April Musings
A round up of recipes, people and dream kitchen equipment from the beginning of Spring
April was spent dog-sitting my brothers two British bulldogs on the tiny island of Jersey.
The weather was surprisingly grey and cold and I think the only people I came into contact with were my mum (and let’s just say our relationship hasn’t always been the easiest one), one family friend and supermarket staff.
I spent most of my free time reading my brothers marketing books in the bath, doing yoga, catching up with friends over voice notes and going for matcha walks along the coast to keep myself entertained.
It was at times isolating, at times hilarious and I realised at the end of it there wasn’t anywhere else in the world I would have wanted to spend the last four weeks.
It meant my brother could take my little baby nephew to be with his Korean family for his first birthday and after years of turmoil I finally came to a better place of understanding and acceptance with my own mum.
Amongst all the above there was a lot of cooking, discovering new chefs and recipes to try.
Here’s a little dive into all the fermenting, gut health, healing and food findings this month that are too good to keep to myself:
PEOPLE:
New favourite cook: Katie Flour
Katie lives and works in dreamy Lisbon, her website is a haven of information for hormone health and eating in alignment with your menstrual cycle.
Katie’s beautiful, nourishing recipes are cleverly thought out and inclsude insightful information about the ingredients and their use for balancing hormones.
The bean bible was an illuminating read on the power of legumes and a handy guide to have bookmarked for future reference.
I learnt from Katie that our guts can take a bit of a hit during the menstrual phase and so it is important to add in extra fermented foods in the follicular phase to top up the good microbes.
FOOD:
Paradise Bars
Coconut & Dark Chocolate ‘Bounty’s’
A block of creamed coconut, honey, vanilla, dark chocolate and a little beetroot juice to make half the batch pink on the inside.
Full recipe here, they’re so good straight out the fridge on a hot day or dipped into a creamy coconut milk matcha.
~
Turmeric & Coconut Cream Omelettes
After watching a video with herbalist Georgia Gibbs, omelettes have become a regular repeat offender for lunch over the past few weeks.
Georgia makes them with coconut cream in place of milk which makes them so deliciously rich. I started whisking a teaspoon of turmeric into the mix and it makes them a beautiful golden colour ~ the perfect omelette every time.
A shiitake mushroom and nutritional yeast omelette ~ topped with rocket, lacto-fermented radishes and a sprinkling of seeds is my current go to.
DRINK:
Watermelon, mint and kombucha coolers served at golden hour inspired by the dreamy @casa.lawa
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 a watermelon
500ml kombucha
3 x sprigs of mint
To garnish: a few extra mint sprigs and slices of lemon
RECIPE:
Cut the watermelon into two and scoop out the insides of one half
Save the remaining half for enjoying at a later date
Place the scooped out watermelon, kombucha and mint into a blender and blend until smooth
Serve in the skin of the watermelon and ladle into glasses with extra mint and slices of lemon
Enjoy :~)
FUN FACT:
Placing mushrooms gills up in the midday sun to absorb the light for 15 minutes will naturally boost their vitamin D levels.
As the sun starts to resurface in the Northern hemisphere, I’ve been loving placing my mushrooms to sunbathe for a little magical vitamin boost.
Apparently, the sun-charged mushrooms will keep their high level of vitamin D for up to a week and throughout the cooking process.
We need vitamin D (which is actually a hormone) for immune health, keeping auto-immune diseases at bay and our hormones balanced.
Shiitake mushrooms are my favourite for this as they also contain one of the highest amounts of natural copper.
BOOKS:
Ferment for Good by Sharon Flynn
“Ancient food for the modern gut: discover the slowest kind of fast food.”
One of my favourite ways to think about fermentation ~ a form of fast food made however many days / weeks ago and a way of caring for your future self, gut and brain.
Beautiful images and words on why fermenting is a tool for life, with handy fermentation tips ~ such as using a big carrot as a tool to pack down sauerkraut into a jar or using (sanitised) pebbles for fermentation weights.
Plantbased by Alexander Gershberg
Delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes from the Amsterdam based chef, Alexander. The layout and graphic design makes it a joy to read and there are some fun unique fermentation recipes towards the back of the book.
APRIL WISHLIST:
A really, really good pair of kitchen scissors.
I think scissors might make top of the list for my favourite piece of kitchen equipment. After a sharp knife, they are my most used kitchen tool.
I use them for everything I possibly can: trimming the woody ends off asparagus; chopping herbs to garnish a curry; diagonally slicing spring onions into a mixture of kimchi; cutting sourdough pancakes into strips for dipping; quartering cherry tomatoes; carving chicken, beef, pork, the list goes on…
I went on a hunt for the perfect pair and I’m not sure I have found them yet. The ones above come very close though. The scissors pictured were found at Zara, Present and Correct, Food52 and Barebones.
What makes the perfect pair? A comfortable handle? Multi-functions ~ can it also work as a bottle opener? Long blades?
The debate continues….
PLAYLIST:
This playlist has been on repeat for the last few weeks ~ nostalgic songs that feel like a hug. Get cosy in the kitchen, cook something comforting and enjoy.
This is also the perfect time of year to forage some nettles and make the Nettle and Nutmeg Soup pictured.
I hope you enjoyed this gathering of sources and inspirations :~)
How was your April?
Would love to hear if you have found anything fascinating healing foods or fermentation recently. Always a joy hearing from you <3
Wishing you a lovely week,
Fleur x