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summary: recipe for gluten-free corn bread; wonders of chickpea flour; information about Π Day (click on image for larger view and more photos)
I know. It isn’t exactly a pie, is it? But it is in the shape of a circle!! And we might have used A=Πr² to calculate where to cut the “pie” to ensure that equal portions were served, yes? 
Pie or not, it was quite amazing to me that this recipe worked so well. There is zero wheat flour in it. And zero xanthan gum or arrowroot to make up for the missing glutens. The resulting texture isn’t at all dry and grainy in the way that so many gluten-free breads can be. (You know what I mean. You take a bite and think maybe someone might have snuck a bit of sand into the batter.)
The chickpea flour also adds a lovely nutty flavour to the bread.
My sister made this recipe (she made muffins) when we were visiting my parents – Dad cannot eat glutens. So when we returned home, we had to try it here at home too. We made the muffins into cornbread to serve with chili con carne. (continue reading…)
summary: Cafe Latte made in a Vesuviana Coffee Maker; favourite and least favourite spice choices to sprinkle over top; (click on image to see larger view and more photos)
I love the cafe latte (or cafe au lait, if you prefer) that we make in our Vesuviana electric coffee maker. That wonderful little machine really does make the best coffee!
I have been commuting every day this past week, leaving very early and arriving home quite late. I’ve been missing our coffee.
Really missing it. (continue reading…)
Today, we bicycled to 4 different supermarkets, in search of “fine” seasalt. Aurora is the brand we prefer and until now, we have never had a problem getting it.
Suddenly, it appears that the only seasalt available is “coarse”. There were boxes and boxes of coarse seasalt on various shelves!
Why is this? Is there something dangerous or wrong with “fine” seasalt? Or is it just our neighbourhood?
Perhaps somebody did a demographic study and decided that we don’t want fine seasalt.
Why oh why do they make these decisions for us?! 
- inspiration: Manaqish bil-Za'tar, p. 88
- Mediterranean Street Food
- Stories, Soups, Snacks, Sandwiches, Barbecues, Sweets
- By Anissa Helou
- (learn more by following this link)
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summary: recipe for za’tar; another brief review of “Mediterranean Street Food” by Anissa Helou; (click on images to see larger views and more photos)
We just finished reading Anissa Helou’s really wonderful book “Mediterranean Street Food”. We’ve tried a number of the recipes and still have so many recipes bookmarked!! One of the bookmarked recipes is Manaqish bil-Za’tar (Thyme Bread) on page 88.
We read about it on the night we were having fuhl, grilled eggplant, quasi-tabouleh (using left-over couscous instead of bulghur), beet salad and pita. Now, we COULD have rolled out two of the pitas to make Manaqish bil-Za’tar but we weren’t absolutely certain about the timing for the Manaquish. Everything else was ready; we were hungry! So instead, we just quickly whipped up the Za’tar part. And added a bit of olive oil to it to dip the pita into.
Oh my. Lovely. But then how could it not be? It has sumac in it. And thyme. And sesame seeds. (continue reading…)
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summary: recipe for Verdi’s spinach gnocchi, based on a recipe in the Fred Plotkin’s article “Bella Cucina! The Story of a Hungry Maestro” in SAVEUR magazine, issue #123; information about Presto Pasta Nights (PPN); (click on image to see larger views and more photos)
I’ve always loved gnocchi but assumed they were WAY too hard to make. So we were excited to see a recipe in a recent SAVEUR magazine and it was doubly thrilling for me to see that it was based on a recipe by one of my favourite opera composers (I do love SAVEUR magazine)!
I love that this dish of Verdi’s is basically green! How fitting! It’s also delicious! Its only small drawback is that as you’re eating it, you might get an audio virus of the Brindisi from “La Traviata”. (That Brindisi is brilliant in context but I suspect even Verdi would agree that its brilliance tarnishes after being repeated for hours, especially if it’s just a few phrases repeated over and over.) (continue reading…)
summary: information about world nutella day;
Apparently, today is “World Nutella Day”. And us with no nutella in the house!!! Oh the tragedy!! WHAT are we going to do?!!
Sara from “Ms. Adventures in Italy” and Michelle from “Bleeding Espresso” (and Shelley from “At Home in Rome”, in spirit) solemnly declare Friday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2010″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.
-How to participate in Nutella Day, Nutella Lovers Unite for One Day! 4th Annual World Nutella Day, February 5, 2010
What???! Fourth annual Nutella Day? Are they nuts?
I’m afraid I just don’t get it. I’ve tasted Nutella. And it’s just too sweet. Especially for breakfast.
However, these Chocolate and Chickpea Cupcakes with Nutella and Sour Cream Frosting (Gluten-Free) sound pretty darn good.
Hmmm. Maybe we’d better put Nutella on the grocery list….
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summary: recipe for chickpea soup with harissa; chickpeas are tender using soaking technique in “Mediterranean Street Food” by Anissa Helou; brief review of this wonderful book; information about My Legume Love Affair; submission for YeastSpotting (click on image to see larger views and more photos)
My Legume Love Affair #19: Vegetarian (no eggs)
Lablabla… lablablablabla… lablablablablabla!!
Nope. We just can’t stop. And once you’ve lablabbed, I bet you won’t either.
WHAT am I droning on about? I’ll tell you: lablabi. Or at least that’s the non-English label on the Chickpea Soup recipe in Anissa Helou’s really wonderful book “Mediterranean Street Food“. (She is the reason we remembered to have fuhl and will continue to remember to have fuhl…).
With Middle Eastern food on the mind, the other day, T made his best harissa yet. Really fabulous. Clearly we neeeeeeeded to try the lablabi (chickpea soup) on page 8. (continue reading…)
