Celiac Shiksa

French Toast and food prep on a snowy day

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:36:00 +0000

Today's the last day of winter break for me. I know the next few days are going to be hectic and crazy and the last thing I'm going to feel like doing when I come home will be cooking. I'll likely be so exhausted that the most I'll be able to do is grunt a hello at Eric and tell him to heat something up in the microwave.

So I'm prepared. Yesterday and today I've been chopping, slicking, baking and cooking like crazy so that I don't have to worry about anything at all. Friday's my birthday, so there won't be any cooking that day, unless it involves chocolate.

The supplies in my fridge are packed up and ready to heat and serve: french toast for tomorrow's breakfast, beef stew for lunch, shepherd's pie for dinner. Tuesday we'll probably have shepherd's pie for lunch and beef stew for dinner, just to mix things up a bit. We get bored easily. I've also baked some yummy pumpkin cranberry muffins for mid-day snacks, chopped up fruit for smoothies, and prepared the sauce and chopped everything for the lettuce cups with stir-fried chicken that I'm hoping to be feeling well enough to make on Wednesday. On Thursday, if there are no more leftovers, I'll make black bean pumpkin soup with the pre-browned turkey that I popped in the freezer. All I'll have to do is open a couple of cans and stir everything together.

I'd also planned to have bread for breakfast in my bread machine, but we pretty much ate the entire loaf before it even had time to cool down. There's something about freshly-baked bread still warm that is irresistible. This is why I don't bake it that often. I'll just eat it. Even Eric, who claims to hate carbs, can't resist its charms.

This morning I found the thick heel of leftover bread staring at me, telling me that what it really wanted was to become french toast. So I obliged it, and ate the bits that fell apart (with gluten-free breads, smaller is definitely better) and watched the snow accumulate on our deck. Comfort food is even better when you know you can just curl up with a good book and not worry about anything. Tomorrow I'll venture out in the snow and go to work, but not today, not today.


Bob's Red Mill GF bread right out of the bread machine.

Beef stew with carrots, flavored with a tasty sachet from Meagan.

Shepherd's pie (turkey, peppers, celery and smashed garlic potatoes)

The husband cooks lunch

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:55:00 +0000

Eric is upset because I told all of our facebook friends that he couldn't cook. I apologize and would like to clarify: Eric can cook some things quite well, but these are limited to eggs (poached, sunny-side up, scrambled, you name it), bacon, and mashed potatoes (done with a ricer). He is also good at making home fried potatoes. Honestly, when we have people over for breakfast, he's the one who does all the cooking. Stuart makes special requests for Eric's perfectly-cooked slices of bacon.

And don't get me wrong, he's tried. There have been days when I come home exhausted and grumpy and he's whipped up something entirely edible. It was easier when I could eat cheese, because everything tastes better with cheese. But the fact is that he just doesn't like cooking, or even see the point in cooking other than to put something in his stomach. If he were offered a pill that would offer all the nutritional value and fullness of a meal, he would take it. Cooking, to him, is just something that takes up his valuable time when he could be doing something more important. He has this in common with my father. I'm sure their eating habits would be even more similar if Eric didn't have me around to cook for him.

So today he insisted on making lunch. I couldn't refuse, given that his facebook reputation was on the line. Once I couldn't help myself and offered him a tiny bit of advice, but he snapped that he was going to do this all himself and so I kept myself busy by taking pictures of the food.

I was quite proud of him, actually. I realized that he has learned a thing or two about cooking since we met--like how to brown, not burn, the meat and cook onions so that they aren't crunchy. He also seems to have realized that there are advantages to cooking the ingredients separately instead of throwing everything together in a pan and hoping for the best. Or maybe he just got tired of mush.


Some of the ingredients (the sour cream and Guinness were for him)

A perfectly decent, easy, gluten-free meal, compliments of my guest chef, Eric.

Ingredients: mild italian turkey sausage, minced garlic, black beans, a little bit of onion, and a dash of black pepper
Directions: Brown the sausage, then the onions. Add garlic and black beans and cook for about five more minutes. Season with pepper to taste.

Add a dollop of sour cream and drink with a Guinness.

Sausage with cabbage and apples and some home improvement

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:31:00 +0000

Sausage and cabbage for New Year's Eve with a wonderful Spanish wine from Jinny.

I bought way too many apples last week and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them that didn't involve a dessert. This is actually really easy to make, particularly after drinking the rest of the cider. That made pretty much everything easier to handle.

Eric has been upstairs in the attic for the past several days, making loud banging noises mixed with either the sounds of NPR or '80s rock, depending on his mood. On Christmas day Eric tore up the horrible gray carpet that Nikos (our sickly cat) has graced a few too many times with his own personal way of communicating his displeasure at not feeling well. Now Eric's working on installing some beautiful faux-wood waterproof (cat-proof?) flooring. I didn't dare go up there while Eric was working, so I'm not sure which radio station corresponded with which mood. Tonight Eric has moved on to the '90s, gracing the house with the sounds of Paul Westerberg, a clear sign that the project has gone well and that he's almost finished. By tomorrow he should be back in this decade and the floor will be done. For a peek at our flooring project, jump to the end of this post.

So it's been noisy around here. When the banging and cursing get too loud, I either retreat to the basement to watch TV or find myself in the kitchen trying to create something to eat that will improve Eric's mood. Needless to say, we've had a lot of meat this weekend.

This stuff is good-mood food. It's got enough umami that Eric smiled while he was eating, the floor upstairs forgotten for the moment. There was something about the combination of sweet and tart and savory that made it comforting and satisfying all at the same time. An extra bottle of cider for me and a beer for him didn't hurt either.

Sausage with cabbage and apples
4 medium Italian sausages
1 small onion, cut in half circles
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup apple cider (the kind with the alcohol)
1/4 cabbage, cut into thin strips (about 2 cups)

2 apples, cut into thin slices

Brown the sausages. Remove the sausages and saute the onions until golden brown. Add the sausages again along with the apples and cabbage. Pour the cider over everything. Cover and cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the cabbage is translucent.

Apple Pear Noodle Kugel

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:48:00 +0000

The first time I ever had a kugel was at a funeral. The whole affair was a whirlwind that I don't remember much of anything except taking pictures of paintings in order to avoid listening to Eric and his brothers argue. This was also, I should mention, the first time I met most of Eric's family. This made me eat a lot, nervously grazing through the deli and cookies that must have been there, even though I have only vague memories of what was on the table, except for tongue. It was a revelation to me that people actually ate tongue, and, apparently enjoyed it. I tasted the tongue. I wasn't impressed, even if it was one of Grandma Jan's favorites. Maybe you had to grow up with it.

What did impress me was the kugel. I'd never heard of such a thing. Pasta with cottage cheese and cinnamon? Was it a dessert or a side dish? All I knew was that I wanted more. I kept wandering back to the kitchen for another bite, partly because it was such good, hearty comfort food that it made everything better, at least while I was eating.

Months later, Hillary sent me a recipe for her noodle kugel, which had so much cheese and eggs in it that my arteries hardened while I read the ingredients. I chickened out and put the recipe in my "to cook" folder on my computer, where it remained for several years.

Then I found out that there was such a thing as an apple kugel. This could be made, with only a few alterations, into something relatively healthy. Not exactly good for you, but not as bad for you as the one with all the cheese. It also makes a good breakfast meal.

I tried this recipe with a couple of different kinds of gluten-free noodles, and they all taste good, thick or thin. If you're going for a wide-noodle look, then Amazon sells a couple of different kinds of GF "egg" noodles, some of which are even kosher. The original recipe is from Whole Living Daily.

Warning: Eric really, really likes cinnamon. Adjust the amount of cinnamon according to your own preferences.

GF DF Apple Pear Noodle Kugel

10 oz. package of GF wide noodles (I used Seitenbacher Gluten-Free Golden Ribbon Gourmet Pasta)
4 tbsp buttery spread
2 pears, grated
2 apples, grated
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 cup golden raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp golden flax seed meal
4 tsp hot water
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
more cinnamon and butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the lemon juice with the grated pears and apples so that they don't brown while waiting. Cook the noodles.

While waiting for the noodles to cook, grease a regular-sized pie pan or 11x7 baking dish with 1 tbsp of the buttery spread. Next, make a flax seed slurry by combining the flax seed meal with the very hot water. Let this sit for at least five minutes or until it thickens.

Drain the noodles in a colander, then mix in the rest of the buttery spread.

Stir the agave, raisins, vanilla and cinnamon into the pear-apple mixture. Add the flax seed slurry, then the coconut milk and stir to combine. Be gentle, as the noodles break easily. Transfer to the pan.

Combine the maple syrup with a half teaspoon or so of the maple syrup and spread the mixture over the top of the kugel. Dot with butter.

Bake for one hour or until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbling. Cool for another hour to set.

Serve warm.

Bright orange for Hannukah! Sweet potato and carrot latkes.

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:13:00 +0000

I love my potato latkes, and so does Eric, but I always feel that there are so many options to play with besides the old stand-by, Mr. Potato. Each year, Eric sits in our breakfast nook, peeling 10 pounds of potatoes, then has to stop because he is sure that he has dislocated his shoulder from excessive grating. At this point I console him for a few moments before handing him a couple of pounds of carrots, zucchini and sweet potatoes. He's a really good kitchen assistant, too. When he cut his finger, he made sure to not bleed into the grated potatoes. I thought that was really considerate of him.

In case anyone thinks I am a horrible person for demanding that he do so much work, I should point out that it was his idea to buy the 10 lb. bag of potatoes. He actually put another 10 lb. bag in the cart when we were shopping "just in case." I'm convinced he still thinks he's back at his mother's house and we are trying to feed a party of 50.

This time I made vegan zucchini latkes (not so good--they fell apart), carrot brown rice latkes with ginger and cilantro, and sweet potato black bean latkes. These were by far my favorite. But if you'd like to try the carrot ones, I've included that recipe below. Or, try the traditional potato ones from an earlier festival of lights post.

GF DF Sweet Potato Black Bean Latkes
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
2 14 oz. cans organic black beans
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped and drained
2 eggs
1 cup oat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp vegetable broth

Combine ingredients in a bowl. The latke mixture should be moist enough to form into a patty easily. If it is too wet, squeeze the excess liquid out between your hands. Scoop the latke mixture in your hands, pressing to shape into a nice-looking patty. Be sure not to make them too big or they will fall apart more easily.

Cover the bottom of the pan with oil. Drop a small piece of the mixture into the pan. When it starts to sizzle, it's hot enough to fry a latke. When the pan is full of sizzling latkes, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the undersides are browned (about five minutes). Turn the latkes over and cook another five minutes or so until each side is a nice, golden brown.

Serve with a choice of applesauce, sour cream, or even cranberry apple relish. It also tastes wonderful topped with pulled beef brisket.

And then have some carrot latkes, which look almost exactly like the sweet potato ones. They're just a brighter orange. They also taste amazing with cranberry apple relish.

GF DF Carrot Brown Rice Latkes
3 lbs. carrots, peeled and grated
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1 orange pepper, finely chopped and drained
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cilantro
1/4 tsp salt

Combine the brown rice and a handful of grated carrots in a food processor and blend until a paste forms. Add to bowl and mix the rest of the ingredients by folding them together with your hands.

Follow the same directions for the rest of the process as above.

GF DF Chocolate Walnut Rugelach

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:20:00 +0000

Sadly, I don't think I had the opportunity to taste a rugelach until I was in my twenties, when I was working in a coffee shop. There was a little display case with fresh muffins and three or four different kinds of rugelach. Sometimes, if we were lucky, a piece would get too crumbly to sell and one of us would be forced to eat it. Sometimes, if one of us was having a rough day, several of the rugelach would have "accidents." This was how I discovered that although I liked the apricot rugelach, the chocolate nut was my favorite. From then on, the other flavors were relatively safe.

Years later, I met Eric, moved to Los Angeles and discovered the world of Jewish delis. So many rugelach! Even after we were done eating, there was still an opportunity to shop for sweets while waiting in line to pay our bill. After 2005, all I could do was window-shop or watch other people enjoy the treats now forbidden to me. I never thought I'd actually be able to make them myself. It looked so difficult.

I've made them twice now. The first time was a little rough because I had no idea what to expect, but after a little practice, it turned out to be fairly easy. My mom and step-father taste-tested and approved them, although Stuart kept forgetting whether it was a kugel or a rugelach or a latke. All those new words can get a little confusing if you throw them at an unsuspecting person all at once. I think, in the end, he settle on calling them rugels. Close enough. (A quick google search revealed that he's sort of right. Rugal=folded.)

The original recipe calls for potato flour, but since potatoes don't like my friend Amy, I try to keep the potatoes away when I can. I'd like to try the recipe with something else besides cornstarch, because I have another friend who doesn't eat corn, but I didn't have time to experiment too much. Maybe next week.

GF DF Chocolate Walnut Rugelach (adapted from Gluten Free Girl)
For the dough:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp kosher sea salt
2 tsp xanthan gum
4 oz. coconut milk (the thick part)
4 oz. buttery spread
1 egg
1 tbsp water

For the filling:
1 1/4 cup walnuts
1 cup DF GF chocolate chips
1/4 cup apricot spread

Combine the dry ingredients by putting them in a food processor and pulsing a few times. Add the coconut milk and buttery spread and mix until it starts to form giant curds.

Divide the dough in half and shape each into a ball. Cover each dough ball with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for about 15 minutes so that they are hard enough to shape more easily.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Combine all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor and blend until it forms a paste.

Roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper. Try to roll it out in the shape of a rectangle, but if the dough decides to go in different directions than planned, just tear off the offending pieces and smoosh them where they were supposed to go. Even it out again with a rolling pin. To make a nice rectangular shape, cut off the rough edges with a knife and save the extra dough bits for later.

Spread the filling over the dough, leaving about a half inch of space at the ends. To roll the dough, lift up the parchment paper a bit and encourage the dough to roll forward. Once the edge has lifted off the paper, use your fingers to gently roll the dough. Be careful not to roll too tightly or the dough might separate and leave little holes (which can be patched up with the reserved dough).

Make an egg wash by mixing the egg and water together. Brush the logs with the wash and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden brown. When the logs have cooled, cut them into slices. Tip: Run a sharp knife under very hot water. This keeps it from flaking so much when you slice them.

Share with friends.

GF Banana Fritters

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:50:00 +0000

Once again, I bought too many bananas. We're leaving to visit my mom and step-dawg for ThanksHanuMas tomorrow and I couldn't leave them to rot. But I've made enough banana bread this year to last for the next two, and the thought of making another one, even to give to my mom, made me want to throw the bananas away "accidentally" just so I wouldn't have to bake them.

Luckily for me, endlesssimmer.com had more than enough options in their post "100 Things to Do With Bananas." Don't worry--all of the options involved cooking, so you don't have to block the site from your kids. When I saw the banana fritters, I had my solution to the curse of banana bread. Not only did I not have to make another baked good, I also had solved the problem of what to eat for brunch.

I'd made them before with glutinous rice flour, but it made the mushy bananas even mushier and slightly elastic. This time I tried regular rice flour, which gave them a normal banana consistency. My advice: make the fritters as small as possible, especially if you're not using a deep fryer, which I don't have. Eat it as a snack or have it for breakfast smothered in maple syrup. Yum!

The original recipe is here: http://www.camemberu.com/2010/03/kuih-kodok-or-godok-pisang-banana.html

Some stuffing, a casserole, and yams

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:07:00 +0000

Tomorrow's Turkey Day, so I prepared some of the dishes that can be reheated easily tonight. That way the turkey can have the oven all to itself. I only had a couple of rules. The sides had to be relatively healthy, be gluten-free and dairy-free, and also be something that Eric would eat. That meant that the yams couldn't be too sweet, the green bean casserole couldn't be very creamy, and the stuffing had to have something that would distract him from his most feared enemy: the carb. Eric always likes to make sure that my job of cooking everything doesn't get too easy.

The only thing that was difficult about any of these dishes was waiting for them to cook. I wish I had better pictures of them. Maybe Santa will get me a really nice camera for Hannumas (Eric, are you reading this?)

Today I had a whole dinner of sides and I am completely stuffed (no pun intended). Tomorrow--turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes (made by Eric) and pumpkin pie. Then off to see Hugo and then have a long winter's nap. Happy Thanksgiving!

Maple Yams and Pecans

3 large yams, peeled and chopped
3-5 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp buttery spread
1 tsp pureed ginger
1 cup chopped pecans

Fill a small casserole dish with the yams and stir in about 3 tbsp maple syrup, the cinnamon and ginger. Dot with 2 tsp of buttery spread. Cover and bake at 350º for 1 hour. Meanwhile, heat the pecans in a pan with a tsp of butter then stir in a half cup of pecans. Add more maple syrup to taste. Sprinkle the other half cup of pecans on top. Bake uncovered for another half hour.

Cornbread Stuffing with Chicken Sausage

3 chicken sausages, cut into small pieces
2 cups of cornbread, chopped into cubes
3 celery stalks, diced
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp fresh sage
1 tsp fresh rosemary
salt and pepper

(For a great cornbread recipe, go here. I used almond milk instead of soy milk and it came out great.)

Bake the cornbread cubes on a greased baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, or until cubes are crispy on all sides. Meanwhile, combine all the other ingredients in a large pan and cook in a bit of butter and a couple of tablespoons of broth until the celery is soft. When the cubes are ready, stir them into the mixture along with the rest of the chicken broth. Put the mixture in a 9x13 and cook, uncovered, for about a half an hour. The stuffing should be crispy on the top and soft and mushy (the way it should be) on the bottom.

Green Bean Casserole (gluten-free and dairy-free)

1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup almond meal flour
1/2 lb. green beans, cut in small pieces
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup walnuts, ground
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion slices until soft and golden. Set aside. Cook the beans, mushrooms, and walnuts in a little olive oil until soft. Add the mimcreme and broth. Continue cooking on low heat while preparing the almond flour.

Toast the almond meal flour for a couple of minutes until it browns (be careful--it burns quickly!). Toss the toasted almond meal flour with the cooked onions. Stir in about half of the almond flour with the vegetable-broth mixture and pour into a small casserole dish. Cover the casserole with the rest of the onions. Bake at 350º for about a half an hour until bubbly and thick.

Joy Bauer’s Food Cures

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:21:00 +0000

gluten-free mini gingerbread muffins

I recently received a copy of Joy Bauer’s Food Cures. Not only is the book on the New York Times Bestseller list, it is also written by the Today Show’s nutritionist and food expert, Joy Bauer.

Naturally, the first thing I looked for when I opened the book was the section on celiac disease. By a strange coincidence, my sister-in-law called me later on that day to tell me that my husband’s brother had just been told by his doctor to go off gluten for a month to see if it helped with his chronic stomach problems. She was at the grocery store, suddenly overwhelmed by the fear that she would buy something with gluten that would harm her husband. She read the labels of some of Todd’s favorite foods to me, and I opened the Food Cures book to the section on “avoiding foods that contain gluten.” Even though I’ve been gluten-free for over six years, I’m still not able to be absolutely sure that something is safe. When I’m at the store, I check the list I bring with me (there is also one available at the Mustard Seed customer service desk), just to be sure. So when Jill called, I was happy to have a list in front of me that I could trust. In fact, one of the items that Jill listed, food starch, was on the “maybe” list, so I was able to warn her before she bought it.

A book such as Food Cures practically caters to someone like me, who probably has about half the conditions she describes in her book. All of the diets revolve around the guidelines given in the beginning and in the weight loss section. There is wonderful, encouraging advice in each section, from mood to PMS to IBS. Even when Joy gives common sense guidelines that usually just make me feel guilty because I know these things but still don’t do them, she’s so encouraging and upbeat that you almost want to try to do a little better, just for her.

The only problem I had with the book was that it was difficult
to find all the recipes, as there was no section with just recipes or a recipe index. Although I did find several appealing recipes in the section for celiac disease, such as gf apple-cinnamon pancakes with lemon yogurt topping and gf gingerbread muffins, I still had to through all of the sections to see if any other recipes interested me. For example, I had to look under “Mood” to find a lovely recipe for vegetable oatmeal bisque, which also happened to be gluten-free. However, many of her recipes are also available on her website, which makes finding just the right thing a lot easier.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who want to try to take charge of their relationship with food and find ways to make it work for them. It is particularly useful to people who have just discovered they have a certain condition and need an encouraging person to guide them through the often confusing and intimidating path of food lifestyle changes.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who want to try to take charge of their relationship with food and find ways to make it work for them. It is particularly useful to people who have just discovered they have a certain condition and need an encouraging person to guide them through the often confusing and intimidating path of food lifestyle changes.

Note on the muffins: I used almond yogurt instead of real yogurt, which is why I think they came out a little dry.

Best polenta ever from The Splendid Table

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Chowhound's October 2011 Cookbook of the month is The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. It's Italian food, which means lots of pasta and breads, but I got the book from the library anyway to see what all the fuss was about. There had to be something in there that a GF DF girl could eat.

In the end, I found less than 10 recipes that could be adapted to my diet. Tonight I tried two of them that looked tasty (Creamy Polenta and Bolognese Ragu), even though the total cooking time was 2 hours. That kind of cooking time is what weekends are for. Weekdays are for meals like stir-fry. Or mac & cheez.

The other reason I chose meals with such a long cooking time is that Eric and I are going through our semi-annual thermostat war. He has decreed that the heater won't go on until November 1, and I'm doing my best to stand by him on this because he's gone a little crazy since the water heater had to be replaced. Nevertheless, it's cold and I'm female. My hands and feet have turned to icicles even though I've got on a sweater, fuzzy socks and a snuggie. The only way to get through this weather is to keep on cooking until it gets warm again or I can turn on the heat.

Creamy Polenta (adapted from The Splendid Table)
3/4 cup stone-ground cornmeal
2 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup vegetable stock

Fill a large pot with three-quarters full of water and bring to a boil.
In a stainless steel bowl, whisk the hot water with the cornmeal until there are no lumps. Whisk in the vegetable stock. Cover the bowl with foil.

Set this on top of the pot of boiling water, making sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Reduce heat to medium so that the water bubbling more slowly. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every half hour or so. Reseal the foil after stirring.

Ragu Bolognese (DF)
2 oz. pancetta
4-5 carrots, cut into small pieces
4-5 stalks of celery, cut into small pieces
1 onion, minced
1 lb. ground sirloin
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp organic tomato paste
3/4 cup vegetable stock
1 cup almond milk

Saute the vegetables and pancetta for about 10 minutes, or until onions and celery are translucent. Add the ground sirloin and cook until meat is browned, about another 5 minutes.

Stir in the wine and tomato paste. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 hours. The liquid mixture will reduce slowly this way. Add in the almond milk about 1/4 cup at a time. After 2 hours, the ragu should be moist, but not runny or have too much liquid.

The result is a rich, flavorful sauce that tastes wonderful over polenta.

Green Tomato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:13:00 +0000

It's the end of the summer and Eric and I have had so many tomatoes that we can't even stand to look at them. We've been sneaking over to the neighbor's house and putting little tomato gifts on their lawn furniture. When they asked, we blamed the cats.

This weekend I decided to pull up my tomato plants and pick all the green tomatoes and be done with it. The gardening season is over, I thought. Let the snow begin.

Fortunately for my plants, autumn decided to wait a bit and give my tomatoes just a little more sun and another few days for them to grow. I couldn't get myself to pull those healthy, innocent tomato plants from the ground while they still had a chance to enjoy the sunshine a little longer. Gardening is not for the weak. You've got to be strong and do what is necessary, no matter how the plant looks at you. I guess I'll never be a real gardener. I'm planning on doing the dirty work tomorrow. Maybe if I explain to them that frost is coming and I'm really trying to protect them, they might understand. I have a feeling my tomato plants will be stronger than I am in this matter.

Even so, I still managed to pick a whole pot of tomatoes, two peppers, and an eggplant that was so cute I almost had trouble chopping it up. The green tomatoes have been staring at me for two days, taunting me. What can you do with a green tomato that won't taste like a green tomato?

The answer is soup. The creaminess of the coconut milk and lemongrass complement the tart flavor of green tomatoes and lime juice, making it filling and light at the same time. The best part? It didn't taste like tomatoes.

Green Tomato Lemongrass Soup
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
1 1/2 cups chopped green tomatoes
1/4 cup cashes
1/4 cup brown rice flakes
1 tsp garlic
2 tsp lemongrass
1 tsp cilantro
1/4 tsp kosher sea salt
1 tsp lime juice

Combine all ingredients and cook on medium heat until tomatoes are tender, about 5-7 minutes. Pour into blender and blend until smooth.

Pumpkin Coconut Pie with a Sunflower Seed Rice Crust

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:16:00 +0000

It's week 3 of the Elimination Diet. I admit that I've cheated a couple of times, but I regretted it almost immediately--either my face started to itch or my stomach felt uncomfortable. It just wasn't worth it.

Summer's already gone. It's the time of year where I want comfort food. Lots of soup, lots of carbs, and as much spicy pumpkin pie as I can get.

My diet really doesn't allow for anything in a traditional pumpkin pie except for spices and pumpkin. No eggs, no milk, no wheat. Each year it seems that I take away one traditional ingredient, have a disaster, and then move on. Two years ago I figured out how to make a delicious nut crust from almonds and butter. Last year I started using coconut milk instead of condensed milk, and this year I've decided to go without the eggs. Just because.

The first pie I made this year was a disaster. Even after it baked for an hour and a half, the filling still dripped out of the shell. It tasted great, though, and the crust added a nutty, crunchy bite. Not one to waste perfectly good ingredients, I added a piece of it to my hot rice cereal and mixed it in until the pie disappeared. Now that was a good breakfast.

The next time I made pumpkin pie almost gave in and used eggs. Luckily, our refrigerator is still broken, so we didn't have any. I'll thank it later for keeping me on my diet.

I'm glad I didn't use the eggs. I got to make a slurry, which not only sounds cool, but also has a few meanings that have nothing to do with cooking. I felt like I was adding very naughty ingredients. I'd recommend that anyone try making a slurry just for the hell of it (a chia slurry is even more fun--it looks like baby worms in a bowl).

This one isn't as firm as a regular pumpkin pie, but when chilled, it can stand on its own. Eric says it's one of my best yet because it's not too sweet, and he hates sweets.

Pumpkin Coconut Pie with a Sunflower Seed Rice Crust

For the crust:

3/4 cup brown rice flakes

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1 ¼ cup sunflower seeds

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp chia seeds

2-3 tbsp water

For the filling:

2 tsp golden flax seeds

4 tsp hot water

1 cup coconut milk (thick part only)

4 tsp cooked brown rice flakes

1 can pumpkin

½ tsp orange peel

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp nutmeg

¼ cup maple syrup

For the crust:

Use a food processor to combine all the ingredients. It should resemble a sticky meal. Press the "crust" into a greased pie pan to cover completely. It's hard to mess this up--just make sure that it is even.

For the filling:

To make the slurry, pour the hot water over the flax seeds and let it sit for a few minutes. It should have a goopy consistency.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until completely mixed. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Cook for 1 hour until the top is brown and the filling doesn't jiggle much. Chill completely. Serve cold.

Tzimmes.

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:51:00 +0000

Cat in the hospital. Fridge on the fritz.

And it's only the first day of the new year. Happy Rosh Hashanah.

Last night I made a gorgeous chicken sweet potato curry with enough leftovers for both of us to get through the day. I'm not supposed to eat chicken right now, but I wasn't going to waste a whole bird. I also made tzimmes for myself.

Then the fridge broke. Now I have a whole pot of rotten chicken with sweet potatoes. The dog wouldn't even eat it, not that I would have let him. I took pictures of the curry, but I was so grossed out this morning that I deleted all pictures so there wouldn't be any evidence.

All of have left are my tzimmes.

Eric refuses to eat them, but when I press him for a reason, all I get are evasive answers. I think he's afraid of the prunes. Hilarie warned me that he wouldn't eat them. She told me she never even bothered to make tzimmes because she knew that her husband and sons would turn up their faux-goy noses at something so healthy.

I've had tzimmes for breakfast, tzimmes for lunch. If I have them for dinner, I think I'll turn orange. I was a bit intimidated about using cooked prunes at first, but they add a rich, gooey sweetness to the mixture that just melts in your mouth. They're actually a perfect breakfast food.

End of day note: The fridge will be fixed in 5 days. The cat has nothing wrong with him, as far as the vet can tell. However, I have to make him gain a half a pound in the next two weeks or else he'll have to go through another round of tests. This is my chance to be a real Jewish mother. I can complain every day as prepare tasty treats for my cat, "Nikos, you look so thin!"

Roasted Sweet Potato Carrot Tzimmes

1 large sweet potato

1 lb. carrots

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup prunes

1 tsp lemon juice

3 tbsp agave nectar

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes and carrots into small cubes. Toss with olive oil and spread evenly on baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large pot and simmer for about five minutes. Add more water if necessary. Add roasted vegetables and mix until thoroughly coated with prune-spice mixture. Cook for a few more minutes until excess liquid is cooked off.

Another week of beans and rice

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:31:00 +0000

I lasted until Saturday before seriously cheating on my diet. This wouldn't be that surprising since I am a stress-eater and use that excuse to eat just about anything I'm craving. This time was different. I'd actually started to feel good for the first time in several weeks since giving up coffee.

By Wednesday I noticed that my body felt a little lighter. Not because I've lost weight, which I haven't, but because my body felt less weighed-down. My brain is still foggy, but I did have a few moments of clarity throughout the week, which hardly ever happened without coffee before. There is also a huge benefit to being able to get up in the morning and function without needing an addictive substance to jump-start the day. Another odd side-effect is that I've had some really vivid dreams that were so intense I kept going back to sleep just to keep the plot moving in the morning.

The best part? Someone hadn't seen me for two weeks and knew that I'd been suffering from a cold, but when she saw me yesterday she said I looked so healthy and radiant that she couldn't believe I'd just been sick. Me? Healthy and radiant? I haven't heard that in years.

So, queen of self-sabotage that I am, I cheated on my diet.

When I started the diet last week, I'd completely forgotten that Eric's brother was coming into town for a long weekend and that we'd be going out to dinner almost every night. I had a few mishaps here and there over the week where I'd eat a little bit of chocolate, but I consoled myself by the fact that I'd still managed to avoid meat and coffee, which are the biggest offenders.

I got through two restaurant visits without cheating. I munched on salads while I watched Eric and his brother polish off grilled cheese sandwiches, pizzas and tater tots.

But last night was barbecue night. Unfortunately, it was my job not only to buy the steaks but also to marinate them. My willpower just wasn't strong enough to withstand the primal call of barbecued meat.

This morning I woke up exhausted. I've been exhausted all day. I can't say for certain that this was because I consumed a large portion of not-easily-digestible meat, but the evidence does seem to point in that direction, unless it was the excessive humidity that did me in.

So I'm back today. We went to Corky & Lenny's for lunch today and I got vegan sushi from Whole Foods while the men ate huge hot pastrami reubens on rye bread.

And I still haven't had any coffee, even though we went to Starbucks afterwards.

Here's one of the many rice and bean meals I've had this week.

Toasted Mung Beans and Brown Rice in Coconut Milk

The original recipe can be found here. I just substituted agave nectar for the sugar and short grain brown rice for the sticky rice. And I added peaches on the side.

Eric and Ryan and me with pastrami and sushi.

I survived Day 1.

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:41:00 +0000

I survived Day 1. It wasn't that bad, considering that I have a cold and feel like shit anyway. I felt hungry most of the day, but I think that was because of the cold, not the diet.

I came home and cooked Eric his meal, then made myself some soup. I am such a good little wife.

Day 2.
Eric posted on Facebook that I had given up coffee and someone said I wouldn't last a week. It's been a week and two days, and although I wouldn't say I feel great about it, I don't want to kill anyone (except maybe the guy who made that comment), so it's a step in the right direction.

Eating crappy food is so easy. It's everywhere, right at your fingertips. Making all your food and preparing all your snacks takes time and effort. Honestly, if I weren't cursed with stomach problems I would probably just eat like everyone else and drink as much coffee as I wanted.

So now I'm trying to make my stomach happy. I prepared breakfast and lunch last night so that I wouldn't have to get up early in the morning to worry about it and risk breaking my diet. This morning the bag I brought to work was so heavy I felt like I was moving into the office. I brought my tea, a bottle of water, rice porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch and some chopped apples for a snack.

Since I'm so busy being healthy right now, I just took pictures of what I ate instead of typing out the recipes. They're fairly self-explanatory anyway.

Breakfast -
Rice porridge with figs and apricots

Lunch -
Cauliflower Carrot Soup

Dinner -
Nori Rolls with brown rice and avocados (no vinegar or sugar)

Eric had his with tamari sauce.

I confess, I cheated just a little. I had a small amount of chocolate, but only because a nice person gave it to me as a gift for doing her a favor. Eating it was the polite thing to do.

Red Wine Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:23:00 +0000

Today I started the Elimination Diet (more information on the diet can be found here). I was going to start at the beginning of the month, but it took me over two weeks to prepare--a couple of days to gather up the courage, then a week to wean myself off coffee, then another week to go through the pain and trauma of coffee withdrawal. I weaned myself slowly, then gave in mid-week when a nice person offered me a cup of coffee. For a moment, while drinking it, I felt like a human being again. It didn't last long.

I thought the first week was horrible, but the second week was worse. I felt groggy and irritable. I couldn't remember what I was doing from moment to moment. I felt as if everything was falling apart all around me.

This pissed me off.

I don't like being addicted to anything. I knew I was addicted to coffee, but since I was addicted, I kept telling myself it wasn't that bad. Everyone's doing it. But what coffee did to me after I gave it up made me realize that it had a much stronger hold on me than I had thought. There's a part of me that never wants to go through that again. There's another part that just wants a cup of coffee.

I'm giving myself a month to be off coffee, but I don't think I ever want to go back to my morning cup. I'd rather reserve it for special occasions, like a nice glass of red wine and some dark chocolate.

Which brings me to my break-up brownies.

Last week, since I knew I was going to give up everything I loved to eat, I decided to make a brownie that was full of forbidden fruits: chocolate, red wine, walnuts, raisins, baked goods. These little morsels got me through my break-up with coffee. I don't think I could have made it without them.

Granted, these babies aren't for the faint-hearted. They are heavy and rich and thick, and not even that sweet, since I wanted to taste all the food I was giving up in each bite. They're brownies with a purpose.

Red Wine Break-up Brownies

1 cup raisins

3/4 cup red wine

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 tsp chia seeds

Heat red wine (do not boil) and pour over raisins. Let soak for about 10 minutes.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Mix the nectar, molasses and coconut oil in food processor until well blended. Stir into dry ingredients.

Pour the raisin-wine mixture into a food processor and blend until relatively smooth. Stir into brownie mixture.

Stir in the walnuts and chia seeds. If the mixture is clumpy and dry, add a little water or red wine to achieve a more spreadable consistency. Fold mixture into a 9x13 pan and bake on 350 for 45 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

White Tea Turkey Kale Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:36:00 +0000

Eric got a cold yesterday. This is an unusual event in our household, as Eric almost never gets sick. Illness is my specialty, not his. Unfortunately, since Eric isn't used to getting sick, he is horribly bad at it. Not only does he refuse to admit that there is anything wrong with him until he's coughing up a lung, but he also doesn't seem to understand simple concepts such as taking care of himself so that he can get better. I know he's truly ill when he starts going through my "pharmacopeia," as he calls it. So last night, when I heard him sneak into the bathroom to use my throat spray, I knew it was serious.

He coughed and tossed and turned for a good part of the night. I would have felt sorry for them, except that I'm a sickly person and I started worrying that he was going to infect me. So when he had a coughing fit at 6 a.m., I got out of bed to make soup. It wasn't really for him. It was a defense against getting his cold. Even so, I get extra good wife bonus points for having fresh homemade soup ready for him when he got out of bed.

I usually only use 2 tea bags, but this was an emergency, so I used 3 and steeped them for about 20 minutes before adding to the soup. I'd have used more kale, but I was afraid Eric wouldn't eat it.

White Tea Turkey Kale Soup

1 16-oz. box of Imagine No-Chicken Broth
1 16-oz. box of Imagine Vegetable Broth
2 turkey thighs (about 1 lb.)
1/4 cup brown rice flakes (or just brown rice)
1/4 cup brown lentils
olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
2 cups of mini bella mushrooms, chopped
5-7 small kale leaves (or more, to taste), cut into small pieces
olive oil
3 white peony tea bags

Pour both boxes of broth in a large pot. Add a cup of water and heat to a boil. Add the brown rice flakes, lentils, and 2 turkey thighs. Reduce heat to medium.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in about a tbsp of olive oil on medium-low heat until translucent. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for another couple of minutes.

Take a large mug and scoop out a cupful of the broth. Take out the turkey, which should be almost cooked, and set it aside. Add the teabags to the broth and let steep for about 10 minutes.

Add the onion mixture to broth. Cut up the turkey and add back to broth. Add the kale and the tea mixture (discard the tea bags).

Saute the mushrooms in another tbsp of olive oil and set aside.

Cook on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. When the rice and lentils are soft, the soup is ready. Add the mushrooms and serve.

Creamy Tomato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:35:00 +0000

Tomatoes are pretty much the only thing that's growing in my garden this year, aside from a couple of peppers. I've got so many tomatoes that we've had at least a bite or so of a tomato for every single meal for the past two weeks. I'm almost getting sick of them. Luckily, my neighbors are happy to help me eat them.

We've had peanut stew with tomatoes, clafoutis with tomatoes, salsa, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, BLTs, corn tortilla soup with tomatoes, and of course, tomato soup. Eric said it was too tomato-ey and wouldn't eat it.

Creamy Tomato Soup

4 sun-dried tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

5-6 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 cup coconut milk

dash of red pepper flakes

a handful of fresh cilantro

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Cover the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water. Let them soften for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook over medium heat until the mixture boils.

Chop the dried tomatoes and add them to the mixture, along with the coconunt milk and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and add the salt and pepper to taste.

This also makes a nice, creamy sauce to put over pasta. This afternoon I was trying to get rid of my leftovers and stirred some sauteed white eggplant into the tomato soup. The eggplant had a bit of curry and turmeric in it, which actually added to the taste, making it rich and fragrant. Yum. I would have eaten more of it, but since I'm venturing to the mall to try on jeans, I figured excess pasta would be a bad idea.

Clafoutis and cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:41:00 +0000

Someone gave me a ton of lovely, juicy cherry tomatoes yesterday. He said he didn't really like tomatoes and then asked me if I could turn them into something tasty, like beer. To my disgust, I found that there is a thing called tomato beer. It's basically just tomato juice and beer. I'm not making that, not even if he dared me. It sounds like some weird hangover cure.

I've made the more traditional cherry clafoutis before, but I'm not a huge fan of sugary custards. However, when I saw the picture for this recipe at Plurielles.fr I had to try it. I was running out of ideas for recipes with tomatoes in this summer of plenty.

This clafoutis turned out to be kind of like a crustless quiche, only lighter and creamier. I substituted coconut milk for the cream and almond milk for the regular milk in the recipe. The comments suggested adding basil, which I will do next time. I think it would give the dish a little more punch.

Eric and I had it for brunch today. He went back for thirds.

Tomato clafoutis

½ large yellow onion
2 tsp butter
20 cherry tomatoes
1 ¼ cups coconut milk
1 cup almond milk
5 eggs
6 tsp corn starch
salt, pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Chop the onion into small pieces. Cook on low heat in butter, stirring frequently until onions are translucent.

Arrange the onions in a layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Add half of the tomatoes.

Beat the corn starch and the eggs with a whisk. Add the coconut milk and almond milk and whisk until smooth and creamy.

Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange the rest of the tomatoes on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for about 15 minutes and serve.

___________________________________________________
When you're done, have some GF DF Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These are the best ones I've made yet. Recipe at Rouxbe, which was adapted, of course, from Elana's Pantry). I used Bob's Red Mill almond flour, which is probably a little too coarse. Elana does not recommend using it. It's possible, but just takes a little more patience and a little water. The trick is to make the balls of dough with slightly wet hands, then press down firmly.

GF Dog Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:46:00 +0000

We took our dog, Jor-El, to the annual Dog Days of Summer at the JCC this Sunday. This is a huge event for Jor-El, as he loves swimming but can't be trusted to be left alone for ten seconds at Bow Wow Beach.

He came home and plopped down on the kitchen floor, exhausted and happy. I decided he deserved fresh baked dog treats. Besides, the other alternative was cleaning. Dog treats it was.

Eric joked that I should use the Hanukkah cookie cutters since we just got back from the JCC. I couldn't resist the challenge.

GF DF Dog Treats
1 cup oat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup carrots
1 tsp ginger
¼ cup chicken broth
1 egg

Mix all ingredients together in food processor until smooth.

If you don't care about the shape, you can just roll them into balls and smoosh them into circles on the baking sheet.

If you want to go to the trouble of making shapes, chill the mixture for a half an hour, then roll out a section of the dough onto the baking sheet. The dough will still be sticky and moist.

Jor-El sports 80's post-pool hairdo.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 15 minutes, then give to dog. Dog will ask for more. Give in.

GF DF Apricot Walnut Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:34:00 +0000

It's been such a busy week that it's taken me two days just to post this. I made the muffins on Sunday night and then ran outside on Monday morning while it was drizzling to take pictures. When I got to work I realized that I had forgotten to bring lunch and had nothing but muffins all day. It's a good thing these are relatively healthy or I would have felt even guiltier than I did.

I got the inspiration for these from a New York Times article that adapted them from glutenfreegirl. Basically, it's a really adaptable recipe. Mine has 3 times the apricots and walnuts and 1/3 the amount of sugar, another egg, plus different spices, and different flours. I have a feeling that this version is also a lot denser and more filling than the other ones.

There are a lot of ingredients in this one, but as long as you assemble everything beforehand, the rest goes by fairly quickly.

Apricot Walnut Muffins
1 cup almond milk + a little extra
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup walnuts
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
dash salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp olive oil or grapeseed oil

Heat the oven to 350.

Make the "buttermilk" by adding 1 tsp apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of almond milk. Let this sit for about 10 minutes.

Blend the walnuts, apricots, and agave nectar in a food processor until a paste forms.

Stir the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.

Whisk the eggs, the "buttermilk " and oil. The mixture will be clumpy; that's okay. Stir this into the flour mixture. Add the walnut-apricot paste and stir until well blended together. I usually have to add about two tbsp of almond milk to get the right consistency.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack for about 15 minutes, then turn the silicone pan upside down to pop the muffins out onto a tray.

Makes 12 muffins.

GF DF Kentucky Chocolate Jam Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:39:00 +0000

I've been trying to screw up the courage to make the jam cake recipe I copied from my great-grandmother's recipe cards for about a month now. It was the maple frosting that always got me. I just couldn't get myself to make anything with a pound of sugar as the main ingredient. This morning I saw the solution--chocolate. It makes everything better.

For some reason, while making a modern, mildly healthy version of Ann Koester's jam cake, I got the urge to do it the old-fashioned way. Knowing my great-grandmother, this should have involved a large glass of wine, but it was the middle of the day and I prefer to be sober when I cook. However, I did have some old-fashioned tools--a manual hand blender from my grandmother and a nut chopper that I stole from my father. These are both really good ways to work on building your arm muscles.

The nut chopper was easy as long as I didn't put too many nuts in at one time. The manual hand blender was a bit tricker and took some practice. It didn't want to stand up straight. I had to balance the bowl against my stomach so that I could use both hands to crank it. After that it worked beautifully. One nice thing about the manual blender is that it doesn't go so fast that batter splatters everywhere.

But back to the cake. Even though I cut out 2 cups of sugar, this cake is still sweeter than what I would normally make. I don't even want to think about how much sugar the Cascadian Farms blackberry fruit spread had in it, considering that sugar was the first ingredient. And the chocolate chips that were melted to make frosting? I didn't even look at the bag, but the chocolate chips must have been sugarific. They were so sweet I had to add unsweetened cocoa powder to tone it down.

Enough worrying about the sugar. It's been a rough week and I deserve a treat.

Note: If you're using Earth Balance butter, the mixture gets a little stringy-looking, but it never seems to have any effect on the end product.

GF DF Kentucky Chocolate Jam Cake
(or brownies)

For the Jam Cake:

3/4 cup butter

3 tsp light brown sugar

5 eggs, beaten

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup almond milk

1 heaping tsp allspice

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

10 oz. jar blackberry jam

1 cup raisins

1 1/4 cup walnuts

For the frosting:

1 bag of Enjoy Life DF GF SF chocolate chips

3/4 cup almond milk

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

First, make the dairy-free buttermilk. Pour 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar into a measuring cup. Add one cup of almond milk. Let this sit for at least five minutes.

Cream the butter, sugar and eggs.

Combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum and allspice.

Combine the buttermilk, the butter-egg mixture, and the flour mixtures by adding them alternately. Stir after each addition. Add the fruit, nuts and jam. Stir to get good distribution.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Spread mixture evenly into pan using a spatula. Bake for 50 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a long plate. Let it cool a little longer while you prepare the frosting.

To make the frosting, heat the chocolate chips in a double broiler until melted. Gradually stir in almond milk. If it's too sweet, stir in the teaspoon of cocoa powder. An alternate method without a double broiler is available on the EnjoyLife site.

Let the frosting cool for about 10 minutes, then spread on cooled cake.

Here's my great-grandmother's recipe. Be sure to eat these with a glass of strong red wine.

Jam Cake
3 cups (about 5 ounces) Flour
1 cup Buttermilk
¼ tsp Salt
1 ½ tsp Cloves
1 cup Raisins Or Chopped Dates
1 cup Jam
2 cups (about 5 ounces) Sugar
1 tsp Soda
½ tsp Cinnamon
1 ½ tsp Allspice
1 cup Chopped Nuts
1 cup Butter

Directions:
Cream butter, and gradually add the sugar. Cream together until light and fluffy. Add well-beaten eggs. Sift flour before measuring, and add to it the spices, and the salt. Dissolve soda in buttermilk and add it, and the flour mixture alternately to the egg-sugar-butter mixture, and beat after each addition. Lightly dredge the fruit and nuts with extra flour, and add. Next add the jam. Stir to get good distribution.

Grease and paper line two 9-inch cake pans, and our batter filled the pans 2 inches deep. Bake 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Ice with caramel icing, or other.

Chicken Peanut Stew

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:02:00 +0000

I used to think that peanut butter was reserved for sandwiches and cookies. My mother certainly never used those jumbo-sized jars of creamy JIF for anything but spreading over Roman Meal whole-wheat bread. My father went so far as to add it to smoothies, which, as a kid, I thought was terribly daring. He claims he likes to dip peanut butter sandwiches into pea soup, but I've never seen him do it. I think he just wanted to see me shudder. I'm not a fan of peas.

When I lived in France for my junior year-abroad, one of my friends made a dish that she had learned about while living in Africa. She promised me I'd love it, and given the quality of her previous culinary adventures, I figured I had nothing to fear. I hovered near her, helping her cut the onions, garlic, peppers, and broccoli that she then sauteed in a pan. It smelled lovely.

Then she got a jar of peanut butter and tossed an enormous dollop of it into the pan. I swear I almost screamed. The thought of broccoli, a vegetable that only tasted good smothered in butter or cheese sauce, mixed with a sandwich spread made me queasy. She saw my look of dismay and assured me that the tastes would blend together and it would still taste good. When it was ready, she even took a big bite of it and said "yum." Needless to say, after the first bite I loved it.

That was almost twenty years ago, and I haven't stereotyped a vegetable or sandwich spread since. This isn't exactly the same recipe, since it changes depending on what I have in the fridge.

Chicken peanut stew

2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, cut into small pieces
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 lb. boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large tomato

1/2 cup peanut butter*

1/2 cup peanuts

1 lb. spinach

tomato for garnish

Sauté the carrots, onions, potatoes with a little olive oil. Add the vegetable broth and simmer for about five minutes. Add the chicken thighs in a layer on top and simmer for another ten minutes, or until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through. Add more vegetable broth if necessary.

Stir in the tomato, peanut butter and peanuts and cook until the mixture becomes creamy. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts.

If the mixture is too thick, add more vegetable broth or water until it reaches the desired consistency.

*Coloration may vary depending on what kind of peanut butter you use. Try to find peanut butter that doesn't have any added sugar.

_______________________________________________________

I put fresh tomatoes from the garden in the soup, including a big beefsteak tomato. These romas should be ready soon.

GF Peach Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 01:33:00 +0000

Every summer when we lived on the farm, my grandmother made cobblers. She made them decadent and gooey, with a buttery crust topped with ice cream. The smell of those sugary-sweet peaches was enough to tear me away from whatever I was reading and come down to dinner. I had to finish whatever was on my plate, but somehow there was always room left over for a big plate of pie. Grandad preferred his drizzled in fresh cream, but Grandmom and I liked to watch the vanilla ice cream melt over the hot crust and drip down into the filling.

Sometimes she just made us a sheet of buttery, flaky crust and put fresh peaches on top of it. In a way, that was even better than a prepared cobbler. It tasted like summer.

I found a healthy recipe for a GF cobbler at Roostblog that I adjusted to my tastes. The almond flour gives the cobbler a buttery flavor without actually having to add butter. It is a bit runny on the bottom from all the juices cooking under the crust, but it feels a lot healthier and fresher than my grandmother's gooey sugary filling. The best part is that I don't feel guilty eating this. It's good for you!

This version isn't as sweet as the original. I wanted something that was a combination of a cobbler and my grandmother's sheet pastry with peaches. I just wish I had some ice cream to melt on top.

GF Peach Cobbler

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
8-9 peaches
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cornstarch

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients, then wet ingredients. Combine and form into a ball with slightly wet hands. Put the dough ball between two pieces of parchment paper and flatten with your fingers. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it a big enough circle to fit over a 9-inch pie pan. Chill for about a half an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-inch pie pan.

Slice the peaches (peel them if you want to) and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Arrange in pie pan. Take the crust out of the fridge and remove the top piece of parchment paper. Turn the other piece with the crust on it upside down on top of the peaches. Peel off the parchment slowly and carefully and fix any pieces that may have broken off. If it doesn't fit, it's easily patched together.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it because almond flour burns quickly. You might want to cover it for the last 15-20 minutes to keep it from turning too dark, or at least cover the edges with a ring of aluminum foil.

Let cool for 30 minutes. If it's too juicy, use a slotted spoon to drain it before you put it on the plate.

Asian Steak with Spinach and Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Thea) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:28:00 +0000

I have a confession to make. We're meat-aholics. I honestly think that if Eric and I could eat whatever we wanted, we would just eat meat and cheese. An occasional vegetable might appear, but only as an afterthought or a break from all the animal products. We do eat vegetables, but they're still still just sides.

I'm trying to make myself think of vegetables as the main part of the meal and the meat as the side. Eric is happy to help by eating most of the meat and leaving me with all the vegetables, but the goal is really to get both of us to eat healthier, not just me.

Really the only way to get us to eat vegetables is to either hide them or make them taste like meat. This is how we get our dogs and cats to eat vegetables. Jor-El (the dog) and Nikos (the cat) go mad over grilled asparagus, broccoli with butter, squash (in a quiche), potatoes, corn, and grilled eggplant. Nikos will swallow an entire piece of grilled asparagus whole if I let him. Then he begs for more.

So if the dogs and cats can do it, so can we.

The onions caramelized in tamari soy sauce made the meal rich and hearty, even before I added the meat. I cut up my serving of steak into little pieces and mixed it in to fool myself into thinking that I was eating more meat than I actually was. Even Eric ate all the spinach and onions and mushrooms on his plate, just like a good dog.

Asian Steak with Spinach and Mushrooms
original recipe from Epicurious.com

2 tbsp. tamari GF soy sauce
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp. Asian dark sesame oil
1 8 oz. Sirloin steak
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
8 oz. baby spinach leaves
1 med. onion

Mix the first five ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Rub about a 1/2 tsp. sesame oil on one side of the steak, then pour half of the sesame seeds on top. Press the seeds firmly so they stick. Do the same to the other side. Heat a tsp of olive oil in a nonstick skillet on high, add the steak, then turn the heat down to medium. Cook 4-5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let cool.

Add the onions to the same skillet with another teaspoon of olive oil. When the onions are soft and translucent, transfer them to a bowl and set aside. Saute the mushrooms until browned, then put the onions back in the pan along with the reserved sauce. Cook for another minute or two until the onions are a nice caramel color. Turn off the heat. Add the spinach and stir quickly until the leaves wilt just a little, then transfer to two plates.

Slice the meat and place over the veggies. Serve while hot.

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And since it rained today and I was able to go outside, I took some pictures of stuff growing in pots on my deck.

Roma tomatoes from seed, fed with coffee and love.

Eggplant flower from seed, fed with banana peels.