Chia Seed Crackers, Yard Bird and Chocolate Chilli Souffle – Courses for Cooks in Fife

Our final stop in our tour of Fife food destinations was at Courses for Cooks held in the beautiful Victorian Manse, just outside Cowdenbeath, the home of Jenny Thomson.  Jenny is an experienced and well-travelled professional chef and cook who believes in cooking with fresh, local, seasonal produce with the minimum of fuss and maximum flavour.

As you can see the kitchen is spacious and beautifully appointed.  Claire from Foodie Quine and I were the only participants in this Chocolate and Chilli Demo and Dine but there is plenty of room for larger parties and this would be a fun alternative to going out to dinner for a special occasion.  We were greeted with coffee and shortbread and then settled down to watch Jenny prepare our dinner!

This was our menu:

Each dish was beautifully presented, as you can see, and Jenny explained everything she was doing while preparing the meal.  As someone who loves to cook I would have enjoyed getting my hands in there myself preparing the recipes. Courses for Cooks runs a range of courses including Seasonal Entertaining, Vegetarian Feast, Fantastic Fish, Easy Bread Making, Beginners Baking, Perfect Puddings, Game Cooker and A Taste of…(France, Italy etc.)

Seasonal Fish Ceviche

Chia, Flax and Cocoa Nib Crackers

I found these Chia, Flax and Cocoa Nib Crackers completely fascinating, from the gloopy texture of the soaked chia seeds to the deliciousness of the finished crackers.  Thanks to Jenny for agreeing to let me publish the recipe.

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Chia, Flax and Cocoa Nib Crackers

Delicious, crisp gluten free crackers with a nutty flavour.

Author: Jenny Thomson

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp chia seed
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tbsp buckwheat flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa nibs
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. Set the oven to 170C/Gas 3
2. Put the chia seed in a bowl and pour over 100 ml boiling water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.
3. Pour hot water over the cocoa nibs t just cover and allow to stand for 10 min, then chop finely.
4. Combine the ground flax seed, rice flour, buckwheat flour and fine sea salt in a bowl
5. Add the soaked chia and cocoa nibs to the dry ingredients and mix to forma stiffish paste.
6. Lightly oil pieces of non-stick parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
7. Put the dough onto the mat, cover with the second piece and roll out to the thickness of 1 seed.
8. Peel the top mat off the dough, you can either bake it in a whole piece or cut square or triangle shapes into the dough.
9. Put the mat with the dough on it onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 min.

Recipe Notes

Store in an airtight tub or tin.

The Chia, Flax Crackers, in the photo in the recipe card are the ones I made at home, I didn’t have any Cocoa Nibs so used sesame seeds instead.  I wouldn’t recommend using baking parchment as I found that the crackers stuck and I only managed to salvage about half of them.  Definitely go for silicone baking mats!  They still tasted great though and I will be making them again.

Roasted Rolled Yard Bird with Roasted Rainbow Vegetables with Puy Lentils

The Yard Bird is a roasted chicken breast stuffed with pheasant leg meat, breadcrumbs, vegetables, herbs, cocoa nibs and chillies and served with a delicious dish of roasted vegetables served with lentils cooked in vegetable bouillon and topped with goats cheese walnuts and cocoa nibs.

Chocolate Chilli Souffle

Dinner was served in the traditionally decorated dining room of the Manse with a glorious view  of the surrounding countryside.