How to Make White Asparagus

White asparagus in Europe is plentiful right now. Having just taken a road trip through Eastern France and Western Germany - you see it being harvested everywhere. The true herald of Spring!

I love how delicate and silky white asparagus can be when cooked correctly...but never having made it before (because it costs an arm and a leg and your first born child in North America) I did some research on various French sites and came up with the below cooking instructions.

Enjoy this amazing vegetable while it lasts - its availability is so very fleeting!

What You'll Need:

• Heavy-bottomed deep pan
• Carrot peeler
• Fresh white asparagus 
• 1 lemon
• Dash of salt

What You'll Do:

• Going from base to tip, peel off all the harder outer bits of the skin
• Gently hold the stalk in each hand and push up lightly with your thumbs, where the stalk naturally snaps indicates the portion of the stalk that is the best to eat (from tip downwards). Though this may seem like a waste of asparagus, the bit that has snapped off will taste bitter - you can always save these bits and use them in asparagus soup!
• Add water to your pan and let boil
• Squeeze the juice of your lemon into the water and sprinkle in your dash of salt
• Wrap your asparagus bundles up with twine - depending on their length, you may want to tie them twice - once at the bottom and once near their tops
• Place your asparagus bundles into the boiling water and let boil for 30 minutes
• Yes - this amount of time may seem crazy as a lot of recipes say boil for just five minutes - but, trust me, the French research says 30 minutes
• Once boiled, they will be extremely hot and soft - remove them very carefully and let drain
• Serve immediately with some form of fat - the French often use Hollandaise sauce with lemon, or drizzles of olive oil and salted butter with a twist of fresh pepper. I choose Hollandaise sauce every time!

Rhubarb, Strawberry, Raspberry Crumble

Nothing beats rhubarb crumble...except rhubard, strawberry and raspberry crumble!
Those three tastes combined with a dollop of vanilla icecream is a symphony.
Summer in your mouth. A Rhuberry Crumble!!

This recipe is easy, super tasty and something I know Martha would be proud of.

What You'll Need: The filling

• 1 large, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid
• 6 medium-sized stalks of rhubarb
• 1 cup strawberries (I used frozen as that is what I had on hand, but fresh or frozen work perfectly well)
• 1 cup raspberries (either fresh or frozen)
• 3 Tbsp whiskey (optional)
• 1/2 cup of golden caster sugar

What You'll Need: The Crumble

• 1 medium-sized corningware dish (either round or square)
• 1 cup of white flour
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1.5 cups quick rolled oats
• 1/3 cup of un-salted, room temperature butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional, but highly recommended)

What You'll Do: The Filling

• Chop the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces
• Add the rhubarb pieces, strawberries and raspberries into your saucepan 
• Add in your sugar and whiskey, stir 

• Cover and simmer on a very low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
• When soft (but still holding its shape), pour the rhubarb into your medium-sized baking dish

What You'll Do: The Crumble

• Pre-heat your oven to 200C (325)
• To make the crumble topping, rub the flour, oatmeal and butter together with your fingers until you have a soft, crumbly topping

• Now add the sugar and cinnamon, mixing together with your hands until combined
• Loosely spoon the topping over the rhubarb mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. I like to gently shake a little cinnamon for good measure over the top before I place in the oven
• Let cool for five minutes
• Serve hot with a lovely dollop of vanilla icecream (or custard, if that is your thing).

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2 (My husband said this is my best dessert ever made. No joke).
Ease: 1.5

No Bake Chocolate Haystacks

A great recipe for summer picnics or Christmas cookie sales, these no-bake chocolate haystacks are versatile, tasty and hit the mark when you have a chocolate craving.

The below recipe makes around 3 dozen table spoon sized portions but is easily doubled or tripled. Below you can read how to add a peanut buttery kick!

What You'll Need:

• 1 medium saucepan
• Wax paper/tin foil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup un-salted butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 -2 cups rolled quick oats
• 1 cup flaked coconut (I liked mine un-sweetened)

What You'll Do:

• Spread a large sheet of either wax paper or tinfoil out on your work surface
• Add in your sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa into your saucepan
• Heat until it is gently boiling, stirring frequently
• When it has reached a gentle boil, cook for five minutes - don't stop stirring
• Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in your vanilla
• Stir in your oats and coconut
• You don't want the mixture too runny - if you feel it is, shake is some more of your oatmeal until it is a dense consistency
• Working quickly, drop tablespoon-sized amounts of hot mixture onto your paper-lined work top. Try to make the mixture dense by squishing it into the spoon so, when cooled, the haystack does not crumble apart
• Let cool and enjoy

This recipe is super easy and a great treat for summer picnics or if you have a chocolate craving.
Some people use Chinese noodles in place of the oatmeal, but I like the oatmeal version. You can also add in peanut butter, if that is your type of thing (stir in 1/4 cup once the mixture has been removed from the heat). Lately I have been adding in flaked quinoa in place of 1/2 cup of the oatmeal - delicious and hardly noticeable.
 

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Easy Chocolate Brownies

This recipe couldn't be easier, or tastier! These chocolate brownies turn out exactly how brownies should be - soft in the centre with a crispy crust on top. This recipe is definitely not low fat but they are super chocolatey, so a little goes a long way! I usually half this recipe as there is just two of us and a full batch is a lot of brownies!

What You'll Need:

• Cake tin - 12 x 9
• Electric mixture or hand mixture and medium-sized bowl
• 1 cup softened un-salted butter
• 1.5 cups white sugar
• 4 Large room-temperature eggs 
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup self-raising white flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (this is optional, but I find it makes this recipe go above and beyond...the way Martha likes it)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350F
• Grease your cake tin with butter or oil
• Using a large bowl and hand mixer (or ideally a mix-master) combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined
• Spread the mixture evenly in your baking tin
• Bake for 30
• Do not over bake as you want the centre to be ever-so-slightly soft and under-baked
• Let cool a little bit (as nothing beats a warm brownie) and serve with ice cream or whipped cream

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2 - the easiest recipe! Trust me.

Low Fat Apple and Blueberry Tart

There are lots of apples at the market these days at a really good price, so, with a guest in town, I thought I would make something special for our dessert. Something tart but sweet and low fat!

Using phyllo pastry, a handful of blueberries and four fresh, sharp apples - this tart came out so light and delicious...and it was not hard to make!

What You'll Need:

• Pie pan
• Small pot
• Blender or hand mixer
• Butter to grease your pie pan
• 6 sheets of phyllo pastry
• 4 tart apples
• 1/2 lemon for its juice
• 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup of room temperature butter
• 1 Tbps cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar (you can also swap real sugar for your favourite sugar-substitute - like Splenda or Ideal)
• 1 Tbps honey
• 1/2 cup water (1/4 cup of boiling and 1/4 cup of room temperature)

What You'll Do:

• Take the phyllo pastry out of the freezer and let thaw for at least one hour
• Lightly butter your pie pan
• Peel and thinly slice three of your four apples - place in a bowl and squeeze lemon juice over top. Stir the juice through your apple slices so they don't brown as you prep the rest of your tart
• With your fourth apple, peel and core then dice into small chunks
• Add into a small pot with 1 Tbsp of cinnamon and half of your 1/4 cup of sugar
• Gently pour 1/4 cup of room temperature water over top
• Let this mixture boil for 10-15 minutes or until totally soft - you have essentially made an apple sauce!

• When the apples are very very soft, pour your mixture into your blender and blend until smooth (if you don't have a blender, you can use a hand mixer here as well)
• Let cool
• Take your phyllo pastry out of its wrapping and unfold onto your counter-top
• Using a damp paper towel, cover the pastry as it dries out extremely quickly  
• Mix together in a small bowl your honey and the 1/4 cup of boiling water until the honey has dissolved

• Take one sheet of the pastry and lay it into the pie pan
• Brush the pastry sheet with the honey water and then lay another sheet on top, at an angle to the first sheet. Do this four times so the base of your pastry shell is four layers thick
• Using a spoon, spread your apple cinnamon mixture onto the base of the pie pan

• Now the fun begins - assembling your thinly sliced apples! You can do this however you like, I tried to make mine spiral around the center
• Add in your blueberries - if you like berries a lot, use more and make a whole layer of them over top the apples (you can also use raspberries, blackberries or strawberries - all would be delicious)
• Use most of the rest of your sugar and sprinkle the apples and berries with a light layer of sugar

• Using your room temperature butter, cut small, thin pieces and add to the top of your tart filling. I placed one in the middle and four pieces around the centre of the apple pieces (let's say Noon, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock;). You do not need a lot of butter!
• Once you are happy with your filling, take another sheet of phyllo and layer over top, brush with your honey mixture then add the final phyllo layer
• Try to close the sides of the pie up by pushing the top phyllo layers into the phyllo that makes the side of the shell - to do this use the honey mixture and your brush
• Sprinkle the rest of your sugar on top of the pie

• Bake for around 30 minutes or until your apples are nice and soft
• Let cool and serve with whipped cream or a fat-free Greek yogurt for a little more zing

Ta da! A deliciously low fat apple berry tart that even Martha would be proud of!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Dukan Tea Biscuits

These are lovely little Dukan-friendly treats that can be made savoury or sweet.
Easy and quick to make - they are a new favourite!

What You'll Need:

• Muffin tray - I used a cute one that is molded so the muffins come out with pretty little shapes
• Hand mixer
• 6 Tbps oat Bran
• 4 Tbps skimmed milk powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 Tbsp non-fat Greek yogurt

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C (375F)
• Using your hand mixer, beat your two egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff
• In a separate bowl, mix all of your remaining dry ingredients together
• Inside your peaked egg white mixture, gently mix in your egg yolk and Greek yogurt
• Then slowly add in the dry ingredient mixture - trying to not flatten all the air bubbles you created from whipping the egg whites
• Pour your mixture into your tins - if you do not have non-stick tins, use muffin cups so your muffins don't stick
• Bake until lightly browned around the edges - around 12 minutes

Tip alert! To make these little babies savoury - try adding in your favourite curry powder, or dill with lemon zest!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Dukan Curried Chicken, Eggplant and Squash Stew

It has been cold in Amsterdam and I was wanting to make a nice, warm, filling winter dish - a stew!
This recipe has pulled chicken, eggplant, tomatoes, and butternut squash with a curried kick.

It was a hit!

What You'll Need:

• Large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid 
• 2 Medium-sized pots
• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 plum tomatoes
• 1 peeled butternut squash, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 large red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 small firm eggplant, diced into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons of your favourite curry powder - I love The Silk Road Spice Merchant's Madras Curry Powder. It has such a lovely and non-overpowering taste.
• 1 tablespoon chile powder 
• 1 cup chicken stock

What You'll Do: Pulled Chicken

• Fill one of your medium-sized pots half-way up with water to boil
• When the water is boiling add in your two chicken breasts
• Boil for 30 minutes
• Drain the water and let cool
• Shred the chicken and place in a bowl until you are ready to combine into your stew

What You'll Do: Stewed Tomatoes

• Cut an 'X' into the end of your tomato, so when the tomatoes are soft, you can easily peel the skin off
• Fill one of your medium-sized pots half-way with water to boil
• Add in your tomatoes and let boil gently for twenty minutes
• Immediately remove the boiled tomatoes and place into a bowl of ice water
• Let cool. Once cooled, the skins will easily peel away
• Peel the skins and dice

What You'll Do: Butternut Squash

• Pre-heat your oven to 200F (375C)
• Line a baking tray with tinfoil
• Peel, remove seeds and chop your squash into bite-sized pieces
• Bake for 15 minutes, you want the squash soft, but not mushy or it will fall apart in the stew

What You'll Do: Stew Assembly!

• Ideally as your chicken and tomatoes are boiling and your squash is in the oven, you will want to chop your onion and red peppers
• In your heavy-bottomed pot, add in your onions and peppers
• Crush your garlic and add into the pot
• Add in enough water to just cover
• Gently boil until soft

• When soft, dice your eggplant and add into the pan
• Pour in your chicken stock
• By now, your chicken and tomatoes should be ready to add into the pot
• Cover in your curry powder and shake in your chile pepper
• When the mix looks nice and thick and the stock has boiled down into the mix, add in your squash
• Gently stir until everything looks soft 
• That's it! Enjoy!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (it is not a quick recipe - you will need a good couple of hours to make)