Non-Kosher B12 Gluten Free Thanksgiving

What a Thanksgiving.  Scharffenberger brut sparking wine from Northern California and a few firsts for the family.  We made some traditional Baltimore-style crab cakes, sans breadcrumbs with some percorino romano to bind the lump crab meat together.  They came out fabulously and Yael ate them which was surprising and delightful.  We will need to keep crabbie patties on the menu here.  Lisa made some wild rice and roasted beet, leak, and chestnut salad and a sugar free sweet potato pie with a pecan crust.  All gluten-free but not necessarily glutton-free.

We have been debating the merits of the whole kosher thing.  From a historical perspective dietary restrictions which might promote health/sanitary conditions and a means of identity and meaningful differentiation on a day-to-day basis make sense.  Thousands of years ago I'm going to guess there was no such thing as organic of free-range.  That was the standard and perhaps the only option in terms of meats.  Now, of course something might be kosher but no necessarily organic or free-range.  Is is possible to set a table with foods that are ethically cultivated, sanitary, based on fair trade practices and find differentiation from a religious perspective in other ways? Would I feel better eating a scavenger than kosher chicken that has passed through this world in a restricted pen?  Or, are the modern ethical/fair trade considerations just an additional layer on top of the existing kosher mandate?  I'm not sure and it is too heavy a set of questions to figure out this Thanksgiving.  I know we do like crab and it satisfies the need for a B12 gap Lisa has had in her diet.  Maybe we have the pseudo kosher rules of crabs in the house for the B12 but only on non-Jewish holiday rules.

We hope all our friends, family, and readers are safe, sound and well.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Michael

Call Me Jelly Because I'm on a Roll - I Mean Gluten Free Waffle

I've been experimenting for a while with a new waffle maker.  Our most recent recipe is a gluten free one which goes along nicely with a topping of Trader Joe's or other high quality raspberry jam.  Batter ingredients: 2 cups of buckwheat flour, 4 teaspoons of baking power, 2 eggs, 4 teaspoons of cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of agave or honey, 1 table spoon of vanilla extract, 1 1/3 cups of milk (goat milk works very well), and 1/3 cup of canola oil.  Mix the wet ingredients first, then stir in the dry ingredients.  Add to waffle iron and proportion as needed.  These come out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside without too much density.  They also heat up very well in a toaster oven or regular pop-up toaster.  Kids love 'em.

These are pretty easy to make.  I can generally prepare them from start to finish in about 1/2 an hour including cooking time.  Enjoy!

I'm back

 Well, it's been a while.  Our Indian food adventure formally concluded in June, but we still like to eat good stuff.  I will be posting Indian and non-Indian inspired things.  Things such as this Chia Seed Delight.   An oxymoron, you say?  Well, the picture of our daughter the picky eater doesn't lie.  This is a sweet treat that you can feel good about giving the kids and yourself.  Made with chia seeds, raisins, walnuts, orange juice and coco powder, and covered in a thin layer of vegan chocolate.  So easy.  Lots of omega fatty acids, iron, protein, vitamin C, etc.   The texture inside is like Turkish Delight, kind of gummy and soft.  I am thinking this could be done with lemon or lime juice, eliminate the coco powder, use cashews or almonds or any kind of nut.  Lots of variations.  Let me know if you make a variation.

This is slightly adapted from this recipe I saw at Gone Raw, my go-to raw foods website. I'll blog some about doing raw foods in the near future.

So, we are going Gluten Free here.  Just got a new Zojirushi breadmaker and a GF loaf is cooking right now. I'll let you know in the next post how it turned out.  Meanwhile enjoy the:

Chia Seed Delight

4 T of ground chia seeds (I used Salba brand already ground, but you can grind your own in a coffee or spice mill)
Enough orange juice to make a thick sludge when added to the seeds.  I juiced four mandarins, but one orange should do it.
Zest of the aforementioned orange.

3/4 - 1 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips (I used the Enjoy Life brand, allergen free) with just a splash of soy or nut milk.

Place the ground seeds in a bowl and add the zest and juice.  Mix well and let stand for about half an hour until the seeds absorb all the juice and become jelly-like. 

In a food processor, grind the walnuts until they are a coarse meal.  Add the raisins and process until all is combined into a paste.  Add the chia jell and process further until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  At this point, it does not look appetizing and you will begin to doubt whether this will turn out.

Wet your hands and roll the mix into bon-bon sized balls.  Place in a container and refrigerate for an hour or so.  Then melt the chocolate chips.  I just pop them in a Pyrex measuring cup with a splash of soy milk and microwave for 20 seconds.  Stir until smooth.  Then use this to coat the chilled bon-bons.  Put back in the fridge for the coating to harden up. 

The Octopus and The Hot Dog

 We are very excited to announce our son Sol (8) has just published his book, The Octopus and the Hot Dog.  It is a fun Summer adventure read.  We hope you will enjoy it.  There is no tie in here to Indian food unless of course either Octopus or Hot Dogs are popular in Indian cuisine. You can find it on Amazon

Cambridge Graduation Weekend & New Food Aventures

After a long journey I've graduated with my masters from Cambridge. This was a truly transformational experience.  I managed to have one last Indian meal at the curry house the weekend of May 14th.  It did not disappoint.  There are a number of things that will be missed about this adventure.  The group projects, pre-eating before the Friday night college meals, MCS modeling, runs and walks along the Cam and passing my friends the cows, the long formal suppers, excellent academic exposure, the town and its architecture, and on and on.  Our group of friends and network will surely continue on after this two years and I expect we'll all achieve quite a bit in industry and not for profit ventures.  Lisa and I will now be looking at non-Indian food experiences. although I'm certain Indian foods will still play a central role in our diets.  Just this morning Lisa made herself a dosa for breakfast and I caught myself wondering why, now that the project is "over."  But the truth is it will never be over and we'll continue to explore the many avenues different cuisines of India have to offer.  Our new focus may become that of the south pacific/Asia Pac - we'll see shortly.  Cheers.

Indian Food Up in the Sky

Yes, over this project we've encountered all types of Indian food in a lot of strange places. Last week we took a cross country trip to Philly and Upstate NY. On the way out and back Sol ordered the vegetarian option - a Hindu meal. The offering came with traditional rice, spinach saag, a tomato based curry, and a plain paratha with packaged yogurt on the side.

I'm not a huge fan of saag but if you are interested in trying to make it the following is a promising recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons cumin seed
• 1 green chile pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
• 1 pound chopped fresh mustard greens
• 1 pound chopped fresh spinach
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large skillet or wok, melt butter over medium-high heat, and cook and stir cumin seed, chile pepper, garlic, and turmeric until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
2. Stir in the chopped mustard greens and spinach a little at a time, adding the tougher parts first (the stems and thicker leaves). Continue to add greens, and cook and stir until all greens have been added and all are thoroughly wilted. Stir in the cumin, coriander, and salt. Cover; reduce heat and simmer until greens are tender, about 10 minutes, adding water as needed to keep the greens moist.

India Wins World Cup!

Lots to celebrate today and some inspiration for cooking this week. India has prevailed in the cricket world cup at home in Mumbai. This is their first win since '83 - with a six wicket triumph over Sri Lanka.