the mystery of the disappearing dinner

now you see it...


now you don't!


for those of you who don't know, i'm a huge nancy drew fan, so the title of this post just came to me--flashed in front of my mind's eye with a spanky yellow binding :)

anyway, if you recall, about a month and a half ago, we had dinner with our friends drew and jessica. they were very kind to try some new, gluten-free gnocchi that we had made. EW... it was made from sorghum flour and was not so successful. this is where i apologize to drew and jessica and tell them that they are invited over for the rest of this gnocchi! it is just lying there, in a bag in my freezer, waiting for you to have spare time! SEE?!?


so here it is: tasty, gluten-free gnocchi

2 1/4 pounds potatoes (i used organic yukon gold)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (my flour of choice is namaste brand)
1 tsp. salt
large pinch of nutmeg
pepper to taste
1 egg

1. pierce potatoes 4-5 times and place into pre-heated 400 degree oven. bake for approx. 45 minutes. when they are done, let cool for about 10 minutes and then peel--no peeler necessary! just pinch the skin and pull back with your fingers. if it's too hot for you, hold potatoes with a pot holder.
2. put about 1 cup of flour into a large bowl. using a food mill over the bowl, puree the potatoes right onto the flour.
3. sprinkle the top with a little bit of flour--i used about 1/2 cup here. using a dough hook, slowly incorporate some of the flour until the mixture is a little crumbly.
4. add salt, nutmeg, pepper and egg. mix until well combined and everything forms a neat dough. it should not be sticky.
5. divide dough into quarters. roll out into long strips onto a lightly floured surface (i used plain sorghum flour for this step).
6. cut the gnocchi into 1/2 inch pieces. you can create the cock's comb here if you like, but i didn't. place gnocchi onto baking sheets and put into freezer until cold. then you can store in freezer bags and they won't stick together. just keep them all in one layer in the bag.
7. if cooking right away, place gnocchi into lightly salted boiling water. boil until they float to the top. don't crowd the pot or they might stick together! i only cook a handful at a time.

the sauce i made for these was a spicy green pea and butter sauce. it was basically butter (i really used smart balance). then i sauteed some garlic in the butter and added a handful of frozen green peas and a tablespoon of pine nuts because that's all i had left. when the peas were almost cooked and the pine nuts were a little toasty, i sprinkled with a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, some black pepper, some parsley and i added a splash of vodka (i didn't have any white wine!) i finished with a small ladle of the gnocchi-cooking water. the hot sauce was then poured over the platter of gnocchi.

served with balsamic roasted brussels sprouts.

DELISH!

dessert: a gingerbread sheep that lee made yesterday after a minor gingerbread cookie making catastrophe. it all ended well, though, you see... well, for me, not the sheep. it's covered in cherrybrook kitchen dairy free icing :)

xmas 2009

lee and i passed a very nice xmas together this year. we were off the hook because lee's parents went to montreal and, well... i don't spend the holidays with my family. we had a lovely 2 days off together. my work was closed on xmas eve, so lee took the day off, too.

first, we went snowshoeing at walden pond.


we had never been there. i don't know that i'll go back--it was pretty, but i don't know what all the hubbub is about. it's a small place, and i can't imagine visiting in the summer when it's crowded. we pretty much had the place to ourselves. plus, as far as snowshoeing is concerned, the trails are very poorly marked (we spent a fair amount of time searching for the trails rather than just hiking), and it's not very challenging. but it was good for essentially "in the city" snowshoeing.

then we went to portsmouth, nh, on a whim. we had a delicious linner (lunch/dinner) there at a place called popovers. i had the conrad's grilled vegetables sandwich on gluten free bread (HEAVEN!), a coconut macaroon, and chocolate mint rooibos tea. here i am in the square after our amazing meal.


then we went to zoolights at the stone zoo in stoneham, ma. it was fun in a very kitch-y way!


on xmas day, we went to see a movie, as per our tradition. this year, we saw sherlock holmes. it was very entertaining and enjoyable, but i don't like how the ending left it wide open for a sequel. can't people just end movies anymore? if you haven't seen it, i do recommend it, though :) it was definitely fun.

then we came home and cooked our terrific meal: cioppino with garlic, basil millet bread, served with a side of leeks parmesan. perfetto! look at that pile of seafood that went into the stew! 2 pounds of haddock, 1/2 pound of each scallops and squid, and there are 2 pounds of mussels in the bag.


i started the cioppino with 1 diced red onion and 2 sliced stalks of celery. when those were cooked down, i added 2 whole sardines, plenty of salt and pepper, a couple of bay leaves and at least a 1/2 cup of white wine.


when the wine didn't smell too alcohol-y anymore, i added about half a container of pomi strained tomatoes, 2 cups of vegetable broth and about 2 cups of water. then the squid went right into the pan to simmer for about 25 minutes or so while i prepared the leeks.


then the fish went in to cook for about 3 minutes, followed by the scallops. then we realized that there was no way the mussels would fit into the pot. so they had to be cooked separately. oh well! the finished product was still delicious and looked lovely on our table :)


buon appetito!

and for the leeks, it was about 1 pound, cleaned and sliced into 1-inch pieces. they were simmered in about 1 1/2 inches of water for 6 minutes. then put into a buttered pie plate and baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes--covered in a little more than 1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese. i'm salivating just thinking about it again!

my holiday pet peeve

some people hate carolers. many like to complain about the xmas letter, in which the sender tells you all about what they've been doing the past year. (i actually don't mind these, and want to give a shout-out to my friend beth who usually does an interesting one every year!)

i hate the holiday text message greeting!

do any of you do this? i won't hate you if you do. just kindly never send me one. here's how it goes: someone types a text message into their phone. they then select "add all contacts" or if they're being a little more selective, perhaps only "add (whatever) group." then they push send. and i get a terribly impersonal text message that just makes me want to throw my phone as soon as i hear my little beep telling me i have a message!

i got TWO yesterday. TWO! two meaningless messages that were a waste of the time it took me to read them. one was from a childhood friend that i had spoken to only a couple of weeks before. we don't speak very often--she has a one-year old and our lives don't overlap as much as they used to. we still see each other whenever i go home, or if she happens to be traveling to where i live. but over our phone conversation, we had already wished each other our very personal and heart-felt holiday wishes. the text message was one measly line, no picture of the kid, nothing. just something like "happy holidays to all our friends and family. love, (her name, husband, son).

the other one i got came from a former friend out in colorado, where i used to live. i say former friend because over the 4 years that i have lived here in boston, she cannot be bothered to communicate with me. i have called her numerous times, emailed, written on her wall on facebook, tried to connect with her in so many ways. (i have tried SUPER hard, because right after i moved here, she asked me to be the godmother to her oldest child. i took this seriously! but she can't really mean it with this behavior...) all i get are these generic holiday greetings which always end with something like "we love you!" hmmm... it's time to take me off your list, really. my feelings are that if you can't be bothered to talk to me throughout the year, i don't really want your silly, impersonal mass text message!

am i a scrooge? to me, text messages are about as meaningless as you can get...

an amazing dinner

special thanks here go out to my super great friend, kara! kara is a former college roomie who lives far away in chicago ;( but she sent lee and i a wonderful festivus gift. it was a gift box of asian spices from the spice house, and it's amazing!

so last night after opening this wonderful gift, this is what i made:


chinese 5-spice tofu with ginger sake gravy
roasted sweet potatoes
apple salad

the tofu was breaded in brown rice flour with a nice dosage of 5-spice. once the tofu was crispy, i removed it from the pan, added some leftover sake from the fridge (to pick up all that wonderful 5-spice that fell off the tofu!), swirled in some grated fresh ginger and fresh ground black pepper, added some cornstarch to thicken and voila! a delicious and warming dinner on the longest night of the year. and it was washed down heartily with some great st. peter's sorghum beer from the uk.

it was sublime... thank you, kara!

snow day!

too bad it was sunday... but i still had fun stumping around all bundled up! i can't wait for snowshoeing on xmas eve :)

good food to eat :)

i've been cooking up a storm recently--cookies that i can eat, good dinners, crepes (which is one of my favorite foods!), and wanted to share some pictures.

breakfast crepes: at first, the pan was too hot and they were coming out thick and a little gluey. but once we learned how to work with a batter that had xanthan gum in it, this was the result. what a beautiful crepe!


i made these cookies, which were supposed to be macaroons, the other night for a cookie exchange. the reason they're not really macaroons is because i had almond paste on hand and didn't want to make the appropriate amount of almond flower. the almond paste was for a different cookie that i wanted to make and then couldn't get all the ingredients. but it worked well here! lee calls these meringueroons, because they are more like almond flavored meringues.

so delicious... here's the recipe:

1 7oz. tube almond paste, crumbled well (i did this in a food processor)
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
pinch of salt

1. beat egg whites until you have medium stiff peaks.
2. add the salt and almond extract and beat in quickly. continue beating and slowly add sugar.
3. fold in the almond paste.
4. chill for about 15 minutes.
5. fill a pastry bag and using a standard round tip, pipe cookies onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. bake at 325 for about 20 minutes, or until set and lightly browned.

(alternatively, you could use 2 cups of almond flour and would likely get a cookie of a different consistency. but i am in love with these little cuties! look at this one--this piping mistake looks like africa!)

these cookies are the same recipe for the chocolate chip cookies i made a while back (i made the modifications I said I would--rice flour & honey if you read it again). just minus the chips, flattened and with blueberry jam in the center. i can't lie. i prefer the chocolate chip variety. the cookie isn't very sweet, so the chocolate seems to help it out.


and a 5-star dinner here! tofu marsala with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. the tofu was breaded and cooked in a mix of brown rice flour and cornmeal. it was perfect. and the gravy was thicked with a bit of all-purpose gluten free flour and it also game out delectably. sigh!


happy cooking to all you out there as well :)

17 degrees at the bus stop this morning!

yay! this is a photo from the local weather caster's blog. i looked much like this, as well, this morning:


and here's a link to today's weather. high of 21--chilly!

jane austen

well folks, my year of jane austen has come to an end. (i just have to watch that bbc jane austen movie series to be complete...) really, it was a year of british literature written by women, but who's being picky?

mostly, i decided to read these books because i had a very poor education in british literature. my continental european literature knowledge is quite thorough... i had only ignored what was written in english! i had an english literature class in high school, but remember nothing about it except that the teacher was not that great or inspiring. i'm sure i read no austen or chaucer. i think we only read some shakespeare. so this year, inspired by a fun woman named jennifer that i met whilst living in savannah, ga, i started to read austen. i first read pride and prejudice because then i wanted to read pride and prejudice and zombies. that book was terrible! but austen herself got me hook, line and sinker.

my favorite austen book is either pride and prejudice or mansfield park. my least favorite, in fact i might even hate it, was sense and sensibility.

i also read jane eyre, by charlotte bronte. i also hated this one. everyone my whole life has been raving about jane eyre, jane eyre, i love jane eyre. i couldn't have cared less about her as a character and was so saddened by the ending--it just seemed like she was still doing what she felt pleased others. she just wanted the right person to please. but on a bronte kick, i read wuthering heights (emily this time) as well. i loved it! it might be one of my favorite books of all time. but it's so dark and brooding, for those of you who know me this is probably no surprise :)

a final book that was so much fun and a great find in the genre was the scarlet pimpernel by baroness orczy. here was a crossover for me: she was a hungarian baroness relocated to london that wrote a ton (in english). this book was great, and there are more in the series that i think i will investigate once i head back to the athenaeum in a couple of weeks.

currently, i am reading the chronicles of narnia (i have also never read these...). he's irish, but i'll count it here! and a couple of years ago, i read shelley's frankenstein. in that vein i think i'll kick off 2010 with bram stoker's dracula. but i am also looking for other quality british literature to read for the year. furthermore, my american literature knowledge and education might just be worse than my british. any suggestions?