Blueberry Millet Muffins - GF

I don't even know what to say about these muffins other than they are SO delicious! The millet gives them a really nice crunchiness, and the blueberries and lemon zest are a perfect sweet-sunshine taste. The original recipe is from the blog Kitchen Therapy - a GF blog with all kinds of good looking things. She offers two versions of the recipe, one with buttermilk, and one that is vegan and uses a fermented rice beverage called amazake. The recipe below is my modified version of hers with dried blueberries and lemon rind, and a little less sugar. See hers linked here for the vegan version.

Yields 12 muffins (or 6 popover sized ones!)
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar (or 1/4 c. sugar plus 2 stevia packets for less sugar)
3/4 c. millet flour (grind millet in coffee grinder)
3/4 c. Bob's GF flour
2/3 c. millet seeds
2 T. ground flax seed (grind flax seeds in coffee grinder)
1 1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. dried blueberries
zest of 1 lemon

In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and sugar. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the dry ingredients (everything else). Stir wet and dry together and let sit for 5 minutes for xanthan gum and flax to absorb moisture and help muffins to rise better. Butter/grease muffin tin or use muffin paper liners, and fill 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425.

Bryant Terry's Jamaican Veggie Patties

I am a huge fan of Bryant Terry and have been trying to work my way through his Vegan Soul Kitchen for the past year or so. He's an amazing chef and badass food justice activist; as with Heidi Swanson's stuff, I don't think you can go wrong with a BT recipe!

This one, however, was a bit of a stretch for me since I am really inexperienced with making pastry dough and definitely "froze" (instead of "chilled") the coconut oil, resulting in an overworked dough. (I really tried to incorporate that very cold coconut oil!)

Anyway, they still turned out pretty well, and as Jaime noted, it would be really easy to fill them with lots of other options.

Pastry:
1 1/2 c. unbleached white flour, chilled
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour, chilled
2 t. turmeric
1/2 t. fine sea salt
3/4 c. chilled coconut butter
2 t. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. plus 2 T. ice water

Filling:
1 T. coconut oil
1/2 c. 1/4-in. diced yellow onion
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/8 t. cayenne
Coarse sea salt
2 large cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. coconut milk
1/4 c. 1/4-in. diced carrots
1/4 c. 1/4-in. diced yellow potatoes
1/2 c. fresh green peas (or frozen)--I don't like cooked peas, so omitted this
1/2 c. fresh sweet corn (or frozen)
1/2 c. shredded cabbage
1 T. minced fresh thyme
1 T. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 t. freshly ground white pepper

To make the pastry, mix the flours, turmeric, and salt in a chilled bowl. Add the coconut butter to the mixture and rub with your fingertips until it resembles fine sand (approx. 10 minutes). I used a pastry cutter because the feel of dry flour on my fingers reminded me of dried clay. UGH. Combine the vinegar and water, and add 1 T. at a time to the dough mix. Do not overwork. (But ack! How do you know if you're overworking the dough!? Thoughts?) Squeeze the dough into a tight ball, flatten, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the filling, heat the coconut oil in a saute-pan and add everything up to the salt. Saute for 8-10 minutes until the onion is caramelized, stirring occasionally. (This smelled absolutely amazing, by the way. Such good spices!) Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the coconut milk, carrots, and potatoes, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the veggies are tender (10-12 minutes). Add in everything else and cook for a few more minutes. Season well and set aside until your pastry is ready.

Preheat oven to 350F and roll out dough. Since my dough was impossible to roll, Jaime and I warmed it in our hands and just made individual patties. Bryant Terry recommends cutting out six rounds, filling 'em with 2 tablespoons, and then folding them over into half-moons. (We just laid a round on top of a filled one, and pinched to seal.)

Coconut butter a baking sheet (or use parchment paper) and bake for 35 minutes. Serve with hot sauce!

Latkes!

Although it was just Purim, which is not a holiday for latkes, I made some anyways. I have made them before, but never quite so precisely. And never have they turned out so delicious! I made a big batch for future use, refrigerated them, and then heated them up on baking trays to eat crispy and hot (Heat at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so). I was doubtful, but they tasted just as good as fresh off the griddle. (Note the clever use of grandma's lefse griddle for the latkes - so industrious!)

I have a few latkes left in my freezer so that I can whip up some eggs benedict or eggs florentine anytime...which is a miracle for my gluten free eating habits and my love of eggs benedict. The latke recipe I used is a Smitten Kitchen one (of course). Squeezing the excess potato/onion water out via cheesecloth is GENIUS. I made mine gluten free using Bob's GF baking flour with no discernible difference.

One of these days I will actually find a hollandaise recipe that I like, but until then, I'll eat eggs florentine without the sauce. For these ones I steamed thinly sliced collard greens in salt water, drained them, sauteed them with some butter, and then poached a couple of eggs to put on top.

Homemade Sausage

*To the veggies/vegan leaning folks on WFDM - I hope you aren't sicked out by some meat processing photos.
I learned a bunch of new things about sausage: you can use the meat without casing and eat it like a breakfast patty, in sauce or on pizza, OR you can put the filling in the casing, giving you brats or italian sausage or whatever. The casings for these came from Kramarczuk's in Northeast. If you want to make sausage but not worry about meat grinders or casings, you can make these sausages with a food processor. Make extra and freeze patties until you want to eat them.

The first recipe is from Savoring the Seasons (Lucia's cookbook), and is called "Uncle Byron's Game Sausage." It is sweeter, with fresh parsley and onions, and not as spicy as the second one, which we'll just call "Sage Sausage" due to the predominant sage flavor (along with a random selection of spices from the spice drawer). I used a venison/bacon combo in these because My Charming Companion has an abundant supply of venison, but certainly pork is more traditional.

Uncle Byron's Game Sausage *makes 4 pounds
3 lbs venison/game meat
1 lb bacon
2 c. peeled, finely chopped onions
1 red bell pepper, seeded, deveined, finely chopped
1 c. finely chopped parsley
2 T. finely chopped garlic
2 T. seeded, finely chopped fresh hot chili peppers
2 t. crushed, dried hot pepper
2 t. dried thyme
1/4 c. fennel seed
1/2 t. allspice
1 T. salt
Coarsely grind meat, bacon, and onion in a food processor or meat grinder. Turn into a bowl and mix together remaining ingredients, using your hands if needed, until the seasonings/flavors are evenly distributed. To cook: shape into patties and saute or grill until middle is not pink or crumble a large portion into a skillet and cook.

Sage Sausage
6 lbs venison
2 lbs bacon
3 T. sage
2 T. salt
2 t. pepper
1/4 c. fennel seed
3 heads garlic, finely chopped
2 T. paprika
1 t. cayenne
1 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. coriander
Prepare same as above!

Variation on a Heidi

Steve and I really like Heidi Swanson's TLTs and have recently been changing it up slightly.

Spread veganaise on a slice of bread (we like Ezekiel's sesame one), add three slices of the tempeh, some avocado, salad mix with herbs (dill, cilantro, etc.), sprouts, and salt & pepper. So delicious and so easy!

Juice!

I got a juicer recently and am excited about trying out recipes for juices other than the ones I see at the Wedge. Anybody have any ideas?

Here are two I've been making a lot lately:

Morning juice
2 cucumbers
4-5 leaves of kale
4-5 leaves of romaine
1 small piece of ginger
1-2 broccoli stems (I love using these up!)
1-2 pears
4-5 stalks of celery
Whatever else I have on hand: some spinach, sprouts, etc.

Afternoon juice
1-2 lemons
4-5 carrots
1 small piece of ginger
1-2 apples

Gingerbread!

Hi, WFDM. Sorry about being MIA for the past two months--I didn't have a digital camera for awhile, wasn't cooking much, blah blah blah. But now it's spring(ish) and I have a few recipes to share.

This gingerbread is gluten-free (yay, Megan!) and vegan, and really delicious! (And, of course, from Babycakes.) I also made their pumpkin-spice muffins (which are really similar) but didn't take a photo, so gingerbread it is.

With all Babycakes recipes, be sure to use dry measuring cups and do everything exactly as written for best results. These ingredients aren't cheap!

2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. xanthan gum
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 T. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 c. coconut oil, plus more for the pan (I use canola in the pan to save $$)
2/3 c. agave nectar
1/4 c. molasses
2/3 c. rice milk
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
3/4 c. hot water
Vanilla frosting

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a loaf pan with oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together everything up 'til the nutmeg. Add the oil (must be melted when you measure it!), agave, molasses, rice milk, and vanilla to the dry stuff and stir until the batter (it'll be thick) is smooth. Fold in the pumpkin using a plastic spatula, and the hot water just until the batter is smooth.

I fill two prepared pans halfway full (although she says to just fill one halfway and use the leftover batter for muffins). Bake on the center rack for 40 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 20 minutes. The gingerbread should bounce back slightly when pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the center should be clean. Let it stand in a pan for 20 minutes and then invert onto a board, plate, etc. when ready. (I just leave it in the pan and frost individual slices.) Store it in an airtight container in the 'fridge for up to 4 days.

Vanilla frosting:
This frosting is the best I've ever had...and it worked this time! Delicious.
1 1/2 c. unsweetened soy milk
3/4 c. dry soy milk powder
1 T. coconut flour (really cool stuff!)
1/4 c. agave nectar
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. coconut oil
2 T. fresh lemon juice

In a blender or food processor (the latter is definitely easier), combine the soy milk, soy powder, coconut flour, agave nectar, and vanilla. Blend the ingredients for 2 minutes. With the machine running, slowly add the oil and lemon juice, alternating between the two until both are fully incorporated. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (OR FOR UP TO 1 MONTH! I love that this lasts so long!)

caramelized onion, fontina, goat cheese and grape pizza

E and I have had a Friday night pizza tradition for years. This is the latest in our pizza-making adventures.

Dough (makes 2)
2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C cornmeal
1/2 C another interesting flour (I like rye best, but I also use whole wheat)
3 T olive oil
1 packet yeast
1 C water
fresh herbs
salt
pepper

Combine dry ingredients and herbs and stir in 2 T olive oil and 1 C water. Roll it into a ball. Add remaining 1 T olive oil to a bowl and roll the doughball around in it. Cover and let rise for 1-3 hours (until about double in size).

Roll out half the dough (for one pizza). We put it in the oven (on the pizza stone) while it preheats to 500. When oven is preheated, take the dough out and top it with whatever suits you.

For this particular pizza:
Toss 1 C halved grapes in 1 T fresh, finely chopped rosemary and 1 t olive oil. Spread a layer of caramelized onions over the pizza crust. We added a bit of grated fontina cheese, the grapes and goat cheese in big chunks.
Put it back in the oven until the cheese is melted and tasty-looking.

Spicy Stuffed Cabbage

I tried making cabbage rolls for the first time, and it turns out cabbage is a really delicious wrapper! This recipe comes from "Nourishing Traditions; The cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats." It has been interesting to read - she advocates for good fat consumption (butter, whole milk, animal fat) and meat products; ferments tons of stuff; and has good recipes with non-sugar sweeteners. This recipe turned out to be less spicy - it was good, but a little bland. My dinner guests and I thought stuffing the cabbage leaves with a kraut/sausage/brown rice/potato mix sounded better. Really, you could come up with any assortment of fillings and just use this cooking method, which worked great.

Serves 6
1 large cabbage
1 pound ground red meat or turkey
2 T olive oil
2 med. onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 c. cooked brown rice
1/2 c, raisins
1/4 c. fresh dill, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed
2 t ground cumin
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. ground cloves
sea salt and pepper
1/4 c. pine nuts
1 egg. lightly beaten
4 c. beef or chicken stock
2 tomatoes, peeled & chopped (I used canned)
2 T arrowroot mixed with 2 T water (I used cornstarch)

Remove core from cabbage and set, cored side down, in a large pot with about 2 inches of boiling water. Cover and steam about 15 minutes. Remove wilted outer leavers and steam a bit longer to soften inner leaves. Strew leaves on a tea towel to drain and set aside.

In a heavy skillet, brown meat in loive oil until crumbly. Add onion, raisins, rice, pine nuts, herbs and spices. Season to taste. Let cool slightly and stir in the egg. Place a spoonful of stuffing on each cabbage leaf, fold in sides and roll up. Arrange in several layers in a flameproof casserole and cover with stock and tomato pieces. Bring to a boil and transfer to the oven. Bake at 300 degrees about 1 hour.

Use tongs to remove cabbage rolls to a platter and keep warm in oven. Return the casserole and its liquid to the stove. Bring to a boil and cook vigorously about 15 minutes, skimming occasionally until stock has reduced. (*Mine was already reduced, so I did not cook it down.) Add arrowroot mixture, spoonful by spoonful, until desired thickness is obtained. To serve, place two or three cabbage rolls on each plate and spoon on sauce.

Chard and White Bean Stew

Lately I just want to eat greens non-stop. It is the getting-on-in-winter-need-for-dark-greens I guess. In this recipe I used collards and chard, though I have also been eating a lot of mustard greens. Yum. This stew recipe is a smitten kitchen concoction. It is really delicious with the poached egg on top and with a drizzle of good vinegar. I also added some lemon juice to the recipe, and more salt than she called for.

Incidentally...I started thinking about seed-orders and gardening this week! I am getting excited for a future of fresh herbs and veggies. In my recent interest in not consuming caffeine, I am looking at some herbs for sun-tea making! So we'll see what ends up in the garden...

raspberry barley scones

this recipe is from "good to the grain: baking with whole-grain flours" by kim boyce. these scones were delicious; flaky, buttery, and not too sweet. i'm really excited to make everything in this cookbook.

dry ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tbsp barley flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

wet ingredients:

4oz cold unsalted butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

finishing ingredients:

1/2 cup jam (i used raspberry)

1 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Rub a baking sheet lightly with butter. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bow, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter.

2. Cut the butter into 1/2" pieces and add them to the dry mixture. Use your hands to rub the butter between your fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing until the butter is in sizes ranging from rice grains to flattened peas.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg until thoroughly combines. Scrape the buttermilk and egg into the dry mixture, and mix until barely combined.

4. Use a spatula to transfer the dough onto a well-floured surface. The dough may be too sticky to handle, if it is, dust it with flour and fold it together a few times. Divide the dough into two pieces. Flour your hands and pat each piece of dough into a disk about 3/4" thick and 7" in diameter.

5. Cover one disk with the jam. Top the spread with the second disk and press down gently. Brush the dough lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Cut the circle into 8 triangular wedges.

6. Bake the scones for 22-26 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Tops will get golden brown and jam will get bubbly.

7. Eat! They're best when they're warm.

Cabbage soup with thyme and apples

Last fall, when frost was threatening to kill all of my herbs, I decided to freeze what remained in ice cube trays. I've never done this before because I thought they would likely just sit around getting freezer burn all winter and get tossed out in the spring. Not so! SO not so! This soup is a reason all its own to freeze loads and loads of thyme. You might remember it from the blogluck?

1 T olive oil
3 T butter
1 large onion, sliced
1 small head of cabbage, cored and shredded
8 fresh thyme sprigs (or a few herby ice cubes)
6 C stock
3 apples, peeled, cored, and cubed

1.) Heat 1 T oil and 1 T butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and cabbage and cook until they wilt and begin to brown, 10-15 min. Add 8 thyme sprigs and cook for a few more minutes.
2.) Add stock and turn the heat down to medium
3.) While the soup is heating, fry up the apple slices in the remaining butter (about 10 minutes, until they get brown and tender).

Serve soup garnished with apple chunks.