Grandma Walker's Gingerbread, Gluten Free

Grandma Walker was my aunt's husband's grandmother (or possibly great-grandmother).  My aunt started bringing this recipe to family Christmas gatherings.  I loved the recipe because it was very tolerant of re-rolling....and the gluten-free version is even more so.

After I made a second batch, I reduced the quantity of flour by 2 oz.  The cookies are a little moister and softer that way.

1 c. sugar

1 c. molasses

1 c. shortening

2 eggs

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon extract

2/3 c. boiling water

1 tsp baking soda

16 oz teff flour

20 oz Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour

Cinnamon gems

Parchment paper for rolling & baking

Beat together the shortening, molasses, and sugar.  Scrape down the bowl and add the spices, extract, salt, and eggs, scraping down the bowl as needed to get everything uniformly combined.

Measure the water into a microwave safe measuring cup or bowl, and heat in the microwave until boiling.  Holding the hot water over the mixing bowl, stir the baking soda into the water and pour the foaming mixture into the bowl.  Beat in the water.  The batter will appear curdled, but that's OK.  The shortening melts, and cools into little particles, making for very tender cookies.

Mix in the flours until you have a uniform dough, which will be slightly sticky.

Divide the dough into quarters.  

Roll each piece of dough between two sheets of baking parchment to the desired thickness.  (The dough will puff with baking, so the final cookies will be thicker than the dough.)  The sheets are soft and floppy, so it works best to use the parchment to slide the first one off the counter onto a pizza pan or cookie sheet, and then stack the remaining sheets on top.  Refrigerate the dough for 4-24 hours, wrapped in plastic if you need to protect it from odors in your refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Remove the first sheet from the refrigerator.  Peel off the top sheet of parchment, and place it on a cookie sheet, sticky side up.  Using metal or plastic cookie cutters, cut out your shapes.  Peel away the extra dough and set it aside.  Transfer the shapes to the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2 an inch between cookies, so they don't rise into each other.

Press cinnamon gems into the cookies if desired.

Bake each full sheet at 350 F for 6-10 minutes until puffed, dry on top and lightly browned on the bottom.  (Thinner dough, convection setting -- 6 minutes.  Really thick cookies without convection might take 10 or 12 minutes.)  Cool the cookies on the pan.  Cooled cookies can be stacked on a cookie sheet until you're ready to frost.

Decorate with glaze or frosting as desired.  I like the tub version of cream cheese frosting for this, because it will dry to a crisp surface (allowing the cookies to be stacked with layers of waxed paper between them), and can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature (so the cookies don't get soggy from condensation).  You can use any form of icing or glaze that you like.

Double Blueberry Mini Muffins - Gluten Free

100 grams buckwheat flour
  75 grams corn flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
   1/2 t salt
   1  T psyllium husk
 1/4 c. Just Blueberries freeze dried blueberries
1/4 c. sweetened dried wild blueberries, such as Trader Joe's

1 c vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. water
2 eggs
2 oz coconut oil, melted
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 F (convection setting if you have it).  Spray a 24 cup non-stick mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

Weigh and measure the dry ingredients into a container.  Break the eggs into a medium bowl, and beat them.  Beat in the yogurt and water until well combined.  Add the coconut oil and dry ingredients, and stir until completely mixed.  (You don't have to worry about over-mixing making these muffins tough!)

Fill muffin tins to the top -- I used a 2 Tbsp dough scoop.  If you have any leftover batter, put it in a custard cup sprayed with non-stick spray.

Bake at 350 F until the tops are dry and spring back when you touch them, 14 -16 minutes.

Portuguese Fish Soup with Rice

In 2011, Nick e-mailed me and asked if I'd seen the article about fish stews on NPR.org.  He pointed out that the Fisherman's Stew of Graciosa looked really good.  I read the recipe and said I would attempt it, though I had never seen some of the ingredients.  It would be fun to use my mortar and pestle, I thought.

While I've seen various pickled peppers, I have no idea what variety the recipe is actually calling for.  The first time I made it, I tried mincing a seeded jalapeno.  Grinding a raw jalapeno in a mortar takes a long time.  But the soup was delicious...salty and tangy with umami from the fish and hint of sweetness...I tried it again with slices of canned jalapeno.  I also tried the same basic recipe replacing the fish with bone-in chicken thighs.  I would have made the soup more often if not for the time it takes to grind the damn peppers.  Then I saw Amore's Hot Pepper Paste (which appears to have been re-named Chili Pepper Paste).  Grinding the garlic still takes a little effort, but the seasoning paste now comes together in about the time it takes for my (still partially frozen) fish fillets to cook.

I still haven't seen Portuguese ground safflower anywhere, but I have paprika.  We like a bit of heat, so I usually use Hungarian Half-Sharp Paprika from Penzey's.  We usually ladle the soup over steamed brown rice, but for this batch I used some black rice, which was particularly beautiful with the white fish, red broth and green parsley.

I keep a small bottle of really good extra virgin olive oil that I mostly use for dressing salads and cold applications.  This is the only recipe where I heat the really good olive oil...

Since this soup has drifted from the original recipe over the last 2 years, Nick asked me if I had it written down... so here it is, written down.  The immersion blender is completely optional... but I do think you need to have a small mortar and pestle to grind the garlic.



2 rice cooker cups of whole grain (brown, red, or black rice)

2 ~ 3 lbs of cod, halibut or other meaty white fish (still frozen is OK)
1 quart water
1 T kosher salt
3 sprigs of Italian parsley
2 medium onions, quartered and sliced
3 bay leaves
1 T olive oil

1 1/2 T whole cumin seed
7 cloves garlic
2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 T finely chopped Italian parsley
2 T Amore chili pepper paste
3 T Amore tomato paste
1 T sugar
1/4 t freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar

Cook the rice in your rice cooker or in separate pot, following the instructions on the package.

Peel and quarter the onions, and slice thinly.  Combine the onions, water, kosher salt, parsley, bay leaves and olive in in large soup pot over medium high heat.  Nestle the frozen fish in the water and cover the pot.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the fish begins to flake.

Measure the cumin seed into a mortar and pestle, and grind it.  You don't have to get it all into a fine powder, but all of the seeds should be broken into pieces 1/4 ~ 1/3 the size of the original seeds.  My mortar isn't large enough to hold all of the ingredients in the paste, so I transfer the cumin to small bowl.

Finely chop enough parsley leaves to make 1 1/2 T.  (Remove the tough stems.)

Smash the garlic cloves with the mortar and remove the skins.  Place the peeled garlic and salt int the mortar and grind with the pestle.  Scrape down the sides occasionally, and keep grinding until you have a chunky paste.  Add the chopped parsley and continue grinding until there aren't any large pieces of garlic left.  (Adding a little of the oil makes the grinding a little easier.)

If your mortar is less then 2 cups in volume, transfer the contents to the bowl with the cumin.  Add the nutmeg, pepper paste, tomato paste, sugar and the rest of the olive oil.  After all the seasonings are mixed into the oil, stir in the vinegar.

When the fish flakes, remove it to a platter and cover it to keep it hot.  Discard the parsley stems and bay leaves.  Use an immersion blender to grind up about half of the onions into the broth.  Stir the seasoning paste into the broth and bring it to a boil.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

To serve, place a serving of fish and rice in a bowl or soup plate.  Ladle the hot broth over the fish.  You need to stir the broth between ladlefuls to keep the parsley and oil distributed between the servings.

This soup freezes and reheats well...and smells more savory than fishy when you reheat it in the break room microwave.

Maybe I should order the lettuce wraps at a restaurant again...

I have vague memories of ordering lettuce wraps in restaurants, and getting spicy, gooey ground chicken and other stuff in Boston lettuce cups.  A few years ago I had a package of turkey to use up, and I decided to cook it, toss in some veggies, and serve it in lettuce leaves.  (Nick requested a side of steamed rice, thus blowing my attempt to make a low-carb dinner.)

It's a little different every time I make it, and I really can't remember if the similarity to other recipes ends with the poultry, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes.   I didn't measure anything tonight, but here's a rough outline of what I made.

2-4 T stir-fry oil with ginger and garlic

~ 24 oz. 93% lean ground turkey

1 medium onion, quartered and sliced cross wise

4 shakes crushed red pepper flakes

2 large pinches Szechuan Peppercorns, crushed in a mortar

2 inches of garlic, grated on a garlic grater

6 cubes of Dorot ginger

1 small can slivered bamboo shoots

1 small can sliced water chestnuts

2 ~ 4 T soy sauce

water (to taste)

sweet mirin (to taste)

1 T corn starch

Dark Sesame oil (to taste)

Preheat a large non-stick wok over medium high.  Add 2 T of stir fry oil and the ground turkey.  Break the turkey up into pieces.  When the turkey is all opaque, there might be a lot of liquid in the pan.  Remove the liquid to a small, deep bowl and set aside to cool.    When the last of the water evaporates, add 1/2 ~ 1 T stir fry oil to the pan and toss the turkey with it.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until there are some nice golden brown patches on most of the turkey.  Remove the turkey to large plate.

Drain the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.  (Since I had the salad spinner out to dry the lettuce leaves, I gave them a spin.)

Add soy sauce and mirin to the reserved turkey dripping and add enough water to make about 3/4 c. of liquid total.    Drip a little on your finger and taste to decide if you want more salty soy sauce or sweet mirin.  Whisk in cornstarch with a fork or small whisk until you have a uniform slurry.  (Or put everything in a jar with a liquid tight lid and shake to combine.)

Add 1 T more stir fry oil to the wok, and when it shimmers add the red pepper flakes and crushed peppercorns.  Allow to sizzle for 1 minute before adding the onions.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown.  Add the ginger and garlic.  Stir frequently and cook until the garlic starts to brown.

Add the drained bamboo shoots, drained water chestnuts and browned turkey back to the pan, and stir well to combine.  Add your soy sauce mixture and cook, stirring, until it has thickened to coat everything in the pan.  Drizzle in some sesame oil, stir well and taste.

I think something fresh and green at the end would be an improvement, but I didn't have any....

Serve with steamed rice topped with nanami togarashi and a pile of leaf lettuce.

Cheeseburgers for breakfast

We were out late at a party last night and weren't particularly hungry when we got up.  I was drinking my second cup of tea and pondering what to make for breakfast.  I wanted was to go to a diner and get a cheeseburger and fries, while Nick could have a more traditional breakfast.  But our favorite breakfast spot doesn't make hamburgers on the weekend....and going out would require getting dressed.

I remembered that I had some cooked ground beef crumbles in the freezer.
And Tillamook sharp cheddar in the fridge.
And dehydrated hash browns in the pantry...mere inches away from cans of mild green chiles.

I love it when a meal comes together...

4.2 oz. package just-add-water hash browns

4 oz. can mild green chiles

Aleppo pepper, to taste

8-10 oz ground beef*

4 slices sharp cheddar

4 - 8 eggs

salt & pepper, to taste

oil or cooking spray

Combine the hash browns, canned chiles, and Aleppo pepper in a 3-4 cup container with a lid.  Stir to evenly distribute the chiles before adding boiling water.  Stir, cover and let sit 10 minutes.  It's better to have to add more water because the potatoes are still a little crunchy and have to add more water.  (Wet potatoes won't brown...)  The hash browns I buy are already pretty salty, so I don't add any salt...

Preheat a sandwich press to medium high, and oil it or spray with cooking spray.  Spread out the hash browns on the hot surface and spray the top with cooking spray (or drizzle it with oil) before closing the press.

Add your ground beef to a skillet over medium heat.  Break it up and continue cooking until it's  nicely browned.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When the potatoes and beef are browned, transfer the beef to a bowl or plate, and wipe out out the frying pan.  Oil the pan, and add your eggs.  (I usually add a little hot water and cover the pan to steam-cook the tops.)

Open the press and separate your hash brown patty into 4 servings.  

Sprinkle the ground beef evenly over the hash browns and top with sliced cheese.  Leave it on the griddle until the cheese softens and melts.

Plate the hash and top with fried eggs.

Since this made a lot of hash, and there are only two of us, I packed half of it into freezer containers, and then topped each serving with one raw egg.  I pierced the yolks in a couple places with a toothpick before freezing.  Even if the hash browns aren't crisp and the egg yolk cooks hard, it should make a pretty tasty lunch.

*I buy large packages of ground beef, cook it up in crumbles, cool it, and freeze 8 -12 oz. bags.  The cooked brown beef will thaw and brown faster than a frozen package of raw ground beef for quick week night cooking.