Low Carb Apples, Blueberries and Cinnamon Tart

It is my low carb take on my apple cake. 

It will make your taste buds come alive.

It is so easy and quick to make and Oh, So Comforting to Eat!

Your home will smell lovely whilst this is in the oven, total Cinnamon sweetness...

Unlike all the other cakes and tarts I make, I prefer to eat this one cold. It makes the texture a bit more full bodied, if it makes any sense.

If it does not make sense, have a piece when it is hot and then have a cold one later, you will understand what I mean.

Let's get cooking!!!

You will need:

4 eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup quark
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 heap teaspoon of ground cinnamon {or more, if you are a cinnamon lover like me}
1/3 cup xilytol {or sweeten to taste with your preferred sweetener}

8 tablespoons oat bran
2 sliced in 3mm gala apples {skin and all}

1 grated small carrot {coarse grater}

1/2 cup of blueberries


Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrades.
Beat the eggs until they are mixed well and add all ingredients to a bowl {except the blueberries} and mix well. Let it sit for 5 minutes and mix again.
Spread some oil on a non stick baking tray {20X20cm on this particular recipe} and remove the excess with kitchen paper.
Pour the mix in and top it up with the blueberries.  Take it to the oven, top shelf.
I baked mine on 200 Celsius for 5 minutes and then turned it down to 180 for 10/15 minutes. Keep checking. It will be ready when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Remember all ovens are different, so keep checking.


PLEASE NOTE:
DO NOT leave it inside the oven after you have turned it off because it carries on cooking and it will dehydrate anything that stays in there. That is a massive mistake people make that makes all foods dry and paper like.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Please share with your friends and make comments, if you can.

Scallops with Chorizo

Cooking does not have to be complicated, elaborate or boring!
You can get big flavours with simple ingredients.
I had this ready in less than 5 minutes.
Just make sure everything is at room temperature.

Please take a moment to read the instructions for cooking before you start making it.

You will need:

6 scallops
6 pieces or slices of chorizo {I used sliced as it was all I had here but prefer the pieces/chunks spicy/hot}
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
A squeeze of fresh lemon {optional but it does bring some zing to the dish}

Option 1 - Chorizo pieces: Heat a griddle pan, wok or frying pan until it is almost at smoking point and add the chorizo pieces and olive oil. Mix it until the chorizo releases its oils {about 30 seconds} and add the scallops, stir and let it cook undisturbed for about 1 minute and then turn them over for another minute and turn the heat off. Serve and squeeze the lemon, if using it.

Option 2 - Chorizo slices: Heat the pan of your preference like above. Add olive oil and scallops and cook them undisturbed for one minute then turn the scallops over and add the sliced chorizo, stir and cook for another minute and turn the heat off. Serve and squeeze the lemon, if using it.

You can add black pepper if you wish and some chopped parsley or even garlic if that is what you want. When I made it this time, I went for the big and yet simple flavours.

When I do use garlic, I chop it roughly and add it before I turn the scallops over, so it does not cook the garlic too much. If using parsley, I add it just before turning the heat of and stir. I sprinkle the black pepper right at the end too as I love its raw earthy fragrance.

Serve with a salad, a slice of toasted bread or both ...

Foil Lid

I was simmering a Thai dish on my wok and realized I needed a lid.

As my wok is massive, I had no lid for it!

And then I saw it, sitting there on top of the counter, calling my name and my imagination:

FOIL!!!

A brilliant moment of inspiration!

And the best part was that, afterwards there was no washing up to do!!