Simply Seven
served: two as a main course.

Ingredients:

• some minced garlic, I used a super heaping teaspoon of the jarred stuff.
• a can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed a few times
• some black olives sliced
• some tomato, sliced. i used some grape tomatoes that were in the back of the fridge
• some quinoa, I didn’t measure, approximately ¼ cup
• bay leaf, I don’t know where my bottle of bay leaves are so I used a few broken pieces..
• vegetable stock

Directions:
Turn crock pot on high. Dump first six ingredients in together. Add stock until near top but not quite.
Mostly ignore for the next 2.5 hours or until it’s done. Stir every so often if you are able.

Notes:
I have a small crock pot. It’s 1.5 quart i think. I should measure it one of these days. If you want to make more or know that you have a much larger slow cooker, add more ingredients. I wanted to use more olives, but we were out.
You may wish to salt and pepper to taste. We do that at the table.

I do not happily sit down to “three square meals” each day — I graze. One item I keep reaching for recently as part of a second breakfast is these very yummy Graham Crackers by Jo-sef’s Gluten Free Bakery. Josef’s Bakery used to be near us in Brooklyn but they moved to Williamsburg so I don’t often indulge in their treats. I’m also not a huge biscuit/cracker/cookie/cake person.

However as part of my quest to eat a little more in the morning and less at night, when I saw them at Fairway I knew I would find a good yummy gluten-free treat. They are. The cinnamon is not overpowering and they stayed a decent texture throughout the two weeks I kept this box on my desk at the office. What’s even better is that Fairway will be moving into a location somewhat near to me soon. I look forward to seeing what their gluten-free selection will be!

Historical post reiteration: I still miss the original Iron Chef and I’ve yet to cure my dolsot pots. I’ve only made bibimbap once this winter.

Next week: Review of a new-to-me-gf-pasta I found at Pom tonight. Quick: YUM and YAY!

These are gluten-free cheese bread balls made with tapioca flour/starch which are simply delightful and heavenly. It was hard not to eat them as I “styled” for these terrible photographs.

For my first attempt to make this yummy goodness, I followed Rachel’s Recipe at The Crispy Cook, though be warned, when she says use a food processor — it will make the entire process easier and smoother, though your cuticles won’t get the warm olive oil bath mine enjoyed as I squished and squashed the mixture together.

As I prefer weight measurements instead of volume and want to further play with the recipe, I will link a few more potential recipes at the end … I’ve not tried them. In this iteration I used a combo of about a teaspoon of finely ground Parmesan crud and enough and then enough freshly grated to make a loosely filled ½ cup.

I’m excited to have found a yummy new breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack treat.

Additional recipes:
- celiac.com
- just hungry

It’s a pleasure to cook again and use tools I had set aside because I didn’t care to cook in the old kitchen. My real knives are emerging along with the baking paraphernalia. If my cake decorating things come out to play(*) then you know I’ve settled into this kitchen.

Some of the habits E and I developed during the exile of the appliances are amusing. I keep returning to the spot behind his desk to retrieve a refrigerated item and blink perplexed when my hand can’t find the door. Then a smile emerges and I turn into the kitchen to find what I need. When the water source returns to the kitchen it will be interesting to see if we continue to walk mugs to the bathroom.

I haven’t cooked much in the new kitchen.

On Monday I gave the temporary workspace it’s last hurrah by cooking Rosemary-Orange Glazed Chicken Tofu from the cookbook The Taste of the Season. My temporary prep space was wonderful. If I kneel and put a cutting board on the toilet it’s the perfect height for chopping. I halved the recipe and was a bit zealous about the amount of yams we could eat. I ended up tossing half of one unused which pains me still. Unfortunately I did not have fresh rosemary, but the dish was still quite yummy with dried.

Thursday I made a simple corn soup with the boxed Creamy Sweet Corn Soup from Imagine. I added some canned corn and shredded cheddar to the mix. It was good but lacked a depth of flavour. I think it would be wonderful over toasted cornbread.

For Shabbat I cooked a second dish, Chicken Tofu Agrodolce from The Taste of the Season. It started off well, but with the temporary counter top (extra floor tiles) I ended up forgetting to add the pine nuts (after toasting them) and discovered that E ate all the raisins. It was a marvellous dish which I served with steamed brown rice. E enjoyed it as well as he returned to the kitchen for a second helping, and a third. I call that a success any night.

The joy of my week occurred Friday morning. On Shauna’s blog I learned that Bob’s Red Mill was offering certified GF Oats. The next time I was at the supermarket I picked up what they offered, which was a bag of steel cut** oats. The breakfast I enjoyed was amazing, it was just plain oatmeal with a nob of butter melting on top. I can’t remember when I last enjoyed breakfast as much, the last time was probably when I watched Mr Rogers and ate cheerios that had jumped out of my bowl and into the living room’s braided rug back in 1983 or something.*** In any case, I see oatmeal cookies and perhaps a silpat**** of my own in the future.

Which brings me to another two points. We’re purging stuff we don’t really need any more. I’m also upgrading some of the tools since I use them and deserve something better than a 99¢ vegetable peeler.

1) What is the kitchen tool you cannot live without?
For me I would have to say this is my 5" chef’s knife. A few years ago I’d say it was my non-serrated paring knife, but I find the chef’s knife superior for my daily needs.

2) What tool would you splurge on if given the choice?
I’m having a hard time answering the question. I’d love quite a few things that I don’t necessarily need right now or have space for including a bread machine that does gf breads, a cuisinart… So I’ll revise this.

2a) What tool which you find yourself using every day would you splurge on?
I’m looking for a good vegetable peeler. I think I want a Y, or harp-shaped one as I tend to peel root vegetables and it appears to be best suited for that. Splurging on this item means not purchasing it from the 99&cent store.

* I highly doubt they’ll come out. Between the gluten and the sugar, I just don’t have the space to do that sort of baking.
** Rolled oats are what I was familiar with from instant oatmeal days. The groats are pre-processed and flaked to allow for easier cooking. Steel cut oats are just chopped oat groats.
*** I had a dairy allergy and this was in the days before easy access to rice or soy milk. I essentially drank baby formula until I was 6. We also didn’t have much money so maybe rice milk was available; it just wasn’t easily to find where we lived. I didn’t like the mixing of the flavors with formula and cereal, plus I didn’t like the crunch leaving my cheerios. So I ate my cereal plain.
**** What’s the difference between a real silpat and the silicone baking sheets beyond cost and that you can ? I have one of the latter [haven't used it yet] and just want to have things not stick on my baking sheets and not have to use tons of foil or spray.

Wow. You made it this far? I think I’ll have a pattern up soon of a recipe for my gift to the new kitchen. It’s a small item and I’m curious what happens when I felt it tomorrow. I like it and it’s quite useful for me. I thought I was clever in the construction of it. ;)

I do miss having a counter and sink near the stove. The clutter in the apartment is definitely grating on E and I’ve retreated to the bedroom to do work so it must be affecting me as well. The fridge is out behind E’s desk (I keep offering to help rearrange things further, but he says this is good for his posture). I didn’t cook anything *real* all week. It’s the week of eating like an American and I’m starting to feel it; though we are eating more salad and fruit than normal at this time of year, probably to make up for the crud. I’ve “made” Tabatchnik soups, Potato crusted fish patties, a “tv dinner”, and various other non-foods.

What’s torturing me is that Corrie has received a box of food goodness and has been posting amazing day by day summaries. Oy, just posting that made me hungry again! [nb: almost every word there is a different link].

So, when will our kitchen be completed? The current word is E’s birthday for cabinet installation. This isn’t as bad as it first sounded as both E and I have been hard pressed to find time to work on things. We completed the second coat of paint Thursday night and then overslept Friday morning. I only had time to pull up a few more tiles before Shabbos descended on Friday. We hope to complete the floor necessities tomorrow, or at least have a very good start on them. Then we need to find a counter top and sink. We know the style of faucet we like (similar to this) and have seen it “everywhere” so that is the least of our worries. We’re waiting on the counter top because we want to see how the cabinets interact with the floor we chose. The floor is a deep dark grey, the cabinets and appliances are a mix of stainless, glass, and a pale pale orange. The walls are a white that has hints of blue-grey. We’re not sure.

Oh and a light. We need a new light for the kitchen. In other lights, I’ve received approval to purchase a “real” light for me (a la OTT-LITE, but probably a generic, affordable one). I’m torn weather to put this near the bed or my desk.

I do need to figure out breakfast and lunch meals for me. I didn’t eat much on Tuesday or Wednesday and that isn’t good or healthy, especially since my stress level is a little on the higher side these days. What I ate was terrible, it included a bag of potato chips. All suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Budget and dietary restrictions are my concerns.

The Project update? I’m really really happy that I won NaNo this past November. I’m having fun but have to do the part I dislike the most, editing and making sure that I tie it all together. I’m still concerned about the time frame, but que sera, sera.

I also made a Spiced Butternut Squash Stew with Couscous where I substituted quinoa and forgot to add the spinach. I didn’t realize about the spinach until I was setting the table for lunch today and realized the bag was unopened. The stew wasn’t very spicey [I held back a little so E would enjoy it] and overall was quite enjoyable and simple to make, though couscous would’ve had more “heft” than the quinoa.

I’m not sure what meals will come in the next week as I settle back into a new semester. Time will tell.

I made falafel tonight without greatly burning anything or anyone. I didn’t take pictures as I’m not linking to my uploaded pic of the pizza not because of the flickr upgrade but because I am terrible at food photography and would probably turn you off either of these recipes. If you read the box it’s pretty much free of everything, but tasted really good. It smells quite oniony when you open the bag, but it didn’t taste bad at all. E noticed they were “different” but he ate them up quite quickly…

I’m quite frustrated right now as the gluten free mix options in most of the stores I’ve checked in the past two weeks are for sweets: cakes and cookies and things. I’ve never been a cookie eater (ask my mum). I want breads. I’ll try a few more shops tomorrow. I want more of the orgran mix so we’ll see if there is a redhook trip tomorrow or not.

I am in love with giada’s spicy mocha but I make it differently: one packet hot chocolate + a bit of instant coffee + a dash of cinnamon and chile powder.

I am also slowly discovering which brands of gf products I like, or at least which product lines within the brand I prefer for ready-made items. It’s interesting the vast difference among products, and at times frustrating. Fairway Brooklyn appears to have the most extensive gf section I’ve recently visited (It’s been too cold for me to double check a few other stores), but Fairway UWS doesn’t have the same selection (but I’ll use market research as an excuse to stop by it and Knitty City). I love love love Ener-G Crisp Pretzels but find their Tapioca Bread (and bagels) to be … drumroll … cardboard. Note that I am the girl that likes plain ricecakes and loved matzoh before it made me sick.

It takes a lot for me to call a bread-type product devoid of taste or flavor.

So what am I to do with the remainder of the loaf?

Tonight I made “breadsticks” by spraying a baking sheet with olive oil, laying a few slices down, dousing them heavily with olive oil, sprinkling with garlic salt and italian seasoning, flipping them, repeating the process and sprinkling the top with grated parmesan* and slicing them. I put them in a 375 oven for the 12 minutes or so it took for our pastas to cook. They ended up pretty tasty and went well with my pasta. E wasn’t too large a fan, but that meant more for me. I find that a Pecan Bread– brand I forget, but its available at whole foods and shoprite– retains moisture and doesn’t crumble while taking it out of the package and has a nice flavor all its own. If I remember to buy eggs I’ll try baking some more. I can’t find that orgran breadmix except at fairway brooklyn. :(

* Fairway Brooklyn also has wedges of real KOSHER ITALIAN Parmigiano-Reggiano (don’t hold me to it but I’m 99% sure cholov y’israel) but I haven’t yet gotten over the sticker shock (over $20 for a little wedge), but I will save some money and one day try it. I must admit that I miss good cheeses and am happy to be finding more and more kosher options available in the city. The health food store near E’s office has a very large selection and we’ll slowly try them.