Rice and Grains

2 lbs. White sushi rice
12-16 oz. bottle rice vinegar (unseasoned)
5 tsp. salt
¼ cup honey

For years, I got so frustrated with countless batches of rice that turn out mushy, or crunchy, or watery, or any number of ways that aren't Perfectly Fluffy, Tender, Chewy, Separate Yet Cohesive Grains of Deliciousness. Then I read this helpful article: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/9395-science-the-secrets-of-co… .

This is not a recipe to provide complete instruction on the Middle Eastern art of creating amazing Dolmas; instead, this is How To Make A Delicious and Wonderful Filling for about 150 grapeleaves. Cookbook Google can provide you with instructions for rolling the dolmas - I will just add to the great information online that you can use tender, young, wild grape leaves without blanching them first!

2 onions, diced small
2 tbsp. salt
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

Sauté gently for about ten minutes. Add:

I recently discovered an amazing blogger, and adapted this waffle recipe from one of hers: https://eatbeautiful.net/2017/07/09/cassava-flour-sourdough-waffles-gra…

Make enough for 4-5 hungry people

This is the easiest way to use up leftover gluten-free sourdough starter! Just feed the starter (and measure, to make sure you'll have the right amount in the morning) so that it's very thick (and for even better texture, make the last feeding tapioca flour, white rice flour, sweet rice flour, and/or other gluten-free flours - the starter doesn't like this for regular use, but if it's the final feeding-before-it-gets-eaten, it works just fine).

With gratitude to healthyseasonalrecipes.com, from whose recipe this is adapted. I was so thrilled to find something so perfect to fill a craving for a warm, spicy apple cake! (If you leave some of the applesauce chunky, so much the better.)

1 large bundt pan or a 9x13” sheet pan

Ingredients:

I have actually never eaten "traditional" mochi - but traditionally, when I was growing up, we bought flat cakes of Grainnaissance raisin-cinnamon mochi and baked it till it puffed up in the toaster. Such a delicious tradition!

Now we're eating rice again, but only if it's white or fermented (if it's brown). The folks at Grainnaissance confirmed that they don't ferment their rice, so I was determined to make my own mochi.

Right around when my second son was born, the Sierra Club magazine ran a recipe that sounded delicious: red lentils cooked with "fire-roasted" tomatoes, wild rice, a bunch of shittake mushrooms, and red wine, cooked until creamy and full of flavor: http://www.food.com/recipe/shiitake-lentil-pressure-cooker-soup-276160 .

The problems with the original recipe were small but numerous, including how it made way more than indicated, and overflowed my cooker!

In May/June 2014, Cooks Illustrated presented an in-depth article on "Gluten Free Pizza Worth Eating." I was very intrigued...but didn't want to use commercial baking yeast, and wanted to eliminate a couple of other questionable ingredients. Therefore, I created a prototype for a 24-hour-fermented, kefir-risen pizza crust. It was nearly unbelievable - you wouldn't even know it was gluten free unless someone told you, the texture was crispy-on-the-bottom and chewy, you could eat a slice with one hand (just like real pizza!) and I'm gonna keep experimenting...

These are interesting Sri Lankan/India crepes, inspired by Sandor Katz' description in "The Art of Fermentation." Ideally, the edges are thin and beautifully crispy, while the centers are chewy and moist. My recipe is still in process; I'll post updates when I improve things. For now, the most important thing I've learned is that you absolutely must not use sticky rice - starchy white basmati is the best I've tried.