Peach and blueberry birthday pie...... Nutmeg abuse and nutmeg psychosis

Prebaked pie looked much nicer than the baked one!

 
Yup. There's no mistake in my post title. There is such a thing as abusing and overdosing on nutmeg!

We don't usually ingest high quantities of this spice, and rarely in it's raw, natural form and without other foods to dilute it. But this is apparently what one 25 year old consistently did, according to a clinical case detailed in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (1, thanks Elisa from the lab for sharing this paper :).

This young man would only take 120 - 650 mg of nutmeg at a time and would exhibit agitated behavior along with hallucinations, extreme thirst, vomiting, and "a sense of impending death". His thirst would be so severe that he would drink up to 5 L of water per hour. While hospitalized, he continued to ingest nutmeg which was bought for him by another patient. Not all symptoms are attributed to the nutmeg abuse however: he has a history of mental illness which could have enhanced some of the symptoms produced from the nutmeg (1).

This was kind of unsettling so I went searching for a more recent study published in 2011: The authors looked back at the records of cases filed in the California Poison Control System database from 1997 to 2008 and found 119 cases of nutmeg (alone) abuse, of which roughly 70% were intentional abusers and the rest unintentional (2). Their findings show that intentional abusers were 80% more likely to be in the 13 - 20 year old range, and those who were intentional abusers were also more likely to experience agitation and tachychardia (faster than normal heart beat) (2).

So my question is, what constitutes intentional abuse of nutmeg? I love nutmeg, I use it often in baking and cooking, I love the smell, I use it intentionally, I'm a nutmeg abuser!!!!!! 

Recipe adapted from See You in the Morn and inspired by Laurie's galette (both made super professional looking pies!).

Pie dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground oats
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup butter, cold
1/2 tsp salt
Iced water (optional)

Filling:
3 1/2 - 4 cups diced stone fruits (I used 1 fuzzy peach, 1 white nectarine, 1 small apple, 1/2 pint blueberries)
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp grated ginger
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Crumble:
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup ground oats
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

In a food processor, pulse all the pie dough ingredients (except for iced water) together until a dough forms. For those without a processor, combine flour, almonds, oats, butter and salt into a large bowl. Cut cold butter into the flour mixture until they look like butter crumbs coated in flour. Use hands to knead into dough. I added a little iced water to help incorporate the flour mixture but this is unnecessary if your dough is well formed. Place dough in fridge to chill and rest and wait for us.

Preheat the oven to 400F and set the rack in the middle of the oven. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: combine fruits with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, lemon zest and juice, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Melt butter over a double boiler and take off heat. Add flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix until all crumbly.

Roll out the dough about 1/2 cm width and lay out on to a pie pan (I used a cast iron pan) 9" diameter. Bake the dough alone for about 5 - 7 mins until it hardens slightly, spoon pie filling on to this dough and top with crumble. 

Return to oven and bake for 15 mins at 400F. Reduce the heat to 375F and continue baking for 45 mins to 1 hr. The crumble topping should be a nice toasty golden colour with a crunchy texture.

Baked pie, the filling was leaking all over the place and sealed the spring form pan shut!

Peach and nectarine pie, made at the same time as the peach and blueberry but in cast iron pan - just double the recipe!

Happy eating!

1. Brenner N. et al. Chronic Nutmeg Psychosis. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Vol 86. p179 - 180.
2.Carstairs SD and Cantrell FL. The spice of life: An analysis of nutmeg exposures in California. Clinical Toxicology. Vol 49. No. 3, p177 - 180.

White nectarine and blueberry sauce..... Iron chef: Russell vs. Jen

Russell, over at A High School Foodie, and I have decided to each create a recipe featuring an ingredient of our choosing. We decided to go for something in season, so we chose stone fruits. In my mind, it was like a scene from Iron Chef (well, very loosely analogous!): secret ingredient is/are a stone fruit(s), we have (roughly) 1 week to think of 1 creation, and... there are no judges. Well, maybe except you! Russell's food is pretty creative and very impressive, and I wondered what on earth I had gotten myself into. So after 4 days racking my mind, I decided to go simple and sweet. I like simple, and definitely sweet! I love this sauce because it can be used as a topping for many things, and when reduced down can become jam without added preservatives..... Wahoo!

Ok, on to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 white nectarine, diced (or other stone fruit: if the skin is soft, you can leave it on, like most nectarines, but for fuzzy peaches, better to peel skin (you can do this by dunking the entire fruit in hot hot scalding water/boiling water for a few seconds, and the skin will detach more from the flesh))
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
5 g ginger, zested (zested? grated? never know if this was the correct term - anyway, ginger has to be mushed as fine as possible so that all the juices are leaking out)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
Water, if needed
Honey or sugar, to your taste

In sauce pan, on medium heat, cook down nectarine and blueberries until they begin to break down. Add in the nectarine stone as well, if there is still flesh clinging on. Add in lemon juice, lemon zest, ginger, water (if needed) and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the fruits are 3/4ths broken down. Stir in cinnamon and if needed, some honey/sugar. The white nectarine was quite sweet on its own, so I only added about 1 tsp of honey. This is ready for spooning over some yogurt or ice cream or just eating it out of the pan, which is what I did. 

At this point, if you prefer a smoother texture, you can blend up everything (make sure to take out the nectarine stone) then return the sauce to the pan and cook for 1 more minute. The skins of the fruit hold a lot of the vitamins and minerals that may not have totally diffused into the sauce so blending it helps incorporate that.

You can continue to cook down this sauce to make a jam. Let it simmer/bubble on low to medium low for 8 - 10 more mins or until thickened to the consistency of your liking. The natural pectins will thicken the jam so usually no additives are needed. The pectins are also a good source of soluble fiber.

Ok, so I believe I may have lost this Iron Chef competition when I took a look at Russell's Peach Gnocchi with Champagne sauce recipe. The first picture alone was jaw-dropping. But this was definitely fun and thanks to Russell's creative recipe, I'll have another use for stone fruit! Make sure to check out his awesome website, Peach gnocchi is only 1 of his many many creative ideas!

Happy eating everyone!

Nectarine berry sauce over french toast

Frozen bananas with cinnamon dark chocolate

These frozen bananas are delicious, simple, and topping combinations are almost endless. Perfect for those hot, hazy, and lazy summers! This recipe is adapted from Katerina and Oishii Treats.

Ingredients:
3 large bananas, cut in half cross-section, each skewered with one take-out chopstick
Freeze for at least 1 hour.

100g (about 1/2 cup) roughly chopped dark chocolate
50 g (about 1/4 cup) milk chocolate
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Toppings: chopped walnuts, peanuts, coconut flakes, pecans, pistachios, dried cherries, broken candy cane bits, caramel, marshmallows, brownie chunks, sesame seeds, anything else you would like to coat your chocolate covered frozen banana!

Melt chocolate over a double boiler, mix in cinnamon. Cool at room temperature and coat frozen banana. Cover with your chosen topping and freeze for at least another hour. Enjoy!!

Variation (photo): peppermint extract, dark chocolate, ground almonds

lemon, lime, olive oil and flaxseed cookies

The following recipe was adapted from Manu's olive oil and lemon recipe, made for a good friend's milestone birthday. Ground flax seeds were incorporated into the dough for nuttier flavour and texture.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime
1/2 tsp salt

4 egg yolks
1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk together yolks while drizzling in olive oil until smooth and custard-like. Whisk with an electric mixer for faster results (whisking by hand might take a good 20 minutes). In a separate bowl, combine flour, ground flax seeds, sugar, zest and salt. Combine flour mixture into yolk/olive oil mixture and mix until dough is homogeneous. Dough will appear shiny from the oil.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Shape dough into cookie size rounds and bake for 10 - 15 mins or until browned. Once cooled, you should be able to enjoy the nice crunch!