Gluten Free Decadent Chocolate Cake

 

This week I prepared something every day in advance for my son’s birthday requests. He wanted French toast for breakfast, a chocolate cake and pizza for dinner…..it sounds simple enough but I always seem to fall down a rabbit hole when it comes to events like this because one thing leads to another and before you know it it has taken on a life of its own.

Just choose one and go for it…..

French Toast, Homemade Pesto, Pizza Sauce, Pizza Crust, and the most amazing Chocolate Cake.

My family has requested the homemade pizza sauce for at least a year and we were out of pesto for nearly as long so I made time to do it finally. And of course we had to have the cake for the birthday celebration. The French toast was a must for using the last bit of some fantastic wheat free bread from my Bob’s Red Mill visit.

All of the recipes for his birthday requests are in my book Cooking Gluten-Free! but this post is about the chocolate cake.

Christopher Kimball and Cook’s Illustrated

Years ago when developing the timeless recipes for the book, I had the good fortune to meet Christopher Kimball of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, The Cook’s Bible, and America’s Test Kitchen.  He contributed several recipes such as Braised Tuna with Ginger and Soy and I revised his Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze recipe from the Cook’s Bible and included that as well.

The Chocolate Cake recipe includes espresso and buttermilk and my new version below with the fine chocolate frosting makes it hands down the best gluten free chocolate cake I have ever eaten!  The flour mix used is a great combination with just the right amount of starch and smoothness from the sweet rice flour. With this flour mix on hand (and some healthy flours) you can make any gluten free baked good with excellent results.

Quality Gluten Free Chocolate

When it came time to make the Chocolate Cake this week I was thinking of the leftover chocolate from my recent Valentines Day event with girlfriends making chocolate truffles with Felchin Cacaopulver Cocoa, Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet Chocolate and Guittard Soleil d’or Milk Chocolate. Chocolate Man link for product.

truffle making with tempering machine

Our gorgeous truffles!

a few of the seven truffle gals

 

forgot to change the setting on the camera.....

Well you get the idea on the truffle making…..I had 8 ounces of milk chocolate and 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate leftover from this day so I adapted my cake recipe to accomodate using it.  (A simple and also very good version is in the cookbook if you prefer.)

the first layer

the inside, one day later

Here are some pictures from the birthday food preparation:

the fantastic wheat-free bread from Bob's Red Mill

gluten free French toast

Homemade Pesto from Cooking Gluten-Free!

I hope you have a chance to make something fresh, gluten free, and delicious and that I have inspired some new ideas for you.  Next up is the Gluten Free Ratio Rally-Crepes.  My entry will be Swedish Pancakes.  I used to be the go-to gal at a local pie shop for their Swedish Pancakes–prior to that experience I had never made them quite this way and they are worth every effort—which isn’t much really.  They make a great lunch or a light dinner….stay tuned…..

I spent a great day with Bob Moore at Bob’s Red Mill last week!

Bob runs quite an impressive operation.
(Actually the employees own the place now, more on that in a minute.)

After the visit, I thought a lot about Stone Ground Whole Grain Flour………

…..many people may not realize what this means exactly…….though it is quite simple:

Pure whole grains go into the stone grinding mill, for example: corn kernels go in and depending on the setting it comes out as corn flour or corn meal. Bob’s stone mills ensure the most nutritious parts of the whole grain remain, so all-natural goodness goes right into your bag.  They grind whole grains at cool temperatures with traditional stone mills from Denmark (they have over 10!), a time-honored technique for quality results.

A stone grinding mill

Bob’s is the source for any kind of gluten free flour you may need: amaranth, teff, brown rice, tapioca, corn, sorghum, coconut, almond, millet….  He really feeds the world with his flour — wheat-filled flour is also a part of his product mix.  Distribution is nationwide AND to 71 countries!  I had no idea his business had grown so large.

Bob took the time to listen to early leaders in the gluten free world.  I was on the Board for the Gluten Intolerance Group many years ago and watched this process unfold.

Bob’s is Dedicated to Gluten Free

Bob’s 325,000 square foot manufacturing facility includes a separate, dedicated, gluten free facility using only pure, gluten free grains. He produces over 50 gluten free items. Each batch is tested and documented in his state-of-the-art lab to assure its gluten free status.   You can rest assured every effort has been made to provide you with the highest quality pure gluten free products.

This might be a good moment to let new readers know that I don’t give praise unless it is something I truly believe and/or admire!  The wide availability of his products has greatly simplified the lives of many on a gluten free diet.

A Can-do Spirit of Whole Grain Goodness

Bob has taken his expertise as an engineer and his commitment to whole grain goodness and turned it into a business that is quite self-sufficient.  If a specialized machine is needed to solve a problem, they build it in the welding room.  When their 25-pound bags needed to be customized on-site, they set up a printing press in the facility to print the bags.

Customizing the label on printing press

25-pound bags for commercial use.

For most grocery stores, product is shipped in 4-to-a-pack boxes so the individual bags stand tall on the shelf and are protected during shipment. In-store staff remove the top portion of the box when it is placed on the shelf.

Bob with the 4 to a pack boxes

There is a test kitchen for recipe development,

Bob's Red Mill recipe test kitchen

a lab for product testing, and a world class warehouse.

Nutrition and Wellness

I think it takes a special person to bring a business to life.

Bob and his wife Charlee encountered many challenges developing the business and turned them into opportunities that have enriched their lives and the lives of their employees.

Most recently they established a partnership with Oregon Health & Science University to finance research that measurably reduces chronic disease such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and metabolic disorders and emphasizes the health value of whole grains.  This is important research with far reaching implications.  We must begin to change our ways dramatically.  With 10,000 people turning 65 every day for the next 20 years it is imperative that our society consist of much healthier people—otherwise it will be impossible to address rampant chronic disease within our current medical infrastructure.  (I spent a portion of the past year working with chronic disease patients, I have seen where we are heading on this issue and it is mind boggling.)

An Amazing Gluten Free Experience   

After the tour with Bob, we went to the Whole Grain Store and Visitor’s Center down the street for lunch and an incredible shopping extravaganza in all things gluten free (they have many products for those on gluten-filled diets too, something for everyone).

Everyone knows Bob—we have known him through his likeness on our flour bags for years and we have appreciated his efforts for so long, it only stands to reason that when he walks in the door at the store he is THE Rock Star.  But what I loved the most during my visit were the little kids eating lunch there.  And let me tell you, the place was packed for lunch— probably because it is a community gathering place with good food, a warm welcome, and a special goodness that embraces you.   It seems the children know Bob as well as they know Santa— they know he carries around special coins that turn into a cookie when redeemed at the bakery counter!

I bet they also know he sometimes plays a lively tune on the piano upstairs…..

Many in the community must know that on Bob’s 81^st birthday he gave each employee a stake in the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) which will insure its stability locally and prevent a corporate buy-out —–so naturally Bob is thanked on a daily basis by those who see him in the store.  (Click onto the video here to see the Diane Sawyer American Heart story.)

Breakfast and Lunch at Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store  

Plan to visit and stay to eat!

For lunch, I purposely selected a Reuben sandwich on wheat free bread to see how the bread would stand up to a messy sandwich.  Bob said they use a recipe from Carol Fenster, I am happy to report it was delicious and the bread did not fall apart.  The bread is made in the on-site bakeryat the store; it is noted as wheat free as opposed to gluten free.  Wheat free can mean many things, but at Bob’s Red Mill it is called wheat free because it is an open-air bakery within the store so there is a possibility of cross contamination with flour dust in the air. Not everyone is that sensitive but some people are— so the bakery food must be called wheat free.  This is another example of the extraordinary attention to detail at Bob’s Red Mill.  (This is not to be confused with the manufacturing facility down the road which features a dedicated gluten free facility.)

Gluten Free Shopping  

Just a glimpse of the huge store

I felt like a kid in a candy store and shopped for at least an hour stocking up on gluten free flour, cooking utensils, and baked goods.

All gluten free cookbooks

There is a wall of gluten free cookbooks and a wide variety of gluten free grocery items.

Schedule a Mill Tour at Bob’s World Headquarters Manufacturing Facility 

On your way to the Oregon wine country, plan a trip to Bob’s for a mill tour (check out the details on their beautiful, easy-to-use website and then to the Whole Grain Store for a tax-free “stock-up on essentials” spree. You can also save 10% on case packs and there are in-store specials too. 

When I was there I discovered a new book called the Gluten Free Asian Kitchen , for me it is the only other gluten free book I need  (–besides my own of course because Asian food has always been a challenge to adapt).  Laura includes recipes for all of the Asian sauces you cannot buy and helps you identify sources of gluten in common Asian ingredients with a great chart for alternatives.  She explains common Asian ingredients, has recipes for dumplings and pancakes.  I cannot wait to adapt my friend Michiko’s pot sticker recipe using Laura’s gluten free “gyoza” dough!

Laura has a cooking class on soup coming up at Bob’s, this is an excellent time for a visit!  There is also a 10% store discount for those taking cooking classes.

I hope you have a chance to visit this year!

And be sure to look for Bob and share your appreciation.

The menu was designed for Red Heads……. for those who love red wine.

Perfect for a cold winter evening and a quick little trip.  Not that going from Seattle to Woodinville is much of a trip but it turned out to be exactly what we needed.

Last Friday night our son went on a retreat and our daughter is at college so we booked a night at the Willows Lodge in Woodinville and made reservations at The Herbfarm. This meant that after dinner we had to walk across the parking lot to get safely home for the night, it was worth every penny.

The Willows Lodge

I have always wanted to do this and when our plans fell through to go out of town it seemed like a great way to get away for a little adventure.  The only question I now have is why did we wait so long?   The Herbfarm has a rotating menu of themed dinners throughout the year so the experience is always a bit different.  We have plans to go back, next time with some friends.

It is kind of like going to dinner and a show.  We loved being able to see the kitchen action from our table.

And prior to the meal,  an overview is given by the sommelier, Tysan Dutta, she was quite knowledgeable. This dinner was unusual in that the sommelier selected the wine first and then the chef developed a dish to pair with it. Tysan would talk about the wine, the vineyard, the winery owner and then the chef, Chris Weber, spoke about each course and wine pairing. 

Chris Weber, chef

I don’t have a picture of it but most of the evening Chris and his team meticulously plated everything along the front counter of the kitchen.  The kitchen photo above is from the Herbfarm website,  the baskets of plants were not there during our visit and we could see the plating of the food. It is a well-oiled machine. The service was entertaining as well as the classical guitar accompaniment.

As we sat down to dinner I debated about spending the evening taking pictures of my food and decided to just enjoy the evening, most of these photos are those you would find on the web already.  Though the two photos at the end of the post are mine–much easier to deal with the camera the following morning.

 There were some notable items on the menu, actually they were extraordinary:

-Rutabaga Soup with Smoked Arctic Char Caviar, Lemon Thyme, Mustard Cream

-24 hour Braised Woodoven Wagyu Beef Short Rib with Winter Savory, Winter Mushrooms, Cold Weather Black Kale

And of course the other 7 courses were delectable but these two dishes were stand-outs. 

They were also able to make my meal gluten free without much altering, it appeared as though only a few differences to what everyone else received. And aside from the server confirming I needed a gluten free meal (based on my reservation request) I didn’t need to explain or worry about anything.

The wines we loved :

2009 Palotai Vineyard “Bulls Blood”, Estate Kadarka, Oregon (paired with a lovely beet dish with capers, truffle sauce, and 40-month mangalitsa prosciutto)

2008 Cristom Pinot Noir, Louis Vineyard, Willamette Valley (paired with sturgeon but would have gone well with salmon)–I need to see if I can buy some of this—it reminded me that when we were doing the tastings to help Wine World stock their store we tasted Pinot from every vineyard of this winery and all were excellent.

2006 Tranche Cellars Barbera, Yakima Valley, Washington
(served with duck confit)

2009 Maison Bleue Graviere Meritage Red, Snipes Mountain (paired with the fantastic short rib noted above) we were so enthralled with the short rib that I actually cannot remember this wine – my focus was on the short rib but it went together so well that the wine must have been wonderful!

Throughout the evening, my husband kept disappearing to go read more from the incredible cellar book that showcased all of the wine in stock. Something like 25,000 bottles on hand!!  Of course during a 4-hour meal there are plenty of opportunities to get up and walk around–each time you leave the table a brand new napkin appears and I think he went all the way up to the heavy-user category of about 8 napkins.  At the end of the night they let him take the book back to the room for further reading!

During the cheese service we had the option of going for a tawny port flight 10-20-40 year old ports side by side, a glass of exquisite Sauternes Chateau d’Yquem at 100 points!, or for those wishing a palate cleanser–a flight of the grand champagnes. 

Ok, so here is why it is important to bring your reading glasses….

I am just now noticing that there is an upcharge for these options.  If I am reading this correctly I paid $65 for a glass of the Yquem, well– after all– it is called the world’s greatest Sauternes!  I guess we’ll find out for sure when the credit card bill arrives.

The following day we had breakfast at the Barking Frog restaurant which is part of The Willows Lodge with James Beard award winning chefs to their name.  We noticed the night before that the lobby bar of the lodge has a great happy hour well-attended by locals.

And no visit would be complete without seeking out the resident pigs, it was a bit chilly in the morning so all we got was a snout…..

The other day I found this recipe on Twitter for Muffin Tin Chicken Pot Pie at The Baker Chick.  I must confess I had never had chicken pot pie (until last night) but I have always been intriqued by the idea and also by the  mini size of these that could be made in advance and frozen for later.  Since we STILL have snow on the ground here in Seattle it seemed like a great idea.  I had most of the ingredients on hand and it sounded perfect for a cold snowy night (and believe me it was….both husband and son were in gastromic heaven).

I had various bits of leftover frozen pie crust dough, friends were calling to walk down to the village pub for the afternoon so the dough and some frozen chicken were set out to await my return.  

In Seattle:

snow days = a mini holiday in the neighborhood

It’s really a great time to re-connect with neighbors and we are fortunate to have so many friends within walking distance to our little village, it’s quite a gathering place.

With the grocery store  near the pub I could grab two extra things I thought the filling needed:  mushrooms and celery.

I had a lot of pie crust made with teff flour on hand so that ended up being the bottom crust for all of the little pies.

While I loved the IDEA of these mini pies I have to tell you I was hating the actual rolling out of each bottom and top crust (24 times).  The Baker Chick suggests using a mega muffin tin which I don’t own.  Next time I will make these using some 4 1/2-inch ramekins instead or just one big pie.  Though I am very happy now that we have a few of these little guys waiting in the freezer for quick meals for my son.

Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

I am not going to reprint the recipe here, instead just go to The Baker Chick’s post for the details and follow along here for the easy substitutions to make it gluten free:

-use the savory version of my gluten free pie crust recipe and roll it out to accomodate the tins, ramekins or pie plate you decide to use.  Using teff flour for these little pies was the hands down favorite.  (I had a variety of leftover pie dough so while the bottoms were all the teff version the tops were made with my regular pie dough and a few experiments too.)

-instead of regular flour to thicken the filling use sweet rice flour

-use 2 chicken breasts and cook them whole – chop the meat once cooked, I think that makes the chicken more tender,  also add in several coarsely chopped cloves of garlic to the stock, chicken, carrots, potatoes, and green beans

-use 3 carrots and 2 small red potatoes

-saute with the onions: 6-7 finely chopped mushrooms and 3 stalks of finely chopped celery

-cook up a pot of brown rice and serve the leftover pot pie filling on top of the rice

Adapting recipes for gluten free or dairy free

It is very easy to adapt most any recipe to gluten free though it helps if you pick recipes where you can make easy substitutions.  Spotting those recipes comes with experience of course but I knew my pie crust would work well because it is easy to handle and I have used sweet rice flour as a thickening agent enough to know it would be fantastic in this filling.  When my daughter comes home I will use my lard based pie crust recipe, some dairy free margerine and milk.

Before the holidays I had the opportunity to meet with Jim Collins of Maninis.  We both live in the same neighborhood in Seattle and several friends suggested that we meet.  I had heard that he was developing gluten free bread and pasta. (and in a funny twist of fate I also used to drive his daughter home in the track practice car pool !)  I am normally cautious about recommending products since I am pretty particular about the quality of gluten free food and many people use a variety of nutritionally void gluten free flours.

When I heard he was using amaranth, sorghum, millet, oat flour and some starchs I was pretty excited to find out about his products.  (Starches are very useful in gluten free baking but you want to keep usage to a minimum, no more than 1/3 of the flour mix should be starch.)  Anyway we met and I was quite impressed with his efforts.  I dream of the day when his breads are available in my grocery store.  Right now his loaves of bread can be purchased at the University Farmer’s Market (I think they are year round) and at other farmers markets during their season.  Right now we often buy either Udi’s or Rudi’s gluten free breads or we make our own.  My daughter has also recently learned that she must avoid corn so when she is in town we cannot use Maninis as most of their mixes have cornstarch or maize in them.  (1-21-12, I just learned that Maninis Papa’s multigrain bread mix and the Trovato pasta mix are both corn free.)

After meeting Jim, I have been experimenting more with my own bread recipe, inspired by how awesome his tasted, and I have a few more tweaks to add before I offer that recipe as a bonus to those purchasing Cooking Gluten Free!  (and at $15 it helps us pay the bills around here too.)  Watch for information on my new bread recipe being offered with that soon.

Here is some French Bread made by my friend Lisa at Gluten Free Foodies with a Maninis mix:

Lisa and I attended a special event for food bloggers at Whole Foods just before Thanksgiving.  We are pleased to see Whole Foods work hard to offer good options for those on a gluten free diet and they also do a great job finding local products to offer their customers.  Maninis is both, Whole Foods actually has someone on staff with a title of Local Forager–she seeks out great, new local products!

Which brings me back full circle to my bread recipe in the book.  Years ago Lee Tobin was visiting Seattle on his honeymoon.  Lee worked in a North Carolina Whole Foods bakery and started the gluten free bakery division for the store.  At first Lee was baking for his region and ultimately the company took the idea nationwide.  Anyway, I received a phone call from Cynthia Kupper one day asking me if I would be attending that evening’s Gluten Intolerance Group meeting in Bellevue and if so could I swing by a B & B on Capital Hill and pick up a honeymooning couple that wanted to attend our meeting!  Isn’t that funny?—well Lee and his new bride wanted to make the most of their trip here and at the time Bette Hagman and I were regular attendees to this group and of course Cynthia knows everyone in the GF world so Lee was able to meet all three of us in one place.

I picked up Lee and his bride at the appointed street corner and while we drove to the meeting he told me all about his great method to speed up the rising time in gluten free bread making and he gave me the recipe he was using at the time which I changed a bit. So many recipes do not include his simple trick to rise the bread faster, I am so glad he shared it with me (us!).

After all these years of using that recipe, Maninis opened my eyes to further refinements.  Whereas my original recipe uses tapioca flour, brown rice flour, and one healthy flour (your choice: amaranth, teff, millet) I am now dropping the brown rice flour and incorporating oat flour, amanranth, millet and sorghum.  I am so thankful that all of these flours are widely available in stores and online from Bob’s Red Mill (more about him in a future post).

The other area that Maninis is pursuing is fresh gluten free pasta.  He sells to some grocery stores and local restaurants. 

 Mondello’s has become my new favorite place to eat in Magnolia.  The first time I had the gluten free pasta they buy from Maninis I was so impressed and very happy.  They also make some great salads.  Even though not all of the sauces they serve over pasta are gluten free you do have some options.  We like to order two salads and then share a pasta entree.

I hope you have a chance to visit.

If you want to make your own gluten free pasta follow the link to a recipe we use and some by fellow gluten free bloggers –I haven’t tried it yet but I want to make the one from Pete and Kelli and Tara.

Whew!  I hope all of that is helpful.  I hope to have my new bread recipe available in a few days to include with new orders.

Buttermilk Biscuits made with Multi Blend GF Flour Mix and Teff Flour

It can be difficult to know who to believe sometimes.

Our family recently learned an interesting lesson, but in order to tell that part of the story I have to go back in time a bit.

Eighteen years ago our daughter experienced flushed cheeks soon after eating a meal.  This seemed strange to me so I did a little reading and ultimately we went through a multi-elimination diet and discovered she reacted to corn and cow’s milk – we took those elements out of her diet (we also took her to an allergist who confirmed this with testing). 

 Then a few years later our son was diagnosed with celiac disease.  I had heard that our daughter might outgrow her food allergies in time so we had her tested again by the allergist —he confirmed that indeed she had outgrown them.  So for the past 14 years our daughter has consumed those foods while avoiding gluten (she is also a biopsy-proven celiac and aside from a period in high school where she opted to consume gluten she has led a gluten free life since the age of 8).

As a college student she did some research on celiac disease and food allergies because she felt that something she was eating made her feel bad.  We decided to do the multiple elimination diet again and

guess what????

she discovered that the symptoms she experienced went away by eliminating corn and cow’s milk! 

As a mother this is the point where you feel like a complete idiot—How would the past fourteen years have been different for her health if we had kept her on the dairy-free, corn-free and gluten-free diet?

I can’t help but think that avoiding corn and dairy in addition to gluten would have made a difference in her life on many levels and it makes me frustrated that we don’t seem to have better answers to these issues today.  We followed the doctors’ advice.  Granted it was advice that I sought out (trying to sidestep the complications of multiple food restrictions) to make my life easier as the cook!

Dairy free products are impressive!

Better late than never! Over the past month we have learned how to avoid corn, dairy, and gluten and I have to say we have been pleasantly surprised with the results.  Dairy-free sour cream, milk, cream cheese, and butter have been our saving grace.  The quality of these items has far surpassed my expectations too!

So as we rally again with the Gluten Free Ratio Rally bloggers for biscuits this month I will share with you some of these great products and a basic biscuit template that you can use whether you need to avoid dairy and corn or not.  These products use soy, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be if soy were also a problem.  Since our daughter is only in her 20s she is careful to minimize her consumption overall with regards to soy based products. 

Over the holidays we used these substitutes for sour cream coffee cake, cookies, potato dishes, and appetizers.  While they changed the overall result a bit,  they still offered up some pretty darn good food. 

We set the bar very high around here so to get that kind of accolade from me is really saying something.

Ruhlman’s Ratio Guide

The Ratio Rally bloggers want to help you bake easier using ratios, which is how restaurants adapt all of their recipes to feed a large crowd.  Once you know the ratio of a recipe you can experiment successfully.  Our Ruhlman’s ratio guide is 3:2:1 for flour : liquid : fat and this recipe comes pretty close to that ratio.  My goal was to use flours that you should have on hand if you want to make healthy gluten free baked goods.  If you use my Multi Blend mix  use about 130 g of that mix and 130 g of either teff or millet flour. 

Gluten free/dairy free tips I learned:

1.  Approximately 1/3 of the flour in the recipe is starch which is a good rule of thumb. Feel free to sub in other healthy gluten free flours.  Right now I happen to like the combination of  almost equal parts of millet, sorghum, amaranth, and oat flour.   If I had teff on hand instead of amaranth I would have used that. My affinity to these flours is due to meeting the owner of Manini’s mixes for bread and pasta—more on that in a future post.

2.  Next time I make these dairy free I might add in a teaspoon of cider vinegar as a dough enhancer for a better rise.  (Typically we use buttermilk, if you look at the photo at the top of this post and compare it to the photo at the bottom you will see what I am talking about).

3.  The beauty of the dairy free biscuit is that those who don’t have to follow a dairy free diet can add a pat of butter to their biscuit at the table and everyone is happy.  But I would argue that these biscuits taste pretty darn buttery as is.

4.  In order to get the right measurements this recipe is actually a little easier using a scale vs. traditional measuring cups (because I don’t own a 1/6 cup measure!)

biscuit dough, folding dough

dairy free, gluten free biscuits

inside the dairy free, gluten free biscuit

 These products are widely available in natural food markets.  I found them at my local grocery store and also at Whole Foods.

dairy free sour cream

In this picture the potatoes don’t look like much of anything but I can tell you they are easy and taste great.  We made two versions:  with dairy and also dairy-free.

Here is a quick recipe that you can make ahead and bake in the oven while you prepare other things.

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

5 pounds of potatoes–peeled, cooked, and mashed

add:

8 ounces cream cheese

8 ounces butter

8 ounces half and half

1 teaspoon each of:

-onion salt

-table salt

-seasoning salt (I used Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all together and put into a 9 x 13 baking dish covered with foil.

You may refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes with the foil on.

Here are some good dairy free substitutions: 

dairy free cream cheese

dairy free butter

dairy free half and half

dinosaur kale

I am not 100% sure if this is dinosaur kale–at my store it was marked just as green kale but it looked really bumpy like dinosaur kale.

This is the chicken lightly browned before going into the soup to cook a bit longer.

Here is the recipe link for you to try.  I didn’t bother to take any pictures of the finished soup in my dark kitchen because the Queen of Quinoa has that covered as well……

Kathy Casey

One of my favorite local chefs is Kathy Casey.  She blazed the trail for women pursuing a career as a chef.  When I first moved to Seattle she was making a name for herself at Fuller’s and receiving national attention for her creativity.

Oh and I almost forgot, she contributed recipes to Cooking Gluten-Free! long before it was on the radar screen of most Americans or chefs.

Now she is the creative force behind many restaurants as a consultant and develops great new cocktail concoctions in her Liquid Kitchen.

This weekend I plan to hang out in her studios in Ballard for her Holiday Extravaganza and Open House on Saturday, December 17^th, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm.  (I will be there long enough to shop for some of my food loving friends.)

Here is what they have planned:

The Food Studios Team will be cooking up lots of favorite bites from Kathy’s book Sips & Apps to nibble, such as Parmesan Poppyseed Puffs and Cha Cha Cashews as well as samples of Dish D’Lish Egg Nog, Liquid Kitchen Honey and all the goodies the team has “put up” and preserved this year. 

There’ll be lots to fill your favorite foodie’s stocking from their always-popular “Over 21″ Real Fruit Cakes made with Maker’s Mark (these sell fast so get there early!), pretty packaged little Spiced Apple Cakes, bags of crunchy Fennel-Roasted Walnuts made with fennel from their garden, house-made candies, Jingle Bell “Cheese Balls” spiked with Remy Martin cognac, Gingerbread Stars and Chocolate Peppermint Ho Hos. 

Also look for Dish D’Lish^® specialty products: seasoning salts, Cocktailor^™ cocktail mixers and limited-edition preserves, including 21-Day Candied Cuties Clementines, Kiwi Pepper Jelly, Raspberry Wine Jelly and Strawberry Lavender Jam as well as Liquid Kitchen^™ Cocktail Shaker Kits and 5130 Honey from their very own hive! Also offered, house-made Hot Buttered Rum Mix and a ton of other tasty treats and fun gifts throughout the day.

Kathy will be signing copies of her books throughout the day along with special guest Keren Brown, signing copies of her newest book Food Lover’s Guide to Seattle.  Keren is another fun Seattle foodie that I met while attending the many wine and food events around here, she knows everyone and has created a great job for herself—I only wish I had thought of it first!

Here is a link for more info: Kathy Casey Food Studios Holiday Open House
 

Saturday December 17^th 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

5130 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
206-784-7840

A quick during-the-holiday-bustle meal

This dinner is so quick that I made it and am blogging about it before we eat—now that is quick!!

It probably took a full 30-minutes from start to finish to cook and assemble (using a rice cooker for the quinoa).

If you haven’t added quinoa (keen-wa) into your weekly dinner plans you really should consider it.  It’s a great meatless meal and a complete protein that fills you up with the good stuff.  Leftovers travel well for lunches too.

The Secret to Great Quinoa

The key is to toss the cooked quinoa with some olive oil (and in this case lemon juice) when it is still warm but not hot.  The quinoa absorbs the flavor.  Your options are endless, it just depends on what you are trying to achieve.  In an earlier recipe post, salt and cumin were added to the olive oil and lemon juice before adding it to the cooked quinoa.

I was going to use all of the same ingredients as a greek salad  tonite but the cucumber that was in the frig had been in there for too many days.  The rest of the ingredients are easy to keep on hand in the pantry so all you have to remember to buy fresh is the arugula and the cucumber.

arugula, olive oil and lemon juice, red onion, kalamata olives, uncooked quinoa, feta, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato

A Rice Cooker Simplifies it All

If you don’t own a rice cooker this one won’t break the bank and makes it so easy!

a basic but good rice cooker

This is a great meal to make after a trip to Trader Joe’s–they have all of the ingredients!