29 September, 2008

A Simple Roasted Corn and Cilantro Salad


Going to the Turkish market on Friday evening is a sure way to get a huge pile of veggies for just a little bit of cash. As the day ends, there's a surplus of one thing or another, and the vendors would rather sell it off than haul it home. If you wait until closing time, they'll send you home with bags full of produce for 50 cents a pound.

The trick is, you never know what the surplus will be until you get there. Some weeks I come home with two pounds of red bell peppers for a Euro. Sometimes it's a whole crate of ruccola. Last week, it was 6 ears of corn.

I didn't feel like eating 6 ears of corn on the cob by myself, so I decided salad was the way to go. Slicing the kernels from the cobs, I fried them quickly with a dab of butter and a splash of lime juice. Mixed with some chopped tomato and an enormous bunch of cilantro, I found myself with a fresh, tangy bowlful of Mexican-inspired goodness.

I swear, I don't think I will ever grow tired of the taste of cilantro and lime. Now, if only I could track down some Cheddar cheese in this country...



Roasted Corn Salad
This salad is great on it's own, or makes a nice side for refried beans and a chunk of cornbread.

Ingredients:

6 ears fresh corn, kernels removed (or 2 cups frozen kernels)
1 Tbs butter or oil
2 limes, juiced (or about 1/4 c. juice)
1 bunch cilantro
1 tomato
1 red bell pepper
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
Cayenne pepper to taste

1. Roast the Corn
Heat the butter in the pan until it's sizzling hot, and add the corn. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the corn starts to char in places. Continue stirring and cooking until most of the kernels have dark brown marks on them. Dump the corn into a large bowl and let it refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Prepping the Veggies
Chop the cilantro finely. Chop the tomato and bell pepper into pieces roughly the size of the corn kernels. If you haven't already, juice your limes.

3. Assembling your Salad
Pull the corn out of your fridge, add the chopped veggies, lime juice, salt and pepper. Make it as spicy or mild as you like with cayenne. It tastes best after marinating for a few hours, but it's damn good straight away as well.
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27 September, 2008

Tip of the Week: Dry Your Own Orange Peel



Last week, as I was buying the ingredients for my rye bread, I saw a little packet of dried organic orange peel for sale. I think it cost around 2.50 Euro, which isn't all that bad. A little orange peel goes a long way, right?

Then I started thinking about it. How long has that orange peel been sitting in it's little packet? And why would I spend 2.50 for dried peel, when I can buy a whole organic orange for fifty cents?

I bought my orange, headed home, and devoured it. Then I chopped up a little corner of the peel to use in the recipe. And I stood there looking at the rest of the peel sitting on the counter. I'm already chopping, I thought, why not just keep going and dry it myself?

It really is as easy as it sounds. Actual working time was less than 5 minutes, and now I have a little jar on my counter with enough dried orange peel to last me for months.



To make your own:

Take an organic orange - you don't want all the pesticides and wax from a normal one, trust me - and cut the peel off carefully with a sharp knife. You want to cut close to the surface of the peel, leaving as much white pith behind as you can. (You can see in the photos that I just peeled mine normally, but I really shouldn't have. The pith is more bitter than the orange part of the skin.)

Chop the peel finely, spread it on a baking sheet, and let it dry in a 200° Farenheit oven until it is dry but still a bit flexible. It should take around 20 minutes, depending on how finely you chopped it.
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23 September, 2008

A Blunch Casserole


Sunday afternoon in Berlin. It becomes a social dead zone the minute the weather turns chilly. You wake up after a Saturday night out, and know that your friends are probably just crawling out of bed as well, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. The shops are all closed. Without nice weather, there's really no compelling reason to leave the house.

In the summer, of course, someone might be barbecuing in the park, or headed to a lake outside of town. When summer hits Berlin, the whole city suddenly floods outdoors to capture every possible minute of sunshine. But this time of year, with the gray clouds looming overhead, there isn't much to do but wrap yourself in a blanket and snuggle up to your mug of coffee. We're slowly becoming housebound again.

As I head into my third fall here, I have to say... I miss the warm weather, of course, but more than that I miss the social feeling of summer. Especially Sundays. When the sun is out, and with the stores closed, you have no excuse not to be outside. You run into friends all over the place - in the park, on a bike path - and there's usually a few minutes to just sit around and relax together.

Sundays are special. On weekdays everyone's tired from work. On Friday or Saturday night, there's a sudden need to be out on the town, doing something exciting. On Sundays, though, no one's got anything to do. But as fall creeps up with winter on its tail, we need compelling reasons to get up and be sociable again.

And what better reason than food and good company?

So, this past Sunday I decided to invite everyone over for a late, late brunch. (I guess technically lunch is what you would call a "late brunch," but humor me for a minute, OK?) 3pm Sunday afternoon. It gives us all just long enough to revive ourselves after a long Saturday night, have a snack, and meet up for... whatever you would like to call the meal. Blunch, anyone?


I thought about getting really fancy with the cooking. I wanted a potato dish, a cheese-and-egg dish... I even planned ahead and did some cooking beforehand. (Boiling potatoes before heading out for the night is never a bad idea!) In the end, I had my own slight hangover to deal with, and so I decided on an all-in-one casserole instead of two separate ones. And man, was that a good idea. Potatoes, zucchini, leeks, cheese, eggs - I could have kept going, but I ran out of room in the pan!

As side dishes, we just had some crackers, cheese, cold cuts, etc off to the side. Along with the loaf of banana bread (made with guidance from Gluten Free Gobsmacked), we were all stuffed by the end of the afternoon. And the banana bread was devoured, I kid you not.

Sorry I only have one photo this time around - I was too busy cooking and eating and enjoying the company to go crazy with the camera!

Potato Zucchini Breakfast Casserole

Boil the potatoes the night before and let them sit in the fridge overnight.
The proportions in this recipe are open to your own interpretation. My original served about 12 people and used 16 eggs. I've scaled this down to feed about 4, but you can adjust it as you like - I think it would be hard to go too far wrong.


Ingredients:

1-1.5 lbs potatoes (or about 4 fist-sized potatoes)
1/2 lb zucchini (2-3 medium zucchini)
1 leek
1/2 - 3/4 c. shredded cheese (I suggest Swiss)
5 eggs
3 Tbs. milk
1 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/4 -1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preheat your oven to 350° and lightly butter or grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8 or 9x9 in. casserole dish.

1. Prep work:
Slice the potatoes thinly, cutting lengthwise along the potato. About 1/8 in. is good, but you can always go thicker or thinner according to preference. Slice the zucchini into rounds as thinly as you can. Trim the tough, leafy end off the leak - you can leave some of the green part attached, but make sure it's just the thinner, tender part. Slice the leek thinly and then chop haphazardly into smaller bits.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and 1/2 tsp. salt until light and fluffy.

2. Assembly
Start with a layer of potatoes at the bottom of the casserole dish. Overlap the slices a little bit, like you would for lasagna noodles. Sprinkle about half of the chopped leeks over the top, then half the shredded cheese.

Follow this up with the zucchini. Cover the the potato-leek-cheese combo completely in zucchini slices, and keep layering until all the zucchini is used up. At this point, sprinkle the rosemary, garlic, pepper, and about 1/2 tsp. of salt over the zucchini.

Top the zucchini layer with a final layer of potatoes, followed by the rest of the leeks and the cheese. Finally, pour the beaten egg over everything. It should fill the casserole dish just to the top of the veggies, but if you find yourself a little low you can beat another egg with a splash of milk and add it in.

Cooking:
Bake the casserole for about 45 min. - 1 hour, until it is set in the middle. Let it cool slightly, and dig in!
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16 September, 2008

Mission Accomplished




The weather here has suddenly turned cold and wintery, and I, in turn, have started cooking as if my life depended on it. In the last week I've made roasted corn salad, corn bread, and brownies in mass quantities, all now stocked away in my freezer. Except for the corn salad. That only lasted a couple days in the fridge before I devoured it. (And don't worry, there are recipes to come!)

After cooking an enormous pot of soup yesterday, I decided that I urgently needed Russian black bread to go with it. I managed to find a recipe on an ancient gluten-free message board, and off I went to the kitchen. I was a little nervous as I put it in the oven, because after the addition of several dough-additives that I haven't experimented with before, the raw dough was feeling a bit rubbery.

Turns out that was a good thing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a loaf of gluten-free bread that my flat mates, my friends, and even my impossible-to-feed younger brother would happily scarf down. And I'm not sharing.

After waiting impatiently for the dough to finish rising and baking, I pulled this beautiful, rustic bread out of the oven and tapped the bottom as instructed. It sounded hollow. And the loaf had... spring! Elasticity, even. It didn't feel like a brick in my hands. It felt like a loaf of bread. And the crust was perfectly brown and pliable - it hadn't hardened into an impenetrable shell like I've grudgingly become accustomed to.

I managed to refrain from digging into it long enough to take some photos - which, as I waited impatiently for the camera battery to charge, was a lot longer than I would have liked. But it was worth the wait. I cut off a slice, and... well, first of all, it actually let itself be sliced. It didn't crumble in my hands. I had a perfectly-formed slice of lovely, soft, airy bread that looked and felt like actual bread. And when I bit into it - heaven. A soft velvety crumb with just the right chewiness. It reminded me of the homemade white bread I baked with my mom as a kid.

But the flavor was even better. The heady taste of caraway seeds, cocoa, and tiny morsels of orange peel exploded in my mouth - I've never had rye bread this good before. The orange peel makes this hands down my favorite recipe in a long time. I know the ingredients may not be things you have on hand - even if you're a regular gluten-free baker - but trust me, it's worth it to find them. And once you have them on hand, there will be enough left for several more delicious, fluffy loaves after you've polished this one off.

[Note: I should have been more clear about the extra dough additives - Sure-Jell, gelatin, and xantham gum are used to help improve the texture of gluten-free bread. Since gluten (the protein in wheat and some other flours) is very stretchy, it allows yeast breads to rise and gives them their distinct texture. Without any xanthan gum or other binding agent, gluten-free breads don't rise properly, and their texture is... not very good, to say the least.

If you can eat gluten, and want to try this recipe, just use three cups of normal bread flour in place of the flour/corn starch combination, and omit the gelatin, Sure-Jell, and xanthan gum.]




"I Can't Believe It's Not Gluten" Black Bread
Adapted from Mike Jones' recipe on enabling.org

If you add the gelatin with the dry ingredients, be sure it is designed to dissolve in cold water. If you have traditional gelatin, dissolve it in the warm milk with the liquid ingredients. You'll find Sure-Jell fruit pectin with other jelly-making supplies, most likely near the baking section.


Dry Ingredients:
1.5 C. white or brown rice flour
3/4 C. Buckwheat flour
3/4 C. corn starch
1 packet yeast
1 tsp. plain gelatin (cold-dissolving)
1 Tbs Sure-Jell (fruit pectin)
1Tbs xanthan gum or guar gum
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbs corn meal
2-4 Tbs caraway seeds
1 tsp finely grated orange peel

Wet Ingredients:
1 C. milk, warmed to about 80°
1/2 C. strong coffee, 80° or room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs molasses


Turn the oven onto the lowest possible setting.
Grease a baking sheet lightly and sprinkle with cornmeal.

1. The dry ingredients:
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. The yeast can be mixed directly with the flour and dry ingredients - but if you think your yeast might be getting a bit old, proof it first and then add with the wet ingredients.

2. The wet ingredients:
In a medium bowl, warm the milk and coffee slightly (and make a mug for yourself, while you're at it!). Beat in the eggs, olive oil, and molasses.

3. Making the dough:
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid. Stir until everything is completely combined and the dough is pulling cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. If you need a bit more liquid, add milk or coffee a teaspoon at a time. Don't do what I always do a free-pour directly into your dough. You don't want soggy bread dough, trust me.

4. Knead and rise
Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes to help mix everything thoroughly. This is a stiffer dough than many gluten-free blends, but it still won't knead like normal gluten dough, so don't worry about it. Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into a rough loaf. Turn the slightly-warmed oven off and let the dough rise for about 90 minutes.

5. Baking the bread
When the dough is done rising, turn the oven temperature up to 350°, leaving the bread inside. Bake for 50 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom. Remove the loaf immediately and let it cool on a wire rack.
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15 September, 2008

Crossing my Fingers...

You know a loaf of bread is going to be good when you can't stop licking the dough off your fingers. At least, you do when you're baking with normal flour. With gluten-free I'm never quite so sure. With traditional bread I could tell by the feel of the dough in my hands if it needed more flour; I could watch it grow smooth and glossy as I kneaded.

With gluten-free, I find myself often staring at a mysterious gob of Play-dough under my hands, wondering if it needs to be a more liquidy Play-dough, or a stiffer one. And more often than I'd like, I pull a loaf out of the oven to find it crumbly on the edges and too gummy in the middle. And the yeast... never seems to do anything. Without the gluten, there just isn't much there to hold the air bubbles in and make the bread rise like I want. It's more like a quick bread - think banana or cornbread, without the banana or corn.

Today, though, as I started up a big pot of soup, I decided I really, really wanted some Russian Black Bread. And so I started searching the wide realm of the internet for a gluten-free recipe. I found one on an ancient message board, posted back in 1996. It has several different dough additives that I haven't experimented with yet. Gelatin, for one. I've seen that in a few recipes before, but never tried any of them. And fruit pectin, for another. (That's the stuff that helps make jelly gel.) And a lot more xanthan gum than I would normally use. This bread is going to have Structure with a capital S.

I just finished mixing and kneading, and I've just popped it in the oven to let it rise. I'm a little nervous. It tastes great - bursting with caraway seeds and the rich flavors of coffee and cocoa powder. But it's a little rubbery. I have no idea what the texture will be like once it's bakes.

BUT! The dough behave more like gluten dough than anything I've tried before. It feels, for example, more elastic, and it pulls cleanly away from the bowl with a certain feel that is... well, I can't say it's anything but reminiscent of gluten dough. Really. I mean, sure, get your gluten-free dough dry enough, and it will also pull away from the sides of the bowl. But the texture just won't be the same, and don't kid yourself hoping for it.

So... updates to follow soon. Wish me luck.
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10 September, 2008

My Favorite Flax Bread




I stumbled upon this recipe for flax bread in a low-carb forum, and I've been addicted to it ever since. It's as simple to make as an omelet (in fact, maybe simpler), absolutely delicious, and endlessly variable. I've made it into a sweet "nut-bread" style snack with the addition of some sweetner and cinnamon. I've gone savory with sea salt and rosemary. The other day I decided I needed pizza for breakfast - and 20 minutes later it was out of the oven and burning my mouth!

In addition to it's great taste and versatility, though, this bread is just plain good for you. The flax seed gives you a good serving of Omega-3 fats (the same fats you might eat salmon or take fish oil for), and all the carbohydrates in flax are in the form of fiber. In fact, in Germany they list fiber separately from carbs, and flax is considered a no-carb food.

So, for anyone following the Sommersize diet or food combining - or just watching their carbs - you can have sandwiches again! Pizza is no longer off limits! Turkey and swiss with a dab of mustard... cold cuts with tomato... go ahead, knock yourself out!

I do have to note - this isn't a low-calorie bread. There is a lot of fat in it, but it's all the healthy kind. And two pieces will give you a lot of fiber, so you may want to start out eating just half the recipe. Other than that - enjoy!



Quick and Easy Flax Bread:
To keep your flax at it's freshest, buy whole flax and grind it in a small coffee grinder before each use. If you do purchase pre-ground flax, be sure to store it in a sealed, opaque container to prevent rancidity.


Ingredients:
1/3 cup flax seed, ground
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Seasonings: rosemary, garlic, black pepper, etc

1 egg
1/2 Tbs water


Preheat the oven to 350°

If you have a Silpat or other silicon baking mat, lay it out on your baking pan. If you don't have a silicon mat, lay out a sheet of parchment paper. And if you don't have that, just grease your pan well so you can remove your bread in one piece after it bakes!

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add the egg and water and stir briefly. Pour the batter onto your baking sheet and smooth to your desired thickness.

Bake about 12 minutes, until cooked through. If you want to use this as pizza crust, bake about 8 minutes or so, then add your toppings and continue baking until the cheese is melted.
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05 September, 2008

Recipe Coming Soon!

I know I don't post very often on this blog. I'd like to - but life intervenes, and to be honest I don't always have an interesting, creative recipe at my fingertips. Sure, I keep a log of ideas. Sometimes I get all ready to whip one of them up and photograph it, only to have it utterly flop.
Consider yourselves lucky that you don't have to eat the out-takes!

Aside from that, I don't really eat that well - or that interestingly - when other people aren't watching. My meals tend to be little snacks. A piece of cheese with a tomato, a tablespoon of tahini paste, a few pieces of cauliflower dipped in mustard (and not even fancy mustard - just the cheap yellow stuff). Today I actually ate a slice of processed cheese spread with red pepper paste for a mid-afternoon snack.

I can cook well when I want, but I'm not by any means a food snob. In fact, I've managed to gross out my boyfriends with my bachelor-style eating habits. But I think that was their eccentricities, not mine. I will defend my stance that pizza tastes better after a night in the fridge - and doesn't everyone like cold Kraft Mac 'N Cheese for breakfast?

I'll have a new post with a recipe coming in the next few days. But in the meantime, I just wanted to share some photos from my new favorite food photographer. This man makes portraits of zucchinis and apples so beautiful that I get a lump in my throat. Just look at that bunch of sage and tell me it doesn't make you want to burst into song. (OK, I'm a little eccentric, I know - but really...)

The kicker is, he lives in Long Beach, CA. We used to be neighbors.

Matt, if you happen to read this, can I come hang out at your studio when I'm home for the holidays? I won't break anything, I promise!
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