Entertaining in the Raw - Matthew Kenney [10]
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
Olive oil
Black pepper
Gazpacho Mix all ingredients except olive oil in a large bowl; season to taste. Place 3/4 of mixture in a food processor and process until smooth. Add back to bowl and stir to combine.
Avocado Salsa Combine all ingredients.
Assembly Serve chilled with avocado salsa, a few drops of olive oil, and freshly ground pepper. Serves 4
Apricots with Star Anise Syrup and Crumble
With raw food, as with all cooking, we often make things as complex as possible before we simplify them. In my early days with this food, I was always searching for a magical pastry recipe for desserts; but these days, especially in the summer, I like to focus on retaining the fruits’ natural texture and flavor while subtly enhancing it. This dish could not be simpler to prepare and is easily adapted to peaches, nectarines, or any other stone fruit.
Apricots were first discovered growing in the wild on mountainsides in China and were brought to California by the Spanish, where 95 percent of the U.S. apricots are now grown. Although our harvest on the East Coast is limited, for the few weeks we have apricots, they are delicious and abundant at farmers markets.
Apricots
16 apricots
3/4 cup raw agave
Crumble
2-1/2 cups cashew flour
1-1/4 cups oat flour
6 tablespoons water
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Syrup
1 cup raw agave
1/2 teaspoon ground star anise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Apricots Cut apricots in half and discard stones. Toss fruit with agave. Place on dehydrator screens and dehydrate 20–30 minutes.
Crumble Mix ingredients in a medium-size bowl by hand. Spread flat on dehydrator screens. Dehydrate 8–10 hours until dry; crumble by hand and place back in dehydrator. Dehydrate overnight. Process in a food processor into crumbs.
Syrup Blend ingredients in a Vita-Mix to combine.
Assembly Place 8 apricot halves on each plate. Sprinkle top with crumbs just before serving. Spoon syrup over each serving. Serves 4
Beet Ravioli with Fava Bean Purée and Green Herb Oil
When most people think of a beet, they are considering the standard red beet—there is nothing wrong with that, or the phrase “beet red,” but I love beets for their versatility in the same way that I love tomatoes and plums for their many varieties, tastes, and textures. In the summer, when golden, white, red, candy stripe, and other varieties are available directly from the garden, they are good in many raw food preparations. Given that root vegetables are rather fibrous, they are best when sliced thin, minced, or otherwise broken down in such a way to easily consume—and they also taste better this way. I like using them as a carpaccio or, in this recipe, preparing them like a carpaccio and using them as the outside of a ravioli. The day I prepared this dish, it was late August in Maine and fava beans were still in season. With a little olive oil, they were lightly warmed, making a very sweet, nutty purée that was a good counterbalance to the crunch of beet, not to mention a very colorful combination.
Beets
10 medium-size varietal beets (candy stripe, white, golden, red)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon raw agave
Purée
1-1/2 pounds shelled fava beans
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Oil
1 cup fresh green herb leaves (mint, basil, oregano, parsley)
1 cup pure olive oil
Garnish
Fresh summer herbs
Beets Peel the beets and trim the edges to make them square. Slice very thin on a mandolin, keeping each type of beet separate. Combine the remaining ingredients and lightly brush the beet slices.
Purée Peel and rinse fava beans. Combine with olive oil and warm in a dehydrator for 90 minutes. Process until smooth with remaining ingredients.
Oil Place