hummus, tabbouleah and cauliflower

lebanese night continues... i made tabbouleh with wheat and with no wheat (not pictured), hummus and sauteed cauliflower (which is officially the best veg ever). the hummus is served with paprika and olive oil. matt had pita bread with his and i, i was sad that i didn't get any wheaty breadness. BUT the cauliflower, which matt's not a huge fan of, made up for the lack of pita.

dolmas with lamb and rice (and grape leaves!)

we had a lebanese night because we got our new lebanese cookbook. i love dolmas. these are the lamb and rice dolmas and they were delish. the coolest part, i think, is that you don't have to cook the rice beforehand.

i did a pound of lamb for these and cooked them in our biggest saute pan. line the pan with extra/broken/bullet riddled grape leaves and place a couple plates on top of everything to keep the packages tight and to hold in the steam. i also put some aluminum foil on top because this pan doesn't have a top.

recipe from lebanese cuisine by madelain farab

fish tacos (part deux)

matt loves fish tacos and we've been trying to get the right for some time. this time i looked up a recipe from rubio's in cali. i used palauch fish and a "fish fry" batter instead of the beer batter. the yogurt sauce made the whole thing i think. plus green cabbage and salsa. they were delicious! and here is a shark's jaw bone piece of cabbage. watch out!

happy ♥day!

luuuurve to ehrvraone!

chowdah

veggie chowdah, folks, is a hearty ice week meal. hearty. i love soup. so i simmered chicken broth with potatoes, two different kinds of mushrooms and onions (i stick blendered (i love stick blenders) the onions and mushrooms somewhat after sauteing them). where was i? oh yes, simmer stuff together. then in the other pan (there's another pan) make a roux with your choice of flour. i used somesort of gluten-free flour and butter and/or olive oil. cook the paste until cooked. add your choice of dairy product (halfandhalf, milk, cream, whatevs) to the roux, you want about half as much creamyness as brothyness. once smooth, no "flour" lumps, add some sharp cheddar cheese. when that melts put the broth mix and the cream mix together. add fresh (or canned) corn. enter into sublime soupness.

lebanese meat pies

i love making dough and little pockets of stuff. so... meat pies are awesome.

i used ground lamb, pinoli nuts, onions and lots of spices all sauteed up.

and here are the cute triangle meat packages.

gluten has bested me once again

ok, so as many of you already know (ha!) i have recently come to the conclusion that i am at the very least gluten intolerant. ug.

i am going to be trying to figure this all out when it comes to eating and cooking. i will probably still make gluten-y stuff for my family and possibly matt (every night) so don't be dismayed. i'll be dismayed for you. and in the same vein... if you stumble across this blog in your gluten-free adventures please be aware that i still like to cook for other people. not everything will be kosher or whatever equivalent gluten-free word.

i'm totally bummed but it's really great to finally know what has been causing all the trouble. i now know the enemy and it's name is stupid wheat.

i am also going to try to post cool g-f stuff i find because i think that will be helpful to me. like this pizza! feel free to buy me one next time you're out. i've been looking for possible restaurants in our vicinity as well. so far jinbeh was very helpful in revising their menu to fit my sad needs. crapdonald's is stupid and i hate them even more (surprise, late at night coming home from the hospital, not a good time to have fries... i don't even go there. ever! turns out minimum wage employees don't care that french fries might contain wheat). i will carry on. (don't go there! they are mean!)

apple strudel-y something

i use pears or apples (i don't remove the apple skins!) you can add whole cranberries as well. the fruit gets tossed with some lemon or lime and a bit of honey or maple syrup. the topping consists of oats, a little bit of flour, brown sugar and butter chunks sprinkled all over and sort of packed in around the fruit. when you check on it while it's cooking, if you see any dry oats, just poke them down into the bubbling juice or add another little chunk of butter to that spot. it's done when the top is bubbly and delightfully browned. i usually serve with cream or yogurt because i find the ice cream is too sweet. it's very good warm.

huuuuge shrimp

picture this: i was at sam's, browsing the seafood section, and i saw two packages of shrimp. they were huge. i glanced around me, surprisingly, there were no crowds of adoring shrimp fans pressed around me... i snatched a package up and into my cart feeling lucky to have gotten away unscathed. then i got home and fired up the grill. i meant to eat all six shrimp before matt got home, him none the wiser... but i was quickly foiled, the shrimp were too big and too good. i had to save some. when he walked in the door, i said, "look what i made for your after work snack!"

roasted acorn squash (with honey)