Working out how to drive this blog.

Hello everyone,

I'm just test driving some new features which I wish I'd known before, and will soon!

In the meantime, here's a photo that may or may not show up in the newsletter - Will find out very shortly.
fingers crossed
Martine x (and Leo)

RAW like sushi

a rare recipe that's looking good today:

 Really really raw sushi

Raw nori sheets, kale and macadamia rice, quick pickle and avocado filling, and dipping sauce

I've had a packet of raw nori in the cupboard for a while now - why on Earth was I so afraid to open it?

Well today I did!  If you look really closely you can see the difference - the rolls on the left have a slightly burnished golden look - they're the ordinary roasted nori - on the right it's a deeper purple/black, that's the really raw one.

I'm usually so impatient with sushi and try to stuff too much in, so the only real secret here is breathe and be gentle.

 The 'rice' is a few leaves of kale with the stems removed 1/3 cup of soaked macadamias blitzed in a hand held stick blender with the nut attachment and just a little liquid to blend it - chiffonade the kale first, and open the mixer up every now and then to help it mix together.  It may not LOOK like it's going to hold together initially, but it will. don't squoosh it.

Easy Pickles

1 Tablespoon umeboshi paste or one plum broken up, cut up 1 lebanese cucumber, slice 2 mushrooms and cut up half an avocado - add a touch of rice vinegar or just use umeboshi vinegar (cheaper than plums but boy I love them!) - let it sit for as long as you can or eat it straight away and knock the leftovers off tomorrow.

You don't even have to make this - you could just add whatever veges you have but this is a spectacular combination.

Lay the nori on a sushi mat (or use a teatowel) gently spread the 'rice' just shy of each end, but right up to the left and right corners.  Then lay the cucumber, avocado then mushroom slices in that order on top along the centre of the rice.


Then breathe, adopt a buffalo stance, take the end of the mat closest to you and flip it up and roll - y'know - it's probably best to check YouTube for 'how to roll sushi', there's a real risk I'll make this sound weird!  There's a bit of a knack to getting the bottom edge tucked in to the top bit, but it doesn't really matter.  Before closing the roll wet the top clear nori edge just to make it stick, then rest the roll on the join before cutting with a SHARP knife.

joy! it worked.

My dipping sauce is equal parts of Bragg's Aminos and lemon juice with a glob of Namida Pure Wasabi Powder - it's lovely, gentler and sweeter, and raw!

Did you know that the 'Wasabi' that you usually buy is ordinary horseradish with food colouring? Check the label, and next time get this http://www.wasabi.co.nz/.

Now don't you get fresh with me...     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWsRz3TJDEY

Extraordinary Chocolate

The Chocolate F'Easter was really great thanks to Vanessa, Anna, Cathi, Annie, Andrea, Angela and Janelle - what a fab mob you are  It was the first of what I'm sure will be MANY MORE 

RAW CHOCOLATE WORKSHOPS.

this was a sample box I put together - from left - ginger caramel crunch, goji cointreau heart, 'bounteous' coconut, apricot orange truffle with almond, 'sheep's eye' with watermelon candy  - The big one bottom left is my most excellent 'failure' so far - and leading favourite of most who've tried it - it's ginger crunch with dried banana and agave caramel.  Then there's an orange/apricot truffle again, 4 squares of minty crunch, a gianduja centre, goji heart and another crunchy caramel banana.

The Raw Chocolatiers

We started by trapping a Chocolate Monster, locating the ink sac and removing it immediately...

at low temperature of course

work it, fridge!

lucuma truffle

dipping gianduja

  Focussing, creating, experimenting, delighting - this is tasty teamwork.

Cathi and Annie                                                                                       and I promised it would get silly.
Cathi went home and made these:

GORGEOUS!

next RAW CHOCOLATE workshop coming soon...

Chocolate f'Easter

This Sunday I'll be doing a Chocolate f'Easter workshop, details below.

yep, just the thing I've been working up to.
The minted buckwheat is ready, the ginger caramel is awaiting, the watermelon candy's on its way and the chocolate, OH! the chocolate!! (of course there's more)

*Yes! I mean cacao - raw, delicious, nutrient dense, amazing, delicious, criollo, organic, powerfood of the gods, Theobroma Cacao yes!*

I really ought to make myself a Willy Wonka inspired top hat and velvet suit (later!)

So I've been experimenting with different sources of chocolate, powders, beans, nibs, sweeteners, fillings and things, and I've put together a ridiciously delicious and fun 3 hours of chocolate making.  There are only a couple of places remaining this time, but register your interest as they'll be running again.

(The Coolbellup Library has a waiting list for Ukelele lessons - I recommend getting on that one too via facebook - http://www.facebook.com/notes/cockburn-public-libraries/join-the-ukulele-revolution-not-just-yet-though/10150148488687172  oops, another digression!)

The Chocolate f'Easter on Sunday April 17th will include:

White

Medium

Dark chocolate

Superfood balls

Temper raw chocolate

Hazelnut praline to gnutella

Truffles and textured chocolates

Moulded, filled and dipped chocolates

Knockout cacao and young coconut smoothie

And a simple melt and mix raw choc for when you need it now!

 2 – 5 pm You will take home a box of beautiful hand-crafted gourmet raw  chocolates made by you and a booklet of recipes so you can do it again and again      $120.00      Small classes – Hamilton Hill

Call 0433 600 655 or email heremeraw@gmail.com to grab the last spots or register for the waiting list.

OK now I have to go and test the banana/caramel invention, and I'll let you know how it goes!

Martine  - PS I'm also on facebook as Here Me Raw / Martine Rousset  - -photos with next post.

"LIKE A COW" - say it like that,

 and stand up!

CACAO that's its real name - not the bastardised Cocoa version - that's for the Englishmen of old who couldn't speak properly while retaining their upper lips stiffened then kindly left us with a confused legacy of cocoa/coco.  It's cuckoo - and it still gets me too.  Coco is for coconut, Cacao is for chocolate (Cocoa is cooked and refined and yes it still has antioxidants and health benefits, providing you select quality) - but!

CACAO IS ALWAYS BETTER - so if I say chocolate - this is what I mean.

 Check out those  fruits growing straight off the trunk!

Cut them in half to reveal the cacao bean inside.  David Wolfe recommends growing Cacao as an indoor plant in Perth - does anyone have any viable seed?

And it's raw - heated under 43* Celsius to retain the nutrients.

There's bucket-loads of info on raw cacao online - I'm about MAKING STUFF - so go googling for info.

All right - I admit, I'm also known to be pedantic with a penchant for pronunciation,  spelling and punctuation but that's completely irrelevant here,

although tangents are fun.

SO

I have a chocolate/raw cacao workshop coming up on April 3rd

and I've been playing a lot in preparation for it

and making silly, impractical things like 

white chocolate zombie skulls with mango jam and walnut brains

and easy and delicious things like cacao mousse, berry pie, brownies, superfood balls and smoothies.

So if you're coming to the Cacao class and have novelty silicone ice trays - bring them!

we'll fill them with things like:

*goji/coconut (better than cherry ripe)

*mango jam

*activated nuts

*crunchy minted buckwheat

*any other delights that pop in between now and then - any requests?

Remember these are all gluten, dairy, cane-sugar and additive free

so you can indulge virtuously,

Naturally!

Pizza and cake - mini class

This was a mini workshop done on request

there were just a few of us and we had a great time.

One of the girls has an almond allergy so we worked around it, and made Pizza, superfood balls (I'm sorry I forgot the photos AGAIN!) and a 'German Chocolate Cake' from "Sweet Gratitude" - what a great book.

Live Pizza

I'm really happy with the base - it's nut-free, flax free and mightily tasty with an oregano/tomato sauce.

It's topped with mushroom, avocado, black olives, baby spinach, fresh basil, sliced tomato and 2 types of nut cheese - one a fermented "cheddar cheeze" - a strong booty flavoured cheese coloured one you can see - and the orange wormy topping is a red capsicum macadamia cheeze.

 (OK I confess, I LOVE pineapple on pizza, the secret's out, some have told me "that's disgusting and shameful" but so what! I have a penchant for pineapple on pizza and I'm proud of it, if that makes me a food bogan, so be it! Some oxymorons are delicious, and this is one of them - especially as it's an acidic, sweet and juicy contrast of flavour and texture, I like that).

  The photo of this  little wedge of German Chocolate Cake doesn't begin to encapsulate the experience of having it and eating it too   - On the right the lovely Cinque is holding a slice of White Chocolate and Berry Pie (because I forgot to photograph the Superfood Balls before they all disappeared!) - but look at that lovely creamy pie with oozy berries on top, mentally steal the berries and put them between the chocolate and coconut cream layers of the cake on the left and - OK you get it - it's the only improvement the German Choc Cake needs - and cut really small pieces - it's impossible to stop eating it once you've started and it's really rich!!

PS every time I say 'chocolate' - i mean 'raw cacao' - the real stuff..  .

Workshops and playtimes

It was so exciting to kick off last month with a few workshops - thank you so much to everyone who came along and made it so much fun see here's Junee enjoying making fresh pasta from Zucchini:

  "Intro to Raw" which includes juicing and smoothies,  is about making the transition to raw food easy and delicious with lots of dips, sauces, salads, snacks, zucchini pasta, apple pie and a few variations and extras.

Cauliflower 'popcorn' snack 

with thanks to Philip McCluskey, an inspiration!

I was too busy being excited about doing my first workshop to get many pictures,

but here it's all being eaten!

and what a fantastic mess we made,

HOORAY!