Marta and Brock share a new recipe inspired by celebrity chef Tal Ronnen. This alternative to cheese takes a bit of patience to make but is well worth the wait! It’s healthy, creamy, and organic!

If you’re a Brussels sprouts lover, then this recipe is a must-try.  A simple, elegant, delicious side dish.

If you’re a Brussels sprouts hater…sorry, it’s a hopeless cause and there’s no converting you.  Why?  It’s genetic.  Yes, there’s actually a gene that explains your repulsion to all things cabbage.  Read on.

In 2003 scientists located the exact gene responsible for this hatred toward Brussels sprouts.  They decided to name it the “TAS2R38 gene” (they could have done better than that, surely.)   It’s located on the 7th chromosome, has 1,143 bases, and it performs the role of coding for the PTC taste receptor.  (All of this just further reinforces why I pursued an education as far away from math and chemistry as possible – although I did have to take some nasty statistics in grad school.  Awful, awful stuff.  Awful.  But I’ve since recovered).  So what on earth does all of that mean for non-geeks?  It means this:  There is a chemical called PTC (phenylthiocarbamide) that isn’t common in the human diet but is similar to chemicals found in the brassica family (cabbages and Brussels sprouts).  If you happen to be the lucky/unlucky (I’ll let you determine which) possessor of the TAS2R38 gene, this gene produces a protein that interlocks with PTC and creates a strong, unpleasant taste sensation of bitterness.

Nope, there’s nothing you can do about it.  You will forever hate Brussels sprouts unless you pay a ton of money to undergo hypnosis, which may not work anyway.

And if there are any kids or teenagers reading this (kudos for following a cook-from-scratch food blog!), you now have a slam-dunk excuse to give your mom or dad for not eating your sprouts.  You’re welcome.

And now, for those of you who weren’t born with the TAS2R38 gene (my hand’s up), let’s get started!

Want to break free from grandma’s marshmallow yam casserole? This Hawaiian Style recipe uses macadamia nuts and toasted coconut to add a little island flair to your sweet potatoes and brings the flavors of Hawaii to you dinner table on Thanksgiving.  This recipe is also dairy-free and easy to make.

Ingredients:

4-6 yams
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c coconut milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
½ c brown sugar

Topping:

¼ c coconut oil
3 Tbls all-purpose flour
¾ c tightly packed brown sugar
½ c chopped macadamia nuts
½ c unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
2.) Peel, then bake or steam the yams until soft. Mash in a large bowl and allow to cool.
3.) Add salt, coconut milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar and stir into the yams. 4.)Transfer to the baking dish.
5.) In a medium bowl, mix coconut oil, flour, brown sugar, macadamia nuts and shredded coconut. Sprinkle over the yam mixture.
6.)Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Carob powder is commonly used as a substitute for cocoa powder. The powder is derived from grinding up the pods of carob trees.  I know it sounds strange, but if you haven’t used carob powder before, your life is about to change.  Why will it change your life? Because carob powder is sugar and gluten free!  Now you can have chocolate tasting treats, without any of the negative components.

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews
• 4 tablespoons carob-powder
• 1/2 cup coconut flower
• 2 teaspoons pine nuts
• 2 teaspoons xylitol (can be excluded)
• 1/4 cup water (or orange juice)
• 7 oz. dates

Preparation

1. Grind all the nuts using a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients into the processor and mix until a dough has formed.

2. Remove the dough and start to roll them into ball shapes. Feel free to roll the balls in any leftover (or extra) carob powder, coconut flour and ground nuts.

3. Store them between 2 cookie sheets in a snack tin of your choice. Refrigerate them and they can last for two weeks as well as letting the chill enhance the flavor.

Here is a yummy gluten free alternative to traditional Thanksgiving stuffing.  Stuffing typically contains bread, a major no no for people who are gluten sensitive.

Not only that, this stuffing is also made from healthier ingredients, and even has a few things from the alkaline side of the alkaline diet chart.

You can modify this recipe any way you want to suite your dietary needs and taste buds.  Try it out!

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes, 2 medium or 1 large
• 1 onion, chopped
• 10 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped celery (very alkalizing)
• Thyme, rosemary and sage
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup organic chicken broth
• 1 lb chicken sausage
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup cranberries

Cooking Instructions

Set oven to 375, roast sliced sweet potatoes for 20-30 min, until nicely browned. In a medium low skillet, with a tad of olive oil, cook onion until caramelized. Simmer mushrooms in a separate pan.

Then mix mushrooms, eggs, walnuts , herbs, chicken broth, apple cider vinegar and cranberries.

Remove the sausage from the casing and cook in a pan on the stove top. Add the celery to the pan with the onions, near the end of cooking, so they don’t overcook.

Mix in the celery, onions and chicken sausage and mix it all together.

Finally, place it in as pie pan, in the oven for 10 minutes, or until all the the liquid has cooked away.

I first encountered these treats as a little girl, when my parents always stopped by the local Chinese bakeries in Pearl City and later in Seattle … I was fortunate to grow up appreciating the myriad of taste experiences eating dim sum, or tea-lunch bites of yummy-ness.   Nowadays, I consider myself a transplanted Northern Californian up here in Washington State.  I spent the better part of 30 years hanging in the Oakland and San Francisco Chinatown areas of the San Francisco Bay Area.  There is one treat at the Chinese bakery that is right up there with the perfect croissant found in any North Beach bakery:  Dan-Tat, or Hong-Kong style egg custard tarts.  Arguably, my favorite Chinese pastry, next to Bok Tong Go, or steamed rice pudding cakes.  Period.  And the best part is that today, I can make them at home.

Dan-Tat can be found in Hong Kong, Macau, and other parts of China.  The Hong Kong and Macau versions differ slightly.  Macau’s version was brought over by Portuguese colonizers, and they have more of a scorched, caramelized exterior.  Dan-Tat eventually made its way to Hong Kong, where it was influenced by British custard tarts, which are a bit more glassy and smooth.

Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of colonial expansion.

You can buy them at Chinese bakeries, where you might be lucky enough to get a warm one.  (Easy for me to do when I worked in the SF Financial District, just below Chinatown.)  Don’t be the tourist when you’re visiting cities that have established Chinatowns … like Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Glendale/Los Angeles.  If you want hot, fresh Dan-Tat, then go early in the morning when the bakeries just open and scoop up an entire pink box full … your co-workers will endear themselves to you for it.

But we don’t all have restaurants within reasonable traveling distance that offer good quality Dan-Tat, so it’s time to learn to make them from scratch like the best of ‘em.  So gather round, padawans – a whole lot of awesome is about to come your way.

Ingredients

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add the butter and break it up roughly with your fingers, making sure to keep visible little chunks of butter in the dough. Add 2 tablespoons of cold water and bring the dough together. Add a tiny bit more water if necessary, but not too much. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board, knead gently, and form into a neat rectangle. Roll the dough away from you (not back and forth), forming a 20 x 50cm rectangle (about 8×20 inches). Try to keep the edges even, and don’t overwork the butter streaks. Flecks of butter should still be visible in the dough.

Fold the top third of the dough down to the center, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (left or right) and roll out again to three times the length. Fold the same way as before, cover, and chill for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, make the filling. Dissolve 1/2 cup sugar into the cup of hot water, and allow to cool to room temperature. Whisk eggs and evaporated milk together and then thoroughly whisk in the sugar water and vanilla. Strain through a very fine mesh strainer–this step is extremely important to getting a smooth, glassy egg tart.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C and position a rack in the lower third of your oven. Roll out the dough and cut circles to fit your tins (you can also use a shallow muffin pan). Press the dough into the tins and use a ladle to fill each tart shell until just reaching the edges of the outside crust. Once filled, immediately (but very carefully) transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C and bake another 10-12 minutes, until filling is just set (if a toothpick can stand up in it, it’s done). If you see the shells start to puff up a bit, crack open the oven a little, and they should settle back down.

You can let the tarts cool for a couple minutes and enjoy them while they’re still hot.

Fully Raw Pumpkin Pie Brownies!  If you love pumpkin pie, you’ll love this twist on this delicious dessert!

ingredients:

1/2 cup butter – chopped
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips –
3/4 cup sugar –
1/2 cup brown sugar –
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract –
2 teaspoons red food coloring –
3 eggs –
1 1/2 cup flour –
1/4 teaspoon salt –
1/2 cup white chocolate – chopped, plus garnish

instructions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees. line a 9×9 inch baking pan with foil so the edges hang over the side. grease or spray lightly with cooking spray.

microwave the butter and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 seconds intervals, until just melted. remove from microwave and stir until melted. allow to cool for about 5 minutes. blend in the sugars, vanilla, red food color and eggs on at a time. dust in the flour and salt, mixing until just combined. fold in the white chocolate chips. spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading into an even layer.

bake until set, about 40 – 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. remove from oven and let cool. using the aluminum foil handles hanging over the side, gently lift the brownies out of the pan. cut into squares and garnish with white chocolate curls.

This savory is made with a polenta crust for a delicious variation on classic quiche.  Click above for the recipe.

This creamy, cheesy artichoke spinach pasta is guaranteed to become a family favorite!   Are you ready to add another favorite to your Vegetarian menu?

A delightfully graceful, delicious, yet simple and easy to make lavender cake. This cake is fit for the most elegant of tea rooms!   Check this recipe out!