a friend asked for a recipe for Tortilla Soup, because it’s all i’ve been talking about for days (just made some the other day that i’ve been living off of, so happily)… realized i should post it here!

sorry for the lack of visuals with this post. it’s a spontaneous one!

–

TORTILLA SOUP

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder (i used green chile powder, but any is fine)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup posole (hominy)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers (i used like 4)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
crushed corn tortilla strips
chicken, if yr a meat eater (i used 1 breast)

In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion, chicken and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips and cheese or whatever else you’d like.

It’s really easy to make. The only thing that had been holding me back was the lack of cumin seeds… but I found some as stop+shop and away I went!

1 eggplant
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion – sliced thin
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tomato – diced
handful of peas
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1 chili pepper minced, or chili powder
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 450* F. Slice the eggplant length wise in half, and roast for 20-30 min. Once done, take it out the oven and let it cool. Peel it (the skin should come off in strips). I like to take the seeds out in the sink and rinse the eggplant. Cut into cubes. Heat oil in a large saucepan on med/high (I use a wok) and throw in the cumin seeds and onion. Cool til the onions are tender. Mix in ginger, garlic, curry powder, peas and tomatoes for a minute or two. Stir in the yogurt. Mix in eggplant, chili powder/chilis, and season with salt. Cover and cook on high for 10 minutes, then uncover and turn heat down to low for five or so minutes.

Don’t forget to start your rice before you cook! I always remember halfway through and then have to wait for it to finish when the food’s done.

Enjoyy!

*jess

i made cheesecake.

and i promise: it was the EASIEST thing i have ever made, ever. it was ridiculously easy. all you need are a few ingredients, a blender, and a little patience (not for the making part… but you have to wait for it to chill… and it can take a few hours to do so… but it’s SO WORTH THE WAIT.)

i’m ridiculously excited for this, so let’s just get on with it:

–

ohyesplease 5 minute cheesecake

Preheat 325*

put all these things in a blender:

2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
1 c sugar
1 c milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend for 5 minutes. Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh.

While it’s blending, make your crust. To make this gluten free (and so delicious), I used Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Ginger Snaps – just throw a few handfuls in a bag and turn them into crumbs by rolling a glass over the bag a few times and smashing the cookies up. You should have about 3/4 cup of cookie crumbs. Mix these in a bowl with 1 tbsp melted butter. Spread and press the crumbs into the bottom of a pie tin or a springform pan.

When the blending is done, poor the mixture into the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Chill in fridge for a few hours, til it’s set. Top with fruit or just eat it as it is right out of the pan…

If you aren’t worried about gluten/wheat intolerance, you can just use graham cracker crumbs as the crust… but I actually prefer the ginger snaps (so much flavor!).

*j

so, on monday i tried to make breakfast for my fabulous friends who were in nj (yes!!!) and it went horribly HORRIBLY wrong. so bad.so i saved the banana/coconut/flax meal/ applesauce mixture (dont ask) in the fridge and said –gaaaah i’ll figure somthing out for it later!

and did i. did i ever.

i remembered this bread i had made months ago with avocados and banana. it was a huge hit with family and friends (gluten free/vegan and not!) alike so the lightbulb popped up and i said HELLOOOOOO duh just use that mixture for the breeeead!

so i did. and omg. its so. so . so good.
i dont think i blogged this bread recipe last time so, yay! i’ll post my original one and the concoction from the other morning too. its so yummy…not really a sandwich bread but so good toasted with some butter or butter substitute of choice…or jam (maybe homemade blueberry ginger lemon honey jam? ohhh, that was a beautiful adventure of last friday night i will also blog about soon. yummmm). last time i made this bread mom and i (and even grandpa!) really enjoyed it for breakfast. mmmmmm.

***********************************************************************
Gluten Free/Vegan Avocado Banana Bread (or…monday morning fail concoction bread?)
***oven at 350* F
-1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
-1 1/2 cup millet flour
-1/3 cup sugar ( i use evap. cane juice, not dyed which is nice!)
-3 tbl. ground flaxseed (hellooo fiber! yes!)
-2 tsp cinnamon
-3 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
-1/2 tsp sale
***Mix all of these dry ingredients together.
-2 ripe avocados
-1 ripe banana
***mash these two things together in separate bowl. add to dry with…
-1 1/2 cup water.
***mix all together, pour into greased bread pan
***bake for 45-60 minutes.
let cool and enjoy that shit!

OK also, here are options (yesss)
***you can either buy millet flour, or just buy bulk millet (cheeeap) and put it in the blender 1/2 cup at a time and blend it up into flour. thats what i do, and i also like that option because i leave some of it more coarse and it has a cornbread kinda feel to it. which i obviously love.
***mix up the avocado/ banana mix! use 3 avocados…or just 3 banana…or what i did: 3 banana with about 3/4 cup shred coconut, 1/3 cup applesauce and 3 tbl flaxmeal with 9 tbl water. so yum!
***feel free to add frozen (or fresh!) fruits like blueberries, or chocolate chips, nuts, or spice. who said a lil cayenne wouldn’t be fab? also, whole kernel corn is very appealing to me…must…try, mmmmm…
***if you are ok with corn, you can replace the millet with corn meal. its all good.

SO
this bread is super easy to make. it’s ingredients you (or at least i) usually have “on hand” so as i’m sitting at the table at 10pm i can say “ooo! i can make this!” and actually do it. that is a big day in a GF kitchen…its a big day indeed.

ok, time to go to sleep and get up early for a bike ride, a few t-shirts to stencil (save the bees!) pack up and move to VT for 3 weeks by noon. horray for lover sunshine pants time! the next post you see will be from the gorgeous mountains of VT! be excited. yessss.
stay cool, remember the inside of your wrists are good “cool spots”…put ice on them to cool ur body temp down.
(….)
seriously though.
stay cool and happy and enjoy these gorgeous days.
be well!
xoxoxoxoxox
alea

the grocery store.

It’s ALWAYS too cold in grocery stores… except when it’s 95 degrees and the air around you actually feels like a swamp… THEN the grocery store freezingness is really awesome.

So… I bought a bunch of chicken drumsticks on sale, and came home with little idea of what to do with them… and of course I went right to foodnetwork.com (my FAVORITE for brainstorming). Instead of always googling “gluten free chicken somethingsomething” or “gluten free thingything” I’ve been working more on adapting “regular” recipes to be gluten free. With things like gluten free soy sauce, different types of flours, and a creative brain, it’s been pretty successful thus far.

Let’s make this short tonight (my eyes are tired but I just watched a really bad romantic comedy so I’m trying to recover with Will and Grace BUT I AM SO TIRED!)…

Tonight I made BALSAMIC CHICKEN…. and holy moly… it was AMAZING.

I took a recipe from my LOVE, Giada DeLaurentiis, and adapted it to be gluten free. Ya ready? Prepare for a flavor explooOOoosion…

–

DELICIOUS BALSAMIC CHICKEN WINGS
serves 3 or so

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup GF soy sauce
a bunch of dried rosemary
5 garlic cloves, chopped (but not too small)
10-12 chicken drumsticks

Skin the drumsticks if you prefer. I like to poke some holes in the chicken with forks for the marinade… so do that! Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, and cover. Fridge the chickens for about two hours.

Preheat oven to 450* and take out the marinated chickens from the fridge. Cover a 13×9 pan with tin foil and grease it up a little (just to make sure nothing sticks!). Lay out the drumstix and bake for 35 minutes. While baking the chicken, heat the leftover marinade in a small pot – first, boil it (to kill the bacteria!) then simmer for about ten minutes. Don’t overheat, or you’ll be left with a sticky mess. Yr just trying to make a light glaze here, so just cook it a little bit. When the chicken’s done, glaze them with the heated marinade, and eattttttttttt! You can put some of the marinade on a dish as a dipping sauce, too – so good!

I served this with bokchoy/kale, brown rice, and CORN! Loved it. So good. Magically easy summer dinner.

<3
jess

PS: Make sure to watch this while you wait for your chicken to bake. It's pretty necessary for the summer.

The point is: pizza is awesome, but REALLY GOOD pizza is really hard to do right.

Not only that, but – gluten free pizza is even tougher!

But… I have to admit… I think I’m on to something good here.

A while back, Alea posted a fabulous recipe for really good gluten free french bread, which has been a staple in my baking adventures. A few months ago, I wrote briefly about how I tried to make pizza crust from it and sort of succeeded. Well, I’ve taken that success to a new level of amazing.

It sounds like a lot, but in order to make fabulous pizza you need to make your own crust (it just has to be that way). Here are two steps… first, the crust making… then, the toppings and the pizza creating…

Also, it seems like a lot of ingredients, but I’ve learned that most of these things are key for a baking-friendly gluten free kitchen. Tapioca flour and rice flour are FABULOUS and not too expensive. I think tapioca flour is about 2.50 for a box, and rice flour can be bought in bulk for 1.99 a pound… and with yeast, spluge on the jar… it’s like $6 or so for a jar but it’s like 100x more yeast than just buying it in packets. Trust.

Are you ready?
You’re so ready.
You don’t even know how good this is.
Let’s do it.

–

MISSION 1: CRUST.

This recipe makes one large crust. Double it if you’re feeding more than two people… trust me, yr gonna want seconds.

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp fast rise yeast
1 tbsp melted butter
1 egg white slightly beaten
1/2 tsp vinegar
ROSEMARY

Mix flours together with xanthan gum + salt in medium bowl. Add LOTS of dried rosemary (it cancels out the grainy taste of the rice flour). LOTS of rosemary. In another bowl, dissolve sugar in water, and mix yeast. Let sit for a few minutes. Once the yeast bubbles and foams, add to flour mix. Stir in butter, egg white, vinegar, and mix it up really good.

Grease a cookie sheet REALLY WELL (it should be pretty slick). Drop the dough mound on, and now comes the tricky part with this sticky dough. It’s gonna stick to your pan unless you do just this:

Wet yer hands, and press into the dough at the center, working it out to the edges. Keep yer hands wet so they don’t stick to the dough, and push the dough out to the edges of the pan. It should be able 1/4 inch thick, and make sure to shake a crust on the edges. Don’t move the dough too much, or else the grease on the bottom will get weird, and the pizza will stick terribly.

Bake at 400* for ten minutes. While you wait for it to bake, prep your toppings… or you coulda done this before… either/or…

–

MISSION 2: TOPPINGS.

1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
a few slices of fresh mozzarella cheese (or grated)
4 or 5 garlic cloves, minced
a few spoonfuls of pesto, mixed with olive oil
a few scallions, chopped
1/2 a tomato, gutted and minced
FETA CHEESE! about a handful
fresh basil, if you have it!

*optional: 1 cup of cooked chicken, sliced

Once the pizza dough has cooked for ten minutes, take it out and let it cool for a minute. Spread the pesto/oil sauce across the crust, almost to the very edges. However you want to layer the toppings is up to you. I like to put the basil leaves on the bottom so they don’t dry out, along with the scallions… then everything else…with the cheese(s) on top.

Bake it for about ten or fifteen minutes, depending on how thick your crust is. It should be dark brown at the bottom edges… and a little bit browned on top.

Yay pizza!! Best pizza ever. Totally my favorite so far.

(I took a picture of it but my phone ate the picture. Booooo, phone.)

Then it’s FABULOUS.

I’ve never really gotten down with salads. I guess I’ve only ever had salads that were either: a) too gigantic to enjoy (like in restaurants where it seems like an endless bowl of lettuce with shredded cheese on top), b) filled with too much crappy watery lettuce, c) really bland and unsatisfying.

But! I’ve also been a fan of the “greek salad” thing. Most restaurants have some variety of this… and I’ve never figured out what makes it “greek,” so to speak, but I guess that’s how food marketing works/cultural appropriation/consumerism works. What I do know is that I love balsamic vinegar and kalamata olives. AND FETA. Oh man, do I love feta cheese.

Instead of dishing out nine dollars for a “greek” salad, I decided to attempt to make my own. I made one last night that was really epic that I’m excited to share. It’s a little different than most I’ve had… because different is always good. Food experimentation!

My partner’s been bringing home some fabulous greens from the farm he works on, and it’s such been a special treat (!) for me. I’ve learned that lettuce used to gross me out because the GM lettuce that is sold in grocery stores (well, besides Whole Foods, but that’s a rant for another day) is watery and made to last on the shelves… it’s definitely not made to taste great. In the last year, I’ve learned a lot about organic food, and why it’s not just a trend, but a real food choice that I wish I could afford. It’s a bummer that a lot of organic produce is SO EXPENSIVE! So expensive. But… it also tastes so much better. It’s strange to me that “organic food” is given such a title… because really, it should just be called “food.” The genetically modified and subsidized “food” that is sold for such low prices should be called something else… because it’s not food… it’s fake food. A lot of you are probably reading this and saying, “Well duh, Jess…duh.”

The point is: I wish FOOD–real food–were affordable. I get by and am able to buy things like feta and avocados and olive oil [but damn, that stuff adds up quickly!] on a fairly regular basis… but in order to do this, I need to sacrifice some things on my grocery list… like organic vegetables and fruits. I’m working on it, I’m working on it… and someday I’ll have a job that will pay me enough for me to shop at, say, a co-op. I wish I could support local stores more, but man, I’ve become so accustomed to scouring the Stop+Shop/Shaws circulars every week to figure out where I can spend the least money for the most “real” food…

I’ve also started doing something that I’ve heard suggested from friends, which is: in the grocery store, shop around the perimeter of the store first. This is where all the fresh food generally is. Think about it… all the coolers and refrigerators are on the outsides, while the aisles are filled with cans, boxes, bags, and jars of processed food. I realized that I was actually saving a substantial amount of money by buying perishable food and filling my cart with vegetables (GM veggies, but at least they’re sort of good for you), fresh dairy, and fruits… and then I venture to the aisles to find my brown rice, beans, and other grains and proteins. This totally works for me, and I’m definitely saving money (and eating more “whole” foods!). Small steps, right? I grew up eating a lot of grains and starches and packaged things, because that’s what little kids crave, I guess. I’ve been making little steps, like eating more brown rice instead of white rice… eating less pasta… taking time to make food. I know that soon it’ll be harder (or not possible) for me to go to the grocery store once a week to get veggies and fruits, but… maybe… somehow… I can make it work. People do it, right?

But time is always the problem, I suppose. Once I start my job in August, working 12 hour days at a high school, I’ll probably be back to sandwiches and microwave pasta… but I’m going to challenge myself to keep this routine that I’ve developed.

So, yes…SALAD. Loving that salad I made. AND PIZZA! I’ll post the pizza recipe later tonight…

–

Faux-Greek Salad Deliciousness
serves 2-ish

1 head lettuce (any kind that you love!)
handful of kalamata olives*
handful of feta*
half a red onion, minced
half an avocado, cubed
half a fresh tomato, cubed
half a can of chickpeas, rinsed well
balsamic vinegar (about an 1/8 cup)*

If you’re looking to feed three or four people, just double everything (I realize that this recipe has lots of “halves” of stuff…so…just indulge and use everything!). Make sure everything is ripe, too! Chop up all your veggies into cubes An important part of prepping tomatoes (just learned this from Giada DeLaurentiis, aka: my foodnetwork girlfriend) that you have to slice open the tomatoes and take all the guts out. I hate tomato guts – the seeds and the slimy stuff – yuck. You want your tomatoes crisp for this salad!

I also like slicing the olives in half so they aren’t too strong in the salad. Mix the olives, onion, feta, avocado, tomato, and chickpeas with the balsamic vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes so everything soaks up the vinegar. Salt and pepper it up! Wash and cut your lettuce, and throw it in the salad spinner!

Plate the lettuce, and put the delicious vinegar veggies on top. Add a little more vinegar if you’re into that kinda thing… and eatttttt!

I add the chickpeas for a little flavor variety… and protein! So much effing protein in those little chickpeas. No, you don’t have to cook them, and yes, you will like them. Beans still kind of gross me out, but I’m learning to like em…

*PS: I love Trader Joe’s a lot lately. They have jars of kalamata olives for under three dollars, packs of feta for around the same, and balsamic for around two or three bucks… and you can make like six salads from all of that! Fabulousness. Aaand they have cheap, pretty-good beer/wine… but I’ll get to that later…

<3
Salad rules. Especially this salad.

*jess

PPPPS: It's so effing hot… so this is great because you don't have to turn on the oven!

I tried to bake today, and sort of succeeded, sort of failed. I don’t know why, but I am really intimidated by recipes where eggs have to be separated. I seem to have trouble with flourless recipes that involve eggs… I haven’t made a successful flourless chocolate cake ever.

I had a bunch of bananas that were going bad and decided to try my hand at flourless chocolate banana cake. I found a recipe online and adapted it a bit. It kind of worked. I am 110% positive it would have worked so well if only I’d not confused “egg yolks” with “egg whites” in the recipe. Oops. I whipped the egg whites first… instead of the yolks… oh well. So, my cake came out kind of weird… but if you actually follow this recipe, I promise you’ll have a great cake.

Remember, egg yolks FIRST. Maybe someday I’ll get it right!

I think it might need butter. I’ll try experimenting with the oil… and maybe use butter instead…

If you try this, let me know what happens!

–

3 eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed over ripened bananas
1/2 cup cocoa powder

In a blender or mixer, whip egg YOLKS, sugar and salt on medium for 1-2 minutes. Blend in oil and banana for another minute; blend in cocoa powder. In separate bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold in banana concoction with egg whites. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and pour in batter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. WOOHOO!

i’ve started making little youtube playlists before i cook… and am going to share my first one. it’s the “ugh everything is terrible today!” playlist that will make you kick your dinner in the ass (in a good way?). i was really feeling the madonna/michael/janet/mariah thing tonight…

here is the link: MUSIC!

here are the videos:
Madonna – Revolver <3

Mariah – always be my BABY!

Madonna – she’s not me

from the tour that I WENT TO! love it.

SCREAM. janet + michael. very important song.

IF – janet.

i’ll have a recipe soon. i just had to post some kitchen music…

strawberry rhubarb is one of my favorite pies EVER. i love pie so much .its sick. but its just so goddamn good. this was my version of my ab-fab fav. pie….Strawberry-Rhubarb-Ginger-Granny smith apple n honey pie! the crust is from my obsession (the flying apron cookbook duh) and i followed it pretty much exact except i added 2 tablespoons of flax meal. because you can never have too much fiber.

FLYING APRON GLUTEN FREE/VEGAN PIE CRUST +fiber…
-1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/2 cup + 3 tbl. palm or coconut oil
-3 tablespoons agave or maple syrup
-1 or 2 tbl cold aqua

*combine rice flour and salt in bowl. in another bowl, (they say stand mixer but i only have a hand one so booo) mix the palm or coconut oil until soft. add the flour on low speed, until incorporated. add agave/maplesyrup and aqua and mix until dough is soft and formed. if dough is dry add more aqua 1 tbl at a time.
flour yer rolling surface and hands and…well…roll it gal. i rolled it on a piece of parchment paper on top of a flat cookie sheet….because it was easy to flip that on top of a pie pan without it breaking. if it cracks or pieces fall off just put it back on with ur fingers no BIGGIE.
bake for about 10 minutes with nothing in it.
then add a little concoction of:
-1 stalk rhubarb, chopped
-about 1 1/2 cup strawberries, chopped
-2 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
-2 tablespoon agave
* stir this around in a saucepan on top the stove while ur crust is crustin. just to make it soft n nice.
*take the crust out and fill with this delicious crazyness.
*thin slice 1 granny smith apple with skin on and make a pretty pattern on top of ur pie.
*sprinkle with cinn. and a lil more flaxseed meal (because, again…who gets enough fiber?)

bake at 375 * F for about …..20 minutes?
enjoy!!!!! the crust is flakey and sooooooooooo good!!!!! i’m so excited! this pie is so yummy to me because its nice and tart and sour from the rhubarb but the sweet from the strawberry and the kick from the ginger…topped with more hump from the apples. yum yum yum. not too sweet. just the way i like it. perfetto.

ok ALSO
i’ve been workin like crazy on this stencil of a bee drawn by Sam Comfort of Anarchy Apiaries. This saturday is Brooklyn Botanical Garden 100 anniversary! and with the recent law passed to allow beekeeping in nyc (YES!!!!!!!) they are making beez a huge focus of the day! soooo fab!
so, sam and my two friends and i thought YES WE NEED TO MAKE/SELL SHIRTS AWWWWWW yea.
i made a stencil of sam’s drawing and a woodcut of the anarchy symbol is a honeycomb cell, as he drew it, and will bee making phrase stencils like “Swarm The State” etc. its gonna be great.

come by on saturday if you can! Sam will be giving a presentation from 12-1 about topbar beehives (awesome) and there will be shirts! also, just lemme know if you want a patch and i’ll send it to you. of course.
oh yea, this is sam’s website! check it out! www.anarchyapiaries.org

ok much love to youz gotta go stencilllll and eat pie and dance a lil!
xoxo
alea

ps. this wonderfully overly productive night was brought to you by STONG brewed mate. i highly suggest it for all late night getting-things-done-time. sigh.