Almond Butter

Nathalie / 20 Feb 2020

Our house is never without homemade almond butter - shop bought just not the same. We use it on GF breads and pancakes, in brownies for a protein kick, mashed with bananan for pudding (little ones) and we dunk oatcakes, apple wedges, dates in it for a snack. Much higher in protein than the peanut, so a great alternative to peanut butter.

Makes 1kg

1kg raw almonds (organic)

large pinch of himalayan salt

High powered blender/food processor

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius. I don’t increase the temperature beyond this to avoid burning the almonds and turning the oils rancid. Spread the almonds out over a tray lined with baking paper and roast in the oven until they turn a golden colour. You don’t want to roast for too long as they will produce a butter which is too dark in colour and this can give a bitter taste - burnt! At the same time, you want to roast them long enough to ensure the butter making process is as easy as possible, as the roasting releases the lovely oils. I normally roast for around 30 mins and turn the nuts regularly to ensure an even colour.

Transfer the almonds to a high powered blender or food processor - I use a vitamix machine, add a pinch of salt. For the vitamix, you will need to use the plunger for making the butter. Start at variable 1 and increase to variable 10, using the tamper to push the almonds down into the blades. I like my butter runny and oily in appearance as oppose to thick and buttery so I blend until I get the right consistency.

Transfer to a glass jar or container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months (although I tend to keep mine for around a month).

Tip: I buy all my nuts online in bulk for the best price: buywholefoodsonline

Fermented Almond Yogurt

Nathalie / 10th April 2020

makes 2.5 cups, around 4 servings

1 cup of raw almonds (to make 2 1/4 cups

almond milk)
2 1/4 cups of filtered water

1 Probiotic (20-50 billion) capsule

1 tsp unflavoured grass fed gelatine/collagen

1 tbsp raw honey
Optional: 1tsp pectin
(if having difficulties, see note below)

First make the almond milk - see my dairy free

recipes

Once you have the almond milk, place a ¼ cup of

the milk into a small bowl and sprinkle with the

gelatine/collagen; leave to bloom. Be very careful to

measure the collagen out precisely. Too little makes

the mixture running and too much, like jelly!

Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan on medium

heat until around 150 F.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the collagen

en/milk mixture and the raw honey. Allow the milk

to cool to around 110 F and whisk in the opened

probiotic capsule. Place in a sterilised glass jar and

cover with a mesh sieve, secured with a band.

Dehydrate on 120 F for 8 hours then refrigerate overnight. Do not be tempted to stir the yogurt before refrigerating. The yogurt needs to set in the fridge. Once set, whisk with a spoon to a smooth consistency. I keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you do not have a dehydrator, you can use a slow cooker. Switch the slow cooker on high for 2 hours before fermenting the yogurt. Switch the slow cooker off when you add the almond yogurt container. Ferment for 12 hours and then refrigerate.

Tips: If the yogurt has solidified and looks more like a jelly, it is more than likely that you added too much collagen/gelatine. If this happens, don’t worry, just add it to a blender to give it a more smooth consistency. If the yogurt is too runny after several attempts, try adding 1 tsp pectin to the almond milk before you heat it (combine it in a food processor).

For the collagen I use Great Lakes which is grass fed.
http://greatlakesgelatin.com/storefront/

Dairy free Mylks

Nathalie / 3rd March 2019

Why make your own dairy-free mylks when you can buy them? The simple answer is, tins and cartons almost always contain additives and fillers. Quite often these additives can be hidden sources of gluten.

Below describes the process needed to make three types of dairy free mylks that I use regularly in cooking.

Almonds should be soaked 12 hours overnight piror to making, cashews need less time, around 4 hours.

Almond Mylk

It is very easy to make Almond Mylk! Simply add 1 cup of soaked almonds to 2 and a 1/2 cups of filtered water and blend until smooth. Use a nut milk bag to sieve out the pulp and you will have a lovely creamy milk remaining. Add a pinch of sea salt or Himalayan salt, a pitted mejadool date and a tsp of vanilla extract (optional) and blend again.

Coconut Mylk

You can use shredded coconut to make coconut mylk but I find it is less time consuming to make coconut mylk from coconut cream or butter. My favourite brand is by Tropical Traditions as it tastes incredibly fresh in comparison to other brands. I have a lovely friend who gave me a jar from the states and after tasting this brand I would highly recommend it.

I dissolve 50g of coconut cream/butter in 100ml of warm water. This makes a similar consistency and thickness as tinned coconut mylk. You can make the mylk lighter if you wish by adding double the liquid. Once dissolved add the mixture to a vitamix or high speed blender and blend until smooth. If your blender is not equipped at making the milk very smooth you might wish to strain the mixture using a nut milk bag. I find with the vitamix I don’t have to strain the mylk.

If you prefer to use shredded coconut to make coconut mylk, simply soak 1 cup of shredded coconut for 2 hours in hot filtered water. Blend until smooth and sieve out the pulp using a nut milk bag.

Cashew Mylk/Cream

Cashew mylk is my favourite as it is incredibly creamy. You also don’t need to strain the pulp as the cashews are fatty by nature and they don’t have any pulp remaining.

To make the cashew mylk, add 1 cup of soaked cashews to 4 cups of water for skimmed consistency, 3
cups of water for semi-skimmed consistency, 2 cups for whole consistency or 1 cup for cashew cream. I flavour with 1 tsp of vanilla extract and a pitted mejaool date during
the blending.

Tips:

Dairy free mylks in the fridge for up to 3 days. Keep the pulp and use it for other recipes if you don’t wish to throw it away.

I use the universal nut milk bag available on
Amazon which is very durable.

I find a blend of all three mylks is a great alternative for cows milk.

Gluten free wraps

Nathalie / 26th April 2020

I cook these wraps in batches for easy lunches and quick dinners. These freeze really well.

Makes around 6-8 wraps (depending on thickness)

1/4 cup gluten free Doves flour

1/2 cup Tapioca flour

3 tsp coconut flour (use extra flour in place of if you prefer)

6 medium eggs

3 melted tsp coconut oil

3 tbsp water

1/2 tsp Himalayan or sea salt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process for around 1 minute (I use a vitamix). You might need to scrape down the flour so that you fully combine it.

Heat a medium sized non stick sauce pan over a medium/high heat and coat well with coconut oil.

When the pan is hot, coat the pan with a very thin coating of the mixture. Leave it for around 1 minute as you would when cooking pancakes and when able peel it away from the pan, flip it and cook on the other side for around 1 minute.

Continue to cook the wraps until all the mixture is used up. You may need to add a little more coconut oil to the pan to coat it in between wraps and you may also need to process the mixture in the vitamix so that the flour does not sit at the bottoms. Keep whizzing it around!

Some ways to enjoy the wraps;

Homous and falafal wraps

Enchiladas, burritos or fajita wraps

Scrambled eggs with avocado

Any sandwich wrap mixture such as chicken and pesto or turkey and cheese

As a replacement for lasagna sheets

Sweet potato savoury pancakes

Nathalie / 11 March 2020

Makes 6 medium sized pancakes

1 cup mashed sweet potato puree

100ml coconut milk

2 eggs

100g GF self raising flour

1 tsp GF baking powder

1tsp himalayan salt

1 tsp coconut oil (frying)

Pierce the sweet potato needed with a knife and wrap in tin foil. Place in a 200 dc oven for 45-60mins, until the potato is cooked. Scoop out the flesh and add to a blender the milk, eggs and sweet potato and process. Place into a bowl and add the dry ingredients and combine well. You want a runny consistency that will bake fluffy small American style pancakes rather than traditional pancakes.

Heat a pancake skillet or pan with the coconut oil over a medium/high heat. Once the pan and oil is hot, turn down the heat to medium and drop around 1/2 cup of the mixture onto the pan. Don't be tempted to flip until the bubbles are rising in the pancake, around 2-3 minutes. These pancakes are best cooked on a medium/low heat. Flip over and cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side until fully cooked.

NATHALIE GUDGEON Functional Nutrition + Nutrigenetics