Like everyone else, I'm glued to the TV (watching CNN), so I'm going to make this short and sweet...or savory, I should say :). I know, it's another stew! I bet you're wondering if I eat anything other than stews and desserts :D. This cold weather has me craving hot food non-stop, it doesn't get old!
And if you're a long-time Flour Arrangements reader, you're probably not surprised to see biscuits. But This time, they're gluten-free! Big difference: more flours, a little bit of sugar, and the star ingredient: xanthan gum! The Gluten-Free Girl posted a tasty recipe for buttermilk biscuits that I wanted to make, but I didn't have all the ingredients, so I had to improvise. (I ended up eating half of them in one night! :) The stew has dumplings, but I can't get enough carbs, so why not have chicken and dumplings AND gluten-free biscuits?! Sounds like a tasty combo to me. This isn't just any ol' chicken and dumplings meal either, I added veggies to the stew. I tried to make it as hearty and nutritious as possible.
I've been thinking about something, I'm going to change Flour Arrangements up a bit. Not really change it, more like spice it up. I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to gluten-free recipe online; I can imagine how much harder it is to find recipes for other allergy=related diets. Purchasing specialty foods can get expensive, too, so that's why I've resorted to making almost everything from scratch. I know I'm not the only one. This is why I'd like to extend this invitation to you all: If there is a dessert/savory dish that you're craving, and you're on a special diet and can't find a recipe for it, I'll try to make up a recipe for you. I can't promise that I'll get it to you right away, but I'll do my best :). (Please just don't ask me to make basil cupcakes ;)!
Pancakes: My favorite food. Wait! I also like french toast...ok. So...
BREAKFAST: My favorite meal!
Oh...but a well-made Thanksgiving meal is heaven on Earth, so it's a close second.
Alright then, I'll sum it up like this: I adore food, all kinds. And so do you, that's why you're reading this!
I'm not the type that'll splurge on anything, really. Nearly everything I buy is on sale; material things just don't mean that much to me (unless it's an antique! My guilty pleasure = antique shopping...but that doesn't count, right!). I guess some would say that food doesn't matter; they'll say food is food, but I really can't say that. At all. Food isn'tjust food. If you're ingesting it, it should be good for you...and it should taste good too!
Some foods are extra special, though. Like buttery gluten-free pancakes with real maple syrup on top (Real maple syrup! The fake stuff doesn't taste half as good! Oh, and by the way, it took me forever to come up with a gluten-free pancake recipe! You'd think it'd be easy but it isn't!). And who doesn't love waking up to the smell of...stew! Yes, I bet you thought I was going to say pancakes! Of course I love waking up to the smell of pancakes, but I also love waking up to the smell of a lamb shank stew magically coming together in my crock-pot with leeks and onions and garlic and muscat wine and...
As soon as the aroma hits my nose, I know it's ready. It's been cooking for 8 hours, so the meat has to be tender. When my appetite's gotten the best of me,I jump out of bed to see if I'm right... yep, the meat is falling off the bone. Now I need to finish it off on the stove and add the final round of ingredients: tomato sauce, veggies, a few spices, and (of course) a little more time. 30 minutes of simmering does the trick.
This is a tasty stew, but you'll have to wait for lunch to try it because you've gotta try the pancakes first. Actually, nevermind! Eat the stew for breakfast and have the pancakes for dinner!
Ok. I get it. I'm now fully convinced that basil and xanthan gum are conspiring against me :)! Just a few days ago, I talked about giving the September Iron Cupcake Challenge another try (using Basil, this month's special ingredient). Tonight, I did. Except...I forgot the xanthan gum again!!! You'd think my muffin-turned-pudding recipe from last week would've taught me a lesson, but I still managed to forget about the xanthan gum. As a result, I've decided to enlarge this photo; it's going on my refrigerator in the morning:
If you're wondering what that icky stuff in the middle of the cupcakes is, it's lemon curd. I was going to refrigerate the lemon basil cupcakes with the lemon curd filling and give them a 'cream cheese' (tofutti) frosting...but when I tried taking them out of the pan, they crumbled...sigh. The good news is, I added enough lemon to counteract the basil taste. Bad news is, I don't taste the basil at all. This month, I'm going with the Cupcake Hero challenge instead. I've decided to give basil a break and move on to more exciting flavors...like coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla :). Stay tuned for Flour Arrangements' (xanthan-loaded) September cupcake hero entry!
Though the sweet mixed with the savory didn't seem to work with the cupcakes, I'll tell ya what it did work with: a Pomegranate Vegetable Pork Stew. Inspired by the delicious, very drool-worthy Braised Pork Shoulder with Quince recipe in October's Bon Appetit magazine, I decided to use the free Pomegranate Honest Tea I received on Saturday (when the hubby and I were checking out Boston's South End). I am a huge, huge fan of Honest Tea. My favorite flavor is Black Forest Berry, but the pomegranate tea is also very delicious. Bon Ap's recipe sounded soooo tasty, but I'd never heard of Quince (I'm ignorant, I know) and I didn't have some of the ingredients, so I just used some of their spice recommendations and the pomegranate juice idea (but I used tea) then experimented with the rest.
Have you seen the cover of next month's edition? (I get it in the mail, that's why I'm talking about the October issue. :) I want to dive right in to that pot of chili with autumn squash. The Autumn squash part really got me, of course. I'm pretty much counting every orangey-red colored leaf that falls off the tree a few feet away from my apartment building. Check out these Fall/foodie photos I took when we were exploring the city this weekend:
So when I got home after a mildly cold and rainy day of grocery shopping with Jose (and it was a day of grocery shopping, we went to 3 stores!), all I wanted to do was curl up under a blanket, watch Masterpiece Theatre's version of Jane Eyre, and eat a bowl of stew. But if I want stew, I have to make it! No complaints here. Though cold, rainy weather does put me in a slow and sleepy mood, it also makes me want to cook warm, savory comfort foods (especially stews)!
The stew was delicious. It's also healthy; loaded with protein and veggies, it'll hit the spot. It did take some time to put together (all that chopping), but the whole cooking process was really relaxing. I even managed to make the stew 'gravy' gluten-free by using rice flour. Oh, that reminds me. A few of you have asked how I've been feeling after starting the diet. Well, I am better. I notice I can eat more desserts than before, and that's always a good thing :). Though I'm not 100% where I want to be, I'm having a food allergy/sensitivity test done next month and also undergoing a few other tests. I'm optimistic, though. Thank you for your concern, I really appreciate it :).
I'll be back in a few days with the mystery cupcakes! And, yes, they'll contain xanthan gum ;).
