Gluten Free Blueberry Pound Cake
I present to you a Gluten Free Blueberry Pound Cake. It is indeed a very good one. I find myself using the equal part blend of oat and almond flours for my every day sweet bakes from cakes to shortbreads to tarts. With additions of starch, egg and psyllium, I have found this blend to be sufficiently versatile and incredibly tasty. Since, I repurpose the pulp from the almond milk I make, I also find this a rather cost-efficient one.
Eat as you will, but a dollop of plain vanilla is an elegant partner for this moist and light cake.
Savory Waffles with Red Millet and Einkorn Flours
Savory waffles are a delight!
I didn't know how many people stood with me on that until I saw how popular this post from my last weekend was on my Instagram! Thank you for telling me what you love and that it something I made. It is always such a joy when something hits the mark, especially so with food. Having a hugely liked post on Instagram, where I post my every day eats, is like you came to dinner and said "I would really like to take the leftovers home and can you pack in the recipe as well please!"
I feel all glowy inside and to think that you and I share this common opinion of a dish that I am particularly partial to makes it so much more special! Ok, I'll stop gushing and give you the recipe already.
A Chicken Story and A Summer Salad
It is natural that as the Summer haze sets in, there is less and less inclination to spend in the kitchen. Yet, the desire for tasting the splendor of the season does not abate. So, we all find ways to get around it - from barbeques to salads, outdoor fun and rooftop joys to easy dinners, cooking big and making the most of leftovers. Summer offers the best chance for making magic with mere leftovers.
Recently, I have taken a partiality to whole roast chicken.
The chicken giveth in spades and every bit of edible or can be made into something edible. A farm, pasture raised chicken typically weighs about 3.5 lbs and you can get a fair bit of meat from it, even though not as much as its larger industrial cousins. What I like is that the leg and thigh is about the same size as the breast and I have always the darker and juicier meat from here! The first meal from the roast is always the thigh with a side of vegetables.
Then, I peel every bit of the meat off the carcass and use it over a week in several dishes, from salads to tarts to sandwiches to curries to rice toss, oh, endless...! The carcass itself becomes ideal for stock with a bunch of vegetable scraps. The jus, becomes gravy or vinaigrette based on what I am making. All savored, nothing lost.
Cherry Marzipan Tart With Cognac Cream
Cherry tart is but a simple one yet an elegant one filled with the nuttiness of both the oat and almond crust as well as the marzipan creamed for the frangipane filling. To top it with fresh cream whipped with a pour of cognac was rather natural. Cherries and cognac have a relationship not exactly incestuous but yet very wicked and very very alluring. Then, I must needs macerate the fruit in cognac, after all. That was the final layer and it was decadent!
I don't think I need to elaborate how amazing this tart was. Light, fruity and indulgent all in a bite. It does happen to be gluten free, but I must insist that as incidental as it is, it is also essential; The crust made with simple ground oats and almonds enhances the flavor. It may not be quite as good if you replaced it with a rice and bean based gluten free blend as it would have no added flavor. You can certainly use a regular wheat crust if you are able to and it will be good. This crust, however, is perfect for this tart...
Cocktail: Naughty Royaltea with DIY Earl Grey Gin
Recently, when I was pondering about this topic of making time, it struck me that alcohol has been a time tested resource for unwinding and collaboration offering that un-prejudiced social lubricant. Looking back, I realised that tea for the privileged, whether be it the czars of Russia, Lords of Britain or the billionaires of UES, seems to have been less about the leaf tea and more (always) about spirits, from champagne to vodka to everything in between.
It seemed rather a no-brainer that my next tea concept had to have alcohol. But, I didn't want it to be just another cocktail hour. I had to have a connection with the tea itself. When a friend suggested tea flavored gin, the concept stuck with force!