quince & cream

I must appalogize for my quietude again. Things at work are in a shake-up due to the current economic situation. One of my favorite co-workers has decided that it's in her best interest to return to Columbia. A young woman who used to work with us is returning and it remains to see just how the office dynamic will evolve. I'm nervous and apprehensive about these changes, but we'll see how this plays out. In addition to these staffing changes all of us have been cut back to four days a week, with accompanying salary adjustments.

This week was my first four day week. I used my day off to have breakfast with the Trainer and then visit my storage unit and get some winter clothes, along with my ice skates. I packed myself all the way to the West Side and skated for the first time in almost a year.

I thought I'd have lots of time to cook and work on the site, and I plan too, but I just needed to get out on the ice. It felt so good. It'll take a lot of work to get all my skills back, but there's really nothing like figure skating, and being healthy enough to take the ice.

So this morning, having coffee with the Trainer I put together this little breakfast that just hit the spot. Poached quince with yogurt and nuts. A little bit of everything

Quince & Cream

1/4 (2pc) poached quince
2 Tbsp yogurt
1 Tbsp roasted nuts

Poached Quince:

4-5 quince, peeled, cored and cut in eighths
1 lemon washed and cut in half
1 vanilla bean, halvedd legnthwise
1/2 cup honey
water

In a medium size suace pan, place the quince, lemon, vanilla bean, honey and enough water to cover. Bring water to a boil and stir to make sure that honey is dissolved. Cover and simmer until quince are tender. Remove from heat and store in syrup. You can continue to cook down the syrup if you want it thicker.

Roasted Salted Nuts

6-8 oz mixed nuts, chopped if desired
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Toss nuts, water and salt ina bowl and mix so that all the salt dissolves and nuts are all moist. Spread nut mixture evenly on the baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

breakfast of champions, crispy-spicy kale

Happy New Year to all!

I must apologize for my extended hiatus. I only intended to be quite for a few days while my parents were in town. However, while the Trainer was hurriedly cleaning our room for a quick visit with my parents he dropped the computer with the power cord still plugged in. This necessitated a trip to the Apple store, and a I had to pay bail to get the computer back yesterday. And now we're back.

Now, I realize that this may not be every big city girl's dreams of a big bowl of greens for breakfast, but this kale is so good, I can't get enough of it. And along with a little bit of protein it's the perfect way to start the day. Simple, fast, filling and nutritious I've been having this for breakfast every morning.

Crispy-Spicy Kale

3-4 leaves kale
salt
turmeric
garam masala
olive oil

Pour about 1 tsp of olive oil into a heavy frying pan or cast iron skillet. Tear kale from the main stem and into bite size pieces, placing them in the skillet. Sprinkle with salt, a few shakes of garam masala and a generous amount of turmeric. Turn the burner on to the highest setting and start stirring the kale so that it all gets coated in seasoning and olive oil. Cook until all the kale is bright green and some pieces are starting to blacken and char.

Serve with eggs, tofu, cheese, yogurt or whatever else strikes your fancy, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The blackened pieces may look burnt, but they get nice and crispy before they actually char.

savory carrot muffins

In preparation for this month's "Go ahead honey, it's gluten free!" I wanted to make an SCD version of Mom's carrot cake. Actually, Heather just adopted me and made the original recipe for her family's Thanksgiving dessert. I am just tickled pink!

In my experimentation I have not yet acheived the elusive carrot cake, but I did manage to make some really good savory muffins. I loved them from the first little pick I took when they came out of the oven but the Trainer needed more convincing. He tried these twice and turned up his nose. Then, Sunday morning he asked for a piece of one and decided that they really were good, just not what he was expecting the first few times he tried them.

I've been having these for breakfast, pan toasted with a little sliver of cheddar cheese melted on top. The sharp cheddar really compliments the carrot undertones. They'd also be great with cream cheese, farmer cheese or home made yogurt cheese.

Savory Carrot Muffins
makes 12 muffins

9 oz (3 cups) blanched almond meal
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
6 oz (1 1/2 cup) grated carrot
8 oz apple sauce
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350° F and prepare a muffin pan with liners. In one bowl mix the almond meal, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a second bowl, mix carrot, apple sauce and vinegar. Add dry ingredients and then stir in pecans. Evenly fill 12 muffin cups and bake for 30-40 minutes.

squash pikelets

Several weeks ago Jacqui posted her banana pikelets, a little something she mixed up for her brood. A few days later, the Trainer requested something new and special for a breakfast we were going to have together. I mixed up her recipe with hazelnut flour and an egg in stead of orange juice. They immediately became part of our routine.

Friday evening the Trainer requested banana pikelets to take with him to the gym Saturday morning. When I reached for the banana basket, it was empty and I had some quick thinking to do. The Trainer okayed the experimental use of leftover kabucha squash for his pikelets. (By the way, I love this new term for fat little pancakes, I expect that I'll be using it quite a bit in the future) So I threw together thse little squash pikelets for the Trainer and he immediately deemed them good enough to post.

Squash Pikelets

3/4-1 cup cooked squash
1/2 cup nut flour
1 egg
splash vanilla
cinnamon
nutmeg

mash all the ingredients together with a fork

spoon onto a heated griddle and cook until both sides are golden brown

Breakfast Tortilla Roll-Up

Some of you maybe wondering what this egg white, flax and blueberries thing is on my menu. Eggs and blueberries together? What an odd combination.

Well, my friends, it's a great combination! I've perfected it and it tastes an awful lot like a blueberry crepe or pancake.

I've always been a little curious about crepe, and never quite able to make one myself. (I'm still working on that, by the way) And then I saw recipes for egg crepes from both Naomi and Carol. The only thing was, I want a more substantial, protein packed breakfast, like an omelet only now milk is out on the SCD.

Enter my second cultural influence: the Trainers mother. On Friday nights when none of us kids are home for dinner she'll make herself a tortilla with some left over meat and rice. In South America, at least those countries that were once Gran Columbia, a tortilla is whisked eggs cooked in a pan with meat and potatoes or vegetables and resembles an Italian fritata.

We begin to see just how universal a dish like this is. And after several days of delicious experimentation I present my own version.

Breakfast Tortilla Roll-Up

3-egg whites
1-tbsp flax meal (Blood Type O) or nut meal (SCD)
1-dash GF SCD vanilla extract
1/3 cup blueberries

•In a bowl whisk egg whites (or whole eggs if you wish), flax, vanilla and sea salt until frothy

•Heat and oil a skillet.

•Pour eggs into skillet and swirl around so the eggs are evenly distributed.

•When the eggs are cooked through spread the blueberries along one edge.

•With a metal spatula or two spoons carefully roll the tortilla from one edge.

This tortilla base could alternately be used with any type of filling, sweet or savory. I'm thinking burrito, dosa, anything you can imagine.



Sent from my iPhone

Fennel & Eggs

As I was reading a health food magazine on the subway I found an article extolling the virtues of fennel. I don't see fennel very often, but I remember my Nonna loved it. It's indigenous to the Mediterranean and I'm sure that she ate it growing up in her Italian family; she used to call in fenochio.

Fennel is a winter vegetable, available from autumn to early spring. It has lots of vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and antioxidants. Historically it’s been used for bad breath and indigestion, intestinal spasms and cramps (maybe it’s the celiac’s best friend?)

I’ve almost exclusively had it in salads; it’s great with some walnuts, cranberries, citrus fruit and just a little vinaigrette. This article had some good ideas, but I wanted to try something a little heartier.

It’s hard to use many of the recipes I find, since I’m really only cooking for one. The rest of the folks in this apartment won’t try anything new, so whatever I make gets eaten by me. This was my first attempt, and although it doesn’t look like much, it is delicious! And quick.

Makes 1 Serving:
3 Eggs or egg whites
½ bulb Fennel
1 clove Garlic
1teaspoon Olive Oil
¼ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Salt and Fresh Pepper to taste

Thinly slice fennel and garlic, sauté in a large skillet until fennel is soft. Add eggs and stir, cook until eggs are set. Top with cheese, cover and turn of heat. Serve warm.

This is really filling, it makes a great breakfast. I think it would work well with just about any type of cheese. It could also be made to serve more; a larger batch could be baked in the oven.

Breakfast: Sunnyside Up

So this one wasn’t very difficult, and it’s not specially gluten free, but just looking at it on my plate made my morning. After toying with various versions of the egg sandwich with Glutino Fiber Bread.

I took one slice of bread out of the freezer and toasted one side of it in a pan. I flipped it over and put ¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on it, making a bit of a hole in the center. I cracked an egg into the cheese, turned down the heat and put a cover over it.

When I lifted the lid, the cheese was all melted and the egg was cooked. With the second bit I broke the yolk, which was warm and runny. The yolk soaked into the bread and I had a delicious, heart-warming breakfast. I haven’t had eggs like that since I was about 7 years old, sitting in my fathers lap.