GF Archives - Penguin Girl

cooking adventures with kohlrabi

penny on April 30, 2014

For Pesach I bought kohlrabi, hopeful for warm-ish weather and the desire for crunchy vegetables to snack on.

Then it snowed.

So the kohlrabi sat in the fridge the entire holiday.

We always eat kohlrabi raw, but knew someone must cook with it and a hot meal sounded ideal. Yesterday, after some quick searching, I discovered Kohlrabi Risotto from The New York Times.

I’m not a huge fan of making time-consuming recipes on weeknights, but risotto is pretty mindless and I caught up on some reading while I was stirring and adding broth. Yes, I use packaged broth. It’s low sodium and I go through it fast; I’ve yet to be able to figure out a way to keep enough stock in the freezer! Ideal? No. Does it work?

Yes.

Verdict? This was good, but not overly flavourful and we weren’t quite sure what the kohlrabi added beyond something different to chew. Before I added the rice, I nibbled a few pieces and it had a greater depth of flavour then. I think, however, we’ll keep crunching our kohlrabi raw.

a recipe: simply seven

penny on January 19, 2010

The other afternoon I was attempting to face down my to-do list and I knew that come dinner time I wanted something yummy, slightly different, and warm. Cleaning out the fridge was a bonus.

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.

a good grab for grazing

penny on October 2, 2009

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!

on a roll

penny on February 10, 2009

For E’s birthday dinner last Saturday night, his parents gave me a very nice gift in a bag of Katz Gluten-Free Sandwich Rolls. I was hesitant as these are a frozen product that had hung out for a bit in the fridge to defrost. We put one in the oven until I felt it might be warm enough (the oven was already on, i think it went into a 400° oven for 10 minutes or so, that might be more or less because I don’t remember at all). I put it on the table and spent the start of our meal touching, poking, and sniffing it. It smelled right. On the outside it felt like bread. But I wasn’t sure — so many GF products look good, but are terrible on the inside. Finally, before it cooled off two much, I broke it open and met my first surprise. It did not crumble into dust. I put a small piece tentatively in my mouth and chewed. Meet surprise number two: It tasted like a roll and the texture in my mouth was right. It took a good amount of self control not to shove the rest of the roll into my mouth and eat it all right then and there. I’m happy that I didn’t because of surprise number three: It has held up to hummus torture. The only downside is they are pretty small; I can’t fit a whole one in my mouth, but I do like my rolls on the larger side. I’ve saved the remaining three (four to a bag) to make my lunches and dinner to tide me over during class. If you are looking for a GF roll to serve … I do recommend these. They are available at my local kosher market, Pomegranate, and probably many other places including online.

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!

cuticle care or breakfast (made for dinner)

penny on October 4, 2008

I didn’t mean to gross you out by that title… A great recipe for your cuticles is pão du quiejo. Well, not intentionally is it meant for cuticle care, but mine are much happier for the experience.

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