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.

Chex Honey Nut cereal... now gluten free!

I forgot how delicious Chex cereal is... and now they have started making a version of their super tasty Chex cereal in a honey nut flavor. And can I tell you, this stuff is TASTY! It reminds me of Cheerios, only more crunchy and gluten free. It's just sweet enough (especially with almond milk) and has a surprising amount of vitamins in it: 50% of your recommended daily Iron and Folic Acid, 25% of your daily recommended Vitamin B6 and B12, and lots more you can check out here.

If you miss being able to eat Honey Nut Cheerios because you're gluten free, try this.

I do have to bookend this post with a warning... I have read online that there are some stores that are also carrying an older version of this cereal that is not gluten free. Be sure when you pick up your box that it is clearly marked on the front of the box that it is gluten free (like the picture here) otherwise you may wind up glutening yourself!


Available locally at Alberton's on Calle Real and online here!

chocolate ganache frosting... on vanilla cupcakes

I just made these cupcakes last night... I used the Pamela's Classic Vanilla cake mix and topped them off with a recipe I pulled from Epicurious.

Yum.

I didn't realize how simple it is to make a ganache (or at least the recipe I pulled!). I got a food scale for Christmas so I'm starting to put recipes together this way... it's much more precise so I feel like I'm less likely to screw up.

to make the ganache you'll need:
12 oz of heavy cream
454 grams of chocolate (dark or semi-sweet, or really, whatever you like!)

1. in a heavy saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil.
2. once it boils, turn the burner off and add the chocolate to the mix and allow the chocolate to rest... it will start to melt pretty quickly.
3. use a rubber spatula to gently stir the mixture together until it gets smooth (keep the burner OFF!)
4. Once smooth, transfer to a room temperature bowl and cover with Saran wrap and put the bowl in the fridge to chill. Once it takes on the consistency of a a thick, thick peanut butter, spread on your cupcakes (or cakes... or face, whatever you like.)


I used Schokinag Chocolate Chunks for this... it's my favorite chocolate chip for baking just about anything.

This is the food scale I use: I love it! Just be sure to zero the scale once you put your bowl or whatever you are using the weight the foodstuffs...

oooooooh UDI'S!

During a recent trip to Kansas, I came across a new brand of gluten free bread that is the closest thing I can remember to actual white bread... it comes from a bakery out of Boulder, CO called Udi's.

I think I'm in love.

It's soft, spongy, and LIGHT! Nothing like those heavy (ahem Food For Life ahem) rice breads I've been picking up at Trader Joe's for the last few years.

The Udi's white sandwich bread is a revelation... while I was perusing the aisles of Whole Foods in Kansas, I figured I would give the Udi's gluten free loaf a squeeze (I'm one of those people...) and I couldn't believe it. I kept squeezing the loaf over and over (I did buy the one I was squeezing!) because it felt like the white bread I remembered eating all those years ago.

I have been eating the bread right out of the bag and toasted... it's delicious both ways. Now that I'm sitting here writing about it, I'm thinking about going and grabbing a slice.

I thought I wouldn't be able to find this aside from being able to order online, but I found it on Monday at Lassen's in Goleta in the frozen section. I would suggest once you buy it frozen, that you leave it out so it can soften up. If you leave it in the refrigerator, it'll wind up tough. You can also buy it direct from Udi's here.

I'm going to head back and pick up some of the other Udi's items at Lassen's soon... I see they also make a cinnamon roll I'm going to see if they can order for me!

why I love the interwebs, pt 1

I love this website: more new math