my week in review

I got sick! stuck with a bad throat and a stuffy nose. Fightin off the last of it now.

the remedy? Sopa de lima! (made with lemons)

onion

celery

carrots

ginger

oil

salt and pepper

paprika

lemon or lime juice until you just taste it

cilantro

saute these until the onions are translucent and it smells good

add: 1 can diced unsalted tomatoes

chicken (I used drumsticks)

water to cover (plus some)

boil for hours, until the chicken is stringy and soft. top with fresh

cilantro. good with tortilla chips. (i subbed a mediocre loaf of gluten

free bread. still working on the recipe)

Then Christmas came along, so I made this cyclist for Jesse:

obligatory action pose:

And finally, we brought sugar cookies down to Millbrae last night.

Neon food dye is awesome.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies: (recipe by Jesse in collabo w/ GF Girl and the Chef)

under 1 c brown rice and sweet rice flour, combined

under 1 c tapioca starch

under 1 c corn starch

(mix should be 2 1/2 cups)

1 t baking powder

2 1/2 t xanthan gum

pinch of salt

nutmeg and cinnamon

in a separate bowl/stand mixer/food processor

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c (2 sticks) butter

1 egg

1 T vanilla

lemon juice (1 lemon)

process until fluffy

mix with flours, mix in some food colorings and refrigerate immediately.

when the dough has hardened, it's ready to be rolled out. refrigerate

ready-to-bake cookies before baking.

bake at 350 for 9 minutes.

some people

the pizza trials

Gluten Free Pizza Dough:

mix together:

bowl 1:

1 T dry yeast

2 T sugar/honey

3/4 warm (not hot) water

bowl 2:

1/2 c brown rice flour

1 c sweet white rice flour

1 1/2 c tapioca starch

1/4 c corn starch

2 T potato flour

2 t xanthan gum

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

chopped or dried herbs of your choosing (i used fresh sage from

my buddies at Happy Boy Farms.)

add to bowl 1:

2 egg whites

2 T olive oil

1 t balsamic vinegar

for later:

cornmeal

add bowl 1 to bowl 2 and stir to combine. I use my hands after

the mix starts to bunch up. turn onto a cutting board or clean

surface and knead for a little while to incorporate the dough better.

cover with a damp cloth and let rise in an oiled bowl in a warm

place (i used the oven, preheated and then turned off) for 1 hour

or so. when it has risen, move it to a cornmeal-covered surface and

spread the dough to your final pizza shape. move to a baking sheet.

at this point, i need to do some experimenting. here's what i did:

cover the edges of the crust in cinnamon, sugar and salt. cover the

inner part of the dough with olive oil. spread on sauce, toppings

and cheese, cover in olive oil and cracked pepper, and bake at 500

for 12 minutes.

future iterations:

spread out crust and let rise another 30 minutes

parcook crust 15 minutes before adding toppings (the crust was a

little grainy, probably from contact with the sauce).

Please let me know if you try any experiments of your own!

Kabocha Squash sauce:

1/2 small kabocha squash, boiled until soft, peeled and pureed

1/2 c water or however much you need to get the right consistency

2 T capers

agave/sugar, salt and pepper to taste

2 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

lemon juice to taste

heat all in a saucepan over low heat until the caper and garlic flavors

are incorporated.

Top the pizza with whatever strikes your fancy! This one had sauteed

fennel and maitake mushrooms with garlic and just a hint of salt.

Covered in mozzarella, of course.

Pedal Savvy Fashion Show

Look for a green corset and a black, green and purple jersey

Pedal Savvy Fashion show @ the SF Bike Expo 2010 from meg v. on Vimeo.

DONUTS!

Gluten free donuts DO exist!

After some recipe-tweaking after a night of rock-solid jelly donuts,

this dough actually started to rise!

They fried like a charm...

And had real holes, cut out with a seltzer bottle cap...

And dessert was sweet sweet sweet (served with yogurt, and apple

butter from mom). Happy Chanukah.

Gluten Free Donuts:

1 T dry yeast

2 T sugar

3/4 c warm milk or any other liquid (apple cider?)

mix these and let rest in a bowl until yeast begins to foam.

1/4 c brown rice flour

1 1/4 c sweet white rice flour

1 1/2 c tapioca starch

1/4 c corn or potato starch (or more tapioca)

1 t xanthan gum

1 t baking powder

pinch of salt

2 T sugar

1 t ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

Mix these in a large mixing bowl.

1 egg

1 egg white

1 t vanilla

Add these to the yeast mixture and pour into the flour mix. Stir until

well combined and not sticky. I left some of the flour out the first go

and added after the liquid to coat the mix.

When the dough is combined, add

2 T softened butter (or any oil)

Knead the dough, let it rest in a warm place covered with a damp towel

~ 2 hours. The dough should double in size, and make crinkly sounds

when you handle it. These are (finally!) air bubbles. Turn the dough

out onto wax paper, and roll it out to 1/4 " or a little thicker. Cut out

rounds with a cookie cutter or glass. Cut out holes with a cookie

cutter or bottle cap. Let rise, covered with a towel for 30 minutes.

When risen, heat up frying oil in a skillet. I used canola. The holes will

be your testers, and they will cook fast. Let them brown nicely on one

side, flip, brown again. They should not brown too fast, but if they do,

lower the heat. When cooked, toss them immediately in a bowl of sugar,

salt and cinnamon, or whatever other spices you'd like. Let them rest

on a plate with paper towels to soak up some grease. Repeat with all

the donuts.

This recipe should make a heaping plate of them. Too many for 4 of us.

gluten free scones

- 1 c brown rice flour

- 2/3 c tapioca starch

- 1/3 coconut flour

- 1/4 t xanthan gum

- 1/3 c sugar

- 1 t baking powder

- 1/4 t baking soda

- 1/2 t salt

- 1/4 c coconut oil

combine all until crumbly

add:

-1 t vanilla

-1 egg

-1/2 c plain yogurt

combine until doughy. add 1/2 c fresh or dried fruit. I used asian pear

and fresh ginger.

make into small bisquit rounds. coat top in sugar.

Bake at 400 for 17-20 minutes.

the pie got purpler

a purple pie

purple sweet potatoes!

gluten free pie time

The lovely Morgaine has left us with her pie dish, temporarily, which
means it's time for some pies!

The crust trials:

1/2 c brown rice flour
1/3 c tapioca starch
1/6 c amaranth flour
2 T potato flour
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/4 t agar powder
1/4 t salt
1 stick butter
1/4-1/2 c cold water

cut the cold butter into the dry mix, add cold water, mix until just
combined. refrigerate until ready to roll!

roll the dough to under 1/4". transfer to pie dish and bake at 375 for
10 minutes before adding filling.

Comments: way too much butter. next time less butter, more water,
and maybe a little bit of apple cider vinegar. held its shape like a
dream, didn't rip when i tried to transfer it to the pie pan, and i could
lift my slice of pie by the crust, which was awesome.

This one was filled with:

just under 2 c acorn squash, steamed and pureed
3/4 c whole milk
agave, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger to taste
1/4-1/2 t agar
1 T tapioca starch

Mix well in a blender, pour into par-cooked crust, bake at 450 for
10 minutes, 375 for 50 minutes. let it chill in the fridge before
serving to solidify.

Comments: so good! no more pumpkin baking for me. I think next time
I will refrigerate the filling in the crust before baking. then the agar will
activate so that the filling will be custard when it comes out of the oven.

yeah!