Recipes

One Cocoa Cupcake and Lyme Life Lessons

How To Make One Cocoa Cupcake (gluten-free)

After a loooooong (lovely!) week and a loooooong (lovely! lovely!) Saturday, I found myself hobbling a bit while walking my dog last night, my aching hips and knees a reminder that I crossed a line somewhere in all the awesomeness of hard work and good people, and still have chronic conditions from almost 20 years of Lyme Disease and its related terrors.  I wanted to take a hot, Epson-salted bath.  Or break my legs with a hammer.  I know a few of you out there will recognize that sensation.

So instead of going out dancing way downtown, I cut my night short and parked it inside.  I was shocked to find myself drawn to a Josh Duhamel movie.  This made absolutely NO sense since I’m generally not a “chick-flick” or “rom-com” or any other horribly kitschy-named movie genre fan and don’t think I’ve ever actually seen this dude in a film before.  Why was I drawn to a film that would bring out my innermost, snarkiest criticizer but also bring me some weirdly cheap comfort?  Because I recalled that during my last serious bout of Lyme all my exhausted brain and body could handle were the most mindless shmather (it’s a word, now), movies that were nothing more than visual background noise (realize I’m taking too many liberties with language now… I’ll get to the point). 

One cupcake.  Along with my bad movie I just wanted one cupcake.  Not a bunch of cookies, not a batch of anything to have sitting around.

Just.  One.

So I made one.  Using Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio for sponge cake as a base, I made an incredibly dense, fudgy cupcake, perfect with a dab of the leftover vegan blackcurrant “cream-cheese” frosting haunting me from another recipe (posting soon).  I sloppily mixed weighing and measuring ingredients together and checked the timing on it occasionally while giving myself a good stretch on the floor.

And then I ate it while pondering Duhamel’s left eyebrow.  And mulling over the state of romantic comedies of my age demographic.  And willing myself to just change the channel!

You ever have nights like this?

When you just want one… here ya go.

Oh, and now that I’m rested and medicated, the sun is shining and I’m off to review a few incredible NYC food events… life is back to lovely.

Blackcurrant Cream Cheese Frosting – Vegan!

Ingredients:

  • 1 ounce unsalted butter
  • 1 ounce beet sugar
  • 1 ounce beaten egg
  • 1 ounce gluten-free cake flour
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp chocolate extract
  • 2 tsp cocoa powder
  • dash of kosher salt

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°.  Put a cupcake liner in a tin or ramekin.  
  • Add the salt and cocoa to the flour.
  • In a small bowl, beat butter on medium/high until creamy.
  • Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  • Add egg and beat until pale and fluffy, and slightly expanded in volume.
  • Add extracts and beat to combine.
  • Add flour and mix on low until just combined.
  • Pour into prepared dish and bake for about 18 minutes or toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Delectable Trail Mix Cookies for Breast Cancer (gluten-free!)

That gorgeous lady on the left is Barbara Jo Kirshbaum.

I met Barbara Jo years ago while walking one of my Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cures, 60 mile walks that take place around the country raising money and awareness for the battle against breast cancer.

Barbara Jo is a marvel.  She started walking in 1998, and since then has raised OVER A MILLION DOLLARS For the Avon and Komen organizations.  As Team California, Barbara Jo and her late husband, Dr. Bob, could be seen at several events yearly.  Their bright pink signs toting slogans such as “You’re Beautiful” and “Just Keep Walking” dotted the miles.  Dr. Bob would be standing on street corners next to their rented car throughout the entire weekend, smiling, clapping and giving hugs as needed.  Barbara Jo would be walking away, a cape of ribbons imprinted with the names of those she was walking for on her back. I’ve seen her over the years in many walks, and she’s been such an inspiration and source of support as I’ve dealt with my on and off health and my changing ability to complete my goal of walking every city the Komen organization organizes.

Here are her stats by the end of her 2010 walking season:

  • Raised $126,247 for 2010
  • Total since 1998:  $1,259,017
  • Completed 119 long distance walks in the fight against breast cancer
  • Completed 5869 official miles
  • Walked 11,738,000 steps
  • Walked a total of 300 days (about 3000 hours)

On my Twin Cities walk this year, I found out that Dr. Bob passed away last year.  My heart broke a little bit when I heard the news, as I’d been walking for miles in excitement to see him and Barbara Jo, their coming foretold by those Team California signs.  The Komen and Avon walkers lost a foot soldier in our fight to make sure that breast cancer is no longer a life threatening illness, and I thank Dr. Bob and Barbara Jo with all my heart for their work over the years, and for Barbara Jo continuing to walk after Bob’s passing.  I did a little tribute to Bob in my Frosting for the Cause post, and was grateful for a way to mark his passing in words and by making something sweet for others.

I ate too many of these today...

This weekend the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer comes to NYC, as does Barbara Jo, now with her son-in-law Chris putting up those bright pink signs.  I’m excited to be out there first thing tomorrow morning, about 40 blocks from my apartment, cheering along the walkers on the first few miles of their journey.  Later in the day my sister and I will join them with more cheering and homemade trail mix cookies – part of my promise in making a cookie for every $10 donated to my own walk this year (this will bring my total to about 140 out of 400… still a long way to go!).

So these cookies are what I made for the walkers: a not-too-sweet trail mix cookie that’s gluten and dairy free, and packed with extra fiber and protein.  Such cookies are endlessly versatile – alter the amount of chocolate, nuts and fruit as you see fit, or the kind of additions you want to begin with.  The base cookie is soft and sweet, undetectably gluten-free, and ready for a bit of dusty fun.

Thank you so much to all the women and men walking, crewing and staffing the Avon walk this weekend.  These events are incredibly eye-opening for those who see thousands walking in pink, exhausting themselves and committing to raise a large amount of money for a necessary cause.

Can’t wait to get out there and tell you how truly amazing you are.

Gluten and dairy free Trail Mix cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch
  • 1/4 cup millet flour
  • 1/4 almond meal / flour
  • 2 Tbsp ground flaxseeds meal
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup butter flavored Earth Balance
  • 1 cup beet sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • 3/4 cup slivered almonds, optional

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats (totally worth the $).
  • In a medium bowl, whisk all dry ingredients.
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a large bowl) beat Earth Balance on high heat until fluffy.
  • Add beet sugar and cream until the mixture lifts and gets pale.
  • Add eggs and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes (beating the eggs gives a little lift and body to the coming flours).
  • Add vanilla and mix in.
  • Add all the flour, turn speed down to low, and mix until just combined.
  • Fold in the chocolate chips, raisins and nuts.
  • Fold in the oats a cup at a time until distributed evenly.
  • Drop in rounded tablespoons onto mats.
  • Put in upper and lower third of oven and bake for 9 minutes.
  • Rotate the trays (switch upper and lower) to ensure even baking and bake for 9-11 more minutes, or until lightly browned at edges.
  • Cool a few minutes on trays before removing to cooling rack.

Chardonnay Blackcurrant Frosting (Vegan)

Vegan Chardonnay Blackcurrant Frosting

I’m not a fan of frosting in general.  Well, the kind you find on basic bakery cakes and cupcakes.  Sorry.  Most of the time I feel like I might as well just be eating a bowl of powdered sugar, and while I have an incorrigible sweet tooth I prefer my sweets dark and somewhat savory.  Like I like my… nevermind.

So when trying to figure out what would best compliment the perfectly airy gluten-free sponge cake I’d made, I should have gone with a traditional creme or lemon curd.  But then the whole dairy-free thing makes it a bit time-consuming and complicated.  I’d been baking a lot the day I made this cake.  And I had a full Sunday NY Times waiting for me.  And my roommate kept urging me into the living room to see what the Giants were up to (they lost, sniff. As did the Bengals, double sniff).  I needed something fast and fluffy.

Enter this frosting.  It’s an incredibly versatile vegan frosting that would be stellar on cupcakes and pipes easily for pretty little decorations.  And it’s incredibly easy, as frosting should be.

I added the Chardonnay and blackcurrant to give some dimension and extra bubbly lift to the frosting, bringing it out of the blase buttercream family.  While they’re each only tiny additions, you can really taste both the Chardonnay and the blackcurrant – each accentuates the other.  And on such a light cake, the fluffy consistency of the frosting was a nice compliment.

This frosting would probably be stellar on something chocolate.  Ooh, or a spice cake!  You can omit the wine and go full currant, or use milk and vanilla instead for a traditional buttercream.

No matter which combination, just make sure to beat for a looooong time to get enough air in.  Whatever you frost can sit comfortably at room temperature, but if it’s a hot summer day be careful of meltage and fridge for a bit before serving.

Oh, and shortly after I took a bazillion pictures of the many things I had made that day, I accidentally erased ALL THE PICTURES ON MY HARD DRIVE! Hence why one of the few surviving ones is the sole representation here.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup butter flavored Earth Balance
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted, or more or less to taste
  • 3 Tbsp Ribena blackcurrant concentrate
  • 2 Tbsp cold Chardonnay Wine

Directions:

  • Beat shortening and Earth Balance on hide speed until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  • Add powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  • With mixer still on high, add blackcurrant a tablespoon at a time until incorporated.
  • Add Chardonnay a tablespoon at a time until incorporated.
  • Beat for 7-10 minutes until airy and light, adding more powdered sugar to your desired taste and consistency.
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Gluten-Free Sponge Cake

Spongey, eggy and delicious

The other night a buddy of mine texted “got a killer gluten-free sponge cake recipe?”  I did not, and told him so.  To which he replied something very snarky, questioning my Dusty Baker title.  I snarked back.  We’re really mature.

I’m a proud lady, and quite stubborn.  So the next morning I headed into my kitchen and made this.

Pretty in pink.

I can’t take full credit, of course.  I’d made a gluten-free sponge cake before but never recorded it, not being quite content with the flour combination (quinoa made it too bitter, teff too dry for some reason).  So for this I went back to the basics for my flour blend: soft brown rice, arrowroot and tapioca.  Nothing else.

And then I went back to the Cooks Illustrated recipe I’d made glutenously for a friend a few years ago, adapting it only slightly and using the same method.  Perfect.  And incredibly easy.  A flawless cake that when I asked my roommate “could you tell that was gluten-free?” she chirped back, “no, I can never tell with yours that they’re gluten-free”.

I’m never moving.

So here ya go. Gluten-free  Sponge Cake.

Oh, and I topped it with Chardonnay Blackcurrant frosting (recipe posting soon). I’m not a huge fan of frosting in general, but was short on time and this vegan frosting whips up quickly.  But this light cake would benefit more from a custard or lemon curd, so if you have a killer recipe for one, I’d say go bonkers with it instead.

Spongey Cake.

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter or Earth Balance (butter flavored)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated beet sugar
  • 1 cup gluten-free cake flour (I used my cake flour blend but used only brown rice, which I find less grainy than white rice.  It basically works out to 2/3 cup brown rice flour, 1/6 cup arrowroot, 1/6 cup tapioca starch)
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease two 8″ cake pans and line bottoms with cut parchment.
  • Separate 3 eggs. Place whites in bowl of standing mixer, and add remaining 2 eggs to the yolks in a separate bowl.
  • In a small bowl, mix cake flour, xanthan gum, nutmeg and salt.
  • On stovetop, combine almond milk and butter, heat to melt, then add vanilla and remove from heat.  Allow to cool only slightly.
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes.  Add 6 tablespoons of beet sugar one at a time and continue to soft, moist peaks, about 3-5 minutes (don’t over-mix to stiff, keep them soft and billowy).  Remove to a large bowl.
  • Beat remaining eggs with remaining sugar on high for about 5 minutes, or until pale yellow and creamy.  Add to egg whites (don’t fold yet).
  • Sprinkle flour mixture on top and fold in gently, trying to keep the mixture as light as possible, 8-10 folds.
  • Make a well and pour in milk mixture, continue to fold until egg mixture is combined.  Do not over-mix.
  • Pour evenly into pans and bake for about 22-25 minutes, until slightly firm and springy to the touch.
  • Use a small icing spatula or knife to loosen edges, then cool in pan for 2 minutes.
  • Invert onto cake plate to release, then back onto cooling rack.

These will cool very quickly, giving you just enough time to whip up an icing or a custard.  Because of the delicate nature of the cake, the lighter the accompaniment the better.

Gluten-Free Churros – a Family Holiday Recipe

Gluten-Free Churros

A few hours before posting this I had a huge panic moment: I’m still not quite sure how it happened, but while cleaning out unneeded photos from my hard drive collection I accidentally erased ALL OF THEM!!  These are the only two that survived as they’d already been dragged onto the desktop.  It was frustrating, to say the least.

I spend way too much time on little machines and it’s oddly refreshing sometimes to have them revolt against me.  It reminds me of what I love most about what I do: Words. Food. Art.  Not computers, DSLRs and smartphones. Simple, old-school.

Which is what this recipe is: simple and old-school.

My father is from Portugal, and my favorite recipes are ones that I’ve learned from my Tia or inherited through my Avo, my grandmother.  When I was 13 or so I remember walking into the garage at her house in Povacao (a small town on the island of Sao Miguel in the Acores) to see her plucking a chicken, with several others hanging from a rafter.  I also remember a sweet, dense bread she’d bake in a brick oven in that garage.  And fried sardines, spicy orange beans and creamy kale soup that she made magically with rustic cookware in her old kitchen.

One of my favorite family recipes, and one that was reserved for the holidays, are malasadas – a yeasted fried dough that she’d bring over, all puffy and risen, in a big bowl to whichever family was hosting.  As kids, we’d be given a ball of the dough to stretch out for ourselves.  After a quick fry (always stove-top, none of us had a deep fryer), we’d toss them in a paper bag of sugar and devour them warm.

My avo died last summer, and this is how I ended her eulogy which, of course, was a lot about food:

Avo loved to take care of all of us, and loved how we take care of each other.  As I learn how to make more and more of the foods that I remember coming from her, I thank her with all my heart for teaching us how to make a home, and bring a family to a table, to have faith that god loves us, and say those two precious words that I’ll never forget…

“Come, querida.”  Eat, darling.

I miss her the most when I’m in my kitchen.

A few years ago my Tia taught me several versions of the malasadas recipe.  It’s now one of my standards, and my favorite at-party trick.

This is how they usually look:

Malasadas

Light, fluffy, chewy and lemony, they’re little bites of heaven, especially when served warm and slathered with homemade jam.

The only problem I have with them – they’re not gluten-free!  Which means I haven’t eaten one in a long time.

So, finally, with a little nudging from FoodBuzz and Frigidaire’s Talk Turkey Campaign, I figured there’s no better time like the present.

I adapted my family recipe with gluten-free flours and the knowledge that gluten-free donuts  don’t always whip up with the same texture as their glutenous counterparts.  Instead of stretching and frying the dough, I was planning on piping it into churros.  See, I live in Washington Heights in New York City, which has an incredibly high Latino population.  And I love my neighborhood.  As I walk my dog around the area, down by the Hudson River during sunset and through Riverside Park, I inevitably run into neighbors who have now become friends.  We let our dogs romp, catch up on city news and almost inevitably talk about food: what we’ve made for dinner or to where our sweet teeth have taken us.

So this season I’ll be whipping up a few batches of these as my holiday gift: the perfect combination of my Portuguese heritage and my Latino location.

I created this post as part of Frigidaire’s Talk Turkey Campaign. Share your own recipes and tips at Frigidaire’s Make Time for Change site. For every recipe or tip that’s shared, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save The Children’s U.S. Programs, which creates lasting change for children in need! Join me!

Happy Beginning of the Holidays!

– Jacqueline

Lemony, spicey and chewey! Perfect with a good espresso.

Notes about gluten-free churro-making love: because of the lack of gluten, you don’t need to worry about how long you knead the dough as there’s no gluten to develop.  The dough isn’t also necessarily going to rise as high as it would normally.  Don’t fret!  This dough shouldn’t be sticky, and should easily be scooped into a pastry bag. 

You also don’t want to fry them until golden – thirty seconds or so does the trick to keep them nice and light inside. I usually fry about 10 at a time, and just as I pipe the last one in the first one’s ready to come out.

Because I wanted to see which flavor combination I like the most in the sugar tossing, I added spices progressively.  This step you can suit to your taste – my favorite ended up being the all-four combo.

And they’re best eaten fresh – though a quick warming later makes them perfect for coffee dunking.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups gluten-free cake flour (my blend is HERE with xanthan gum)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 3 eggs at room temperature
  • 2 packets of yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp lemon oil
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • 1 Tbsp of strong cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • Large bottle of pure vegetable or canola oil

Method:

  • In a small bow, combine yeast and warm water, stirring with a fork to dissolve.  Set aside to sit and let get all foamy and homey-smelling.
  • In a Pyrex measuring cup or small bowl, combine butter and milk and microwave until butter is melted and milk is warm.
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the breadhook, place flour and salt.  Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, lemon oil, lemon zest, eggs and milk mixture.
  • Start mixer on low and progressively increase speed until the ingredients combine.
  • Turn off mixer, add yeast mixture, and slowly increase speed until at medium/high (6 on a Kitchenaid).
  • Mix until the dough is thoroughly combined, and pulls away from the side of the mixer in light air bubbles, about five minutes.
  • Place about 1 Tbsp of oil in a large bowl.  Move dough to bowl, tossing in oil to coat.
  • Cover with thick towels and place in a warm spot.
  • Let rise for about an hour, punch down to release air, and let sit to rise again, about another hour.
  • In a large heavy-bottom pot (I used a 7 quart Creuset dutch oven), heat oil on medium/high heat.
  • Pour sugar in a doubled small paper lunch bag (or use a large paper grocery bag).
  • Move dough to pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.
  • Pipe dough directly into hot oil, snipping ends with kitchen scissors.
  • Fry for about 30 seconds (it should take about 30 seconds for you to pipe 10 churros in, and then you can start removing them one by one), then toss into the paper bag.
  • Toss in sugar and remove to a plate.
  • Add cinnamon to paper bag, and repeat frying and tossing a batch.
  • Add ginger, repeat.
  • Add nutmeg, repeat.
  • Serve warm to people you love, maybe with strong espresso or a glass of red table wine.


Rosemary Lavender Apple Galette

Rosemary Lavender Apple Galette

I was a very lucky little Dusty Baker in that I spent the majority of this past weekend surrounded by fancy food and scrumptious cocktails.  The Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival definitely didn’t disappoint in either of those categories.

But, hey, I’m not a pastry chef.  Yes, I spend most of my time dreaming about alternative flours and wishing I were in a kitchen and not on a computer.  And maaaaaybe I find the things actual chefs do with pastry incredibly sexy.  But fancy-pants, personally, I am not.

So I was particularly at home when attending the Beekman Boys’ demo at the Grand Tasting on Sunday.  Farms?  Goats?  8-minute pastry?  Put the kettle on, boys, I’m stopping in.

The Fabulous Beekman Boys – otherwise known as Brent and Josh – own a farm upstate.  They bought it as weekend retreat before they both lost their jobs and needed to turn it into a mortgage-paying enterprise.  NYC foodies by nature, they turned their inherited goats (80 of them) into a soap-making machine.  Then cheese.  Then the rest is history.

Now they’ve got a new book out, following their documentary-like show on Planet Green, and are cornering the heirloom recipe market in all that’s old-school and tasty.

Which is exaclty what their demo was – old-school and extremely tasty.  With casual banter and a genteel charm, they made a galette with nothing more than a heaping cup of flour, a stick of butter, a fistful of sugar, a splash of milk, a rough chop of rosemary, some drizzled honey and some apples.  A recipe so easy you don’t need to write it down.  Which I didn’t.  Until this post.

What I shared with them (as I sat with a happy smile in the front row) was a love of lack-of-recipes-recipes.  Many that I’ve inherited from my family contain “a soup-spoon of butter” and “enough water to dissolve the yeast”.  I’ve made pastries alongside my Tia that may be two eggs and a cup of flour away from the original… and seem to work as amounts are remedied during the eye-ball process.  I love the feeling of just throwing things in a mixer, and the intuition that comes from just knowing how a basic pastry works.

It was also fitting that they described this as the perfect thing to whip together when a friend calls to say they’ll be stopping by on their way home from church… in about ten minutes.  Because as I wrapped up an article this morning I was just about to strap on my apron when an out-of-town friend asked if she could stop in… and that she had just parked her car down the street.  We had inherited some apples from my neighbor.  I always have flour, butter and the like on hand.  And I still have rosemary growing in my window-boxes.  I could throw this together in eight minutes.  So I did.

So this recipe is yours for the adaptation.  I used my standard gluten-free cake blend as my flour, palm sugar as my crust sweetener, and the rest of the leftover lavender-honey that I had on my shelf (from my current prosciutto-cheese-basil-melon-honey obsession that’s sadly going out the window along with the summer rain).  Use whatever fruit or savory ingredient you have on hand.  Add or omit sweetener as you see fit.  Grab whatever herbs from your garden or window box that sound exciting.  And enjoy the simple, homemade creation that is truly yours for the baking.

My piece... consumed with relish...

Ingredients:

  • 1  heaping cup flour (a basic gluten-free / gluten-free cake blend works perfectly)
  • A handful of sugar (I used palm sugar)
  • A dash of kosher salt
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter
  • Milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
  • About 4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (or comparable amount of fruit or savory veg)
  • Lemon juice (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
  • 2 Tbsp honey or however you want to sweeten the fruit
  • Dried lavender florets, optional
  • Egg white, yolk or milk to wash

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 400°.  Line a baking sheet with Silpat if desired.
  • In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and sweetener.
  • Cut butter into thin slices and toss in.
  • With a fork, blend flour mixture and butter until flaky.  They pointed out that most recipes say “pea-sized”, but with the fork method it’s more flake than pea.
  • Add enough milk, slowly, pulling together with fork until the dough just comes together.
  • Roll on a floured surface until thin, either into a round or somewhat rectangular shape.
  • Transfer to baking sheet.
  • Sprinkle the center (leaving about an inch on all sides) with rosemary.
  • Optional: toss apples with about 2 Tbsp lemon.
  • Fill crust with apples, leaving a lip around the edge.
  • Drizzle with honey or sugar.
  • Fold the ends in to make a rounded crust, making sure there are no holes in the dough, and press to meet.
  • Wash with egg or milk.
  • Bake about 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned.
  • Serve warm, preferably to drop-in guests.

Picture perfect.

Millet Coconut Breakfast Pudding

Millet Pudding

Mmm, sweet things for breakfast.  Definitely not the norm in my little kitchen: I’m usually a coddled eggs over avocado and greens kinda breakfast girl.  When I’m visiting my family I’ll whip up some gluten-free waffles (I have a thing for waffle makers – thanks Rae!).  With guests in town weekend brunch means French omelets, really good bacon and some sort of roasted veggies, maybe with a side of GF blueberry cornbread.

But when I got this month’s recipe from All-Day Singin’ and Dinner on the Ground for the Burwell General Store Recipe Swap, my mind immediately went to breakfast for some reason.  And from savory to sweet.

From All-Day Singin' and Dinner on the Ground

Not that I don’t love a good slaw.  In fact, it’s one of my favorite restaurant sides as (a) it contains in its original recipe nothing that I’m allergic to, (b) I love cabbage and (c) I’m usually missing something that comes with the main dish it’s paired with, so slaw makes my meal feel more authentic.

But I honestly just don’t have room for a big thing of coleslaw in my fridge and no one to eat it with this week.  It’s a busy one in Dusty Bakerland (which is a little northwest of Candyland and because you don’t get a sugar crash you never slide down, only climb up).

So, what to swap?  I’ve been cooking for friends and baking like crazy lately, and didn’t want to go back to the grocer’s for a fifth time this week for something new.  A little pantry combing and… millet.

I’m a big fan of this little grain.  It’s gluten-free, easy to digest and contains high levels of magnesium (amongst other things), so it’s good for people who suffer from asthma or anxiety or are watching their tickers.  It has a little more bite than quinoa if you toast it first and then cook it to an al dente sort of doneness, but will also mash well and make a smooth porridge if you’re nursing someone back to health.

I figured by making a millet breakfast pudding – similar to the coconut milk rice pudding recipe I love and haven’t posted yet – I could try out the quick stovetop custard technique in this recipe (I’d usually do it a bit differently).

Because I wanted to make this an only slightly sweet breakfast recipe, I stirred in only a tiny bit of maple syrup and threw in some cracked tricolored pepper and grains of paradise – I’m actually a huge fan of pepper in sweet dishes.  And once again it brought me closer to the swapped recipe.

And for some protein – stirred in some crushed walnuts.

Result?

This is the perfect breakfast pudding and an incredible alternative to oatmeal (in general I find millet easier to digest than oats).  You can easily vary sweetness to suit your taste and throw in whatever you have lying around – protein powder, some chopped dates or prunes, raisins, almond butter… your pantry’s the limit.

If you make it sweeter and stick it in the fridge, you’ve got a delish alternative to dairy-free rice pudding.

But right now I’m gonna grab this glass and go eat my breakfast in bed.

Please check out Burwell General Store for info on the swap and see what other awesome bloggers have created at their links below.

Happy Sunday.

Recipe.  Swapped.

Sweet, creamy, filling, warm... breakfast.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter or oil
  • 1 cup millet
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten slightly
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup (honey works too)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp rockin awesome cinnamon (I should do a post about my cinnamon obsession soon)
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (grab a microplane and jar of nutmegs, you won’t be disappointed)
  • 4 grinds of a pepper grinder
  • 8 grinds of a grains of paradise grinder (about 1/8 tsp)
  • Nuts and dried fruits to taste
  • Salt to taste

Directions:

  • In a large heavy pot, melt butter or bring oil up to heat.
  • Add millet and stir to combine.  Cook until toasty and just starting to brown.
  • Meanwhile, in a small pot with a tight lid bring 2 cups of water up to boil.
  • When toasty, transfer millet to boiling water, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes until done – this should be about 5 minutes after you no longer see any water bubbling.
  • Meanwhile, put coconut milk, beaten eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and spices into the now empty pot and set it over low heat.
  • Whisk all ingredients together fully.
  • As the mixture heats, whisk constantly until it forms a light custard.  Once the millet is done cooking you can bring the heat up on the milk mixture a bit – just make sure to whisk constantly so that the egg doesn’t curdle as it cooks.
  • Add cooked millet to coconut custard mixture and mix to combine.
  • Toss in any added extras, jump into bed with a good book and maybe hum a song or two.

Please click on this cute little blue frog to see what the other swappers have created and get their recipes!

GF Honey Layer Cake inspired by Once Upon a Mattress

Layers of downy gluten-free cake with fruit-laden creams

“I come from the land of the foggy, foggy dew ooh-ooh-ooh!
Ooh-ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh-ooh!
Where walking through the meadow in the morning is like walking through glue!
The swamps of home are brushed with green and gold at break of day.
The swaps of home are lovely to behold from far away.”

So sings Winnifred, the heroine of Once Upon a Mattress, the musical based on the fairy-tale The Princess and the Pea.  I first discovered Sarah Jessica Parker’s recording when in high school, and fell for the slapstick comedy and crazy belting of the tiny star.  Then I heard Carol Burnett tackle it in the original recording.  For any gal who grew up reading princess fairy tales, this one kicks butt; a story of a princess so genuine all fall in love with her for her crass attitude, humble upbringing, huge heart, and ability to drink and dance them under the table.

This recipe was inspired by Kelly at IngestedRead, a submission for her September Fairytale Challenge of The Princess and the Pea. She originally inspired me to utilize whatever I was reading into a recipe (and so created my smoky, sexy American noir Big Sleep Cupcakes) as she does on her blog across the pond.  In turn I evidently inspired her to open a page up to her readers and blogging friends.  Please check her out – what’s better than books and sweet things?

So in daydreaming about this recipe I obviously thought of layering a gluten-free cake with, well, something.  And while I wasn’t about to use real peas or kill my blood-sugar by making little ones out of fondant, I figured I could incorporate pea-like ingredients.

Pomegranate seeds.  Yes.

And blueberries.

Oh, and I have some dried cranberries and ground walnuts on my shelf.  Perfect.

So I whipped up this moist, slightly-sweet honey cake with a blend of rice flours and starches, using the basic method that I used when making my Little Red Velvet Cupcakes.  A few days before I had made some Pomegranate Lime Coconut Milk Ice Cream – completely dairy free, it’s smooth, creamy and delicately citrusy – one of my new favorite ice creams on its own, adding just the amount of cold-creamy-sweetness I wanted for this dessert.  I also whipped up some coconut milk whipped cream, and layered them all together in a trifle glass with some fresh blueberries and pomegranate seeds.

Result?  Let’s just say I’m one happy allergy-ridden gal.  It’s extremely rare that I get a more complex dessert that I can eat all of.  Cookies and cupcakes are great and all, but this has everything I love about dessert: ice cream, fruit and whipped cream (one of my favorite things on the planet are those Italian tarts with custard and glazed fruit, which I miss horribly), and a not-too-sweet cake.  Put them all together and it feels special.  Not the fanciest combinations of desserts in the world, but one that makes me extremely happy.

View from my window

Oh, and the princess of the swamp was definitely channeled today as I took these pictures: I took the ice cream out to defrost, took the dog on a quick walk and returned to a black sky and pouring rain, making it impossible to take exciting photos.  I was miffed.

But it didn’t stop me from enjoying the crap outta the subject matter after.

 

Mmmmm... cake...

Check out my post on Pomegranate Lime Ice Cream for that recipe and how to make coconut milk whipped cream.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups gluten-free cake flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup palm sugar, white sugar or sucanat
  • 1/8 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 cup safflower oil
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 rounded tablespoons Tofutti “sour cream”
  • almond or soy milk (directions below)
  • 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp distilled white vinegar, separated
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350º
  • Butter / spray your desired cake pan of choice
  • Add Tofutti cream cheese to a liquid measuring cup and fill to just shy of one cup with almond or soy milk.  Whisk thoroughly with a fork until smooth.  Add 1 Tbsp white vinegar and continue mixing.
  • In a small bowl, whisk flour and salt thoroughly.
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer, mix sugar, honey and oil thoroughly on medium speed.
  • Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions.
  • Add vanilla.
  • Turn speed down to low.  Add the flour in three additions, alternating with 1/2 of the milk.  Make sure to mix thoroughly between additions.
  • Mix baking soda and remaining 2 tsps vinegar until foamy.  Add and beat for 10 seconds or until incorporated.
  • Bake for about 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Cool in pan for at least 15 minutes before removing to cool on a rack, or cool completely in pans.
  • To assemble, use a round cookie cutter (fitted to whatever serving glass you’re going to be serving in) to cut the cake out in circles.  Half the cake length-wise (or in thirds depending on the thickness of your cake – you want thin layers).  Place one layer of cake in the glass, then top with whipped cream and few fresh blueberries.  Add another layer of cake and then some ice cream.  Then a final layer of cake with a jot of whipped cream and some fresh pomegranate seeds.
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Bloody Derby (Bourbon Bloody Mary)

Say hello to my little friend - The Bloody Derby

This gray morning in NYC, I grabbed a leash and left the phone at home.  Normally I multitask and check my emails, facebook and morning texts.  Or plug in my headphones and use the time to mentally prep for my day.  But this morning the dog and I looked out at the cool water that separates Manhattan from Jersey as we walked in relative silence.  And when I got home I left the phone by the bed and went into the kitchen to tackle my to-do’s, the things I really love.

It was that kind of morning.  I needed a break from technology.

Now, this recipe wasn’t made from a place of melancholy or rage against the machine.  I just happened to want to put this recipe together for a while, and the gorgeous tomatoes and peppers in my kitchen can’t withstand the humidity to make it to the weekend.  I made the tomato reduction for the juice in the morning before grabbing lunch with a beloved cousin (hi Jon!) and set myself for a scandalous mid-day cocktail upon coming home.  No, this isn’t a habit.  But I’m listening to speakeasy music from the roaring 20s and I can’t throw this delicious concoction away!  I have to drink it!  The sacrifices we make, I know.

Posting the cocktail – the first beverage on The Dusty Baker – was actually inspired by a fun first date I had a few weeks ago.  I introduced the New Man to the joy that is putting bourbon in a top-notch Bloody Mary instead of vodka (I lived on the border of Kentucky while working at a theatre in Cincinnati for a bit and fell in love with bourbon distilleries.  And bacon. And bluegrass).  We were at the lounge in the Ace Hotel, which has a delicious bar.  I had a feeling they would serve up a good Bloody Mary.  And, in my dusty little opinion, the spicy mixture of tomato, horseradish and citrus is so much better complimented with bourbon than vodka.

New Man asked the mixologist if he had heard a name for it.  He hadn’t.  Googling brought up nothing.  Throughout the long, fun getting-to-know-you conversation we came up with a few options, and settled on Bloody Derby.

So while I’m obviously not the first to put bourbon in a Bloody Mary, you heard it here first, folks.  September 28th, 2011.  Spread it around like wild-fire.

Talley ho.

Like a Bloody Mary... but BETTER!

The Bloody Derby.

Notes:  There’s a lot of “to tastes” in this recipe, because obviously a lot depends on the kind of tomato juice you use and how generally spicy you like your cocktails.

I’m Azorean Portuguese and Italian, so I like my food and drinks with a spicy kick.   I started with halves of the spice proportions below, and kept adding, eventually exceeding these proportions.  And if you want it a bit darker, throw in a dash of Worcestershire sauce.  I just don’t keep it on hand.

I made my tomato juice old-school style: meaning I don’t own a sieve and so literally pressed cooked tomatoes, garlic and onions with my hands through a strainer.  Worked for me.  But if you don’t want to make your own, I suggest either something rich and organic or Clamato, which is what is usually used in Bloody Caesars. 

This combo makes a sweet and dark cocktail, with a bit of smoke.  Big fan. Welcome to Kentucky, folks. Via Washington Heights.

Oh, also, props go out to Rosemarried and Boulder Locavore, who often have delicious cocktails amongst their incredible recipes and inspire me to want to start paying more attention to my beverages.  Stop by to see their versions of this classic cocktail or to learn how to flavor your own liquor.  I’m a big fan of these ladies – please show them some love.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cubes ice
  • 4 oz tomato juice
  • 1 1/2 oz bourbon (my favorite is Willets Reserve.  But if it’s too fancy of a bourbon for you to mix, Makers Mark works just dandy)
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated horseradish to taste
  • 1/4 tsp minced garlic to taste
  • pinch of kosher salt to taste
  • freshly cracked tricolor pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp Tabasco to taste
  • 2 wedges of lemon
  • 2 wedges of lime
  • celery and carrot sticks
  • adorable sweet baby peppers

Directions:

  • Mix ice, tomato juice, bourbon, horseradish, garlic, salt, pepper, Tobasco, juice of one lemon wedge and juice of one lime wedge in a chilled glass.
  • Garnish with remaining citrus, celery and carrot sticks, and sweet peppers.
  • Drink with brunch outdoors, while listening to old speakeasy music, or when perusing the Sunday Times.
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