Cinnamon Sugar Swirly Crunch...Things

I used the bialy dough recipe from Cooking for Isaiah with a few changes of my own. I added a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough, and made sure to handle the dough a little longer before setting it to rise. This helped with the texture, otherwise it's a little too sticky. After the dough rose for 30 minutes, I spread a fairly thick layer of cinnamon sugar over the entire rectangle of dough. I then rolled it up on itself tightly, cut it into slices, and put them on the pizza stone( If you don't have one of these and are planning on doing a lot of baking, GET ONE. It will be your best friend, and really  isn't that expensive). I baked these in a 450 degree oven for about 17 minutes, the time will probably be a little different depending on the setting of your oven. They were absolutely delicious hot out of the oven with tea!!!

Black Bean Soup!

My mom is the queen of making soup. There are often times at school where I would do a great many desperate things to just have a cup of her soup. The solution? Eating as much of it as I can when I'm home, as well as learning how to make my own soup!  The other night, we made a tomato-lime black bean soup with avocado cream, served with more delicious quesadillas. Inspired by Cooking For Isaiah's recipe, it was easily the best black bean soup I have ever had. It was a clear favorite.

Tomato Lime Black Bean Soup with Avocado Cream:
You'll need: 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion chopped, 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon light brown sugar, 2 cans of black beans( rinsed!), 4 cups vegetable broth, 1 can diced fire tomatos with juice, 2 jalapeno peppers( seeded), 1/2 chipotle( go easy on the adobo sauce), 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 4 tablespoons lime juice, salt, 1 ripe avocado.

I love cilantro. And avocado. I know they aren't for everyone. But I promise. I considered licking the bowl that held the avocado cream when we were done, that's how delicious it is. 


In a soup pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, brown sugar, and cook until the onion is caramelized. Add the beans and broth, bringing to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for about 45 minutes, until the bans are falling apart. 


Add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove 2 cups of the soup, puree it with the jalapenos, chipotle, and cilantro. (You may be tempted at this moment to use this freshly pureed mixture as a chip dip. This might seem like a delicious idea, and it is, but if you do, you will not get to eat the soup. It's your choice. I'd personally recommend doing both :) ) Return the mixture to the rest of the soup. Stir in 2 tablespoons of lime juice and season with 1 teaspoon salt. 


Place the avocado and remaining 2 tablespoons of lime juice in a food processor and blend until creamy. You will also be tempted by this mixture. I have used the leftover avocado on everything. It keeps great( probably because of the lime juice) and it's perfect. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and top the soup with the avocado cream and cilantro. Prepare for amazement. 


We also served this soup with quesadillas. I popped the tortillas into a pan with some olive oil to make them a little crunchier, then layered pepper jack cheese, chicken, delicious sweet corn fresh from the cob, and black beans, topped with another tortilla. Such a fantastic life decision. 

Father's Day!

Hello! I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday, I know I did! My family is very food oriented, my dad spent a great deal of time working as a chef, and both of my parents are incredibly talented in the kitchen. So, celebrations tend to be on the fantastic side. Yesterday, I made Onion Poppyseed Bialys, using gluten-free flour. They were absolutely amazing. We served Barbeque Bacon Onion Burgers on top of them, with home-made steak fries with Montreal Seasoning. All in all, it was an amazing meal. I'll post the recipe later, but for now, here are some pictures!

Gluten Free Pizza

Friday Night home-made Pizza has been a standard in my house for as long as I can remember. Last week, I dared to break my gluten-free diet and try a piece. I regretted it a great deal the next day, with my gluten-induced flu symptoms. So this week, Mom and I decided to try the gluten free pizza dough, listed in Silvana Nardone's cookbook, Cooking For Isaiah. It was AMAZING. Crunchy, covered in fresh grape tomatos, pesto, and mozzarella cheese, I was in heaven. And still gluten-free! I'll post ingredients and directions later in the week, but for now, here are some pictures!

Quesadillas!

Since going gluten-free, I have made a lot of mexican food. I've had more meals involving black beans, corn, rice, and cheese in the past three weeks than I have in the past year. No regrets. Today, lunch was all about the leftovers. First, I grabbed 2 corn tortillas and toasted them up in vegetable oil in the pan. All of the sizzling from the vegetable oil was a little bit scary, but it was all in the name of deliciousness. After the tortillas were nice and crispy, I put one back into the pan and put down a fairly heavy layer of  Monterey Jack Cheese, followed by some shredded Virginia Ham, black beans, and corn. I covered this with a second tortilla and let it cook for a few minutes. A few tricky attempts later, I had successfully flipped my quesadilla and was toasting up the other side of it. Soon, the cheese was melting out the sides, and I was practically drooling. After I took it out of the pan, I covered it with just a sprinkling more of the Monterey Jack Cheese and sliced it. It was absolutely delicious!

The Staples

As far as actual cooking goes, I've really relied on Silvana Nardone's cookbook, Cooking for Isaiah. You can find her wonderful website here!- http://silvanaskitchen.com/ . The two things I have used the most so far, beyond the actual recipes, are her flour recipes. In order to not feel like I'm missing out, I really needed to find a way to make those baked goods: breads, pancakes, cookies, and so much more. Cooking for Isaiah includes a recipe for regular every-day use flour, as well as a special pancake flour recipe. If you are looking for an easy way to start baking gluten-free, I really recommend this cookbook.

This morning, I was absolutely craving pancakes. And banana bread. So all I really wanted was to make banana pancakes. Tragically, our last banana had mysteriously disappeared in the night. At my mother's suggestion, I replaced it with a grated apple, which worked beautifully. Here is the recipe I used, modified from Cooking for Isaiah. For those of you who are rookie cooks like myself, you might find my commentary in italics helpful. If you are a more seasoned cook, I apologize in advance.

Apple Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup:

Cinnamon Syrup: 

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup water

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and water, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce until thickened, about ten minutes.
I took a little bit longer on the syrup, so it was still really hot when I put it out for the pancakes. Watch out for sugar burns! 


Pancakes:

• 2 cups of Silvana's Pancake Mix( from Cooking for Isaiah)
• 1 grated apple
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 & 1/2 cups soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium bowl, stir the pancake mix/flour, grated apple, vanilla, egg, milk, oil, and cinnamon until combined. This batter will be thicker than you expect. Do not panic! It's supposed to be like that. Heat a large nonstick pan, and lightly grease with vegetable oil. Make sure your pan is hot before you put the oil in, and also make sure that it is well greased. The batter is a little bit stickier than regular pancakes. Pour the pancake batter in about 1/3 cup at a time, and cook each side until golden brown( 2-3 minutes). Serve the pancakes with the cinnamon syrup, and enjoy!!!

An Introduction

Hi! Since this is my first blog post, I thought I'd put a little introduction. I'm Emma, I'm a 20-year-old college student, and I recently learned that I have a gluten sensitivity/mild allergy. I've spent most of my life thinking that I just had a wimpy stomach and sensitive skin and that I was prone to becoming over-tired. I had managed to just deal with the chronic fatigue and other mild issues. However, over my last break, my mom did some research and we started to ask questions. A week after cutting gluten out of my diet, I had far more energy, my skin had cleared rapidly, and I was feeling healthier, happier and more balanced than I had in a very long time. Additionally, other foods started to taste better. As a life-long picky eater, I was surprising my entire family with all of the fruits and veggies that I suddenly was eating very enthusiastically. All of this was encouraging. But, by the second week, I was missing cookies, brownies, and bread. I was dreaming about bread. So, my mom started cooking. And I started cooking. We've started making gluten-free flour, trying boxed cookie and brownie recipes, and experimenting with fruits and vegetables.  And even though the kitchen is clearly not my natural habitat, the payoff has absolutely been worth it. With the help of my parent's excellent culinary skills, as well as cookbooks like Cooking for Isiah by Silvana Nardone( absolutely recommend this!), I'm gradually wrapping my head around my new gluten-free diet. I'm going to be using this blog to write about my recipe experiments and keep track of how I feel as I continue to cut out gluten. Thanks for reading!