A Citrus Hurricane

Grapefruit Granita- Raw

If you don't follow professional golf and weren't watching the televised tournament last weekend, then you probably missed the little hurricane wind episode we had here in the California desert. The golf tournament formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic, now called the Humana Challenge was in full swing when hurricane force winds over 90 mph swept into town and blew over stands, leader boards, etc on the course and trees everywhere. It was so dangerous, they halted the play and called it a day. President Bill Clinton was here so you might have maybe heard something but probably not. With our mostly sunny climate, we get very little sympathy from the national news around here during the winters.

It was wild how the wind storm came out of nowhere and attacked us for the better part of the afternooon.  But during the winds our citrus trees were pelting out fruit to anyone that might get too close, kind of like the scene in the Wizard of Oz with the apple trees throwing apples at Dorothy and her crew except these trees had no visible arms. The fruit just came a flying!

The next morning it was completely still, the course was miraculously cleaned up and the golf tournament continued and looked like nothing happened but the rest of us where left with the aftermath of massive debris everywhere.

Eucalyptus trees were the biggest casualties, as they are just too bulky for the high winds around here.
This is our neighbor's unit as one of the golf course trees came colliding with their unit across the cart path and fence.

Trees out of the ground, roots and all.  See how "foggy" the sky is? Thats' sand!

The best little surprise out of the whole ordeal were scenes just like this one...

Citrus Fruit Everywhere!

Grapefruit both regular and pink, Tangelos, Meyer Lemons, Regular Lemons

It was all so exciting to get so much fruit but then we realized we only have so much time to eat it all! I'm a little acid sensitive so I can't do too much at once but Rich just loves "eating off the trees" as he calls it. This year they hacked up our beautiful Minneola Tangerine tree, the one I wrote about as giving off the juicy "Tangelo Bombs" last year. There are hardly any branches left to bear fruit. (That really irks me as it was totally unnecessary and we look forward all year to these delicious fruit!) Hopefully next year!

So in honor of all the fruit we have at our... table, I'm going to be exploring some citrus options for the next few posts, hope you don't mind. It's just that time of year.

First Up.... 

Grapefruit Granita- Raw

This is so simple and yet so refreshing. 

2 cups fresh grapefruit juice, strained

1/4 cup filtered water

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/4 cup lemon juice, strained

Blend together agave and water in a blender until well combined 

(room temperature water makes this easier)

Then add in the grapefruit and lemon juices and blend again. 

Pour into a non-reactive pan, I used a 8x8 baking pan.

 And freeze. 

Check every hour and scrape back the frozen top with a fork or back of spoon. 

3 times should be enough. 

It should take about 6 hrs but can be left for 3 days if you like.

Serve in a chilled glass with sprig of mint for garnish 

and eat right away!

Alternatively, you can let freeze solid and when ready

 break into chunks and pulse in food processor to get ice crystal shavings.

Add Some Booze!

For those non raw peeps reading this, 

you can add in a little vodka too- about 2 tbsp

 (this will keep it from freezing solid, among other things.)

Another option to dress this up is place in a chilled glass and 

pour your favorite champagne over for

 a specialty drink style bubbly slushie.

That's it for now!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready for a great week ahead!

Breakfast is Served

Tangelo Kiwi Cups

We are really loving the citrus right now and with the trees still ripe for the picking, 

we are still exploring new combinations.

These little gems were almost too beautiful to eat!

But we got over it.

Tangelo Kiwi Cups

As you can see the ingredients are pretty straight forward.

Ingredients:

3 Tangelos, peeled and segmented

2 Kiwi, peeled and sliced

Pomegrante seeds

Mint for garnish

To use the tangelos as cups, I just sliced them in half and segmented with a grapefruit knife. 

Then used the electric juicer to swirl out the insides and get any remaining juice (to enjoy as I worked.)

Assemble all into the tangelo shell or bowl and garnish with mint.

Tropical Fruit Salad

This has been a total surprise!

While I love pineapple and bananas,  R. doesn't care for either of them and yet

 he's already asking for me to make this on a regular basis.

Go figure!

This recipe would be great all thrown in the blender too!

Ingredients:

2 Tangelos, peeled and segmented

1 Mango, peeled and diced

1 cups Pineapple, peeled cored and cubed

1 Banana, peeled and sliced

1 Lime, juiced

1 Tbsp Agave Nectar

1/4 cup shredded Coconut, unsweetened

Assemble first 6 items in the bowl and toss gently to mix.

Cover and let chill for about an hour.

Sprinkle with Coconut and Serve.

This morning's repeat.

Mmm....So good!

I called this breakfast but these are both good anytime!

Raw Bananas Foster Cheezecake

On my birthday, we had the pleasure of tasting a Bananas Foster Cheesecake at a wonderful local restaurant. It was divine but later was a little heavy and icky feeling in the stomach. From the first bite, I set out examining how I could replicate this flavor in raw vegan form so that it could be enjoyed again without the after effects.

R doesn't like bananas so I wasn't expecting him to like it at all but he surprised me when he asked for seconds and said how great he thought it was. He said he actually preferred this one to the restaurant version as it isn't as overly sweet.  Just now he asked about any leftovers and announced he wants it for dinner tonight.  So that's saying quite a bit!

Raw Vegan Bananas Foster Cheezecake

I decided that the best way for me to make these kinds of desserts would be in smaller portions and especially when experimenting, so I purchased a cute little 5" spring form pan.  Nordic Ware 5 Inch Springform Pan.

As raw desserts are so rich and a little goes a long way, it turns out to be the perfect size for the two of us and still leaves us half the cake for left overs.

I provided the recipe for a 8-9 " spring pan but also the amounts I used for the smaller 5" size will be posted below it.


Plain Raw Cheezecake:


Crust:
2 cups Pecans, (Almonds or raw Macadamia nuts will work as well)
1/2 cup Dates, pitted and deflowered (if your dates are really dry, soak in some water first to soften.)
1/4 cup dried unsweetened shredded Coconut
1/4 tsp Vanilla (optional)

Put the nuts and dates in a food processor and process until mixture is crumbly but will stick together when pressed between your fingers. If it needs a little more moisture, add the vanilla. Be careful not to over process or the nuts will become oily and start turning to to butter.

Dust the bottom of your spring form pan with the shredded coconut so as to prevent sticking.
Press the crust into the pan bottom.


Tip: Press too hard and it will stick later on, not enough and it will crumble.

Place in freezer to set while you make filling.

Filling:
3 cups chopped raw Cashews (soak in filtered water for at least a couple of hrs before hand and rinse.)
          Cut one nut in half to check readiness. You want them to be soft all the way through.)
1/2 cup fresh Lemon juice (I used Meyer lemons to cut tartness but regular are what most use.)
3/4 cup Agave syrup (honey can be used but keep in mind the flavor of the honey will come through.)
1/2 cup liquid Virgin Coconut oil (becomes liquid at 76 degrees)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Sea Salt. (I use the pink Himalayan)
1/2 cup filtered Water

Blend all in the blender until smooth and creamy.  The beauty of raw is that the flavor does not change beyond this point due to the no baking, so make any adjustments to the flavor now.
Does it need more creaminess?- add a little water.
More sweetness?- more agave.
More tartness?- lemon.
Something's still missing? -a pinch of salt.
( I did not need to make any changes)

Pour into pan and then give a few taps on the counter to level it out and remove any air bubbles. Cover with wrap and place back into freezer to set. It will keep about a week frozen which makes it nice to make ahead of time.

Raw Caramel Sauce
(previous post on caramel sauce here)


Caramel Dip
1 cup dates, soaked and soft
1/4-1/2 cup Almond Mylk ( THE Best explanation of how to make Almond Mylk) or can be purchased
1 tsp liquid Virgin Coconut oil, (becomes liquid at 76 degrees)
dash of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

To the caramel dip I added more Almond Mylk until I reached the desired consistency I wanted, slightly liquid, then added more agave to sweeten to taste. I could have also used more coconut oil to thin but didn't want to chance it tasting like coconut. Experiment if you like.

I apologize I don't have exact measures for the larger cake size. I do have them for the 5" size below.

Preparing Cheesecake for Serving:


Remove Cheezecake from freezer 1/2 hr prior to serving but adjust depending on room temperatures. Remember that coconut oil melts at 76 degrees and you don't want it to get too soft. Allow for time to top and "dress" it as well.

Spoon the Caramel sauce along edges of the cake top and encourage it to drip down. Then fill the center with more sauce. Chop a banana into small pieces and pile on top. A little caramel sauce on the plate and

Voila!

Slice of Bananas Foster Cheezecake

Adjusted  Measurements for 5" pan:

Crust: 1/2 cup pecans, 3-4 pitted dates, 1 Tbsp shredded coconut

Filling: 1 cup cashews, juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup agave+ 1 Tbsp, 3 Tbsp coconut oil, 1/3 tsp vanilla, pinch salt, 1/4 cup water

Caramel Sauce: Make dip as described. Then use 1/2 cup of dip, 1/8 cup almond mylk, 1 Tbsp agave  and mix together.

Topping: 1/2 banana chopped into small pieces


Don't worry. The extra dip can be eaten with apple slices, bananas or anything else. It's delicious!

Let me know if you tried this and what you think. 

Enjoy!