This is adapted from Shannon Haye's exceptional recipe for meaty deliciousness! I post it here so that I can reference the ingredients even when I'm away from her awesome cookbook.
4# potatoes
4-8oz Parmesan, shredded
4-8 T. butter
1/2 cup yogurt
~2 tsp. salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
pepper
Growing up vegetarian, we often ate "lentil loaf" for dinner; it had a good flavor, as lentil loaves go, but a crumbly texture. When I started eating meat six years ago, I wondered about meatloaf - but my attempts up until now yielded dense, greasy loaves, swimming in their own juices. I recently adapted a recipe from "Cook's Country" magazine, and turned out this amazingly delicious, perfect-textured loaf, with a lovely deep brown Crust, no greasiness to speak of, and fantastic flavor. Plus, the pan drippings turn into a delicious mushroom gravy!
This recipe is by Elena (creator of the beautiful blog http://elanaspantry.com/ ), written down by me so that Ben could attempt to make it by himself.
Squash Pie
Ingredients
2 medium butternut squash, cut in half [ask Mama or Papa to help with this!], seeds removed
3 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
Instructions:
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 recently discovered Otto's Naturals Cassava Flour http://www.ottosnaturals.com/ , a dangerous addition to a reformed special-diet baker's pantry... :)
When I saw Cooks Illustrated's latest issue, with a description of the Best Crispy Roasted Potatoes Ever...I was intrigued. And after we polished off the whole batch, I knew I'd have to scale up my recipe and technique to meet the demand. :) These are amazing! I discovered that the salt and baking soda does not need to be doubled, even with more than twice as many potatoes as the original recipe. This makes enough for our family, with some left over. And don't be tempted to substitute for the animal fat - I think it really makes them super good.
Maya gave me her recipe for "tree cake 2.0", which involved two unusual ingredients: chestnut flour, and acorn flour, and was a big hit. :) I decided I liked it even better with more fat, and I experimented with using dates to sweeten it, and I discovered that a banana version is quite delightful. Great flavor, with none of the Strange Gluten-Free Taste that sometimes haunts GF baked goods...
Many thanks to Sue for both a delicious dinner after Ivy was born, and this recipe, which is infinitely variable and a great way to make ground meat taste really special. Lamb or goat would be awesome, but ground beef is good, too. It's delicious served with basmati rice, peas, and raita (yogurt with grated cucumber, dill, coriender, and salt).
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.
My mom found this simple recipe, and it is really, really delicious. The sauce uses wine, tomatoes, and mushrooms - need I say more?
Makes enough for about 7 people, if served over rice or similar starch.
I was surprisingly unsatisfied with the latke recipes I turned up by google-searching this year...so I adapted this one from the Food Network. They turned out deliciously, tiny and lacy and crisp and just-right salted. Perfect with apple sauce...
This makes a large number of latkes, almost enough for two hungry adults and three hungry children.
(2016 Latke Party Notes: 21 lbs. of potatoes (7x recipe) generously fed 17 eaters; we also ate a 2/3 full 8-quart pot of applesauce (about 7 jars worth), and had a pot of chicken soup on the side.)
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!
These are really delicious, and are good left over, too. The sauce becomes a thick, sweet-sour glaze as it cools, so I like to toss the fully-cooked chicken around a bit once it comes out of the oven. This way, the glaze attaches to the meat instead of the pan.
15 drumsticks
Loose cup of fresh herbs - a mixture of thyme, sage, oregano, and savory is nice
Salt and pepper to taste (1-1.5 tsp. salt)
3/4 c. cider vinegar (balsamic is awesome, too)
Cooks Illustrated has more and more recipes that can be adapted to fit "special diets." This one, for simplified Massaman Curry, was absolutely superb. The curry paste was a huge pain in the rear, but I made 4x the recipe and froze leftovers for later. That turned subsequent dinners into (nearly) Fast Food.
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...
I can't decide what I think about chia. On the one hand: seems pretty indigestible. On the other hand: is a traditional food. On the other hand: did people just eat it as is?? Did they grind it, or ferment it?? I don't know. But this tastes pretty delicious. :)
3.5 c. coconut milk
2 T. vanilla
1 vanilla bean's insides, scraped
1.5 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. honey
pinch salt
1/2 c. chia seeds
I love love love saag paneer. And when our friend brought over two pounds of fresh paneer, I just had to find a good recipe. Here it is:
2 T. butter or ghee
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 T. minced fresh garlic
3 small dried chiles
2 T. curry powder
Salt, to taste
1.5 lbs. spinach, washed well, cut into 1-inch pieces, water still clinging to the leaves
3/4 lb. fresh paneer cheese cubes
1/2 c. yogurt
1.5 c. light or heavy cream, preferably cultured (yogurt cream)
squeeze of lemon
There are a ton of similar recipes that proliferate around the Internet. This one is a pretty tasty one - heavy on the Sweet, but hey - decadence every so often is supposed to be a good thing, right?
2 c. raw walnuts (soaked and dehydrated)
2.5 c. medjool dates, pitted
1 c. cocoa powder (raw doesn't taste as good as Regular)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. raw almonds (soaked and dehydrated), chopped coarsely
Process walnuts till finely ground. Add the dates one at a time, and process until fine cake-like crumbs emerge, that can hold together when pressed.
I love what cauliflower does to a soup - it's much more than you might think, if you imagine cauliflower as a Limp Steamed Vegetable! And turmeric supposedly does all sorts of good things for conditions like Dementia, etc...except I can't remember what it does, exactly...
At least this is delicious. :)
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.
I have been trying to add nutritious and delicious sources of high-quality starch to our diet. Dosas fit the bill, and they are also fermented. Plus, they are really delicious, especially when fried in lots of ghee!
3 c. white rice
1 c. red lentils
1/4 c. fenugreek seeds
Soak this overnight in water to cover; drain and rinse, and add just enough water to be able to blend till smooth (immersion blender works fine).
Okay, so Maya and Kristen got me to try eating liver. Again. And finally, I can honestly say: I Like Liver. I LOVE liver! At least when it's prepared like this (based on [this recipe](http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2012/02/chopped-liver-pate/)).
Makes about 32 cookies.
I really really think that it's important not to justify eating frequent desserts just because they're "gluten free" or "allowed on GAPS." And yet sometimes, I let myself have fun thinking about, making, and eating dessert.
For my son's sixth birthday, he had lots of requirements for a cake. I did a google search for "peach blueberry cake" (plus additional search terms "GAPS sugar-free grain-free easy"), adapted two recipes, and discovered clafouti: a delicious cross between a custard and a cake, sweetened with fruit, and best enjoyed cold. SO buttery and good! It's really a lot better served cold, preferably chilled overnight.
Makes one 9x13" pan
8 medium peaches, or 16 small ones, pits removed
1 cup blueberries (or blackberries)
Duck is so fantastic, especially when the fat renders, and the skin is crackly and incredible, and the meat is moist and super delicious. This technique tends to make that happen...
1 duck (2-5 pounds or so), and salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450f.
Sprinkle the duck with salt and pepper, and place breast-side up in a Dutch Oven; cover tightly.