Green Pea and Ham Soup

1 Comment March 4, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 13 of 103

How about some soup?

photo by Jenny

Creamy, earthy, sweet and savory green pea soup with lovely chunks of smoked ham hock. April has you make a ham stock with smoked ham hocks. So lets chat about ham hocks for a moment. The ham hocks you get at a regular grocery stores are smoked and cured, usually all bone, very little meat and that weird overly cured pink color making them very salty. If you can avoid these, please do so, this way you can control the flavor of your soup and it won’t taste like curing salt. Try to find fresh smoked ham hocks, ~~whole foods~~ whole paycheck has them or most good butchers should too. Cooking beans all day with the cured smoked hocks works very well, they stand up to each other much better, but for this soup, you want the delicate pea flavor to shine.

Here is what you will need

For the Broth/Stock

2 pounds meaty smoked ham hocks

1/2 medium spanish onion or any yellow onion

3 small celery stocks

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 head of garlic, halved horizontally, not peeled

1 fresh bay leaf or 1/2 a dried bay leaf

6 black peppercorns

Combine hocks, veggies, bay leaf, peppercorns and 8 cups of water in a stock pot and simmer for 4 to 5 hours. The meat on the hocks should be tender and falling off the bone. Remove the hocks to a big bowl, strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into the same bowl and let the hocks cool in the liquid. When the hocks are cooled, remove all the meat, discarding any fatty hard bits. If you’re lucky and you get hocks with the skin still on them, reserve the skin after cooking and crisp them up in the broiler for a crunchy garnish. Since the hocks I got weren’t cured they needed some salt. I salted mine and crisped them in the broiler. You can make the broth/stock a day or two ahead.

For the Soup

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 medium spanish onion or any yellow onion

1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 teaspoons maldon salt

1/2 cup dry white wine, sauvignon blanc would work nicely

five finger pinch of fresh mint leaves and more torn leaves for finishing

2 10oz packages of frozen peas

extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

3 -4 tablespoons creme fraiche

photo by Jenny

Melt the butter in a large pot, add the onions, carrots and salt. Cover and cook, stirring every now and then until onions are creamy and carrots are tender but still firm. about 15 minutes.

photo by Jenny

Add the wine and bring to a boil. Let the wine boil until it’s all but gone, about 5 minutes.

photo by Jenny

Add 4 cups of broth (freeze the remainder for another batch of soup) bring to boil. Look at that lovely ham hock broth!

photo by Jenny

Add the mint and frozen peas. Cook at a simmer for about 5 minutes until peas are warmed and tender.Puree soup with an immersion blender right in the pot or transfer in batches and puree in a blender. Add the ham chunks (save some for garnishing) back into the soup and simmer until the ham is warmed. Check seasoning, depending on how salty your hocks were, you may need more salt.

photo by Jenny

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, black pepper, a few mint leaves, chunk of ham and a big dollop of creme fraiche. YUM! nothing like home-made soup.

Carrot, Avocado and Orange Salad

6 Comments March 1, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 12 of 103

Avocado…Yes

Oranges…Yes

Carrots…..Meh

My history with carrots starts when my skin turned orange at the wee age of 18 months, after being fed too much carrot juice when my Mom received a juicer for Christmas. Thinking I had jaundice she took me to the doctor, he said slow down on the carrot juice. Simple mistake. Simple remedy. The next carrot drama was the shredded carrot salad with raisins. Why was this every where in the 70’s? Most of you know raisins and me do not get along, so this salad would never make it in my world. Maybe its the raisins fault carrots flew off my radar? As I grew older I made my peace with carrots, but sadly most carrots today taste like crap unless you get them from a friends garden or a good local organic market. I have found that roasting carrots makes them sweeter and more tolerable, so I was thrilled to see in this recipe that were going to be roasted.

The textures and flavors in this salad are surprisingly compatible. The cumin, coriander and garlic roasted carrots become as soft and luscious as the avocado and the oranges pair well with all the players.

Here is what you will need

Preheat oven to 400°

4 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

maldon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 1/2 teaspoons pequin chilies crumbled

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons

30 or so baby/young carrots, scrubbed with an inch of tops left on or scrub 10 regular sized carrots and cut into small sticks about the size of your index finger

3 oranges, try to get valencia oranges, they are lovely right now

3 ripe haas avocados or try the fuerte avocado they are amazing!

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

a handful of small cilantro sprigs

Start by toasting the spices in a small saute pan over medium high heat, careful not to burn them. When you start smelling their aroma, they’re done. Set aside and let cool.

Add the spices to a mortar and pestle and grind until it resembles a corse powder, reserve in large mixing bowl. Wipe out the mortar and pestle, add the garlic and salt together and smash until it resembles a paste. Add the chilies, garlic and olive oil to the mixing bowl with the ground spices. Mix well. Toss the prepped carrots in the dressing and coat well while adding 3 healthy pinches of salt as you toss. Place carrots in a baking dish so they’ll all settle in a single layer. Scrap out all the spiced oil from the bowl and drip it over the carrots. Pour 1/4 cup of water into an open area of the pan so you don’t wash off all the lovely spiced oil, cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes.after the first 15 minutes, remove foil and continue to cook another 15-20 minutes. You want the carrots soft like the texture of an avocado but not falling apart. Let them cool a bit.Time to segment the oranges, the above picture is a little visual on how to do this. Does it make sense? If not watch this, it takes practice so don’t get too discouraged on your first try, keep at it. Segment your oranges over a bowl and keep the juiceNow ready your avocados, slice in long pieces, add the lemon juice, the orange juice from the segmented oranges and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large mixing bowl.Toss the roasted carrots with the avocados, coating with the juices and the spicy mixture on the carrots, add the oranges and toss gently, careful not too break up the avocado too much. Stack all the items together and top with cilantro leaves. Enjoy the color, texture and spicy kick this salad has to offer. Avocados and oranges are in full swing here in So Cal, get out to a farmers market and make this happen, you won’t regret it.

Beet and Smoked Trout Salad

8 Comments February 28, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 11 of 103

April describes this dish as being full of contrasts. The beets are warm and sweet, the smokey trout is salty, flaky and tender, then the creme fraiche joins in to refresh your palate.

Here is what you will need

serves 4

3 to 4 bunches of baby beets (20-25) washed well

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing

2 tablespoons nice thick good balsamic vinegar

maldon sea salt

6 or so skin on garlic cloves

6 or so thyme sprigs

1 pound whole smoked trout or packaged smoked trout

5 tablespoons creme fraiche

1/4 cup chopped chives

4 to 5 tablespoons Lemon Olive Dressing

Clean your beets really well, no need to peel them just scrub them really good. Leave an inch or so of the stems on for pretty rustic presentation and roots too. Pre heat oven to 400°

photo by Jenny

Put the cleaned beets in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with salt.

photo by Jenny

Put them in a baking dish, make sure to scrap all the oil from the bowl and pour over the beets, add the sprigs of thyme and the skin on garlic gloves.

photo by Jenny

Carefully pour a 1/2 cup of water into the baking dish be sure not wash off all the seasoning. Cover with foil and bake for about 50 minutes. Check every once in a while to make sure there is still water in the dish. After 50 minutes remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes until all the water is gone and the skins of the beets are blistery. When they’ve cooled, taste and add more salt if needed. Remove the beets from baking dish into a mixing bowl, leaving the thyme and garlic behind. If you need a quick snack at this point, smash that garlic on to a piece of toast. YUM…ok back at it. Drizzle the dressing over the beets and set aside.I was lucky enough to find a whole smoked trout at ~~whole foods~~ whole paycheck, I went for this option because I know how to remove all the pin bones. If you’re not comfortable with this process buy it packaged, much easier. Here is a visual on removing the skin and bones from my cute little troutEasy right?

photo by Jenny

Assemble your beets, smoked fish and top with creme fraiche and chopped chives on a large platter or for individual servings. If you’re not down with smoked fish just enjoy the beets and the dressing, maybe add some goat cheese instead of fish. You could use any smoked fish you like for this also. April’s method for baking the beets was great, worked really well and yielded perfectly cooked beets with flavor.

Lemon Olive Oil Dressing

5 Comments February 27, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 10 of 103

The perfect simple salad dressing. The simplest combination of ingredients, the bright acidity of the lemon and green grassiness of the olive oil, seasoned well with sea salt and pepper. April talks about using this dressing on grilled fish and boiled potatoes. I could slather it on so much more…..

Basically you put everything in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, shake like crazy. Done

Here is what you will need

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste

1 cup really good extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons maldon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Add olive oil to an old jar that still has a lid that fits nice a snug, you know have one some where. Add the lemon juiceadd black pepper and saltApply lid and shake like crazy – taste – add more lemon or salt to your taste. easy eh? Keep this handy for the next blog post…..Beet and Smoked Trout Salad

Sausage Stuffed Onions

8 Comments February 20, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 7 of 103

I like sausage and I like onions, so this recipe seemed to make sense. April requests that you use her fresh sausage recipe but as I struggle to source the proper meats for this project I opted for store-bought for this recipe. Ideally you’ll want to get a spicy italian pork sausage.

Here is what you will need

pre heat oven to 400°

4 medium red onions ( about 8 ounces each) peeled. stem ends trimmed, root ends trimmed but left intact

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

maldon salt

1 head garlic

small handful of fresh thyme sprigs, plus 1 teaspoon leaves

1/2 cup fresh italian sausage (remove from casings)

1 cup heavy cream

Ready your onions, rub them all with olive oil and saltArrange them in a single layer in oven safe casserole or stock pot. Peel the outermost layers of the garlic, so the cloves are exposed. Add garlic, sprigs of thyme and 1/3 cup of water to pot

Cover and bake in oven for about an hour, until onions are softened. You should be able to insert a knife in the center of the onion easily. Remove onions to a baking sheet and let them cool enough to handle, keep oven on.When the onions are cool enough to handle use a small spoon to remove the centers of the onions. Don’t remove too much and or too little. Stuff the onions with the uncooked sausage, set aside.

Keep the centers of the onions adding them back to the pot the onions cooked in

Squeeze the soft garlic cloves from the whole head of garlic and add to the onion centers, as well as the cream, teaspoon of salt and thyme leaves. As you see here I spaced out and added more sprigs, avoid this and you won’t have to fish out the stems later after they’ve cooked. Bring the mixture to a boilAdd the stuffed onions to the boiling mixture, liquid should come half way up the onions, adjust as needed by adding a bit more water or removing some of the liquid.Return to oven uncovered, bake for about 40 minutes, basting every 10-15 minutes.Check seasoning, add salt if needed. April says to bring the pot to the table and dig in. I felt like the broth was screaming for some kind of grain so I cooked up some farro. The broth is amazing, the onion to sausage ratio was a bit off for me, I would like more sausage less onion. Onions overwhelm this dish, so if you’re not a big fan of them you might pass on this one. The spicier the sausage the better to balance the sweet of the onions. The broth is the star for me, I dropped my immersion blender in the pot after removing the stuffed onions and ended up with a silky, rich soup to die for.

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Juniper Berries

4 Comments February 11, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 4 of 103 All photos by Jenny 🙂

How about some veggies after all that amazing duckiness? Brussels Sprouts…do you love or hate? I LOVE them! If cooked well, they are amazing. I see them on menus all over in various preparations, grilled, shredded, cold or hot, these little morsels are all the rage.

April does them very well. Here is what you will need to rock them like she does.

serves 4-5

1 pound medium brussels sprouts

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, halved lengthwise

2 ounces pancetta, sliced thin about 6 slices

1 teaspoon maldon sea salt. invest in this salt, its lovely

3-4 dried pequin chilies, chopped fine or fresh red pepper flakes

2 juniper berries, smashed and finely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1/2 lemon

Start by cutting the bottom off the brussels sprouts, then cut in half.

Slice the pancetta, peel and slice the garlic. Crush and chop the chilies, thyme and juniper berries. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, add the garlic quickly tossing for about 30 seconds until garlic is browned, but not burnt.Remove garlic and reserve, add pancetta. Cook in the garlic infused oil until its crispy. reserve for later.In the same pan while still very hot, add the brussels sprouts cut side down. Let them get a good sear, then turn them over. Medium heat turning and tossing them carefully every now and then until done about 8 to 10 minutes.

When they’ve cooked to your liking, soft or a bit crunchy, turn off the heat. Add the salt, big flaky beautiful maldon salt.as well as the pequin chilies, juniper berries, thyme and a big squeeze of lemon. Toss in the pancetta and garlic and serve right away. Taste and enjoy…….so good. The juniper berries add a floral spice that knocks you out. The pequin chilies are darling little gems, not too spicy at all. I urge you to seek them out, I found them at my local mexican market. Buy good pancetta at an Italian deli or a good fresh market, don’t get that crap that looks like spam…cause it taste like spam! I call it spamcetta, its gross…trust me. Make these right now, you will not regret it. The food porn pics are courtesy of my Jennay – of Absolutely Photography. Thanks for being my visual director so I can just get my cook on.

Cheers!

Duck Confit

4 Comments February 1, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 3 of 103

Duck Confit was a revelation for me while in culinary school. First how easy it was to make and second how good it was fresh out of the duck fat. It’s rich, tender, crunchy, salty and delicious. Confit is something cooked in its own fat, duck legs cooked in duck fat, pork butt cooked pork fat aka carnitas – you get the idea right? Making it, is fairly easy and inexspensive. Duck leg/thighs are about $6 a pound (1 pound would be 2 leg/thighs) currently at whole paycheck, they are organic and air chilled, try to buy the best you can. They will have duck fat at most of their bigger stores too – if you didn’t already get some or buy on line. Like I said in the last post it will change your life. April’s recipe is encouraged in the book to go with her cassoulet. You cannot have cassoulet with out duck confit. Since I just did cassoulet for my birthday last month, I’m going to wait until much later in the year to show you guys her cassoulet. Which means I will be making duck confit again….yippee! Her duck confit is different from mine, I like her cooking method a lot. She serves the leg/thighs intact with super crispy skin, I prefer to pull the meat and crisp it up shredded.

Here is what you will need

2 duck leg/thighs with plenty of fatty skin

3 cups rendered duck fat:)

12 black peppercorns

12 juniper berries

4 dried pequin chilies

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 sprig of thyme, leaves only

4 cloves of garlic peeled

1/2 cup kosher salt

Place the peppercorns, juniper berries, chilies and cinnamon in a mortar. Crush them with the pestle to a corse consistency.Add the thyme leaves and the garlic and crush into a pasteAdd the salt and mix well. Put the duck on a plate and sprinkle with the spice/salt mixture, covering all sides and pat into legs gently.Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours up to 48 hours. I buy duck leg/thighs in bulk so I made a ton.These have been marinating for 48 hours. April does hers for 24 hours, I pushed it to 48, mostly because I couldn’t cook them the next day so they carried on for one more day in the fridge, not a big deal. Next rinse off all of the spice mixture and pat each leg dry.

Assemble them all in a single layer in the pan.Add the rendered duck fat so it just covers the duck legs.April is very casual about this next part, which I really enjoyed. In school we had to check the temp on the fat every 15 minutes to make sure the fat stayed at 200 F, we cooked it for 3 to 4 hours. April says keep it at a low simmer so you see a bubble here and there and cook for 2 1/2 hours or until the meat comes away from the bone with a twist of a fork. Her method does allow for the leg and thigh to stay a bit more intact, which is better for service as a whole piece. The meat is just as tender as the longer method I was taught in school. Both methods work great, choose the one that fits your final outcome for service. Your house will smell amazing, like Thanksgiving Day, seriously it does. When your legs are done, remove from the fat and drain on a cooling rack if you’re going to shred them. If you’re keeping them intact let them cool completely in the fat, store them this way for up to several weeks. To serve the legs whole and crispy, heat a small amount of duck fat in a saute pan and fry the legs skin side down until the skin is super crispy.I shredded mine. I freeze it in 2 portion servings, wrapped in foil then plastic. Thats why I make a ton at a time:) It’s always there for me, I love it. Looks like carnitas, right? So good!!!! To crisp up the shredded duck confit, same as the intact legs, small amount of duck fat in saute pan.I made a couple of salads, I love duck confit in a salad.Spinach, Dried Cherries, Stilton Cheese and Crispy Duck Confit with a Vanilla Bean & Roasted Shallot Dressing.The most over used culinary trend right now. Put an EGG on it! I call this the Breakfast Salad. Sliced romaine tossed with caramelized tangy onion dressing, slices of duck fat fried potatoes, pancetta chunks, poached egg and you guessed it…duck confit!

Thanks for reading, I promise I will shut up about duck for a while.

Cheers!

Fennel-Lemon Marmalade

6 Comments January 30, 2013 Chef Sarah

Recipe 1 of 103

James brought these home for me…Meyer Lemons…lots of them. I thought to myself…what to do with all these beautiful fragrant luscious lemons. At the time I was reading a girl and her pig, I received the book and the lemons on the same day. These two simple happenings brought me to this project.

Fennel Lemon Marmalade

What you will need.

7 to 8 large thick skinned lemons – wash well

5 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons fennel pollen (find on line or at whole paycheck aka whole foods)

Assemble your clean lemons in a large pot of water, enough water to cover them while they bob around. Cover the lemons with a plate to keep the submerged. I used my deviled egg plate, worked perfectly.

Boil for about an hour, you want them soft but not bursting. Check water as the hour goes to see if it needs replenishing. With a blunt knife, check to see if you can easily pierce them, if so they’re good to go. Reserve 1 1/4 cup of the water. Take them out and let them cool until you can handle them comfortably. Cut them in half, they should look like this. Sorry this photo is blurry.Scoop out all the flesh into a bowl. Cut the rinds into flat pieces and scrape off the white pith.This is the point where I realized the thick skinned lemons would be much easier to work with. The meyer lemon skin is so thin and dainty, it really was like doing surgery, trying not to rip the rind to shreds. More on the final result with meyer lemons later. This step takes awhile be patient – make sure to remove the pith…… pith = bitter. Here is an after shotJulienne the rinds thinly like thisPlace your expertly sliced rinds in a pale pink Le Creuset ( jk, I know not everyone is lucky enough to own this beautiful piece of cookware, I still squeal with girly glee every time I use it, thanks Jennay ) or a 4 qt sauce pot with reserved water from the boiling of the lemons. Grab a chinois/strainer, you will need a medium mesh chinois/strainer, do not use a fine mesh, you won’t get enough of the pulp through. Push the pulp against the side of the chinois to get as much pulp through as possible. You want very little left in the strainer, like this.The sauce pot should have the lemon rinds, reserved lemon water from boiling 1 1/4 cups and all the pulp you could muscle through your chinois. Stir in 5 1/2 cups of sugar (if using meyer lemons do 5 cups of sugar) over a high heat, when the mixture begins to simmer, set your heat for a low simmer and cook for 1-2 hours, the mixture will darken as it cooks. Starting out like thisits getting close to done

to test if the mixture is done, spoon a small amount on to a plate, let it cool. If its sticky and gel like its done, if its loose and runny keep cooking a bit longer.when you nail the consistency, stir in the fennel pollen and let cool. At this point you could process them in jars and they’d keep for up to a year. If you’re going that route I would double the recipe.

This recipe will yield about 5 cups. It will keep in the fridge for a month. Slather all over toast and or scones. Add it to your next cheese plate instead of fig jam. The longer it sits the more bloomy it becomes and you can really taste the fennel pollen. I used it as a layer in some shortcakes with fresh strawberries on top. OMG it was so good. I have gifted a few friends with this lovely marmalade, hopefully they’ll comment and share their thoughts on it. This was my first adventure into Marmalade, there are several different methods on making it, I found April’s easy and the outcome was divine. I’ve made it with both meyer lemons and regular thick skinned lemons. The flavor is much sweeter and mild with meyer lemons, both were great tasting, if you want more of a tart twang use the regular lemons.

Try it and let me what you think.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

2 Comments March 21, 2012 Chef Sarah

Here is a re do on a classic kid dessert that I never really could get my head around. The classic Rice Krispie treat was always so sweet it would hurt your teeth to eat it…that’s not cool. Again in my search for gluten-free recipes I found this recipe….right next to the flax coconut pancakes in Food and Wine magazine of all places. This was an article by Elisabeth Prueitt, pastry chef at Tartine and Bar Tartine in San Francisco. Instead of margarine or butter, how about coconut oil…YES!
Recipe makes 24 squares

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 10 oz bag of marshmallows – use vegan marshmallows if that’s your thing

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter – use a really good one

7 ounces of brown rice crispy cereal (6 cups), which is naturally gluten-free.

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan with coconut oil. In a large sauce pot, melt 3 tablespoons of coconut oil. Add marshmallows and cook over low heat until melted, stirring constantly. Add peanut butter and stir until incorporated.Remove the pot from the heat and add the rice crispy cereal and stir to mix thoroughly.Quickly scrape the mixture into the greased pan and pat the mixture down with slightly wet hands to form the mix.Cool and cut into squares….a treat you can feel good about eating and giving to your kids and they taste GREAT! These will keep for a week in the fridge, best served at room temp.

Gluten Free Flax-Coconut Pancakes

5 Comments March 20, 2012 Chef Sarah

Pancakes haven’t always been my favorite breakfast and I love almost all things breakfast. Pancakes are fluffy and sweet but thats about it, no real nutritional value to keep you going to lunch. I found this recipe in Food and Wine magazine while searching for gluten free ideas, don’t get me wrong I have nothing against gluten, I love me some wheat…..but I was intrigued by this recipe..so we put these on one of our weekly menus and I gotta say I was blown away by how good they were, so I’m sharing them with you.

First off let’s talk alternative flours. This recipe call for 3 flours, 2 starches & flax meal. These are not your everyday grocery items, but easy to find and not too pricey. The gluten free food thing is huge right now, some people really thrive on not having wheat in their diet and some just do it because their neighbor is doing it. If you think you have a wheat allergy get it confirmed by your doctor, if you do, chances are avoiding wheat will change your life for the better. If you think you’ll get skinny by not eating wheat…..you will not.Bob’s Red Mill is a popular brand that you should be able to find in your local grocery store. You will for sure find all of these at your local health food store. Another option for the rice flours is to make them yourself, if you have a Vita Mix or a Blendtec blender or any other super bad *ss blender, take regular rice and blend until the rice becomes a fine powder…done! now you have rice flour…so cool. You can do the same with the flax seeds. Consult the recipe book or manual that came with your blender for details on settings and all that. All these flours combined, mimic the all purpose flour that would be used in regular pancake recipes.

Recipe makes 12 – 4″ pancakes

1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup white rice flour
1/4 sugar
3 tablespoons potato starch
3 tablespoons tapioca starch
3 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk, room temp
1/4 coconut oil, melted, plus more for the griddle
Fresh fruit and real maple syrup, for serving.

I love these pancakes so much I mixed all the flours together in the measurements above in separate bags so I always have this dry mix ready to go.In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients. In a smaller separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just moistened, if the batter is too thick add small amounts of milk until it is just right. Preheat a griddle or a pan, grease with coconut oil and start making pancakes.Serve hot with REAL maple syrup and any fresh fruit you have on hand. These also keep well in the fridge for a few days and toast up nicely for a quick breakfast on the go. The flax meal & coconut flour add fiber, omega 3’s and minerals. YUM!! Enjoy!