Zucchini Noodles with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Earlier in the year, large shrimp was on sale for an abnormally low price ($5.99/lb) at the supermarket. It is likely due to excess supply and schools/restaurants were closed for the past two or three months. I procured several pounds of this and froze half of it in manageable serving sizes.

For this dish, I enough for one serving. Though in retrospect, I feel like I just made a shrimp dish with a side of zucchini noodles. I'm using the Veggetti spiralizer which is essentially a pencil sharpener for carrots, zucchini, and smaller squash.

The Foodening Blog: Zucchini Noodles with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients

8 oz raw shrimp (per person), peeled and deveined
1-2 raw zucchini per person
1 tbsp olive oil, for frying
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine, chicken broth, or dry vermouth
dash of red pepper flakes, to taste
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Prepare the zucchini by trimming the ends off the squash and using either a mandoline or a spiralizer to transform the zucchini into thin noodle-like strips.

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add shrimp in a single layer, season with sea salt and black pepper. Add garlic. Cook for one minute on each side. Remove shrimp from pan to a plate.

Deglaze the pan by adding vermouth. Add red pepper flakes, vermouth, unsalted butter, and lemon juice. Let simmer for about a minute more.

(optional) Add zucchini noodles to the pan and stir until coated in the sauce.

Remove from heat. Stir in the shrimp. Transfer all to a plate or bowl and serve.

Hoisin Sauce (gluten free)

The secret to a good hoisin sauce is to use fermented black beans as one of the main flavor ingredients. Simply using peanut butter and other savory ingredients isn't going to cut it. While you can use a starch (potato starch, cornstarch, or wheat flour) to thicken it up, substituting the starch with peanut butter and using a tamari-based soy sauce makes this sauce gluten free. Also, you should probably use a smooth peanut butter, but alas, all I had on hand was chunky. I've read that if you have a peanut butter allergy, you can also substitute dried prunes (2 prunes per 1 tbsp peanut butter). If you do end up using peanut butter as a thickener, your sauce won't be pasty black at all. It'll be a brown-ish color, like peanut butter.

Hoisin sauce is a sweet and savory sauce, with neither element overpowering the other. And, it certainly does not use Chinese five spice powder. But, you could add it if you like that flavor in your sauce and the accompaniment is a meat-based dish.

At some point I reverse engineered Trader Joe's light soy sauce by experimenting with tamari soy sauce, rice vinegar and water until I got a sodium content that was close to Trader Joe's. You can also find that recipe here.

Makes: ~1/2 cup

Ingredients

1/4 c light soy sauce
2 tbsp organic peanut butter
1 tbsp raw honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove, minced
fresh ground black pepper, a few grinds
1 tbsp black fermented soybeans, rinsed and prepared
1 tsp chili sauce, or more to taste (e.g., Trader Joe's Sriracha or a sweet chili paste)

Directions

In a small bowl, soak fermented soybeans with hot water for about 5 minutes. Drain and then crush the beans with the tines of a fork. Voila. Now you have prepared fermented soy beans.

Whirl all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Put it into a lidded jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Kitchen Notes: Substitution for Trader Joe's Light Soy Sauce

From looking at the ingredients by fat/sugar/calorie ratios on Trader Joe's products, especially coconut milk, they do dilute their products a lot. I suspect that their soy sauce, now priced in this area at $3/bottle is just half soy sauce watered down by vinegar (news to me too!) and water. I swear I did not notice the vinegar on the ingredients list of Trader Joe's soy sauce until recently. And then, I ran out of it.

Which brings me to wonder if I could recreate the ingredient ratio based on per tablespoon sodium and calories. This is a ratio that I have refilled the TJ bottle with:

1 c Kikoman gluten-free tamari soy sauce (that's right, no wheat)
1/4 c Marukan rice vinegar (at 0 calories and 0 sodium, it's all flavor)
3/4 c filtered water

Shake it all together in the bottle. I have no idea if these liquids separate at all, e.g., if one is heavier than another. Seems to taste ok. A little watered down in appearance; but that's to be expected since wheat (gluten) is really a thickener in soy sauce.

Makes 2 cups.

Gluten-Free Vegan "Oyster" Sauce

Cooks Illustrated would have you believe that oyster-flavored sauce is "a rich, concentrated mixture of oyster extractives, soy sauce, brine and assorted seasonings. The brown sauce is thick, salty, and strong." But it doesn't have to be that way when rehydrated shitake mushrooms offer a similar depth of taste and umami. Oyster sauce is typically sweet and savory, and is a popular brown sauce in many Asian recipes. 

This seems to be a roundabout way to make a condiment where my next recipe project only calls for a tablespoon of it; but I have all the ingredients on hand and I wasn't about to shell out $5 for a jar of questionable contents.

The Foodening Blog: Gluten Free Vegan "Oyster" Sauce

Also, while 1 cup of water is sufficient to rehydrate 1 oz of dried shitake mushrooms, there was less than 1/3 cup of soaking liquid leftover. I had to fill the balance of liquid with filtered water. A toasted sesame oil will have a slightly nuttier flavor than sesame oil. This recipe ratio comes from the Clean Dish.

Makes: 1.5 cups

Ingredients

1 oz dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tbsp gluten-free tamari soy sauce
1/2 tsp organic maple syrup
1 c mushroom dashi (the water the mushrooms rehydrated in)

Directions

1. In a sauté pan, fry sesame oil, ginger and mushrooms together until fragrant, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Remove from heat. Combine mushrooms and mushroom dashi (can add water if liquid is not enough) in a food processor and purée until smooth.

3. Return purée to sauté pan and simmer over low-medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequenlty.

4. Remove from heat and pour into a clean glass jar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

The Foodening Blog: Ready to use "oyster" sauce

Dairy Free Tapioca Pudding

I might be imagining things but I think full fat coconut milk has an after taste. It's not the watered down taste that you might get from buying a can of Trader Joe's version of coconut milk. But there's definitely an after taste, like how game meat has a twinge of extra flavor with every bite. On buying coconut milk or coconut cream, there really should only be one ingredient on the label besides water. In today's modern age of food preservation via canning, preservatives and color additives aren't necessary. Also look for BPA-free cans or cartons. Savoy and Aroy-D are both Thailand products; and Trader Joe's comes from Sri Lanka. For this recipe, I used Savoy coconut cream. These all cost about the same, roughly $2/can, in the Pacific Northwest.

The Foodening Blog: Dairy Free Tapioca Pudding

In my pantry, I have three varieties of coconut milk/cream:

• Trader Joe's organic coconut milk, 110 calories per 1/4 c serving (660 total calories for 13.5 fl oz with 48% coconut extract)
• Savoy coconut cream, 200 calories per 1/2 c serving (900 total calories for 14 fl oz with 70% coconut extract)
• Aroy-D coconut milk, 170 calories per 1/2 c serving (765 total calories for 14 fl oz with 60% extract)

Onto the recipe...

Makes: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

1 c non-dairy milk (e.g., unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1/3 c dry tapioca pearls
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp liquid sweetener (honey, golden syrup), or sweeter to taste
14 oz full fat coconut milk

Directions

1. In a 2-cup measuring cup or bowl, soak tapioca pearls in non-dairy milk for an hour.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Let simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent the starch from burning. It will thicken considerably as the tapioca cooks.

3. Remove from heat and pour into small bowls. Let cool before eating.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread

The texture of this is a little grainier than say a cornbread made with wheat flour. The egg helps it stay together pretty well and it has a nice crumb texture. The amount of batter looked far too much for an 8" round cast iron skillet, so I used an 8" x 8" baking dish instead. I get my stone ground cornmeal from the Cedar Creek Grist Mill during their open house events; Bob's Red Mill or your grocery store's bulk yellow cornmeal will suffice as a substitute.

Ingredients

2 c stone ground yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
4 tbsp raw honey
4 unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

0. Prepare an 8" x 8" baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. It is not necessary to butter the parchment.

1. Sift dry ingredients together. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, heat butter and honey together.  Let cool. Stir into dry ingredients.

3. In a 2-cup measure, whisk egg and then stir in buttermilk. Stir in butter and honey.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Gluten-Free Zucchini Muffins

I feel like I am contributing to California's water shortage by encouraging the use of almonds in recipes, or the desolation of coconut groves in the Philippines by using coconut flour. Nonetheless, here is another egg-heavy coconut flour recipe. The coconut oil and vanilla are not in this recipe. I simply forgot to add it. Let this be a lesson to you.. don't bake when tired, really! Things get missed.

Makes: 12

Ingredients

1/2 c organic coconut flour
1/4 c almond flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 large eggs
1/3 c raw honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 ripe banana
1 c shredded zucchini
1 shredded organic carrot (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine almond flour, coconut flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, honey, vanilla, and coconut oil. Pulse until combined.

2. If you happen to be using a frozen banana, thaw it then lop off the stem and squeeze the banana out into the bowl. Add apple cider vinegar, banana, and zucchini. Pulse to mix thoroughly.

3. Line a muffin tin with silicone or paper muffin liners. Fill each liner with 1-2 tbsp of mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

These came out looking really dark and not smooth on top.

Almond Milk Chia Beverage

I got tired of buying cans of 60% coconut cream. There are a few still in the pantry, but I thought I should try to make my afternoon chia beverage out of something other than coconut milk. This is what I did with the quart of almond milk I just made.

Per half-pint mason jar:

1 tbsp organic chia seeds
1 tsp raw honey
1 c fresh almond milk

Stir it together, then lid and band the jar. Put in fridge until later. Give it another stir or shake the jar before drinking.

If you want to make "pudding" out of this, simply double the amount of chia seeds.

How to Make Vanilla Almond Milk from Scratch

My biggest gripe about the rising trend in alternative "milk" beverages are all the fillers that are in an 8 oz glass of it. Take a look at the fillers in these almond milk brands:

Silk: Natural Flavor, Locust Bean Gum, Sunflower Lecithin, Gellan Gum. Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin E Acetate, Zinc Gluconate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D2

What the hell is "natural flavor" as its own ingredient??

Blue Diamond: Evaporated Cane Juice, Calcium Carbonate, Sea Salt, Potassium Citrate, Carrageenan, Sunflower Lecithin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, D-Alpha-Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E)

So Delicious: Dried Cane Syrup, Pea Protein, Rice Protein, Calcium Phosphate, Magnesium Phosphate, Carrageenan, Natural Flavor, Locust Bean Gum, Kosher Sea Salt, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D-2, L-Selenomethionine (Selenium), Zinc Oxide, Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12

Protein powder?? WTF!

Pacific Almond: Dried Cane Syrup, Potassium Citrate, Sea Salt, Carrageenan, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2

Trader Joe's: Tricalcium Phosphate, Sea Salt, Gellan Gum, Dipotassium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavors, Sunflower Lecithin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E)

Hands down, if you can handle cow's milk, it is the only way to go for ice cream, milk shakes, pudding, cheese, etc. When you look at the packing for organic milk, it has one ingredient: organic milk. No fillers, nada. Just juice squeezed out of cow udders. Anyhow, I think I'm going to post a homemade almond milk recipe now. 

Vinegar Pie

Happy Pi Day!

This recipe hit my radar when I was reading up on pies that people make for Pi Day (March 14). I really didn't know what I wanted to make; but I did know I wanted to make something I hadn't made before. This recipe originates from the mid-19th century and counts as a pioneer style of baking (think Little House on the Prairie). The recipe ratio comes from Michigan's MLive article on the same topic.

Unbaked pie crust, filled pie crust, baked pie, finished pie with cinnamon dusting

Ingredients

1 pre-baked coconut flour pie crust

2 large eggs
1 c organic granulated sugar, divided
1 tbsp tapioca starch
1 c cold filtered water
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
ground cinnamon, for dusting
organic whipped cream, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Whisk together eggs and 1/4 c sugar in a bowl.

2. Attach a candy thermometer to the pot. In a heavy pot, sift together tapioca starch and 3/4 c sugar. Add cold water and vinegar. Whisk together and bring boil until the sugar dissolves. While whisking, add egg mixture in a slow stream. Cook over medium heat until the custard registers 175 degrees F on the cooking thermometer.

3. Remove from heat and pour into pie shell. Cover rim with a pie shield or aluminum foil. The hot pie plate was too much for me and I just let the crust get really dark without either method in play. Bake until the pie filling is set, 15-20 minutes.

4. Let cool completely on a rack. Dust evenly with ground cinnamon.

In this case, mine was still wobbly after cooling on a rack; so I let it chill in the refrigerator and then dusted it with ground cinnamon.

[Update: This one of the worst recipes I have ever made. It's too sweet. The filling is like a runny not-quite-soury meringue that sat out for too long on a hot day. This pie ranks up there with tuna casserole. Don't make it. Well, if you do, don't overbake the coconut crust because that thing gets rock hard!]

Coconut Flour Pie Crust

Coconut oil is solid at room temperature and makes it challenging to work with when a recipe calls for more than a tablespoon. I have 16 oz glass jars of organic coconut oil. I suppose that if I ever buy that humongous container from Costco, I would have to move it all into glass containers. I put the jar in a pot of water over medium heat. After a few minutes, enough of the coconut oil liquefied and to pour out what is needed instead of having to guesstimate the solid to liquid ratio. I have gotten many ideas about raw coconuts (like how to make coconut products from scratch with whole coconuts) from the Coconut Mamma blog. This recipe ratio is hers and I like its simplicity.

Unbaked Coconut Flour Pie Crust

Like an almond flour pie crust, this one is hard to gauge how thick it is when you pat it down into a 9" pie plate. Given how it bakes, this pastry is only good for the bottom of the pie.

Ingredients

1/2 c organic coconut oil, melted
2 eggs
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 c organic coconut flour
2 tbsp raw honey

Directions

In a large bowl (or food prep), beat together eggs, coconut oil, honey, and salt. Add coconut flour and stir until the dough holds together. Gather into a ball and pat into a 9" pie plate.

Prick the dough with a fork. (Sadly, this does not stop the pastry from rising from steam.)

Bake 10 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Let cool before using.

Rice Flour Flat Bread (Gluten Free Tortillas)

Just because it's made with rice flour does not mean this will be healthier for you. On my first attempt, they taste okay. I'm not sure what these are supposed to taste like; though, I could probably find out by ordering Chokha ni Rotli at an Indian restaurant. This recipe ratio comes from the Indiaphile blog.

Rice Flour Flat Bread (Tortillas)

These are really bland to eat. Better pair them with a spicy chutney, hummus, or other potently flavored spread.

Approx calories: 816 (divide this by the number of pieces made)

Ingredients

1 c rice flour
2 c water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
additional rice flour for dusting

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat water, oil, and salt until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

2. Add rice flour to a large bowl. Slowly pour in the hot water, stirring to combine with the flour with a wooden spoon. (I tried stirring with a rubber spatula and that didn't quite work.)

3. Generously flour a silicone mat with rice flour. Be sure to flour the rolling pin as well, this does get a bit sticky but less sticky as the dough cools down.

4. Roll out the dough to form a log and divide into equal portions. Depending on how small or large you make the portions, you can easily divide this into 8, 10, or 12 pieces.

5. Form a ball with each piece and flatten with the palm of your hand. Gently roll it out into a circle or rectangle. Don't press too hard on the dough or it will stick to the rolling pin.

6. While you are rolling out the dough, heat a cast iron skillet without oil. When it is hot, place one flat bread on the skillet. As the water in the dough steams off, bubbles will appear on the top. Flip the bread over with an offset spatula or flat sided tongs. (I used a pie server because it was my only offset flat utensil).

7. Remove cooked flat bread and set onto a plate with a clean kitchen towel. The towel will absorb whatever steam comes off the flat bread. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

After having made a failed batch of protein powder to presumably make chocolate covered protein bars, I have perhaps stumbled across one of the most delicious tasting cookies I have made so far. Though, the amount of sugar in the recipe is a bit much. I could certainly cut it down.

This is what went into the protein powder:

wet ingredients

1/4 c homemade sugar cane syrup, heated to 220 F and cooled
2 tbsp organic peanut butter
1/2 c homemade pear sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

dry ingredients

3/4 dark chocolate chips
2/3 c dried cranberries
2 c old fashioned organic oatmeal, pulsed briefly in a food prep
4 tbsp organic chia seed, pulsed briefly in a food prep
2 tbsp organic flax seeds, pulsed briefly in a food prep
2/3 c organic coconut flour


And, to help bring it together as a "dough", I added:

1 egg
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c organic granulated sugar (omit next time)
1/2 c brown sugar

Directions

Mix together until all the ingredients stick together. Spooned onto a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat. Gently press down onto each cookie. These don't spread out, so a dozen can be baked on a single sheet at a time.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen tablespoon-sized cookies.

Coconut Mochi Cake

This is not the dessert for anyone trying to cut back on sugar. Even though I reduced the sugar, it still tastes rather sweet. It's the perfect rainy day treat to nibble on with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients

1 lb sweet rice flour (1 box of Mochiko)
1 3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 (14 oz) cans unsweetened light coconut milk
5 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.

4. Pour batter into an ungreased 13" x 9" baking dish.

5. Bake for 1.5 hours. Let cool for 1.5 hours before cutting into squares and serving.

Source: Gourmet Magazine, May 2005

Nut and Seed Bread (no sugar, no flour)

This comes out looking and tasting like a very dense, protein-rich bread. It is held together by the emulsion power of the ground flax seeds and eggs in the dough. With a food processor and seed grinder, this "bread" is really easy to prepare. You don't even need a special seed grinder to mill the flax into a flour, just use an electric coffee bean grinder. A decent one will run you about $15.

This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.

Ingredients

1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.

1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.

4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Almond-Flax Pizza Crust (wheat-free)

This nut/seed crust came out better tasting than the yeast-free, gluten-free pizza crust. Made this version for a pizza night dinner. It is a pre-baked crust where toppings and fresh cheese are added later and then briefly baked again. It might have helped to have these ready beforehand on a pie plate lined with parchment paper. The crust stuck to the bottom of the pie plates that I had cooked them in, making the pizzas hard to remove. This recipe ratio comes from A Gourmet Girl Cooks blog.

Crusts came out darker using brown flax seeds

Also, all I had on hand were brown flax seeds. This made the dough come out dark colored. Golden flax seeds can be substituted. I doubt there is much difference in taste.

Makes: two 10-inch round pizzas

Ingredients

1/2 c almond flour (can also grind raw almonds into flour with a food processor)
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1 1/3 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp each: dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano, and dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
pinch of cayenne powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients and mix well. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

2. Spread dough onto an oiled cookie sheet or oiled pie plates. Place a ball of dough in the center and press the dough outward with an oiled spatula. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through and it feels dry to the touch.

If there are other pizzas in the oven and the temperature is already set to 450 degrees F, reduce the cook time so the crust does not burn. For two crusts on pie plates, I let these bake for 10-12 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven and add pizza sauce, cheese and other toppings. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

Asiago Crisps

This recipe originated from the French Laundry cookbook under the guise of "Parmesan Crisps". FL's recipe called for "moist" Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, which doesn't seem to exist to the average consumer. When I look at it, it's a pretty darn hard wedge of cheese. Asiago cheese, while considered a semi-hard cheese, has enough--probably too much--moisture for this recipe; and is as strong-tasting as the goat cheese mousse I put in it.

To make the crisps, simply grate enough cheese. FL calls for a cup of grated cheese. This will make approx six 2" diameter crisps, when using a 2" biscuit cutter (the only round cutter in the kitchen). Using a Silpat mat is better than parchment paper.

Simply place the biscuit cutter on the Silpat and fill it up with a layer of grated cheese. Gently remove the cutter and repeat with more cheese, spacing the rounds of cheese about an inch apart.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

If you just want to eat these flourless cheese "crackers", remove the baked cheese from the Silpat with a spatula and let cool on paper towels. Once cooled, you should remove the cheese from the towels to a plate since the paper will stick to the cheese if you don't.

If you are going a step further and using the cheese crisps as a carrier for another appetizer, say, as a tiny basket for goat cheese mousse, then immediately remove the crisps from the oven and gently stuff into small heat-proof bowls to form the "basket" curve. You can then let these cool while in the bowls until ready to use. Or, once cooled, you can place these into an empty egg carton. Instead of a small prep bowls, you can also use the egg carton to form the baskets.

Do not use a semi-soft cheese like cheddar to make crisps. There is simply too much liquid (high fat content) in the cheese to make them look or taste good.

Yeast-free, gluten-free pizza crust

Today is game night and for one of the appetizers we are making pizzas with Trader Joe's pizza dough. Two of the expected guests don't eat carbs and the third has been leaning towards a gluten-free diet, so this attempt at pizza blasphemy is for her.

I originally poured the batter into two 8" diameter springform pans but the liquid leaked out and onto the baking sheet that I had below it. I baked the remainder of the batter in a greased 8" x 8" pan. That came out much better. Although, square just seems square for a pizza crust. For the liquid part, rice or almond milk can be used entirely. I just use half rice milk and half-and-half for flavor. You can certainly make this dairy-free too.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 c. organic rice flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. rice or almond milk
1/3 c. half and half
1 tsp each, dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme
1 tsp kosher salt
olive oil or unsalted butter, to grease the baking pans

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Whisk dry ingredients together: rice flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, and herbs.

2. Whisk wet ingredients together: eggs, rice milk, half and half.

3. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, gently whisking to combine until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

4. Pour into prepared pans to about 1/4" depth. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top no longer looks runny. It will have the appearance of a dense crepe.

Kitchen Notes: Black Bean Preparation

I tried making black bean brownies again. This time from scratch. And golly, compared to precooked canned beans, preparing black beans was time consuming. Like zucchini and most summer squash, I really don't like the taste of beans (or zucchini) by themselves unless it is an ingredient of something else.

The prep cycle seemed longer than it should and went like this:

• Wash/rinse 2/3 c. dry black beans
• Soak beans in enough water to cover them by an inch of water for 4 hours
• Drain beans (discard soaking liquid)
• Refill pot of beans with at least three cups of fresh water
• Boil for 30 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit for 1 hour.

You're probably thinking, what the hay, beans take a lot longer than that to cook. I was thinking (at the time) that they'd cook for an additional 30 minutes in the brownie recipe. Anyhow. For the next attempt at these brownies, I would need to probably follow Whole Foods' guide on bean preparation which is:

Soak beans for 8 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator. Discard bean liquid. Cook using 1 cup dry beans per 3 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil then simmer until tender. (so what's that? maybe 2 hours cook time?? Their site does not elaborate on the specifics.) A pressure cooker can shorten cook time to 1.5 hours.

What I have discovered using my method of cooking these beans for the flourless brownie recipe is that while the consistency is significantly more dry than using canned beans and you can almost taste the "bean" taste in the brownies, it is the perfect consistency for a steamed bun filling... such red bean buns. These could be black bean buns, which you really don't see at Asian bakeries. The mixture could use a touch more melted butter for a more moist texture.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies

These brownies were surprisingly moist and very tasty, despite lacking wheat flour. This recipe is adapted from the Whole Foods recipe archive. I have never known chocolate chips to contain grain-based gluten (seeing how it is a dairy product) which makes me a bit puzzled about how Whole Foods lists its ingredients. It's a lot like seeing "gluten free" prominently displayed on a can of tomatoes, for example. Ridiculous. This type of buzz word packaging does little to promote the health benefits of the actual food item. Anyhow, on to the recipe.

These are also called black bean brownies. I suspect that a variant could also be made using red lentils. There are two methods. One is to use canned black beans; and the other method is to prepare dry black beans for this recipe. Neither method uses additional salt, but if you use the latter method, you could add a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness. Before you consider looking at ratio tables for dry beans to cooked beans, keep in mind that beans have different sizes and weighs, and thus different cooking times.

For black beans, use 2/3 cup dry black beans to make an equivalent of one 15 oz can of cooked beans. While I have both dry and canned black beans, I am using the can method for this recipe. My particular can o' beans came with salt so I didn't add any salt to the recipe.

Ingredients

One (15 oz) can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. Ghirardelli sweet ground chocolate (cocoa powder)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Butter an 8" x 8" baking dish and set aside.

2. Pureé together in a food processor: black beans, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, sugar, and butter.

3. As the mixture is poured into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle in the chocolate chips.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center has set. Let cool before cutting into squares. 

Kitchen tip: If your honey has crystallized in its jar, you can put the honey jar in the oven (when turned off and cooling). When the oven has cooled down, the honey will be liquefied again. Pretty neat, huh?

Related info:
Black beans, nutritional info
Whole Foods - About Black Beans