dianafilms

Love Potion

Summer Love Potion
Squeeze 6 organic lemons,
2 organic limes, zest one of the lemons and put in about 1 teaspoon of the zest,
mince a bit of fresh organic mint,
sprinkle in a tiny bit of hibiscus (dry) 1/3 teaspoon ought to do it.
Add honey or xylitol to taste (please use as little as possible)
Add filtered water to taste.
Sometimes I also add a few culinary rose petals into the mix.

another version
involves sliced cucumber, tarragon, mint with just a touch of lemon juice.

Too much time in California? maybe. Still tastes good though and serves as a fine tonic.

Valentine's day, time for Aphrodisiacs

Please put the following items in your cart and blend curiously:

Mushrooms, truffles, frisee, almonds, chocolate, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, peas, lavender, vanilla, olive oil, mollusks, asparagus, artichokes, anchovies and other small high omega 3 fishies. Also a little lamb and or chicken if you like.

Keep it light for most meals that you plan on wooing your intended with, heavy food and heavy sauce will make you sleepy, sluggish and not agile enough for the loveolympics.

(C) Francesca Prada 2011

Mushroom Soup: Seduction By way of Tummy

mushroom soup:
This is a very loose adaptation of Isabel Allende's "recipe for soup of reconciliation"

Buy a bunch of dried porccini shrooms and other tasty dried types, rinse them thoroughly then soak them in a combination of warm chamomile tea, coarsely cracked pepper, salt and a bay leaf or two. Soak for 15 mins, or until they reconstitute.  Soak for too long and they will get soggy and or rubbery.  Save your rubber textures for other things.

Slice 2 yellow onions, mince 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, brown in a skillet in olive oil.  Remove most the onions & garlic from the pan and let sit. The mushrooms will be sauteed in there shortly.

Mince some thyme, a tiny bit of lavender, crack some more pepper, grind a little nutmeg, all these will go into the soup in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Lightly strain the mushrooms, and please keep the liquid they were soaking in, it could become nectar.

Saute the mushrooms with some of the onions and garlic. Towards the end when the mushrooms have soaked up some of the flavor add some of the liquid they were soaking in as well as a little bit of wine or a dash of light vinegar if you don't like alcohol. If you're serving wine with dinner, a table spoon into them pan ought to do it, this will deglaze the pan and enhance the flavors. Let all contents of skillet sit.

You can use a stock pot for the next step but I think its overkill, I use a 2qt pot. Simmer 1 pint of chicken broth in a pot and slowly add the rest of liquid and spices the shrooms were soaking in, add the mushrooms and onions and garlic. simmer for 20 minutes or until the soup tastes complete to your unique taste buds.

Pull out the prettiest mushrooms and onions, set them aside so they can be used for presentation. Pull out the bay leaf and toss it.

Spice time: the pepper goes in first, the lavender 2nd wait five minutes, add some truffle oil, just a little.

Use an inverted blender to puree the mushrooms, onions and garlic. It may splash back a little so make sure the pan you used is deep enough.  Wearing soup is less glamorous than you think and ends up in the most surprising places.  Putting a dash of truffle behind your ears and knees on the other hand, that is a nice surprise.

Final spice time: the thyme and nutmeg last, be generous with the thyme and careful with the nutmeg.  The only person that needs to know about the nutmeg is you, it adds just a little lift to the soup.

Serve immediately if you can so that the blended stuff does not separate, otherwise whisk before serving.

Pour soup into bowls, garnish with onion & mushroom and sprig of lavender, turn of pepper and a lovely truffle oil doodle.

Some people use cream to thicken the soup, if you feel like you want a thicker soup and are wanting to avoid dairy then just add a couple spoonfuls of mashed potato. I think the soup is fine without cream.  Dairy is such a 'farty' additive and as such can truly reduce any seduction momentum you may have gathered in both the making, presenting and eating of the soup, unless you're familiar enough with each other, or if you just have a very earthy sense of humor.  In which case, drink your dairy and fart and flirt away...

(C) Francesca Prada 2007, rev 2012

Trippy Chili

for one hour cook:
3 cups kidney beans-pre soaked overnight with a couple of pieces of kombu seaweed
2 tsp rose, green, black & white peppercorns
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp dulse instead of salt
1/2 tsp chipotle chili flakes
3 cloves of garlic
3 cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon

for the following 45 minutes:
2 diced yellow onions
3 cups beef stock
1/2 cup beer or near beer or sparkly pear cider (something not too sweet & fizzy)
2 cups pinto beans-canned
2 cups of stewed tomatoes

for the last 45 minutes:
pre cooked grilled ground beef or beef substitute
2 tsp marjoram
1 tbsp smoked ancho chili
1 tbsp smoked paprika

Kapow, plfrthtrrrt. this chilli has been brought to you by our sponsors Beano, and years and years of eating amazingly tasty spices, spices so good you feel like you're tripping. Not that I would know what tripping is like.
Fartcesca

Hippy Gluten Free Cookies

Don't get excited, not that kind of hippy cookie!

mix dry ingredients:
Hazelnut or Almond meal and some gluten free flour mix: 2 cups or so (too much flour makes them cakey, too little makes them too buttery and sugary) So go by how the dough looks and add more if it needs more...

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon pink salt
1/3 teaspoon ginger
1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice (if you like it)
1/4 teaspoon or less of ground clove (if you like it)
Shake up the dry stuff so its all good and blended.

Mix wet ingredients (in order of appearance) until fluffy then add dry mix to wet mix slowly.
1 Cup creamed butter or Coconut oil if dairy causes problems (if using coconut oil, add a pinch more salt if it feels right)

Sugar:
1/4 cup of zylitol
1/3 cup maple syrup
or
2/3 cup brown sugar and 2/3 cup of white death (white sugar, eeew)

2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Add Chocolate chips and crystalized ginger chunks/slices/slivers etc

Stick the dough in the fridge if its too soft to work with
drop tiny drops on a parchment lined cookie sheet or if you have a silpat even better.

Bake at 375 until you like the way they look/taste

om, nom nom: francesca

Torta Recipe

This is a recipe that has been published in "Reel Recipes from Reel Women." Its a pretty handy book of quick and yummy healthy food compiled by Nina Knapp at Crone Productions, it includes recipes from women directors, feellow foodie filmmakers.  Its getting lots of press and after trying out some of the recipes I can see why. NomNom!

TORTA, think of this as a savory spanish upside down quiche:
Ingredients:
eggs
a handful of yellow potatoes
spinach
arugula
sheep cheese
red pepper
yellow onion
red onion
green olives
garlic
almond milk
pepper
coconut oil

in an oven friendly skillet that is oiled with coconut oil
thinly sliced potatoes serve as a crust
whipped eggs (egg, almond milk, paprika and a pinch of salt)
*trick, if you whisk the egg whites separately and then fold them together with the yolk at the last minute you'll have a fluffy torta.

in a separate skillet chopped red onion & yellow onion, finely minced garlic, when these two start turning golden brown add in
red pepper, sliced green olives, coarsely ground black & green peppercorns: saute until the onion starts turning darker. Remove from heat and let stand.

in another skillet quickly stir some blanched arrugula and spinach with olive oil heat and stir until the greens wilt and darken. Then remove from heat, add some sheep cheese and wait.

Add thin layer of eggs to the bottom of the potato lined skillet, cook at low heat until bubbling. then add sauteed greens in one layer, then add another layer of thinly sliced potatos.

Add in a layer of the sauteed onions, peppers, olives and garlic. Another potato layer...

Add the rest of the egg batter

either cover the skillet on the stove top at low heat or bake the torta in the skillet in the oven.

When the torta is done you flip the whole thing onto a plate and let it cool to room temp.
It should look golden brown on the outside. It tastes best at RT with a little bit of fresh greens on the side and a little romesco.

Buen Provecho.
Francesca

nb: I've made this with mostly egg whites and it tasted pretty good, lighter, also I'm of the lactose no likey presuasion, but you can use Moo goo if you like. As well as cheese, a nice sheep cheese would probably be drool o riffic. Since the cheese is salty, there's no need for salt until after the cooking, then leave it up to everyone else.

Franny's Cold Zapping Throat Soothing Recipe

Franny's Cold Zapping Throat Soothing Recipe

Tea;
3 cups water in a saucepan
take 1 whole piece of ginger, wash ginger, slice it up into chunks, put in pot bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes.
Add lemon juice from 1 or two lemons,
Add Honey or maple syrup (both have great minerals and are not as bad for you as sugar) to taste
Optional: Add several sticks of licorice root
Optional: add stevia leaves instead of maple syrup or honey
Optional: add cayenne pepper if you want to detox and sweat out your bug.
Drink all day long and just keep adding water and lemon juice and reheating it.

Hope it helps you feel better, as for food keep it really simple, chicken soup, leafy green veggies and fresh fruit like apples and orange slices.

Thermonuclear chicken soup

Ok, too many sneezes on the other end of the line, so here goes:

In a stockpot
Clean water- filtered about 1/2 to 3/4 full keep adding water as needed
chicken stock (organic-free range)
chicken bones & chicken (same)
1 oz vinegar-helps pulls the minerals from the bone
Bring to a boil, cook at med heat until meat has separated from bone.

take out bones and meat and cool the stock skimming off most of the fat once its cool. In the old days, they would keep the chicken fat in a jar and use it to cook with. Now with all the weird stuff going on, its better not to, just toss it. Most toxins get stored in fat.

Now you can add the bones and chicken back, bring the pot to a simmer for 30 to 45 mins or so and add:
7-12 whole cloves of garlic-just score them, no need to slice
hand full of black, green & pink peppercorns,
star anise-gives it a nice bracing cooling undertone
6 bay leaves-take them out after 1.5 hours
5 whole red dried chilies-gives it a kick and helps detox
1 tbsp paprika-earthy feel
Some powdered Sage to taste-goes with chicken but optional
4 chopped and sliced onions-tangy and zaps colds
8 stalks of celery medium sliced-full of minerals
1 fennel thickly sliced-ditto
5 med sized carrots, sliced- beta carotene
1 celery root peeled and cubed-minerals and helps ground the soup
1/2 cup chopped up parsley the dark green chewy kind-loads of vitamin B
Italian parsley to taste as a garnish-loads of vitamin B

Optional:
Other root vegetables-helps ground the soup, Turnips, etc...
Fresh sage leaves-yummyxo
Nurse Franhead