It's a particularly Jewish food memory, I think, because no one out here that I know has ever heard of halvah, at least not like it was in my memory.
I can't always have seeds or nuts, and honestly, I'm not sure how long to soak sesame seeds before the drying process. This batch was the experiment, but the chemistry works, at least. Also, I can't have syrups, sugars or honey, so, again, I went for ground dates.
This was the basic recipe, made in a monster blender. :)
3 cups lightly toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup sesame oil
7 medjool dates, pitted
1 tablespoon vanilla.
Reserve a handful of seeds for the top. Blend the toasted seeds and oil into tahini. It should be pretty liquid. If it's not, then add more oil. This also is a good base for lots of sauces and dressings. Add the dates and vanilla. Blend until it starts to caramelize - the blender should be strong enough to heat up the mixture and not explode. Spoon the mixture into a pan and spread well. Top with the rest of the seeds. Cover and refrigerate until solid. Slice and eat!
If you can't use your blender to heat the mixture you could try to heat the blended mixture in a pan or add some gelatin dissolved in boiling water before refrigerating.
My batch was a bit too caramelized (I was fully expecting to have to make a gelatin solution...it surprised me!), so I think next time I won't blend it as long. Dates, I'm guessing, get more of a burn-y taste than sugars or honey when heated, so I think it's necessary to keep it from heating too much.
4 comments:
I just received the "raw energy" cookbook (which is more about raw snacks) and there's a halvah balls recipe in there involving ground sesame seeds, tahini, dash of cinnamon, a bit of honey and vanilla extract (I omitted the cocoa/carob powder).
BTW do you have a recipe for a gluten free/grain free bean bread without yeast and little or no eggs (I can always replace those if in small amounts)?
Thanks ;).
Is that the title of the cookbook?
Generally I have trouble with raw foods, which is why I soak and ferment so much. Those sound nice, though. I think it's a calcium craving or something. :)
I do have a recipe for a great sourdough bread made with rice flour (or any gluten free flour). Unfortunately, it's meringue-based and contains a gazillion eggs. I think that's why I'm resorting to so many custard or fudge-consistency foods.
At some point when I have time it might not be too hard to transform that bean pancake recipe into a pan bread, though. The guar gum definitely works for the pancakes as a binder...
The book's title is "Raw Energy: 124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body" by Stephanie Tourles
I wouldn't go as far as sprouting seeds for a few days or dehydrate a cracker for 48 hours but stuff like smoothies, nut butter balls and the like is ok with me, esp. since I eat very little sweets (I much prefer a good fruit).
I'm like you: soaking and fermenting ;).
Let me know if you manage to get a decent bean bread. I think the Spunky Coconut made a couple breads with cooked white beans and coconut flour (mostly) though I find them kind of sweet.
Maybe tweaking a flourless (vegan) bean/chickpea brownie/blondie recipe somehow...
Hmm.
Yes, the issue I have with a lot of GAPS breads is that they tend to be on the sweet side.
I'll give a soaked bean bread a try at some point and will post what I find.
Thanks for the info on the cookbook!
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