Rabi's Birthday (and Easter)

Well, this year Easter fell on Rabi's birthday. What better time than to have a full-blown potluck? I invited folks over to my new house for a potluck brunch, which resulted in lots of good food (biscuits, muffins, scones, coffee cake, fruit salad, bacon, carrots, lentils, potatoes, eggs with dairy-free hollandaise sauce, etc.) and good drinks (bloody marys and mimosas). And of course there was cake (gluten-free, dairy-free coconut cake with coconut frosting). I don't have the recipe with me, but the cake was kind of dry, however, it was saved by the frosting.
We missed those of you who are dining in diaspora!
Here are some photos:

Ketchup with Quinoa and Potatoes

Sarah loves it when I take her picture.

Okay. So, this meal was not our best one. It just goes to show that not all of our creations are as delicious as the ever so tasty peppermint patties. This one was a two pronged effort, with Sarah making her gratin potatoes with kale, turmeric (yuck), way too many onions and vanilla almond milk.  

In the meantime, I constructed a quinoa with roasted Brussels sprouts dish from glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com. I used Sarah's leeks that were frozen, and boy was that a mistake. It was great until this onion variety was added, which turned out to have a nasty flavor and a very chewy texture. Not sure what was wrong with them (or my usage of them), as leeks can be tasty additions to some dishes.

Needless to say, when it was all over. We turned to Heinz for support.

*Please note my attempt to garnish with parsley.

An Oreo Ball Competitor?

Here's to you, Gabe! Rabi and I made our own peppermint patties yesterday, and we think they rival the Oreo Balls (although, I have to say, the Oreo Balls still take the cake). This recipe is super easy, and they turn out really well!








Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. light corn syrup, honey, or agave (your choice. We used honey.)
1 1/2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cream cheese (for the vegan option, just omit the cream cheese. We did, and it was fine.)
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp. shortening
2 c. semisweet morsels (or darker than semisweet)
2 Tbsp. butter (or shortening, if you want to go vegan, which we did)

Take out your bowl and dump in the powdered sugar, liquid sweetener of choice, water, shortening, cream cheese, peppermint and vanilla. Blend with and electric mixer until well blended (mixture will be crumbly.) Stir with a spoon to help it all cohere, using a bit of hand-power if necessary. Next, scoop the smooth white ball of dough onto your work surface that has been lightly dusted in powdered sugar (I used my trusty silpat.) Roll out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Using your cookie cutter (or shot glass) punch circles into the dough, and put back into the freezer for another 10 minutes. While they are in the freezer, you'll start to melt the chocolate. If you are using a double boiler, set it up and put the chocolate chips and shortening into the top and begin melting. If you are using a microwave, put your ingredients into a heat proof bowl and commence melting, heating at 30 second intervals on high and stirring in between until smooth and without lumps. When the chocolate is all melted and the patties are chilled, you're ready to dip! Take the patties out of the freezer and let them sit for a minute to avoid breakage when transferring to dip. Get out a cookie sheet and line with wax or parchment paper. Peel off the circles and one by one drop them into the chocolate and smooth the tops, coating each thoroughly. Place them on the cookie sheet and keep going until they are all sufficiently swathed in chocolate. Put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

For the 'Junior Mints' variation, simply gather up the odd shaped pieces and strips of dough leftover from the circle cutting process and roll them into small balls, flattening slightly on two sides to form the traditional junior mint shape. Pop them in the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm, and then dip them in the same manner as the circular mints. Chill until set. Be sure to keep them in the fridge to keep them from getting melty.

We used the leftover chocolate on apple slices and put those in the freezer too.

Just a note: this recipe came from the Instructables website. Here's the link: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5Dp8ao/www.instructables.com/id/Copycat-Candy-Recipes/

Enjoy!
ps. Kelsey- there a still cherries frozen in the fridge that need to be turned into a pie...perhaps this is the next video blog adventure :)

Toby's Challah

Having no wireless internet at the house, I am at the Williston Community Library printing resumes for today's interview and I thought I would post my challah recipe as well (if I had more time and wasn't readying for an interview, I would look more into Kelsey's challah story before posting!). My oldest friend's mom, Toby, has always made wonderful, wonderful Challah bread and so before I left Sitka, I asked her to teach me. The recipe she uses is called Racheli's Deluxe Challah and it was discovered by her sister Leah in 1991. Last night I made Challah to go with our dinner of perch (caught by Marcus) and asparagus. You will need: 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water 1 package (2 tsp) active dry yeast 1/2 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 tablespoon salt 1/4 cup oil (plus a little extra to oil the bowl, dough, and baking sheet) 8 to 9 cups flour (you can use up to 3 cups whole wheat flour) Optional: 1 cup packed raisins and poppy and/or sesame seeds to sprinkle on top 1. Place the water in a very large bowl. (Make sure the water is no warmer than wrist temperature - I just learned this. Test the temperature of the water with your wrist and it should be warm, but not warm enough that it feels hot.) Sprinkle in the yeast, and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. 2. Add the sugar, 2 of the eggs, oil, and optional raisins, and beat with a wire whisk for several minutes. 3. Begin adding the flour 1 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon after each addition. When you reach abou tthe seventh cup of flour, start slowing the additons, adding 1/4 cup at a time, mixing and kneading in the flouor with your hand. Stop adding flour when the dough is quite firm and no longer feels sitcky. (After adding about 4 cups of flour, you should also add the 1 Tbs of salt - you must "protect" the yeast from the salt, so make sure you add enough flour before adding the salt.) 4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead vigorously--as though you eman it-- for 5 to 10 minutes, or until you've had enough. (The more kneading the better, but on the other hand, bread dough is very adaptable and will accomodate you.) 5. Oil the bowl and the top surface of the dough, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel, and place in a draft-free place to rise until doubled in buldk (1 1/2 to 2 hours).

6. Punch down the dough, return to the floured surface, and divide in half. Knead each half for at least 5 minutes, then divide each into thirds. Roll each third into a long rope about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and form 2 braided loaves (3 strands per braid).

7. Oil a baking sheet, and place the braids on the sheet at least 4 inches apart. Cover with the towl, return to the draft-free spot, and let rise again, this time for only about 45 minutes. (alternatively, you can let the braids rise in the refrigerator for up to three days before baking. Be sure they are sealed airtight in a large, loose-fitting plastic bag. You can put them directly from the refrigerator into a preheated oven). Instead of letting rise for the 2nd time, you can also put the loaves in a cold over, preheat it, and add about 10 minutes to the baking time.

8. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Beat the remaining egg and brush it onto the loaves. Sprinkle generously with poppy and/or sesame seeds. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the breads give off a hollow sound when thumped resolutely on the bottom. Remove from the sheet immediately and cool on a rack.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the bread came out, although I did discover that I need a bigger sheet to cook them on! I opened up the white peach jam Sarah made and we spread some on the bread and even though I didn't take any pictures of the perch, it was delicious as well!