Another DIY hair pomade

 

1/3 oz by weight beeswax (or 2 tsp melted)
4 Tbsp fractionated coconut oil
4 Tbsp light kaolin clay
several drops of essential oil (rosemary, lavender, ylang ylang, or your favorites)

In a double boiler on medium-low heat, melt beeswax.  Add oil and clay; stir to combine.  Remove from heat, add essential oils, and whip while cooling.  

pickled red onion

1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced

Whisk all ingredients together excerpt red onion.  Add red onion and refrigerate for at least one hour, ideally overnight.

Falafel is surprisingly easy

1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or quick soak), drained and rinsed
3 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Heat about 1/2 inch safflower or sunflower oil on medium heat in an enameled cast iron pan.

Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor.  Pulse for about 30 seconds.  Add the herbs, paprika, garlic, onion, jalapeño and salt.  Process, scraping down the bowl as needed, until it's a smooth paste, about 2 minutes, mixing in the dissolved baking soda just before frying.

 
Form about 2 tablespoons of mixture into balls, slightly flatten, and drop into the hot oil in batches (however many comfortably fit).  Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute, flip and cook another minute, until golden brown. Transfer to a towel-lined plate to drain.

Makes 12 small patties, 3-4 servings.

Serve with tahini sauce, thin sliced red onion, kalamata olives, chopped cucumber and tomato with lemon and sea salt, on homemade pita. 

Based on a recipe from the Food Network with input from my Israeli mother-from-another-brother (and sister).

sticky toffee pudding

For the cakes:
112 g medjool dates, pitted and diced
87 g boiling water or other liquid
½ tsp vanilla
109 g flour, plus extra for greasing
¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
42 g salted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
70 g brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
1 tsp molasses
2 tsp golden syrup
52 g milk

In a small bowl, pour hot liquid over diced dates.  Let cool for 30 minutes, then mash with fork and add vanilla.

Butter and flour 8 cupcake tins.  Heat convection oven to 350.

In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and powder together. In separate bowl, beat egg.

In mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg a little at a time, beating well between additions.  Beat in molasses and syrup.  Gently fold in one-third of the flour mix, then half the milk, repeating until all the flour and milk are just incorporated.  Stir the soaked dates and liquid.  Spoon batter evenly between the 8 tins and bake for 14 minutes...

For the sauce:
187 g brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
25 g butter, cut into pieces
116 g heavy cream
½ tsp molasses
1 tsp golden syrup

Heat sugar and butter in a medium saucepan with half the cream.  Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved.  Stir in molasses and syrup, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the cream.

Remove the puddings from the oven.  Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out.

Serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce.  To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes.  Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them.  Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).  When ready to serve, heat oven to 350.  Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling.  Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Based on Angela Nilsen's recipe

Caramelized onion dip

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 T olive oil

½ t salt

3 sprigs thyme

½ t granulated garlic

a little less than ½ t white pepper

½ t Worcestershire sauce

2 cups sour cream

In large pan on medium-low heat, caramelize onion in oil with salt, adding thyme about half-way through the process. Let cool.

Mix all ingredients together at least a day before serving

English brown sauce

1/8 red onion, chopped

1 smallish apple, peeled and chopped

2 oz prunes

3 caramelized garlic cloves

a bit of apple juice (or water or other liquid) to cover to stew above ingredients on low in a small sauce pan, covered, until soft. 

Blend up with:

3 fl oz vinegar

¾ tsp Worcestershire

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

pinch cayenne

1 tsp salt

6 Tbsp sugar

makes 1 1/2 cups

Candied Ginger Scones

This recipe is based on The Great British Bake Off, my favorite show.  I love working with the precise metric measurements. I make these for holidays of the Wheel of the Year, served with whatever my latest jam is.

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

120 grams of whole wheat pastry flour 

120ish grams of spelt flour

50 grams evaporated cane sugar
50 grams butter, chilled and diced
1 backyard chicken egg
97 grams buttermilk, (or milk with 2 tablespoons of yogurt) plus more (or other milk) for brushing

115 grams crystallized ginger, rough chopped

1/2 tablespoon sugar-in-the-raw or other sugar with large crystals

Preheat the convection oven to 392°F (425°F in a conventional oven).  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a scale, tare a medium mixing bowl and add salt, baking powder, and whole wheat pastry four.  Add spelt flour to reach 250 grams total.  Add sugar and mix until well combined. Add the pieces of butter to the bowl and toss them in the flour just to separate and coat them. Rub the butter into the flour using the tips of your fingers, lifting your hands up above the rim of the bowl so the crumbs and flakes of the mixture fall through your fingers back into the bowl. Rub until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.

In a measuring cup, beat the egg with the buttermilk. Pour into the crumb mixture and lightly work with hands (adding ginger towards the end) just until it forms a soft, shaggy dough (don’t overwork).

Press the dough into a disc, picking up any extra floury bits, about 3cm thick. Cut the disc into 8 wedges.  Gently move scones on the baking sheet so there is space between them.

Brush them with milk, sprinkle with sugar-in-the-raw, and bake for about 12 minutes, or until a rich golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Eat warm from the oven with jam and butter, or better yet, clotted cream.

For mini scones: gently separate each of the 8 wedges in half and shape into 16 rounds.  Bake for about 10 minutes.