Going bananas...

While visiting my friends in Cork I went on a cooking spree and made these mini Banana muffins, a recipe I got from my good friend SL.
This recipe is easily modified into a low gluten one using spelt flour.


SL's Banana Muffins
Ingredients
4 Ripe bananas
Half a Cup / 100 gr Sugar
1 stick / 113 gr / 4 oz Unsalted Butter
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1.5 cup / approx. 230 gr unbleached white flour - when using spelt flour, add an extra in 3 Tbs of spelt flour
A handful of Chopped Walnuts

Method
Melt the butter.
Mash the bananas with the sugar.
Lightly whisk butter, egg & milk and add in the mashed bananas.
Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and mix lightly until just combined - it may look lumpy but it's ok.
Add in the walnuts.
Pour in normal size muffin pans or mini muffins pans and bake in pre-heated oven at 190˚C (374 F) for 15-20 mins (depending on your oven the mini muffins may take a little less time).
These freeze very well as soon as they are cool enough.

Rhubarb crumble version 2

My European tour is keeping me very busy and away from the computer, which I guess is a good thing, but I don't have time to make any post, so before this month ends I thought I had to publish at least one post.
Yesterday I made for my friends in Switzerland the following version of

Rhubarb and Strawberry crumble
For 6 people
Ingredients
6 rhubarb stick
6 strawberries
200 gr almond powder
100 gr spelt flour
140 gr sugar
100 gr butter
1 TBSP lemon juice (approx.)

Method
Peel and dice the rhubarb, clean and dice the strawberries, place all in an oven proof dish or in individual ramekins.
Mix by hand almond powder, spelt flour, sugar, butter and lemon juice and place the mix on top of the fruits.
Place in pre-heated oven at 190 C for 25 mn or so
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream (or alone).

Low Gluten dinner

Last night we hosted a gluten free dinner since one of our friend is coeliac.
Being French we had to have cheese before dessert, and one can not have cheese without bread, so I started by making low gluten bread of my own inspiration, a citrus cake which I adapted in order to be gluten free and rabbit with mustard.


Low Gluten bread/Pain avec peu de gluten
Ingredients

450 cc luke warm water
3 tsp dry yeast
1 big teaspoon honey
100 gr buckwheat flour
350 gr white spelt flour
100 gr wholemeal spelt flour
50 gr corn flour (not corn startch)
This makes a total of 600 gr of flours
1 teaspoon salt

Method
Mix water, honey and yeast and let it rest for 10 mn.
Prepare your flours in a mixing bowl (I recommend the use of a standup mixer as this dough is very sticky and liquidy) and add the salt.
After 10mn or so the liquid should resemble a chemistry project and start bubbling away and doubling in volume, stir and pour over the flours and knead on speed 1 for 5 mn till all water has been absorbed, then put on speed 2 for another 10 mn.
Cover the bowl and leave to rest at room temperature (around 20-22 C/68-71.6 F) for aprox. 1 hour
After that time punch the dough down and knead for 1mn, cover and let it rest for a further 30mn.
After that time punch the dough down and knead for 1 mn, then pour it into a parchment paper lined baking tin 29 cm (11.5 inches) long, cover and let it rise for 20mn.
Turn on the oven to 205 C/400 F and place a small pan of water.
Bake for 35 to 45 mn (depending on oven) till bread sounds hollow when tapped.
Let it cool for 15 or 20 mn.
It's a very dense and dark bread, since it is also very moist it will not keep more than 4 days (it will start molding after that).
It freezes very well.


Low Gluten steamed Citrus cake/Gâteau au citron cuit à la vapeur
(adapted from Nigela Lawson's Steamed syrup sponge from the book "How to be a domestic goddess")
About this cake I loved the idea of steaming it, I had never tried before and though it could be fun, also if one has no oven it's a great recipe.
I am totally against corn syrup so I had to find an alternative for the syrup and used a mix of home made bitter orange marmalade, lemon juice and honey. If I was to do it again I might use a little less bitter orange marmalade and more honey to get a more lemony taste as the bitter orange marmalade can be overpowering.

Ingredients
for the cake
2.5 tsp baking powder
84 gr / 3/4 cup soft unsalted butter
55 gr spelt flour
55 gr corn flour
25 gr almond powder (grinded blanched almonds)
120 gr sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 lemon juice + zest
3 TBSP milk
1/2 tsp lemon powder (optional)

for the syrup
1/2 cup sevilla (bitter) orange mamalade
2 TBSP honey
1/2 lemon juice

Method
In her recipe Nigela Lawson uses a plastic pudding basin, I used a well buttered springform (24 cm/9") tighly covered with tin foil (it gives a fairly flat and dense -yet light- cake due to the lack of gluten).
Prepare the syrup first by mixing all ingredients together, let it sit till you have the cake mixture ready.
For the cake mixture pour all ingredients in the stand up mixer bowl and mix well using the wisk head.
Pour syrup in bottom of springform and pour the cake mixture over it. Seal with tin foil and place in steam cooker on top of steaming tray, I used a Le Creuset cast iron round oven dish (which prevents evaporation), water should be boiling when you place your springform on top of the tray.
Let the water boil and bake covered for 2 hours.

When it's cooked remove, let rest only for a couple of minutes (otherwise your syrup will start solidifying) , then turn upside down on a serving dish with enough space for the syrup to flow on the sides.
Serve cold with cointreau flavoured whipped cream.


Rabbit with mustard/Lapin à la moutarde
I got this recipe from my Mom
Ingredients For 6 people
1 rabbit 3.7 pounds / 1.6 kg
2 shallots
2 big garlic cloves
Thyme, salt, pepper
Mustard
White wine

Method
3 hours before cooking time
Cut rabbit in 12 pieces or less if you want bigger pieces
Baste the rabbit pieces with french Dijon mustard (I used Maille)
Let it rest in a cool place but not in the fridge for 3 hours.

2 hours before serving peel and chop the shallots and garlic, soften in frying pan on low heat (do not brown), add thyme, when softened reserve.
Brown each pieces of rabbit in frying pan then place in Le Creuset round oven dish, cover with the shallots, garlic and thyme, deglaze frying pan with white wine (don't be shy) and pour over the rabbit, if not enough wine pour some water till it comes almost to level with the top of the rabbit.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and let it simmer for 1h30mn.
At the moment of serving if your sauce is too liquidy you can reduce it by boiling it or mix a couple of teaspoons of corn startch in little cold water and let it boil for 5mn.
Serve with fingerlings and green beans, or rice or fresh pasta.

Bon appétit!