Cung-Fe Rolls - Cumin and Fennel Rolls

I'm on a roll! After more and more successful experiments with bean-based biscuits (more recipes and updates on the current recipes will be online soon), I thought it's time to expand to bean-based savoury baking. This was my first experiment with bean-based rolls, and I was quite happy with the results the first time round. The rolls stay a bit moist inside but I don't think that you can really expect anything else with these ingredients. Sorry for the afwul picture; I still haven't replaced my broken camera.

If you're not a big fan of cumin and/or fennel, just try leaving it out or replacing it with some other spice.

CUNG-FE ROLLS

3 dl cooked white beans (about 1.5 dl unsoaked beans)
1 dl soaked millet grains (about 0.5 dl  unsoaked millet grains)
1.5 dl blended steamed courgette
5 tablespoons ground flax seeds
0.5 tablespoon cumin seeds
0.5 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder

0. Soak the beans and the millet grains overnight.

1. Drain the millet grains well. Do not cook them.

2. Cook the beans until soft and drain them well.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line a baking tray with baking paper.
4. Wash a largish courgette, cut it in small pieces, steam until soft and blend until smooth.
5. Mix 1.5 dl of blended courgette, the ground flax seeds, the cumin seeds, the fennel seeds, the salt and the lemon juice, and let the mixture stand for a while.

6. Blend the beans, the millet grains and the wet mixture until smooth.
7. Add the baking powder and fold.
8. Use a tablespoon and a teaspoon to form eight round rolls: both spoons to get the batter onto the lined baking tray, and the teaspoon dipped in water to shape the rolls.

9. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the rolls start browning. Turn the baking tray around halfway through. If you don't bake the rolls long enough, they will stay sticky inside. This also means that the rolls will and should get nice and crusty on the outside. You can use two different ways to test if the rolls are ready (it's best to use both, just to be sure): 1) stick a toothpick in the middle of a roll; if it comes out clean, the roll is ready 2) knock the bottom of a roll with your finger; if the sound is hollow, the roll is ready. If you keep the rolls under a tea towel after they have cooled down, the crusty outside will get softer.

10. Place the rolls on a cooling rack, and let them cool down.

11. Enjoy.

Strawfenny - Strawberry Fennel Salad

I love combining fennel with fruit. This time, I combined it with strawberries and apple for this fruity, refreshing salad. Do buy the strawberries and apple organic if you can; both strawberries and apples always make it to dirty dozen list of foods with the highest amounts of pesticide residue (http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods#fbIndex1).


STRAWFENNY


1 small fennel bulb OR half of a large bulb 
15 strawberries 
1 small, sweet apple
large handful of unshelled hazelnuts 
extra virgin olive oil 
freshly squeezed lemon juice 
sea salt 
chilli powder 


1. Mix some freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a pinch of chilli powder, and let the salad sauce stand while you are preparing the salad. 
2. Wash and trim the fennel bulb, cut it in half and slice it as thinly as you can. 
3. Wash the apple and cut it into small pieces. 
4. Wash and trim the strawberries, and cut them in half. 
5. Shell the hazelnuts and cut them in half (unless they are very small). 
6. Mix the fennel, the strawberries, the apple and the hazelnuts well, and serve with the salad sauce. 


Annika

Foeniculum Orangulum - Italian Fennel Salad

I found some organic Sicilian oranges and walnuts at the market today, so decided to make this classic Italian salad (Yeah, I know... Yet another salad with oranges... I just can't get enough of them at the moment!).





FOENICULUM ORANGULUM

1 large fennel
1.5 oranges
10 whole walnuts (or 20 halves)
extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Wash the fennel and slice it (from bottom up, until you reach the green part) as thinly as you possibly can.

2. Peel the oranges and cut them in small pieces.

3. Crack the walnut shells open, take out the walnuts and cut them in small pieces.

4. Put the fennel, the oranges and the walnuts in a salad bowl, add some olive oil, lemon juice (optional), sea salt and pepper, and mix. (If you care about how your salad looks, check out the serving suggestions on this site: http://www.lacucinadimarble.it/rec.php?id=442)

5. Enjoy.

Annika

P.S. In Italy, they often serve very thinly sliced fennels with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper only. Also very nice.

Sweet Cabbage of Mine - Cabbage Casserole with Raisins

Another cabbage dish that I make several different variants of. Its roots can be found in what once used to be my favourite dish: "kaalilaatikko" ("cabbage casserole") - a traditional Finnish oven dish with cabbage, rice, minced meat and syrup.

SWEET CABBAGE OF MINE

5 dl of water
2 dl of green lentils
3/4 dl of red quinoa
a small green cabbage
5 dl of thinly sliced leek
1 small fennel
3 cloves of garlic
1-2 handfuls of raisins, depending on the size of your hands
gluten-free bouillon powder
1.5 tablespoons of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of parsley
0.5 tablespoon of oregano
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
2 tablespoons of sunflower seed oil

0. Rinse the lentils and soak them overnight.

1. Chop the garlic finely.

2. Pour the water into a large pot and bring it to a boil.

3. Add the lentils, the garlic and the bouillon powder into the pot, adjust the heat to low, and let it simmer under a lid.

4. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut the rest of the cabbage into short stripes and add the stripes into the pot together with the thyme, the parsley, the oregano, the pepper and the raisins. Mix well.

5. Wash the leeks and the fennel, slice the leek thinly and cut the fennel into small pieces.

6. Wash the quinoa well.

7. After the other ingredients have been cooked for a minimum of 20 min, add the leek, the fennel, the quinoa and the sunflower seed oil, mix the ingredients well and let the mixture simmer until the quinoa is ready (about 15 minutes).

8. Serve either hot or cold.