CRUNCHY CARROT WITH HUMMUS FILLING | ALTERNATIVE VEGAN RECIPE INCLUDED | EASTER MENU

WIKI NOTE: The biggest carrot in the world weighed 8.6kg and was cultivated by John Evans in 1998 in Palmer, Alaska.

CRUNCHY CARROT WITH HUMMUS FILLING

YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe
PUFF PASTRY (CONE SHAPE)
1 sheet of puff pastry /* vegan puff pastry
1 egg /*eggless
A handful of rocket leaves
*Baking cone-molds
NOTE: *Cone-molds - make small cardboard cones (A5 sizes) and cover each with the aluminum roll. 
CARROT HUMMUS FILLING
3 grated tender carrots
1 or 2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons ground hazelnuts
2 handfuls (approx. 100g) of cooked chickpeas
A generous splash (approx. 50g) of extra virgin olive oil or olive oil, to taste
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

NOTE: The puff pastry is great for this recipe because you can make a sweet or a savory filling depending on the ingredients that there are at home.

LET´S COOK!
1. Preheat the oven to 180º C.  Cover the baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Roll out the sheet of puff pastry with a floured rolling pin.
NOTE: The puff pastry can be either store-bought or homemade.
3. Cut the sheet of pastry lengthwise into 3cm pieces.
4. Grease the cone molds with vegetable oil. Roll the strips of pastry around the cone molds.
NOTE: Leave 1cm on the top of the cone mold without puff pastry, it will be easy to remove later.
5. Beat an egg and brush cone-puff pastries.
6. Put the cone-puff pastries on the baking tray. Bake them for around 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.
7. Let it cool completely.  Remove carefully one by one the cone-puff pastry from the cone mold, trying not to break them.
8. Mix the ingredients for the carrot hummus in a blender until you have the desired texture.
NOTE: Another filling for the cone-pastry puff could be a sailor filling and/or a ham filling. You can find the recipes in the Sandwich House post of the August Menu.
9. Fill with carrot hummus and each cone-puff pastry.
10. Serve a crunchy carrot on a plate. It depends on the cone-mold size.
NOTE: Be careful not to break the puff pastry if you do small-size units.
11. Decorate the top with sesame seeds and baby spinach leaves. Voilà, the yummy crunchy carrots are ready to eat.

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• MARCH MENU

• APRIL MENU

   

ALMOND CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE

WIKI NOTE: The almond is native to the Mediterranean climate region of the Middle East. It was spread by humans in ancient times along the shores of the Mediterranean into northern Africa and southern Europe, and more recently transported to other parts of the world, notably California, United States.

VEGAN ALMOND CAKE 

YOU WILL NEED:
DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 and ½ cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
½ cup ground almonds 
1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon, to taste
A handful of chopped almonds (optional)
WET INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of almond milk
¼ cup peach jam
6 tablespoons sunflower oil (or veggie oil, any neutral flavored)
2 tsp lemon zest, to taste

NOTE: Homemade measurement units



LET´S BAKE!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or veggie oil.

NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It´s the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want, you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: unrefined cane sugar/brown sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, ground cinnamon, chopped almonds and salt. Mix them well with a wooden spoon.
NOTE: Sift the flour for cakes. Sifting helps to remove any lumps and/or unwanted debris from the flour and also helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients. If you don't have a strainer handy, you can also mix flour with a wire whisk or a fork.

3. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl: almond milk, peach jam, veggie oil, and lemon zest until well mixed.

4. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.

5. Pour the mix into the bread pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top.

6. Bake for around 40 minutes or until browned.

NOTE: Open the oven and prick the cake in the middle with a needle. You can check it many times until the needle comes out clean. It means that the cake is well done.

7. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool. Serve as is or with a scoop of vegan chocolate custard (optional).

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• JANUARY MENU

     

CHOCOLATE TURRÓN / XMAS SWEET | ALTERNATIVE VEGAN RECIPE INCLUDED

WIKI NOTE: Turrón (Spanish), or torrone (Italian), is a southern European nougat confection and is usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is frequently consumed as a traditional Christmas dessert in Spain and Italy as well as Latin America. 

Turrón itself can take on a variety of consistencies and appearances, however, they traditionally consisted of the same ingredients; the final product may be either hard and crunchy, or soft and chewy. 

Thirty years ago almost all turrón recipes followed the same specifications, but since the diversification of products, there are currently dozens of varieties: chocolate with puffed rice or whole almonds; all kinds of chocolate pralines, with or without liquor, candied fruits or whole nuts; fruit pralines; and even sugarless variations (sweetened with fructose or artificial sweeteners).

PUFFED RICE CHOCOLATE TURRÓN

YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe

250 g of dark chocolate chunks /*vegan chocolate
50 g of lard / *vegan margarine
50g of crispy puffed rice (Rice Krispies by Kellogg's)
25g of flaked almonds or chopped hazelnuts (optional)
--
1 aluminum container,  small-size rectangular 
Cling film

LET´S COOK!
1. Put the chocolate chunks in a saucepan. Warm gently, stirring until it's all melted. Add lard and stir for a while.

2. Pour the content into the bowl and mix with crispy puffed rice (Rice Krispies) all together.

3. Cover the aluminum container with cling film.

4. Pour the mixture into the aluminum container. Cover it with cling film, press and put weight on the top (a package of caster sugar or a pocket dictionary or whatever works well). Leave it like that until is hard (approx. 4 hours).
5. Keep it in the fridge. Cut it into thick pieces to serve.

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• DECEMBER MENU

ROSCOS DE VINO (SWEET WINE DOUGHNUTS) / XMAS SWEET | VEGAN RECIPE

WIKI NOTE: Sesame seed is one of the oldest oilseed crops known, domesticated well over 3000 years ago. Sesame has many species, most being wild and native to sub-Saharan Africa. Sesame indicum, the cultivated type, originated in India. Sesame is highly tolerant to drought-like conditions and grows where other crops may fail.

ROSCOS DE VINO (SWEET WINE DOUGHNUTS)

YOU WILL NEED:

500 g wheat flour (plain or all-purpose) 

125 g caster sugar /*panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar

20 g toasted sesame seeds

200 ml  olive oil or vegetable oil, to taste

125 ml  sweet dessert wine (Malaga sweet wine)

15 ml herb brandy

1/2 lemon grated

Icing sugar

LET´S COOK!

1. Preheat the oven to 200 º C for around 15 minutes. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.

2. Put the plain flour in a big saucepan over medium heat. Mix it slowly with a wooden spoon, until brown. Set aside.

3. Put the caster sugar, toasted sesame seeds, olive oil, sweet dessert wine, herb brandy, and lemon grated in a big bowl. Mix it well with a wooden spoon.

4. Pour the flour into the big bowl. Mix everything well until the mixture comes together as a dough.

5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 1 cm.

6. Using doughnut cutters or biscuit cutters - circle shape, cut "roscos" out of the dough and carefully place onto the baking tray.

7. Bake the roscos until pale golden brown (for 20 or 30 minutes - oven to 150ºC). Set aside to harden for 5 minutes, then warm on a wire rack.

8. Sprinkle over icing sugar. Place it on the Xmas plate.

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• DECEMBER MENU

PUBLICATION: HALLOWEEN FOR LITTLE FOODIES | ARTICLE WHN - ISSUE 86

• Article published in What´s Happening Magazine / Issue 86.

Kids can be very picky when it comes to food, especially when it's good for them. However we have found a solution in blog form. Cosericantar blog makes it a piece of cake when getting your little ones involved in cooking. The blog is based on two main ideas: cooking and playing. A full menu of creative and healthy recipes has been prepared for each month of the year. Elena from Cosericantar blog has created some spooky treats especially WHM for you to try at home. 
Recipes and photography by Elena JR from Cosericantar blog. 

***What´s Happening Magazine (WHN): Brighton-based Fashion and Lifestyle Magazine.

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• OCTOBER MENU

SPOOKY DRINKS | 2 ALTERNATIVE VEGAN RECIPES INCLUDED | HALLOWEEN MENU

MONSTER - SPINACH SMOOTHIE 

YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe
A handful of spinach
1 or 2 bananas
1 natural yogurt or soy yogurt (125g - small size)
A scoop of vanilla flavor ice cream /*vegan ice cream
2 tablespoons of honey  /*agave nectar, to taste
NOTE: The recipe is for one glass. If you want more than one glass, multiply the ingredients accordingly.

LET´S COOK!
1. Wash the spinach chop the bananas and add to the blender.
2. Add the ice cream, honey and yogurt. Mix everything with the blender until foaming. Taste the smoothie and add more honey to sweeten if you wish.
3. Serve in a glass with straw. Put some white chocolate (for eyes) on the top of the glass.
NOTE: Put the glasses in the freezer for a while, the monster smoothie should be cold.

• VAMPIRE - BEETROOT SMOOTHIE 

YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe
A handful of mixed berries (blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry)
A small cooked beetroot
1 forest berry yogurt  /*forest berry soy yogurt (125g - small size)
A scoop of vanilla flavor ice cream /*vegan ice cream
2 tablespoons of honey  /*agave nectar, to taste
NOTE: The recipe is for one glass. If you want more than one glass, multiply the ingredients accordingly

LET´S COOK!
1. Wash the berries, cut the beetroot, and add to the blender.
2. Add the ice cream, honey and yogurt. Mix everything with the blender until foaming. Taste the smoothie and add more honey to sweeten if you wish.
3. Serve in a glass with straw. Put some white chocolate (for eyes) on the top of the glass.
NOTE: Put the glasses in the freezer for a while, the vampire smoothie should be cold.

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• OCTOBER MENU

• NOVEMBER MENU

TRICK OR FRUIT | 2 VEGAN RECIPES | HALLOWEEN MENU

WIKI NOTE: Trick-or-treating is a Halloween ritual custom for children and adults in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "Trick or treat". The "treat" is usually some form of candy, although in some cultures money is used instead. The "trick" refers to a threat, usually idle, to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating usually occurs on the evening of October 31. Some homeowners signal that they are willing to hand out treats by putting up Halloween decorations outside their doors; others simply leave treats available on their porches for the children to take freely. Houses may also leave their porch light on as a universal indicator that they have candy.

Traditions similar to the modern custom of trick-or-treating extend all the way back to classical antiquity, although it is extremely unlikely that any of them are directly related to the modern custom. The ancient Greek writer Athenaeus of Naucratis records in his book The Deipnosophists that, in ancient times, the Greek island of Rhodes had a custom in which children would go from door to door dressed as swallows, singing a song, which demanded the owners of the house to give them food and threatened to cause mischief if the owners of the house refused. This tradition was claimed to have been started by the Rhodian lawgiver Cleobulus.

• BANANA GHOSTS | VEGAN RECIPE

YOU WILL NEED:
Bananas
Raisins

LET´S COOK!
1. Peel the bananas and cut them in half.
2. Make the ghost face with the raisins.
3. Place the banana ghosts on a plate. Such a scary gang of ghosts! Boo!!!

• PUMPKIN MANDARINS | VEGAN RECIPE

YOU WILL NEED:
Mandarins
Kiwis

LET´S COOK!
1. Peel the mandarins and the kiwis.
2. Cut the kiwis into small triangular pieces.
3. Put one kiwi piece in the center of each mandarin. It looks like pumpkin stalks.
4. Place the pumpkins on a plate. It is so easy to plant a terrifying field of pumpkins.

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• OCTOBER MENU

• NOVEMBER MENU