Povitica v.2.0

Yum yum yum yum yum!

Much tastier version than the last, albeit not quite as authentic as far as the thin-rolling goes.

The following recipe makes FOUR LOAVES plus a bit extra filling.


THE RECIPE:

Dough:  Cream together...

1/2 c coconut oil
1/2 c ghee
1.5 c coconut sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c brown rice syrup

Mix and add....

2 c brown rice flour
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour
2 c millet flour
1 c gluten-free oat flour
1 c tapioca flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt


Filling:   Melt together...

1.5 c ghee
1.5 c almond mulk
1 c agave nectar
1 lb ground walnuts
3 tbs cinnamon
2 tsp guar gum (to thicken)


Separate the dough into four quarters- one for each loaf.  Roll out one portion between plastic. Spread cooled filling onto dough, then roll dough. Fit each portion into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for ~40 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!

Gingerbread S'mores Cookies

 

Happy New Year!

I know I've continued to be AWOL for a while, but I have several holiday recipes to post in the next few days. Also, will probably be updating my health saga on a separate page, since of course there's a new development on that front as well.

The good stuff: Gingerbread Marshmallow S'more's Cookies! Gluten-free, Sugar-free, Dairy-free, as always.  These were my favorite Christmas cookies this year- festive and quite delicious!

THE RECIPE:

Dough:

Look at that creaming action! So light! So fluffy!

1/4 c (non-virgin) coconut oil
1/4 ghee
3/4 c coconut sugar             

--> cream fats and sugar until mixture lightens in color and increases in volume (takes 5-10 minutes)

2 eggs
1/4 c brown rice syrup         

--> add wet ingredients, mix thoroughly

1 1/4 c teff flour
1 c millet flour
1/2 c tapioca flour
1/2 c gluten-free oat flour     --> combine flours

2 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt                          --> add other dry ingredients to flour mixture

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients; mix thoroughly.

Roll out a portion of cough between two sheets of waxed paper, until 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.  Cut with your favorite cookie cutters.  Grease cookie sheets with an acceptable oil/fat, or line with parchment paper to prevent cookie-sticking.

The un-broken (aka, un-eaten) batch.

Bake at 350 for ~6 minutes, or until top of cookies just begins to be firm to the touch.  They won't brown much, so don't wait too long to take them out!

If you didn't use parchment paper (which I did not), use a metal spatula to remove cookies immediately from sheet. If you wait til they cool (or the usual 10 minutes), they will stick and break! And then you will be forced to eat stomachfuls of headless, armless gingerbread girls to destroy the evidence.

At this stage, cookies can be eaten as-is, OR they can be TAKEN TO THE NEXT LEVEL and s'more-ified.


S'MORE-IFICATION:

You will need these two essential components:

Two gingerbread girls: one light, one dark...

1. vegan marshmallow fluff   (ingredients: brown rice syrup, guar gum... plus MAGIC)

2. chocolate filling/frosting:   (extra can also can be used as truffle shells!*)

4 oz unsweetened solid chocolate
3/8 c coconut sugar
3 tbs agave nectar
2 tbs coconut oil    --> use a double-boiled to melt chocolate over medium heat, then mix in other ingredients.

S'mored!

Take two cookies of corresponding shapes. Spread marshmallow fluff over one, and chocolate over the other-- then BAM sandwich them together.

Decorating options based on how lazy you are feeling:

Pretty Lazy - dip a toothpick into chocolate filling and 'paint' chocolate onto cookies
Medium Lazy - put chocolate into a piping bag, and pipe on decorations
Zero Lazy - make some other frosting, all-natural-food-color it, etc., and knock yourself out.

 

S'mored AND beautified. Check out Slutty New Year's Dress Girl on the left there.

* To use this as truffle coating:

Option A, and Option B. Option C? Eat that chocolate plain!

a) use silicone ice-cube trays, preferably pre-greased with coconut oil, and coat with chocolate. Add a dollop of whatever filling, then cover that with a layer of chocolate. Place in freezer to set, then move to fridge. (They will look pretty!

b) use waxed paper - place a 1cm-to-1inch sized dollop of chocolate on waxed paper. Then dollop your filling on top of that, and then seal it all in a final coat of chocolate. Place in freezer/fridge to set. (Lots of dollops. And they will look lumpy.)


I used extra povitica filling for the inside of the truffles... this recipe will be up next! Stay tuned.

Eating on Adventure: London, Dublin, Edinburgh

London!

Thanks to an awesome friend working in London, I recently returned from a 10-day UK adventure through London, Scotland, and Ireland. (It was incredible!) In addition to 14 powerbars, a bag of almonds, some prunes, a handful of fruit leather strips, a batch of chocolate almond butter cookies, some fruit, and a bag of protein shake, I was lucky enough to run into some pretty decent whole food restaurants abroad.  In particular, I ate at one raw restaurant (SAF London), one deli/bakery (Blazing Salads, Dublin), and munched a lot of wild blackberries along the road!  Otherwise, I only actually bought two additional meals- one grilled-fish and chips meal, and one potatoes and vegetables meal-- both in Ireland during day tours.

My thoughts on the food that I did find--


 1. SAF Shoreditch - City of London - http://www.safrestaurant.co.uk/
     my score: 4 / 5 stars

This is not aubergine manicotti. I found it online when I googled SAF. But it does look like the raw tacos that my companion ate!

I ordered the Aubergine Manicotti (£14.45): "Mixed herb cheese wrapped in marinated aubergine strips, dehydrated and served with putanesca, olive relish and semi-dried tomato."

It was good! Not the best raw food I've ever eaten (which would be the Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine, FL), but still very much worth it. Even more telling, SAF passed the ultimate test: my sugar-and-meat-and-all-things-normal eating friend even enjoyed his raw tacos. Not bad!  The biggest downside to SAF was its distance from where I was staying in Central London. (It was about a 20 minute walk)

Oh- oh- and for DESSERT, I ordered a orange chocolate tart. It was also fair. A little too cacao-nib-y for my taste, but what redeemed it was the little orange-flavored spheres that topped it. Very molecular-gastronomy-y, and I don't remember what they're actually called... but cool!


2. Blazing Salads: Dublin, Ireland
    5 / 5 stars

Image from The Vegan Post.

 This place was possibly the highlight of Dublin for me! It is a small family-owned deli, with a salad bar and bakery. The bakery was full of sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free concoctions! I stocked up for the next few days worth of meals/snacks and purchased: a brown rice ball stuffed with beans, a phyllo-esque wrap stuffed with nori/seaweed, an orange-date bar, and a cardamom-fig pastry roll. And then I figured what-the-heck, and added some Natasha's raw chocolate truffles for 1 euro each.  Everything that I had there was unique and delicious-- 100% worth the experience!  And of course it was a great way to blow my last euros before returning to London.


I was even so happy to find delicious, edible Dublin food, that missing my flight back to London didn't even upset me too much that evening. Because yes, that happened... silly AM vs PM confusion. But, 200e later, I was on a different flight nonetheless.


So, in summary- there exist places to eat abroad on a gluten free, sugar free, dairy free diet-- you just have to do your homework and know where to go. And if ever you are in Dublin, be sure to hit up Blazing Salads, on Wicklow St.

Maple Walnut Pie

One again... ate 90% of it before a photo could be taken..... :)

Happy Thanksgiving! This is a festive pie that I actually made for a pre-Halloween pumpkin carving party.  It was delicious, and I liked that it was less traditional than your typical pecan pie. (and also... walnuts are cheaper than pecans! :) )

Crust:

1/2 c + 3 tbs millet flour
1/2 c garbanzo bean flour
1 tbs potato starch
1/8+ tsp salt           ---> combine dry ingredients
3 tbs ghee              ---> mix into dry ingredients to make velevety consisitency
3 tbs ghee              ---> mix coarsely to form pea sized balls
~1 tbs ice-cold water   ---> drizzle in, gently mixing until dough forms into a ball

Roll out for a 8.5" pie pan (8 or 9" would work too) on waxed paper. Place the pie pan upside-down on the rolled dough, and use the waxed paper to flip the crust into the pan. Repair any cracks that may form, then crimp edges
Prick bottom and sides of pastry with fork. Line edges of crust with double thickness of foil. Bake 8 minutes at 450 F.. Remove foil, them bake 5 minutes more or until crust is lightly browned cool. Reduce oven to 350 F.


Filling:


1.5 c maple flavored agave (or maple syrup, if you can eat it)
3 eggs
4 tbs ghee
2 tbs coconut oil
1/3 c coconut sugar
1/4 c erythritol (or more coconut sugar)
2 c chopped walnuts, toasted
1 tbs vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp tapioca flour


Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored, ~5 minutes. Add ghee/coconut oil (softened), beat in. Add all other ingrdients and mix, then fold in walnuts. Pour into crust. Bake on baking sheet for ~45 minutes, or until middle just begins to set but edges are not burned. If edges seem to be cooking too quickly (browning) before middle begins to set, turn temeprature down slightly.  Cool before serving.


Tastes like a cross between a pecan pie and maple stick donuts. :)