Cashew tree produce cashew apples, and cashew apples have cashew seeds. The green seeds are processed, and we find them as light brown cashew nuts on the food store shelves.
From a traditional stir fry to a modern cashew milk, from breakfast to dinner, cashew nuts prove to be more versatile every day. Health benefits of the cashew nuts inspire not only many of us who experiment with home cooking but also some food manufacturers.
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Dates are delicious, and they have a caramel flavour when used in baking. If you are one of us who decided to exclude refined sugars from your diet and you still have traces of a sweet tooth, you should consider Dates, such a versatile sweetener. This fruit is very sweet but at the same time it is considered to be a functional food.
According to Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (Volume 52, Issue 3, 2012) ‘it is apparent that the date fruits are highly nutritious and may have several potential health benefits’. Dates are a rich source of energy, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Compared to other dried fruits such as apricots and figs, dates are a good source of compounds with antioxidant activity.
The same Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition published a research where ’10 minerals have been reported in dates, with the most prominent being selenium, copper, potassium and magnesium, providing more than 15 percent of the recommended intake of these minerals in 100 grams of dates, which is roughly 4 dates. As dates have a high potassium and low sodium content, they are a healthy choice for those with hypertension.’
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In Australia, Blueberries are my favourite berries. Every year I organise Blueberry picking trip to one of the local organic blueberry farms.
Magic Tablecloth. My daughter and a friend are picking blueberries in December 2015.
The blueberries can be stored fresh very well at low temperatures for up to 1 month. They don’t just stay fresh but they also retain all their qualities that provide health benefits. There is research just on that, and ‘The results suggested that sufficient available energy status and a stable enzymatic system in blueberries collectively contribute to improve chilling tolerance, thereby alleviating pitting and maintaining quality of blueberry fruit in long-term cold storage.’ (Food Chemistry, Volume 164, 1 December 2014, Pages 493-501).
Nectarines, plums and peaches are in abundance this month. If you have a nectarine tree, for example, and you harvested buckets of nectarines, try to dry them. Then use dried nectarines throughout the year to add something unique to your recipes.
Add nectarines to your tagine while making goat or lamb along with the other spices and fruits from your recipe. If you are making veal in a creamy sauce you can try adding the dried nectarine instead of mushrooms. You can also soak the dried nectarines in boiling water to make a flavoured water, let it cool down and refrigerate before drinking. Finally, another option is to add a few pieces to your herbal tea when making a gourmet tea in a pot.
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Nectarines (not very ripe)
*Optional: apple cider vinegar
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Beautiful apricots are now ripe and sweet across Australia. This simple delicious addition to your cheese board is full of Christmas spirit. This paste is prepared with raw apricots and takes only 10 minutes.
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500g apricots, ripe and sweet
1/8 cup semisweet or sweet white wine
1g agar (European, fine quality)
* Fine mesh sifter drum, silicone spatula, 170ml wide jar.
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Canelé is a small delicate French dessert from Bordeaux. They are amazing and unforgettable when prepared well. This is exactly what happened to me. I bought one small Canelé from Cumulus Inc. and I could not forget it.
Traditional Canelé is made from a combination of products, such as sugar, flour, milk and butter. That is my reason for creating this recipe.
Through many trials and errors I came up with this version of Canelé where I use Paleo friendly products. Finally, I forgot the taste of my first Canelé that I bought 🙂 Long-awaited success.
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We love Australian mangoes. During the peak of the mango season, we can buy them in boxes and at a very affordable price. Then it is time to create!
This recipe is so simple and so yummy! And I think it is a perfect guilt free dessert for a summer especially during the festive season, when we are to have lots of treats. This is because it is sugar and dairy free. Enjoy.
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2 large mangoes (very ripe)
250ml light coconut cream
7g agar
120ml water
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