So I just had this brilliant idea. I LOVE terra chips. They are chips made from different types of root vegetables. There is more information at the link here! My only issue with terra chips is they are SO EXPENSIVE. I mean like $5 for a normal size bag. That is too much on a college kids budget. This is where my brilliant idea comes in. I was just informed there will be tasty foods at the farmers market this Wednesday, including beets and potatoes and other root vegetables. So, I am going to make my own chips. The most exciting part of all of this is chips are almost always gluten free when made simply from vegetables. You have to be careful with things like Pringles where they use wheat stabilizers but most are simply vegetable, oil, and fried.
The chips will be a combination of these vegetables: Kohlrabi, beets, potato, fennel, kale, squash, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and radishes. I think I'm just going to see what I can get from the market Wednesday and go from there. It should be fairly interesting to see what I can come up with, though. Anyway, I am going to toss these with olive oil and bake until they crisp up. The recipes I have looked at say it depends on the vegetable, and to just watch them carefully. You can find any of these recipes by googling "_________ chips", so beet chips, or carrot chips. Martha Stuart has a great one for beets here.
I will update you all on how these turn out after I have completed these, but I needed to jot my ideas down first! Also, if any of my blog readers (all 4 of you) want to give me ideas, PLEASE DO!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Farmers Market Wednesday
So, in case any of you Terps have forgotten, there is a farmers market every Wednesday on UMD's campus. It is magical and mystical. Now that we are getting into the summer more there are more varieties and options for deliciousness.
One of the stands is called Sweet Treats. She doesn't generally keep gluten free cupcakes around, but I have been talking to her and she said she would start bringing a few for me. I'm sure if you wanted them, you could just ask!
Also, I MOVED INTO MY APARTMENT! It is super exciting because I have a kitchen and my own room and it's lovely. I am still working on the cleaning up process but it is getting there. Last night, I did a total overhaul on the stove and refrigerator. I took the coils and pans out of the stove and cleaned them so they turned from black back to silver. The fridge had so much spilled $&*% in it. That took me at least an hour to clean. I will be doing the freezer tonight.
As for cooking, I have been doing a LOT of chicken. Shoppers has REALLY cheap chicken that is actually really good. It is the breast and rib meat, and it is super easy to cut the little bit of fat off. I cut the breasts in half and but the two halves in to a ziplock bag and just stick them in the freezer. When I get home at 3:00 I defrost the chicken and marinate it.
My general chicken recipe so far has been: chicken breast, throw whatever spices look good to me at the time, put in pan and saute until browned and cooked through. I typically eat half a breast for dinner and half for lunch the next day. I also saute two red peppers, one onion, and a pound of sliced button mushrooms together with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Put the oil into the pan with the onions, those take the longest to cook. Add the peppers when the onions are about half done, then the mushrooms when both the peppers and onions are about two minutes from being done.
Last night, I took my chicken and some peppers, mushrooms, and onions and put them in a pot with pasta sauce. I cooked spaghetti then put the sauce mixture onto it. A salad would have been good, but I Was feeling especially lazy.
This has been a rendition of brain dumping by Sophie, I hope you have enjoyed this mish-mosh of information. It's kind of like Chicken Mish Mosh soup. Yum.
One of the stands is called Sweet Treats. She doesn't generally keep gluten free cupcakes around, but I have been talking to her and she said she would start bringing a few for me. I'm sure if you wanted them, you could just ask!
Also, I MOVED INTO MY APARTMENT! It is super exciting because I have a kitchen and my own room and it's lovely. I am still working on the cleaning up process but it is getting there. Last night, I did a total overhaul on the stove and refrigerator. I took the coils and pans out of the stove and cleaned them so they turned from black back to silver. The fridge had so much spilled $&*% in it. That took me at least an hour to clean. I will be doing the freezer tonight.
As for cooking, I have been doing a LOT of chicken. Shoppers has REALLY cheap chicken that is actually really good. It is the breast and rib meat, and it is super easy to cut the little bit of fat off. I cut the breasts in half and but the two halves in to a ziplock bag and just stick them in the freezer. When I get home at 3:00 I defrost the chicken and marinate it.
My general chicken recipe so far has been: chicken breast, throw whatever spices look good to me at the time, put in pan and saute until browned and cooked through. I typically eat half a breast for dinner and half for lunch the next day. I also saute two red peppers, one onion, and a pound of sliced button mushrooms together with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Put the oil into the pan with the onions, those take the longest to cook. Add the peppers when the onions are about half done, then the mushrooms when both the peppers and onions are about two minutes from being done.
Last night, I took my chicken and some peppers, mushrooms, and onions and put them in a pot with pasta sauce. I cooked spaghetti then put the sauce mixture onto it. A salad would have been good, but I Was feeling especially lazy.
This has been a rendition of brain dumping by Sophie, I hope you have enjoyed this mish-mosh of information. It's kind of like Chicken Mish Mosh soup. Yum.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
I promise, I actually AM gluten free...
...It's just that this bread this morning...it looked so good...
SO, I bought it. I know, I know. "But Sophie...I thought you were gluten free and allergic to it or something?" Well, I'm not allergic, I just feel better without it. Sometimes, I like to indulge. And since today is FARMER'S MARKET WEDNESDAY (WHEEEEE!), I splurged. So I went to the farmer's market my awesome friend Patrick (his blog is linked here...he is my culinary chef friend that I do all geeky cooking things with.) This is where I saw the aforementioned loaf of bread, which is not gluten free, obviously. I asked the woman working at the bread stand if she had sourdough, and sadly, she didn't. But she did have something called Pain de Campagne. The description I got from Wikipedia (GASP) said this is "French Sourdough". It is very similar in taste, but the inside is a lot fluffier and the outside is a lot crunchier. So basically, it is a million times better. I wish I had gotten some form of dip to go with it, but the delicious dip that was being sold was 8$ for a really small container. Oh well.
Anyway, I also got some beautiful, locally grown apples, radishes, red kale, and spring onions. The radishes, kale, and spring onions were on Patrick's list. Because he had class until an hour into the opening of the market, I bought them for him so they wouldn't be gone by the time he got there. The apples I get are always good, they are huge and super juicy, but not grainy or uncrisp (I did just make up a word). I am SUPER excited because the lady who works at the stand told me they are picking all of their berries in the next few weeks. This means I get strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and not the yucky diner kind. I am contemplating getting enough so I can crash Patrick's apartment and attempt to make a delicious gluten free berry pie...hmmmmmmm.
Additionally, I found out today that all of the vegetables that have a darker leaf (red kale, red lettuce, even red basil) all hold heat and cold better. If you choose to cook these or chill them, they won't wilt as quickly. They stay a bit crisper and crunchier when put under temperature changes. The guy at that stand told me that! (In case you couldn't tell, I like asking the people at the stands their life stories, and many, many questions.)
The last thing I found out is there is a gluten free stand at the market every time. Unfortunately, she has little variety. She does have a quiche I might try next week, but other than that it is standard cookies and brownies. I am going to email the girl at ANOTHER pastry stand, though, because she said she makes gluten free cupcakes, but she doesn't bring them to sell because of the gluten free stand. Oh well. Today was a very productive shopping day, and I am thoroughly fulfilled, even though I do cheat at my gluten free-ness occasionally. I guess I'll never get to join the secret society. :D
SO, I bought it. I know, I know. "But Sophie...I thought you were gluten free and allergic to it or something?" Well, I'm not allergic, I just feel better without it. Sometimes, I like to indulge. And since today is FARMER'S MARKET WEDNESDAY (WHEEEEE!), I splurged. So I went to the farmer's market my awesome friend Patrick (his blog is linked here...he is my culinary chef friend that I do all geeky cooking things with.) This is where I saw the aforementioned loaf of bread, which is not gluten free, obviously. I asked the woman working at the bread stand if she had sourdough, and sadly, she didn't. But she did have something called Pain de Campagne. The description I got from Wikipedia (GASP) said this is "French Sourdough". It is very similar in taste, but the inside is a lot fluffier and the outside is a lot crunchier. So basically, it is a million times better. I wish I had gotten some form of dip to go with it, but the delicious dip that was being sold was 8$ for a really small container. Oh well.
Anyway, I also got some beautiful, locally grown apples, radishes, red kale, and spring onions. The radishes, kale, and spring onions were on Patrick's list. Because he had class until an hour into the opening of the market, I bought them for him so they wouldn't be gone by the time he got there. The apples I get are always good, they are huge and super juicy, but not grainy or uncrisp (I did just make up a word). I am SUPER excited because the lady who works at the stand told me they are picking all of their berries in the next few weeks. This means I get strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and not the yucky diner kind. I am contemplating getting enough so I can crash Patrick's apartment and attempt to make a delicious gluten free berry pie...hmmmmmmm.
Additionally, I found out today that all of the vegetables that have a darker leaf (red kale, red lettuce, even red basil) all hold heat and cold better. If you choose to cook these or chill them, they won't wilt as quickly. They stay a bit crisper and crunchier when put under temperature changes. The guy at that stand told me that! (In case you couldn't tell, I like asking the people at the stands their life stories, and many, many questions.)
The last thing I found out is there is a gluten free stand at the market every time. Unfortunately, she has little variety. She does have a quiche I might try next week, but other than that it is standard cookies and brownies. I am going to email the girl at ANOTHER pastry stand, though, because she said she makes gluten free cupcakes, but she doesn't bring them to sell because of the gluten free stand. Oh well. Today was a very productive shopping day, and I am thoroughly fulfilled, even though I do cheat at my gluten free-ness occasionally. I guess I'll never get to join the secret society. :D
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Pho
Pho (Pronounced ph-oh!!!!, not ph-uh) is surprisingly amazing. For those of you who don't know, pho is basically the Vietnamese version of chicken noodle soup. They take a ball of rice noodles (gluten free!) and put your toppings of choice on top, and cover it with boiling broth.
Saturday night boyfriend took me to get pho at a place by my school called Pho D'lite. Boyfriend got the special, which is noodles with tripe, tendon, eye of round, fatty brisket, and flank meat (all cow meat if that was unclear). It also had chives and spring onions with a boiling beef broth poured over. I got the vegetarian pho, which was noodles with mushrooms, bok choy, and grilled tofu. It comes with vegetable broth, but I wanted more flavor so I got chicken broth instead. They brought bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapeños and lime on the side. I squeezed some lime over the top of my soup and put a bunch of cilantro into the bowl. It was the best soup I have ever eaten. I'm sure if I go to different restaurants and try different versions of the same ingredients, I'll find something better, but for now this was excellent.
Also on the menu at this delicious place was shrimp pho, chicken pho, Thai dishes (Pad Thai, etc.) and some appetizers. I attached the menu here! Sorry about the weird layout, I promise I didn't create it!
I hope I can go back to different pho restaurants soon, but for now, I am 100% satisfied with my choices in soups. :D
Saturday night boyfriend took me to get pho at a place by my school called Pho D'lite. Boyfriend got the special, which is noodles with tripe, tendon, eye of round, fatty brisket, and flank meat (all cow meat if that was unclear). It also had chives and spring onions with a boiling beef broth poured over. I got the vegetarian pho, which was noodles with mushrooms, bok choy, and grilled tofu. It comes with vegetable broth, but I wanted more flavor so I got chicken broth instead. They brought bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapeños and lime on the side. I squeezed some lime over the top of my soup and put a bunch of cilantro into the bowl. It was the best soup I have ever eaten. I'm sure if I go to different restaurants and try different versions of the same ingredients, I'll find something better, but for now this was excellent.
Also on the menu at this delicious place was shrimp pho, chicken pho, Thai dishes (Pad Thai, etc.) and some appetizers. I attached the menu here! Sorry about the weird layout, I promise I didn't create it!
I hope I can go back to different pho restaurants soon, but for now, I am 100% satisfied with my choices in soups. :D
Friday, March 22, 2013
Sweet Potato...Something...
Sunday night we made a kind of Mexican Shepard's pie. It was...interesting. The recipe, which I actually am unsure if it is the exact same one we used, can be found here. (We have a thing in my family where if a recipe is bad we just throw it away. Well, my brother didn't really like it, so it got tossed. I loved it...) It is basically a ground meat and tomato based dish with a sweet potato puree as a topper. It was actually pretty good, although the sweet potatoes became a kind of mushy mess, similar to baby food from a jar. My mom was being creative and played with a pastry bag (HEY! That's my job!) and did a fancy topper with the potatoes. You don't have to do the same thing, you can just spread them on top. Also, we left out the Worcestershire sauce by mistake, but I am not really sure if that had much of an affect. Another change, if you use regular potatoes it might turn out with a sturdier topping to it. The last change that was made was using 2T Gluten Free flour instead of the normal flour used. When using a little flour for a thickener, you can just substitute your flour 1:1. If doing something like baking, look up a ratio online.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
*Spring*~*Break*
I got home on Friday night for SPRING BREAK! It is SO great to be home again. After being able to watch Maryland BEAT DUKE on the airplane home, and a slight delay due to the weather in Chicago, I was so happy to see my brother Louis heading towards me in our beat up old car.
Anyway, that entire introductory paragraph was IRRELEPHANT! <Elephants are my favorite animal> So my mom and I have been cooking dinner together for the past few nights. The dish we tried was a kind of pulled lamb. My mom and dad bought a baby lamb with my aunt and it was raised on a farm. It was then killed and butchered for a delicious dinner. (That was kind of sadistic sounding, but go with it...) We made a dry rub with fresh ground spices (it turned into more of a paste actually). Anyway, I was able to pull the lamb off the bone, and we had a delicious dinner of pulled lamb and roasted veggies, as well as as nice simple salad with Black Kale. The recipe is here, but these are the changes we made:
1. Didn't use ancho chilies, instead used 1 T. medium-hot chili powder
2. Reduce the amount of salt used. Use about 1/2-1 t instead of 1 T. It was VERY salty.
It was so good. On the side we served the harissa (the paste-like supposed dry rub, mentioned above), but it was insanely salty for this dish. Reducing the amount of salt used will help this.
The vegetables are as follows:
1. Carrot
2. Sweet Potato
3. Potato
4. Onion
3. Salt & pepper
4. Olive Oil
5. Cumin
Coat the veggies in olive oil and sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper, add the cumin as per your taste. For us 1/2t pepper, 1/4t salt, and 1-2t of cumin. Put all of this on a sheet pan and roast in the oven at 325 until fork tender. This was about an hour, but make sure to keep an eye on these. It could be more or less depending on the oven!
The yogurt dip on the side (listed with the lamb recipe above) complimented this dish so well. I put it on everything (the salad, the veggies, the lamb. Literally, everything). One note, I completely omitted the olive oil in the yogurt. It ended up not needing it, and was going to create an excess of oil in the dish. It was just as delicious without it.
Really Long Side Bar coming up: Black Kale is AMAZING. It is my new favorite vegetable. Take your kale, and cut the dead, dry ends off. Then cut it into strips about 1 inch thick. I put the kale into a lettuce spinner to rinse it off. Put the kale in your salad bowl and add a few dashes of olive oil (1T) and the juice of about 1/2 a lemon. Add this to your kale and massage, yes I said massage, your kale. Work in the olive oil and lemon juice and make sure you actually squeeze the kale leaves. We then added arugula, spinach, and mixed greens as well as sliced almonds and dried cherries. Also, you will need more olive oil and lemon juice. Just how much is up to you, just enough to dress your salad as you would like.
The final thing we made was a garlic naan. Trader Joe's has some excellent frozen naan, regular or garlic. The purpose of the naan is to make a sandwich/roll up thing with the lamb and yogurt and some greens, if you so please. Because I can't eat the bread I just kind of mixed the whole thing together and ate a delicious mish-mosh of yumminess.
For dessert, my mom bought me a cute gluten free cheesecake at our local supermarket. I had some frozen mixed berries, so I stuck them in the microwave to make a syrup-y concoction that went well with the New York Style cake.
Anyway, that entire introductory paragraph was IRRELEPHANT! <Elephants are my favorite animal> So my mom and I have been cooking dinner together for the past few nights. The dish we tried was a kind of pulled lamb. My mom and dad bought a baby lamb with my aunt and it was raised on a farm. It was then killed and butchered for a delicious dinner. (That was kind of sadistic sounding, but go with it...) We made a dry rub with fresh ground spices (it turned into more of a paste actually). Anyway, I was able to pull the lamb off the bone, and we had a delicious dinner of pulled lamb and roasted veggies, as well as as nice simple salad with Black Kale. The recipe is here, but these are the changes we made:
1. Didn't use ancho chilies, instead used 1 T. medium-hot chili powder
2. Reduce the amount of salt used. Use about 1/2-1 t instead of 1 T. It was VERY salty.
It was so good. On the side we served the harissa (the paste-like supposed dry rub, mentioned above), but it was insanely salty for this dish. Reducing the amount of salt used will help this.
The vegetables are as follows:
1. Carrot
2. Sweet Potato
3. Potato
4. Onion
3. Salt & pepper
4. Olive Oil
5. Cumin
Coat the veggies in olive oil and sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper, add the cumin as per your taste. For us 1/2t pepper, 1/4t salt, and 1-2t of cumin. Put all of this on a sheet pan and roast in the oven at 325 until fork tender. This was about an hour, but make sure to keep an eye on these. It could be more or less depending on the oven!
The yogurt dip on the side (listed with the lamb recipe above) complimented this dish so well. I put it on everything (the salad, the veggies, the lamb. Literally, everything). One note, I completely omitted the olive oil in the yogurt. It ended up not needing it, and was going to create an excess of oil in the dish. It was just as delicious without it.
Really Long Side Bar coming up: Black Kale is AMAZING. It is my new favorite vegetable. Take your kale, and cut the dead, dry ends off. Then cut it into strips about 1 inch thick. I put the kale into a lettuce spinner to rinse it off. Put the kale in your salad bowl and add a few dashes of olive oil (1T) and the juice of about 1/2 a lemon. Add this to your kale and massage, yes I said massage, your kale. Work in the olive oil and lemon juice and make sure you actually squeeze the kale leaves. We then added arugula, spinach, and mixed greens as well as sliced almonds and dried cherries. Also, you will need more olive oil and lemon juice. Just how much is up to you, just enough to dress your salad as you would like.The final thing we made was a garlic naan. Trader Joe's has some excellent frozen naan, regular or garlic. The purpose of the naan is to make a sandwich/roll up thing with the lamb and yogurt and some greens, if you so please. Because I can't eat the bread I just kind of mixed the whole thing together and ate a delicious mish-mosh of yumminess.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
*~Restaurants~*
So last night was Boyfriend's birthday. Sidebar: we went to a really cool lecture on guns and the lecturer brought in almost 50 different types of guns.
Anyway, after, he and I went to Noodles and Co for dinner. I recently have found that they have an excellent option for us Gluten Free Terps. If you order a dish and ask for the rice noodles, they will easily substitute it for you. The list of their gluten free sauces can be found here! It has the nutrition information, and if scrolling down to the bottom, it has the list of sauces. (My personal favorite is the Pesto, I ask for no tomatoes (cooked tomatoes=gross)).
Tonight I am traveling to Outback Steakhouse with him and his parents for ANOTHER birthday meal (man, this boy needs a national holiday or something!) That menu can be found here~It's a PDF. I am curious to know if the french fries are not GF because they are fried in the same oil or if they are drenched in flour. I'll let you know, I PROMISE!
I am loving exploring the many different restaurant options offered for us GF people.......
PS. I figured out that if you get GF bread in the back of the diner, you can take it to the chicken/burger line and have them use that as a bun. MIND BLOWN.
Anyway, after, he and I went to Noodles and Co for dinner. I recently have found that they have an excellent option for us Gluten Free Terps. If you order a dish and ask for the rice noodles, they will easily substitute it for you. The list of their gluten free sauces can be found here! It has the nutrition information, and if scrolling down to the bottom, it has the list of sauces. (My personal favorite is the Pesto, I ask for no tomatoes (cooked tomatoes=gross)).
Tonight I am traveling to Outback Steakhouse with him and his parents for ANOTHER birthday meal (man, this boy needs a national holiday or something!) That menu can be found here~It's a PDF. I am curious to know if the french fries are not GF because they are fried in the same oil or if they are drenched in flour. I'll let you know, I PROMISE!
I am loving exploring the many different restaurant options offered for us GF people.......
PS. I figured out that if you get GF bread in the back of the diner, you can take it to the chicken/burger line and have them use that as a bun. MIND BLOWN.
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