Clafoutis

Yikes! It's been a while, hasn't it? Things have changed quite a bit since I last wrote and the thing I miss most is time. Time to peruse cookbooks and wander the market and play around in the kitchen. Rather suddenly I've found myself in grad school and the pace is hectic. My wonderful husband has taken over nearly all the food-related tasks and has been doing a fine job of stocking the cupboards and keeping us fed while I study. Love that man, I really do. I have two papers to write today but I decided that surely there was time to play in the kitchen and tell you all about it. So here we go:

I first started making clafoutis many years ago, inspired, as I recall, by a John Thorne essay. Clafoutis is a slightly sweet fruit filled custard which is equally delightful as breakfast or dessert.

I have tried a couple of times to convert my old recipes to gluten free versions but haven't been happy until today when I started with a recipe from Gluten Free Girl and then fiddled around to make the very delicious sour cherry clafoutis you see here.

Because it's February, I used sour cherries from a jar. These are easily and affordably found at any store with an Eastern European clientele but I believe Trader Joe's also sells jars of sour cherries.

I was delighted with how this came out. Still not quite as light as my previous versions using wheat flour, but the almond flour gave it a nice texture.

Oh, and it's all gone. It didn't last long at all. Try it--you'll see why.

The recipe is here. Enjoy!

The Great Meal

The other morning I woke up laughing at myself after having my first ever Thanksgiving dinner anxiety dream.  I have those dreams all the time:  the ones where I am at the beach when I am supposed to be at work or the ones where I realize it's finals week and I've forgotten to go to class all term.  In this particular dream it was three in the afternoon and my kitchen was in its everyday state of chaos when the doorbell rang and it suddenly occurred to me that there should be a nearly-done turkey in the oven and a fridge stuffed with food and where were the pies?

There are plenty of things going on in my life right now to stress me out but you know what?  Thanksgiving dinner simply isn't one of them.  And that's why I was able to wake up laughing.

It feels pretty calm this year.  We will be spending the holiday with good friends. I am much more relaxed about cooking without gluten.  There will be no family drama, no need to measure up to the checkout line magazines' hyperbolic BEST THANKSGIVING EVER.  With wine and good food and a crackling fire I predict a very fine holiday indeed.

Of course my menu isn't 100% set in stone just yet but I can pretty much plan on the following:

• spiced nuts, good cheese, and maybe a light Campari-based cocktail, something like Nigella's Seasonal Breeze but cut with fizzy water
• A simple roast turkey (I fussed around with brining last year and was not impressed)
• Some variation on this stuffing. I'll pick up my GF bread from Happy Campers tomorrow.
• Cranberry sauce  
• Cranberry Orange Relish
• Mashed potatoes.  With lots of butter and cream.  
• Tzimmes
• Some kind of green salad with dark red lettuces, pears, hazelnuts, and a nice vinaigrette
• Crustless pecan pie (but I'll sub maple syrup for some of the sugar)
• chocolate meringues
• maybe one more dessert (hey, it's a holiday!)  with fruit

I hope all of you reading this will enjoy a lovely, relaxing holiday with good food and lots of loved ones.

Meal Plan Monday

A busy week but we have lots of autumnal goodness in this week's meal plan:  squash and sweet potatoes and cranberry gingerbread.  Lots of slow cooking and more meat than I'd like but it will do.

Uppma Update

One of the many things I've given up since going gluten free was uppma, a delicious savory combination of wheat semolina, veggies, spices, and just all around goodness.  It's a hard one too describe....savory breakfast cereal with veggies?  I didn't get it until I tried it at which point I was hooked and made many versions of it, preferably topped with thick yogurt and a dollop of crazy-hot cranberry chutney which I realize sounds weird but it is as close to heaven as things get for me.

I've missed uppma so much.  I make a lot of poha which is kind of similar but doesn't quite hit the same note for me.  The last time we visited a local Indian restaurant for a buffet lunch I excitedly loaded my plate with their tasty uppma.  My husband looked at me like I was crazy.  I think I was, just for a minute there.  I slowly scraped my gluten-laden uppma onto his plate but nothing on the buffet was all that exciting to me (until I hit the chili pakoras anyway).

I've been sick all week and have spent way too much time sitting on my butt and not being able to taste anything.  Today it occurred to me that I had everything I needed for an uppma fest including....rice farina.  Well, why not?


There were cranberries in the freezer so I started up some of that chutney while I toasted the farina.  Then I proceeded as usual: frying cashews in coconut oil, sizzling curry leaves*, dal, and mustard seed, sauteing  a chunky red bell pepper and a pile of onions (and only one little hot chili so my husband could partake-the heat is in the chutney!).  I tossed the toasted farina back in and gradually added boiling water risotto-style until the cereal could take no more without getting gummy, added a handful of peas from the freezer, and topped the whole thing with cilantro and the fried cashews.  I served it, as I love it, with Greek yogurt and a hefty dollop of cranberry chutney and I am one happy girl today.

 
 

My slightly revised uppma recipe can be found here in all its gluten-free glory.  It's another step, but don't forget the chutney!

Image by adaduitokla via Flickr* Curry leaves, the only truly unusual ingredient here, can be found fresh at any Indian market. I have also found them in the occasional Vietnamese/SE Asian market. They don't taste like "curry" at all.  They have a mysterious, slightly medicinal flavor that is impossible to reproduce otherwise so do try to find them as they add something quite special to South Indian dishes.  When I locate them I buy a big bunch, rinse and shake them well, strip off the leaves, and tuck them into a freezer-bound ziplock bag.  Press the air out of the bag and they will keep for quite some time.  They are generally tossed into hot oil with mustard seeds so they can go straight from freezer to skillet. 

Meal Plan Monday

I do not for the life of me understand why it is that the simple practice of meal planning is such a difficult habit for me to adopt.  When I plan my week's meals I save time and money and avoid a fair amount of stress and even so I can't always make myself sit down and do it.

But this week I did so instead of beating myself up about all the times I didn't get to it I will try to focus on what I did manage:  a well balanced, healthy, economical set of meals that might actually go ever well with every member of this extremely picky family.

You can take a peek right here.

One way I am saving money these days is by not buying organic.  I know, I know, but right now it makes sense.  Highly sprayed crops like conventionally grown  strawberries, celery, and potatoes don't make it in to my shopping bags ever but I feel pretty safe buying non-organic melon, citrus, and onions.  I make my decisions using the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.  Someday (soon, I hope!) things will turn around and I can buy all organic all the time but for now, this is good information that's helping me stretch our food dollars just a bit further.

Has this stinking economy hit your home?  How are you eating well for less?  

A fine pickle (or two)

I'm kind of new to pickles.

Of course I've had my share of kosher dills but I don't generally love them so I haven't explored the pickle world in great detail.Until this year.

It started with too many zucchini.

Of course.

Who knew zucchini made such fantastic pickles?

Now you do.  Every recipe I found online appeared to be some version of the zucchini pickles from San Franciso's Zuni Cafe.  I figured it must be pretty good so I tried this recipe and was absolutely hooked.  A warning, though.  Let them sit a week or so.  If you try them right away you will be disappointed but a little rest takes away the harshness of the turmeric and brings everything together beautifully.  I am pretty sure that anyone who tries these will find them absolutely delightful.

 I've also been making pickled jalapenos which I know not everyone finds delightful.  But that's ok.  I am the only chile-head in my house so I keep things like this tucked away in the 'fridge just to make things interesting. I made two quarts last month and could not stop eating them and then my dad came over and between the two of us we went through all of them in no time.  Then I made a big batch for friends in California.  And then I finally made more for myself today, tweaking the recipe just a bit. I think I've done enough tweaking to call this recipe my own.  Just please, please, please, wear gloves when you slice up the jalapenos or you will have a mighty chile burn that might just turn you against these fiery, fantastic pickles. And I don't want that.  Also, if your jalapenos are the super-hot, rip-your-head-off version I recently discovered in San Jose you might just want to scrape out those seeds with your gloved hands and discard them.

I had never made refrigerator pickles before this summer. I think I thought they were a short-cut, cheater version of pickles but keeping them out of the canning kettle means they stay bright and crisp and are a snap to make.  You can buy jalapenos pretty much year round though they aren't likely to be as cheap  or fresh as they are now.  You might want to hop to it with the zucchini pickles, though.  I don't know about where you live but here in Portland autumn is most definitely on its way.

Google+

I'm all set up there now and I have a circle for food loving people. Let me know if you want me to add you!