Another appliance I cannot live without is my Wok. A stainless steel wok. I use it nearly every meal, certainly everyday and it's not a very expensive item. I do not wash my wok (or cast iron pans) with soap because it ruins the seasoning. I wash it in very hot water, then rub oil into it with a paper tower. It makes a nice nonstick surface. I always heat the pan up before I put food in it, so I suppose that helps sterilize it.
Pasta Primavera
In an olive oil-drizzled wok, stir-fry whatever veggies you like. Yesterday when I made this I sauted red onion, garlic, red pepper, a few garlic cloves, zucchini and carrots. Throw in some good salt and fresh pepper, basil & tarragon (or whatever you like). If you want some meat in this start with some diced chicken breasts/onion/garlic first, then add the rest of the veggies one or two at a time. Stir all of this into some Tinkyada brown rice penne pasta (or whichever kind you prefer) and drizzle a little more olive oil in. Taste to see if it needs more seasoning. Sometimes I add my homemade vinaigrette (...Basics post) when I want it more zingy. I added orange slices on the side and dinner was served!
Chicken-Garlic Pasta (inspired by my friend Bonnie)
Staute some onion, several cloves minced/sliced garlic and some diced chicken breasts in the wok with olive oil (s & p). After chicken is cooked, add several handfuls of fresh spinach and stir till spinach is wilted down. Stir into pasta and drizzle with more olive oil; salt if needed. Top with pine nuts.
Spanish Stew
I use my enamel-coated cast iron pan for this and it melds the flavors together beautifully, but probably any good baking dish would work. Chop a variety of veggies into chunks. Today I used: 1 red onion, 1 red pepper, 4 sliced carrots, 3 diced yellow squash (little ones), four sliced garlic cloves, 4 diced roma tomatoes and a couple handfuls of snipped green beans. Generously salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with brown sugar, pour in 1/4 c. sherry, and stir it all together. Add a couple sprigs of rosemary on top. Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. After you pull it out of the oven, remove the rosemary sprigs and add one can of garbanzo beans. Stir altogether and serve with croutons (recipe below).
Croutons
Cut stale bread into cubes (or pull them out of your frig if you've frozen some) and put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Bake at 400 until they're brown and crispy. Check often, they burn quickly!
Tip of the Day: Don't throw away anything. Food is way too expensive in both time and money to waste. ALL baking crumbs of any kind are pure gold. Religiously freeze them once they start getting stale. Stale bread outsides can be cut into cubes and frozen for croutons. The inside part of the bread crumbled and frozen for use as breading. All desert baked goods (cookies, brownies, cakes) should be crumbled or blended into crumbs and frozen with a "sweet crumb" label. These replace graham crackers for pie crusts and crisp toppings. It doesn't matter what they were baked as originally, they'll be good. Stale bread can also be cubed and dried for dressing, but beware. You practically have to dry it into pottery if you don't want it to become glop instead of dressing. Gluten free bread disintegrates if it's not really hard before you mix and bake it.
Honey Mustard Chicken (Which actually has no honey because I like brown sugar better, but it sounds nicer :0) Skin chicken thighs and place in a baking dish. Squirt mustard (be careful, buy it at a health food store without junk or white vinegar which is corn) on each piece of chicken and spread it around with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with brown sugar, then a thick coating of bread crumbs. Press the bread crumbs lightly into the mustard-sugar. Sprinkle (lots of sprinkling in this recipe) with salt, pepper, and sweet basil (I actually use Thai basil which is heavenly, but if you don't grow it yourself, you probably won't find it). Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil. Serve with Jasmine rice. I also like roasted sweet potatoes (The Roasted Vegetable post) and stir fried broccoli (below) with it.
Stir-Fried Broccoli
Cut the broccoli into little pieces. Add it to a hot, olive oil-drizzled wok. Sprinkle a fair amount of water on since broccoli needs a little moisture to cook. Add some celtic sea salt (or regular).
Seasoned Baked Chicken
This is similar to the roasted chickens in the grocery store (which all have corn ingredients). Put chicken pieces in a baking dish. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and turmeric (turmeric gives it a very distinctive taste; sometimes I leave it out if I want a milder flavor). Bake at 350 or 400 till it is browned and tender, about 45 minutes.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Roasted Vegetable
Something magical happens when you roast vegetables. The ordinary becomes exquisite. I can hardly believe that for 40 years of my life, cooking vegetables consisted of little more than boiling and buttering. How easily life becomes an auto-pilot experience with beauty lost. We can grumble about more snow or glide through the breathtaking beauty on cross-country skis. I recommend skiing. One of my favorite sayings from Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories is "The vegetables are the dishes." According to the author who lived in China for years and learned the art of cooking in an ordinary Chinese kitchen, this is a common saying. It roughly amounts to reversing the idea of meat as the main entree and veggies a lame side dish. The vegetables become the main dish, receiving the primary attention. I know this will sound weird, but I now find a ridiculous amount of pleasure when filling my grocery cart with all kinds of fresh veggies. I walk through the store imagining the good things I'm going to make. I'm not sure that could have happened without unloading the toxic chemical dump I'd collected in my body for the previous 40 years. I'm absolutely convinced that those things completely pervert the taste buds. But that's honestly what happens now. I just love vegetables. I love to stir-fry them and I love to roast them. So today I'm dedicating this space to the roasted vegetable. First, however, I must mention the "Nicer Dicer." It is one of those frivolous kitchen gadgets which I have become very attached to. It dices things in seconds (thus the name) and comes in really handy when you're forever chopping veggies into little pieces. I use it all the time and it can be bought on line if you're interested. The recipes below are just a start. You can pretty much roast anything. Enjoy!
Roasted Roots
Dice carrots, potatoes (I'm partial to yukon gold) & parsnips.
Mix them altogether on a baking sheet and generously drizzle olive oil over them.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and snipped chives (I snip all herbs with kitchen scissors).
Roast them at 425 until they are golden brown. Check them frequently.
Roasted Green Beans
Snip the ends off of fresh green beans, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Roast at 425 till a little krinkley and browned. I eat these as finger food.
It's also good to add goodies such as red onion, garlic, red pepper etc.
Roasted Cauliflower
I did not care much about cauliflower till I roasted it. Same drill. Chop, oil, salt & roast.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Credit for this recipe goes to my friend Bonnie. These have become a favorite at our house. Scrub sweet potatoes and thinly slice them. Spread out as close to one layer as possible on a couple baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with brown sugar and bake at 350 till browned. Turn and brown on the other side.
Roasted Red Pepper
Cut out the insides. Put cut side down on the baking sheet and roast at 425 till blackened. Take it out a let sit for awhile with a towel over it to steam. Take the peels off and add to anything. They're wonderful.
Roasted Garlic
Take an entire bulb of garlic and cut all the tips off so that the garlic cloves are exposed but it doesn't fall apart. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil (beginning to sound familiar) and cover. I have this cool little pottery garlic roaster, but covering any kind of baking dish/sheet with foil will work. Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes. Once it cools squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery shells. It is great as a spread, dip, or added to other cooking.
Roasted Roots
Dice carrots, potatoes (I'm partial to yukon gold) & parsnips.
Mix them altogether on a baking sheet and generously drizzle olive oil over them.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and snipped chives (I snip all herbs with kitchen scissors).
Roast them at 425 until they are golden brown. Check them frequently.
Roasted Green Beans
Snip the ends off of fresh green beans, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Roast at 425 till a little krinkley and browned. I eat these as finger food.
It's also good to add goodies such as red onion, garlic, red pepper etc.
Roasted Cauliflower
I did not care much about cauliflower till I roasted it. Same drill. Chop, oil, salt & roast.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Credit for this recipe goes to my friend Bonnie. These have become a favorite at our house. Scrub sweet potatoes and thinly slice them. Spread out as close to one layer as possible on a couple baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with brown sugar and bake at 350 till browned. Turn and brown on the other side.
Roasted Red Pepper
Cut out the insides. Put cut side down on the baking sheet and roast at 425 till blackened. Take it out a let sit for awhile with a towel over it to steam. Take the peels off and add to anything. They're wonderful.
Roasted Garlic
Take an entire bulb of garlic and cut all the tips off so that the garlic cloves are exposed but it doesn't fall apart. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil (beginning to sound familiar) and cover. I have this cool little pottery garlic roaster, but covering any kind of baking dish/sheet with foil will work. Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes. Once it cools squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery shells. It is great as a spread, dip, or added to other cooking.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sick Food
I'm sitting at home today engaging in my "ward off sickness routine." If you're very sensitive to corn, virtually all pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter drugs are off limits. I only take them if the ailment is more scary than my corn reaction, which isn't very often. I didn't even use a prescription after sinus surgery last year. Not because I'm so pain tolerant, but because I'm not. The idea of a corn reaction on top of surgery recovery was to awful too contemplate. When battling infections or viruses, however, I do have a secret wonder "drug". One that isn't too popular when I share it, but I'm telling you it's amazing. And that would be the humble garlic clove. Not processed into a convenient little capsule, though. I've never found those to be overly effective. Even minced up and swallowed, success is iffy. The real secret was found in a historical account I read years ago, thought to have originated from the middle ages, in which the speaker said that whenever they were starting to get sick they sucked on a raw garlic clove. They claimed it usually took care of the problem within a day or so. So I tried it. Yes, I was desperate. But I'm telling you, it has come through for me over and over again. I put the peeled garlic clove in one cheek, barely scrape off a little piece of it with my teeth every so often, and keep switching the clove from one cheek to the middle of my mouth, to the other cheek. You can't help but switch it around because otherwise your mouth will burn up. After awhile you have to take a break, and then start the process over once your mouth calms down. I do this off and on for a day or two. I know it sounds awful, but I think it's actually worse for the people you live with :0).
Garlic is amazing. I've read about the science of it before and will convey what I read in very brief, unscientific terms. There are various compounds in the garlic which have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. Some of these are released when you chop it; some survive even through the cooking process. So whether you eat it raw in other foods or cook it, you're getting good things out of it. But there's one other amazing compound I read about a year or so ago which explained why a raw clove in the mouth works so well. This particular potent compound is released upon cutting, but only lasts for a few seconds. It is very powerful, however, in those few seconds. Thus it would only be active in a body that cut the clove inside and housed it during those few active seconds. Voila! The reason this method works like no other.
So if you're getting a virus or battling an infection, the garlic clove is your best friend. I really don't mind this process too much anymore, probably mostly because I'm so thankful to have something to take when I'm sick. It's works especially well for respiratory issues and sinus infections. For ear infections I crush up garlic in olive oil and drizzle it into my ear, pulling the earlobe and massaging it down into the ear. Nausea and vomiting usually preclude garlic sucking so making a 40 clove chicken soup has to suffice. (No, I'm not a doctor, and no I can't give medical advice... blah, blah blah.... I'm just saying it works for me!)
So that's my corn allergen tip for the day. Other allergies are not such a problem with meds. But it does work well, regardless, and doesn't add to the toxic load in your body.
Chicken Soup
Either cook a chicken in water with salt, pepper, and whatever herbs you like (I usually use parsley, basil and rosemary- my dear friend recommends thyme), along with lots of garlic cloves (you may not have the nerve to use 40, but any amount will help), then debone it and cook a little longer with optional veggies (little carrot/celery pieces?). Or keep it plain.
or
Put pre-made broth (your own frozen broth, organic broth from a health food store) in a pan with diced chicken breast pieces and all the veggies. Simmer for a good while till chicken and veggies are done and it smells good. Have a bowl of rice or rice noodles on the side. You don't ever want to add these to the whole pan of soup because in a very short amount of time the rice products will absorb too much liquid and turn the entire thing to glop. Having experienced this more than once, we now avidly avoid the glopping factor.
Jello
Sprinkle 2 T. unflavored gelatin over 6 T. water. Boil 2 c. pure organic fruit juice (beware of citric & ascorbic acid), and add 1/4-1/2 c. sugar or honey, depending on how sweet your juice is. Mix until thoroughly dissolved, then put in the frig until firm. Since you can't use ice cubes this takes a little longer so plan accordingly.
The rice tortilla chips posted last time make good sick crackers. Lundberg Honey Nut (no nuts) Rice Cakes, and Food for Life Gluten Free English Muffins, are also good sick foods.
Hopefully you won't need any of this stuff, but if so, I hope it helps!
Garlic is amazing. I've read about the science of it before and will convey what I read in very brief, unscientific terms. There are various compounds in the garlic which have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. Some of these are released when you chop it; some survive even through the cooking process. So whether you eat it raw in other foods or cook it, you're getting good things out of it. But there's one other amazing compound I read about a year or so ago which explained why a raw clove in the mouth works so well. This particular potent compound is released upon cutting, but only lasts for a few seconds. It is very powerful, however, in those few seconds. Thus it would only be active in a body that cut the clove inside and housed it during those few active seconds. Voila! The reason this method works like no other.
So if you're getting a virus or battling an infection, the garlic clove is your best friend. I really don't mind this process too much anymore, probably mostly because I'm so thankful to have something to take when I'm sick. It's works especially well for respiratory issues and sinus infections. For ear infections I crush up garlic in olive oil and drizzle it into my ear, pulling the earlobe and massaging it down into the ear. Nausea and vomiting usually preclude garlic sucking so making a 40 clove chicken soup has to suffice. (No, I'm not a doctor, and no I can't give medical advice... blah, blah blah.... I'm just saying it works for me!)
So that's my corn allergen tip for the day. Other allergies are not such a problem with meds. But it does work well, regardless, and doesn't add to the toxic load in your body.
Chicken Soup
Either cook a chicken in water with salt, pepper, and whatever herbs you like (I usually use parsley, basil and rosemary- my dear friend recommends thyme), along with lots of garlic cloves (you may not have the nerve to use 40, but any amount will help), then debone it and cook a little longer with optional veggies (little carrot/celery pieces?). Or keep it plain.
or
Put pre-made broth (your own frozen broth, organic broth from a health food store) in a pan with diced chicken breast pieces and all the veggies. Simmer for a good while till chicken and veggies are done and it smells good. Have a bowl of rice or rice noodles on the side. You don't ever want to add these to the whole pan of soup because in a very short amount of time the rice products will absorb too much liquid and turn the entire thing to glop. Having experienced this more than once, we now avidly avoid the glopping factor.
Jello
Sprinkle 2 T. unflavored gelatin over 6 T. water. Boil 2 c. pure organic fruit juice (beware of citric & ascorbic acid), and add 1/4-1/2 c. sugar or honey, depending on how sweet your juice is. Mix until thoroughly dissolved, then put in the frig until firm. Since you can't use ice cubes this takes a little longer so plan accordingly.
The rice tortilla chips posted last time make good sick crackers. Lundberg Honey Nut (no nuts) Rice Cakes, and Food for Life Gluten Free English Muffins, are also good sick foods.
Hopefully you won't need any of this stuff, but if so, I hope it helps!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Fast Food
One of my top "if I could have any one thing" foods is now a subway sandwich. Which is weird because I didn't care too much about them "before". This tends to be the case. The foods I most crave are ones I would never have expected to miss. The pattern seems to be foods with no satisfactory substitutes. When you're wheat, corn and dairy-less, nothing adequately replaces chewy sub sandwich bread, seasoned deli meats and amazing slices of real cheese. Nothing. I suppose I will crave it forever. Here's the good news, however. Cravings do eventually lose their edge. In the beginning they drove me out of my mind- they were unbearable. I felt continually cranky and annoyed with every human being who was still eating all the things I couldn't have. But then somehow, mercifully, I crossed over into the, "I really miss this stuff but it's not killing me" land. And now years later, I actually think about such foods with pleasure, almost "tasting" them in my mind, but without the "just shoot me if I can't have them" feeling. So if you haven't gotten to that point, hang in there, it will probably get better in time.
A related thing I've battled is fast food. Or the lack there of. Not so much the restaurants. That was effectively dealt with by reading Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser). A few pages of that and you're not only grossed out, but feeling sufficiently smug about the fact that you don't each such stuff. Never mind that without food allergies, your superiority would vanish. It's a psychological tool to help maintain sanity.
No, it is the lack of fast food in my own home that has plagued me most. For years I was in emotional distress everyday at lunch time (now I limit that to about once or twice a week). What do you eat for lunch?? Leftovers worked when we had them, but since it took endless chopping of produce for every serving of food, I didn't have enough gumption to make much more than we consumed for dinner. My family got pretty tired of hearing me finish dinner each evening with, "One more meal of my life is over." The whole cooking thing was so unspeakably stressful every single day, that I was in pure survival mode most of the time. We're talking years like this. Hands down, the best thing I've accomplished is to build an arsenal of quick-fix food ideas. In the world where dumping Campbells Chunky Soup over minute rice is cooking dinner, this may be hard to appreciate. But trust me, when you truly lose the ability to cook anything quickly, it takes on a mountain of significance. So here's to fast food that doesn't kill you.
Tip of the Day: Buy a rice cooker!!
If my rice cooker goes out I will immediately proceed to my car, drive to the store and buy another one. It is an indispensable survival tool for me.
Second Tip of the Day: Buy good rice!!
I hated rice growing up. Tasteless and sticky, I found it intolerable unless heavily disguised by a cheese-laden casserole. Thankfully, a few years ago I discovered Jasmine rice, the difference of which cannot be adequately described. Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories (Lorraine Clissold) has a great story. Meeting her Chinese friend at the airport, the author was dumbfounded to discover how heavy the woman's suitcase was. When asked, "What's in this??" the lady responded as if the question were rediculously obvious. "Rice." This basically sums up my position. I can hardly survive without my Jasmine rice. I brush my teeth, do the dishes and make rice. The "sandwich" has morphed into "rice and....whatever!" So make a batch of Jasmine rice each day (you'll immediately wonder how you ever tolerated the other stuff) and begin exploring all the wonderful things you can add to it. Below are some ideas to get you started:
Rice & Hamburger
Fry hamburger and sprinkle some over a bowl of rice. Mike and Luke often eat it plain; I like to add vinaigrette (recipes in the Icecream & Other Basics post). Add any leftover veggies you have on hand. I also love to add fresh baby spinach. Sometimes I wilt it in the wok, or the microwave, but often I just put a handful in the bottom of the bowl and throw the rice and hamburger on top. It wilts automatically and after a few seconds I stir it up.
Rice & Chicken
There are numerous ways to make easy chicken which tastes really good. The secret, however, is herbs. I grow my own fresh herbs and dry them, which is very easy to do. Thai basil, sweet basil, tarragon and rosemary are my favorites. Freshly dried herbs are so flavorful that they're well worth the minimal trouble (more on this later). You can try dried herbs from the store, but they tend to be tasteless. Buy fresh herbs instead and throw them in. I usually cut chicken breasts into strips or little squares. Kitchen scissors are great for this- much better than a knife. Snip-snip and you're done. Other times if I'm in a hurry, I'll throw the whole breasts in the crockpot or a pan on the stove, and snip them into pieces after they're cooked. They cut easier then anyway. Either way, cover them with water and throw in some diced onions (handful or two- I like red ones best), 2-3 pressed/minced garlic cloves, a teaspoon or two of dried herbs (I never measure, just sprinkle them on generously like you're going nuts with the salt), along with salt (nows the time to throw in celtic rock salt) and freshly ground pepper.
Another way to get great chicken pieces is to do essentially the same thing with a counter top grill. Be sure to snip them into strips first in this case so that they cook quickly. Once you throw the pieces on the grill generously add the herbs, salt & pepper. Once they're cooked pour the broth that drained off into the little pan over them. This makes them so yummy. We love to add these herbed chicken pieces to rice along with whatever veggies are on hand. I use either vinaigrette or homemade mayo with it, or just the brothy herbed chicken is great too. Miso paste is another really good seasoning (chickpea or aduki). Healthfood stores tend to have this and it is a good way to get probiotics. Don't heat the miso; you'll destroy the active cultures. Just add it in to the already cooked bowl of rice. I rotate these flavors so that each chicken and rice seems like a different meal. Mayo tastes entirely different than miso, herbed broth, or vinaigrette!
Chicken & Salad
Add the grilled chicken strips from above to a salad with vinaigrette.
Sausage & Rice
Before you fry 1 lb of turkey/hamburger, mix in:
1/4 t. sage, marjoram & coriander, along with 1 t. salt & 1/8 pepper
(Breakfast sausage)
or
1/2 t. onion powder, garlic powder, pepper & fennel seed; 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. paprika, 1/8 t. thyme & cayenne
(Italian sausage)
Add to your rice bowl!
Just Veggies & Rice
Any stir-fried veggies added to rice are good.
Carmelized onions and mushrooms are really good on rice.
Left over stew is good on rice.
Baked beans on rice are good (your own, or an acceptable, organic canned brand- if you live in the midwest, Meijer has some that work.)
Chicken Salad
We also sometimes add mayo to the chicken itself and use it as a dip for rice tortilla chips, or put it in popovers (recipe below)
Black Beans on Rice
These are not extremely easy, but they're not too bad either. Organic, canned black beans with nothing but sea salt can usually be found at health food stores (and Meijer has some too). Otherwise soak and make your own (now the easy has really departed). If you make your own, a stainless steel pressure cooker makes cooking beans quick and fairly painless.
Simmer onions and garlic (and hamburger if you want the "meaty" effect- we usually add this). Add about 6 pureed tomatoes (I puree fresh ones in my Blend tec),1-2 cans black beans, some balsamic vinegar drizzled on, along with somewhat generous sprinklings of salt, sugar and chili powder. Simmer till tasty! This is especially good over rice if you put a dollop of home made guacamole on top (I love this). Inevitably when I make these beans, the first taste is disappointing. This is one of my favorite dishes, and after the first taste I think, "This isn't as good as I remembered." Then I add more balsamic, sugar, salt and chili powder and voila! It's as good as I remember! Which brings me to my...
Third Tip of the Day: Do not cook by measurement, taste! It's taste that matters. So season a little, taste. Season some more, taste. Season even more, taste. Keep going until you have something great!
Guacamole
Mash an avacado in a bowl (or more). Drizzle a little lemon or lime juice on it. Rebekah always accuses me of using too much. If you're only using one avacado, a slice of lemon may be enough. Sprinkle on celtic rock salt (or whatever), cilantro (actually I use spicey basil, but cilantro will be easier to find if you're not growing your own), and smoked paprika. Sometimes I add a pressed garlic clove, sometimes I don't. All you really need for guacamole is salt and lemon/lime juice.
Rice Tortilla Chips
I believe Food for Life is the brand of rice tortillas I buy. I take them out of the freezer, place a couple on a cookie sheet. Spray/brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with celtic rock salt on both sides, then broil till brown (flip and brown on other side as well). Do not walk away and leave these. They will burn beyond recognition in seconds!! Believe me I have learned this lesson the hard way too many times. Once their done, break them into chip size pieces. These are great for dipping in egg salad, chicken salad, guacamole, salsa, hummus, and using in soups as crackers.
Egg Salad
8 peeled & chopped, hardboiled eggs
4 t. minced red onion
2 t. mustard (watch out with mustard- only a few organic brands use cider vinegar and no extra "junk")
1/2 t. salt
1/2 - 1 t. sugar (for both the salt and sugar- sprinkle & taste, sprinkle & taste)
a little red wine vinegar drizzled in (I have cool stoppered glass bottles for my vinegars, just like olive oil)
1/2 c. home made mayo or whatever amount seems right
Hummus
1 can organic, sea salt only, chickpeas (or cook your own)
1/3 c. tahini
juice of one lemon
2 garlic cloves pressed/minced
cracked pepper
1/2 - 1 t. salt
1/2 - 1 roasted red pepper (cut in half, scoop out insides, broil cut side down until black, put a towel over for a few minutes)
Blend it altogether in a food processor. Mmmm! I love hummus with roasted red peppers.
Popovers
We only succeed with these when we use the convection. So no promises if you don't have one. Rebekah first discovered these in one of the Gluten Free Gourmet coodbooks. We love them with chicken salad.
Turn the oven on 450 degrees. Combine, bring to a rapid boil & remove from heat:
1 c. water
1 c. shortening (we use organic palm shortening from Tropical Traditions)
Add all at once, then stir until mix forms a ball that leaves the sides of the pan:
2/3 c. rice flour (flour mix might sub for the rice flour and potato starch, but I've never tried it)
1/2 c. potato starch
1/2 t. salt
Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer after each one. Drop by spoonfuls in greased muffin tins (goose egg size). Bake at 450 for 20 min. then reduce heat to 350 for another 20 minutes.
Pasta Dishes
One last quick and easy idea today. Tinkyada brown rice penne pasta. This pasta almost has a "meaty" consistency to it that is really satisfying. Apply any of the rice ideas above to pasta- sauted/stir-fried veggies, meat, etc. I'll have more specific pasta ideas later.
A related thing I've battled is fast food. Or the lack there of. Not so much the restaurants. That was effectively dealt with by reading Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser). A few pages of that and you're not only grossed out, but feeling sufficiently smug about the fact that you don't each such stuff. Never mind that without food allergies, your superiority would vanish. It's a psychological tool to help maintain sanity.
No, it is the lack of fast food in my own home that has plagued me most. For years I was in emotional distress everyday at lunch time (now I limit that to about once or twice a week). What do you eat for lunch?? Leftovers worked when we had them, but since it took endless chopping of produce for every serving of food, I didn't have enough gumption to make much more than we consumed for dinner. My family got pretty tired of hearing me finish dinner each evening with, "One more meal of my life is over." The whole cooking thing was so unspeakably stressful every single day, that I was in pure survival mode most of the time. We're talking years like this. Hands down, the best thing I've accomplished is to build an arsenal of quick-fix food ideas. In the world where dumping Campbells Chunky Soup over minute rice is cooking dinner, this may be hard to appreciate. But trust me, when you truly lose the ability to cook anything quickly, it takes on a mountain of significance. So here's to fast food that doesn't kill you.
Tip of the Day: Buy a rice cooker!!
If my rice cooker goes out I will immediately proceed to my car, drive to the store and buy another one. It is an indispensable survival tool for me.
Second Tip of the Day: Buy good rice!!
I hated rice growing up. Tasteless and sticky, I found it intolerable unless heavily disguised by a cheese-laden casserole. Thankfully, a few years ago I discovered Jasmine rice, the difference of which cannot be adequately described. Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories (Lorraine Clissold) has a great story. Meeting her Chinese friend at the airport, the author was dumbfounded to discover how heavy the woman's suitcase was. When asked, "What's in this??" the lady responded as if the question were rediculously obvious. "Rice." This basically sums up my position. I can hardly survive without my Jasmine rice. I brush my teeth, do the dishes and make rice. The "sandwich" has morphed into "rice and....whatever!" So make a batch of Jasmine rice each day (you'll immediately wonder how you ever tolerated the other stuff) and begin exploring all the wonderful things you can add to it. Below are some ideas to get you started:
Rice & Hamburger
Fry hamburger and sprinkle some over a bowl of rice. Mike and Luke often eat it plain; I like to add vinaigrette (recipes in the Icecream & Other Basics post). Add any leftover veggies you have on hand. I also love to add fresh baby spinach. Sometimes I wilt it in the wok, or the microwave, but often I just put a handful in the bottom of the bowl and throw the rice and hamburger on top. It wilts automatically and after a few seconds I stir it up.
Rice & Chicken
There are numerous ways to make easy chicken which tastes really good. The secret, however, is herbs. I grow my own fresh herbs and dry them, which is very easy to do. Thai basil, sweet basil, tarragon and rosemary are my favorites. Freshly dried herbs are so flavorful that they're well worth the minimal trouble (more on this later). You can try dried herbs from the store, but they tend to be tasteless. Buy fresh herbs instead and throw them in. I usually cut chicken breasts into strips or little squares. Kitchen scissors are great for this- much better than a knife. Snip-snip and you're done. Other times if I'm in a hurry, I'll throw the whole breasts in the crockpot or a pan on the stove, and snip them into pieces after they're cooked. They cut easier then anyway. Either way, cover them with water and throw in some diced onions (handful or two- I like red ones best), 2-3 pressed/minced garlic cloves, a teaspoon or two of dried herbs (I never measure, just sprinkle them on generously like you're going nuts with the salt), along with salt (nows the time to throw in celtic rock salt) and freshly ground pepper.
Another way to get great chicken pieces is to do essentially the same thing with a counter top grill. Be sure to snip them into strips first in this case so that they cook quickly. Once you throw the pieces on the grill generously add the herbs, salt & pepper. Once they're cooked pour the broth that drained off into the little pan over them. This makes them so yummy. We love to add these herbed chicken pieces to rice along with whatever veggies are on hand. I use either vinaigrette or homemade mayo with it, or just the brothy herbed chicken is great too. Miso paste is another really good seasoning (chickpea or aduki). Healthfood stores tend to have this and it is a good way to get probiotics. Don't heat the miso; you'll destroy the active cultures. Just add it in to the already cooked bowl of rice. I rotate these flavors so that each chicken and rice seems like a different meal. Mayo tastes entirely different than miso, herbed broth, or vinaigrette!
Chicken & Salad
Add the grilled chicken strips from above to a salad with vinaigrette.
Sausage & Rice
Before you fry 1 lb of turkey/hamburger, mix in:
1/4 t. sage, marjoram & coriander, along with 1 t. salt & 1/8 pepper
(Breakfast sausage)
or
1/2 t. onion powder, garlic powder, pepper & fennel seed; 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. paprika, 1/8 t. thyme & cayenne
(Italian sausage)
Add to your rice bowl!
Just Veggies & Rice
Any stir-fried veggies added to rice are good.
Carmelized onions and mushrooms are really good on rice.
Left over stew is good on rice.
Baked beans on rice are good (your own, or an acceptable, organic canned brand- if you live in the midwest, Meijer has some that work.)
Chicken Salad
We also sometimes add mayo to the chicken itself and use it as a dip for rice tortilla chips, or put it in popovers (recipe below)
Black Beans on Rice
These are not extremely easy, but they're not too bad either. Organic, canned black beans with nothing but sea salt can usually be found at health food stores (and Meijer has some too). Otherwise soak and make your own (now the easy has really departed). If you make your own, a stainless steel pressure cooker makes cooking beans quick and fairly painless.
Simmer onions and garlic (and hamburger if you want the "meaty" effect- we usually add this). Add about 6 pureed tomatoes (I puree fresh ones in my Blend tec),1-2 cans black beans, some balsamic vinegar drizzled on, along with somewhat generous sprinklings of salt, sugar and chili powder. Simmer till tasty! This is especially good over rice if you put a dollop of home made guacamole on top (I love this). Inevitably when I make these beans, the first taste is disappointing. This is one of my favorite dishes, and after the first taste I think, "This isn't as good as I remembered." Then I add more balsamic, sugar, salt and chili powder and voila! It's as good as I remember! Which brings me to my...
Third Tip of the Day: Do not cook by measurement, taste! It's taste that matters. So season a little, taste. Season some more, taste. Season even more, taste. Keep going until you have something great!
Guacamole
Mash an avacado in a bowl (or more). Drizzle a little lemon or lime juice on it. Rebekah always accuses me of using too much. If you're only using one avacado, a slice of lemon may be enough. Sprinkle on celtic rock salt (or whatever), cilantro (actually I use spicey basil, but cilantro will be easier to find if you're not growing your own), and smoked paprika. Sometimes I add a pressed garlic clove, sometimes I don't. All you really need for guacamole is salt and lemon/lime juice.
Rice Tortilla Chips
I believe Food for Life is the brand of rice tortillas I buy. I take them out of the freezer, place a couple on a cookie sheet. Spray/brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with celtic rock salt on both sides, then broil till brown (flip and brown on other side as well). Do not walk away and leave these. They will burn beyond recognition in seconds!! Believe me I have learned this lesson the hard way too many times. Once their done, break them into chip size pieces. These are great for dipping in egg salad, chicken salad, guacamole, salsa, hummus, and using in soups as crackers.
Egg Salad
8 peeled & chopped, hardboiled eggs
4 t. minced red onion
2 t. mustard (watch out with mustard- only a few organic brands use cider vinegar and no extra "junk")
1/2 t. salt
1/2 - 1 t. sugar (for both the salt and sugar- sprinkle & taste, sprinkle & taste)
a little red wine vinegar drizzled in (I have cool stoppered glass bottles for my vinegars, just like olive oil)
1/2 c. home made mayo or whatever amount seems right
Hummus
1 can organic, sea salt only, chickpeas (or cook your own)
1/3 c. tahini
juice of one lemon
2 garlic cloves pressed/minced
cracked pepper
1/2 - 1 t. salt
1/2 - 1 roasted red pepper (cut in half, scoop out insides, broil cut side down until black, put a towel over for a few minutes)
Blend it altogether in a food processor. Mmmm! I love hummus with roasted red peppers.
Popovers
We only succeed with these when we use the convection. So no promises if you don't have one. Rebekah first discovered these in one of the Gluten Free Gourmet coodbooks. We love them with chicken salad.
Turn the oven on 450 degrees. Combine, bring to a rapid boil & remove from heat:
1 c. water
1 c. shortening (we use organic palm shortening from Tropical Traditions)
Add all at once, then stir until mix forms a ball that leaves the sides of the pan:
2/3 c. rice flour (flour mix might sub for the rice flour and potato starch, but I've never tried it)
1/2 c. potato starch
1/2 t. salt
Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer after each one. Drop by spoonfuls in greased muffin tins (goose egg size). Bake at 450 for 20 min. then reduce heat to 350 for another 20 minutes.
Pasta Dishes
One last quick and easy idea today. Tinkyada brown rice penne pasta. This pasta almost has a "meaty" consistency to it that is really satisfying. Apply any of the rice ideas above to pasta- sauted/stir-fried veggies, meat, etc. I'll have more specific pasta ideas later.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Namaste Day
If you're allergic to multiple foods, the Namaste company may become one of your best friends. Their mixes are wonderful and they're corn free! which is very rare. One of the big problems with being gluten and corn allergic is that the replacement for gluten is xanthan gum, and xanthan gum is usually grown on corn. Without xanthan gum, things bake up like bricks. Many gluten free sources will tell you that guar gum can substitute for it, but guar gum never seemed like a great substitute to me. Basically if I bake something with guar gum, I don't like it. Some people who are corn sensitive can tolerate xanthan gum, but if you're super sensitive like me, it's a problem. Here's the beautiful thing about Namaste... the xanthan gum they use is not grown on corn. You can buy their mixes on Amazon and get a box of mixes postage free. It's a great deal. Please enjoy some great Namaste recipes below. I'll start with several miscellaneous things and then end with a whole array of yummy cakes!
A couple things to note first. Salt is iodized using corn. Regular non-iodized salt has undesired chemicals, so go for good quality sea salt with essential minerals in it. We use celtic sea salt from Selinas Naturally. Buy a grinder because it comes in these little rock pieces that are fine for throwing in a recipe, but not so good for salting at the table. Olive Oil is way better for you and dairy free. If you start using it for everything, you'll come to really enjoy it and be much healthier for it. Invest in one of those cool glass bottles with the skinny neck and little spouted stopper. I keep mine filled up and sitting by the stove so that I can drizzle it freely as needed (be sure to buy a funnel to fill the bottle up with too!)
Perfect Flour Blend
This is a great basic flour mix. It has the xanthan gum already mixed in so it substitutes cup for cup with regular flour. I dump it into a giant glass jar ($10 at Walmart, or maybe $20, can't remember for sure) and then it's super easy to measure it out when baking. I actually do this with all the mixes referred to below. I use clear packing tape to put the the mix's packaging label on the jar, then I tape the mix instructions and basic recipes on the lid. Then all I have to do when baking is grab the lid to know what to do.
Sandwich Bread (if you're not allergic to eggs)
I got this from Carol Fenster's book: 1000 Gluten Free Recipes and tweaked it a bit to make it more "other allergen" friendly.
1 packet or 2 1/2 t. yeast, disolved in 1 c. warm water & 2 T. sugar. Set aside to foam for 5 minutes.
Grease and flour dust a loaf pan.
3 large egg whites, beaten until thick and foamy
Add: 3 c. of the Perfect Flour Blend
1 t. salt
1/2 c. oil (canola, light olive, virgin coconut)
2 t. cider vinegar (Braggs raw cider vinegar is my favorite- very good for you)
the yeast mixture
Beat on low till mixed and then at a higher speed for a bit longer. Put dough in the loaf pan and spray/brush the top with oil. Cover and let rise till the dough is level with the pan. Bake at 375 about 1 hour. Gluten free baked goods do much better with a convection, so be sure to use it if you have it. Gluten free bread is best sliced thinly since it tends to be heavier. It also gets stale very quickly so eat up.
Great Butter-less Toast
This recipe credit goes to my husband. I'd given up eating toast since it's just no good without butter in my opinion, and then Mike came up with this. It's great! We use a stainless steel frying pan and let it heat up. Then drizzle a little pile of Extra Virgin Olive Oil under each slice of bread you toast. It will brown up very quickly if the pan is hot and you use adequate olive oil (I've learned not to skimp on this). When the bread is browned on the bottom (check often, it doesn't take long), flip it over (drizzling new olive oil under each one) and then salt the toast top side (celtic sea salt has great flavor- use the grinder). You have to salt it for the same reason that butter is salted- the flavor. When Mike and I were first married years ago (many years ago) we decided to try unsalted butter. Mike tried it first and said to me, "Guess what the flavor in butter is?" It tasted terrible without salt. Same thing with olive oil toast- salt it! This toast is amazingly good. It's a great way to use up bread that went stale. If you put it in the frig, it really doesn't matter how stale it is when you toast it. It comes out great.
Biscuit Crackers
This is a great way to have a quick cracker-type addition with your soups and stews. Buy the Biscuit, Pie Crust and More mix, and get one of those baking sheets that has no sides to it- just a metal sheet with a silicone handle on it. Mix up a biscuit recipe then gather it into a ball and place it on the greased baking sheet. Roll it out right on the sheet, score it into cracker squares, then bake until crisp. I think adding a little extra salt and some herbs is not a bad idea.
Waffles
I bought the Waffle & Pancake mix but never made it to the pancakes. The waffles were so great we could never move on. They're easy, taste like waffles and have a great consistency. Definitely worth investing in a waffle iron. Be sure to use real, 100% pure maple syrup.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Namaste chocolate chip cookie mix is really good. We use Enjoy Life chocolate chips which are dairy, soy and corn free, and substitute unrefined palm shortening for the oil to make a better consistency (can be ordered from Tropical Traditions, along with virgin coconut oil which is a good butter sub for baking.)
Chocolate Carmel Cake
Mix a Namaste chocolate cake mix and put a cup of nuts in it if you can tolerate them- I like walnuts.
Bake the cake and then when it comes out of the oven pour a caramel glaze mix over it (recipe in Ice cream & other Basics post). Very yummy!
Apple Caramel Cake
Mix a Namaste spice cake mix. Add 1 c. of nuts, if tolerated, and 3 c. diced granny smith apples. Bake and pour a caramel glaze mix over it when first out of the oven. This is also good if you cook the caramel a little longer until thick and spread like a frosting. Also very yummy!!
Chocolate-Chocolate Cake (with a strawberry option)
Bake a Namaste chocolate cake mix and when it comes out of the oven spread a half bag of Enjoy Life chocolate chips over it. They will melt and spread like frosting. If you're not allergic to strawberries, this cake is great with chopped and sweetened fresh strawberries over it.
Chocolate Chip Cake
Mix up a yellow Namaste cake mix and add a half bag of chocolate chips to the batter. Spread the other half of the bag on the warm baked cake and spread like frosting.
Banana Cake
Mix a yellow cake mix. Add 1 c. of chopped walnuts and 1 c. of mashed, ripe bananas. I like this plain without a frosting, but any frosting could be added.
A couple things to note first. Salt is iodized using corn. Regular non-iodized salt has undesired chemicals, so go for good quality sea salt with essential minerals in it. We use celtic sea salt from Selinas Naturally. Buy a grinder because it comes in these little rock pieces that are fine for throwing in a recipe, but not so good for salting at the table. Olive Oil is way better for you and dairy free. If you start using it for everything, you'll come to really enjoy it and be much healthier for it. Invest in one of those cool glass bottles with the skinny neck and little spouted stopper. I keep mine filled up and sitting by the stove so that I can drizzle it freely as needed (be sure to buy a funnel to fill the bottle up with too!)
Perfect Flour Blend
This is a great basic flour mix. It has the xanthan gum already mixed in so it substitutes cup for cup with regular flour. I dump it into a giant glass jar ($10 at Walmart, or maybe $20, can't remember for sure) and then it's super easy to measure it out when baking. I actually do this with all the mixes referred to below. I use clear packing tape to put the the mix's packaging label on the jar, then I tape the mix instructions and basic recipes on the lid. Then all I have to do when baking is grab the lid to know what to do.
Sandwich Bread (if you're not allergic to eggs)
I got this from Carol Fenster's book: 1000 Gluten Free Recipes and tweaked it a bit to make it more "other allergen" friendly.
1 packet or 2 1/2 t. yeast, disolved in 1 c. warm water & 2 T. sugar. Set aside to foam for 5 minutes.
Grease and flour dust a loaf pan.
3 large egg whites, beaten until thick and foamy
Add: 3 c. of the Perfect Flour Blend
1 t. salt
1/2 c. oil (canola, light olive, virgin coconut)
2 t. cider vinegar (Braggs raw cider vinegar is my favorite- very good for you)
the yeast mixture
Beat on low till mixed and then at a higher speed for a bit longer. Put dough in the loaf pan and spray/brush the top with oil. Cover and let rise till the dough is level with the pan. Bake at 375 about 1 hour. Gluten free baked goods do much better with a convection, so be sure to use it if you have it. Gluten free bread is best sliced thinly since it tends to be heavier. It also gets stale very quickly so eat up.
Great Butter-less Toast
This recipe credit goes to my husband. I'd given up eating toast since it's just no good without butter in my opinion, and then Mike came up with this. It's great! We use a stainless steel frying pan and let it heat up. Then drizzle a little pile of Extra Virgin Olive Oil under each slice of bread you toast. It will brown up very quickly if the pan is hot and you use adequate olive oil (I've learned not to skimp on this). When the bread is browned on the bottom (check often, it doesn't take long), flip it over (drizzling new olive oil under each one) and then salt the toast top side (celtic sea salt has great flavor- use the grinder). You have to salt it for the same reason that butter is salted- the flavor. When Mike and I were first married years ago (many years ago) we decided to try unsalted butter. Mike tried it first and said to me, "Guess what the flavor in butter is?" It tasted terrible without salt. Same thing with olive oil toast- salt it! This toast is amazingly good. It's a great way to use up bread that went stale. If you put it in the frig, it really doesn't matter how stale it is when you toast it. It comes out great.
Biscuit Crackers
This is a great way to have a quick cracker-type addition with your soups and stews. Buy the Biscuit, Pie Crust and More mix, and get one of those baking sheets that has no sides to it- just a metal sheet with a silicone handle on it. Mix up a biscuit recipe then gather it into a ball and place it on the greased baking sheet. Roll it out right on the sheet, score it into cracker squares, then bake until crisp. I think adding a little extra salt and some herbs is not a bad idea.
Waffles
I bought the Waffle & Pancake mix but never made it to the pancakes. The waffles were so great we could never move on. They're easy, taste like waffles and have a great consistency. Definitely worth investing in a waffle iron. Be sure to use real, 100% pure maple syrup.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Namaste chocolate chip cookie mix is really good. We use Enjoy Life chocolate chips which are dairy, soy and corn free, and substitute unrefined palm shortening for the oil to make a better consistency (can be ordered from Tropical Traditions, along with virgin coconut oil which is a good butter sub for baking.)
Chocolate Carmel Cake
Mix a Namaste chocolate cake mix and put a cup of nuts in it if you can tolerate them- I like walnuts.
Bake the cake and then when it comes out of the oven pour a caramel glaze mix over it (recipe in Ice cream & other Basics post). Very yummy!
Apple Caramel Cake
Mix a Namaste spice cake mix. Add 1 c. of nuts, if tolerated, and 3 c. diced granny smith apples. Bake and pour a caramel glaze mix over it when first out of the oven. This is also good if you cook the caramel a little longer until thick and spread like a frosting. Also very yummy!!
Chocolate-Chocolate Cake (with a strawberry option)
Bake a Namaste chocolate cake mix and when it comes out of the oven spread a half bag of Enjoy Life chocolate chips over it. They will melt and spread like frosting. If you're not allergic to strawberries, this cake is great with chopped and sweetened fresh strawberries over it.
Chocolate Chip Cake
Mix up a yellow Namaste cake mix and add a half bag of chocolate chips to the batter. Spread the other half of the bag on the warm baked cake and spread like frosting.
Banana Cake
Mix a yellow cake mix. Add 1 c. of chopped walnuts and 1 c. of mashed, ripe bananas. I like this plain without a frosting, but any frosting could be added.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Icecream... and other basics!
I spent years trying to find decent icecream that does not contain dairy, soy or corn. Ruling out dairy and soy is the first problem because soy is the usual substitute for dairy. And beyond that eliminating corn makes it nearly impossible. Every strange ingredient that you don't recognize (chemicals and preservatives), as well as enriched vitamins, ascorbic acid, citric acid, white vinegar, xanthan gum and iodized salt are usually made with, grown on, or stablized with- corn. You have to assume salt is iodized unless it says "sea salt" and even then it's sometimes iodized. If you're extremely sensitive to corn, as I am, it is virtually impossible to eat anything out of a carton, package, box or can. Probably a lot more people are sensitive to corn than realize it too, since when you think you're eliminating corn, you're probably not even close- virtually all pharmaceuticals and over the counter drugs are stabilized on corn as well. It's the insidious ingredient that is literally hiding everywhere. So even when every other ingredient is fine, there usually (almost always?) ends up being corn by-products in the mix. Thus is the case with icecream. I did finally find a corn-free coconut milk icecream which was ok, but it was so rich I couldn't handle more then a few bites of it (which I suppose isn't bad in a way...). I tried making my own icecream but most milk substitutes were not creamy enough and I produced iceblocks instead or icecream. Then came the glorious discovery of cashews. They make a beautiful cream that can substitute as such in any recipe. So here are cashews in all they're glory!
Cashew Cream
1/2 c. cashews
1 1/4 c. boiling water
Blend thoroughly. If you're not using a super-duper blender, you might need to strain. I don't have to because my whole juice cycle blends it into a wonderful cream. Substitute this in any recipe that calls for cream, or when you want a richer milk.
Cashew Milk Icecream
3 c. cashew cream
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 T. vanilla extract (made yourself if you're allergic to corn... recipe below)
Blend 1 c. of cream, sugar and salt until the sugar is disolved. Stir in the remaining cream, vanilla.
Freeze according to your icecream freezer's instructions.
Options:
Fruity: Add 1 1/2 c. of any fruit you prefer. Blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries are great. If your berries are sour you probably want to sweeten them up a little beforehand.
Chocolate: Substitute 1/2 c. white sugar and 1/3 c. packed brown sugar for 3/4 c. of sugar. Add 3/4 c. cocoa powder and mix it in with the sugar and salt.
Carmel Sauce
1 1/4 c. cashew cream (1 recipe)
1 c. brown sugar (packed or heaping)
Stir and simmer 3 minutes till bubbly. Then simmer 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 t. vanilla. This is a wonderful dairy-free carmel sauce that has so many uses. It makes a great glaze for cakes, brownies, sweet rolls, frosting (simmer slightly longer and thicken a tad more), icecream topping, apple dip, etc., etc.!
Homemade Vanilla
Today's tip: 100% vanilla is not 100% vanilla (surprise :0). It is 100% vanilla plus alcohol, which usually involves corn, but can also be gluten. If you're allergic to corn you need to make your own. It takes awhile to "cure" but is easy to do:
1 - 1 1/2 c. potato vodka (you won't find this just anywhere, but a larger liquor store should have it)
2 vanilla beans
Cut a slit all the way down the vanilla bean and put it in the vodka, in a glass jar.
Put a lid on it and label the date you started. Shake the vanilla daily. Some sources say it takes 3 months for the vanilla to be ready; others say if you really remember to shake it everyday it will be done in a month. I've always gone for the 3 month mark, but who knows!
Now that we've covered the important stuff (cream, icecream and carmel sauce :0), lets throw in a few more basics you'll need:
Easy Blender Mayo
Put in the blender:
1 egg
2 T. vinegar
2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt & dry mustard
1/4 c. oil (canola or light olive oil)
Mix a little and then begin drizzling in another 3/4 c. oil as the blender runs at a medium speed. Drizzle, but don't take forever either. You want to have it all in by about the time it turns to mayo, which isn't very long. You can hear the sound change when it thickens up. You don't want to blend much after that. Put it in a glass jar and let it set at room temp for an hour. Refrigerate after that. It keeps about 3 days in the frig (although I've been keeping it much longer than that for years and never gotten sick. I do use farm fresh eggs, so I don't know if that makes a difference or not).
This mayo is great for all kinds of things. I use it for: butter on baked potatoes, chicken & egg salad, the "sauce" in tuna casserole, deviled eggs, hamburgers, and mixed with my beloved jasmine rice and a combination of diced chicken, left-over veggie or wilted spinach (few seconds in the microwave or wok- or fresh spinach is good too!)... endless uses for this stuff!
Salad Vinaigrette
1/4 c. olive oil
3 T. sugar/honey
3 T. apple cider vinegar
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/8 t. salt
Mix altogether in a glass bottle and use for salad, as a glaze on meats, as a seasoning for the above-mentioned jasmine rice/meat/veggie lunch, etc.
Ketchup
I am a ketchup fanatic so this is an indispensible recipe for me as well:
12 oz. can of tomato paste (one of the only canned tomato products you can use if you're allergice to corn; make sure it only has tomato paste in it)
1/2 c. brown sugar (packed or heaping)
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 t. dry mustard, chili powder & worcestershire sauce (recipe below)
1 t. salt
Mix altogether and use as ketchup :0) . It also makes a great glaze over meatloaf. Increase the chili powder a fair amount and it works as barbeque sauce. I may slather it over chicken or roast in a crockpot.
Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 c. cider vinegar
2 T. tamari sauce (made with some other bean besides soy - chickpea, aduki, etc.)
2 T. water
1 T. brown sugar
1/4 t. ginger, dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder
1/8 t. cinnamon & pepper
Boil & simmer one minute. Store in the frig.
Baking Powder
1 t. baking powder = 1/2 t. cream of tarter + 1/4 t. baking soda
(the other 1/4 t. would be corn starch, which we're omitting; if you want it "silkier" you can put arrowroot in it's place)
Powdered Sugar
Buy super fine sugar and blend it into a fine powder. It will cake because you're eliminating cornstarch which is the "anti-caking" ingredient. Just sift it before use and it's fine.
Those are some of the most important starters. More to come later...!
Cashew Cream
1/2 c. cashews
1 1/4 c. boiling water
Blend thoroughly. If you're not using a super-duper blender, you might need to strain. I don't have to because my whole juice cycle blends it into a wonderful cream. Substitute this in any recipe that calls for cream, or when you want a richer milk.
Cashew Milk Icecream
3 c. cashew cream
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 T. vanilla extract (made yourself if you're allergic to corn... recipe below)
Blend 1 c. of cream, sugar and salt until the sugar is disolved. Stir in the remaining cream, vanilla.
Freeze according to your icecream freezer's instructions.
Options:
Fruity: Add 1 1/2 c. of any fruit you prefer. Blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries are great. If your berries are sour you probably want to sweeten them up a little beforehand.
Chocolate: Substitute 1/2 c. white sugar and 1/3 c. packed brown sugar for 3/4 c. of sugar. Add 3/4 c. cocoa powder and mix it in with the sugar and salt.
Carmel Sauce
1 1/4 c. cashew cream (1 recipe)
1 c. brown sugar (packed or heaping)
Stir and simmer 3 minutes till bubbly. Then simmer 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 t. vanilla. This is a wonderful dairy-free carmel sauce that has so many uses. It makes a great glaze for cakes, brownies, sweet rolls, frosting (simmer slightly longer and thicken a tad more), icecream topping, apple dip, etc., etc.!
Homemade Vanilla
Today's tip: 100% vanilla is not 100% vanilla (surprise :0). It is 100% vanilla plus alcohol, which usually involves corn, but can also be gluten. If you're allergic to corn you need to make your own. It takes awhile to "cure" but is easy to do:
1 - 1 1/2 c. potato vodka (you won't find this just anywhere, but a larger liquor store should have it)
2 vanilla beans
Cut a slit all the way down the vanilla bean and put it in the vodka, in a glass jar.
Put a lid on it and label the date you started. Shake the vanilla daily. Some sources say it takes 3 months for the vanilla to be ready; others say if you really remember to shake it everyday it will be done in a month. I've always gone for the 3 month mark, but who knows!
Now that we've covered the important stuff (cream, icecream and carmel sauce :0), lets throw in a few more basics you'll need:
Easy Blender Mayo
Put in the blender:
1 egg
2 T. vinegar
2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt & dry mustard
1/4 c. oil (canola or light olive oil)
Mix a little and then begin drizzling in another 3/4 c. oil as the blender runs at a medium speed. Drizzle, but don't take forever either. You want to have it all in by about the time it turns to mayo, which isn't very long. You can hear the sound change when it thickens up. You don't want to blend much after that. Put it in a glass jar and let it set at room temp for an hour. Refrigerate after that. It keeps about 3 days in the frig (although I've been keeping it much longer than that for years and never gotten sick. I do use farm fresh eggs, so I don't know if that makes a difference or not).
This mayo is great for all kinds of things. I use it for: butter on baked potatoes, chicken & egg salad, the "sauce" in tuna casserole, deviled eggs, hamburgers, and mixed with my beloved jasmine rice and a combination of diced chicken, left-over veggie or wilted spinach (few seconds in the microwave or wok- or fresh spinach is good too!)... endless uses for this stuff!
Salad Vinaigrette
1/4 c. olive oil
3 T. sugar/honey
3 T. apple cider vinegar
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/8 t. salt
Mix altogether in a glass bottle and use for salad, as a glaze on meats, as a seasoning for the above-mentioned jasmine rice/meat/veggie lunch, etc.
Ketchup
I am a ketchup fanatic so this is an indispensible recipe for me as well:
12 oz. can of tomato paste (one of the only canned tomato products you can use if you're allergice to corn; make sure it only has tomato paste in it)
1/2 c. brown sugar (packed or heaping)
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 t. dry mustard, chili powder & worcestershire sauce (recipe below)
1 t. salt
Mix altogether and use as ketchup :0) . It also makes a great glaze over meatloaf. Increase the chili powder a fair amount and it works as barbeque sauce. I may slather it over chicken or roast in a crockpot.
Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 c. cider vinegar
2 T. tamari sauce (made with some other bean besides soy - chickpea, aduki, etc.)
2 T. water
1 T. brown sugar
1/4 t. ginger, dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder
1/8 t. cinnamon & pepper
Boil & simmer one minute. Store in the frig.
Baking Powder
1 t. baking powder = 1/2 t. cream of tarter + 1/4 t. baking soda
(the other 1/4 t. would be corn starch, which we're omitting; if you want it "silkier" you can put arrowroot in it's place)
Powdered Sugar
Buy super fine sugar and blend it into a fine powder. It will cake because you're eliminating cornstarch which is the "anti-caking" ingredient. Just sift it before use and it's fine.
Those are some of the most important starters. More to come later...!
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Unplanned Life...
This isn't just a cooking blog. It's about living a life you didn't plan. I didn't plan to cook all the time- I never even liked to cook. It was one of those necessary evils that rated right up there with cleaning the bathrooms and doing laundry. But I also didn't plan to eliminate half of the American food chain from my life. It's a funny thing... the more foods you don't eat, the more you have to cook. It doesn't make sense really, but then that's the life I didn't plan. So cooking is a big part of it, because I spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen.
In my experience, one of God's greatest mercies is refusing to tell us the future. A younger me thought that if we simply knew what was ahead, we could plan. It would be great. An older me knows how naive that was. How do you plan for the great difficulties of life? Talk about a joy-robber. So I thank God everyday for ignorance. For permission to live life today, without stressing about tomorrow. For the joy of so many little things I would have missed if he hadn't made me slow down and be in the kitchen.
It started with illness and then a diagnosis of celiac disease. Great to fnally have a diagnosis, not so great to live with it. Embarking upon the gluten-free diet resulted in constant hunger. I found I was always hungry no matter how much I ate. The "wheat hole" in my stomach was never filled because none of the substitutes tasted like wheat. I craved wheat. Nothing sounded good to me because all I wanted was wheat.
Furthermore, despite the deprivation I still wasn't well. I was meticulous about the gluten free diet, but something was still very wrong. While many symptoms had improved, other terrible ones remained. The boatload of prescribed pharmaceuticals turned out to be worse than the symptoms. So I "just said no" and started looking for answers in places without ominously long warning lists. The search led me right back to food, discovering that not only gluten... but dairy, soy, pork, corn and all corn by-products (which means virtually all processed foods) were doing terrible things to me. "What can you eat??" became the most common question I fielded. To which I had no good answers. The unplanned life.
So the journey began, and much of it has taken place in the kitchen. Multiple food allergies instantly turn you into a pioneer. I make my own mayo, ketchup, worcestershire, vanilla, and a million other things. Me- who didn't like to cook. And it's ok. I like this "me" better anyway. I've learned many things along the way that have made the journey easier. I'll start today with the first thing that helped me keep my sanity. The new recipe box.
I had to totally start over. I literally packed up my old recipe box and stacks of cookbooks and relegated them to a distant storage shelf, saved for my daughter someday. My new recipe box was empty. I only put a recipe in it when I had suceeded with something that we actually liked and wanted to eat again. And when such a recipe was put into the box, I counted it a victory. Every new recipe, successfully added to the box, was cause for celebration. This is still the case. With so many restrictions, each success is a big accomplishment, and you have to approach it that way. You can't solve the whole eating problem. It's WAY too overwhelming. You have to look for one success. One victory. Years later, I'm still thrilled with a new food discovery. What new breakthrough will I discover this week which will bring a culinary joy I've been missing for so long, or never had? One success, one at a time. This day, this victory. It's the only way to survive, and it applies to plenty more things than an unplanned life of cooking.
In my experience, one of God's greatest mercies is refusing to tell us the future. A younger me thought that if we simply knew what was ahead, we could plan. It would be great. An older me knows how naive that was. How do you plan for the great difficulties of life? Talk about a joy-robber. So I thank God everyday for ignorance. For permission to live life today, without stressing about tomorrow. For the joy of so many little things I would have missed if he hadn't made me slow down and be in the kitchen.
It started with illness and then a diagnosis of celiac disease. Great to fnally have a diagnosis, not so great to live with it. Embarking upon the gluten-free diet resulted in constant hunger. I found I was always hungry no matter how much I ate. The "wheat hole" in my stomach was never filled because none of the substitutes tasted like wheat. I craved wheat. Nothing sounded good to me because all I wanted was wheat.
Furthermore, despite the deprivation I still wasn't well. I was meticulous about the gluten free diet, but something was still very wrong. While many symptoms had improved, other terrible ones remained. The boatload of prescribed pharmaceuticals turned out to be worse than the symptoms. So I "just said no" and started looking for answers in places without ominously long warning lists. The search led me right back to food, discovering that not only gluten... but dairy, soy, pork, corn and all corn by-products (which means virtually all processed foods) were doing terrible things to me. "What can you eat??" became the most common question I fielded. To which I had no good answers. The unplanned life.
So the journey began, and much of it has taken place in the kitchen. Multiple food allergies instantly turn you into a pioneer. I make my own mayo, ketchup, worcestershire, vanilla, and a million other things. Me- who didn't like to cook. And it's ok. I like this "me" better anyway. I've learned many things along the way that have made the journey easier. I'll start today with the first thing that helped me keep my sanity. The new recipe box.
I had to totally start over. I literally packed up my old recipe box and stacks of cookbooks and relegated them to a distant storage shelf, saved for my daughter someday. My new recipe box was empty. I only put a recipe in it when I had suceeded with something that we actually liked and wanted to eat again. And when such a recipe was put into the box, I counted it a victory. Every new recipe, successfully added to the box, was cause for celebration. This is still the case. With so many restrictions, each success is a big accomplishment, and you have to approach it that way. You can't solve the whole eating problem. It's WAY too overwhelming. You have to look for one success. One victory. Years later, I'm still thrilled with a new food discovery. What new breakthrough will I discover this week which will bring a culinary joy I've been missing for so long, or never had? One success, one at a time. This day, this victory. It's the only way to survive, and it applies to plenty more things than an unplanned life of cooking.
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