DONUT ALERT! DONUT ALERT!

It has just come to my attention that there are some new cookbooks out there... and one is devoted exclusively to my first food love-- donuts*. As I've mentioned before, the loss of donuts in my life is akin to some people's feelings about the loss of Sassy magazine (when Jane Pratt was still the editor)-- a mix of longing, regret, and misguided optimism that maybe, maybe, it would be resurrected.

The book is called Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home

I just did a quick preview on Amazon (love that feature) and it sounds like you pick your dough type and then select glazes and potentially donut flavors-- albeit I imagine there is some tinkering that will need to happen to adjust to gluten free. I just ordered a copy
and a donut cutterand I'm going to test these babies out this weekend.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'm quickly approaching a frenzied manic state-- I'm already thinking about maple glazes... sprinkles, bear claws, eating too much, and then the inevitable stomachache. YES!

* is it donuts or doughnuts? Am I like Homer Simpson that I spell it donut? Please advise.

dancing in the kitchen with gluten-free girl and the chef, part 2

MARCONA ALMONDS!

GARLIC!

SHRIMP!


This one is deceptively simple (very quick to prep and simple ingredients)... but so flavorful. I think this dish took about 15 minutes start to finish (including deveining the shrimp!). While I was chewing the last piece I was thinking of all the things I could ladle the sauce over-- fish, some meat, vegetables, a spoon so I could eat it like peanut butter. Yum.

This recipe is also featured in the new cookbook, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.

You really need to check this book out.

dancing in the kitchen with gluten-free girl and the chef, part 1

I had the pleasure of trying a couple of recipes from a new gluten free cookbook-- Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.
One word: WOW. While I totally messed up one of the recipes (peanut butter brownies that I somehow turned into a fluffy chocolate cake/brownie) and I sniffled over that, I made two others that, wow.

Two things first...


FIRST. Back in the day, when I was still eating gluten, I had a pasta machine that I was in love with. Amongst the many things I had to give away and forget about, that one was one of the most painful (donuts remain the first). Sure, there are now seemingly endless dry gluten free pasta options out there that are fantastic, but those of you that know the joys that are fresh pasta, well, I'm sure you shed a few tearlets into your bowls of pasta while you wonder what your slow sauteed onion cream sauce would be like with some fresh fettucini. Maybe I'm alone in this. Anyhow...

SECOND. I have gone my whole life deliberately avoiding sardines and anchovies, for reasons that are totally mystifying now. I would shudder when I saw them on menus, ask foodie friends if they seriously enjoyed eating them and why WHY!?, and wondered why someone would ever want to buy a tin of sardines (my brother, ahem). Now I'm reading up on the differences between sardines, anchovies, and boquerónes... and I'm hunting down some brands so I can try cooking with these MORE.

SECOND AND A HALF. I kinda hate olives. Again, not sure why, I just do. This recipe calls for olives (and I grabbed the wrong can--green-- at the store and didn't realize it until I was chopping these up) and now I'm warming up the idea of olives. Really!


So anyway, onto this recipe. If you want to blow your own mind, do yourself a favor and buy this cookbook if only for these two recipes: gluten free pasta dough and fresh pasta with anchovies, lemons, and olives. Even if you don't think anchovies are for you, that olives are too peculiar, or that capers are too tart.

Take it from this former anchovy hating, olive rejecting lady... you will not want to stop eating this.

The pasta dough was literally out of this world. As I mentioned before, I am without a pasta making machine, hence the hand cut noodles... but this is making me think I need to buy this
attachment for our KitchenAid. The noodles themselves cooked up in under 5 minutes (and floated up to the top like any fresh pasta should when it's done) and were perfectly chewy and made me swoon. I'm not kidding. Going 7 years without fresh pasta will do that to you. Even my non-gf husband was floored. This recipe is a winner.


The pasta sauce... wow. While I was prepping the ingredients, I was shaking my head, thinking, why in the world am I chopping olives and sardines? If you know me, you'd be wondering this, too. As I started sauteeing and mixing in the pan, this WONDERFUL smell started to take over the house, and I was thinking, maybe I'll just try to eat it. Once I got through the recipe and started tossing the fresh pasta with the sauce, it was over. I had to try it immediately. I couldn't even really handle NOT eating it while my husband took the pictures. Just writing about this now is making me hungry. The sauce is fresh tasting and unlike anything I've ever eaten before... light, flavorful, and heavenly. Literally.

check out more pictures here. BUY the cookbook here.


Next up... seared shrimp with garlic almond sauce. stay tuned.