happy find

this page has a photo of mine on it. linking back to its flickr origins. this made me happy. :)

fish n chips

i'm starting to appreciate fish. my sis fried some last week and it didn't smell too 'fishy' or taste 'fishy.' and i understand, that, yes, fish is supposed to smell like fish, but not the rotting, i-want-to-puke kind of fish smell. but i digress.

i attempted to do the fish thing. i bought some cod from a local store that sells seafood and free-range meat. i dipped it in an egg/lemon whisked liquid and then into a mixture of flour with rosemary-lemon-pepper-salt. then fried in olive oil at a mid-to-high temperature. apparently fish is done when it flakes and when the inside is no longer translucent. which means that in my eagerness to not undercook the fish, i ended up with punctured, flaky fillets that teetered on the edge of being overcooked. and definitely weren't presentable for their glamor shots. but i brightened up the plate with beans & a lemony tahini sauce, and homemade potato & yam chips. which weren't really a success. but good enough. i was inspired (as always) by alicia from bread-and-honey, when she made these chips. i think my oven is hotter than most, cuz the chips either burned or were soggy. i will conquer the homemade potato chip someday...

yummy wheat-free vegan choc chip walnut cookies

as of the beginning of this week i have gone wheat-free for a while, for various health & personal reasons. i've experimented quite a bit over the last year with wheat-free baking, since my sister doesn't eat it, so at least i'm not starting off completely new to it. but now i have to plan my meals better, make or buy wheat-free bread, and stare at delicious baked wheat products all day in longing.

i'm not a huge cookie person, but i like to eat them once in a while, and it struck me that if i ever have a chocolate chip cookie craving, i can't just buy one at a cafe when the craving hits. so i decided to bake some yesterday. and they are delicious. it was a pretty small batch, so i will have to bake some more soon. that way i can freeze a whole bunch to satisfy my 'occasional' chocolate chip cookie craving.

i found this fantastic recipe and pretty much followed it somewhat closely, until i realised the next day that i accidentally ommited the sugar, and just put in the brown sugar. they tasted perfectly sweet to me, so i will leave the sugar part optional.

note: found out that you can make your own 'oat flour' by grinding oats in a blender or food processor.


ingredients:

• 1 & 3/4 cups flour (i used 1 cup oat flour, 3/4 cup brown rice flour. if you want it completely gluten-free, try substituting all rice flour or quinoa flour)
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup sugar (optional!)
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (not optional)
  
• 1/3 cup oil (olive or canola)
• 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseeds
  
• 1/4 cup soy milk (or rice milk or regular milk)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts)
  
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Add the vinegar to the soymilk, and set aside. (I think the vinegar is supposed to help the cookies puff up a bit)

If you haven't yet, grind the flax seeds and chop the walnuts ahead of time.

Sift/whisk the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, salt)

In a separate bowl, whisk the ground flax with the soymilk. Then, add the oil, sugar, vanilla, and mix well.

Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff and stir until combined. Add the chocolate and walnuts last.

Drop onto cookie sheet by the teaspoon or tablespoon, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe makes about 18-20 small cookies. They don't last long, so it might be good to double the recipe.