Week 10: Raw - Chocolate Banana Coconut Tartlets

Hmm... falling behind with this thing, which is not entirely unexpected considering my ability to actually complete things I start ;) This weeks effort was inspired by a friend who has been making an effort to eat raw vegan as much as possible over recent months, and has introduced me to a great brand of dried figs and brought some amazing dates around to dinner which I promptly forgot about then found, untouched, in the fridge the next morning. Rather than just eat all the dates in one sitting I decided to use them as a raw pie crust, but by the time I had eaten most of the box I'd scaled my plan down to tarlets. These are great from the fridge, however if you throw them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before eating them both the filling and crust solidify and make for a much more convincing pie experience.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Tartlets

• 5 Dates
• 3 Dried Figs
• 2 Tbsp Ground Cacao Nibs
• 1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Cup Mashed Banana
• 1 Tbsp Ground Chia Seeds (optional, but helps the filling set)

Crust

1. Process 3 dates, figs, 1 tbsp cacao nibs, shredded coconut (reserve a small amount to top the tarlets) and salt until combined. The mixture will start out looking quite white from the coconut but will turn brown as the figs and dates are broken down.
2. Line four small tartish containers with greaseproof paper. I use small glass bowls, about 2.5" in diameter, that I normally use to keep measured spices in while preparing food.
3. Press a quarter of the crust mixture into each bowl and place them in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Process 2 dates, 1 tbsp cacao nibs, mashed banana and chia seeds until combined.
2. Put a quarter of the mixture into each crust, top with a little more coconut, and chill in the fridge until 20-30 minutes before you want to eat them, and which point put them in the freezer so they harden up slightly.

Week 9: Your Cultural Background - Mince on Toast, Tomato Soup and Mother Mary's Apple Rolls

Rather than the taste of my cultural background, which would probably taste like colonisation and oppression of pre-european settlers, I've gone for food I remember eating as a child that I haven't had in a long time. The tomato soup and mother mary's apple rolls recipes were adapted from hand written recipes in my mother's recipe binder, which I remember her cooking out of as I started to learn to cook around 25 years ago. The minced 'beef' on toast is a traditional New Zealand dish (and according to Google, often served out of US Navy and Marine Corps kitchens among plenty of other locales).

Mince on Toast

• 1 Onion
• 1 Celery Stalk
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Small Parsnip
• 1 1/2 Cups Fine TVP
• 2 Cups 'Beef' Stock
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 Tbsp Braggs Seasoning Sauce or Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
• 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Thyme
• 2 Tbsp Fine Chopped Fresh Parsley
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat; add onion, celery, carrot and parsnip and cook for about five minutes, until the onion softens.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, other than parsley, salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced considerably. You can add 1 tsp corn flour mixed in 1/4 cup of hot water to help thicken if it is not reducing to a gravy-like consistency.
3. Add parsley, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Toast some sourdough bread and rub with a half clove of garlic; serve topped with mince.

This tomato soup is an enduring memory of my childhood and, paired with freshly baked bread, was a standard lunch after my brother and I had played games of soccer on a wet winter's Saturday. My grandparents used to preserve a lot of fruit and veges, managing to stuff a store cupboard by their backdoor with enough food to feed a family for months, and this tomato soup was my favourite from the selection we would bring back from holidays to their house. The original recipe, which yields 3-4 times as much as the recipe below, is available here.

Tomato Soup

• 2 Kg Tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 4 Small Onions, diced
• 1/2 Heart Celery, diced
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
• 10 Cloves (in bag)
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Boil all ingredients for about 30 minutes, until all ingredients are soft.
2. Allow to cool, remove bag of cloves, then put through a food mill/mouli, discarding leftover solids.
3. Bring back to a boil, add sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Season with Salt and Pepper, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and more fresh parsley.

Mother Mary's Apple Rolls were my favourite dessert as a child and it always seemed like such an effort to make when watching my mother, but in reality there's not that much to it. It's basically apple sections wrapped in scone dough baked in butterscotch sauce. I asked my mother who Mother Mary was, but she wasn't sure and couldn't remember where she got the recipe from. Whoever she was, thanks for the tasty dessert! The original recipe is available here.

Mother Mary's Apple Rolls

Butterscotch Sauce

• 55g Spread with a neutral flavour, such as a sunflower or canola based spread
• 110g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
• 110ml Soy Milk
• 140ml Water
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Scone Mix

• 2 Cups Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Soy Milk
• 1/4 Cup Oil (Canola or Grapeseed are good)

• 4 Apples, Cored, Peeled and Quartered

1. Make up scone mix by combining ingredients in scone mix list.
2. Roll out scone mixture thinly on a floured board, until about 3mm thick.
3. Cut scone dough into squares about 10cm square, and wrap each apple quarter in a square of dough before pressing into a pie dish.
4. Combine all ingredients for butterscotch sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil then take off the heat.
5. Pour butterscotch sauce over apple rolls.
6. Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes at 200C/400F. The water should be absorbed and the rolls brown.
7. Serve with a non-dairy ice cream.

When I made this I was convinced there was too much liquid, but you can see from the photos below that the liquid amount was just right.