Custard

At our Wellington Xmas GAPS group meeting, I asked what foods people would miss at Xmas, and someone said that being dairy free, she missed custard. So here are three different custard recipes.

The first one is RUSSIAN custard, from the GAPS book. The Healthy Home Economist has the recipe HERE. This is a raw dish, made from just egg yolks and honey. It is usually used as a cream substitute on GAPS. But if you added a little vanilla, it would taste more like the custard we're used to. 

The second is a MILK custard, but using honey instead of sugar. This is only GAPS friendly in the very last stages when you can have a little unfermented dairy, as long as it is raw.

• 1 cup raw milk
• 1 cup raw cream
• 3 egg yolks
• pinch Celtic sea salt
• 1 Tbs honey
• ¾ tsp vanilla essence (or one vanilla bean)

This makes a hot, runny custard. Heat up the milk & cream to just short of boiling. Meanwhile, if you have a double boiler, beat the egg yolks and salt together in the top part. Otherwise, find a bowl that will sit on top of a pan of boiling water, and use that. Pour the hot milk & cream slowly into the egg yolks, whisking most of the time. Set on top of a pan of simmering water, and whisk till it thickens (about 10 mins). Take off the heat, whisk in the honey and vanilla essence and serve immediately with fruit crumble, pie, ice cream or fruit.

Variation 1: 

If you are using a vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds and add them to the milk and cream in step 1.

Variation 2: If you want a thick custard for something like a trifle topping:

Instead of putting the cream in with the milk, put into a small bowl and let it come to room temperature before starting the custard. Sprinkle 1 Tbs gelatin over the top of it, and carry on with the custard. After it has thickened, stir in the cream & gelatin and stir till the gelatin has dissolved. Let cool a little, pour onto the sponge & jelly layer of your trifle and refrigerate.

Variation 3: Thick custard with banana (the version pictured)

After taking off the heat and adding honey & vanilla, add one or two sliced banana, and stir. Cool a little, then refrigerate.

The third version is COCONUT custard.

This is the same as the milk custard, except that you use 1 1/2 cups of coconut cream. Look for a brand with no preservatives & other additives.

Beetroot dip

I love baby beetroot, and we got some picked fresh from my sister's garden last week. I turned them into a beetroot dip which we served with fish for dinner.

• Baby beetroot (5 of them made a dip that served 2 of us for 2 dinners)
• Cultured cream, homemade yoghurt or yoghurt "cheese" (ie after dripping out the whey). For a dairy free option, homemade mayo would probably work fine.
• A little himalayan or celtic sea salt

You can add extra flavourings, though I didn't this time. Some possibilities (choose one only!):

• Horseradish cream is a classic addition (check for non-GAPS ingredients)
• I've used PureWasabi by Coppersfolly as a horseradish substitute before
• Lemon juice, ground cumin, ground coriander seed, crushed garlic
• Or just the lemon juice and cumin

Trim the beetroot, leaving about a 1cm of stalk and tail. Wash well, but leave the skins on. Put into a pan and cover with cold water and a little sea salt. Simmer till they can be pierced with a skewer, approx 45-60 minutes, depending on size. Drain off the water and cover them with cold water, till they're cold enough to handle. Slice off the two ends, and you'll be able to slip the skins right off.

Put into food processor with a couple of tablespoons of the sour cream or yoghurt, and zizz. Add more sour cream till it comes to a good consistency, and seasonings to taste. (Sorry, I didn't measure anything). I didn't even take a photo, the one above is pinched from another site. But it's there so you can get a rough idea of what the colour and consistency will look like.

This would  make a lovely Xmas dinner starter, with a bowl of guacamole and maybe a third bowl of chicken liver pate. Make some biscotti from starch free bread, or cut up some vege sticks or chunks to go with it.

Dukkah

Ok, this probably isn't an authentic dukkah recipe. I didn't even look on the net to see what usually goes into it. I just grabbed a few things I had in the cupboard. I think these were the quantities:

• About a cup or so of nuts: tamari roasted almonds and cashews, pistachios
• About a tsp ground cumin seed
• About a tsp of curry powder

Zizz in mini food processor till it resembles bread crumbs. Keep in a jar in the cupboard, and use to spice up your sauerkraut salad.

To make it fully GAPs or WAPF, it would be better to use your own "crispy" nuts. You might then need to add a little sea salt.

Mayonnaise

I was talking to somebody about homemade mayo the other day, and that reminded me what a good GAPS dressing it is, and a great way to incorporate your olive oil. 

Mix together in food processor till well blended :

• 1 whole egg, at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 ½ Tbs lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp Dijon style mustard or 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder

With the motor running, add one drop at a time:

• ¾-1 cup extra virgin olive oil (preferably from NZ)

Once about a 1/3 of the oil has been added, you’ll be able to add the rest in a small stream. If it starts to get very thick before you add all the oil, you don’t need to use it all. 

It will keep in the fridge for about two weeks.

Variations:

Garlic mayonnaise:

Add 1-2 cloves crushed garlic instead of the mustard

Curry mayonnaise:

Add 1 Tbs curry powder. Use this to make a chicken salad with cold diced chicken, organic green grapes, fresh bean sprouts and crispy cashews. Or add your favourite salad vegetables, and try out different crispy nuts, such as walnuts or slivered almonds.