Ginger and chili kick starter – without a juicer

November 8, 2014December 4, 2014 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Are you among those people that believe that you need a nice and expensive juicer to make your own juice? Well, I was once one of those people and as I knew I was moving from one end of the world to another I didn’t wanna go and spend the necessary amount of money on a juicer and was therefore not making any juices.
After a winter with a few colds, a sore throat and a bad craving for home made juice I decided to come up with an alternative. I went to my kitchen, looked in all my cabinets and quickly decided to try the blender, bowl, colander and kitchen towel method and you know what? It worked perfectly… and in that moment I realized that I had probably just saved about $200 (the average price for a good juicer in Denmark) – $200 that I could use on something else and still get a perfect juice whenever I wanted 🙂
Know that I have moved I still use this method as I find it a little stupid to spent money on something that I can do myself and get the same result. Of cause it takes a little longer (15 minutes) but I think it is worth it in the end and you will definitely fell more passionately about your juice when it is made this way 🙂

If you get hooked on the juice-without-a-juicer idea, you can check out my other my other juice recipes which includes carrot and clementine, clementine and orange, cranberry enegizer and the green vitamin bomb.

Ingredients (4 servings)

2 large or 4 medium apples

1 orange

0.5 lemon

1 chili

1 tbsp ginger root

0.5 cup water, cold

Rinse the apples in cold water, remove the core and chop into smaller pieces. Place in a regular blender together with the cold water. Blend for a few seconds to give space to remaining ingredients (this is not necessary if your blender is big enough to contain it all).
Peel the orange, lemon and ginger, cut it into smaller pieces and add it to the blended apples together with the chili. I have used a Tabasco chili, which gives it a little kick – not too much, not too little, but you can use any chili.
Blend it all well together. I use the ‘liquify’ button on my KitchenAid blender for about 30 seconds.

Find a bowl, a colander and a kitchen towel. It is important that it is a brand new kitchen towel that you only use for juicing and nothing else.
Place the colander in the bowl, cover it with the towel and pour approximately half of your juice batter into the towel.

Use one hand to assemble the towel and the other hand to twist it around. Keep twisting to get all the juices out. Remove the all the dry fruit from the towel and repeat the process with the other half of the juice batter.
This portion makes about 3.5 cups (a lille less than 1 liter) and is enough for 4 servings.

Let the juice rest in the fridge for an hour or two if you want a strong ginger taste. Otherwise you can serve immediately in a glass with a few ice cubes.
If you have kids and plan on serving this juice for breakfast, you should consider leaving out the chili and only use half of the ginger.

Serve for breakfast, after a trip to the gym or use it as a natural remedy against a sore throat. This juice can be serves for anything at any time, so there is no excuse for not trying it 🙂

Bon Appétit Friends!

Ingredients (4 servings)

2 large or 4 medium apples

1 orange

0.5 lemon

1 chili

1 tbsp ginger root

1.25 dl water, cold

Sweet and colorful Carrot and Clementine Juice

February 3, 2014 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 1 Comment

As you might have guest I have a juice period 😀 I make juice of whatever fruit or vegetable we have in the fridge and until now they have all turned out to be delicious!! One of the more untraditional juices I have made recently is my green vitamin bomb with kale, pineapple and ginger. It might sounds strange, but I promise that it tastes wonderful and has a pretty grass-green color.
Not all my juice recipes has been documented – yet – as I make it as often as possible and not always has the time to take pictures. Even though I make juice several times each week I still haven’t made no. 1 juice on my to-do juice-list: beet root juice! And the only reason for this is, that I don’t have any latex gloves at the moment and as I use my hands to squeeze the juice they will get all purple for several days to come…

Well, as with all our other recipes I hope that you will enjoy this one and feel free to leave an comment with your thoughts and/or suggestions 🙂

Ingredients (4 cups)

10 large clementines

4 large carrots

2 large apples

Peel the clementines and remove the core from the apple and cut it into smaller cubes. Wash the carrots and cut the top end off before slicing it into smaller pieces. I prefer to keep the skin on carrot as it contains a lot of vitamins, but make sure that you have washed all the dirt off – otherwise I’ll recommend that you peel it.

Add all the fruit and carrot pieces in a blender and blend at medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a tea towel covered bowl and gather the corners of the tea towel. Use both hands to twist the tea towel around and squeeze all the juice out of the mixture. You will end up will approximately a little less than 1 cup of dry fruit/vegetable waste.Serve immediately with a few ice cubes or fridge for while until cold. The freshly squeezed juice can stored in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Bon Appétit!

Clementine and Orange Juice – true sunshine

February 2, 2014 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but I really need to experience some sunshine very soon! The Danish winter weather has been so wired this season – it has been like a yearlong autumn with rain, storms and grey skies and it is not until recently that we have gotten a bit of snow. Actually some one told me the other day that we have only had 10 hours of sunshine in January… WTF ….!!! No wonder that I miss the sun and all it brings (including the important D-vitamines).
Well, if the sunshine won’t come to me and I don’t have time to vacationing right now, I will have to ‘settle’ with this PERFECT clementine and orange juice. It has a strong and still mild taste of summer and sunshine.

Ingredients (4-5 cups)

8 small clementines

2 large oranges

2 large apples

Peel clementines and oranges. I use a knife, but if you want to get as much out of the fruits as possible you can peel it using you fingers instead. Then remove the core of the apple and chop it.

Place all the fruit in a blend and blend until smooth – it takes approximately 3-4 minutes at medium speed. Cover a mixing bowl with a tea towel and pour the blended fruits in the bowl. Assemble the towel and squeeze with both hands until all the juice is in the bowl and all you have left is the dry fruit meat.

Serve the freshly squeezed juice immediately with a few ice cubes or place it in the fridge to cool down before you serve it. I make it just before serving and even though I always store my fruit in the fridge, the end product still needs cooled down so I use ice cubes.

Bon Appétit!

Green Vitamin Bomb

January 14, 2014 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

It seems to be juice week in our household this week! The past weekend I made apple/carrot juice and ginger/kale juice and yesterday I made a ginger/cranberry juice. Today I have made vitamin bomb with pineapple and kale that taste so wonderful that I’m sorry that I only made one portion (4 glasses) 🙂

When I tell people that I add kale to my juice, they look at me like I’m crazy! But take a moment a think about it… Kale a one of the healthiest vegetables to can spoil you body with. It contains, both protein, fibers, vitamins and minerals and studies have shown that kale contains substances that can help smother cancer cells!

If you want the juice to more clear in color and thin in consistency, you can just pour the juice into the towel and let it drip off – it takes from 2-6 hour and you will only get half the amount of juice + you will leave many of the healthy ingredients in the waste product. I therefore recommend that squeeze it as much as possible so that almost nothing is left for the trash can!

Hope the you will try one of my own favorite juices and you are welcome to leave a commend with your thoughts and/or suggestions for other juices 🙂

Ingredients (4 cups)

3 large apples, chopped

2 cup pineapples, chopped

2 tbsp. ginger, chopped

2 lemons, juice

2 large handfuls kale, rinsed

1 cup water

Place chopped apples, pineapple and ginger in a blender with lemon juice and water.

Blend for 1 minute or until the ingredients begin to form a smooth consistency. Add 1/2 of the rinsed kale (remember to rinse the kale very carefully as it often contains a lot of dirt) and blend again. Add the remaining kale and blend for a few minutes until the juice has a beautiful green color.

Cover a mixing bowl with a tea towel and pour half of the juice into the towel. Twist the towel and squeeze all the juice into the bowl. Do the same with the other half of the juice. Squeeze as much as you can – the waste product should be dry.

Serve the juice immediately with a few ice cubes in each glass or fridge for up to 24 hour.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (1 liter)

3 large apples, chopped

5 dl pineapples, chopped

2 tbsp. ginger, chopped

2 lemons, juice

2 large handfuls kale, rinsed

2.5 dl water

Demant’s Cranberry Energizer

January 13, 2014 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Processed juice or fresh home made juice?? Well, I definitely know what I prefer but until a few weeks ago I had never made a single juice myself! I insisted on buying a juice maker before make my own juices, but then suddenly I realized that that I didn’t need a juicer – all I needed was my fantasy, some extra tea towels and a washing machine 🙂

During that that week I have made several different juices using all sorts of fruits and vegetables and they have all been a success when served for breakfast or as today, after 2 hours in the gym.

Try this recipe which is filled with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants or make your own version with whatever fruits and vegetables you have in the kitchen (I can reveal that kale gives a beautiful green color and is one of the best vegetables you can serve, if you want to spoil your body).

Ingredients (2 cups)

4 apples

2 carrots

2 inches ginger

1/2 cup cranberries, fresh

1 lemon, juice

1 cup water, cold

Cut the apple into quarters and remove the core. Cut off the top of the carrot and peel the ginger. Cut apples, carrots and ginger into smaller pieces and place it all in a blender together with lemon juice, cranberries and water.

Blend until completely combined and you can begin to se all the juices from the fruits and vegetables being released.
Cover a mixing bowl with a clean tea towel (I a few that are only used for juices or other similar processes) and pour the blended mixture into the tea towel.
Assemble the tea towel so that you can twist it and squeeze all the juice into the bowl. Keep squeezing into to only have a handful of dry vegetable/fruit leftovers in the towel. Pour the juice into a decanter and serve immediately with a few ice cubes or fridge to cool. Fridge for up to two days and remember to stir a few times before serving.

Pour the juice into a decanter and serve immediately with a few ice cubes or fridge to cool. Fridge for up to two days and remember to stir a few times before serving.

Serve for breakfast with warm honey buns or together with a handful of almonds and raisins after a couple of high intensive training 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (0.5 liter)

4 apples

2 carrots

2 inches ginger

1.25 dl cranberries, fresh

1 lemon, juice

2.5 dl water, cold

Vodka Peachini

August 17, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

A while ago we searched the internet for good drink recipe and stumbled upon a great blog by the name Seattle Foodshed, from which we got the inspiration for this lovely and fresh drink. The only difference between theirs and our recipe, is that they add tonic water to their drink making it a bit more thin in the taste but still very delicious. Actually we were going to add tonic water to but didn’t have any that day and realized that we loved it without 🙂

If you have the time, you should definitely go visit their blog as it has a lot of great recipes.

Returning to this specific drink we find it to be perfect for in all situations where drinks are suitable, such as late night get togethers, dinner party drinks or just to celebrate life and happiness 🙂

Ingredients (1 drink)

1 Peach

1 vodka shot

1/2 Cointreau shot

1/2 lime, juice

3 ice cubes

Cane sugar (for the glass)

Cut the peach into two and remove the stone. Cut a 1/2-inch slice of the peach to use for decoration and peel the rest.

Place the peeled peach, vodka, cointreau, lime juice and two ice cubes in a blender and blend until smooth.

Wet the edge of the glass with lime juice or water and twist it in the sugar.

Pour the drink through a strainer and into the glass. Decorate with the peach slice. Serve as a welcome drink or after dinner.

Bon Appétit!

Summer Day Elderflower Drink

July 7, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Almost every sunday we meet with a couple of friend to have dinner and watch a movie (or rather sleep while the movie is running ;-)).

Today it has been quite warm here in Denmark and all four of us was quite tired from yesterday: Ditte was out dancing with some friends, the boys were here drinking and I was at Roskilde Festival listening to Metallica, and what a splendid experience!!! It was without doubt the best concert I have been to for many years, so I’ll definitely going to see them next time the visit Denmark (or some nearby country)!

Well, as I wrote above, we were quite wasted, so I decided to make an easy refreshment to start the evening. It only takes a few minutes to make and it tastes delicious and refreshing. The elderflower cordial in this recipe is homemade and contains both ginger and chili, which makes it less sweet than regular elderflower cordial. But if you don’t have the patience (4-5 days) to make your own, a bought one from the local super market is just as good. Just make sure that you buy good quality product 🙂

Ingredients (6-7 glasses)

1 bottle white wine

1 cup elderflower cordial

10 ice cubes

1 lime

5 mint leaves

Slice the lime and the mint leaves and add them to a pitcher together with the rest of the ingredients and stir well with a spoon to combine. In this version I have used pineapple mint, but you can use any kind of mint or even leave it out you don’t have anything or don’t like it.

Serve on a warm summer day 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (6-7 glasses)

1 bottle white wine

2.5 elderflower cordial

10 ice cubes

1 lime

5 mint leaves

Spicy Elderflower Cordial and Syrup

June 30, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

I few days ago I was out walk with my mom and a friend of mine. We went to walk my friends moms dog, but we ended up going on an elderflower hunt instead 😀

We went to an area where there in our childhood was a playground, but unfortunately (for the kids living there now) the area is now overgrown with nettles, ground elder, brambles and elderflowers. There had been some elderflower pickers before us, so we had to go home to get a garden cultivator so that we could get the top flowers. In a short while we had picked more than 50 elderflower heads and were ready to walk the now very impatient dog 😀

The elderflower season in Denmark is normally in May/June, but due to the cold weather we have had this spring, you might still be lucky to find some during the next few weeks 🙂

Ingredients

30 – 40 elderflower heads

3 organic lemons, sliced

4 inches ginger root, peeled and sliced

2 red chilies, sliced

4 cups cane sugar

2 tbsp. citric acid

6 cups water

Heat the water until it begins to boil. Carefully remove all the small insects and other not-elderflower-objects from the elderflowers heads, but DON’T rinse! Rinsing them will remove the pollen from the flowers, and the end-result will be less tasteful!

Place all ingredients, except water, in a heat proof bowl and cover it with the boiling water. Stir to combine and dissolve the sugar.

Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and fridge for 3-4 days, stirring occasionally (at least once a day).

Filter the juice through some tightly woven fabric and into cleaned bottles or ice cube bags if you want some for the freezer. If bottled, keep cool for up to 4 weeks.

This portion makes 6 cups of elderflower cordial, but I have chosen only to bottle 4 cups, and make syrup from the remaining 2 cups.

Use for lemonade (1 cup elderflower cordial to 4 cups cold water, 10 ice cubes and 1 sliced organic lemon) or do as me – make elderflower cupcakes (recipe will follow) 🙂

Elderflower Syrup (1 cup)

2 cups elderflower cordial

Heat up the elderflower cordial at low-medium heat in a saucepan. Stir occasionally and let cook until reduced properly. It is up to you, what you think is ‘properly’, but i have reduced it down to 1 cup. You can easily reduce i more, but be careful that it doesn’t burn.

Use for Elderflower Latte, as a syrup for aged cheese, as a cocktail syrup or as an ingredient to you summer cupcakes.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (elderflower cordial)

30 – 40 elderflower heads

3 organic lemons, sliced

10 cm ginger root, peeled and sliced

2 red chilies, sliced

10 dl cane sugar

2 tbsp. citric acid

1.5 liter water

Elderflower Syrup (1 cup)

5 dl elderflower cordial

Food on Demant

by Ann & Chris Demant

beverage

Ginger and chili kick starter – without a juicer

Sweet and colorful Carrot and Clementine Juice

Clementine and Orange Juice – true sunshine

Green Vitamin Bomb

Demant’s Cranberry Energizer

Vodka Peachini

Summer Day Elderflower Drink

Spicy Elderflower Cordial and Syrup