after 2 days of marinating, curry-pickled carrots are a success!

more to come.

dinner

Dinner for two with the lovely miss Olga:

Roasted veggies and tofu, as local as I could (with the exception of the tofu,

it shouldn't be too hard to find all these ingredients grown nearby. it is

July after all!).

Preheat oven to 400 F

Slice/dice/whathaveyou all your veggies.

I used:

-1 acorn squash (save the seeds)

-5 large brussel sprouts (all I had left from the farmers market 2 weeks ago.

they keep well)

-3 carrots

-1 onion

-1 generous sprig rosemary

-10-15 fresh sage leaves

1. Toss these with oil, salt, and any other seasonings you fancy. The sugars

from the veggies should be delicious without further adulteration.

-1 package tofu (made in Berkeley)

2. Cube the tofu, coat it in spices and add it to the mix. I used paprika, salt,

thyme, and sage.

3. Bake everything for about an hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

And dessert:

Gluten free carrot cake with yogurt frosting and roasted acorn squash seeds

-3/4 c garfava flour

-3/4 c sorghum flour

-1/4 c brown rice flour

-1/3 c combination tapioca starch, potato starch, corn flour

-3/4 t baking soda

-pinch xanthan gum

-pinch salt

-1/2 c sugar (more to taste later)

-cinnamon

-1 c buttermilk (adjust liquid levels as you go)

-1 egg

-6 T oil

-vanilla extract

-1 1/2 grated carrots

-small handful of dried berries. I used goji berries and incan berries

-handful sunflower seeds

-handful chocolate chunks

1. preheat oven to 325

2. mix dry ingredients thoroughly

3. mix wet ingredients and pour into dry

4. adjust liquid levels (hold back some of the buttermilk, add if you need it)

5. taste and adjust sugar level

6. pour into a greased cake pan

7. bake about 30 minutes. this one could have baked longer, but a knife came

out clean when i took it out. longer baking will take it from the consistency

of peanut-butter-stuck-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth (not unpleasant) to actual

cake. the edges of this one were delicious.

8. mix some yogurt with vanilla extract and honey for frosting

9. mix the rinsed acorn squash seeds with cinnamon and salt, and put in the

oven with the cake on a greased pan. check on them occasionally.

10. when they come out of the oven, sprinkle them with sugar or honey. use

them on top of the frosting.

(important: do not put the sugar on before you bake the seeds. especially on

a teflon pan, it's a cleanup nightmare!)

Enjoy along with a gin and tonic with slices of lemon cucumber or kirby

cucumber, chilled, with an umbrella.

the grocery store, and other stories

After a morning of reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (and I am just one

sitting away from the end now...) I went to the grocery store to see what's

what. Now, having been unemployed and therefore chock-full of free time,

I've been to this grocery store a hundred times (and I don't think that's an

exaggeration). But today was the first time I noticed the fluorescent pink

green and orange stickers that tagged the locally owned, locally grown, and

organic items, respectively.

Really Sadie?

Truth be told, I must have seen them, but they never registered in my head

except to say "Hey! I'm more expensive! You should probably just move

along." Looking at them today, I found that not only were the local products

better-looking (in the case of produce) but they were also cheaper than items

from other countries. Who knew?

Now, don't think I haven't registered that I am, in fact, living in California,

and that despite the fog it's the middle of the summer. Of course there will

be piles of beautiful local produce. But to notice, whatever time of year it is,

that, hey, all the apples are from Chile, while the pears are from a few miles

away, is a big deal to someone who has never paid it much thought. Maybe

I'll substitute pear this time around.

The rice aisle was fully stocked with locally grown brown, white, black, short

grain, long grain, sweet, sticky, and arborio rice, to name a few (the flours

were mostly locally owned but grown elsewhere in the US.), and the cheapest

brand of coconut oil they sold was produced in the US and packaged in

Berkeley. What a win!

I made out like a bandit with several types of gluten free flours, all the produce

I'll need for tonight's dinner-for-two, a bag of lemon cucumbers for pickling,

and all the organic pickling spices I could imagine using (including such things

as vanilla beans, star anise pods, and juniper berries) for an easy twenty bucks.

I've never had such a slow and contemplative grocery trip, and it was pretty

informative.

the food

With only the best intentions of using up what's in my fridge and pantry

before putting my food-buying dollars to work, I now have the following

wonderful items:

The first jar of refrigerator pickles:

ground cinnamon

cardamom pods

curry powder

water

sugar

heat these until fragrant and dissolved

add apple cider vinegar until it tastes like pickle juice

pour into a clean jar with 2 sliced carrots

close and refrigerate, 2 days. (Will tell you how they taste then)

Gluten free buttermilk biscuits:

(this makes 8 good-sized biscuits, which are delicious, and convincing)

1 c garbanzo flour

1/2 c cornmeal

1/4 c brown rice flour

1/4 c combination potato starch and tapioca starch

1/2 t salt

1 t baking soda

1 T sugar

caraway seeds (optional)

2-3 T coconut oil, soild

3/4-1 c buttermilk

mix the coconut oil into the flour mix until it is in crumbles. add buttermilk

until the batter is sticking to your fingers but is not liquidy.

bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes

serve with avocado and honey, or whatever else you have (pickles?)

Dried bananas:

This photo is from about an hour in. They've been going about 5 hours now,

and are almost dried. The liquid that puddles in the pan turns into an amazing

stick-in-your-teeth banana fruit leather. Try it!

next steps

A queue of projects is already developing in my world of staying local:

cheesemaking: local milk is not terribly expensive, is organic and delicious.

Rainbow grocery sells mozzarella and ricotta-making kits. mozzarella

stretches like taffy and takes under an hour to make. why the hell not??

yogurt: I posted yogurt instructions a few months ago, but laziness and

budget have stopped me from continuing to make it. Upon reevaluation, it

looks like strained yogurt is the only one that does not save you cash. a

quart of organic yogurt is comparable in price to a gallon of organic milk,

which can make a gallon of organic yogurt. It's too much yogurt for me, but

if four of us split a gallon of yogurt, that saves us all money and extra plastic.

Maybe there are some trades in order?

pickles: I have never pickled or jarred anything, and I am very intrigued.

Some cursory research has told me that it's risky to can your own higher

pH (low acidity) foods, with tomato products at the cusp of edible and full-

of-Botulism. So vinegary pickles are fair game, and sound easy. This is a

great way to both experiment with new flavor combinations, stock up your

pantry for the winter, and use up your extra produce. I'll try to find some

way to trade for or obtain slightly damaged produce as I make the farmers

market rounds on Sunday.

vinegar: Of course, there's the question of the best place to obtain gallons

of vinegar. I know of at least one apple tree that needs harvesting, and

probably would not be hard-pressed (get it?) to find more. Once you juice

the apples and add some type of brewer's yeast, you can let your vinegar

ferment for a couple months. so maybe pickles will have to wait...

dehydrated foods: Another great way to use up damaged or extra produce

is to dehydrate it. I don't own a dehydrator, but an oven works just as well.

There is a tray of bananas in my oven as I write this, with the temperature

set to "warm," which is somewhere between room temperature and 200

degrees, the oven's lowest setting. Make sure to leave a note on your stove

if you do this, so your roommates don't accidentally scald your bounty. Not

only is it a bummer, but the cleanup can be ridiculous.

I'll add photos and recipes to the project queue as they happen. Thanks for

the comments on the last post, and keep them coming!

armchair farming

Jesse has coined the term "armchair farming" for my most recently

developed habit: reading about other peoples' local eating experiments.

Well let me tell you, the back-breaking work that is armchair farming

has made me notice many an inefficient thing, from Himalayan Rice to

too-cheap meals to non-recyclable packaging.

Done with Novella Carpenter's Farm City, I am currently reading

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a memoir of

her family's year-long quest to only eat local foods. The book is chock-

full of factoids and statistics, recipes and simple suggestions to improve

the mileage of your foods (it's something like 87 fuel calories to transport

1 calorie worth of rice, for example.).

Of course, this brings up all sorts of questions of morality, practicality

and feasibility. Should I avoid eating overripe bananas that are going to

waste? How can I afford to eat local foods when I am underemployed?

And while there are many farmers markets in my city, if there are none

today, and I am out of produce, what then?

Of course I don't know the answers, not that I believe there are answers.

On the way home I bought a bunch of bruised bananas to dehydrate for

making my own fruit-and-nut bars, plus a couple of cans of coconut milk

just for kicks. I did avoid buying the things I can purchase locally: peaches,

plums, tomatoes, berries (all things that are 3-5 times cheaper down the

block than they will be at the farmers market, but lacking in quality).

So where does this leave me? I am still using food that traveled fairly far

(coconut milk from Thailand and bananas from Ecuador) but I am using

them for foods that will either save transport and packaging (homemade

nut bars versus buying Larabars or Clif bars) or that will keep my food

dairy-free, avoiding using the ultra-pasteurized non-organic milk that

is in my budget.

Is it a start? Sure.

lunch for one

Herb frittata with feta cheese

1/2 kohlrabi bulb, thinly sliced

2 eggs

small block of feta cheese (I used a Bulgarian sheep's milk feta, it's cheap,

and delicious)

5 sage leaves

1/4 small rosemary sprig

salt

pepper

1. fry the kohlrabi in oil until browned. I added a little bit of aminos for some

salt. set aside.

2. mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl, and pour into a hot frying

pan.

3. spread to coat the bottom of the pan and let it sit over a medium-low flame

until the top is almost cooked.

4. flip and turn off flame, just to sizzle the top slightly.

5. flip again, add plain yogurt, kohlrabi, and sauerkraut, fold over and serve.

gluten free mocha chip cookies

1/4 c each:

garfava flour
corn flour
sweet rice flour
tapioca starch

1/2 c each:

sorghum flour
amaranth flour

1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T ground decaf coffee
1 T cocoa powder
pinch salt
pinch xanthan gum

1 egg
1/2 c oil or butter, melted or creamed
1/3-1/2 c sugar or agave nectar (you may have to adjust liquid content,
I used brewed coffee)

chocolate chips

1. mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, adjust liquid and
sugar levels until you get a dough that holds together well and isn't too
dry.

2. make into 1" spheres

3. dust each sphere with a mix of sugar, salt, cinnamon and cocoa powder

4. spread on a baking sheet and flatten with your fingers or the tines
of a fork

5. bake at 375 for 12 minutes

let cool before devouring. (These ones will be dipped in melted chocolate

and put on wax paper to cool in the freezer)

Some changes I would make:

2 eggs instead of one

more chocolate chunks

brown sugar instead of demarara

next time.

back to the world of panoramas

I took my new 12 x 24.5 sketchpad to Village Market, this lovely grocery

store and cafe near my house, to see what would happen.

Watercolor is coming, sit tight.

gluten free bread pudding

Okay, I manned up and MEASURED things, for once, just to see what would happen.

Gluten-free Bread Pudding

flours:

-1/2 c garfava

-1/2 c teff

-1/4 c brown rice

-1/4 c sweet rice

-1/8 c potato starch

-pinch of xanthan gum

-pinch of salt

-1/2 c sugar

-1 banana

-1 egg

-1 c buttermilk

-1/2 applesauce

-1/4 c olive oil

-1 T vanilla extract

-4 fresh figs, cut into pieces

-chopped ginger

-walnuts

-juice from 1 meyer lemon

-spoonful of honey

1. mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until well combined (you can't overmix because there is no gluten, so go stir crazy).

2. add chopped figs and ginger

3. pour into a loaf pan and top with walnuts

4. bake at 325 for--get this--80 minutes!

5. while baking, mix lemon juice with honey until honey dissolves (i used some hot water too). pour the lemon mix on top of the cake about 40 minutes in. if there is more, do it again 20 minutes later.

6. let cool completely before removing from pan and serving

Mmmmm, gooey fig cake. Serve with unsweetened yogurt, it's delicious.

food and brain food

3 gluten-free recipes and a brainstorm:

notes from brainstorm 4

if you have the time to read through these, please comment with your favorite

of these ideas. next week we'll start focusing in on a few to implement.

the food:

gluten-free sweet potato gnocchi:

-sweet potatoes, boiled, peeled

-gluten free flour mix: potato starch, garfava flour, sorghum flour (i ran out of

these and ended up using Bob's Red MIll all purpose GF flour, did the trick,

but I think it is made of the above blend, plus rice, or something)

-salt

-turmeric

-1 egg

1. mash potatoes very well. I ended up putting them in the blender to make sure

the texture was okay (last gnocchi batch I just used a potato masher, this batch

was infinitely tastier).

2. add 1 egg.

3. mix flours, salt and turmeric in a bowl and add to the wet mix. keep adding more

flour mix until the dough actually resembles dough. this will take a lot of flour,

be prepared.

4. when it does resemble dough, take small fist-sized chunks, roll them in potato

starch into long, 1/2" thick ropes and set aside.

5. when all your dough is in ropes, take each rope and stamp it with the tines of

a fork. cut into 1/2"-1" long pieces.

6. when you are ready to eat them, drop them into boiling water, give them a stir

to make sure they do not stick to the pan, and fish them out when they float to

the surface (1-2 min).

7. dress with olive oil and salt and served with a roasted beet and feta cheese salad.

note: if you have too many gnocchi, dust the extra ones in more potato starch,

and put them in a bag in the freezer. the starch should keep them from sticking

together, so they will cook up normally when you take them back out.

beet and feta cheese salad:

-beets

-meyer lemon

-fresh rosemary

-fresh sage

-garlic

-salt

-olive oil

-feta cheese

1. clean beets in water and cut into equally sized wedges.

2. slice lemon into thin sheets

3. chop garlic, sage and rosemary

4. throw all this in a mixing bowl and toss with oil and salt

5. bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for about an hour, stirring every once in a while,

until the beets are soft with a slightly crunchy exterior.

6. remove and let cool.

7. when cooled, mix in crumbled feta cheese, and serve.

gluten-free pancakes:

(these will come out much like whole wheat pancakes in flavor, texture and color)

makes 3 large pancakes (breakfast for 2)

-1 1/2 c flour mix: 1 part buckwheat flour, 2 parts sorghum flour, 2 parts garfava

flour, 1 part tapioca starch

-tiniest possible pinch of xanthan gum

-pinch salt

-cinnamon

-1/2 t baking powder

-2 eggs

-2 T agave nectar

-2 T oil

-1/2-1 c rice milk (until desired consistency is reached)

1. add the wet ingredients to the dry, add rice milk as necessary until you get a

soupy pancake batter.

2. heat a skillet over medium flame until water beads up on the surface.

3. oil lightly, and add a big ol' scoop of batter. it should sizzle upon hitting the pan.

let it cook, slowly, for a while, until the air bubbles at the surface pop but do

not disappear.

4. when ready, flip your pancake and cook another minute.

5. serve hot with fresh strawberries, or whatever else you've got lying around.

happy brekfust

These are my favorite scribbles from the Hotel Utah the other night.

My apologies for the crummy photographs. Also, these were meant

to be painted, until I found out that moleskine paper is greasy and

does not accept ink very well.

Bummer.

a hearty lunch for one (with leftovers!)

Cheesy polenta:

boil water with butternut squash soup

add a tiny bit of polenta, just enough to see a hump on the surface of the water

stir, pour into a cast iron pan (little) and mix in chopped cheese of any kind (i

used some of the massive amount of pepper jack my roommate swiped from

his catering job). Important: if your cheese is salty, DO NOT salt your polenta.

If you do oversalt, add yogurt or avocado when it is ready to eat.

put it all in the oven and bake, hot, until you are ready to eat it. the longer the

better, but it'll be cooked as soon as it boils (longer cooking turns it from "grits"

to "polenta," or so I am told). top with cooked kale and a fried egg, with fresh

avocado.

happy lunch!

and for dessert (i mean, of course, dessert for tonight's brainstorm...)

Gluten free Turkish coffee cupcakes

(all quantities approximate)

dry:

-less than 1/4 c brown rice flour

-1/3 c sorghum flour

-1/3 c garfava flour

-less than 1/4 c potato starch

-1/4 c sweet rice flour

-1/2 t baking powder

-tiniest pinch of xanthan gum

-pinch of salt

wet:

-1/3 c brewed and strained turkish coffee, reduced (leave on low flame until you

are ready for it)

to make your own turkish coffee, grind beans very finely with cardamom pods.

i used decaf. it's about 2 t coffee per t sugar per 1/4 water. adjust to taste.

-3-4 T olive oil

-1 egg

-1 banana, mashed with a fork

-1/4 agave (more to taste)

-1 T vanilla extract

mix the wet and dry, adjust sweetness to taste, bake in muffin tin at 325 for 14-18

minutes, or until top is puffy and knife comes out clean.

frosting:

blend well:

-greek strained yogurt

-agave

-more brewed strained coffee

-dates

-pistachio nuts

note: the texture of these GF muffins is a pretty good approximation of glutenous,

i must say.

on the out and out

The last day at Cafe Hurghada was short and sweet, I made a bucket-o-tips,

closed early, interacted with all my favorite customers, and rounded out

the evening with a nap and a trip to the Hotel Utah open mic, where this

lady wowed me with her vocals.

So I've been unemployed for a day, but I just snagged a job at the soon-to-

be-opened Readers Cafe, part of the Friends of the SF Public Library at

Fort Mason center, which means I will be adding the jaw-droppingly

beautiful ride down to the Marina to my routine (and also the thigh-

burningly nice climb back up). The cafe opens August 4th, come visit!

Also, the next brainstorm is tomorrow, email for address, there will

be dinner.

I promise, this is (almost) the last time I'll draw Bernal Hill:

Phew, hands are still in order, eyes, almost up to speed, pens could use a re-up

Thanks to everyone who made it out to Socha on Tuesday, and thanks

to the musicians: the fiddle jam sounded pretty darn great.

News on the bike rack corsets! Now officially called, Nice Racks, they got

themselves blogged about!

Thanks to Mission Bikes and their awesome idea to buy one/give one: for

every nice rack you buy, I'll install one somewhere in SF.

And finally, these biofuel stations will be getting an early morning visit from

Jesse and I before the next brainstorm. Please let me know if you have any

burning questions for them (sorry, I had to). The visits are to follow up on

the idea of putting bus maps and schedules on gas pumps. Looks like these

guys have already done their homework on this front, and if school taught

me anything, it's that you should never do your homework if someone else

has already done it.

food food, coffee coffee

passion fruit tart, with photos this time.

this was a sadie-jesse collabo at the first second sunday supper club in

millbrae. it was a peach-passion fruit curd and the crust was incredible:

1 amaranth flr: 1 sorghum flr: 1 pumpkin seed meal: 2 sunflower seed meal

not much sugar, maybe 1/2 part, maybe less, and about 1/2 part melted

coconut oil (add more oil to get a dough that won't fall apart but isn't too wet)

Unfortunately for the photographs and forkability, the curd didn't have

enough chilling time to set (9 stuffed bellies awaiting dessert), which

was hilarious, if nothing else:

And a new thing: plantain empanadas!

dough:

yellow plantains (not black ones, or green ones)

a little honey

a little cornmeal

a little cornstarch

simmer cut and peeled plantains for 2-3 minutes until soft

add honey and mash with a fork or potato masher (or food processor if you

are lucky enough to have access to one). if the dough is liquidy, add the

cornstarch, or some cornmeal, but try not to. alternatively, spread the dough

out on cornmeal and then you won't have to worry about it.

add your filling, fold over into a pocket, and fry or bake or both until it is no

longer squishy and the plantains (and cornmeal) are fully cooked.

the filling:

black beans

butternut squash broth

charred jalapeno

garlic

apple cider vinegar

simmer this all until the liquid is all reduced. salt to taste

grated cheese

ricotta cheese

Enjoy the food, and on a different note, I may have a job at the Velo Rouge

Cafe (the one from that first watercolor). Had my first training shift today,

and it was great. Nice to know it is possible to not need coffee-out-of-

boredom while working.

I will enjoy the rest of this sunny day without being overcaffeinated, and

hope to see some of you at Socha tonight!

ketchup

So I have these 16 copies of a line drawing in my room, and I figure I may

as well get better at painting. I picked up a bottle of Dr. Ph Martin's Bombay

black india ink, on recommendation from the wonderful artist and teacher,

Frank Espinosa, and went at it. There's lots to learn (whoa).

This will be hanging at Socha for Tuesday's closing, please come out!

Next on the agenda: bike rack cozies. This one's gone missing, but at least

it had a brief photo-opportunity at Duboce and Sanchez St. on the Wiggle.

And finally, a recipe:

Passion fruit tart

crust:

~ 1 1/2 c cashews, ground to a powder (i used a coffee grinder, cleaned well)

~ 1/2 c sorghum and buckwheat flours

~ 1/3 c coconut oil, melted

~ 1/3 c demarara sugar

pinch of salt

mix all well, press into an oiled spring form pan, and bake at 350 about 15

minutes, or until sides are just beginning to brown.

melt some dark chocolate and a spoonful of coconut oil in a double boiler

setup, pour on top of the baked crust so that the bottom is just covered

(careful spreading it, I just used gravity, so as not to damage the crust).

refrigerate or freeze, so chocolate begins to solidify.

filling:

1 c passion fruit pulp (purchase at a mexican grocery store. freezer section)

1/4 c sugar

4 egg yolks

3 eggs

mix all in a saucepan and whisk constantly over medium/low heat until

thick, 5-10 minutes. remove from heat and add about 4 or 5 spoonfuls of

coconut oil. pour over crust, let chill for a few hours, and enjoy! if there

is extra filling, pour it in a bowl, and eat it later! that way you can check

the bowl to see that the filling has set.

enjoy.

people on paper: tuesday night

closing reception: tuesday july 13

socha cafe (mission x valencia)

830 - 1000 pm

a fiddle jam and drinks will make an appearance

True That Bikes makes nice racks

Jesse stealthily laces up the rack in front of Mission Bicycle Company.

And with some coordination...

...leaves the bike rack much less naked than before!

If you'd like to lace up your favorite bike rack, please comment here and I'll

get one over to you.

more on the horizon

Brainstorm number three happened, and here are some notes.

Next meeting + dinner scheduled for this coming weds, july 7 at 7pm.

Please feel free to come by (email me for directions)

Also, dinner at this past meeting featured gluten-free gumbo (make a

roux from corn flour, garbanzo flour and potato starch), and an awesome

salad of watermelon, feta cheese, toasted pecans and basil over arugula

and spinach. I highly recommend it.

Well, I've been in San Francisco a year as of Tuesday, and to celebrate I

put in my 2 weeks notice at the cafe.

Some food:

Gluten-free bread pudding

This one came about by tasty miscalculation. Cake with too much xanthan

gum = pudding.

bake at 375 until delicious:

white nectarines

fresh ginger

cinnamon

maple syrup

coconut oil

mix:

potato starch, tapioca starch, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, sweet rice

flour, and garbanzo/fava bean flour

baking powder

salt

xanthan gum

sugar/honey/maple syrup

apple sauce

water

coconut milk

olive oil

pour the batter into cake pans and put the nectarine goop on top (or under

for an upside-down cake.) the batter will puff up quite a bit in the oven but

will collapse again when you take it out. don't overfill, as it will spit your

nectarines out onto the hot oven bottom and set off your smoke alarm.

bake for 1 hour at 375 and let cool before serving.

i served it with a frosting:

blend:

yogurt (sweetened, or unsweetened plus honey)

vanilla extract

toasted pecans

cinnamon

rice noodle kugel, aka fauxsagna

saute:

chinese eggplant (soak in salt water first)

tofu

thai basil

with a sauce of:

soy sauce

vinegar

sesame oil

chili oil

honey

sesame seeds

in a hot skillet or wok with oil, quick-scramble some eggs, and mix in with

the sauteed veggies

preheat oven t0 450 or so

in a greased pan, layer rice noodles, sauteed veggies and ricotta cheese with

more fresh thai basil. you can pour the leftover saute sauce on it too. bake

until the top is crispy and the bottom is bubbling, maybe 20 minutes

And a new project: bike rack corsets! These will begin cropping up on SF

bike racks as fast as I can make them. Please let me know if you have a

favorite bike rack that you would like a corset for, and i'll get one to you!