End for a Beginning

Oh how I am ready for summer to be over. That sounds kind of harsh, but so is the heat here... soooo, I think I am entitled. I want to cook with things that I love, like squash, and kale, and figs.I want to wear things that I love, like scarves, and boots, and leggings. I want it to be fall. 

My new job is feeding my soul in a deep way I didn't know I was missing until I found it again. The little boy I watch is like miniature version of myself, and our adventures together feel like old friends joining hands after a long time apart. I cook. From their families garden I cook. There is something about earth to table cooking, it feels right and whole. 

Above all I love that what I do now is not only what I'm passionate about, but it blesses someone else in a significant way. Like I am putting their family on stilts in the middle of a flood. 

Me and God. 

Here are some things I have made this month. 

[Peach Crisp with a Cornmeal, Oat, and Black Pepper Crumble]

[Green Tomato Cornbread]

• 2 cups seeded, diced green tomatoes (about 3/4 lb.)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and divided 
• 2 cups yellow cornmeal 
• 1/2 cup gf flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 5 large eggs 
• 1/2 Cup diced green chilies 
• 1 (16-oz.) container sour cream
• Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. In a stand mixer beat butter, honey, sour cream, and eggs. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the mixer, and mix until just combined. Fold in the tomatoes, chilies, and lemon zest.
• Bake in a cornbread mold or muffin tin at 350 for 20 min.
• 
  

[Roasted Acorn Squash]

Lighter and Fluffier

A Saturday morning! I found one....

Pancakes. You know you want them. My man of 10,000 miles away mentioned he wanted some last night via Skype, and I thought it sounded like a pretty great idea. So here they are. Grain free, and I actually got them fluffy this time around! I borrowed the recipe from nourishingdays, a really lovely blog you should read HERE.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup coconut milk or 3/4 cup cream + 1/4 cup whole milk (best) or 3/4 cup whole milk yogurt + 1/4 cup whole milk (good)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• coconut oil or butter for frying

Directions

1. Preheat griddle over medium-low heat. In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes. Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey.
2. In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together. Stir 3/4 of wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.
3. At this stage your batter should be thick, almost like brownie batter. If it is still fairly thick and dry add the rest of the wet mixture.
4. Melt the coconut oil in the hot pan and fry pancakes about 2 minutes each side. I ate mine with butter and honey.

This post has been lighter and fluffier than my recent ones, which I'm sure some of you are glad about. It's ok to admit it, my brain was starting to hurt too. Sometimes God teaching us something is weighty words, and revelations.... other times its pancakes. 

Purple Potatoes

They are so pretty!

Here's what I did with them.



Slice super thin, and drizzel with lemon and olive oil. Salt, Pepper, fresh parsley, roesmary and basil. Bake at 400 until tender.



I ate them with shaved carrots and whole grain mustard. Yes, this post is simple and to the point... unlike purple potatoes. I guess that's why I picked them up in the grocery store. Because they were special. Sometimes you just need something different, and pretty, and out of your box whatever it may be. Even if it ends up being a potato. 

Happily Stuck

Saturday's are supposed to be quiet, still, and happy. But they are even better when you wake up and there's snow coating them. In Kentucky people think the world might end in the event of three inches, but I know they are secretly dazzled by it just as I am. Why is it so exciting to be stuck somewhere when it snows? Like there is a community around you just waiting to band together as soon as snow tragedy strikes. This might be in my imagination. No matter, my band of brothers just happened to be eggs, and almond flour, and ginger this morning, and we weathered the storm together, coming out on the other side with biscuits, and jam. Because I have loved ones in the midst of the "Makers Diet" I made these grainless, dairyless, and sugarless. Surprise. 

Grape and Ginger Jam (adapted from lovefoodeat)

5 cups of cleaned grapes

1/2 cup raw honey

2 inch piece of fresh ginger

Clean and wash your grapes well. Combine the grapes, crushed ginger and sugar in a saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil till the sugar completely dissolves. Reduce the flame and let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes til the fruits start to disintegrate. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool down a little.
Sieve the mixture to get rid of all the seeds and the skin. Press as much of the pulp of the fruits as possible with the back of your spoon to get all the juices of of the fruit.
Place the thick fruit juice/pulp back on the stove and let it simmer slowly. I simmered mine for more than 30 minutes to get to the desired consistency. You can stop when you think your jam is thick enough. Remember it’ll thicken further as it cools.
Store it in an airtight bottle.

Simple Biscuits (grain free)- Adapted from realsustinance

2 packed cups Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Arrowroot starch
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2-3/4 Tsp Baking Soda 
1/2 Cup Coconut Butter 
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Tsp Lemon Juice. 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine the Almond Flour, Starch, Salt and Baking Soda.. Cut the coconut butter into the flour until it is about the size of a pea. In a separate small bowl whisk together the eggs and lemon juice. Pour mixture in with the flour and mix just briefly and gently until the dough comes together. It will feel a little wet. 

Dust a sheet of parchment, or your counter with additional starch. Gently pat the dough into a round and cut into 6-8 biscuits using a biscuit cutter or the top of a round glass. Use as much starch as needed to prevent sticking. Bake for 18 minutes.

P.S. These are especially lovely with coffee and frosted windows.

*Embarrassing disclaimer: due to the fact that I was on the phone with a friend when these came out of the oven I did something I'm not sure I'm proud of. I couldn't balance the knife and biscuit properly while holding the phone, so after pondering it for a very short second, I dove my hand into the jam and proceeded to spread it on my biscuit with my fingers like a small bear. or any other animal you would now like to insert here.

I made you cause I couldn't sleep...

I couldn't sleep... so I got up with the morning. Most times I end up in the kitchen because 1. morning light looks a lot more lovely on apples than any other. And 2. I'm hungry.

I made this.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Porridge with Sauteed 

Apples (Grain,Gluten,Dairy,Egg free.) 

1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

1/4 cup pecan meal

2 Tbs coconut butter, melted

1 tsp lemon zest

Combine these three and press into the bottom of a small tart or pie pan. 

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 Tbs unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup almond milk 

1 Tbs honey

 Combine these and spread over nut mixture in pan. If it's a little too thick you can add more almond milk. 

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile....

2 Apples

1 Tbs cinnamon 

1 tsp arrowroot flour

juice from one half of a lemon

1 Tbs almond milk 

Saute in a small sauce pan until they thicken and pour over finished porridge. 

My camera has cocoa powder all over it...

Doughnuts for the outcasts

For those of us that can't have grain, gluten, or whatever else makes you an outsider... we know the importance of FINALLY getting to take a bite of something "forbidden." Thus, I have concocted a recipe for doughnuts... for us outcasts. And they are sooooooo good.

Chocolate Coconut Cake Doughnuts  (grain, dairy, and refined sugar free.)Adapted from Roost.

11/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled

3 eggs

2 Tbs honey

1/4 cup coconut milk

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet in another. Pour dry ingredients into a blender, add wet, and then blend until smooth. Grease a doughnut pan with coconut oil and fill each about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. They should spring back when you touch them.



Chocolate Icing (sugar and dairy free!)

3/4 cup pitted Medjool dates
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sustainable organic palm oil shortening or coconut butter
1/3 – 1/2 cup water 

Add all of the ingredients to a high-speed blender, start with just 1/3 cup of water, you can always add more. Let everything sit for a few minutes, especially if your dates are very firm. Blend everything together at a high speed. Continue blending long enough to get a smooth, velvety consistency, this may take 5 minutes or more.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Doughnuts

same batter recipe, only instead of icing, I fried them for a few minutes on each side in coconut oil and then dusted them with a mixture of coconut sugar, cinnamon, and ancho chili powder. 

Scones and Snow

I was watching Downton Abbey and of course that sent me into a tailspin of needing scones and tea. I formatted a recipe from Poires au Chocolat. I am enraptured with this blog, and you really should just read her whole post on scones. It's magical and you will also learn how to be british and awesome. 

Anyway... it was cold and snow was just beginning to cover the ground outside. I made a pot of earl grey and ate these with clotted cream and raspberry jam. 

This is why I bake. 

I also tried out some new lighting and staging techniques on these photographs. I am in the process of making my own light box, so pics to follow of that endeavour! 

Simple Gluten Free Scones

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup double cream
2 Tbs creme fraiche or cream cheese
1/2 cup whole milk
an egg yolk, or a little extra milk, to glaze

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a small baking tray. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium mixing bowl. Place the double cream, milk, and creme fraiche into a small bowl and whisk together.

Pour the cream mixture into the flour bowl and fold in very gently with a metal spoon, being careful not to overwork. The dough will be sticky, so dust your hands with a little brown rice flour and shape them however you want. Mine made about 8 large scones. I also like the rustic look so I did some as drop biscuits. Brush each one with a little egg wash.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden on the top.

These are not what I would call "healthy" per say (even though they are much better than the alternative allergy-wise) but they are scones... soooooooo.