3 Days Later

Zucchini-Broccoli Pizza

I'm sorry I haven't posted for 3 days. This is my final week of school, and then I will have my Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts. Everyone keeps asking what I'll do once I am done, but I don't know. There aren't many Bachelor's Degree offerings that appeal to me at the college here. Many people have told me to go to the college's culinary school. It is something I have considered. I've even spoken with the counselor for the program. However, I need to make some money and pay back the money I used for my A.A.. I also wonder how I would work going to culinary school with my issue with gluten. I certainly couldn't taste anything containing gluten, and I worry about being around too much flour floating around in the air. I don't have any skin issues with gluten, and I don't believe I have trouble with breathing it in, but it seems like I shouldn't chance it. I'd hate to spend the money to go to school, only to be made sick by it. I believe I've discussed this in a prior post.

It came to my mind this morning because of this being my last week of school, and because of a dream I had. If you can't eat certain foods you have probably had a dream in which all of the food available is food you can't eat. That was my dream last night.

In my dream I was in an airport with my mom, and we stopped to get some food at the food court. She quickly grabbed something to eat, and I told her that I'd go see if there appeared to be anything I could eat. Well, I wasn't having much luck until I spotted a sign at an Italian place. It looked like the sign said they offered brown rice pasta, but the letters were so small I couldn't tell. I actually climbed up onto the counter to read the words, and found disappointment. The letters spelled out something different entirely. So, I went and sat back down with my mom. I watched everyone around me eating. I was so hungry, but because of an awful idea that people thneed gluten on everything to be made happy, I was made angry and depressed.

Dining out is so difficult for people with food allergies, intolerances, and Celiac Disease(which is not an allergy, it is an autoimmune disorder). I can't even call up the pizza place and order a couple of pizzas. I have to make them myself. Which isn't all that bad you know. Homemade pizza has all of the things I like on it, it's delicious, and still hot. It doesn't take long if the sauce is pre-made, or if you have a quick sauce recipe. This was our dinner last night. We ate the pizza and watched Dune.

Now, I know I promised a post on eggs, but I swear that will be here soon enough. I just felt that I had to post this particular entry this morning. All in due time my dear readers.

Unbaked Pizza

Zucchini-Broccoli Pizza

• 1 small gluten-free pizza crust [from scratch and pre-baked(recipe follows), or frozen]
• 1/4 cup pre-made pizza sauce
• 1 cup Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar, shredded*
• 1/2 a large onion, julienned**
• 2 medium zucchini, yellow and green***, sliced into rounds
• 1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Using a medium sized spoon, smooth out the sauce over the crust.

Top the sauced crust with the zucchini, starting on the outside, forming a ring, and working in. It's like laying pepperoni.

Place the broccoli as evenly as possible over the pizza.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the veggies.

Bake in the preheated oven, on a baking sheet or pizza pan, until the cheese has melted and the onions are browning on the ends.

Serve with the crushed red pepper for a little spiciness.

*Note: I think goat cheese would taste delicious on this pizza.

**Note: Use less onion if you're not a big onion fan.

***Note: Feel free to use one large green zucchini. You're going to have more than enough for the pizza. Leftover zucchini is great in other dishes as well.

For the pizza I used the recipe for gluten-free pizza crust in The Gluten-Free Vegan, as well as the sauce recipe. I made up the sauce a few months ago and froze half of it.

I'm still trying to understand the copyright laws for posting recipes. I've posted a few without any problems, and I contacted the author of The Gluten-Free Vegan but received no response. Since many of you are probably looking for a good gluten-free pizza crust recipe I'll go ahead and post it in my own words, since it seems that the directions are the most protected part, and if I get a take down notice I'll remove the recipe.

Pizza Crust

adapted from The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien

• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
• 1/4 cup potato flour*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• Egg replace for 1 egg**
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1/2 cup milk replacer (soy works well, but so would hemp or perhaps another)
• 1/8 cup grapeseed oil or canola oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Grease a pizza pan or baking sheet with a little vegetable oil.

Combine the dry ingredients, but not the egg replacer or the ingredients listed below. Whisk it together.

Mix the egg replacer together, and add to it the agave, the milk, and the oil. Whisk this well.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir it together with a rice paddle, a flat wood spatula, or a spoon.

Form into a ball. It may look crumbly, but once it is brought into a ball form it will hold. If not, add a little more milk or oil.

Set the dough ball onto the baking sheet and flatten it down by hand.

Place a piece of wax paper, or parchment, or saran wrap over the dough. Roll the dough into the desired shape(circle or rectangle). Remove the paper/parchment/wrap.

Using your fingers, push down at the edges and push against the side of the dough and form a raised crust.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the crust.

Top with your favorite toppings!

Note: The author tops the pizza crust with the toppings before baking it, but I've never found the inside of the dough to be completely cooked when I follow her directions as was the case last night. I've made the recipe in 2 ovens, and haven't had success in getting the dough to be fully baked through. That is why I suggest pre-baking the crust. If you worry about the edges getting too brown, treat it like a pie and cover the edges with aluminum foil.

*If you don't have potato flour, buy some instant mashed potatoes and processes 1/3 cup of them in a blender or food processor until they reach a more flour like consistency. This is my own suggestion, not the suggestion of Susan O'Brien.

**O'Brien uses Ener-G, but I use 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal mixed 3 tablespoons of warm water.

Oh, and we used our zucchini leftovers for breakfast. Pan roasted and topped with poached eggs. Fresh made orange juice too!

Gluten-Free Lahaina

3 Penne Pastas at Penne Pasta Cafe

Last night I had an event to attend in Lahaina with some friends, so the Nerd, his sister, and I had dinner there on the west side of the island. I had been wanting to try the pasta at a restaurant I read about. Penne Pasta Cafe offers gluten-free brown rice pasta, penne shape only, for $2 extra. They also have dairy-free mozzarella cheese available for another $2 extra.

We all decided to get the brown rice pasta, but the Nerd was confused as to what chicken parmesan actually was (he was thinking chicken primavera). I asked him to ask the cashier if there was any breading on the chicken, but he got distracted and forgot. So, of course he ended up getting the brown rice pasta, but he also had breaded chicken sitting on top of it. That was a bummer, especially since he paid the extra for the brown rice pasta. He had no complaints about the food, and dug in happily. The Nerd said that everything was cooked very well, and that it was definitely worth the $11 (including pasta substitution cost). He wouldn't pay $20 for it, but he was pleased with his meal. Oh, and he said that if he hadn't known it was brown rice pasta, he would have thought the penne was high quality "regular" pasta.

He did find it funny too that they'd sell him brown rice pasta and not mention the breading on the chicken, but perhaps they thought he knew what he was doing. To avoid this, I think they should provide descriptions of their various entrees. A trip back to the restaurant is in order the next time we're over in the area, according to the Nerd.

Chicken Parmesan

(not gluten-free)

His sister ordered baby calamari in pomodoro (tomato and basil) sauce over brown rice penne. She too was happy with her meal, though she said she could have eaten a lot more. We both agreed we could have split another plate of pasta, but we're both rather gluttonous right now.

I was able to taste her dish, and the calamari wasn't tough and it had a nice smokey flavor to it. I do think it was a little too salty, but the flavors all worked well enough together. They also could have gone a little heavier on the calamari as I am a huge fan of little squid rings. The price of this dish was $12 with the substitution of the pasta.

Baby Calamari in Pomodoro Sauce

I chose to go with clams in the pomodoro sauce over brown rice pasta. The sauce was a little thinner than I would have liked it to be. The sauce on the calamari pasta seemed slightly thicker somehow. I was quite happy with the amount of chopped up clams in my sauce, but I could most certainly tell they weren't fresh. They were clumped together in places as though they were scraped out of a can (think canned tuna). I only had a tiny bit of grit from the clams, and my pasta was not over cooked or undercooked. My pasta was also $12 with the substitution.

Clams in Pomodoro Sauce

We drank water, although they do have soda, iced tea, Republic of Tea drinks, wine, beer, and some other spirits for sale.

We didn't have dessert, but they were offering bananas foster with vanilla ice cream as the special dessert while we were there.

Place Your Order Here

On one wall was a large flat panel TV showing TV Land (classic television channel). The space wasn't brightly lit, however I didn't find it uncomfortably dark either. I think the owner has the lighting just about right. My personal opinion is that some music would be better than the television.

The Dining Area

I can't speak about what they do to prevent cross contamination as I didn't get to speak to the owner, but I am feeling perfectly fine and I'm still wanting more pasta. The owner also owns Maui Tacos.

I believe the brand of pasta they're using is Tinkyada. It reminded me a lot of the penne Tinkyada pasta I make at home, but not overcooked and not wet(I need to drain my pasta better).

If you're on Maui and want gluten-free pasta you should definitely go to Penne Pasta Cafe. I think it was so worth the drive to get to dine on Italian style food at a restaurant again. I'm salivating just thinking about getting some more soon.

Penne Pasta Cafe

180 Dickenson St.

Lahaina, HI 96761

808-661-6633

GF Pastry to be Sold at Starbucks

This is exciting news. Here in Hawaii the major coffee store chain is highly addictive to much of the population, as I am sure it is to those elsewhere in the country. I don't usually go there on my own, but if a friend wants something and I go with them I will get a tea latte or something along those lines. I do drink coffee sometimes, but I have to be sure my stomach is up for drinking it. If my stomach is feeling too sensitive the coffee can make me have some serious digestive problems.

Anyway, on to the good part!

For those who do like to go to Starbucks, or for those who are drug along like me, we will soon have a treat available to nosh on. A gluten-free cake is going to become available to us gluten-free folks soon. It will be an orange cake and will be individually wrapped and sold for $2.25 (I don't know if that price applies everywhere).

As soon as I spot the snack cake at a Starbucks here in Hawaii I will let you all know so that we can head out and grab one of these. Here's hoping they don't taste like crap or have the texture and weight of rocks.

More information can be found at Forbes.com

Did I mention that their stock price rose after the announcement?

Saturday Info and Contest Info

Saturday I spent the whole day out, and that meant eating every meal but breakfast out. For breakfast we had strawberry buckwheat pancakes with strawberry guava syrup made here in Hawaii. I used the recipe for blueberry buckwheat pancakes from The Gluten-Free Vegan and instead of adding blueberries, I added fresh strawberry pieces. I cut the strawberries up pretty small so they would be distributed nicely throughout the pancakes.

On top of my pancakes I also added some tsubushian(sweet red bean paste) that I had leftover from the ichigo daifuku I made on Thursday night. Oh, I didn't post about those because they were a disaster in their appearance. They tasted quite nice, but the mochi became too cold by the time I could get the strawberries semi-coated in in the tsubushian and into the mochi to be wrapped. However, everyone ate their treats happily. Thank goodness a guest brought some more strawberries and some whipped cream for dessert.

Today I am posting about a contest that is being held over at $5 dinners. You could win a fifty dollar gift card to use at Home Depot. They are promoting the spring planting season, and are giving this away for people to start their own home gardens. I wish you all, and myself, luck in winning!

I'm Back

I'm back for your reading pleasure. I actually had a dream last night that one of my posts had over 300 responses, and that this blog suddenly did extremely well in the couple of days I was away. A girl can dream can't she?

I was away because I had a house guest visiting for a few days. The first meal the Nerd and I shared with her was the gluten-free matzoh ball soup(aka gluten-free kneidlach). This was a simple, yet very delicious meal. I am thinking that I'll follow the recipe for the kneidlach again for making gluten-free chicken and dumplings. That's something I've had difficulty in faking since going gluten-free. I grew up with them being made from bisquick pancake mix, and it might be possible to use a gluten-free pancake mix as a substitute, but this recipe may be a tasty and cheap alternative. It's cheap because potatoes are cheap, and so is potato starch. They're tasty because they're not as hard as rocks and they have a neutral flavor which could be jazzed up anyway I like. Our guest brought me a piece of gluten-free vegan pumpkin bread from Mana Foods. I'm glad they are baking up gluten-free goodies now, but I have yet to find out wether or not they are baking them in a gluten-free kitchen or not. So, if you're on the island and are super sensitive, I'd stay away from them unless you find out how they're made and find out they're safe for you.

The second day she and I went grocery shopping. Our first stop was at the adorable farm stand in Kula. They have the best fresh produce, and the stock rotates so I get a variety of produce based on what is in season and available. I picked up three medium sized romaine lettuce heads for 75 cents a piece. I also bought two bags of beans (green and yellow) for a dollar a piece. I picked up a cherimoya as well. If you've never had a cherimoya, please treat yourself to one the next time you see them at a grocery store or produce stand. I was hoping the cherimoya would be ripe before our guest left, but it wasn't. I was bummed. The stand also didn't have the beautiful carrots I had seen the week before, but I was able to pick up a bag of carrots for 69 cents at the superette. The carrots at the farm stand would have been $2.00, but I was willing to pay that considering their level of freshness and the fact that they still had the carrot tops (they are the best way to determine how fresh the carrots actually are: do they stand up well, are they bright green, or do they look wilted and sad?).

Thursday evening, after all of the shopping, she and I cooked up a gigantic pot of my Vegan Indian Curry. I use Patak's mild curry paste, coconut milk, canned diced tomatoes, a wide array of vegetables, and some apple juice (the secret ingredient, and I always use the organic juice that is still cloudy from the pulp). I can't give away all of the secrets to it here because it's so good. Yes, I'll be self-centered and think someone might steal the recipe and sell it and leave me in the dust. It is that good.

I will say that the vegetable that makes it the most beautiful is the Okinawan Sweet Potato. They're so beautiful and purple. They secrete a milky white substance when they are cut, and they do oxidize, so I place them in a bowl of ice cold water to help them retain that purple color until they're cooked. You've never seen beautiful mashed potatoes until you've seen these mashed (unless you have made mashed potatoes from the other varieties of blue or purple potatoes).

Last night we shared some crockpot goodness. In the morning I threw all of the ingredients into the pot so that we'd have a delicious dinner waiting for us after our day out. I made up the Honey Lentil Stew from Crockpot365. I served it over brown rice, with a salad from some leftover romaine lettuce from the week before, cherry tomatoes in red and yellow from the farm stand, carrots grated on my new box grater, and raw yellow beans. I topped it with the basic vinaigrette from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. So simple, and so delicious. For dessert we shared some fresh Kula strawberries, and I had a little bit of gluten-free, dairy-free mint chocolate by Sunspire from their line called Tropical Source. We munched on these delicious treats while we watched Kinsey.

For our picnic lunch yesterday we stopped by Down to Earth, a health food store in Kahului. While they do have an impressive hot bar, I was a little nervous to eat from it. The ingredients are listed on a name tag above the item, but cross contamination can be worrisome. However, I decided to give it a try and I had some mock chicken tofu, classic mustard potato salad, and a green salad with a multitude of toppings. I forgot to get some salad dressing, so I had to use one of the sample packets of Braggs I had in my purse. I was slightly bummed that I could no longer order any sandwiches or wraps from their deli counter, but I did eat well and I didn't get sick. I noticed that Down to Earth is now using wheat-free soy sauce in their prepared foods now, instead of sticking with the regular shoyu (soy-sauce). That pleased me, but I was still nervous. It had been a while since I'd tried to eat there. Down to Earth is an okay source of buying gluten-free products, but they shelve gluten containing products right next to the gluten-free products which irks me at all health food stores, especially in the bulk bin sections.

Here's something hilarious I discovered in the world of food and gluten-free yesterday. Our guest was drinking a probiotic beverage called Good Belly. It's supposed to be very good for the digestive system and it is dairy, soy, and wheat free. However, it is not gluten-free. It contains barley malt at the end of the list of ingredients. They seem to be forgetting a whole lot of people when they add that particular ingredient. It's made from many juices and has added probiotics, but the barley malt is a silly add-in. Their yogurt cups contain oat flour. Our guest offered me a taste, but I declined. I am glad I read ingredient lists like a fanatic these days. I wasn't so good about it when I first started.

I'm not sure what dinner will be tonight, but I'll do my best to get a photograph.