Pumpkin Spice Cake: gluten free and delicious.

I mean honestly, you can't even tell it's gluten, grain & refined sugar free. It's that good. I wanted to make a pumpkin spice cake for turkey day that I could actually eat and love (I'm eating gluten-free, sugar-free and *sigh* low-carb because of this adrenal burnout issue).

I practiced with cupcakes early in the week, which is something that I never do. Usually I launch into a new recipe on holidays or for parties without care for the fact that it may totally flop. But this time I smartened up. I knew that I'd have to combine and adjust a couple of recipes to get it right. I based it on Elana's pumpkin spice muffins and Comfy Belly's pumpkin bread (almost cake). 
(my recipe is below the photos)

We ate it with a toasted nutmeg ice cream (modified-- I subbed xylitol and stevia for sugar and coconut milk for some--not all-- of the dairy). Yum. That ice cream is sooo good.

Here's what I did: note: I'm not a recipe writer-- so bear with me

Pumpkin Spice Cake
(makes enough for a double layer cake--but you could make this as cupcakes, muffins or even a loaf, just adjust the cook time and maybe cut the recipe in half)

 Ingredients
2 cups of pumpkin puree (homemade or canned-- I used canned this time)
1 cup of coconut nectar (you could also use honey, agave or maple syrup)
1/2 tsp Stevia clear liquid*
1/2 tsp Vanilla creme liquid stevia
6 eggs

1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt

spices--(not exact-- sorry!):
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
almost 2 Tablespoons ground ginger
1/2-3/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp of cloves

4 cups of almond flour**
4+ tsp coconut flour (yes, teaspoons-- a little goes a long way with coconut flour)

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine wet ingredients and blend well (I used an immersion blender, but a mixer is fine.
Add in rest of ingredients (if you want, you can mix the dry separately and then add in gradually ;)
Bake in two well-greased round cake pans-- I buttered, lined the bottom with parchment and then buttered and floured.
Bake until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. I think it took about 35 minutes?? Whoops. See. I told you that I'm not a recipe writer. Next time I'll get it right. Set the timer for 30 and you should be fine.

*if you don't want to use stevia (or want it to be officially paleo) sub another cup of your choice of liquid sweetener and a bit of vanilla--- but in this case you may need to leave out an egg or two to get a similar texture... You could also use just plain liquid stevia.

**I love Honeyville blanched almond flour, but this time I used Bob's Red Mill I whirled it in the food processor to make a bit finer.

I almost forgot!-- I made a frosting of cream cheese, butter, tiny bit of cream and powdered 'sugar' that I made from xylitol... i think i added stevia to that too...

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving sides & such: gluten free

illustration: Rebekka Seale

I'm already getting excited for Thanksgiving... I'm not hosting this year, so it will be easy-- no spatchcocking or setting up a minute by minute plan for the cooking (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but as you probably know, the logistics take some coordination--even with the fun, small group we had last year).

This year, we get to go to my cousin's house. His amazing Aussie wife specializes in over-achievement far beyond my pre-adrenal burnout days. She is also an organizer extraordinaire. I love the fact that even though I live 3000 miles from home I still have some family here. My mom's sister --a transplant from Rhode Island--- lives next door to my in-laws and raised her kids here in this small town.
The hosts:  cousin, Aussie wife, 2 kiddos
The guests: My aunt and uncle, another lovely cousin & her 2 boys, friends of said lovely cousin (I think they are a couple and a toddler), the amazing Aussie's mum (all the way from Oz), and the amazing Aussie's aunt and daughters (who also live here in town), and finally--the four of us.

What I'm bringing:

1. Sweet potato & sage butter casserole: this was a hit at last year's feast. I Highly recommend it.

found on The Bitten Word. Photo: Martha Stewart Living

2. A Festive cocktail: I'm thinking.....either the ginger bourbon fizz (illustrated above) or a version of this classic whiskey smash (maybe made with ginger syrup instead of simple syrup and possibly subbing another liquor):

from Bon Appetit

A gluten free stuffing/dressing-- I think I'll go the cornbread route (I came up with a tasty GF cornbread recipe based on others but of course didn't document it. I'll post it when I figure it out again).  Here are two cornbread dressings that look yummy: 1) Cornbread dressing with smoked bacon & pecans (from Southern Living) :

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

 2) Cornbread, sausage & pecan dressing (from Bon Appetit):

Photograph by Christopher Testani

Toasted nutmeg ice cream from Saveur (also a winner from last year-- I changed it a bit but will figure that out later):

Credit: Todd Coleman

Some sort of gluten free dessert: I think I'll turn this butternut squash cake gluten free:

 
somehow crossing it with this pumpkin spice cake:

 

That's all for now... What are you cooking?

Know what you're eating: Yes on '37' not just for Californians

Fortunately I've been able to avoid the majority of ridiculous campaign ads this voting season. However, about a month ago the ads began to show up on Hulu.com and I was horrified as I watched the blatant lies told in the 'No on 37' ads for California.

Even if you're not a voter from Cali this proposition is landmark. A 'yes' on 37 means that food with genetically modified (GM) ingredients will be labeled. That's it.  It's not proposing any sort of ban on GM foods. Proposition 37 is landmark because it puts the power of information and choice in the hands of the consumer.

61 countries already require GM labels on their foods! The EU has been labeling since 1997 and the UK since 1999. Monsanto (major producer of GM seeds and herbicides) actually supported the labeling of GM foods and the consumer's 'right to know' in the UK during the 90s.

Yet when it comes to the labeling of GM foods in California, Monsanto has contributed $8.1 million to the 'no' campaign. DuPont has contributed $5.4 million. $1 million/day has been spent on 'no' ads in the last month.

Lies and misrepresentations abound in the ads-- everything from stating that research on cost increase due to labeling was conducted by a Stanford scientist to untruths about incentives for lawsuits with the passing of the proposition. (By the way there is no reason to believe that a slight label change would increase cost for consumers.)

Before having my second baby (almost 2 years ago now) I taught 12th grade environmental science. We spent a lot of time doing projects around food and the environmental impacts of our food system-- including GM foods. After researching the pros and cons of using GM crops, students often took a stance 'for' or 'against' them-- or they felt like more research was needed to make a decision.

However, one area on which  almost all students agreed was the negative social impacts of multinational corporations (especially Monsanto) patenting GM seeds and subsequently suing small farmers when Monsanto GM seeds blew into their fields and mixed with their crops. They felt compassion (most of them did anyway) for the small farmers in the U.S. and in developing countries   who became dependent and in debt because Monsanto controlled their seeds and therefore their food system.

But that's a discussion for another day-- that last part may not be too clear-- but I'm pressed for time because my son is up from nap and the vote is tomorrow!

Bottom line: a 'yes' on 37 is a vote for people's right to know what they are eating and feeding their families. It won't cost you a thing.

More sources (also see links in article):
Opinion article well researched
The Atlantic 

I'll add more to this later...or a new post with more sources

Look Ma, No Kids! (a weekend getaway)

Guess what? In celebration of our 6th anniversary, we went away for TWO WHOLE NIGHTS to San Francisco. We actually left the li'l ones for 57 hours to be exact. It was the first time Jason and I have been away for two nights alone since before Finn was born! And we've never left B. The verdict? Easy. (Thanks to awesome grandparents.) They even got B almost sleeping through the night. I could have stayed one more night, if allowed.

Thanks to Blake's recommendations, we had some killer food and an amazingly fun-filled, sun-shining Saturday (I think she was responsible for the sun too).

We arrived late on Friday. We live way out in the boonies, so I had to cram in a quick H&M trip on the way down. It wasn't very enjoyable since neither Jason nor I are skilled shoppers, but it was necessary. After sitting in horrendous traffic, we checked in to the Ocean Park Motel in the Sunset District (we even had a kitchen!) and went for dinner at B Star Bar-- a spawn of Burma Superstar without the 1.5 hour wait (Desi's recommendation).  Lamb curry and a yummy gingery cocktail for me.

 Saturday morning sunshine and walk on the beach...

Followed by brunch (since I wasn't able to get dinner reservations!) at Bar Tartine in the Mission. Delicious. My eggs benedict was overcooked, but overall tasty. And they have so many fermented foods! I had a lemon ginger water kefir that was awesome. Jason's meal was off the hook-- blood sausage, fried egg and stewed sauerkraut.

We hopped back on the Muni and made it in time for the tail end of the Farmers' Market at the Ferry Building. I had the best greek style tart frozen yogurt ever! And we tasted goat milk products--mostly cheese and ice cream. Oh-- and even a gluten free baguette that didn't suck. We brought that back to the hotel with some other goodies to eat after taking a nap. Yes, I had a nap!

wild shrooms. j has foraged for these and we sold them in the city in years past...

(trying to get a shot of the cute dress my mother-in-law gave me, but I am a HORRIBLE model.)

Late afternoon-- we headed to the Presidio (along with a third of the city's population)-- but found a cool hike  that wasn't crowded from Baker beach to the Golden Gate bridge (we quickly passed by some interesting nude sunbathers).

By chance, we found a perfect bite to eat at "Q" (falling-off-the-bone duck confit and fried polenta)-- before our 9pm Wonderfoot appointment. Yes--Wonderfoot. 70 minutes of foot reflexology (Chinese style) and a 'back massage'. It was a good one--not nearly as good as the Happy Buddha in San Diego, but it was Jason's first time, so it was fun regardless. 

That's it! I would have loved to do more-- see friends, go to museums...but alas, we had to hit Trader Joe's, Target and Costco before returning to the mountains. 

I would love to be able to do this more often...

xo

Last week in food. (gluten free)

The Bitten Word's photo-- I didn't get any food photos this week!

We've been enjoying the unseasonal warmth and sunshine up here in the mountains. It's a bit scary that we haven't had precipitation since November and the ski resort where my husband works has laid off 30  100+ seasonal employees and had all full-timers take a 10% pay cut. Ouch. We have to look at it as a kick in the butt to get going on other projects and sources of income.

I love a creative challenge. And eating healthy on an extremely low budget is very much a challenge. Here are some of the recipes (some new, some not) that I used last week and loved. I know that it sounds like a lot of chicken, which I'm usually bored by...but it didn't get too tiring because the flavors in each meal were different and flavorful.

• Roasted chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and veggies (we call them sweet potato 'fries' and both boys love them.) I made stock from the chicken carcass to use in the other meals of the week.
• Coconut & chicken curried soup -- this recipe was just okay until we added extra Sriracha to our bowls--then it qualified as yummy. I served it over brown rice.

• Pad Thai (I used this recipe from the latest issue of Everyday Food, but subbed honey for brown sugar, almonds for peanuts and left out the tofu. I added a bit of leftover chicken. FYI it looks nothing like the photo in this link, not sure why that photo is there!)
• Chicken Tinga Tacos--these were seriously awesome. (more leftover chicken & served with a purple cabbage salad in an orange vinaigrette)
• Scallion meatballs with soy ginger glaze from Smitten Kitchen. Amazingly delicious. I subbed beef for turkey, honey for sugar (reducing the amount), and served them with kale "chips".
• Curried Squash & orange soup--with bacon & sage.Yum-- and different than the typical butternut squash soup. I served it with almond flour biscuits.
• Lentil & walnut pate (how do I add in an accent mark?) on almond flour herb crackers with leftover soup and other random leftovers.

And this week? No plans so far... What's cooking in your kitchen?

I'll miss you Candy Cane Joe-Joe's.

I thought living a one hour drive from the nearest Trader Joe's might save me this holiday season, but after a long day in the car* with two boys that wouldn't sleep, I broke down. They were stacked in a monumental display at the end of an aisle, their pink & red striped boxes flirting with me. I was weak; my stomach was empty. I tossed a box into the cart, Jason needs these, right? I don't know if we'll be back here before the holidays --they might run out. I tossed another box into the cart and contemplated a thrid. I won't eat too many. I'm supposed to be on a gluten free, sugar free, candida diet. I can't eat them.  

Well, maybe just a few.

Jason stops after two. "Any more than two makes me sick." So he says. I wish I had that reaction. For me, it's a minimum of four. I don't know what it is, but I find them extremely addictive. I could try claiming that it's because I've been on such a restricted diet, but it happens every year. 

oh, joe joe's.

And sure enough, I had a full blown allergy attack last night--I haven't had one that intense in months. I'm blaming the Joe's. It's not the Joe's fault, of course. They are fabulous and you should, by all means, have a few. It's just that I can't tolerate wheat or sugar at the moment. I still have more healing to do. But one day I will. I am determined.


*On Sunday, we drove to Tahoe and back--7 hours round trip in one day to look for tele ski boots, with a 3 year old and an 11 month old baby in the car. I'm not sure what we were thinking, but it worked out. Poor kids.

Sick of turkey yet? (recipe for turkey chowder with criminis, wild rice & pancetta)

Our spatchcocked turkey was delicious this Thanksgiving. I ate two lunches worth of sandwiches on walnut cranberry bread and two dinners worth of turkey tacos (yes, we squeezed everything from turkey to sage sweet potatoes into delicious sprouted corn tortillas and fried them up in coconut oil---sounds strange, but it was awesome).

Tonight I wanted something different. Enter: turkey 'chowda'.  I come from Rhode Island so any talk of chowder gets me a little bit excited. There's nothing like a warm bowl of clam chowder on a blustery winter day. But I'm also a bit of a chowder snob. Please people, don't just blend up corn and throw in some cream and call it a chowder... please?

This turkey chowder from an old issue of Bon Appetit is perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers. I used up the rest of my turkey, cream, gravy and even the stuffing. Yes, even the stuffing. I managed to make it gluten free by subbing almond flour for regular flour (and my stuffing was already made with almond flour bread).  I didn't have any corn in the freezer so I skipped that--but I would've included it. I also used bacon instead of pancetta, because they don't sell pancetta up here in the hills. Even better would be to use the wild porcinis that we didn't find this week. Next year.

But don't skip the gravy. Definitely not. I made cream gravy this year and I loved it.  Before adding it, the chowder was good, but the gravy put it over the top.

Don't be afraid of the turkey stock part. If you didn't make it this year, you can sub chicken stock. It was so easy to throw the carcass in a pot of water after  Thanksgiving dinner along with some veggies, herbs & garlic. I put a few quarts in the freezer and so had plenty on hand for the chowder.

Turkey Chowder with criminis, wild rice and pancetta- (taken directly from Epicurious)

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup wild rice (about 5 ounces), rinsed, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon butter/oil
• 2 3-ounce packages sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), diced (I used bacon)
• 12 ounces crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, sliced (about 5 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1/3 cup  flour (use almond flour for gluten free)
• 10 cups Turkey Stock
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary (or fresh)
• 2 to 4 cups chopped cooked turkey meat (reserved from carcass)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (I used less)
• leftover stuffing & gravy (optional)

• Chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish

Bring 2 1/2 cups water, rice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to boil in medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender but still firm to bite, 45 to 60 minutes (time will vary depending on variety of rice). Drain; set aside.

Heat butter/oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook until browned, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towels to drain. Add mushrooms to pot and cook until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Add butter to same pot. Add carrots and celery. Cover; cook until vegetables begin to soften, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add shallots; stir until soft, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over and stir 1 minute. Return mushrooms to pot. Mix in Turkey Stock and rosemary; bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

Add rice, pancetta, turkey meat, corn and leftover stuffing (if using) to soup. Simmer to blend flavors, about 10 minutes. Stir in cream & gravy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cool. Cover and keep chilled. Rewarm over medium heat before serving.

Divide soup among bowls, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. 

Enjoy. 

Spatchcockers Unite!

Tonight I spatchcocked and seasoned my turkey in preparation for tomorrow's feast.  Spatchcock, spatchcock, spatchcock! (I love saying that word) A friend of mine read me the directions on Martha's website while I did the dirty work.  It was a fairly funny scene and not nearly as easy as Martha made it look, so he gave me the idea of posting  a side by side photo comparison of me and Martha (although it's late and I can't get them side by side!). Let's just say my spatchcock job wasn't nearly as sterile or pretty as Martha's.

1. Cutting out the backbone-- maybe it would be as easy as she makes it look if I had those awesome kitchen shears....

2. Breaking the backbone. Martha suggests standing on a stool. This was not easy. Finally I opened it up enough on the bone side and was able to get a good crack.

And in video:

I'll let you know how it turns out! Happy Thanksgiving....

Images: Martha Stewart and Jason B Smith

Thanksgiving plans: Foraging shrooms and gluten free, paleo recipes

porcini!

I don't have a final count for Thanksgiving quite yet, but I do know that I'll be cooking a 14 pound bird from a local grower. There are so many recipes I want to try that I'm going to have to hold myself back. We could end up with just four adults and we'll have enough food for twenty. Do you want to come over?


We are foraging as well. Jason went out for a porcini reconnaisance this morning and came back with a fine looking specimen. I hope we can find some more because a porcini stuffing sounds deliciously rich and amazing. And guess what? That fig tree is still stacked. I'll be making more fig sesame jam and some spiced grape preserves (we found  an unharvested vineyard) too.
Here's what I'm thinking.....

Fall Harvest Salad with butternut squash, pepitas & pecans
Butterflied Turkey with Cranberry-Molasses glaze or Apple-maple glaze (I think I may choose maple)
Cranberry Apple stuffing--gluten free & grain free (GAPS/paleo friendly)
Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon & apples
Mashed Cauliflower (but I'll be using butter in mine)--This is paleo- and GAPS- diet friendly
Green beans with toasted walnuts and dried-cherry vinaigrette (Finn loves green beans)
Sweet Potato and sage-butter casserole--This one isn't gluten-free-although it could be adapted

Cranberry Chutney with Fennel and golden raisins 

And desserts....

I'll use this gluten/grain free tart recipe for either a pecan or apple filling
and I'd really like to make this: Butternut squash and hazelnut bouchons with toasted nutmeg ice cream (sounds crazy good, doesn't it??)
but that might just be too much....

And drinks???
I'm thinking Jora's pumpkin spice lattes in the morning and  Louise's Rum & cider in the afternoon.

What are your plans?

Buttery Cinnamon-spiced Nuts

The winds picked up today and a deeper chill set in. There is barely any food in the house, but I managed to find a delicious, warming snack for me and Finn. We are gluten free at the moment and crunchy snacks can be challenging to keep on hand (especially since I try to avoid the processed, packaged type).

We had buttery cinnamon-spiced nuts and  Rooibos Chai tea with almond milk and honey (or stevia).

Buttery Cinnamon-spiced Nuts
Butter, ghee or coconut oil
cinnamon, sea salt & turmeric (sometimes I add cumin too)
raw almonds & walnuts (any nuts or seeds work-- ideally, soak your nuts first to make them easier to digest and then dehydrate them in a low oven. more on this in a future post!)

You could make these in the oven, but I always do them on the stove top. I melt the butter, add the nuts with salt. When toasted, I put the nuts in a bowl and add cinnamon and turmeric to taste. They are delicious eaten warm.

Easy Paleo dinner: oven 'fried' chicken and salt & vinegar kale chips

Finger-lickin' good!

Today was a serious day. Finn had some extremely loud and physical complaints about Bodhi touching his stuff. I nearly lost my mind with frustration. We made it to the park after Bodhi's first nap, thankfully, because I broke all candida diet regulations and downed the remaining dark chocolate chips that I had squirreled away in the freezer in a desperate attempt to boost my serotonin. The outdoors is a far superior neurotransmitter adjustment for me.

I decided on a simple dinner and it was tasty. I make this a lot. It never fails to please and is gluten and grain free.

Oven "fried" chicken (based on this recipe)
1 package of 6 organic chicken drumsticks (I actually like it better with the 'drummettes')
1/3 cup of almond flour
2 teaspoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder (I've made it without paprika and only curry too--yum)
2 teaspoons herbs du provence
1/4 cup butter (tallow actually works better here if you can get grass-fed beef tallow--I order it here.)

Preheat oven to 450. Mix up the almond flour and spices in a large zipper bag (think shake & bake).  Line a 9x13 pan with foil or parchment. Put the butter or tallow in the pan, put in oven to melt. Put the drums or drummettes (3 at a time for the big ones) in the bag and shake. Place chicken in pan. Bake for 30 minutes then flip and bake for 15-20 more minutes.

Salt & vinegar kale chips. Based on Elana's recipe --actually it is Elana's recipe except that I decided to bake them at a lower temperature (this time at 275) to get closer to a raw food effect. I'd like to truly dehydrate them next time. Finn LOVES these--and so do the rest of us. Bodhi even ate a couple.

1 head kale, chopped

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1. Place chopped kale in a large bowl
2. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar, then sprinkle with salt
3. Massage above ingredients into kale with your hands
4. Spread out kale on 2 parchment lined baking sheets, so that pieces of kale do not touch
5. Bake at 275°  until dry and crispy (it takes 13 minutes at 375...I'm thinking it took 25 minutes? Sorry! didn't time, just kept checking.
6. Cool 10 minutes and serve

 (I'm trying beet chips tomorrow!)

Why butter is better. Paula Dean is right.

How to make your own butter from The Art of Doing Stuff

Butter is better. We knew it all along, but here's an attempt at understanding why.

I started researching fats about six months ago when I started the GAPS diet and learned about how unhealthy it is to cook with olive oil at high heat (which I'd been doing for years). I'm compiling a lot of information, so I'll dole it out a little at a time as I begin to organize it in my brain (if that's possible!).

Basically all fats and oils are a combination of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Those high in saturated fats (butter, coconut oil, lard, tallow, etc) are more stable than unsaturated fats. Saturation refers to the fact the free carbon bonds of the molecule are occupied with hydrogen atoms. There are no free electrons ready to interact with other substances in your body.

Monounsaturated fats (olive oil) have one double carbon bond. They are "unsaturated" because there are no hydrogen atoms linked to the bonds. They are also relatively stable-- but not as stable as the saturated.

The carbon bonds of polyunsaturated fats have unpaired electrons ready to react with other substances. We need to ingest these fats because they include the Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) that our body can't produce on its own. However, we don't want to expose the fats to heat because they breakdown easily and create 'free radicals' which wreak havoc on our system--damage cells, DNA/RNA, cause mutations, etc.  We also ingest far too much Omega 6 fats and not enough Omega 3. Most of the polys are primarily Omega 6. (more on that later).

I went looking for the details on grapeseed oil (a polyunsaturated oil). We've heard that it has a high smoke point which should mean that it is suitable for cooing-- in other words, maybe it doesn't break down?

I'm finding out that smoke point has "nothing to do with the health benefits of an oil" (Barringer). The smoke point refers to when an oil breaks down to glycerides and free fatty acids and causes the oil to smoke. This affects the taste of the oil-- so we don't want it to happen. However, even when exposed to low heat, polyunsaturated oils still create free radicals.

The articles that I found explaining this referred me to the primary research of Dr. Mary Enig, a lipid biochemist renown for her research on healthy fats. She wrote: Eat Fat, Lose Fat (with Sally Fallon) and Know Your Fats: A complete primer... I haven't read these books, but I'm interested.

So there it is. I'm just starting to understand all of this, so I'll be posting more on this, including what oils to use in what circumstances....

In the meantime, slather on the butter.

Sources:
"The Truth about Saturated Fat", by Sally Fallon & Mary Enig, PhD (excerpt from Nourishing Traditions).
"Cooking with Grape Seed Oil or Rice Bran Oil: Is it safe?" by Caroline Barringer (link to original article is on this page)

free food at Ikea! --and why I didn't have gravlax today.

gravadlax (not my photo. I didn't get any.)

Bodhi and I tagged along with J to Santa Clara this weekend. He had to be there for a ski trade show. Finn stayed with the grandparents, but the little nursling had to come along. [He started walking this weekend!] As I'm sure you saw in yesterday's post, I went to visit my dear friend Jennifer in Pacifica on Saturday. Today I hit Ikea, along with everyone else in the Silicon Valley. Oh my. Insanity.

I made it through the showroom without passing out from hunger and then got in line at the restaurant. I have never seen such a crowd at an Ikea restaurant. I had Bodhi in a front pack carrier and a bag on my shoulder which was starting to ache. I was trying to keep an eye on the cold case to see if there would be gravlax--which I love. We were in one of those lines that snakes around those metal dividers and I noticed that a group of people two rows ahead helped themselves to 4 plates of gravlax! Oh no...they're going to be out! (obsessing) They'll replenish it. (reassuring) They'll have some by the time I get up there. 

I noticed that the people ahead of me were grabbing four desserts between the two of them. Odd. I mean, I love dessert too, but four huge pieces of cake? They inquired about the gravlax...."10 minutes" the woman behind the line says. Ten minutes?! There's no way I can wait here in the cafeteria line with a baby and people trying to get by me for another ten minutes. I anxiously looked at the line on the other side to see if there was some over there. Nope. I seriously considered waiting and then realized that it wasn't rational.

I settled for the overcooked poached salmon with steamed, bland vegetables. It was just plain fine damnit.

At the cashier I mentioned the crowd and she informed me that everyone was there because lunch is free if you spend $100 in the store. Bonus. Ahh. That explains the four desserts. Maybe I should have bought food for the road trip home.

I found a high chair and shared a big round table with some other people. I'm telling you, the place was insane. 

Image credit

Sesame Cookies--gluten & grain free

I love these cookies from Elana's Pantry. She is my number one source for gluten free baking recipes. Elana perfects her recipes like a chemist, systematically testing out various ingredients and amounts. I also love that she uses almond flour or coconut flour rather than some of the more questionable 'gluten free' baking ingredients that I see in packaged/processed baked goods in the stores.

I substitute raw honey where she uses agave syrup. I'm sure agave is fine, I just choose raw honey because I can get it locally and it is less processed. Oh--and I don't usually bake with grapeseed oil (or other polyunsaturated oils)--so I subbed butter this time-- coconut oil would work too. I've been reading so much lately about how polyunsaturated oils go rancid with heat creating free radicals. I don't want those. (More on this in a future post--I'll provide links and research).

These are quick & easy to make, full of protein, and so delicious:
(adapted from this recipe at elanaspantry.com)

1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅓ cup raw honey
⅓ cup tahini
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sesame seeds

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl (except for seeds). Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix wet ingredients into dry. Form into small balls and roll in sesame seeds. Flatten a bit. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 14-20 cookies.

Yum. Enjoy!

Figalicious

It started to get cold up here in the hills this week.
As freeze threatened, Finn and I rushed to harvest all of the green tomatoes still hanging from the plants in our front yard and the last of the basil too. Jason spotted a fig tree full of fruit up the road at an empty house. We know the owner, (also the proprietor of a local winery) so J asked if he'd mind if we went at it.
Foraging fruit is a magical endeavor.
I wish the streets were lined with fruit trees. In San Diego you can find lemons, pomegranates and even avocados. Now that we live in the colder mountain climate we can't pick citrus or avocados but we have family and friends with apples, figs, pears, pomegranates, peaches, plums and raspberries.

Figs are food of the gods, for sure. I don't think I even knew about figs before moving to California 12 years ago and started working on small farms.
Our fig bounty called for a Mediterranean meal-- so this is what we did:

I made (recipes & details to follow):
Fig sesame jam 
figs, goat cheese and rosemary on almond flour herb crackers
pesto, broccoli, red pepper and tomato pizza (with a grain free crust)
roasted tomato soup 


1. Let's start with the amazing fig-sesame jam:
I followed this recipe from Gourmet at epicurious.com, but used 1/3-1/2  cup of raw honey instead of 1 1/4 cups of sugar.
I love to eat this with my friend John. We spread fig jam on a baguette with Humboldt Fog cheese (my absolute favorite cheese in the whole wide world). But I only had regular chevre on hand, John is in San Diego and we're not eating gluten-- so we had it on homemade herbed crackers from Elanaspantry.com.  I seriously want a tub of this jam!


2. Another favorite of mine is grilled Rosemary fig skewers-- (but our grill isn't functioning and my oven was busy). It's kind of like this recipe but instead you skewer the figs on a stick of rosemary, slice the fig and stuff it with the goat cheese, drizzle with honey and olive oil and then grill. I'm telling you this stuff is indescribably delicious.  Since we couldn't do the skewers, I just put all of that stuff on my cracker bread. It was good too--but didn't compare to the skewers.

3. Pesto pizza
I turned the last basil of the season into pesto, put some of it on the pizza and froze the rest in an ice cube tray. I'll put the little squares in a freezer bag so that I can use it this winter.
Here's the grain free pizza crust recipe I use (made with almond flour), but I vary with the spices. If you're dairy-free, sub the Parmesan cheese with 2 tbsp ground sesame seeds, 1 tbsp ground chia and some salt and spices (found this tip in the comments of the above recipe post). I love this crust.


4. Roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar from Smitten Kitchen. Crazy good. I slow roasted the tomatoes instead of quick roasted them. It's like grilled cheese and tomato soup all in one. Perfect for a rainy day. It's so good that I forgot to take a photo of it until it was all gone.


How about you? Do you love figs? What are you eating as the weather turns cold?


All photos by Jason B Smith except for the empty cup of soup.

Roast Chicken--yum.

Rosemary Lemon chicken from Saveur (see below for recipe link)

You know why I love roasted chicken? Because it is so damn tasty....and simple and economical. I've decided that it's the most affordable way for my family to eat organic chicken. Seriously. I sometimes pay over $8 for boneless skinless organic chicken breasts. I can buy a 3-4 lb organic chicken for around $11 and I get multiple meals out of it plus about 4 quarts of chicken stock in the freezer.
Ever since we began playing around with the GAPS diet 5 months ago (see previous posts here and here) which is kind of like the paleo diet (no/low grains), I've been cooking a whole chicken almost every week. One night we'll eat straight chicken with vegetables and then I'll use the leftovers in something like chicken tacos or with pesto on pizza. Plus we'll get a few lunches of 'crunchy chicken' for me and Finn which is leftover bits fried up in virgin coconut oil, salted and served with avocado. If we're feeling over-chickened, I just shred it up and throw it in the freezer.

Thanks to Desi, tonight I found "20 Ways to Cook a Whole Chicken" on Saveur's website. I am so excited about trying one of these each week-- Butter chicken? Bacon fried chicken? Yes, please.
Tonight we had Lemon and Rosemary chicken and it was delicious.
This recipe calls for cutting up the chicken before roasting. Here is my favorite quick tutorial for how to cut up a whole chicken quickly and easily.

 In the past I have followed Alice Water's roast chicken instructions in The Art of Simple Food (pgs 108-110) and it never fails to be perfect:

• Season the the whole bird--inside and out 1 or 2 days in advance if possible (I usually forget to do this --but it makes a huge difference. Even a few hours is helpful) Use celtic sea salt & pepper.
• Cover loosely and refrigerate. At least one hour before cooking remove from the fridge, place in lightly oiled pan (I never oil the pan) and let sit, breast side up.
• Slip sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme under the skin of the breast and thighs and then stuff the cavity of the bird with herbs
• Thinly slice garlic and slip it under the skin as well. I also throw a few quartered cloves in the cavity.
• Roast at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes then turn breast side down for 20, then back up until done-- you can tell by looking at the chicken and if the drumsticks don't bounce away when touched-- or about 165 degrees in the deepest part of the thigh.

 That's all for now. I'll post about chicken stock & bone broth another day.... I've got some simmering on the stove right now.

Dia De los Muertos: part 2

The Day of the Dead is officially tomorrow, but we started celebrating it on Halloween night. I posted last week about our preparations for what everyone told us would be an insane night in the 'hood. It was everything the neighbors had promised and more: lines of kids stretching down the walkway, streets closed, mobs of people walking around (which you just don't see in this tiny town), dance performances. Wow. Jason was at the photo booth for about 4 hours straight and I was (what was I doing?)....making sure our 'open house' was running smoothly while carrying 2 clingy children that I was occasionally able to peel off of me and hand to a grandparent. (They are adorable though--even when they cling).

Did I mention that we commissioned 2 dozen tamales from the tia of a man who works with my cousin? Oh my. They were amazing. I also made tamales de elote....let's just say I need some practice. The taste was good. The form? far from perfect. I also made: almond flour butter cookies cut into cute halloween shapes and gluten free pumpkin cookies, Martha's butternut squash salad (yum), (actually, jason's sister showed up at my house just in time to make it for me). My aunt made black beans and I bought Pan de Muerto from the local bakery.  Oh...and atole-- a traditional Mexican hot cinnamon drink-- but I don't think anyone realized it was there--or maybe they just wanted something harder.

Here are some preliminary photos. [Sorry if you've already seen these on Instagram and Facebook. There will be others tomorrow]: