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Friday, March 27, 2009

Santa Fe Huevos on Polenta aka Eggs Ranchero


Santa Fe Huevos on Polenta Recipe aka Eggs Ranchero

Huevos rancheros- a traditional Tex-Mex recipe featuring fried eggs, refried beans and salsa on top of warm corn tortillas- is a delicious brunch recipe, no doubt. But I decided to change up tradition. Just because.

Using a roll of pre-made polenta makes this a perfect weeknight supper or a quick and easy Sunday brunch. For the more ambitious cooks out there, stirring polenta from scratch isn't hard, it just requires a little patience. Kinda like motherhood. And meditation. And selling a house. For how to make make polenta from scratch see below.


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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Big Banana Muffins (Gluten-Free)

Gluten free banana muffins
Gluten-free banana muffins. Oh yeah.

Sometimes you crave banana bread but not the slice. You have a hankering for the whole, not the part. A thing intact. Weighty and complete and an entity all on its own. All yours. Maybe it's the simplicity you want. The curve and weight of it snug in your hand. Hefty but compact. Portable.

You want a muffin.

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread


A combination of gluten-free grains makes this my favorite 
new gluten-free bread recipe. Hands down.

As promised I've been experimenting again with my favorite gluten-free bread recipe. This latest incarnation is my husband's new favorite. Why? It features cornmeal. I learned a long time ago that cornmeal (and polenta) warmed the cockles of his heart. So I bake with it every chance I get. This bread was tender and soft enough for sandwiches. Delicious flavor. The cornmeal gives it a mild and almost grainy texture without overpowering it. It's not heavy. And it toasts up like a crunchy golden dream.

This part- the crunchy toast part- is why I perseverate in gluten-free baking. Because no matter how old I get (and I hate to tell you, I've got a milestone number waiting for me in June that is scaring the juniper pollen infested daylights outa me!) I crave the simplest of foods.

Like toast.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Happy Spring! A Vernal Equinox View

Vernal Equinox View from our casita in New Mexico

I just took this photograph as the sun was setting over the western mesas. A Vernal Equinox sunset. Happy Spring everyone!

And here are my Favorite Spring Recipes for living gluten-free- to celebrate new beginnings.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

How to Live Gluten-Free on a Budget: 10 Tips + 2 Recipes

Potatoes are gluten free
Farmers' market potatoes. Gluten-free and budget friendly.


How to live gluten-free on a budget? It's a legitimate concern. I feel your pain. $6.95 for a gluten-free baking mix? Ouch.

There's a lot of chit chat lately about food budgets, food prices, and stretching a dollar on Twitter and Food Blogs. Budget talk is in the air. Eating in and cooking from scratch is a trend now. And for those of us living gluten-free, a  trend unlikely to burn out soon. 

So if- like me- you are struggling to balance your cranky budget, here are ten tips and tricks to stretch the green and keep it tasty.



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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Gluten-Free Recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Irish recipes- gluten-free Irish soda bread, colcannon, cottage pie
Colcannon with a twist.


To celebrate the wee bit of Irish in all of us, be it by blood or by spirit, I thought I might gather my gluten-free recipes inspired by Celtic tastes. Sure, Lass, that means potatoes. And cabbage, too. Salmon and cod dishes, eggs, Irish soda breads, cottage pies and spring soups. The Vernal Equinox is just around the corner. Flower beds are sprouting tiny shoots. And here in rural New Mexico, the cranes are following the river north, returning to their summer nesting grounds. The winter of 2009 will soon be a memory.

Put on some Van Morrison. Raise a glass. Sláinte-

Let's eat!


Gluten-Free Recipes for St. Patrick's Day


Breads and Muffins:

Blueberry Oat Muffins
Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread
Gypsy Soda Bread
Ryeless Rye Bread- A Gluten-Free Bread
Spotted Dog Bread



Soups:

Creamy Broccoli Soup (with coconut milk)
Creamy Celery Soup with Ryeless Rye Croutons
Detox Green Soup
Golden Potato Soup for the Sensitive Soul
Irish Potato and Cabbage Soup with Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread
Potato Leek Soup
Split Pea Soup- with Coconut Milk


Sides:

Crunchy Cabbage Coleslaw
Heirloom Potato Salad
Karina's Colcannon (pictured)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts Medley with Butter Beans and Rice
Two Potato Salad


Fish and Meat:

Baked Cod with Roasted Sweet + Sour Vegetables
Easy Lime Salmon
Mustard Roasted Vegetables and Sausage
Pork Roast with Mushrooms + Brown Sugar Apricot Sauce



Savory Pie:

Gold Potato Fritatta/Egg Pie
Irish Cottage Pie
Roasted Vegetable Cheddar Egg Quiche/Pie
Shepherd's Pie - Two Ways
Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie


Sweets:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies



 

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Gluten-Free Potato Leek Soup

Creamy potato soup- no dairy needed.

Twenty-nine hours. That's how long I've been awake. I could blame the full moon, big as a gleaming white soup plate hanging in the clear desert sky last night. Or the pollen. The hostile spiky spewing of hundreds of junipers rooted round our plucky little casita. Every time I drifted toward the promise of sleep I would sneeze straight up and fumble in the dark for a Kleenex, my throat as raw as Tom Waits' vocal chords after belting forth, Make It Rain. We're talking ragged.

It ain't pretty.

So excuse me if I keep today's ramblings short and sweet. I'm hovering outside my body- nineteen inches to the left of myself. Any moment now, I might spin off with the tumbleweeds and roll down the dirt road to the highway. I might not even mind, if I end up tumbling west, rolling into the City of Angels in my sleep, snoring down Sunset Boulevard all the way to Ocean Avenue and south to Venice Beach where I live a parallel life in an alternate universe surfing at dawn. And if you see me, give me a sign. Any sign will do. As long as you dream walk the same blue wavelength.

But before I spin toward the rutted crooked highway I'll leave you with a perfect soup for spring. Stir it up when the March winds blow, and soothe your winter weary bones.

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Sunday, March 8, 2009

♥ ♛ Friday-Night in Penang

Heyy!!.

Sorry, I have not been blogging for couple of days now.
I have been so busy with my university life.. and stuck with my assignments!. =(

but anyway, on Friday night the 6th March, i went to QEII club nearby Jetty.
i only been there once, & have not been there for a loong while since "Equator Academy of Art Prom in 2008". here was some of the pictures from the prom last year in QEII..


i was wearing a cute blue dress that night, & it was a gift from Hney!!. he was in Bangkok at that time, he said he didn't even plan to buy me anything until he saw the dress for sell when he was hanging out with his pals at the mall. he said the dress reminded him of me and will looks cute on me. and so he bought it for a gift. awww..how sweet!.
i like it when he's doing spontaneous thing, it's the cutest thing..


anyway, back to QEII topic.
i kind of like this club better than any other club in Penang which most of them are in 'Penang Road'.
now don't get me wrong, i'm not a serious party-person. i put it on the limit and only going out for FUN. out of all the club that i've been so far, QEII is one of the 'must-go'.

♪ SS or Slippery Senoritas in Penang Road is a bit boring now, i must say. They play too much hip-hop, too much Sean Kingston *ugh i hate it!, and the crowd are usually a bit old. so it's not really a 'hip' place for the youngster. also the dancefloor are a bit too small, when the crowd getting crowded, you can barely breathe and the smokes of the ciggies going to make it worst.

♪ MoMo is used to be the 'hippest', but they charged a bit too expensive for getting in. their music is ok, they play trance sometimes, and the interior design is alright. but after numbers of visiting, i got bored of it.

♪ MOIS is now the 'hippest', most popular, & most crowded club in Penang, i think. People always stand in a line to get in. I went to MOIS for only twice. honestly, i don't really like that place. the music is heck boring!!. i have never enjoyed the music everytime i went there, and it's always been too crowded that you can barely dance. but it seems like most of the people prefer to go there sometimes.

♪ F.A.M.E is a new club in town. it used to be a club called GLO. I went there twice, and I'd say it's not that bad. the dancefloor is pretty big, the music is totally ok, it's not that quite & not that crowded either. there are many youngsters there, and they always have some kind of promotion too. I won a cellphone last time, from the Dance Competition. LOL.

♪ Last but not least, QEII. the location is nearby Jetty, a little bit far from Penang Road where all the clubs are there. I'd say this place is worth to go to. they always have some cool events & promotion here. the dancefloor is acceptable because it's an outdoor club, so you can breathe easily without having the annoying ciggies smells in your hair. when i went there last friday, they gaveaway FREE DRINKS to the ladies unlimited from 8.oo till 10.30. quite a good deal huh? =)
the music is totally fine. deff cooler than the music they played in other clubs. QEII will play hip-hop but also some trance, so it's acceptable.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Gluten-Free Focaccia Recipe with Garlic + Tomato

Gluten free focaccia with garlic and tomatoes
Gluten-free focaccia recipe- with tomato, herbs and garlic.

When Steve and I were on our honeymoon we ate focaccia every morning for breakfast. After a few cappuccinos, that is. Six between us. To fortify us for the walk across the piazza to the tiny bakery. After all, we were in Italy. Doing what you do in Italy. Wake up. Rub the garlic infused sleep from your eyes. Pull on your jeans. Walk to the local espresso bar. Zip. Boom. Buon giorno!

The owner of the Podere Villuzza would greet us every morning on our way out the door, wishing us a good day, For your blue moon!

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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Irish Cottage Pie | Shepherd's Pie

Gluten free cottage pie and shepherds pie recipe with mashed potato topping
Gluten-free shepherd's pie, Irish style cottage comfort.

I have been craving comfort food and shepherd's pie- even though it's been a warm and breezy week here by the Chama River north of Santa Fe. The promise of Spring is tugging at our sluggish winter bodies, cracking and stiff and a tad thicker than one would care to admit. We are itchy to walk- just as the junipers are shedding pollen in curtains of dirty yellow. We walked and sneezed and rubbed gritty eyes.

For this we waited all winter? I complained.

It strikes us as ironic if not downright diabolical. Mother Nature is taunting us. The coyotes are laughing on the rim of the mesa. I listen and note they are closer than usual, emboldened by our wintery hibernation. The land belongs to them now. We're simply tourists.

This doesn't bother me. I'm just here in passing, on my way home. Taking the long way- dreaming of the west coast and waves of glassy blue-green curling in to shore. I'm an ocean girl, a beachcomber. A flip-flop wearer. Not a cowgirl. I've never ridden a horse in my life. Or handled a rifle (two skills highly valued in this part of the world). The desert does not feed me. She takes from me. Sucking every last drop. If I stay here much longer I fear you will find me as brittle and sun-bleached as one of Georgia O'Keeffe's bone paintings.

I'm not quite ready to give up on the juicy part of my life.

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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Medley with Refried Butter Beans & Rice

Roasted Brussells sprouts plate with brown rice and butter beans is a healthy vegan gluten free meal
Roasting Brussells sprouts brings out their inherent sweetness.


Happy March! We made it through. The days are stretching inch by inch, noticeably longer. And just in the nick of time for this winter weary gluten-free goddess and her serotonin deprived little brain. Let's do a collective happy dance, Steve Martin style. We're sneaking up on a big turning point in the year. You know the one- when daylight equals darkness. The Spring Equinox will be here before you know it (March 20, 2009, to be exact). And then? You know what then. Luxurious long days, evening walks warmed by the sun. Sprouting going on everywhere you look. Buds bursting. A brand new season. Fresh. Life.

After the winter we've had- with all the Wall Street inspired doom and gloom infused with a shaken-not-stirred cocktail of fear and hope? I choose hope. This shouldn't surprise you. It's in my nature. New paradigms and inventive beginnings? Bring it on. 

I love learning a new skill set.

So in the spirit of celebrating the whole sprouting and greening thing that is waiting for us right around the corner (if the wheel of the year could sport a corner, that is), the impending balance of the coming Vernal Equinox, I offer you a budget-friendly vegan meal that is fresh and earthy, green and nutty, savory and sweet. You know, that whole yin yang Real Food Daily approach to eating (how cool is Anne Gentry?). Food to feed you, body and soul, as the March winds blow and scatter the remnants of winter into memory.

I know some of you don't believe me when I tell you Brussels sprouts can be tender and sweet. You think these tiny cabbages are mushy and smelly and not worth consideration. To those of you in that particular camp, I must ask. Have you ever roasted Brussels sprouts? Because here's the thing. When you roast these little green babies they get all caramelized and nutty and they take on a whole new demeanor. And the best part? Roasting vegetables makes for an easy dinner. It's almost a night off from cooking. Well. Okay, maybe not a night off, but. 

Pretty darn simple.


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