italian bread rolls, for real!

a while ago, i finally caved and admitted that the gf flour blend i was routinely using was just plain not available in massachusetts. i was getting it when i went up to maine, at a place called wild flours gluten free market. they were in brunswick. then i heard that their block had a fire and they burned down! now, they are still doing bake sales and farmer's markets (it looks like from their facebook page), but that doesn't help me down here in massachusetts. so, in short, i changed flour brands. AND I AM SO HAPPY I DID!

this stuff is amazing! it's called better batter and i made real, chewy, wonderful italian bread rolls with it :)


italian bread rolls (adapted from back of better batter box)

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 c better batter flour
1/4 c cornmeal
olive oil and course salt

1. preheat oven to 450.
2. cover baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal.
3. using an electric stand mixer, mix together yeast and water and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. add salt and flour and beat on high for 4 minutes.
5. spoon batter onto baking sheet in 1/2 c scoops. smooth over with a spatula or wet hands. brush the tops lightly with olive oil. sprinkle with course salt, if desired.
6. let rise for about 20 minutes.
7. bake for 20-30 minutes and then cool on wire rack.

THIS WAS AWESOME! we made fancy sandwiches with them and just stuffed our faces. they were delicious :)

pierogies

if you know me, you know that i love anything that can be made into a dumpling. so even though hungarian cuisine doesn't have something like the pierogie, because it is a dumpling i am in love with this beautiful polish food. going gluten free made this a sad thing for me. but i found a great pierogie recipe--so great, i made them twice in the same week! mine are with a bit of a hungarian twist :) served covered in saurkraut and sweet paprika! best thing, this recipe is soooo simple to make. thanks to daring cooks!


gluten free pierogies (makes about 15)

1/3 c tapioca starch
1/3 c sweet rice flour (called mochiko)
2 tbsp potato starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp xanthan gum
2 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil

1. combine flours, salt and xanthan gum in a bowl.
2. whisk eggs in a separate small bowl. then whisk in oil.
3. pour wet ingredients into dry. mix together, then you'll be able to knead this dough.
4. grab small portions of the dough and roll out on parchment paper. roll out to about 1/8" thick and cut into rounds.

FULL DISCLOSURE: i rolled out all the dough at once and i do not use a biscuit cutter or anything fancy. i just cut into squares. then i thought about it--next time, i will use my ravioli maker! roll out, place on top of ravioli maker (which is kind of like a little ice cube tray), fill, cut. voila!

5. fill. moisten edges of dough with wet fingers and press edges together. then use a fork to completely stick together and make fluted edges.
6. boil until the dumpling floats to the surface and stops looking "doughy."
7. drain pierogies and place in a hot, non-stick frying pan with butter. coat with butter and fry until lightly browned.
8. eat hot!

i filled mine with a mixture of potato, sage and mild cheddar. so i mashed a boiled potato with a bit of butter and salt and pepper. then added some dried sage to taste. i put about a teaspoon of filling into each dumpling and a pinch of cheese. then sealed. they were divine!

the best vegetarian loaf ever

i'm going to say it... i hate those nasty nut and lentil loaves that people think vegetarians like to eat. really? i mean, they're gross and they have strange textures. who wants to eat that? and when i was a kid, i hated meatloaf, too. my mom's was dry and bland. she just put plain tomato paste on top after she baked it! ew... but my mom is not a very good cook--she knows this.

i was flipping through my joy of cooking looking for some home-style dinner inspiration. it was a rough week last week, and i just wanted comfort food. i found it! it's phenomenal! and it's a loaf. i changed the recipe a bit, as usual. it called for store bought baked, smoked tofu and i could not find this. other options were not gluten free. so we made our own smoked tofu out on our grill with our grill smoker. it was great :) i wish i had a better picture. but this thing was so delicious we had eaten half of it before i remembered to take a picture!


smokey tofu vegetable loaf (inspired by the joy of cooking's smoked tofu burgers)

7 oz. smoked tofu
5 oz. sliced button mushrooms
1 c chopped broccoli
1/3 c chopped orange bell pepper
1/4 c sliced scallions
2 tsp peeled and minced ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 c cooked rice (you can use any kind on hand. we happened to have leftover sushi rice, so that's what i used. i might use brown rice next time if i plan ahead.)
2/3 c bread crumbs (i made crumbs from 2 slices of pamela's bread mix bread)
2 eggs, whisked
1 tbsp soy sauce
plenty of the following spices: black pepper, salt, paprika
pinch of chipotle

1. we had to grill and smoke our tofu.
2. preheat oven to 375 and oil a loaf pan.
3. saute mushrooms in olive oil. when they start to release their liquid, add broccoli, bell pepper and scallions. cook until slightly soft, then add ginger, garlic and spices. add rice, stir around and remove from heat.
4. put veggies and rice into food processor. our food processor is small, so we had to do all this in a couple batches.
5. run smoked tofu through the food processor. mix together the rice/veggie mixture, tofu, breadcrumbs, eggs and soy sauce.
6. the mixture should be pretty uniform, but you should be able to see little veggie pieces and whatnot. it should not look like a "custard."
7. press into loaf pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until nice and browned on top.

we had this with dilled mashed potatoes and gravy and buttered carrots. it was comfort on a plate. and the loaf makes fantastic leftovers. i kept imagining tofu loaf sandwiches this winter. i can't wait to eat this again.

pineapple upside down cake

we had a bbq. i really wanted a tasty and easy dessert to make. then i craved it: pineapple upside down cake. this might be the best pineapple upside down cake i've ever had. there was none leftover from the bbq. i so wish i had taken a picture of them whole, beautiful, unmolded. but alas, they went that fast. i only have this picture of my wonderful slice of heaven.

thank you, the baking beauties, who i have on my list of favorite blogs. they are gluten free and gave me my base recipe here. i adapted a bit...sorry, i don't put mayonnaise in cake...

eat your hearts out, pineapple upside down cake lovers!

pineapple upside down cake
yield: 2 cakes

1 1/2 c white rice flour
3/4 c tapioca starch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
4 eggs
1 1/4 c sugar
2/3 c sour cream
scant 1 c pineapple juice (drained from the can of slices)
2 tsp pineapple liqueur

topping:
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 can sliced pineapple rings
maraschino cherries

1. preheat oven to 350. grease and flour 2 8" cake pans.
2. melt butter. divide evenly between the 2 cake pans.
3. sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. divide between the 2 cakes.
4. top decoratively with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. set aside.
5. mix together dry ingredients.
6. mix eggs, sugar and sour cream until fluffy. pour in dry ingredients, pineapple juice and pineapple liqueur. mix well.
7. pour evenly over the pineapple slices in the prepared cake pans.
8. bake for 25-30 minutes until done. cakes should be lightly golden and should spring back lightly to the touch.
9. remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. remove from pans at this time or they will be stuck forever!

WARNING: you will eat all of this cake! :)

a pizza crust to keep!

one of the things i miss about being gluten free is pizza. most everything else i don't care about. it's funny--these days, the smell of some baking things just make me feel sick to my stomach, a true reminder of how bad i used to feel :( but not pizza... luckily, there is some great gluten free pizza out there. some of you might remember the wonderful gluten free pizza and jojos that i had in ohio upon a visit to my family. i will go to altieri's again! and there is a fantastic place here called zing in porter square. my favorite at zing is the blue october: a pizza with squash sauce, spinach, caramelized onions, and i substitute feta for the blue cheese. heaven!

in any case, i like to make pizza sometimes too, and i finally found a crust i can work with. don't let the long ingredient list scare you! this particular pizza that i made was spread with ricotta (and the tiniest amount of pizza sauce on top of this), sauteed apples, browned onions, cheddar and sage. YUM!


a good pizza crust (adapted from gluten free mommy)
yield: 1 crust

1/4 c millet flour
3/4 c white rice flour
1/4 c sweet rice flour (called mochiko in asian stores)
3/4 c tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp additional sugar (for proofing the yeast)
1 packet active dry yeast
3/4 c warm water (about 115 degrees)
2 tbsp ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey

1. place pizza stone or pan in the oven and heat to 170 degrees.
2. mix olive oil, ricotta cheese, vinegar and honey in a measuring cup and set aside. allow to come to room temperature. do not use cold ingredients!
3. combine all dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. give a couple of whirls with the paddle attachment (NOT DOUGH HOOK) to aerate.
4. heat your water.
5. in a small separate bowl, add yeast stirred with the tsp of sugar and 1/4 c of the warmed water.
6. let it sit for a few minutes so that you can see it's active. it will get all foamy.
7. whirl your dry ingredients again and add your eggs and then the ricotta mixture.
8. add the yeast mixture and then gauge your liquids... the dough should look like a stiff cake batter. it should still hold the twirls from the mixer well and should be shiny. add additional heated water as necessary to achieve this. i only added an extra 1/4 c of water, coming to a total of 1/2 c of warm water. the original recipe writer used a total of 3/4 c. it depends on how dry your flours are--but you'll have to play with this one!
9. turn the oven off and remove your pizza stone/pan. cover with parchment paper. spread dough over the top. i used wet hands to spread over the stone. i might use a rolling pin and some wax paper on top the next time to make a thinner crust. but do whatever you feel comfortable with :)
10. put stone back in the OFF oven and let rise for 40 minutes. (full disclosure, i only let mine rise for 25 because i was hungry!)
11. once it has risen, turn oven to 375 and prebake for 10 minutes.
12. remove and add your toppings. bake for an additional 7-10 minutes.

vermont...finally!

i took lee to vermont for his birthday. it was a month ago today that we took this trip, but now i finally have a computer that works and is hooked up to everything!

i worked on the saturday before lee's birthday. so he had that day to spend on his own. his instructions were to pick me up at work, with a zipcar that i had rented, and he would drive where i told him to go. he did not know where i was going to take him. he eventually figured out that it was vermont--i mean, it's not too difficult to figure out, after all. we stayed in a cheap hotel in montpelier. nothing fancy, but inns in vermont are terrifically expensive! and what with a new condo, i wanted to have a good time without breaking the bank... so we checked in around 7pm and promptly started the festivities. first on the list was a stop on vermonts beer trail: the alchemist pub. Now, this may have been lee's birthday celebration, but i must say that i was ELATED to find out that the alchemist makes its very own gluten free beer! it's called celia pale ale and it was THE BEST gluten free beer i have ever had. possibly the best pale ale i've ever had... too bad they don't sell their beer anywhere but at the pub :( but lee sampled several delicious beers while there and then we had a great dinner. thanks, alchemist!

we then woke up the next morning and headed straight out for the ben & jerry's factory tour in waterbury. it was fun and smelled delicious. this is also where, though it was lee's birthday, they happened to be serving my favorite ice cream flavor as the free sample :) it was mint chocolate chunk. for those of you who know me, you know that i always go to ice cream shops with the intention of trying something new and fun, but each time, as soon as i get up to the counter, i just order the shop's mint chocolate ice cream, whatever it is. how predictable! lee was also able to nab us an additional sample to share :)

anyway, this was vermont, and i'm happy to report that by 1pm, lee and i had sampled the following:

• ice cream at ben & jerry's
• plenty of cheese at the cabot annex store
• chocolates from lake champlain's factory store
• apple cider
• wine and hard cider

nary a vegetable or healthy item to be found. so we drove into stowe and had a wonderful salad at the green goddess cafe :)

then we drove up to burlington. i know there are some die-hard burlington fans out there, but i have to say that i just don't really have to go again. lee and i used to live in boulder, co, and burlington and boulder are so much alike (but not in the ways that we liked boulder--in the ways that we disliked boulder...). in any case, we had a nice stroll around on some festival day. then we went to a creperie called the skinny pancake that makes gluten free buckwheat crepes! both of our dinners were delicious--lee did not have a gluten free or vegetarian/pescatarian variety, so i could not sample--and we were so full that we had no room for dessert. but lee's was a completely local crepe: local handmade sausage, cheese, maple syrup, and some veggies. it looked great.


we rolled ourselves back to our hotel, slept soundly, and drove back to boston the next morning. it was a great trip, though it sounded more like a trip for me than for lee! i had never been to vermont before, and i will go back. but lee thought it was a great trip and also agreed that we should go again sooner rather than later. maybe we'll get in some good snowshoeing this year?


lee's real birthday was the following tuesday, august 10. lee wanted a real new england meal, so i made lobster, steamed mussels, biscuits, maple glazed carrots, and boston cream pie. i am eating a lot more seafood these days (my choices are so limited, and i immensely enjoy what i've been having!), but i'm not a huge lobster fan. lee got most of the lobster to himself and then was able to gorge himself on plenty of mussels too.


all in all, i think he had a great birthday :)

general tso's tofu

has anyone out there read the fortune cookie chronicles by jennifer 8. lee? well, in it, along with trying to find the origin of the fortune cookie, she seeks out general tso's chicken all over the world in an effort to understand chinese cuisine in the diaspora. it has nothing to do with this recipe, but making it made me think of the book--which i read a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed. i would recommend it to anyone who is interested in food history/culture books :)

anyway, this was SO delicious--and the leftovers were fantastic the next day (just not as crispy). and then i even wanted it again. oh, and i notoriously hate chinese food. but i was looking for a new tofu recipe and this struck my fancy. below is a conglomeration of several recipes i looked up.


general tso's tofu

1 lb. extra firm tofu
~ 1/2c cornstarch
vegetable oil for frying
3 chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 cloves garlic
2/3c vegetable broth
2 tbsp wheat-free tamari
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp gluten free hoisin sauce
1/2-3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
sesame seeds

1. press and drain tofu. pat dry and cut into 1/2" chunks. toss tofu in a bowl with the cornstarch (reserve some cornstarch to thicken the sauce at the end--just set aside in a separate bowl about 1 1/2 tbsps).
2. heat oil in a non-stick skillet and shallow fry. i really sauteed until nice and crispy on about four sides. that seemed to cook all the cornstarch and make it nice and crunchy. it may take 2 batches--then remove and drain on paper towels
3. heat a small amount of oil in the pan. add green onions, ginger, and garlic. cook until fragrant--DO NOT BURN GARLIC.
4. in a separate bowl, whisk together broth, tamari, sugar, vinegar, hoisin and red pepper. remove a couple of tbsps and mix with reserved cornstarch. add liquid mix to pan--do not add cornstarch mixture until the rest is warm.
5. mix cornstarch mixture into pan, stirring constantly until thickened.
6. add tofu and coat evenly.
7. serve with broccoli over brown rice. garnish with sesame seeds.

vacation and more

so folks, it's been a while. and i must apologize because this will be a picture-less post because i am not sure where my camera is packed just at this moment. it's been pretty busy for us: we closed on a condo, painted a room, went on vacation, and are packing up to move into said condo. this has been a span of a week and a half. so the camera is possibly in vacation stuff still, or has been packed into a moving box. unsure...

anyway, more on the condo later. for now, i'm thinking about vacation-time.

this year, we went to virginia. specifically, we went to shenandoah national park and hiked the appalachian trail. wow... we were initially supposed to hike 40 miles of the trail, but scaled that back to 30 once i possibly broke one of my toes. it is currently a lovely shade of "raisin" and is being nice when it is taped to the next toe. it only really hurts when i stand on my foot for a long time right now. sigh...

in any case, when we arrived in virginia, we went to this town called luray and ventured into luray caverns. this was great because it was 100 degrees outside and the caverns are naturally air conditioned :) these caverns were beautiful and spectacular. check out the web site and see for yourself! and hopefully next week i'll have some pictures for you. i highly recommend this visit to anyone who finds themselves in that area of the country. stunning, really! when we were done, we had a phenomenal dinner (start sarcasm) of rice chips, potato salad, and cucumber salad, procured at the local food lion. this was finally accomplished after driving around for about 45 minutes, past a host of fast food--of which i could not eat any of it except taco bell, and well, we're just not going there--and finding the 3 restaurants in town. i also could not eat anything at those places except the pricey one. and really, who's going to spend $18 on a stuffed portobello mushroom? i don't care if it's organic--that's just ridiculous!

anyway, bright and early the next morning, we picked up our shuttle at thornton gap and were dropped off to start hiking from swift run gap. the day's hike went from there to lewis mountain cabins. this was the first accommodations we had in the park. the three lodges were all done in the 1920s and 1930s and have a great feeling to them. in short, we got to hike up to 10 miles/day and come "home" to a bed and shower every night. it was great. this day's hike was mostly uphill from swift run gap and was a great hike through old forest growth. but man, was it hot and humid.

we arrived at lewis mountain and our cabin with a little patio and grill to cook on. we had a much better dinner of tofu burgers, roasted fingerling potatoes, mandarin oranges and van camp's pork and beans (those were for lee).

the next day we set out for big meadows lodge, and another approximately 10 mile hike. first thing on our hike, we saw a young bear that we had to scare from the trail. luckily, that was pretty easy. he was just eating away, minding his own business--but you can't really just walk up to bears. best to scare them away--especially if he was young enough for mama to be nearby. that would be a bad scene. the rest of this day's hike though was not that great. there were no views, the woods were dense and it was hard to see if there were any critters around, and i broke my toe. i just kept knocking it into roots and rocks, my own fault really, and then i hit it again and i felt a searing pain through the toe and up my foot. then lee decided to take a diversion hike down the mountain to lewis falls, essentially right below big meadows lodge. because we were almost at the end of our hike, i said ok. well, it was pretty far down the mountain, we saw no waterfall (it was not really the season for this waterfall), and then on our way back up encountered a LARGE bear. and he was not to be very deterred by our clapping, whistling, arm-waving antics. he just sat on his haunches and looked at us. he eventually lumbered away, but this was alarming because he did so very quietly and we're sure he was watching us from not far away. and he was about 500 pounds or more. male black bears can be aggressive and you do not want to mess with them. i have never hiked faster up 1000 VERTICAL FEET in my life. and yes, when we got to the top at the lodge, we saw the sign that said it was 1000 feet down. lee was not allowed to choose side diversion hikes after this.

when we got to the lodge, we saw my pretty swollen and gray toe (it was not yet ripened to it's lovely purple shade) and then the gigantic blister on the back of that foot from walking funny.

but the next morning, we got up and hiked about 9 miles to skyland resort, our final lodge stop. this hike was wonderful, with beautiful vistas, lovely rock slides, and it was a perfectly cool day with low humidity for hiking. when we got to skyland, however, i knew my hiking time was over. my foot was throbbing, my toe had turned quite purple, and that blister had become a large bloody hole in the back of my foot. lee did a great job finding a way down the mountain for us--it was still about 10 miles to the car. a great woman named carla, who worked at the lodge, took pity on us and drove us to the lot on her way home from work. THANK YOU CARLA! she really saved our vacation :)

to celebrate, for dinner in the lodge that night we ordered a bottle of wine called chateau morrisette. it was not that fantastic, really not good actually. but it was called blushing dog and was a white zinfandel. lee had to order it because it had his name. oh well. we also had a slice of ice cream pie, made with virginia blackberry ice cream. divine!

for our final day in the park, since we had the car, we drove to all the overlooks and vistas that we were missing from not doing that day's hike. lee was a nice chauffeur :) then we drove out of the park to sperryville, va, on our way to leesburg. the plan was to meander and do some virginia wine tasting. but first, in sperryville there was rumored to be a gluten free bakery. and we found it! it was just a little storefront, with really no retail part, but the woman was great! we bought a meat stromboli for lee's lunch, a spanikopita for me, and 2 cream cheese brownies. i was in heaven! and her sister lives in boston and is involved with a health food market here and has a gluten free bed and breakfast in malden! WOW!

so we meandered and drank wine, sometimes good wine, sometimes bad, and then finally came home on july 3. it was a nice trip except for the toe part. we also started reading bill bryson's a walk in the woods which was fun to read while hiking the appalachian trail. i'll tell you all about it when we're done.

strawberries!

on this past saturday, lee and i went to pick strawberries. folks, i'm sorry to say that russell orchards in ipswich is no longer my favorite place to go. they used to feel a lot more homey. these days, they are very commercial feeling and have lost that family friendly attitude that i feel farms need in order to survive. this year, they announced that ALL people 2-years-old and older will be charged $3 just to walk into the fields or orchard. they say that this will count toward what you actually purchase, yet they also say that this will help them recoup what's eaten in the fields. they basically say on their web site that if you eat in the fields it's the same as stealing and they want to put a stop to it. so it felt a little too policed for my taste. i probably won't go back even though they've been my go-to pick-your-own place for apples and strawberries for the past 4 years.

we went to shelburne farms in stow instead. you just purchased your quart container before you went into the field and went away to pick :) it was a cute little farm and you knew it was operated by the people who own it. oh, and when we came out of the fields, we asked in the farm store if the berries were sprayed or fertilized and they said, "no! anything that can be eaten by pickers in the field can't be sprayed. we don't want to poison you!" so they basically said that they know people will eat while they're picking. funny...

full disclosure: i ate 1 berry while picking. i wanted to taste the goodness i was smelling. but then i didn't eat any until i came home. no smorgasbord in the field for me--and i can't be the only honest person out there put off by russell orchard's new policy...

but the picking was great!


and then i came home and had to make things with my new fresh berries, so we had crepes for sunday morning breakfast. these are blueberry and strawberry crepes, with a bit of maple cream, cinnamon and sugar.


and then i made strawberry banana muffins, adapted from a recipe in gluten free baking by rebecca reilly. these were partially made with the gluten free flour blend suggested by the author, which was a mix of brown rice flour, tapioca starch and potato starch. if anyone wants the exact quantities of this blend, let me know. i don't always like the grittiness of brown rice flour, so i mixed this with my preferred gluten free flour, namaste perfect flour blend.


strawberry banana muffins

1 c gluten free flour blend
1/2 c namaste perfect flour blend
3/4 c packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
pinch salt
1 banana, peeled and mashed
1 dozen strawberries, roughly quartered
1/2 c soy milk
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
white granulated sugar, for sprinkling

1. preheat oven to 350 and line muffin cups.
2. mix together in a large bowl gluten free flours, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt.
3. whisk together mashed banana, chopped strawberries, soy milk, oil, egg and vanilla. pour into dry ingredients and stir until well blended.
4. scoop into muffin cups (and ice cream scooper works well) and sprinkle with sugar before baking. bake on middle rack for about 25 minutes or until done.

asparagus mushroom crepes with dijon wine sauce

mmm... french food...

asparagus mushroom crepes

filling:
1 bunch thin asparagus
1 10-oz. box of sliced portobello mushrooms
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
thyme, to taste

crepes:
3 eggs
1 c soy milk
1/2 c potato starch
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons canola oil

1. cut off tough ends of asparagus. then chop stalks into quarters. melt some butter in a pan and saute mushrooms and asparagus, with spices and herbs, until mushrooms release their liquid.
2. put eggs and milk into a blender. blend.
3. add potato starch and salt and blend again. refrigerate for 20 minutes.
4. take crepe batter out of the fridge. pulse briefly, then pour into hot crepe pan (we use a pre-seasoned cast iron pan. it makes wonderful crepes that don't stick!). swirl the mixture around to coat the bottom of the crepe pan evenly.
5. cook over medium heat until the surface of the crepe looks dry, about 1-2 minutes. flip and cook the other side for about 30 seconds.
6. slide crepe onto a plate and fill 1/4 of it with the asparagus mushroom mixture. then fold in quarters over the mixture. top with dijon wine sauce (below) and paprika :)

dijon wine sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp namaste perfect flour blend
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 c white wine (i used a white wine from the cotes du rhone region)
1/2 c grated cheese (i used a mix of swiss and meunster)
black pepper, to taste

1. melt butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan. whisk in flour and stir to thicken.
2. add dijon.
3. pour wine over roux and stir constantly to ensure nothing will stick in the pan.
4. bring to a boil. remove from heat and stir in cheese until fully melted. add pepper.
5. pour over crepes!


warning: sauce is bitey! i actually would use less dijon for my tastes, but lee loves dijon. you could easily cut it down to a half tbsp of dijon and still have a great tasting sauce, in my opinion.

orange poppy seed muffins

i'm behind! i have 2 recipes to post that i think you all will like (and could easily change for your own "normal" eating habits!). this recipe makes about 1 1/2 dozen large muffins. i adapted it from a recipe for lemon poppy seed bread or cake and left the overall quantities the same because i wanted a lot of muffins. well, i got 'em! :)


orange poppy seed muffins (makes 1 1/2 dz.)

1 c orange juice
2/3 c poppy seeds
2 3/4 c namaste perfect flour blend
1/2 c cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/8 tsp salt
1 c spectrum vegan shortening
1 1/3 c packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. mix together oj and poppy seeds in a small bowl.
2. in another bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
3. using a stand mixer (or hand mixer), cream the shortening and the brown sugar. add the eggs one at a time and then vanilla. add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the oj/poppy seed mixture.
4. scoop into muffin pans prepared with liners or lightly oiled. bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. the tops should spring back when gently pressed.

delicious warm, with a tad bit of butter or honey :)

tofu 3 ways

i love tofu. sometimes, i even crave it. here are some pictures of beautiful, tasty, tofu-featuring dinners i've had recently:

lemon asparagus risotto with tofu balls on the side. the lemon asparagus risotto was made with lemon juice instead of wine, a touch of lemon zest, and chopped asparagus. the tofu balls were made with the changes i suggested before--no flour on the outside, hands covered in oil and used to coat the balls. then i baked them in the oven until brown and a little crispy on the outside. i have also since found that not putting shallots in them helps them hold together much better. and they are delish! i love making a batch of these on the weekend to have with several meals throughout the week :)


mango ginger tofu, from my favorite ppk ladies! we put ours on skewers with pineapple and yellow bell pepper and then grilled. served with black rice.


cornmeal encrusted tofu with an olive and sundried tomato "gremolata." basically, a traditional gremolata with the olives and sundried tomatoes added to my taste. served with mashed potatoes and miso gravy and sweet green peas. this made me swoon!

curry powder

i ran out of curry powder, but wanted to make this great pea and potato curry dish that lee and i like. so i made my own. this made 2 tsp of curry powder, so of course you could make a bigger batch. however, don't make a bunch to store because it won't taste as good. make and use as needed:

ann's curry powder

1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp paprika
pinch each ground black pepper, kosher salt and nutmeg

it was waaay better than store bought curry powder (surprise, surprise). i won't buy it anymore now. i'll just make this.

country fried tofu

'nuff said :)


ann's country fried tofu

1 lb extra firm tofu
1 egg
1/2 c plain soymilk
3/4 c white rice flour
1/2 c gluten free bread crumbs
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
paprika, to taste (optional)

1. drain tofu well and pat dry with paper towels.
2. slice into 8 slices, by cutting the block in half, then the halves in half, etc...
3. mix white rice flour with plenty of salt and pepper in a small bowl. i love to add paprika here as well. mix egg and milk together in another small bowl. put bread crumbs in a third small bowl.
4. dredge tofu in white rice flour, followed by milk/egg mixture, then bread crumbs.
5. fry. i shallow fried mine, because deep fried foods gross me out. but you don't need to deep fry with this tasty recipe :)

serve with vinegar slaw and biscuits for a down home kinda meal.

mmm...mmm...mexican!

i'm known for these here asparagus enchiladas. my sister calls me once a year to ask, again, how to make them. the people that we knew in boulder couldn't wait until asparagus season for me to make these. they made appearances at dinners and get-togethers and have come in several varieties. i haven't been able to eat them for a while. before i knew i was gluten-intolerant, their slight spiciness made me so sick to my stomach that i thought i'd never have them again.

but my gluten free diet has changed all this :) i feel great, and i ate asparagus enchiladas twice this week to prove it! here is my most recent variation on an old household favorite:


asparagus-tofu enchiladas

1 bunch of thin stalked asparagus
1/2 lb tofu
1 sm can diced green chiles (i like hatch, if you have that brand)
10 corn tortillas
1 15-oz can mild red enchilada sauce
1 c shredded mixed mexican cheeses

1. wash the asparagus and trim the tough ends off the stalks. cut stalks in half. place in a shallow sauce pan with approximately 1/2 inch of lightly salted water. steam asparagus for 2-3 minutes, or until bright green.
2. drain and press tofu. dry with clean paper towels. slice into slabs, then slice into strips the short way.
3. coat the bottom of a 9 x 13 and 8 x 8 pan with enchilada sauce.
4. steam corn tortillas. put a couple pieces of asparagus and 2 strips of tofu into each tortilla. then top with green chiles to taste. roll tortilla and place into pan. do this for all 10 tortillas. i can usually get 6 into the larger pan, and then the final four into the 8 x 8 square pan.
5. top lightly with enchilada sauce until ends are nicely covered but the enchiladas are not soupy. top with shredded cheese.
6. bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until hot and bubbly.

this time, i served my enchiladas with mexican white rice. i adapted this recipe from rick bayless's mexican kitchen. i have two of his cookbooks, and i am rarely disappointed when i get an idea from him.

ann's mexican rice

1 lg onion, diced
1 sm can corn niblets, drained
2 tbsp olive oil
2 c long grain white rice
2 1/2 c vegetable broth

1. saute the onion with the raw rice with the oil in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes. it's okay if the some of the rice gets brown. add the corn kernals and give a quick stir. add the broth.
2. pour into a casserole dish. cover with foil and a lid (if you have a lid for the pan. if there's no lid, that's fine).
3. bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until almost all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
4. remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

and here you will have a lovely mexican meal! put a little salsa and sour cream on the side and you won't be disappointed. yum :)

my kind of easter eggs

we don't do easter, but this year after visiting ohio, i remembered a little something from my childhood that i couldn't wait to make for easter: beet pickled eggs. i haven't downloaded the pictures of my eggs from my camera yet, but here's what they look like (from a site called aeri's kitchen):


they are so pretty and pink-y red that they fit the season perfectly. these are an amish food, and really popular where i grew up because ohio has the largest amish population in the world. i think these eggs are so popular there because northeast ohio is also very eastern european (mainly hungarian, romanian and austrian, with some polish) and these people love them some pickled foods. my grandparents always had these beautiful pickled eggs in a jar in the house. YUM!

i adapted a recipe that i found online at allrecipes.com, and it turned out deliciously. i'll be making them again--even lee thinks they are great! imagine, hard-boiled eggs with a little sweet and sour-ness to them. if you like eggs and you like beets, you'll probably like these. this is a quick pickled version. the one true pickle recipe i found made a gallon of eggs and beets. i just don't think we're there yet... that's a lot of pickled eggs to eat, my friend!

beet pickled eggs

8 eggs
2 15-oz. cans of sliced beets, with liquid (i used the no salt added kind)
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper corns

1. put eggs in a pot of water on the stove to boil. once the water boils, TURN OFF the burner and set the timer to 9-12 minutes (this time depends upon how firm you like your yolks. if you like firmer, use 12 minutes. i like my yolk normally a little soft--about 8 minutes--but for these eggs 10 minutes was a perfect time).
2. after the eggs are done, drain hot water and soak in cold water for about 10 minutes. then peel the eggs and set aside in a GLASS OR PLASTIC BOWL*.
3. in a saucepan, combine beets and liquid with the rest of the ingredients. stir until sugar dissolves and bring to a boil. pour this over the eggs.
4. cover and chill for at least 4 hours or set overnight.

*a metal bowl will make the eggs slimy--it's the metal vinegar reaction thing. the liquid will turn plastics red. i like to use a glass bowl for this.

the end of my challenge

so, for those of you who have been following, i had a 90-day challenge to eat only homemade. this began on january 1 and ended march 31. some notes on my challenge:

1. it was a lot harder than i thought. mostly because my husband did not really support this challenge. so on friday nights, instead of being creative about going out and doing something, he just complained that we "didn't go out anymore," by which he meant we didn't go out to eat anymore. basically, he was a pain in the ass. but the other reason why it was more challenging than i thought was because i love to cook complicated things, and sometimes when i came home from work, i didn't want to cook complicated things. we were often eating at 8pm due to my challenge.

2. i couldn't really do it. by this, i mean that there were a couple of times when i actually had to eat out. i will explain them here--a) i did a lunch time talk for lee's company for an academic group that some people are trying to get off the ground. they wanted someone to come in and talk about university and/or research libraries and their needs and trends. the crux of this presentation was that they took me out for a nice lunch. i couldn't exactly avoid that. b) i went to maine for a day to see lee's parents. when we do this we meet in portland, not at their house because their house is too far for a day-trip. they took us out to lunch and dinner during that day. again, no choice unless i wanted to carry a cooler around. there is only so much food that you can pack and it's not really suitable to do so for full meals. c) at the end of march, i went to visit my family in ohio and again went out once for a nice dinner with my sisters. my parents also don't cook much, so i did all of the cooking for family meals except on our last day when they ordered us pizza, from an awesome place that had gluten free pizza, gluten free fried chicken, and gluten free jojos! i love jojos! (the entry says that the term originated in ohio--but is also used elsewhere in the united states for those potato wedges that are fried together with the chicken. interesting....) and the pizza was AMAZING! it's hands down the best gluten free pizza i've had. thank you, altieri's! anyway, i didn't want to be too difficult, so i couldn't complain there either. to them, i am already enough of a problem because i am vegetarian and now gluten free...

in any case, my parents were pretty happy (and so was the rest of the family) when we went to the west side market in cleveland and went to the handmade hungarian sausage place. here we are, buying something like 6 pounds of spicy hungarian meats :) no, i didn't eat them, but smelled, smiled, and remembered, and had a lovely conversation, partly in hungarian. the guy's family came to cleveland in 1956, right after the failed hungarian anti-communist revolution. my family came before his, between the two world wars.


3. i learned a lot. i remembered how much i love cooking as much as i can homemade and i will continue to do this. i already did before, but had been used to buying more convenience food than i used to--part of this was leftover from my georgia days when i was only cooking for myself. so maybe lee will still complain that we don't go out anymore, but i just think he needs to get over it and find something other than eating to do!

crepes and a booked vacation

one of the things that made me most upset when i learned i had to live gluten free was the loss of crepes. i love crepes, and they are something special to me. sometimes, on a sunday, my husband will get up before me and make a beautiful crepe batter. we slowly make and eat crepes and just have a lovely morning--doing nothing! i particularly like cinnamon sugar crepes, or ones with honey and almonds, or cheese and jam, or... never mind, i like crepes with anything!

an interesting crepe anecdote is that when we were in japan almost 2 years ago on vacation, we learned that the japanese also love crepes. in fact, in japan, they like almost anything french but then they give them a distinctly japanese twist. so the crepe i had (which was quite large, i might add) was as follows: a piece of lettuce covered with cream cheese, then a scoop of tuna salad, covered in pizza sauce.

i know, your gagging right now. but honestly you can't knock strange japanese food combinations until you try them. we learned while traveling there that they really are food geniuses! truly! look how good it looked!

but i digress...

recently, i found out that a friend of mine is allergic to wheat. this is also a new thing to her. now this is slightly different because she is not gluten intolerant. but in many cases, we eat the same things :) she loaned me a cookbook her sister got for her upon her diagnosis called nearly normal cooking for gluten-free eating by jules e. d. shepard. it has some not so great recipes, but it also has some fantastic recipes--like GLUTEN FREE CREPES! i had experimented with making crepes again with lackluster results. but i tried this recipe and it has the taste and texture of real crepes! i'm in heaven :)


crepes

2 tbsp flour (again, i use namaste perfect flour blend)
3 eggs
3 tbsp plain soymilk
1/2 tsp salt

1. combine in a small food processor. cook in a crepe pan or small non-stick skillet until beautiful and lightly browned on both sides.

i filled mine with crumbled tofu "sausages" (again, my tofu balls), sweet potatoes and cheese. lee's had his filled with spiced chicken and apples. then we had dessert, of course! mine is the subdued, yet beautiful crepe with pink sprinkles. those of you who know lee are not surprised by his crazy dessert crepe!


and to the other part of my story today: thinking of crepes made me think of japan. japan made me think of vacations. lee and i just booked our summer vacation :) at the end of june, we will be headed to virginia where we will hike approximately 40 miles of the appalachian trail lodge-to-lodge, in shenandoah national park. i am so looking forward to it. from there, we will slowly make our way to some beach, while sipping wine and taking in some historic spots. i already feel relaxed. i can't wait for june 23rd!

"healthy" hashbrown casserole

a friend and i were reminiscing about hashbrown casserole not too long ago. i thought, "mmm... i want me some of that..." but i recalled it being just hashbrown potatoes and cream of mushroom soup. not too nutritious! so here i've come up with a healthier, but still satisfyingly yummy, hashbrown casserole.


ann's healthy hashbrown casserole

1 lb potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp + 1 tsp flour
1 c plain soy milk
1/3 c low fat sour cream
1/2-3/4 c shredded cheese (i used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella)
1/2 tsp salt
paprika, to taste
pepper, to taste
dill, to taste
pinch turmeric
1/4 c gluten free breadcrumbs

1. squeeze excess liquid out of shredded potatoes. place in an oiled non-stick skillet. pat down and fry evenly in a large pancake. this is to get some brown-ness on the potatoes, a la hashbrowns. do this until all your potatoes are lightly browned but not cooked. put in a large mixing bowl and break up gently. add shredded and uncooked carrot. stir in sour cream thoroughly and then mix in cheeses.
2. saute onions and pepper 3-5 minutes, until beginning to brown and soften. add mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid. add herbs and spices. stir until incorporated. sprinkle with flour (i use namaste's gluten free perfect flour blend). stir and add soymilk.
3. cook until soymilk starts to bubble and thicken. pour over veggie and sour cream/cheese mixture. stir until well combined.
4. put in a buttered casserole. top with breadcrumbs and a small amount of shredded cheese.
5. bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. it will be brown and bubbly, and the potatoes should be cooked through by this time.

mmm...mmm...mmm!


i ate this with my tofu balls, but i shaped them more like sausages. i also used less breadcrumbs (about half as much) and did not coat with flour--like i said i would do the last time. instead, i oiled my hands and coated the tofu "sausages". then i placed them on a baking sheet on parchment paper and baked for 20 minutes until they were beautiful and brown. this is the PERFECT way to make these tofu beauties, and the next time i make balls i will do the same :)

low country boil

hey y'all!

well, there are many things i disliked about living in georgia, but low country boil ain't one of 'em. here's a good description of what low country boil is. basically, it's a big pot of shrimp (sometimes crab, as well), new potatoes, corn on the cob, and sausage boiled together with old bay. mine is a little bit of a fancier version :)


ann's low country boil--courtesy of my 9 month stay in savannah, georgia

serves 2
1 lb shrimp, heads off and deveined, but shells on
1 lb yukon gold potatoes
1 buffalo or andouille flavored chicken sausage
2 tbsp old bay seasoning
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp paprika
3 tbsp butter

1. cut potatoes into about 1 inch pieces. throw in a pot with cold water and plenty of salt. bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until potatoes are starting to get soft.
2. throw shrimp into the pot and sausage. cook until done. if using frozen shrimp, which we do up here in the frozen north, it will take about 6 minutes. then your potatoes will be perfectly done!
3. drain. put shrimp and potatoes back into pot with the butter. keep the heat on low. melt butter and add nutmeg, dill and paprika as well. coat everything real well.
4. serve hot, with a nice bit of corn bread on the side :)

at my house, the sausage is not boiled in the pot. lee cooks it on the side. i am not sausage friendly, so i don't want it touching my food. so i take out my portion of shrimp and potatoes, and then lee throws his sausage into the pot and coats it nicely with everything else. he also drastically prefers the buffalo sausage to andouille. the church's page above says they use polish sausage, but i'm pretty sure the places i saw it on the menu it was usually andouille. you can use whatever sausage you want to! (oh, and a note here, low country boil does not work with sweet potatoes. we tried that when we were out of potatoes, but it was unsuccessful...)

drink with plenty of beer!


ann's gluten free cornbread

1 c cornmeal
1 c white rice flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 c sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
3/4 c plain soymilk
1/4 c canola oil
1 tbsp honey

1. mix together dry ingredients. add wet ingredients and stir to combine.
2. pour into muffin cups or 8 x 8 baking pan. put into 400 degree oven.
3. muffins will take about 20-25 minutes to bake. bread will take closer to 45 minutes.

sometimes, i add chili spices to the muffins if i'm having them with something like low country boil. either way, be sure to serve with plenty of butter :) or they make a nice breakfast, too, with plenty of jam!