press or grate the garlic into the oil, and let it stand for a few minutes to infuse into the oil.
Drizzle the oil over the  bread cubes, and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the bread cubes onto a lined baking sheet and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring half way through, ready when golden brown.

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Banoffee Pie

makes 6 small or 1 big pie.

150g dairy free digestives biscuits (the McVities lights are dairy free, but also some of supermarkets own brands are dairyfree).
75g Lactofree butter (or dairy free margarine)
2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

2/3 portion of dulce de leche (click here for recipe)

3 ripe bananas

250ml Lactofree cream

dairy free chocolate for grating

Wagamama

Nr. 42. Yaki Udon and Nr.104. Edamame with chilli and garlic salt.

I go to wagamama quite often, it is the sort of place that I can't really get enough of, and I am so addicted to their udon noodles.

Have normally picked a dish and then asked does this dish contain dairy, and they would find out for me, but last time I went I asked what dishes contain dairy, and the lovely waitress went and got me some laminated papers, with different pages for different allergies, and under the dairy one was all the numbers on the menu card, and next to the ones that contained dairy was a note if it contained dairy and in some cases if you could substitute a sauce. It was only a handful of dishes from the menu that contained dairy, and that list just made it so easy to pick out which ones to avoid.

I don't think I have ever gotten disappointed with a dish from Wagamama, and can highly recommend it to anyone.

For more information visit the wagamama website here.

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