tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2782917998814384542024-03-18T23:25:18.632-04:00Gluten Free DomesticMrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-19964084844912532742012-07-01T10:15:00.000-04:002012-07-02T07:50:59.365-04:00Our First Meat Pie<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some reason, I have wanted to make a meat pie for years. Something in my childhood imagination was fascinated by meat pies in historical fiction books, such as the Little House on the Prairie series. I also appreciate one-dish meals, especially for purposes of packing leftovers for lunch at work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This recipe is still evolving. Something is needed to keep the meat holding together better, particularly when warm - I imagine this is generally accomplished with a gravy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Beef Pie</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adapted from <a href="http://megan-deliciousdishings.blogspot.com/2011/03/irish-beef-hand-pies.html" target="_blank">this version</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 small or medium onion, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 carrots, sliced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 sweet potato, diced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fat for saut</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">éing: butter, coconut oil, lard, tallow, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 lb. ground beef</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">several tablespoons <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/05/homemade-fermented-ketchup.html" target="_blank">ketchup</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">seasoning: unrefined salt, freshly ground pepper, paprika, herbs, gluten free soy sauce, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">two <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/05/pie-crust.html" target="_blank">pie crusts</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: these are mere suggestions. Want to use a different tuber than the sweet potato? Add celery or broccoli and nix the carrots? Use a different mix of seasonings? Do!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Melt some healthy, moderately heat-stable fats in a skillet; I used a combination of grass-fed butter and cold-pressed coconut oil. Add onions, carrots, potatoes, and additional veggies of choice. Saut</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">é over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes until everything is soft and the potato dices are cooked through. Place cooked veggies into a mixing bowl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now brown the ground beef in the same pan. Once done, dump in with the veggies. Add the ketchup, a teaspoon or more of unrefined salt, and other seasonings to taste. Mix well.</span><br />
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Dump the mixture into a pie pan lined with one pie crust. Place the second pie crust on top and seal the edges.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bake at </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 12px;">350</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12px;">°F. Mine took a good 30 minutes. I recommend starting to check after 20-25 minutes; it is done when the crust is lightly browned.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-90329630043839127152012-06-08T21:50:00.000-04:002012-06-08T21:50:15.850-04:00Traveling Gluten Free and Homemade Jerky Recipes<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eating gluten free is so easy at home that I do not even have to think about it. We just do not buy any gluten-containing foods. No worries about cross-contamination. Until I step outside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the downers about celiac disease is that it appears to be permanent. Mr. D and I wonder if we will ever be able to travel without my food being more hassle than it is worth. Yes, I hear that Italy is the best place in the world to eat gluten free, but the language barriers freak me out. If I cannot get waiters in the U.S. to understand what I mean by taking whatever steps are necessary to prevent cross-contamination, am I likely to fare better by presenting a card with instructions in their language to that effect? Plus, there are places other than Italy where we would like to visit eventually.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Theoretical woes aside, this is a very practical conundrum. What does one eat on a road trip? Some restaurants - mostly ones called Chipotle, where all the food is gluten free except the tortillas - are OK for a filling, tasty meal without being too expensive. Alas, along the 500 miles between our home and where I grew up and the rest of my family lives, there are no Chipotle locations to be found. Even if there were, snacks help make a long drive more bearable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To drink, we enjoy bringing along a jug of <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/05/kombucha-how-i-gave-up-soda.html" target="_blank">kombucha</a> or some chilled brewed herbal tea lightly sweetened with a touch of honey - it's like juice, but without the truckload of fructose to poison you along the way. It's most refreshing. Oh, and stainless steel bottles of well-iced water, because most snack foods are salty enough that you will want it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food just takes some thinking ahead, and this goes for any healthy or reasonably frugal food on the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honestly, the most difficult part is getting enough healthy fats. Excellent ideas include starchy fruits (think bananas and berries), store-bought gluten free crackers, grass-fed whole milk cheese, and Mr. D's favorite, homemade grass-fed beef jerky. Avocados would be a fabulous snack, too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, did I say homemade jerky from grass-fed beef? Yep. Healthy jerky in any flavor you can manage to put together, and even $5/lb. ground beef will end up making fantastic jerky for less money, probably, than cruddy jerky. It was my husband who made the jerky for a recent weekend trip, and his ideas were so delicious I just had to share. He invented all four of the combinations suggested below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jerky</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for each pound of ground beef:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. unrefined salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. garlic powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp. onion powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lots of freshly ground black pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">plus one of the following combinations, or invent your own:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 2 T. gluten free soy sauce, 2 T. raw honey (warmed a little to facilitate mixing), a few pinches of ground cloves, and 1/4 t. ground cinnamon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- an additional 1/2 t. garlic powder, plus up to 1 T. each of dried rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil; do not be shy with these!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 1 1/2 T. gluten free soy sauce, even more black pepper, 1 t. paprika, and 1/2 t. red wine vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- up to 1 T. ground cumin, 1 t. paprika, 1/4 t. mustard powder, and a little or a lot of chili powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mix ground beef and your flavor ingredients together thoroughly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make in a dehydrator: Spread no more than 1/4" thick on solid insert trays or parchment paper cut in the shape of your dehydrator trays. Using a dull utensil such as a butter knife, so as not to tear paper or damage trays, cut jerky into strips <i>before </i>it all hardens and becomes more difficult to cut. Dehydrate for at least six hours, but do check on it every hour after that and remove it as soon as it is not at all pink anymore but still soft. It will harden considerably as it cools.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make in an oven: Spread no more than 1/4" thick on parchment paper or silicone baking sheets. Cut with a dull utensil. Put in the oven and turn it on to the lowest setting, ideally 150</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°F, and no greater than 200</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. Check after 4-6 hours and take out while still soft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Theoretically jerky does not need to be stored in the fridge, but I put it in there anyway just in case enough moisture might remain to make spoilage feasible. An airtight container is recommended as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While all of Mr. D's jerky was enjoyable, my favorite was definitely the version with Italian herbs that made the jerky taste like pizza. I was eating bite-size jerky atop crackers with bits of cheese, having what fun one can during a nine-hour drive. My least favorite was the cumin version, but I dislike almost anything spicy, and if you like spicy then you stand a good chance of enjoying it mightily.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What travel snacks do you like?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-61080166358309464992012-06-03T17:14:00.000-04:002012-06-08T20:42:34.926-04:00White Rolls...for a Health Nut?<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you saw my <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/05/pie-crust.html" target="_blank">pie crust recipe</a>, it may have struck you as odd that a self-confessed nutrition geek is advocating the use of white rice flour. Does not everybody know that refined grains are empty calories? Don't those aware of the harmful effects of whole grains just turn to healthier processing techniques or leave grains behind?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure. However, rice is a bit of an exception. Soaking and sprouting don't help much to mitigate the damaging effects of brown rice, but on the other hand, rice is relatively low in anti-nutrients to begin with when compared to other grains. Refining brown rice into white actually does a pretty good job of removing anti-nutrients. Now, it's true that this also takes away most of what nutrients were there in the first place. I am not advocating that anybody rely on white rice as more than a source of clean-burning glucose, and exactly what role if any rice should play in your diet depends upon what else you eat, but it generally is healthier than brown rice because brown rice <i>removes</i> nutrients from your body.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, we use white rice flour along with pure starches such as potato starch and tapioca starch/flour on a semi-regular basis. The primary objection to these seems to be the claim that because of their high glycemic index as individual ingredients, consuming them in any context will cause unhealthy blood sugar spikes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have known people with severe blood sugar problems to refuse white rice but eat moderate helpings of brown rice, apparently unaware that the difference in glycemic index is only one point (56 vs. 55) and the glycemic index of brown rice is the same as that of a Snickers bar!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> No, I do not recommend that anybody chow down on pure flour as a snack, but who would? To the extent that glycemic index matters (and that extent is scientifically controversial), what matters is the meal you actually put into your mouth. A high-glycemic meal is sometimes more accurately termed a fat-deficient meal. So loading your dinner rolls with grass-fed butter, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/eating-liver.html" target="_blank">pâté</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, real cheese, or herb-infused olive oil is entirely different from chowing them down naked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So yes, we do eat white rolls, and I do consider a warm roll with my soup a non-compromise health food. They go perfectly with many meals and, reheated in the toaster oven from the freezer, contribute to a quick snack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Rolls</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 t. active yeast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 t. sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup warm (not hot) water or milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 T. honey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 T. melted butter or coconut oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/2 t. baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/2 t. guar gum or xanthan gum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 t. unrefined salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup sweet rice flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2/3 cup tapioca starch, potato starch, arrowroot starch, or non-GMO cornstarch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup white rice flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a mixing bowl, whisk yeast, sugar, and warm water or milk. Let sit for ten minutes or so to proof.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whisk in egg, honey, and melted fat. Add dry ingredients, stirring between additions, and mix until thoroughly combined.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scoop into silicone or paper-lined muffin cups. Let rise in a warm, moist place. Tip: Place unrisen rolls into a cool oven, place a wide baking pan at least 1" deep on the bottom rack, and pour boiling water into the pan right before you shut the oven door. This creates the ideal rise environment. With this technique, my rolls rise more than enough in 45 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Bake at 350</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°F for 20 minutes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These keep on the counter for about a day and freeze excellently.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: Mr. D made these the other day using coconut flour instead of tapioca starch and skipping the rise time. They were totally different but quite delicious!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is part of <a href="http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-642012/" target="_blank">Monday Mania</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-55091775185825645382012-05-29T19:40:00.003-04:002012-05-29T19:40:48.102-04:00Homemade Fermented Ketchup<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The recipe below marked a major shift in the way I thought about cooking. Now my default assumption is to make things from scratch, and if I am buying a prepackaged "ingredient", I question whether I might be able to make it myself while saving money and making a higher quality product. Usually the answer is that I can! Before, I didn't think about having options beyond store brand vs. name brand. Ketchup was always super-sugary and nutritionally negligible. Yes, I was one of those kids that liked ketchup on everything, even though I despised tomato sauce.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made this first because it sounded interesting and I am always looking for more things to eat lacto-fermented/probiotic, but I was ruined after the first taste. Now I cannot go back to store ketchup. It tastes awful to me in comparison. Even friends who are put off by some of the unfamiliar things that I eat (such as <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/tender-juicy-beef-delicious-and-dirt.html" target="_blank">organ</a> <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/eating-liver.html" target="_blank">meats</a>) have begged for this recipe.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you ever had leftovers or homemade goodies spoil? One of the easy-to-overlook differences between homemade and pre-processed foods is that home cooks do not normally add preservatives. Sometimes we forget that real food spoils, sometimes quicker than we anticipate. Lacto-fermentation has been used for thousands of years by regular people in low-tech settings to preserve foods, so it comes as no surprise how easy and effective it is. Fermentation also enhances the nutrient content of many foods. The basic idea is to set up a good environment for lactobacilli to flourish, add some lactobacilli directly or wait for wild microorganisms to take advantage of the setting, and then these bacteria produce natural preservatives, chiefly lactic acid. Many people think of alcoholic fermentation when they hear about fermenting something, and it is the same basic idea but uses different organisms that thrive under different conditions. Lacto-fermentation (also sometimes called salt pickling) results in only teensy bits of alcohol production, if any - well under 1% - so have no fear that ketchup will give you a buzz.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One note with ingredients: It is tricky to get tomato paste that isn't packed in endocrine disruptors, and endocrine disruptors are undesirable, especially if you consume them regularly - which you do if your food touches nearly any kind of plastic! Even BPA-free containers typically contain other similar compounds, so a non-reactive container such as glass is a much better way to go. I want to make ketchup in the future by cooking down tomato sauce to a ketchup-y consistency since it is easy to find affordable tomato sauce in glass jars, but so far I have only used tomato paste.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fish sauce, allspice, and cloves in the recipe are very important for getting that distinctive ketchup flavor. I have used only cloves and that works well, but it is worth adding the others.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ketchup</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adapted from <a href="http://gnowfglins.com/2010/06/16/lacto-fermented-homemade-ketchup/#" target="_blank">this recipe</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 oz. tomato paste (the Bionaturae brand has tomato paste in glass jars)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1-2 T. liquid whey*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. apple cider vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 T. blackstrap molasses</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. raw honey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. unrefined salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 t. ground cinnamon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/8 t. ground cloves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">optional but encouraged: 2 T. fish sauce (made from anchovies and found in Asian markets - no, it isn't "fishy" or gross at all) and/or 1/8 t. ground allspice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">any other seasonings you like: garlic powder, a little cayenne, a hint of mustard, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mix all ingredients together. Taste. If necessary, add more vinegar or sweetener and adjust the seasonings. Then add water gradually until the desired consistency is achieved; I end up adding about 1/3 cup.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pour into a glass jar and screw on the lid. Leave out at room temperature for 2-4 days to allow the good microorganisms in the whey to ferment it slightly (which is not likely to change the taste in this recipe). Store in the refrigerator. I still have ketchup made from a huge batch last summer in my fridge right now - no mold, no grossness, and it still tastes great! I cannot guarantee that yours will last this long but I think you can expect at least a few months, unless you eat it before then.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Whey: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the probiotic "starter" to ferment your ketchup more easily and successfully. You can leave this out, but in that case I recommend refrigerating your ketchup immediately and using it up very quickly before it spoils. This is not powdered whey you can purchase but must be separated from yogurt or a similar probiotic dairy source. To obtain this, set some yogurt in a colander lined with a paper towel, thin dishcloth, or handkerchief. Place this over a bowl to collect the whey that drips out. Leave out for several hours or overnight. This should result in up to half the yogurt dripping out as whey, which will keep for several months in a lidded glass jar in the refrigerator, and the other half remaining in the colander and thickening to resemble cream cheese. This "cream cheese" is a good probiotic substitute for cream cheese, by the way, and lasts a couple of weeks if refrigerated.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-33516384111311017772012-05-21T22:26:00.001-04:002012-05-21T22:27:51.788-04:00A Cornucopia of Ice Creams<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. D loves ice cream. I enjoy it mightily myself. In a great inrush of fantabulous kitchen equipment that preceded and followed our wedding, we got an ice cream maker. I had previously made my own pseudo-ice cream without a churn by whipping cream and folding in egg yolks, sweetener, and flavoring, such as honey, vanilla, and cinnamon oil. Freezing this results in an OK ice cream (that goes jaw-droppingly well with port, unexpectedly enough).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ice cream from an ice cream maker is much better. I have figured out an ice cream base into which I insert various flavors, because hey, I prefer figuring out one fantastic wheel and using it each time to reinventing the wheel over and over again. Raw milk and cream work wonderfully, but I normally pull out a BPA-free can or two of coconut milk. The advantage of coconut milk is that the ice cream is scoopable right out of the freezer. Normally the water content of milk makes ice cream very icey and hard when frozen, requiring thawing before one can dig it out with a spoon. Store-bought ice cream gets around this by including antifreeze agents as industry-standard additives i.e. ones that do not have to be listed on the ingredient label. Alcohol is a good anti-freeze additive in homemade ice cream.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ice Cream Base</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 14-oz. can coconut milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-or-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup cream and 1 cup whole milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3-4 egg yolks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sweetener to taste, such as 1/4 cup raw honey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1-2 T. or more alcohol, optional but strongly recommended if using milk and cream for better frozen texture</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Select an alcohol that will not make a noticeable flavor difference, such as plain vodka, or choose something that will enhance and complement the ice cream.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Note that vanilla extract is almost always in a strong alcohol base, so it definitely counts as adding alcohol.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some flavor suggestions:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- grade B maple syrup as the sweetener</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 1 T. lime zest, 1-2 T. fresh lime juice, and rum as the alcohol (or use another citrus fruit)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 1-2 cups peanut butter and a large handful of chopped chocolate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 1 cup chopped or pur</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">é</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ed fruit</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- a few drops of peppermint or cinnamon oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- whole cane sugar as the sweetener plus one cup very strong fresh coffee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- 1/2 t. almond extract, Frangelico as the alcohol, 2 T. cocoa, and 1 T. strong coffee</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- chopped nuts and whole cane sugar<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<i>Method:</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thoroughly whisk together milk, egg yolks, sweetener, alcohol, and any flavor ingredients. Pour into ice cream maker and churn according to instructions. Easy-peasy.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Golly, now I'm hungry. Good thing the second combination on the list is sitting in my freezer!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What kind of ice cream do you like? What additional homemade flavors can you recommend for us?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-43311061528586755262012-05-16T21:36:00.000-04:002012-05-23T07:54:02.845-04:00Kombucha! How I Gave Up Soda<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hear there are many health claims surrounding kombucha. It's definitely probiotic. It contains B vitamins - though I'm not sure how high the levels are. It contains cleansing acids, notably glucuronic acid that is used in our bodies to metabolize toxins (drugs<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, pollutants, </span>bilirubin<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, </span>androgens<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, </span>estrogens<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, </span>mineralocorticoids<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, </span>glucocorticoids<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, </span>fatty acid <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">derivatives, </span>retinoids<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">, and </span>bile acids, so sayeth Wikipedia). And it's probably claimed to cure everything from cancer to acne. I have no idea whether any of these purported facts are true.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I do know is that I crave sweet, fizzy beverages from time to time, and most of you do, too. Sugary sodas are really bad for us. Artificially sweetened sodas are probably no better, and may even be worse. I know that drinking soda makes me feel cruddy later, but it's so tempting at times. Since I've been eating a diet with unrestricted healthy fats and little in the way of sugar (including unrefined sugars - they're sugar too, even if they are less bad than refined sugar), my sugar cravings have gone from a near-constant to the occasional desire, either postprandially or out of genuine hunger. All the same, I still want a gosh-darn sweet drink sometimes, and now I get to have it. Now I have, on average, just a few sips of soda per month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first time I tried kombucha I had to purchase a bottle at the store. It was...OK. The particular flavor does take a little getting used to, but it was fine. For about $4 I got something that was barely above mediocre to my palate. I decided to culture it myself, bought a bottle and left it in a mason jar in my college apartment until it formed a scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeasts) culture, and coupled together this brewing setup.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iShu23V0ojY/T7RH2t_VXgI/AAAAAAAAAJs/yZJAZnOvBR0/s1600/gluten+free+domestic+-+191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iShu23V0ojY/T7RH2t_VXgI/AAAAAAAAAJs/yZJAZnOvBR0/s320/gluten+free+domestic+-+191.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ready to be harvested!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That scoby I use to brew much tastier kombucha than its forbear, and for mere pennies a bottle. Refined sugar, teabags, and water are cheap. I just taste it after it has brewed for a typical amount of time - six days in my kitchen - and bottle it and store in the fridge. That means I control the sweet:sour ratio. Tweaking with the kinds of tea can yield further taste variations, but I have not found it necessary to venture there. Nor have I bothered to do secondary fermentation to make it a really fizzy drink and I only briefly was flavoring my kombucha. I like setups that I can put on at as close to autopilot as possible! Here's how I do it:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Really Easy Kombucha</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup refined white sugar (pure cane, to avoid GMO beet sugar, or else organic)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 unflavored black teabags (e.g. Lipton)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 unflavored green teabag (optional)*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">two quarts filtered water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">one scoby "mushroom" and some kombucha from a previous batch (if you live near me, let me know if you want enough to start with)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Do feel free to experiment with tea combinations. Just always use at least half black tea because that's what the scoby needs to thrive, and it's also advised that you keep a "clean", non-experimented upon scoby aside in case you contaminate the guinea pig one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put filtered water on to boil. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add teabags - I take off the strings and tags and just let them swim. Once the water boils for about a minute, turn off the heat. Let the tea steep for...I don't know...at least ten minutes. I walk away or do other things in the kitchen when this is going on. You want this much stronger than you would brew it for a cup of tea. But do remove the bags after a while.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SWJkYnNYNdo/T7RH1UDVxEI/AAAAAAAAAJk/Yk4I-ohT42g/s1600/gluten+free+domestic+-+190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SWJkYnNYNdo/T7RH1UDVxEI/AAAAAAAAAJk/Yk4I-ohT42g/s320/gluten+free+domestic+-+190.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See how extra-dark this is? That's what to go for.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let cool to lukewarm or room temperature. This is essential so you do not kill the living kombucha culture. If you touch the liquid and it feels as if it could burn you if you kept in it, it is too hot. The same temperature that starts to cook your finger cells starts to kill off typical bacteria and starts to denature enzymes and other heat-sensitive food components (about 117</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">F, if you are curious - that is why food heated above this temperature is no longer considered raw).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Pour the tepid liquid into a gallon-size glass container. Do not use plastic or metal. I like to use an old iced drink dispenser, as the spout makes harvesting a snap.</span></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dSW-g-8DN7A/T7RIAYJveaI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/78ql7Fv1YqA/s1600/gluten+free+domestic+-+192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dSW-g-8DN7A/T7RIAYJveaI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/78ql7Fv1YqA/s320/gluten+free+domestic+-+192.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aforementioned snap.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stir in some kombucha from a previous batch. I generally use about a pint, but less is fine. I would not hesitate to use only 1/2-1 cup. Add your scoby. It may sink or float - it will probably eventually float, but it does not matter. Cover the top of the glass container with a paper towel or thin dishcloth and secure with a rubber band.</span><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ALb314LRcrI/T7RIg9roxyI/AAAAAAAAAKU/uzM1ppn9EcM/s1600/gluten+free+domestic+-+194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ALb314LRcrI/T7RIg9roxyI/AAAAAAAAAKU/uzM1ppn9EcM/s320/gluten+free+domestic+-+194.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ready to go!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now put it away in a room temperature or somewhat warm place where it will not be disturbed and is not in any direct sunlight.<br />
<br />
Notice how much lighter the finished kombucha is compared to the batch at the beginning of its brew. </span></span></span><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Seys_K-4UYE/T7RIaeUe2iI/AAAAAAAAAKI/F-fQHTwmM0Y/s1600/gluten+free+domestic+-+195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Seys_K-4UYE/T7RIaeUe2iI/AAAAAAAAAKI/F-fQHTwmM0Y/s320/gluten+free+domestic+-+195.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our awkward utility closet off the kitchen.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a handful of variables involved in how long a batch will take. Ambient temperature, sugar concentration, how much starter kombucha was added, scoby thickness, etc. all make a difference.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taste a little after five days. If there is any taste of tea left, it is not done. If it is too sweet, it is not done, but if it is too sour, it is overdone (just pour out 3/4 and start a new batch with the rest if that happens). It will get a little fizzy, too. My thick-scoby-ed, heavy on the starter kombucha, concentrated batch takes about six days pretty consistently and I dilute it 3:1 with a little water when I drink it. Your batch may take ten. It may take longer in the winter but brew rapidly in summer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it is done, harvest into glass containers and refrigerate. It keeps for a few weeks but can gradually become more sour. Open carefully in case it fizzes too much.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What if you do not have access to a scoby?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As mentioned above, I started my own culture with store-bought kombucha. To do this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Purchase one of those $4 bottles from a health food store or grocery store. Pour it all into a very clean quart glass mason jar, cover with a cloth or paper napkin using a rubber band, and let sit <u>motionless and untouched</u> at room temperature, preferably in a slightly warm place but not in direct sunlight. Take a look every few days. Eventually a beige or tan "pancake" will form across the top of the kombucha. This is your scoby. This may take up to two weeks, methinks. Use the scoby and the (now quite sour and vinegary, I imagine) accompanying kombucha to start a batch. Scobys get thicker the longer a batch brews and a new one forms during each batch, so yours will not start anywhere near as thick as mine is in the picture.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">General note on fermenting kombucha: It is very unlikely if you follow commonsensical kitchen cleaning practices, but it is always possible that your scoby could get contaminated by bad microorganisms. Kombucha is a fairly hardy culture and I have never had any issues, but do not foolishly consume something that looks, smells, or tastes "off" (moldy, etc.). Brown stringy things coming from the scoby are normal, as are smaller bits that tend to end up in your kombucha drink. Filter them out if you are grossed out - I just leave the last centimeter of my kombucha undrunk - but they are all harmless or beneficial.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Have you tried kombucha? Do you have any additional tips for kicking a soda habit?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is part of <a href="http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2012/05/hearth-and-soul-blog-hop_22.html" target="_blank">Hearth and Soul</a>.</span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-35990035041047227792012-05-13T13:15:00.000-04:002012-05-15T20:12:29.834-04:00Basic Cooking: About Seafood<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I t<span style="background-color: white;">hink that eating seafood regularly is really important. Just as I strongly recommend regular <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/eating-liver.html" target="_blank">liver</a></span> consumption, shellfish or finfish (including roe) are on the menu at least once per week, and our favorite indulgent dinner is going out for sushi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why fish? First, let's get the mercury fears out of the way. Almost any fish you'd think of eating is <a href="http://chriskresser.com/is-eating-fish-safe-a-lot-safer-than-not-eating-fish" target="_blank">safe</a>. Essentially, fish isn't mercury and nothing else. It also contains selenium that protects against mercury. Real food is complicated and cool like that. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roe and shellfish are especially rich sources of cholesterol, which scares some people, but dietary cholesterol consumption has nothing to do with blood lipid profiles - and even there, it's much healthier to have cholesterol on the high side than to be deficient. You should avoid oxidized cholesterol (heat-damaged cholesterol), but that is unlikely to be a problem if you eat real food. Things like powdered eggs probably have lots of oxidized cholesterol, but then again, is it surprising that highly altered foods have been altered away from at least some of their goodness?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, on to the good stuff. Doubtless you have heard of the benefits of DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids as well as the importance of cutting out oils high in omega-6 fats that destroy the benefits of omega-3s. These omega-3 fats are not found in any plant foods whatsoever and we are really bad at putting them together ourselves. No, flax and other alleged plant sources contain zero omega-3s, only precursors that can be converted into omega-3s in limited amounts under the right conditions in healthy adults. That's a lot of qualifiers! Omega-3 fatty acids are found in healthy animal products of all kinds, but they are by far the most abundant in seafood. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suffice it to say that we can only count on </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">preformed</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> omega-3s for...well, I hate to call basic health a "benefit", because that makes it sound as if it is an optional bonus instead of normative. Know that pregnant and lactating mothers as well as infants and children have additional needs for preformed omega-3s, especially DHA. They, along with cholesterol, are essentially what our brains are made of. Seafood not the only source of this brain food but it is the best.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Additionally, among the various seafoods are the best or among the best food sources of zinc (from oysters), iron (from clams), vitamin B12 (especially in shellfish), vitamin D (from roe and from oily fish like herring, sardines, and mackerel), iodine, and selenium.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sea-dwelling creatures have mineral content that land animals living on depleted soils do not.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> These are all in their absorbable forms in fish.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plant sources are, unfortunately, not well digested by humans for most of these. "Bacterial sources" of vitamin B12 are </span><a href="http://www.ajcn.org/content/48/3/852.full.pdf+html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">different</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from actual B12 and these analogues actually make B12 deficiency worse!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Picking out quality fishies without breaking the bank is tricky. I sympathize with those who limit fish to save money or only buy cheap species of fish that are not very nutritious - tilapia, I'm looking at you, here - but my personal view is that it is deeply unwise to skimp too much on your health. It is such a blessing to have good health that, having been chronically ill from undiagnosed celiac disease in the past, I refuse to take health for granted anymore. So I am a big believer in investing wisely in your health. It is easy to underestimate the cumulative impact of genuinely good nutrition. If you are reading this blog, you can probably afford to eat a healthy diet.<br />
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In the U.S., decent fish may be $8/lb. and your typical protein $3/lb., and that makes fish sound so expensive that you never buy it. Think about it, though. That's $1-2 more per serving, so if you keep it to once a week, that is fabulous deal if you pick a nutritional powerhouse! Back when I ate a typical American diet, I didn't think badly of spending $1.25 on a soda a few times per week, and many people are OK with $4 coffee confections on a regular basis. Get the idea? I can tell you that I spend less than $5/week per person on large helpings of great seafood. Bright orange frozen salmon from Trader Joe's and fresh shellfish from a local fishmonger are very manageable where I live <i>once you compare prices and consistently stick to the best deals</i>. Knowing local prices also means I stock up in the event of a genuine deal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But which seafood do we shell out the extra cash for? All are not nutritionally equal! We have all heard that wild-caught seafood is the way to go. There is truth to this, but it's more complicated than simply farmed vs. wild. Farmed tilapia from China is definitely a no-go, but for some species, farmed is actually better! Plus, in some cases, we are fishing wild populations to extinction, and that's both bad for the environment and bad for us. <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx?c=ln" target="_blank">The Monterey Bay Aquarium website</a> is an excellent resource for information on clean and sustainable seafood sources.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the top recommendations that look as if you can find them just by going to the grocery store:</span><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wild Alaskan salmon</span></span></span></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">farmed oysters</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">farmed mussels</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wild Pacific sardines (packed in olive oil or water, not seed oils!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">farmed Rainbow trout</span></li>
</span></span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_alternatives.aspx" target="_blank">chart</a> for selecting sustainable alternatives to some poor choices. Health-wise, the above five are all great. For other specific seafoods, I look it up. For instance, domestic farmed channel catfish are environmentally responsible, but are they worth eating? <a href="http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4256/2" target="_blank">Not to me</a>. Under "Fats and Fatty Acids", we can see that there is more omega-6 than omega-3, so the benefits of the omega-3s are pretty much wiped out. <a href="http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4182/2" target="_blank">Steamed clams</a>, on the other hand, have more than ten times the omega-3s as omega-6s. They also have good mineral content, tons of real vitamin B12, and exceptional heme iron content.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We typically eat oysters, clams, and wild salmon on a regular basis of about one generous serving per person per week. For instance, we might have raw or steamed oysters one week, homemade clam chowder the next week, and a baked salmon filet the week after that, prepared as follows:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Simple Baked Fish</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good-quality filet(s) of fish, at refrigerator or room temperature</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Butter or coconut oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seasonings: Fresh lemon juice and pepper are a great combination to start with. There are many great ways to season fish. Rosemary, paprika, mustard, Italian herbs...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">350</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">F. Lightly grease the bottom of a glass, stoneware, or enameled baking dish with butter or coconut oil. Place the filet (skin side down, if it has the skin on it) in the dish.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Season as desired. If using lemon and pepper, cut a wedge of lemon and squeeze the juice atop the filet, then sprinkle with black papper. Bake until the middle is just barely done. Start with ten minutes in the oven and check every few minutes after that. The "secret" to cooking fish is to steer clear of overcooking.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Steamed Shellfish</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Live clams, mussels, or oysters</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Optional: lemon juice, herbs, and/or melted butter for serving<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I first steamed fresh clams in my college apartment using a saucepan and a plate. If you think that is low-tech, my grandmother once steamed clams in a coffee maker in a hotel room on vacation! So here is my improvised way to steam shellfish, no special equipment needed:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clean shellfish under running water. In a large saucepan or medium stockpot, put an inch or so of water over high heat. Arrange shellfish, hinge down, in one layer. Cover to trap steam (using a heat-resistant plate if you do not have a lidded pan). As the water boils, reduce heat to medium. Check every few minutes and remove shellfish as they open - these are done. Tongs are ideal but I have used spoons and an oven mitt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a myth that ones that do not open are bad, so after all the rest are done, any stragglers should be pried open. If they are bad they will smell bad and you will know to throw them out, but I have always found them to be just fine. Many people express concern with shellfish and food poisoning. Always throw away any food that smells bad - our bodies are remarkably attuned to this - so do use common sense, keep things clean, not leave live shellfish sitting in the fridge for days before eating them, etc., but please do not get overly paranoid. To put it into perspective, you are about 47 times as likely to be <i>killed by a medical error while at a hospital or doctor's office</i> than just to get sick at all in a given year from eating shellfish.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What are your favorite ways to eat seafood?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is part of <a href="http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2012/05/hearth-and-soul-blog-hop_15.html" target="_blank">Hearth and Soul</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-50567657105673486792012-05-06T23:05:00.000-04:002012-05-16T08:29:35.147-04:00Original Recipe: Real Food Key Lime Pie<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a wonderful cousin of mine mentioned to me that I should do a version of key lime pie, I immediately knew she was right. Mr. D loves key lime pie and his birthday was just days away, the first in our married life. He told me last year that he'd be really happy with a food gift and I obliged. Now that our lives are entwined, it feels odd to purchase him a gift. He isn't the type to take note of something he would like and sit around not buying it indefinitely - that one would be me. If he finds something he wants and it's befitting the budget and all that, he just goes ahead and gets it! In contrast, I hem and haw about finding the absolute best version of what I seek and pondering how well I can do without it relative to its cost. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yes, I am a revenue management business analyst at my day job. However did you guess?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So instead we went shopping together on his birthday and he picked out his own gift and we got foods he liked that we don't ordinarily purchase, such as asparagus and mushrooms, and made a fantabulous steak dinner. And that's where my dessert aspirations come in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I began hunting down a key lime pie recipe, I did my usual <a href="http://foodblogsearch.com/">search</a> to get a sense of what typical recipes are. Meh. Sweetened condensed milk? We avoid most canned goods as part of minimizing BPA and other known and unknown harmful chemical exposures. This is why we try not to use <a href="http://chriskresser.com/how-plastic-food-containers-could-be-making-you-fat-infertile-and-sick" target="_blank">plastic</a> in the kitchen. We aren't Nazis about it, though. If the only way to have key lime pie is to open a can, then we'll just have it once in a while, and no worries. But...the thing about those kinds of ingredients is that they are rarely the original way something was made. There had to be a way around it.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I eventually figured out that canned milk <i>is</i> the traditional, original way to make key lime pie. Who knew? This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. I saw a recipe with a coconut milk base, which looked like a great idea, but I wanted a straight up key lime flavor for this one. So...I decided it was time to improvise. Mr. D was zesting and juicing a pound of itty bitty key limes. I inferred a few ideas and decided to risk making an experimental pie filling even though we were having guests and I wouldn't want to leave even the nicest guest hanging with no birthday pie to enjoy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank goodness it worked just as I had hoped! My primary concern was that the pie would not set up firmly, so I thought I should make a thick pastry cream-type base and include gelatin. According to my husband, the pie would ideally be rather airy, so I folded in whipped egg whites. Most importantly, however, the key lime juice and zest made it taste right. Deciding that sour cream is thick and tangy and delicious, just like the pie should be, I incorporated that as well. I have been constitutionally incapable of not changing something about a recipe for several years, but only recently have I started creating entirely original concoctions. It's a lot of fun.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhythL74uw_K9eR5Gr0tLQtZP7ME_0TvnuPL2yRez1rY9C1sRBeYGMYR6qmPigFHsXOKEJ-FDSpBo6etUqZT5YZ18jNCUP4N16ByVUDH0xnkcDjo06cFLWGSD_6QolF2e6LI_EiahtPS6Q/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+65.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhythL74uw_K9eR5Gr0tLQtZP7ME_0TvnuPL2yRez1rY9C1sRBeYGMYR6qmPigFHsXOKEJ-FDSpBo6etUqZT5YZ18jNCUP4N16ByVUDH0xnkcDjo06cFLWGSD_6QolF2e6LI_EiahtPS6Q/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+65.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yummy, delicious fun.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Real Food Key Lime Pie</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups whole milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/2 t. powdered gelatin (1 envelope)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 T. cornstarch, arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, or potato starch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup plus 3 T. sugar of some kind*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 eggs, separated</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pinch of unrefined salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup sour cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup key lime juice (but I won't tell if you use regular limes)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. key lime zest (same as above)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a 2-qt. saucepan, whisk together milk, gelatin, starch, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Bring to a bubble, stirring constantly until thickened, and continue stirring the thickened mixture as it cooks for several more minutes. Remove from heat to cool slightly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and sour cream together thoroughly with 1 T. sugar. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly. The idea is not to let chunks of egg cook and get egg pieces in your pie. Yuck. Fortunately this is unlikely since the sour cream is already dispersed in the yolks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now add the yolk-sour cream mixture to the saucepan and whisk it thoroughly with the milk mixture. Turn the heat back on medium-low and cook a few more minutes, whisking the entire time. Turn off the heat and let cool again. Stir in key lime juice and zest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make a fluffy pie and if you don't mind a little undercooked egg white, whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 T. sugar and whisk to stiff, glossy peaks. With a wide spatula, fold a large dollop of whites into the lime base in the saucepan to lighten. Pour the saucepan contents into the mixing bowl and gently but thoroughly fold it all together. If you prefer to leave this out, I bet you'll still have a fine pie.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2xi6LJ1rew4/T6c5cCrJ4oI/AAAAAAAAAIE/US5PH6jL7Qo/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2xi6LJ1rew4/T6c5cCrJ4oI/AAAAAAAAAIE/US5PH6jL7Qo/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+50.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ready to pour</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Immediately pour into a pre-baked <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/05/pie-crust.html" target="_blank">pie crust</a>. Refrigerate overnight to set. This was not quite set after dinner for dessert, having only been in for about two hours, but it was perfect the next day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ate this with strawberry ice cream and strawberry syrup that Mr. D made. However, this is great on its own.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*I personally think non-GMO white sugar is OK to use <b>rarely</b> and in <b>small amounts</b>, but a light coconut/palm sugar is encouraged! The strong taste of truly unrefined cane sugar would not work. I think a mild-flavored honey would do nicely, in which case I suggest using 1-2 T. less and adding it all in with the milk. I have not tested this but plan to the next time I make this pie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Do you like key lime pie? How do you feel about improvising in the kitchen?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is part of <a href="http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-572012/" target="_blank">Monday Mania</a>, <a href="http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/05/real-food-wednesday-592012.html" target="_blank">Real Food Wednesday</a>, and <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/05/original-recipe-real-food-key-lime-pie.html" target="_blank">Hearth and Soul</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-69672446332202244922012-05-06T14:27:00.000-04:002012-05-06T14:27:02.623-04:00Basic Cooking: Burgers and Mashed Potatoes<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was very fortunate to grow up in a family where everybody learns to cook. Not cook, as in, become a gourmet chef, but my siblings and I all know how to feed ourselves. We have experience in "normal" family cooking that includes chocolate chip cookies, breaded and fried walleye, baked chicken pieces, steamed broccoli, sau</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">téed asparagus, baked potatoes...nothing terribly fancy, just knowing how to follow recipes and help out as part of the family. N</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">aïvely I assumed that everybody acquired life skills from their parents like this, but then I went to college and witnessed many kids fumbling to take care of themselves. I understand that learning how to do laundry is not that fun, but cookies? I remember clamoring to help! These people have not experienced the smell of bread baking, for goodness' sake!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">When I ask friends if they want me to blog about a particular topic, I repeatedly hear requests for basic, everyday recipes. I am happy to say that it takes little skill to prepare all of your food yourself. It does take more time than popping an expensive boxed meal into a microwave, but it really does not have to take much. I work full-time myself and I completely understand that on many days nobody has the time or energy to spend an hour or more in the kitchen. With basic planning, you do not need to. More on easy planning in another post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">A common meal in my kitchen is burgers with mashed potatoes and a green salad. In my world, burgers do not have buns - they are meat patties. It is much healthier to get your starch from potatoes or rice than store-bought buns. To reduce meal preparation time and effort, I make several pounds of burgers at a time and flash freeze them, bagged into one-meal portions. The day before we eat burgers I move a bag into the refrigerator to thaw. Similarly, I will make about 5 lbs. of mashed potatoes at a time so we can quickly reheat portions for a meal.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Keeping a few basic vegetables around to chop up for salad is not difficult - make including a salad with dinner your default and figure out how much produce to buy so you don't end up with anything rotting in the crisper drawer. Just never buy salad dressings at the store! They are pretty much all filled with horribly unhealthy and nasty-tasting vegetable oils (soybean, canola, cottonseed, safflower, corn), contain surprising amounts of sugar, and are ridiculously expensive when you consider how easy it is to make your own by shaking ingredients in a jar or stirring ingredients with a fork in a small bowl. Alternatively, use cold-pressed 100% extra virgin olive oil (domestic is strongly preferred since imports are often adulterated) and balsamic vinegar to taste.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
There are many ways to make basic burgers and 'taters. Here are some quick and easy versions.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Burgers</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">For each pound of ground beef, include 1 egg, 1 t. salt, and several shakes of ground pepper.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Additional spices are encouraged: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, parsley, fennel seeds...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Method:</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. I am using three pounds of grass-fed beef.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NKiflw3-QXA/T53Z28-Oj6I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/r_oCUBd8Cdo/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NKiflw3-QXA/T53Z28-Oj6I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/r_oCUBd8Cdo/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+18.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Do not worry about getting spice amounts just right. Try an amount (measure some out if you prefer) and adjust it next time if there was too little or too much. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stir until thoroughly combined.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qz54Gkr_Nvg/T53Z4qX6EXI/AAAAAAAAAGY/WixBPrAbpzQ/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qz54Gkr_Nvg/T53Z4qX6EXI/AAAAAAAAAGY/WixBPrAbpzQ/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+19.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Divide into equal portions and flatten into patties. I use my handy-dandy large scoop to portion smallish burgers and we eat four or five between us. Cook over medium-low heat on a skillet until done to your liking; if you prefer rare ground beef, play it safe by using beef that has been frozen solid for 14 days first to kill any pathogens.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i><br />
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If you are just starting out with seasonings, I suggest first buying unrefined salt, black pepper, and one additional such as paprika or dried basil. Then get one more each time you go grocery shopping and build up your spice collection gradually so you do not have unfamiliar, unused jars lurking around. I do not find pre-mixed seasonings useful - who wants everything to taste the same? - but if you like them, go for it. To be honest, I started out intimidated by herbs and spices because they seemed difficult to use, but by trying one new one at a time and increasing amounts gradually, I found it was just a question of doing what I liked and trying ideas I saw in others' recipes to make everything more delicious.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Mashed Potatoes</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Potatoes, any kind</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Butter</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Unrefined salt</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Pepper</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Herbs, as desired; rosemary is lovely in white potatoes, garlic in sweet potatoes</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Method:</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Peel potatoes if you prefer; I never bother. Roughly chop potatoes into approximately equal sizes so they cook evenly. This way they cook much, much faster than plopping in whole potatoes. Cover with water and boil until tender and easily pierced with a fork.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Zt-NQ6ixjE/T6afIu_mfUI/AAAAAAAAAHw/j1Z31DYlpRU/s1600/GFD+5-6-2012+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Zt-NQ6ixjE/T6afIu_mfUI/AAAAAAAAAHw/j1Z31DYlpRU/s320/GFD+5-6-2012+029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sweet potatoes floating in the pot</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Drain potato pieces and return to the pot or put in a mixing bowl. Add butter and seasonings to taste and mash with a potato masher, wooden spoon, or even a fork. Don't worry if the texture is imperfect. Chunky potatoes are still delicious.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>How did you learn to cook everyday foods? Do you have staple foods you learned or want to learn to make yourself?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-64028363781110616012012-05-01T19:54:00.001-04:002012-05-02T21:48:16.959-04:00Gluten Free Pie Crust, Demystified<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gluten free baking is a hodgepodge of variations. Some things can be made fairly easily without gluten, while others rely so heavily on gluten for structure that adaptation is quite tricky. Luckily for pie lovers, the flakiness of pie crust makes adaptation relatively easy. I do not often make pies but there are times when pies become necessary, and <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/strawberries.html" target="_blank">buying 32 lbs. of strawberries</a> is one of those times.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The basic pie crust method is pretty straightforward - cut fat into flour and add liquid to hold it together - but every baker seems to have his opinion on the best way to do it. I felt like a pastry ninja when I first made pie crust. Pie recipes are frequently really just pie filling recipes plus a line about using a pre-made crust, leaving my gluten free self at a loss. Can you even buy gluten free pie crusts? I guess you probably can in some places now, but let's be honest and point out that gluten free baked goods from the grocery store are typically expensive and taste mediocre. If you have not found an exception, or if you want to save still more money and gain still more flavor, then it is time to do it yourself.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I prefer using all butter for the fat, but only because I do not have any good lard, in which case I would use half lard, half butter. Cold-pressed, refined palm oil is also nice; the Spectrum brand is available in many grocery stores. Just please never use artificial shortening! Did you ever wonder why we invented Crisco last century? As a lard imitation! It is dirt cheap because it is made out of industrial waste oils like cottonseed and soybean oils. Please do not be duped by newer versions "free of trans fats". Fully hydrogenated oils are much less bad than partially hydrogenated, but at a serving size of 1 T. they can still contain about 4% incompletely hydrogenated oils without listing it on the label. Icky, especially when you consider that trans fats are not just bad for you in excess but simply bad in any quantity. Interesterified fats are another alternative to trans fats but no long-term studies have been done yet on their safety, to my knowledge, and apparently some preliminary results suggest they may be no better than trans fats. Perhaps this is in part because oils must still be put through processing that strips away nutrients and subjects highly reactive polyunsaturated fats to high temperatures. Just don't eat fake fats, mmkay? We keep discovering more bad things about them. Our bodies are not adapted to eating them, period, so why be a guinea pig and gamble with your family's health?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eat fats that taste good and we know are healthy, meaning grass-fed butter, pastured lard, virgin or refined coconut oil, palm shortening, and perhaps grass-fed tallow (though that can have a strong flavor that would not work for many kinds of pie fillings). Yes, cold-pressed and unadulterated olive oil is good for you too, but it would not make good pie. Even cheapo store brand butter is completely fine to use if you cannot find grass-fed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Basic Gluten Free Pie Crust</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup sweet rice flour aka glutinous rice flour or short-grain rice flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup coconut flour</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, quinoa flour, almond flour, or another tasty flour (or a combination)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup white rice flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 t. salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. sugar (omit for savory pies)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10 T. frozen butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup ice-cold water</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H25vxYItzAI/T52SgOf3UXI/AAAAAAAAAFo/y_PZqNpws3M/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H25vxYItzAI/T52SgOf3UXI/AAAAAAAAAFo/y_PZqNpws3M/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+39.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gently whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl until free of any lumps and uniform in color.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grate frozen butter or cut into 40 or so pieces; a food processor is ideal for this. If you do it by hand, just be sure to re-chill if the butter gets soft and make sure it is very cold before proceeding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beat egg and cold water together in a small bowl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hp9--AW9oGc/T52SiB4BkYI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Wb4h_siZasI/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hp9--AW9oGc/T52SiB4BkYI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Wb4h_siZasI/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+41.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>If using a food processor:</u> Add flour mixture and pulse several times to combine with butter. Add eggy water and pulse several more times to get a lump of dough, as shown here. <b>Do not</b> overmix! There should be pea-sized chunks of butter in the dough. Fat chunks that melt during baking is what makes the crust flaky. Dump everything back into the mixing bowl to press it all together.</span><br />
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</span></span></span><u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If making by hand:</u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Cut butter and flour together with a fork, pastry cutter, or by hand until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs and the biggest butter chunks are pea-sized. You may have to let the butter warm up a touch to be pliable; refrigerator rather than freezer temperature. Again, </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">do not</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> overmix or break the butter down too small. Re-chill if the butter gets soft enough that your fork smushes it instead of cutting it. Add eggy water and gently mix until just combined.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In either case, if the dough is definitely too dry, add 1 t. of water at a time until it just holds together, and if the dough is definitely too wet and sticky, add 1 t. of white rice flour until just barely not sticky. The picture you see above was just right without any additions once I pressed it all together.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, you can wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze until you want to use it. I am a big fan of making large batches so you need not do the same work so frequently. The dough does have to thaw gently on the counter for a while to be workable again before you roll it out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roll out dough between pieces of parchment paper until thin and at least 1" around bigger than your pie pan. Uncover one side, place pie pan facedown over the dough, and turn together to get the delicate dough into the pan. Gently press in place; if you get cracks, just press things together. There's no gluten so you can't overwork the dough :-). For a pre-baked crust, prick the bottom several times with a fork and bake at 350</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°F for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">I made <a href="http://worththewhisk.com/2010/07/05/strawberry-sour-cream-pie/" target="_blank">strawberry sour cream pie filling</a>, substituting white rice flour for the wheat flour.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LehsyybkalM/T53WKGcNN_I/AAAAAAAAAGE/TB-baikO-dw/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LehsyybkalM/T53WKGcNN_I/AAAAAAAAAGE/TB-baikO-dw/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+42.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nibble off bits of crust? Who, us?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Variations: try adding spices to complement your fillings, such as 1 t. cinnamon and a shake of ground cloves for a pumpkin pie crust or nutmeg and Italian herbs for a quiche crust.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Do you have any more tips for pie crust? What kinds of pie do you enjoy most?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">This post is part of <a href="http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/05/real-food-wednesday-4252012.html" target="_blank">Real Food Wednesdays</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-60610681318172037872012-04-30T21:06:00.001-04:002012-05-03T22:45:20.641-04:00Strawberries!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other day my husband and I spotted strawberries on sale for $.75/lb. Around here I never see strawberries for less than $3/lb. but $5/lb. is probably typical. Thrilled, my husband loaded up four flats of strawberries that came to 32 lbs.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SIdLS_QD2CQ/T53Z7XGkMQI/AAAAAAAAAGg/mExKXhvBaAw/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SIdLS_QD2CQ/T53Z7XGkMQI/AAAAAAAAAGg/mExKXhvBaAw/s400/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our kitchen table </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">à</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> la strawberries.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k-zWB5FiOGs/T53aCCSGwlI/AAAAAAAAAGw/pdewZGzv2D8/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k-zWB5FiOGs/T53aCCSGwlI/AAAAAAAAAGw/pdewZGzv2D8/s200/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+23.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As my awesome husband did most of the washing, sorting, and leaf-cutting-offing, I bandied about doing random things with strawberries. I sliced and dried as many as would fit in our dehydrator:</span><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zMiwe1cOZj0/T53aAwLj60I/AAAAAAAAAGo/XYQaIGdWBmU/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zMiwe1cOZj0/T53aAwLj60I/AAAAAAAAAGo/XYQaIGdWBmU/s200/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+22.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1IJAKVXxAHCgIzeL5JDdNHF2rwD79ojUsoysWvpDYWfCfw4EHgzkrvFfQNiVd2ymWD-hWh1IzsXETpUk__2MJAndou7A5rQUJTVJ_y3ibR4mWP3GVg7pcxo02n52Xapj9utjRgpYEsI/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1IJAKVXxAHCgIzeL5JDdNHF2rwD79ojUsoysWvpDYWfCfw4EHgzkrvFfQNiVd2ymWD-hWh1IzsXETpUk__2MJAndou7A5rQUJTVJ_y3ibR4mWP3GVg7pcxo02n52Xapj9utjRgpYEsI/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+33.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yum. Mr. D <u>loves</u> this.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This resulted in a jar of strawberry candy. It tastes just like strawberry fruit snacks, which brings me to a point about sweet fruits: They are not vegetables. When I say that most fruits are desserts, I am not exaggerating. I mean that they are on a line with my homemade ice cream - somewhat nutritious but with a non-negligible amount of sugar.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-05z8idMXQr0/T53aDC8pNjI/AAAAAAAAAG4/_5jRitzPUbM/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-05z8idMXQr0/T53aDC8pNjI/AAAAAAAAAG4/_5jRitzPUbM/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, there are vitamins, minerals, enzymes, soluble fiber, and other good things in fruits. There is also a truckload of fructose. Humans have been breeding fruits to be super-sweet for a very long time; paleo fruit was more like crabapples than red delicious apples.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously we still eat fruit, so do not take me as being anti-fruit. It's just that we should moderate our intake of it, not pile on tons of fruit in a vain effort to improve our health. We probably eat about five servings of fruit per week apiece. I typically eat mine in smoothie form.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6Q94pVjkGM/T53aJnJFcNI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Y0Bz7030yGo/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6Q94pVjkGM/T53aJnJFcNI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Y0Bz7030yGo/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+30.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This 20-quart stockpot was overflowing with berries!</span> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got some great ideas from <a href="http://www.simplebites.net/four-simple-methods-for-freezing-strawberries/" target="_blank">this</a> old post from <a href="http://www.simplebites.net/" target="_blank">Simple Bites</a>. I froze four quart jars of strawberries in simple syrup, flavoring one with vanilla beans and another with my homemade lime peel extract.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of the rest I flash froze. I had visions of canning pie filling and jam, until I realized that 1) we have a half-eaten, year-old jar of strawberry jam in the refrigerator, so it's not as if we are jam eaters, and 2) we can just make pie with previously frozen berries and then I do not have to decide now how many pies we are likely to eat this year.</span><br />
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Oh, and I used to be confused when I heard talk of flash freezing. It sounded like freezing something really fast but I could never think of how that was accomplished. As it turns out, flash freezing means first freezing the items individually until the outside is frozen enough that they will not stick together. Then it is time to put them all in a container in the freezer to finish freezing. This way your strawberries, for instance, do not freeze into one giant ice brick of strawberries that requires thawing all of them when you want to use a few. Once flash frozen, you should be able to take out as many or as little as you like and leave the rest in the freezer.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ghzWPWDD4s/T56Fi0KgcyI/AAAAAAAAAHk/TLnya9oxhlI/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ghzWPWDD4s/T56Fi0KgcyI/AAAAAAAAAHk/TLnya9oxhlI/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+32.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our huge freezer with things like bones, stock, and flour in it.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, one of our two cats found that she likes strawberries for another reason. Cute little Matilda has claimed herself a spot:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaaeIUCyQ78uZyya5cOt5ffOTYwUT_7FwtZuYCzpgseCEgLV4pLhcqSACAT2wCb12mCa1-3a2IgWyf40audXKgaCFNs-Uzu-gUErQHXRtp6YA7GMcTolQ8QlOPwy0myEjtH9_UIFxsXg/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+35.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaaeIUCyQ78uZyya5cOt5ffOTYwUT_7FwtZuYCzpgseCEgLV4pLhcqSACAT2wCb12mCa1-3a2IgWyf40audXKgaCFNs-Uzu-gUErQHXRtp6YA7GMcTolQ8QlOPwy0myEjtH9_UIFxsXg/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+35.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Do you have as much fun with incredible deals on food as I do? What are your favorite ways to eat strawberries?</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is part of <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/strawberries.html" target="_blank">Pennywise Platter</a> and <a href="http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2012/05/hearth-and-soul-blog-hop.html" target="_blank">Hearth and Soul Blog Hop</a>.</span></div>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-70363674228192572772012-04-29T14:09:00.001-04:002012-04-29T14:09:23.749-04:00Cheese Muffins and Eating Gluten Free at Work<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being gluten free in the workplace is no big deal, but there have been a few things I never anticipated. The reality of being on a severely restricted diet <i>for the rest of my life</i> has made me think in ways I never did about how social eating is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Business meetings, in particular, typically revolve around food. This means that when I get invited to have lunch as, say, part of an interview day, there might be a restaurant already booked that has nothing there that I can eat! A sit-down restaurant will probably have something that can be made to be gluten free, but it is absolutely necessary to have a detailed discussion with the waiter about everything, which in turn means that the conversation will at least temporarily revolve around something like surprising avenues for gluten cross-contamination. It is a complex issue that most people know just enough about to know what I am talking about and be curious to hear more. Plus, I feel like I have to explain why I am drilling the waiter on whether he has access to the ingredient label for the garlic powder in the chef's seasoning. I suppose this could be a plus if I am trying to show how detail-oriented I am, right? Eh...this is why even though I am not a coffee drinker, I prefer to meet at a coffee place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Less uncomfortable but sometimes also a challenge is packing my lunch. There is a hidden benefit to this because homemade food is almost inevitably going to be cheaper and healthier than any other option I have, but I run out of ideas fast! Plus, some mornings I get in a rush and want to grab breakfast on my way out the door. This recipe is good for both problems.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a lot of lunch ideas out there that revolve around sandwich bread or microwaving things. I am not convinced by anything I have read thus far that microwaving actually damages food in a significant way, but it is a possibility, and at any rate microwaved food tastes funny. Gluten free sandwich bread exists, but I am used to doing without bread and regular bread baking is a hassle to me right now. Some things I do pack are p</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">âte and crackers, leftovers like macaroni and cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and smoothies with coconut milk, egg yolks, yogurt or kefir, and a little fruit. I am always up for more ideas!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cheese and Egg Muffins</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Generously adapted from <a href="http://www.cheeseslave.com/low-carb-bacon-egg-cheese-muffins/" target="_blank">this recipe</a> from <a href="http://www.cheeseslave.com/" target="_blank">Cheeseslave</a> (the original recipe is also delicious!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 large eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 T. coconut flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup sour cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. paprika</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 t. baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 lb. cheddar cheese</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whisk eggs together, then add coconut flour, sour cream, paprika, and baking powder and whisk until there are no lumps and it is completely blended.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finely grate the cheese. Stir it in. Grease a muffin pan or line with muffin papers, or if you have silicone muffin cups, just put them on a baking sheet. Fill cups about 2/3 of the way; I love my 3 T. large scoop for muffins, which yields 10 muffins per batch for these. Bake at </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">350</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">°F for 15-20 minutes until the centers are no longer runny. These freeze well and I find that four make a decent lunch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Does anybody have suggestions for packable, nourishing, no-heat lunches? What other muffins do you like that could make a meal unto themselves?</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-49578194569847237202012-04-23T22:39:00.000-04:002012-04-26T08:16:24.438-04:00My Pizza<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pizza dough is a tricky thing to replicate without gluten. I have a busy life in which I want to serve pizza once every week or two but I do not care to build a difficult recipe into my meal planning rotation. So, this is not exactly like regular pizza. It's a different animal. It is more delicate, so it can be difficult to eat with your hands and will not make a very thin crust. The texture and weight of the dough itself is totally different. There is no yeast and no rise. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can make it deep-dish or not. It makes leftovers that are good for days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We love it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any recipe I am going to prepare on a regular basis must be reasonably healthy. With dough like this, you run into the complex issue of grain consumption, which is far more controversial than you may realize unless you are familiar with traditional cooking methods or paleo-style eating. Are you aware of the damages grains, especially whole grains, inflict when consumed by humans? Most grains and seeds contain a host of anti-nutrients, such as <a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid" target="_blank">phytic acid</a>, and other food toxins, such as lectins. The levels of these vary from species to species. If you are not interested in digging into the science behind it, just think of it as plants protecting their babies. They cannot run away or bite back as animals do, but they can develop phytotoxins that make their babies indigestible so they provide no nutrients to their predator and just pass right on through, or even chemicals that damage their hosts so that we learn not to eat them if we are smart, such as things that will damage our thyroids, impair our reproductive health, and cause minerals to leach from us.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember that just because a nutrient is present in a food does not mean that it is in a form that you will absorb. If you do not absorb it, it does not count!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter <i>Nourishing Traditions</i>. This cookbook by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig is the one actual paper-and-binding cookbook I use and recommend. It's full of basic information about traditional cooking, including modern versions of ways people used to prepare grains to make the nutrients more absorbable and to neutralize some of their harmful substances. Now, none of this renders grains 100% benign, but if you're going to eat them then it is important to make sure your grains are at least doing less harm than good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One such method is using soaked flour recipes. This means that a soaking time is built into the recipe for the flours to sit for 12-24 hours or so in an acidic and, preferably, probiotic medium. This allows some enzymatic breakdown to occur, neutralizing some harmful compounds. This is not a perfect method, but as part of an overall diet that minimizes plant toxins and is rich in absorbable minerals from animal foods, I think it is an acceptable compromise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I frequently play around with the flour types and ratios in this recipe and find it relatively forgiving. Here I try to include flour options are relatively easy to come by. I cannot guarantee that any particular substitution will work but I can wink and nod and whisper that there's a good chance it will as long as you substitute with a reasonably similar flour and do not let any one flour dominate the mixture.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serves about 6 when made as a deep dish. It is more filling than it looks! Half a batch approximately fills a pie pan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Yogurt Dough Pizza</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adapted from the wheat-based yogurt dough recipe in <i>Nourishing Traditions</i> by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dough ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 lb. butter, completely softened to room temperature</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup plain whole milk yogurt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 t. salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 t. guar gum or xanthan gum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup brown rice flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup buckwheat flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup garbanzo bean/chickpea flour or quinoa flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup almond flour or coconut flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup tapioca starch (this is the same as tapioca flour)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup potato starch (this is different from potato flour)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Note: substituting 3 1/2 cups of an all-purpose gluten free flour mix is likely to work as long as it is not a mix designed for making pastry. If the mix contains guar/xanthan gum you probably do not have to add any separately.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A few suggested toppings:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/2 cups tomato sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups shredded cheese, ideally mozzarella</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">saut</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">éed onions, peppers, spinach...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">cooked diced bacon, cut-up sausage, or other cooked pieces of meat</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">herbs sprinkled in the cheese, such as thyme</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a mixing bowl, cream butter and yogurt together thoroughly.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients together until uniform. Stir dry ingredients into the yogurt and butter. The resulting dough should be quite thick.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dough soaking</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cover the bowl lightly with a towel </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and leave on the counter at room temperature overnight, ideally for 24 hours. This is considered "soaking".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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The next day, preheat the oven to 350<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">°F</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. For a deep dish pizza, press dough into a greased 8"x13"x2" pan. Otherwise, grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper and shape dough as desired.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or on one of those awesome silicone baking mats!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dough will be sticky; I use a spatula or wooden spoon, not my hands, for this. Keep in mind that the dough is not going to rise.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEAy7z2j4fM/T5YJu8xH7dI/AAAAAAAAAEY/h37dseS8WvQ/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEAy7z2j4fM/T5YJu8xH7dI/AAAAAAAAAEY/h37dseS8WvQ/s200/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+13.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ready for toppings</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H0y9MGzM2H4/T5YLh4CcPTI/AAAAAAAAAFY/N1abO6ZdoWw/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H0y9MGzM2H4/T5YLh4CcPTI/AAAAAAAAAFY/N1abO6ZdoWw/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+12.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember to pre-cook any toppings you wouldn't eat raw</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prick dough in several places with a fork. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Spread on sauce and add toppings.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5uhPzzVXaDQ/T5YME0_OcTI/AAAAAAAAAFg/7a-xXkqXXfc/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5uhPzzVXaDQ/T5YME0_OcTI/AAAAAAAAAFg/7a-xXkqXXfc/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+17.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bake about 5 minutes until toppings are heated through and cheese is melted. You can see here we had a lot of </span><a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/questions-about-nitrites-home-cured.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">my homemade bacon</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in this one plus herbs and freshly ground black pepper atop the cheese.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Variation:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Use garlic salt for 2 t. salt and add 1 t. dried basil, 1 t. dried oregano, 2 t. dried parsley, and 1/2 t. ground black pepper to the dough.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How do you like your pizza? Do you eat a lot of grains and seeds? Do you do anything to mitigate their unhealthy effects?</b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
This post is part of <a href="http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-4232012/" target="_blank">Monday Mania</a>, <a href="http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2012/04/hearth-and-soul-blog-hop_24.html" target="_blank">Heart and Soul</a>, <a href="http://realfoodforager.com/fat-tuesday-april-24-2012/" target="_blank">Fat Tuesday</a>, <a href="http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/04/pennywise-platter-thursday-426.html" target="_blank">Pennywise Platter</a>, and <a href="http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/04/real-food-wednesday-4182012.html" target="_blank">Real Food Wednesday</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-70833134627067614022012-04-21T20:55:00.002-04:002012-04-22T00:49:47.642-04:00Life with Celiac Disease: Diagnosis and Implications<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the first post in an ongoing series about life with celiac disease. This condition usually starts out with a puzzling array of symptoms that will worsen over time if a gluten free diet is not administered. For many celiacs, like so many people with chronic illness, the process of trying to figure out what is wrong takes years and results in much needless suffering.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I tried to write a brief overview of my experience from the onset of symptoms to my odd diagnosis story to my recovery, but it's too complicated to explain without devoting an entire post, and I don't want this blog to be just about me. Let me summarize in bullet points:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Years of atypical, severe, unexplained, worsening, eventually debilitating symptoms</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The advice of various doctors caused much harm and never helped</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">I cured myself by finally trying a quasi-elimination diet free of some of the most common dietary offenders for a few weeks. No doctor even brought this up as a possibility, though the worst that can happen is a few weeks' inconvenience.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">I was never officially diagnosed with the disease, though not due to the common situation in which a patient is already not eating gluten and will not go back so any testing results in a false negative (tests can only measure the response to gluten, so no gluten means no evidence of an abnormal response to it).</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Many people feel much better on a gluten free diet but most of them do not have celiac disease. Sometimes this matters because a person may have a condition that needs to be addressed by more than a gluten free diet or may have a curable sensitivity to gluten and need not commit to a life of going to great pains to avoid it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">I still tested borderline positive while on a gluten free diet(!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">), which means my response was so severe that it took longer to go down than my doctor said was possible. That does not fit the technical specifications for a diagnosis but tells me that I clearly have the disease.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See? Even the bullet-pointed version is complicated. This difficult process is actually typical for celiac disease and many other common chronic conditions that are considered difficult to diagnose. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Doctors are wonderful for many things, but they cannot have the same investment in solving your health difficulties as you can. Therefore we need to take active responsibility for our health and, for most of us, the biggest way we affect our health is through what we eat. Many of us who feel healthy now fail to make this a priority or only think of healthy eating in relation to weight management. I think this is a blight on our culture and we are paying for it with our long-term health.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Active responsibility, though, is not reliance on WebMD, Dr. Oz, the USDA, Dr. Weil, or other quacky or fad-driven sources rife with conflicting claims and shoddy logic. I am sorry to say that just because Oprah says something does not mean that actual facts of nature conform to her will. When the government agency promoting the expansion of American agriculture markets starts telling you what to eat because their panels voted on what is most nutritious, run the other way!</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I often hear people complain that healthy eating is futile because what is considered healthy changes every couple of years. This, however, comes from relying on shoddy advice. There are many things we do know scientifically that simply have not permeated our culture (e.g. saturated fat and cholesterol consumption is not associated with cardiovascular disease or other negative health outcomes), but it is true that there is very much that we do not know about nutrition. Intellectual humility is necessary for us to be honest with ourselves. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">For those gaps in our knowledge, however, we have many thousands of years of human history to go on. Have superbly healthy people eaten the way you do for hundreds of years? In any ways that they have not, are your deviations supported by exhaustive scientific research? If you do not know, then aren't you gambling with your health?</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Do you have or do you know anyone with celiac disease or a similar chronic health problem? Were there any issues with figuring out what was wrong?</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial;">Are you convinced that good nutrition is really important? Do you eat a truly healthy diet most of the time? If not, what challenges would you have to overcome to do so?</b>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-65026326836703270682012-04-17T02:37:00.000-04:002012-04-17T02:37:26.253-04:00Tender, Juicy Beef - Delicious and Dirt Cheap?<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tongue doesn't have one of those fancy euphemisms for what part of a cow or steer it is. We in the United States live in a squeamish culture ignorant of much about food. We often aren't very open-minded about new foods but would rather chow down on fast food chicken nugget mystery meat! Most of us here in the United States prefer tenderloin steaks, such as a nice filet mignon, to eating organ meats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Incidentally, do you know what tenderloin <i>is</i>? How can I be delicate about this? It's a muscle by the colon and assists in the excretion of feces. We could have called it toilet names instead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But so what? It doesn't actually touch any cow pies and it's delectable. As is tongue - don't worry, you won't eat the outer skin that touched the cow's food, only the muscle that helped it along. Just like a tenderloin.</span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k6GOecT2-50/T4yQ1Ah5syI/AAAAAAAAAC8/enTyj8cxjVQ/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k6GOecT2-50/T4yQ1Ah5syI/AAAAAAAAAC8/enTyj8cxjVQ/s400/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yep. It's at least a foot long and looks like, well, a tongue.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's another great thing about tongue in many areas. 100% grass-fed, humanely treated beef can be much more costly than factory farmed products. Even plain ground beef runs nearly $5/lb. around here. I've looked into bulk buys of, say, 1/2 an entire animal, but even the best deals I've found amounted to at least $5/lb. when I calculated how much edible meat I would really end up with. It's a fantastic deal if you care about the fancy cuts that can run up to $20/lb., but we wouldn't buy those anyway.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S2H3kGNuv80/T4yRN8d0RBI/AAAAAAAAADE/0RG6cdG4Z54/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S2H3kGNuv80/T4yRN8d0RBI/AAAAAAAAADE/0RG6cdG4Z54/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> frugal is buying some of the unpopular cuts. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$1/lb.! They're practically giving away these chunks of top-quality beef from pastured animals. Oft-neglected cuts like this are a terrific way to eat a meal with ample meat for less than $1 per person or be doubly frugal by stretching the meat for more servings. We eat a tongue about twice every three weeks. One is enough to stuff ourselves at dinner and have great leftovers.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mw3h-hXuzBc/T4yRRDmUixI/AAAAAAAAADM/cesdLqSk7Os/s400/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For reference, this is an 8-qt. stockpot and it's only a little bigger than it needs to be.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've only ever cooked tongues one way. It's so easy that I haven't bothered to figure out other methods because this way the skin peels off easily afterward. I have no latent desire to spend time cutting away tongue skin, thank you very much, when this way takes ten seconds and no effort.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 beef tongue, preferably thawed but frozen will do</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">filtered water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put tongue in pot and cover with water. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave it, covered, on low heat for at least three hours. About six hours is ideal, in my experience. It will probably float as it's a fatty cut; I try to keep it lodged underwater. Remove with tongs or a fork and rest on a plate to cool for ten minutes.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bEAL1LzNa94/T4y-Qh8WpaI/AAAAAAAAADU/-iuSroUZkgM/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bEAL1LzNa94/T4y-Qh8WpaI/AAAAAAAAADU/-iuSroUZkgM/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You'll notice there is both an obviously tongue-shaped portion plus a base which looks like gristle. Do not throw away the base! It's the best part. It gets similar to roast beef when cooked long enough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's also no need to throw away the water remaining after the tongue is cooked unless it grosses you out. I like to skim off any floating residue and use the rest in stock.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUSehzN4Jafb7gH-2nMguHC1zLxC9l4M779v_yRVVPdQSeYEN0SYSDJinw0VB9XC2utLyaZDHEnLtmkxluorVUSdUQKDOoqYvHlTFu77HSTlCmEht-gj_u6R9oaUae1wO3rSrdu2sxBk/s1600/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUSehzN4Jafb7gH-2nMguHC1zLxC9l4M779v_yRVVPdQSeYEN0SYSDJinw0VB9XC2utLyaZDHEnLtmkxluorVUSdUQKDOoqYvHlTFu77HSTlCmEht-gj_u6R9oaUae1wO3rSrdu2sxBk/s320/Gluten+Free+Domestic+-+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the tongue has cool enough that you won't burn your fingers, peel off the outer layer of skin and throw it away. It should be very easy to remove. If it isn't, the tongue probably did not simmer long enough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's it! You can simply slice it and eat it. It does have its own distinctive flavor, but it's not unpleasant the way <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/eating-liver.html" target="_blank">liver</a> is. The meat is exceptionally tender.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One great traditional use of tongue meat is to shred and season it for taco meat, a.k.a. "tacos de lengua". We typically eat it as a simple meal with green salad and potatoes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What do you do to keep food costs down without compromising on nutrition? Do you/would you eat tongue?</b></span>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-47606449119204463252012-04-16T15:26:00.000-04:002012-04-20T07:47:28.470-04:00Questions about Nitrites & Home-Cured Bacon<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Concerns about nitrites and nitrates in cured meats - bacon, hot dogs, etc. - are big in the real food world and have been for several years. Mainstream brands are including options that do not list sodium nitrite on the label, and you get to pay slightly more to get somewhat less bacon.<br /><br />I am hard-core about eating nutritious foods. I do various and sundry weird things to increase the nutritional value of the foods we eat and I spend devote a lot of time to it. I pay extra to get far healthier versions of many ingredients, most notably pasture-based animal products. And I <i>never</i> did the "nitrite-free" thing.<br /><br />Wait - aren't nitrites converted into nitrates and supposed to cause diseases? They're additives and so they're, like, bad and stuff, like, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it's smart to be anti-additive as a general rule of thumb, but that it's a bit quacky to be anti-additive in certain cases. This is one of those cases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For purposes of discussion, I'm lumping nitrites and nitrates together a lot, because they interconvert by bacterial action in the body, so stay with me. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first and biggest reason I didn't "upgrade" to the "all-natural" stuff in this case is that those products almost always contain nitr</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tes under the guise of celery powder or a similar additive. What's the point of avoiding nitrites by eating nitrates?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />That leads me into my second reason. Cured meats contain negligible amounts of nitrites/nitrates in the context of the foods you eat and what is in your body. Not only do various vegetables, such as beets, lettuce, and the aforementioned celery, contain <i>hundreds</i> of times as much nitrite/nitrate, but your saliva is an even bigger source! According to nutrition researcher <a href="http://chriskresser.com/does-red-meat-increase-your-risk-of-death" target="_blank">Chris Kresser</a>, whose blog I highly recommend, you get 70-90% of your nitrite/nitrate exposure from saliva and about 93% of the rest from vegetables.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My third reason developed when I ate bacon that actually was uncured and nitrite-free. This means it wasn't bacon at all but sliced pork belly, and it tasted like...pork. It was like eating a thin slice of fatty pork chop. There's nothing in the world wrong with that, but when you're expecting bacon, it's a really lame experience. Trust me.<br /><br />As it turns out, purported benefits of nitrites/nitrates are coming into the news cycle, and to be honest I never quite understood what the evils of them were. They can be converted into nitrosamines, which are a bit mutagenic and carcinogenic, but that's par for the course. You know all those antioxidants in fruits and vegetables? There's also evidence that eating the actual fruits and vegetables causes net oxidative damage, but I bet you're smart enough to know that's not a sufficient reason by itself to avoid produce. There are plenty of isolated compounds you can find in foods that show benefits or detriments, but that's not how we eat. What matters is the effect of the food itself and that's a topic for another post.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what do I do for our bacon? I make our meat purchases from a pasture-based farm. Eating pigs that have spent time outdoors in the sun, eating decent food and allowed to behave naturally, is much more nutritious than eating abused pigs in confinement fed food they are not adapted to eating. The fatty acid profile is excellent in pastured pigs and pastured pig fat is second only to cod liver oil as a source of vitamin D. However, pastured bacon can easily run $9/lb.! That is crazy talk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then one day I saw pork bellies for sale at a much more decent price per pound. Bingo. Once I had some of that evil sodium nitrite in my hands, it was time to do it myself. You can do various flavors and with the next pork belly I get I'll probably slice it into several pieces and do each a different way.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Real Home-Cured Bacon!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recipe closely adapted from <a href="http://ruhlman.com/2010/10/home-cured-bacon-2/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pastured pork belly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>for each pound of pork belly</u>, include:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. coarse salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. <a href="http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=237_12&products_id=56&zenid=c661ec9af2c7dce7b575cf6d59d7e058" target="_blank">pink curing salt</a> - do not mix this up with regular salt as it does have safety precautions you should follow, since nitrites/nitrates <i>are</i> dangerous if you accidentally ingest a ton at once</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. maple syrup (or brown sugar, white sugar, honey, etc. if it goes with your seasonings)</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">add additional seasonings as desired - suggestions given in amounts </span><u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">per pound:</u></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T. ground black pepper, 1 crumbled bay leaf, 1-2 smashed cloves garlic, and 1-2 sprigs thyme</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. ground nutmeg, 1 t. ground cinnamon, 1/4 t. ground cloves, 1 t. molasses, 1/4 t. allspice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 t. coriander seeds, 1 t. fennel seeds, 1 t. caraway seeds, 1 smashed clove garlic</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Skin the pork belly if it isn't skinned already and you don't want to eat pig skin. I imagine you don't.</span></span><br />
</span>
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the pork belly in a 2-gallon sealable plastic bag or a wide, shallow nonmetal container that has an airtight lid. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mix all of your curing and seasoning ingredients together and rub them all over your pork belly. Seal your container of choice and put it in the refrigerator for a full week. Yes, sadly, bacon requires patience.</span><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the week, take out the pork belly, rinse off the seasonings, and pat it dry. If you are blessed with access to a smoker, smoke it! If not, put it on a baking sheet in the oven at 200</span></span>°F for 90 minutes or to an internal temperature of 15</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">0</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">°F.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now it is ready to slice or dice, fry, and eat. However, it is very difficult to slice when warm, so it is advised that you</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> refrigerate it again for several hours. If you don't have a meat slicer to get it nice and thin, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my preferred method is to slice the belly into chunks the width of my food processor opening, freeze them somewhat, and slice in the food processor.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is part of <a href="http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/04/real-food-wednesday-4112012.html" target="_blank">Real Food Wednesday</a> at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and <a href="http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/04/pennywise-platter-thursday-419.html" target="_blank">Pennywise Platter</a> at the Nourishing Gourmet.</span></span></div>
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</script>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-72143680512636847402012-04-15T22:56:00.000-04:002012-04-16T16:24:42.509-04:00Eating Liver<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I mentioned in my <a href="http://glutenfreedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-first-real-macaroni-and-cheese.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, my palate remains hard to please. I'm not alone when it comes to liver, though. Most people have to brace themselves and many can't seem to get it down at all. One exception is my husband, who can eat pan-seared slices of beef liver as if it's going out of style<i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which it has. I wish I knew the stats, but liver consumption has doubtless plummeted in the U.S., thanks to the besmirching of its nutritional benefits and the lack of reason to eat the dang stuff for pleasure. Considering that both modern analysis and the traditional practices of healthy cultures <a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/liver-files" target="_blank">agree</a> that liver from a healthy animal is just about the most nutrition-packed, toxin-free thing you can put in your mouth, that's a serious shame. In my kitchen I follow the custom of serving liver at least once a week. Once kiddos arrive, liver will be among their first foods.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is more easily said than done! Seriously, I do. Not. Like. Liver. It tastes strong in the wrong ways. It's gelatinously mushy undercooked and toughens easily as it cooks. Tricks like soaking it in lemon juice or vinegar before cooking make no discernible difference to me. Other ways to make liver palatable have helped but I still had to force myself to eat it. Very recently, though, I made a liver dish that was good. Force myself to eat liver? No need! I am so particular about good nutrition that this made my day.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't lie to you or lead you on, fellow liver-haters - my liver salvation still has an offal flavor that prevents it from being delicious the way, say, ice cream is delicious. You probably won't be knocking each other down in line to get more than your serving or two per week, but there is some enjoyment in it. This is amazing to me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made, of course, a p<span style="line-height: 19px;">âté. I had tried <a href="http://hungerandthirstforlife.blogspot.com/2009/12/chicken-liver-pate.html" target="_blank">one</a> before with moderate success but it would end up sitting forgotten in the back of the fridge. I could eat one cracker spread with it, but consuming several ounces per week was out of the question. It was easier to cut liver into bite-size pieces using scissors, boil for two minutes, drain, and douse in homemade ketchup, alternating bites with a nice side such as herbed mashed potatoes. That and relying more on naturally milder chicken liver than beef liver was the best I could do then.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://leitesculinaria.com/62342/recipes-chicken-liver-pate.html" target="_blank">This</a> was it. I had bookmarked it last August but never made it, probably because I tended not to have an extra pound of bacon around that I was eager to hand-dice. Now I have packs of diced bacon around. The barely-tolerable liver was starting to wear even on my husband's palate of steel. Chicken livers were thawed in the fridge. It was time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Contrary to my customary behavior, I changed very little in the recipe, mostly just cutting it down to fit the amount of liver my farm packs per bag.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Chicken liver and bacon p</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><b>âté</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1/2 lb. diced bacon</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1 medium onion, sliced</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">2 cloves garlic, minced</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1 1/4 lbs. chicken livers</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">8 T. butter</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">generous pinches of salt and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">ground black pepper</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1 generous T. dried parsley</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat. When browned, add onion and garlic and saut</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">é until onion is soft and caramelizing. Add livers and cook until barely firm; as they cook, gradually add the butter, 2 T. at a time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Transfer the skillet contents to a food processor. Add salt, pepper, and parsley. Pulse several times to get a coarse paste. Scoop into three mini loaf pans or, I assume, one medium loaf pan.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Turn onto a plate, prying out with a knife if needed. Serve with rolls or crackers, plus extra butter and perhaps cheese slices.</span></div>
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</script>Mrs. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02580172541182694616noreply@blogger.com8North Carolina, USA35.7595731 -79.019299732.4620451 -84.0730107 39.0571011 -73.965588700000012tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278291799881438454.post-66445233625438787702012-04-14T01:01:00.000-04:002012-04-25T19:07:27.270-04:00My First Real Macaroni and Cheese<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't believe it's taken me this long to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. However, through a happy Groupon-related incident, we have multiple pounds of 100% grass-fed cheddar sitting around. Delicious and nutritious! <a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/fat-soluble-activators/x-factor-is-vitamin-k2" target="_blank">Vitamin K2</a> comes in such delicious packages that its scarcity in most of our diets is a shame on multiple levels. On meatless days I tend more toward eggy main courses</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, but c'mon - macaroni and cheese is totally inspired, right? It was to me, anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It probably took me longer to figure out how I would go about this than the actual cooking time entailed. You see, I grew up as most of us probably did, eating Kraft mac n' cheese at least once a week, and Velveeta shells when we persuaded Mom to get the "good stuff". <i>Cringe.</i> The occasional macaroni and cheese from scratch that I encountered at family functions actually disgusted me in my days as a super-duper-ridiculously-picky child, but a combination of exiting adolescence and nixing all gluten liberated me to being merely a picky eater. I feel like an exotic food </span>connoisseur in comparison, despite not even liking Mexican food</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Really. Or chili. Or anything spicy. Or peaches. Or lots of other random foods that are normally considered delicious. Suffice it to say I was the kind of kid who lived primarily on cereal without the milk, PB&J, grilled cheese, pasta if free of sauce, and mac n' cheese that came out of a box. Do we wonder why I developed such a terrible problem with gluten?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting back on track, I knew that this couldn't be hard to make from scratch, but exactly how would I do it? I doubt the custom of baking macaroni would come about simply because people like doing extra work, so I knew a broiling of cheese would be in order. Part of the point of having enameled cast iron cookware is that it can go from stovetop to oven, so I refused to do something involving more than one pot or dish, just because knew I could figure it out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/cheese/stove-top-one-pot-macaroni-cheese-recipe/" target="_blank">This</a> ended up being my template, and I found the nutmeg subtle but a remarkable addition that I advise against skipping. The two of us polished it off with some green salad and called it dinner. As a side it should serve four.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. D was rather crestfallen that we were having this on a Friday and thus were not putting sausage or diced bacon in it, but we both enjoyed it anyway. I expect we'll just have to have it again soon, properly porked.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Simple Macaroni and Cheese</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups (a bit less than 1/2 lb.) gluten free pasta; I didn't have macaroni so I used fusilli</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups whole milk, plus extra if necessary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 T. butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. mustard powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">several shakes of nutmeg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 t. ground black pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup finely grated cheese of your choosing, plus more to top before broiling</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I added 1 t. salt as well and this ended up being a tad extra salty, so I think you should just salt to taste at the dinner table since saltiness will vary anyway based upon your choices of butter and cheese</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Method:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combine all ingredients except cheese in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently to avoid scorching on the bottom and to ensure pasta cooks evenly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reduce heat and let pasta cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes, while still stirring often. If the pasta:liquid ratio is getting too high, add milk, a little at a time, and make sure you're cooking over a low heat.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stir in grated cheese. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for five minutes to allow pasta to absorb a bit more liquid.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If your saucepan is not safe for the broiler, transfer its contents to a greased dish that is. Note that your choice of pan gives you power over how much delectable broiled cheesy goodness there shall be. Top your dish with additional grated cheese and place directly under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until desired browning is achieved. Serve while still warm.</span></span></span>
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