Cooking Tip of the Day: Reserve a half cup of pasta cooking water before draining your pasta; it can help help to loosen a thick sauce. #PastaWeek
complete truth here
(via fuckyeahdomesticity)
onslaughtsix asked: Someone bought me and Randi a mini donut maker thing years ago and we don't know what to put in it. How do I donut?
CAKE BATTER
Or better yet, check this recipe out:
Gluten Free February: A Retrospective
So I had gluten for the first time in a month tonight.
And well
I now have stomach pain, nausea, and a headache. I wouldn’t be surprised if I really had a gluten sensitivity all along and detoxing just made the symptoms more obvious. I know as long as I can remember I’ve always had nausea problems and getting sick was a common occurrence. This last month I had more energy, felt healthier, and slept better.
Needless to say, what was supposed to be a month long experiment is about to become a way of life. I don’t think I have to go to the lengths that sufferers of celiac go through, but if I know I’m going to be eating pizza one night I’m going to make sure i don’t have any other plans for the night.
A few more thoughts before closing this experiment:
Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour + Xantham Gum= no hassle recipe conversions. I tried this method with cookies and muffins and they turned out just fine. According to the package, you replace the Bob’s stuff for a normal AP flour 1:1 plus a measurement of xantham gum on the label based on what you’re baking. So far so good, highly recommended.
There is a world of gluten free cooking blogs out there. My favorites were gluten free goddess and gluten free girl and the chef. If you need to eat GF I highly recommend googling for some blogs and getting help from their ideas.
It really really sucks sitting down at a restaurant and having a basket of fresh baked bread put right in your face. It was the last day of February and we unexpectedly ate out at a nice place only to have this exact scenario, telling myself “it’s the last day, you can do this”.
Eat more veggies. They’re naturally gluten free and fill the void that bread once had.
Finally, have a vent buddy. Because this diet in the gluten loving society we live in sucks. Unless you cook at home every single day.
Eating meat free without missing the meat
Now, it’s probably obvious from my previous posts I am no dedicated vegetarian. But that doesn’t mean I shy away from vegetarian and vegan cooking.
At least once a week I try to prepare a vegan dinner, and sometimes I can manage it even more than that. I understand the impact factory farming has on our environment, so I try to minimize our contribution more and more with time. It’s certainly not easy convincing life long meat eaters to give vegan meals a chance. For example, I make a pretty mean slow cooker vegan chili. But just the words vegan and chili next to each other make some laugh in disbelief, as if it couldn’t possibly be any good. And then they try it. So here are just a few tips on how to eat meat free meals without really missing the meat.
1. Buy fresh, in season produce.
Something funny happens when you grow up. You start to realize fruits and vegetables taste good. Fresh produce has incredible flavors, differing textures, and bright colors that appeal to our eyes and therefore stomachs. Learn what’s in season in your area and build a recipe around it. Eat slowly and really notice the flavors, make it an experience.
2. Take a hint from my vegan chili
It’s all about texture. My recipe is so full of chunky, thick cuts of tomatoes and beans you don’t even notice the lack of any ground meat. And yet, the flavor doesn’t suffer one bit. If you’re stewing or making a soup, keep vegetables in large cuts to keep the texture interesting.
3. Frozen? Yes. Canned? Not so much.
Frozen produce are usually done so at peak season, and so retain all the flavor and nutrients their fresh counterparts have. Canned vegetables, however, tend be done so in salty liquid, and the product tends to come out flavorless and mushy. With the exception of say diced tomatoes and beans, canned veggies are not a very good way to get yourself eating produce so I highly recommend steering clear.
4. Learn to utilize spices and herbs
I’ve discovered throwing a little steak seasoning mix on a portobello mushroom increases the way in which it tasted like an actual beef burger. Experiment! There are so many spices and fresh/dried herbs out there to play around with! And they do so well with vegetables!
5. Give tofu a chance
In my experience tofu tends to take on a flavor of whatever it’s served with, but it also has a nice texture that can feel like eating meat in dishes like lo mein. Try frying it or serving it with a peanut dipping sauce.
And now, the recipe for Panda’s Vegan Chili:
Dice up a green pepper, a zucchini, as many cloves of garlic as you’d like, and a yellow onion. Stir fry in olive oil until it’s translucent and soft. Season with salt and pepper. In a slow cooker add the veggie mix, along with a can of black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans, as well as two cans of italian style stewed tomatoes. Add about one can full of water. Season with a good handful of chili powder as well as some cumin and cayenne if you like it spicy. Let it cook all day or until it’s warm and thick, stirring a few times throughout the day if possible. Top it with chopped fresh cilantro. If you’re more into vegetarian and not really caring about it being straight up vegan, some sharp cheddar cheese goes good too.
Serve with fresh baked cornbread or tostitos tortilla chips for a gluten free meal.
March: Produce that’s in-season this month
Vegetables:
Artichokes • Arugula • Asparagus • Avocados • Beets • Bok choy • Broccoli • Broccoli rabe • Brussels sprouts • Cabbage • Cardoons • Carrots • Cauliflower • Chard • Collards • Cress • Dandelion greens • Endive • Fava beans • Fava greens • Fennel • Garlic • Green Garlic • Herbs • Horseradish • Jicama • Kale • Kohlrabi • Lambsquarters • Leeks • Lettuce • Mushrooms • Nettles • Onions • Orach • Parsnips • Pea shoots • Potatoes • Puntarelle • Radishes • Rutabagas • Scallions • Spinach • Sprouts • Turnips
Fruits:
Cactus Pears • Cherimoyas • Grapefruit • Guavas • Kumquats • Lemons • Limes • Mandarins • Nuts • Oranges • Pomelos • Strawberries
Note that this doesn’t account for what’s local in your area but this is something to keep in mind when shopping for produce to get the best quality.
Gluten Free February: The BEST. MEAL. EVER.
What I thought would be a cheap throw together meal from leftovers and on sale meat ended up being one of the best meals I ever made.
Grilled marinated flank steak with cilantro chimichurri and butternut squash risotto. Let. Me. Tell. You. I had some cilantro, half a squash, a lime, and a bag of risotto, and the flank steak was on sale for $3. I rarely make steak, but I make an exception for a really good sale.
The marinade: in a large ziplock bag I combined sesame oil, juice of 1/2 a lime, 2 cloves of smashed garlic, honey, ginger, salt and pepper. I marinated it for about 8 hours but it would certainly do well overnight-24 hours.
The sauce: leaves of one bunch of cilantro, two garlic cloves, rest of the lime’s juice, splash of orange juice for sweetness, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper. Throw it in a food processor or blender and pulse while slowly drizzling in olive oil until it reaches a consistency you like.
Grill the steak about five minutes on each side for a good medium rare. Adjust for your personal taste. Slice on a bias and serve with the sauce.
Start with the squash: peel, seed, and dice. Boil in a pot of salted water until very soft. Drain and smash up like mashed potatoes and set aside.
Sauté diced onions and garlic in some olive oil in a sauce pot. Add 2 cups of arborio rice. Use the risotto method with white wine and then chicken stock. (If you don’t know what the risotto method is, here’s a handy tutorial!)
Once the risotto is perfectly cooked, stir in the mashed squash, salt and pepper, dried sage, and some shredded parmigiano reggiano cheese. Serve immediately.
Drink your favorite red wine with it! This is also a very smart DATE NIGHT MEAL! Easy but impressive!
Gluten Free February: Ben cooks too!
So other than the Chex cereal and the mini quiches I made at the beginning of the month, I didn’t really touch much on breakfast. Allow me to rectify that.
I am not very good at breakfast. I burn bacon, I over cook eggs, I break yolks, it’s simply too early in the day to do food right. Luckily my fiancee Ben does do breakfast, and rather well at that.
So in the freezer we had some gluten free waffles from Trader Joe’s, made from corn flour, and gluten free sausage I used to make those mini quiches that week.
He dipped the waffles in an egg/milk mix to make, you guessed it, french toast-waffles.
Then we sliced up some strawberries we had leftover from some fruit cups I made for lunches. Pro-tip: place fresh strawberries in a bowl with some sugar for a few minutes and, no joke, they will make their own syrup. You just gotta give it some time.
Damn good gluten free breakfast by Ben.
Tonight: Marinated flank steak with butternut squash risotto.
Flourless Chocolate Cake That Will Melt Your Face Off
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/01/flourless-chocolate-cake_11.html THIS is probably the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. Topped with white chocolate bourbon sauce, it might as well be a crime to serve this. Your friends will become addicts.
-submitted by crashman013
panda note: I LOVE THAT BLOG everyone go check it out, amazing vegan recipes there too!
Hey gluten free friends
If you ever want to try a brownie that is not only warm, gooey, and delicious but may very well cause cosmic orgasms, I implore you to get to your local Bonefish Grill and have their flourless brownie with ice cream, whipped cream, raspberry sauce and chopped macadamia nuts
YES IT IS 100% GLUTEN FREE AND THE BEST THING EVER
