MonkeyFood Ylimuulin apinanruokakeittiö ruokkii päätä ja häntää

14.9.2010

Mint Truffles! Strawberry Icecream! (Are you sure it’s paleo?)

Filed under: Alakarppi,Elävä ravinto,Gluteeniton,Herkut,jäätelö,laktoositon,Maidoton,paleo — Meri @ 17.53

These babies are meant for the paleo population that tends to lean towards the sweeter side of life every now and then… Not too often, just often enough to savour the unique taste of sweet. Aaaaah. The inspiration for these first ones came from Rawmazing.com, even though I didn’t (and don’t and won’t) have the patience to prepare them like actual truffles.

But you, feel free to make them sweeties as perfect as you will! This would of course mean forming the filling into small balls, freezing them for an hour and then carefully dipping them (in a toothpick) into melted raw chocolate. Sounds awful lot of work to me. But it might be worth it? See food, you see.

Anyway, I cut all the corners possible and they STILL tasted divine. It’s no brain surgery preparing truffles!

truffles

Mindful Mint Truffles

Filling

  • 1 dl of cashews (soaked in water for three hours, pour the water away)
  • 1 dl of desiccated coconut
  • a little water
  • few drops of mint extract
  • (vanilla stevia if you want to sweeten it – if I remember correctly, I didn’t use any)

Blend the soaked cashews and add the coconut. Add enough water to get the blender going and the stuff forming into a ball. Spice it up with the mint! Set in a silicone icecube mold, one teaspoon per each hole. Refridgerate it to prepare the raw chocolate.

Raw Chocolate

  • organic coconut oil
  • organic cocoa butter
  • organic raw cocoa powder
  • a little quality salt
  • some vanilla stevia

Melt the coconut oil and the cocoa butter. Mix in the other ingredients and add stevia and salt to your liking. Pour in the icecube mold over the bits of filling and set to fridge to settle. Once they’re cooled down, you have the most rawmazing mint truffles to indulge with.

icey

This next one is the oldest trick in the paleo (dessert) cookbook but just to remind you: it’s still fabulous! The soft strawberry taste of this creamy delight brings me back to the days of my childhood. In my family we had this special treat when we would eat vanilla icecream together with some heated mushed strawberries (mom had mushed them in the summertime and they’d been heated to melt them from the freezer). That and my mom’s chocolate sauce with vanilla icecream are THEE BEST THINGS I know. Or knew. Paleo change things… Hmmpf.

Strawberry Icecream

  • frozen strawberries
  • coconut milk
  • vanilla stevia

Take the berries out a few minutes before making this to let them melt just an inch from their ice cold state. Once they’re ready to be blended without breaking the blender, blend them into a powder like consistency. Add coconut milk until you get the desired consistency. Add stevia and taste to adjust the sweetness. You may freeze this but it’s better refridgerated, at least in my opinion. Not too hard but soft and cold and… Delicious! Just like icecream.

12.9.2010

Juicy Cabbage

Filed under: Alakarppi,Gluteeniton,Kevyt,Maidoton,paleo,raw food,Sallad,Side order — Meri @ 15.33

This idea I got from a wonderful (or should I say dejligt?) Danish cook’s Camilla Plom’s tv show. She made some kimchi and sauerkraut out of this but it’s also possible to just use this method to get the juices flowing when preparing cabbage salad.

kaali

paprikakaali

kaalisoppa

Salad Pizzeria revisited

  • white cabbage
  • coarse sea salt
  • (red bell pepper)
  • (oregano, vinegar, olive oil)

Chop cabbage into thin slices and put into a large bowl. Start crunching the cabbage slices with your hands. After awhile add a generous pinch of coarse sea salt and continue crunching until the cabbage starts to get moist and juicy. Keep on going until the cabbage is moist enough for your purposes (doesn’t take too long altogether). There you have it. If it’s too salty, just rinse it with cold water in a colander.

If you want to prepare the entré salad famous from pizzerias, add thinly sliced red bell pepper, oregano, olive oil and a little vinegar. And if you wanna be as mad as the monkey, eat your salad by adding it into a bowl of pureéd veggie soup! Exotic isn’t it. But I’m loving it.

Ps. I’m also loving Camilla Plom. Her laid back Danish and attitude make me miss my staying in Denmark so much… Have to go back!

Benetton Approved Food

Filed under: Alakarppi,Gluteeniton,Maidoton,meat,paleo,Sieniä — Meri @ 8.08

Howdy guys and welcome to Monkey kitchen! Today I’m playing some good old Gipsy Kings as a background music to create an authentic sweaty and Southern European feeling. How’s it working for you?

These fellows ain’t again nothing so innovative but they’re delicious and more than just steamed veggies for a change. And sort of nice looking if you’ve got guests coming up for sum paleo dinner. You may fill them with just some fried veggies or even the fish combination I posted couple of days ago (smoked fish, eggs and coconut milk) but these minced meat ones are probably the most traditional. So get your pumpkins ready! You may use zucchinis, bell peppers, tomatoes and/or eggplant like I did but sure it’s possible to fill, say, …something else as well? A piece of sausage? 😀

Lineup

[After they’ve been to oven they are not THIS nice looking. But you wouldn’t be either.]

Line up

  • bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, tomatoes (whatever is easy to fill)
  • minced meat
  • onion
  • mushrooms
  • salt, cinnamon, Indian spice
  • ketchup, Tabasco (hot sauce)
  • (almonds)

Set the oven for about 220 degrees. Cut the veggies that you’re going to fill: you may do it lengthwise (eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper) or just take the “hat” off (tomato, bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant). Scrape out the veggie meat. Chop onion and fry in butter on a pan. Add chopped mushrooms and then the veggie meat you scraped out. Finally add minced meat (I used organic pork) and season with salt and other spices according to your taste. I used Indian spice, a little cinnamon, some ketchup to bring sweetness and some Tabasco (smoked chipotle) to bring fire.

Fill the open cut veggies and transfer into oven. If you want some kind of crust and don’t use dairy I’d suggest either my “cheesy crust” aka combined coconut flour and nutritional yeast OR some chopped/crushed almonds. I absolutely love oven roasted almonds and they go so well together with this a bit spicy meat filling.

almondcrust

[Before the oven, still RAW!]

Bake until the cup veggies are tender, maybe 40 minutes and there you go.

10.9.2010

There’s more fish in the paleo sea

Filed under: Alakarppi,Arkiruoka,Gluteeniton,Kala,laktoositon,Maidoton,paleo,Sieniä — Meri @ 6.51

Ain’t saying that this would be anything new under the Monkey sun and ain’t saying this is something spectacular, but just to remind you of the variety in paleo cooking, I present yet again an oven-baked dish. Easy, simple, delish. Will keep a couple of days in the fridge and is tasty hot and cold.

fork

[A forkful.]

Fishy stuff

  • smoked whitefish (in my case, savusiika, “lavaret”) OR smoked salmon
  • fresh champignons
  • 3-4 onions
  • 2,5 dl coconut milk
  • 3 organic eggs
  • salt and pepper if needed

Chop the onion and champignons, fry in butter until tender and golden. Rip the fish into bite size bits and put in an oven casserole together with the onion-mushroom mix. Mix in a separate bowl the coconut milk and eggs, season if the fish isn’t too salty. Bake in approx. 200 degrees until the bake is settled, about 40 minutes. Enjoy hot or cold. I’d say it’s even better when it’s cold!

If you want a cheesy crust in your fish pie, try this dairy free Monkey trick:

  • coconut flour
  • nutritional yeast

Combine equal amount of these too and sprinkle on top of the casserole before baking it. Forms a nice salty crust as you can see here:

crust

7.9.2010

Calling Out for The Ultimate Liver Sausage/Paté Recipe?!

Filed under: Alakarppi,Lätinää — Meri @ 17.37

Well hello my dearest readers and eaters. I just came home from the market hall in Hakaniemi which is absolutely the best place to shop for meat, cheese, butter, eggs, sausages, olives, fish and other stuff (veggies I usually pick up from the market itself or from a regular grocery shop). And again I had some excellent customer service: first buying the organic butter from Lentävä Lehmä, then getting the meat from Hakkarainen and finally investing in some flourless, dairy free liver sausage at Roiniset.

book

The last was definitely not the least: when I requested a recipe for perfect liver sausage to make myself they gave me their personal copy of a German sausage book, called Book of Sausages. How accurate! And after I’d scan it for recipies they just wanted me to lend it for a week. So I did. Isn’t it amazing? It also has the most heartwarming dedication: Isille, 1998 (To Daddy, 1998). Happy sigh.

Anyway I’m gonna be prepared when I receive my organic liver kilogram after a couple of weeks and therefore I also request YOU, my fellow meat eaters, a great recipe. So IF you have a recipe or you know someone who does thee perfect liver sausage/paté, please give yourself up! I’m begging ya! 😛

5.9.2010

Greetings from Croatia! …aka better than ketchup

Filed under: Alakarppi,Eksotiikkaa,Gluteeniton,laktoositon,Maidoton,On the Road,paleo,Soosit — Meri @ 20.05

paprika2

[The version I made… (all gone by the way O_O)]

Hi y’all and thanks for waiting! The summer vacation is over tomorrow so the monkey’s back in da kitchen. Bet ya are hungry already? Since we spent 10 days of our vacation in Croatia, first on the island of Hvar and then two nights in Split, I’d like to share a very common croatian recipe for a delicious paprika sauce. It accompanied every meat platter, mixed grill and pork cutlet dish we ordered and was always as good. I googled some recipies and this was my first attempt. Pretty good I’d say, follow me!

paprika

[…and the original in Croatia.]

Croatian ketchup (it’s probably unorthodox to call this ketchup but just to give you the idea)

  • 1 red bellpepper
  • 1 eggplant
  • (finely chopped fresh chili if you like – I didn’t have any and it’s not supposed to be hot)
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • vinegar
  • salt
  • olive oil

Roast the eggplant and the bellpepper in a hot oven approximately 30 minutes so that the eggplant turns softer and the bellpepper sweeter. Put the bellpepper in a plastic bag when it’s still hot so it’ll be easier to peel. Scrape the eggplant flesh out with a tablespoon and mix the peeled pepper and the eggplant in a blender together with a clove of garlic. Add a dash of vinegar and some salt to taste.

Pour a bit of olive oil into a thick bottomed kettle and add the mixture. Let it cook down mixing it often until a paste forms. You may now either eat the damn delicacy or put it in a jar for later. Excellent with meat!

NOTE: you may not want to throw the eggplant peel away. If you chop it and fry it on a pan with, say, minced meat, it’ll be tasty. I do love eggplant. Learn to love it as well!

22.8.2010

It sure looks like veggies (but tastes like pizza)

Filed under: Alakarppi,Arkiruoka,Gluteeniton,Maidoton,paleo,Side order,Vege — Meri @ 20.07

This is a simple and satisfying side order to go with some smoked salmon or maybe organic chicken. In my mind (and in my mouth to be exact) this tastes like pizza so it does makes me happy… In a way that no pizza would do. Anyway, I’m too coward to promise you a definate pizza experience but even as what it is – veggies seasoned with oregano – it’s delicious. Nothing too fancy but oh so satiating. Eggplant works the best sucking all the flavours in!

pizzavegs

Pizza Vegetariana

  • half of an large eggplant
  • half of an large zucchini
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 dl pureed tomato (or crushed tomato) in a can
  • 2-3 Tbs nutritional yeast
  • dried oregano
  • butter, salt, water

Chop the veggies into generous bites, carrots more thinly. Fry the veggies in a heavy amount of butter on a large skillet. Add the canned tomato and a little water. Season with oregano, salt and nutritional yest. Let it cook up until it’s more like a stew than a sauce and so that the tomato loses its bitterness. There you go. Uno Pizza Vegetariana, por favor.

21.8.2010

Beast of a Broccoli Salad

Filed under: Alakarppi,Gluteeniton,laktoositon,Maidoton,Nuts!,paleo,Sallad,Side order — Meri @ 20.44

Love at first sight! That’s what it was when I laid my eyes on this recipe just a few brief days ago in Thee Finnish Food Blog, Pastanjauhantaa. The recipe originated from a Finnish glossy food magazine Glorian Ruoka and included a whole HALF a decilitre of sugar. A genuine paleo monkey such as myself of course arrogantly sweeps away even the thought of adding sugar in food and so I just skipped that one ingredient, whistling like Piglet. Still, the result blew me away. As well as the rest of the eaters. Oh yes, this one’s a keeper.

Indeed it’s not the best quality paleo salad there is since it includes a whole lotta mayo but you gotta get your omega 6s somewhere to balance the omega 3s from all the grass-fed beef and wild-caught salmon  😉 (or the lemon tasting bottle, to tell the truth). You are welcome to prepare your own mayo (I can has mayo!) but I just went with a store-bought this time.

[Taken by an iPhone at summer cottage – blurry conditions.]

Mayo Monster (aka broccoli salad)

  • 1 kg broccoli
  • 4 shallots or a generous bunch of spring onion/a junk of red onion/whatever onion you like
  • 2 dl (0,8 cups) cashews
  • 300 g bacon

Tear the broccoli florets in a bowl and chop the onion(s) along them. Roast cashews on a hot pan, set aside. Leave the bacon until later. Prepare the sauce.

Sauce

  • 2,5 dl (1 cup) mayonese
  • 2 Tbs raw apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mix the sauce and blend it among broccoli and onion. Let the salad sit in the fridge for about two hours. When it’s time to serve the course, bake bacon until crispy and cut it in pieces. Spread cashews and bacon bits over the salad and dig in! …it’ll be gone before you have time to say HOLY CATS!

18.8.2010

Vuohitila Tähti loistaa

Filed under: Alakarppi — Meri @ 14.14

Some cheesy news for the Finnish readers of Monkeyfood. I had an opportunity to get to taste some of the cheeses from a goat farm in Finland and I absolutely LOVED them! And as a disclaimer I have to add: I don’t recommend anyone to regularly consume dairy (other than butter or full fat cream), whether it being from a cow or a goat, but every now and then it’s an excellent way of indulging. I really, really love cheese. But only as a rare treat it’ll love me back! And it is quite common that people tolerate goat’s milk better than a cow’s.

PÄIVITYS 19.8.2010: Vuohitila Tähden tuotteita saa Helsingistä Lentävästä Lehmästä (Sini-Tähti ja joskus tuorejuusto), vanhasta kauppahallista Paalaselta, Maatilatori Eat&Joysta, K-Supermarket Mustapekasta (pääasiassa tuorejuustoa), Kuuselasta (mikä se on? O_O) löytyy Pinjaa ja tuorejuustoa ja Heinolan Heilasta voi myös kysellä.

Sain siis Vuohitila Tähden juustoja maistettavakseni kiitos minulle tärkeän lähes-sukulaisuussuhteen. Onnenapina olen! Vuohitila Tähden fetatyyppinen juusto oli mahtavaa: ei oikeastaan kuin feta, vaan jotakin fetan ja halloumin väliltä, erittäin maukas ja mukavan napakka.

sinitähti

Samoin Tähden toinen vuohenjuusto, manchego-tyyppinen Pinjajuusto, oli makuuni, samoin kuin Lihansyöjän. Miedohkon kermainen, rakenne sopivan pehmeä, ei tippaakaan kumimainen. Juusto sopi erinomaisesti fetatyyppisen kanssa yhteen.

Kolmas maistamamme oli kotijuustotyyppinen tuorejuusto, “perinteinen kutunjuusto”, mozzarellaa lähentelevä. Tuttu kotijuuston maku, mutta vuohisella vivahteella ja rakenteeltaan kiinteämpänä. Tätäkään ei voi kuin kehua.

pinja

Vielä on maistamatta ainoa vuohenmaidosta tehty sinihomejuusto Sinitähti, sillä yksin en uskalla sitä avata ja Lihansyöjä ei sinihomeeseen koske. Juusto lähteekin mökkievääksi ja kadonnee siellä parempiin suihin… Palaan kertomaan, miltä tuo aarre maistui!  Jos siis saat näitä aarteita käsiisi, suosittelen tarttumaan tilaisuuteen. Itse ajattelin tiedustella Hakaniemen hallin Lentävästä lehmästä, olisiko niitä sinne saatavilla.

Webisivujakaan tilalla ei näytä olevan, mutta tässä löytämäni esittely Vuohitila Tähdestä.

10.8.2010

Hearts of Butter

Filed under: Alakarppi,Gluteeniton,Nuts!,paleo,Vege — Meri @ 6.17

Doesn’t that sound romantic? Like a movie that sadly was never made. Luckily it’s easy to shoot this one home. I’m talking about the intelligent, articulate and witty Nora Gedgaudas‘ Nut Truffles from her book Primal Body, Primal Mind which I recommend EVERYONE to read. Working on getting it translated in Finnish as well.

Here’s the very basic recipe which you can then tune up by adding cocoa powder, seeds, coconut oil, coconut flour,  stevia, bee pollen, cocoa nibs… You know, whatever “floats your boat”. Cinnamon maybe?

hearts

Nut Butter Truffles

  • 230 g nut butter (not cashew or peanut, for example almond will do and it’s easy to make yourself out of Brazilian nuts, that’s what I did, just blend the nuts until they form a moist butter)
  • 1 cup (2,4 dl) of nuts (I used pecans and almonds)
  • 0,5 cups (1,2 dl) shredded coconut
  • 0,5 Tbs vanilla extract
  • 115 g (organic) butter
  • good quality salt

Prepare the nut butter if you’re not buying it ready made. Chop nuts in a blender until preferred chunkiness, don’t turn them into flour. Mix everything and spice it up with vanilla and some salt. At least I find Finnish organic butter to be too low in salt to make these delish. Form some sort of balls or just use a ice cube mold like I did. Spoon the mixture into the mold and refrigerate at least an hour. And action! Works as a snack, dessert or an add in at the breakfast. THANKS, Nora! For everything.

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