Grandma Welling's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

My maternal grandmother's sour cream coffee cake is the standard dish my mother would bring to any breakfast or brunch gathering. My sister makes it frequently as well. I have made it several times with various gluten-free flour mixes, and it has always come out super tasty. This time I used a brown rice/potato starch/tapioca flour mix and added 3/4 tsp of xantham gum to the dry ingredients.

Since I'm loving my new muffin tin, I decided to make Grandma Welling's Sour Cream Coffee Cake in it instead of an eight-inch square pan (that I don't have anyway). Sour cream is a little hard to find here—if, however, you want double cream, triple cream or cream fraiche, you certainly will have many options to choose from—and lite or non-fat sour cream is unheard of. To cut down on the fat, I used half sour cream and half low fat, Greek style yogurt. The cake was as moist as I desired, but I could have cut down on the sugar a bit. It wasn't too sweet, but the sour cream taste was muted.
Muffins waiting to go in the oven. Although they look completely covered with topping, more should have been added.

I realized that I was a bit stingy with the topping; the muffin expands while baking so you need to saturate the top with the cinnamon, sugar and walnut mixture. Some of the topping actually trickled down the side of the muffin and end up at the bottom. This was a nice treat, spreading the cinnamon taste into more mouthfuls. Another plus about the muffins: they took half the time to cook.

The muffins which disappeared in our bellies within 24 hours.

Grandma Welling's Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(can be doubled and cooked in 13x9 pan)

Cream together (in large bowl): 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar

Add: 2 eggs (one at a time), 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup sour cream

Mix together: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Add: dry ingredients to butter mixture

Grease and flour: 8 inch square pan (or muffin tin—12 muffins)

Pour: batter into pan (spoon into muffin tin)

Sprinkle: topping (1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and chopped walnuts) on top of batter before baking

Bake: at 350° for 45 minutes (20-25 minutes for muffins)

Tom Kha Kai

Tom Khai Kai is one of my favorite Thai dishes. Since there are a number of Asian grocers in Cambridge, I decided to finally try my hand at making this coconut milk based soup. There are Tom Khai Kai pastes where one only needs to add water, meat and desired vegetables, but making the soup from scratch was my goal. I chose a recipe from ThaiCusine.com that was not complicated and included the ingredients that I expected to find.

I only had difficulty locating one ingredient: nam phrik pao (black chili paste). I asked for help locating the paste at the store, but I was only pointed to a shelf. There was a paste that I thought might be the correct one, but the name was only in Thai though the list of ingredients was in English. Since I wasn't aware of the other ingredients in nam phrik pao besides the black chilies, I opted to use a chili paste that we already had at home. I later learned that my hunch was correct, and I should have bought the paste which contained tamarind, shrimp paste, garlic and other items as well as the black chilies.

It was when I was putting the ingredients in the pot that I realized that there didn't appear to be as much liquid as I thought. I then remembered that I thought chicken broth could also be used in this soup. Since we didn't have any, I added some water and some vegetable stock powder to the dish. I think it helped, although it may have added to the overall saltiness of the soup. We liked the soup, but, since my husband is very sensitive to salt, I think that I'm going to explore a different recipe next time. I've already located a promising sounding one, which includes the straw mushrooms that I love and added to the recipe below, at RecipeGullet.com.


Tom Kha Kai (from ThaiCuisine.com)
1. 2 cups (16fl oz/500 ml) coconut milk
2. 6 thin slices young galangal (kha on)
3. 2 stalks lemon grass (ta-khrai), lower portion, cut into
4. 1-in (2.5-cm) lengths and crushed
5. 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-krut), torn in half
6. 8 oz (250g) boned chicken breast, sliced
7. 5 tablespoons fish sauce
8. 2 tablespoons sugar
9. 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) lime juice
10. 1teaspoon black chilli paste (nam phrik pao)
11. 1/4 cup cilanto / coriander
12. leaves (bai phak chi), torn
13. 5 green Thai chilli peppers (phrik khi nu), crushed


Method

Combine half the coconut milk with the galangal, lemon grass, and lime leaves in a large saucepan and heat to boiling. Add the chicken, fish sauce, and sugar. Simmer for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked, and then add the remaining coconut milk. Heat just to boiling. Place the lime juice and chilli paste in a serving bowl and pour the soup over them. Garnish with cilantro leaves and crushed chilli peppers.

Quinoa Cakes

We don't have an exact recipe for quinoa cakes: I start with the list of ingredients off of a Whole Foods' label for quinoa cakes bought at their prepared foods counter. What we actually put in them often depends what vegetables we have: beets, carrots, zucchini, parsnips, corn, spinach, kale, black beans.

Making them gluten-free requires substituting the pastry flour with a non-glutinous flour, and I've mostly used gram (chickpea) flour. I also use thick low-fat yogurt (Greek style) which gives them a slight richness and added umami. Although it did not say how to cook them on the label, I started out frying them. However this required my almost constant attention, and I was only able to cook four medium size cakes/ patties at a time. I've started baking them in the oven at about 375° for 30 minutes (flipping them halfway through). M* and I can't tell a difference in taste between the two cooking methods.

When I recently made them with tahini instead of yogurt, M* and I were disappointed—the cakes were really dry. The only way to make them reasonably palatable was to drown them in lemon juice or, my favorite, ketchup. If we use tahini again, we'll certainly use a thinner paste and still use yogurt.

Quinoa cakes/ patties ready to be baked.

Here is the list of ingredients from the Whole Foods's label:
quinoa (we use 1 cup pre-cooked)
(yogurt—our addition)
cumin
olive oil (we use 2-3 tblsps)
pastry flour (we use 1/2-3/4 cup of gram/ chickpea flour)
garlic
lemon juice (very important for flavor—1 lemon)
tamari
black beans
diced tomatoes
bell peppers
carrots
cilantro
corn
sea salt

Zucchini Bread

Modified a zucchini bread recipe I found online to make it gluten-free. I've done this before with a different mix of gluten-free flours and this time I used the Brown Rice Flour Mix from "Gluten-Fee Baking Classics"—both times the results were delicious. That being written, I think for the next batch I'll reduce the cinnamon by 1 tsp and the sugar by 1/3 cup. I know it's really closer to a cake than a bread, but, in my opinion, the sweetness and cinnamon overpowered the zucchini.

Zucchini Bread IV (from Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C).

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

Notes:
Replaced flour with equal amount of Brown Rice Flour Mix and add 1 1/2 tsps of xantham gum.

I didn't have the correct size loaf pans; I used three smaller ones instead. Not sure of their size as I forgot what the dimensions (in centimeters, of course) were on the label.

Batter distributed evenly between three small loaf pans.

Fresh from the oven and ready to be eaten.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

This is the first recipe from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" that did not turn out perfectly (or close to). Yes, the cake and muffins were yummy, delicious even, but the cake and especially the cupcakes fell in the center. My plan was to bring the cupcakes in honor of M*'s birthday to Judge Pub Night, but I'm too vain to have brought gravitationally-challenged cupcakes to a gathering where people do not know that I usually produce well-formed baked goods.

The problem may have been that I opened and closed the oven doors a few times during baking: I had the cake in the upper oven and the cupcakes in the lower. I actually accidentally slammed the bottom oven door once. Since the recipe calls for 2 tsps of baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda, I should have been more careful. Since the recipe was for two 9-inch round layers and I split the batter between cupcake and oval pans, I felt that I needed to check the progress of their baking throughout. Another reason they could have fallen is due to not being cooked enough, but M* and I liked how they tasted and did not think they were gooey.

I love this type of cake with my Grandma Welling's seven-minute white icing. M* found the icing too sweet—the sugar hurt his teeth. I told him that he is not allowed to say anything negative about Grandma Welling's recipes, but I did agree to attempt the recipe with less sugar in the future.

Chocolate Fudge Cake from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"
4 ozs unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 3/4 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps pure vanilla extract

Melt chocolate in small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir regularly. When done, remove from heat and cool until lukewarm.

Whisk ingredients 3-7 in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk canola oil and milk in liquid measuring cup until thoroughly combined. Discard two tbsps of liquid.

Beat sugar and eggs in large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add dry and wet ingredients in two additions at low speed, then at medium for 1 minute.

Cook in center of oven in two 9-inch round layer cake pans (lined with parchment or waxed paper and sprayed lightly with cooking spray) at 35o° for 30-35 minutes (35-40 minutes for 8-inch layers; 18-20 minutes for cupcakes).

Cool cake layers in pans on a rack for 5 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pans, invert layers onto a rack, peel off paper, and cool.

Notes:
I could not find unsweetened chocolate, so I used 80% dark chocolate and reduced the sugar by 1/4-1/3 cup.

I melted the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave at low heat, stopping the cooking to stir regularly. Worked fine and took less work.

I didn't line the cake layer; I forgot=(

Grandma Welling's Seven-Minute White Icing
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup or 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (I've always used the cream of tartar)
1/3 cups cold water
1/16 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients except vanilla in double boiler; mix thoroughly. Cook, beating steadily (I use a hand mixer) until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat; add vanilla extract and beat until think.

Cake cooling.

Fallen cupcakes.

Seven-minute white icing just after peaks formed. I had to improvise the double boiler.

Icing can hide a cake's imperfections. Drizzled dark chocolate is a nice finish on this cake.

Millet Flour

The gluten-free pizza crust recipe that I love suggests using 1 cup of millet flour along with the brown rice flour mix. This provides the nuttiness that is missing when you substitute out wheat flour. There was a shortage of millet flour at the local health food stores, and I was beginning to worry that my pizza's wouldn't taste as good without it. I was at Al Amin on Mill Road, which carries a great variety of Middle Eastern, African, Asian and Mediterranean ingredients, and I saw a large bag of bajri flour paranthetically labled millet flour. It looked a bit greener than the millet flour I had bought previously, but I decided to try it.

Above is a photo of the bajri flour (bottom) and the little bit of millet flour that remained from a previous purchase. The difference in color is obvious, and the bajri flour appeared to be milled to finer texture.
I am happy to report that there was no difference to the appearance or taste of the pizza. It's a plus that the bajri flour is cheaper than the millet flour purchased in health food stores.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

I made a large pot of spicy chili, and since I had corn meal and a gluten-free cornbread recipe I made cornbread as an accompaniment. I should have known by the sugar in the recipe that this was a sweet cornbread which I prefer with a cup of milk and a bit of butter and jam. M* and I certainly ate all of it within a few days, but we never ate it with the chili. The sweetness and cakey texture just didn't mesh with the mouth-burning, vegetable-laden tomato chili. Since I haven't had cornbread in many years due to gluten issues, I forgot about the differences between sweet and savory cornbread. One can find quite a bit online explaining the difference between or extolling the virtues of one of the two types. Here's the Wikipedia explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornbread#Regional_tastes.

Gluten-free sweet cornbread

I certainly would make this again if I want a sweet treat, but next time I want a savory version I'll modify it by lessening or removing the sugar, adding corn kernels and possibly adding some diced, mild chili peppers.

Gluten-free Cornbread from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics"

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup Brown Rice Flour Mix
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk minus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg, well beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Combine oil, milk, egg and vanilla in another small bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry and gently stir to combine, being careful not to over mix. Pour batter into muffin pan or 8-inch round cake pan that has been coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes for muffins or 25 for bread. Eat and enjoy.

Sushi!

Using the tips from our friend Tialda and the ingredients picked-up with the help of two others, Yuri and Wakako, I made sushi all by myself! It was much easier and faster than I expected. I also did not have the worry of getting ill from raw fish, as I used smoked salmon. I'm not sure where to get sushi grade fish in Cambridge.

Tialda had taught me how to make Korean sushi, which meant adding sesame oil to the rice and sesame oil and sesame seeds along with the other ingredients to be rolled. I picked up the sushi mats, seaweed, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sushi rice, pickled radish and rice vinegar at Seoul Plaza—a Chinese/Korean/Japanese grocer located on Mill Road. The salmon I picked up at Sainsbury's and the cucumber at the daily market on Market Hill Square.

Recipe (makes about nine rolls)
Seasoned Sushi Rice
sushi rice (2 cups before cooking)
rice vinegar, to taste (I'm guessing 1/4-1/2 cup)
salt, to taste
sugar, to taste (I'm guessing 2-3 tbsps)
sesame oil, to taste (I'm guessing 1/4-1/3 cup)

(You can buy seasoned rice vinegar, which already has the sugar and salt added, or powdered sushi rice seasoning instead of vinegar, sugar and salt.)

Procedure
Cut one cucumber lengthwise into 9 or 10 strips. Cut smoked salmon into 9 0r 10 equal size pieces roughly the same length as the width of the seaweed.

Lay seaweed on sushi mat. Spread a thin layer of seasoned sushi rice on little over 1/2 of seaweed. Drizzle sesame oil and sprinkle sesame seeds on rice. Place one pickled radish, one cucumber strip and one salmon strip in center of rice. Using the mat, begin to roll the sushi, rice end first. Once you've rolled the rice end under, pull the mat back to tighten the roll. Then use the mat to complete the roll; and you can again use the mat to tighten the roll. To help the rolls keep their shape, place them in a container or foil, and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then cut and eat. Since soy sauce contains wheat, we served this with tamari.

Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Tea Loaves

Another recipe from "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise Roberts. There is nothing bad in this book. I've made this recipe twice in the last week. The first time I made it, I gave one loaf to our landlord, and the remaining loaf disappeared in less than 24 hours.

This recipe is very easy. Grating the 2 tbsps of lemon rind is the only time consuming step, and that only takes about 10 minutes. I found that one and a half lemons renders the desired amount. All ingredients are standard in a kitchen, except maybe the lemon extract. I didn't have the four 5x3 loaf pans, so I used two larger ones (6 1/2 x 4 1/2 I think). Baking time was only three minutes longer.

My second batch, which I've just taken out of the oven, I modified slightly. Since the recipe calls for a lot of sugar, I reduced it to 3/4 cup. M* noticed the difference and like it; he said that it tasted less like candy. I also substituted two egg whites for one of the three eggs. I'm going to attempt to make this with egg replacer, to keep the cholesterol down for M*.

Recipe
2 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp xantham gum
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup poppy seeds
2 packed tbsps grated lemon rind
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp lemon extract
3/4 cup milk
granulated sugar to sprinkle on top of loaves

Mix the first six ingredients—set aside. Combine and beat the next four ingredients with mixer at medium-high speed for one minute. Add milk, flour mixture and mix until just blended. Fill loaf pans (lightly coated with cooking spray) with batter and cook in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool loaves for 10 minutes in pans before removing them to cool completely.

Pretty Pakora

The pakora keeps getting better each time I make it. It's a bit scary to heat up oil to 375 degrees, but the high temperature ensures the batter stays on the vegetable and not the bottom of the pan. This time I doubled the recipe, so we'd have leftovers, and added turmeric and ajwain seeds and increased the amount of cumin. Our new favorite vegetable to pakora-ize is kale. It arrived in our weekly vegetable delivery, so we thought we try it. Sooo good—it holds less batter when dipped than the other veggies so the taste of the kale is prominent. The flavor of the other vegetables tends to take a backseat to the batter.

Oh, I also parboiled the vegetables first. Since the batter dipped vegetables don't have to stay in the oil very long, the partial cooking accomplished during parboiling makes the veggies, especially the denser cauliflower, easier to eat. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet or not, but we always eat this with ketchup. It's just easier to prepare (open the bottle) than chutney.

Gluten-Free Raspberry Lemon Cornmeal Scones

Another recipe from Gluten-Free Baking Classics. Ingredients: Gluten-free flour mix (milk, raisins, brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour) cornmeal, sugar, xantham gum, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon peel.

This is an easy recipe, although it requires a few more bowls (= more cleanup) than I'd like. Not being a raisin fan, but feeling that I should replace an ingredient instead of just deleting it, I used frozen raspberries (all I had). Since frozen raspberries do not hold their form once defrosted, they ended up almost completely blending into the mix and gave the scones a pinkish tint and a general raspberry flavor that complemented the strong lemon taste. I didn't have lemon extract, so I used lemon juice and a bit more peel. Maybe it was the addition of the raspberries or just the strength of the lemon, but the impact on the taste buds of the cornmeal was minimal.

It wasn't until I had cut out six circles from the dough that I realized they were suppose to be one inch thick—I was going more for thick cookie dough depth (about half an inch). Regardless, they are yummy, and, really, a small scone is better for the waistline.

New Vegetable Pakora Recipe

I found a simple recipe for vegetable pakora on whats4eats.com. The batter calls for chick pea flour, water, oil, cumin, salt and hot chilis. Made it with zucchini and spinach--so yummy and so much better than the other pakora recipe (although I like the idea of having yogurt in it for added protein). The only other thing that I wished we had was a pot with a non-stick surface to prevent the batter from sticking to the bottom during deep frying. For lack of ingredients, we didn't make the recommended chutneys, but we are going to make them both tomorrow to serve with quinoa cakes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Heaven

Thanks to my sister, who sent a 24 oz bag of chocolate chips, I've made two batches of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies since Christmas. Matt and I (ok, mostly I) finished the first batch in about four days, so we're (ok, I am) showing restraint with the second batch: it's lasted about a week. The ability to show restraint with sweets is not a trait exhibited in either branch of my family tree. At least I haven't made any late-night trips to the fridge for a chocolatey snack—maybe that's because we haven't been going to bed until late-night.

Pizza Pizza!

Delicious gluten-free pizza that is. And I'm not just writing that because I've forgotten what pizza made with wheat flour tastes like: I tried some of Matt's pizza in Rome, and I like mine better. Yeah!! I use the brown rice/potato starch/tapioca flour mix and then add some millet flour for nuttiness/grain-goodness, xantham gum, yeast, salt sugar, oil, flax seed (my touch) and warm water. After a quick break to let it rise, the crust is ready to be baked and topped. I've made it twice since Christmas, and well be making it weekly. The crust is so good that one can top it with olive oil and herbs to get yummy GF focaccia.

13 Dec-Day of Cooking

*Cod baked then broiled with mango (green that was never going to be ripe but wanted to use), coriander (since no fresh cilantro), jalapeno, pepper and bit of Spanish paprika. Tasty, but wow was the cod stinky. Every time we leave and return home, it still smells like cod.
*Steamed brown rice.
*Lamb loin chops rubbed with the Cool Chile Co's Achiote paste, browned on stove and then baked at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Soooo good.
*Red wine risotto with mushrooms, onion, garlic, balsamic vinegar and homemade chicken broth. Parmesan added at end.
*Brussel sprouts cooked in same pan that I'd used to brown the lamp. I didn't even wipe the pan down, using the same oil and Achiote seasonings that remained on bottom of pan.
*Pan fried quinoa cakes-quinoa, yogurt, grated beets, grated parsnips, grated carrots, jalapeno, gram flour, sauteed onion and chili powder. Aren't they a pretty red color?

Had risotto, lamb and brussel sprouts withe Dourthe Saint-Emilion 2004. Marked as good with lamb, but certainly a bit too oaky for us. Of course, we still had two glasses a piece.

Gluten Free Goodness

I would not be happy if I could not have pancakes, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Since I'm suppose to avoid gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kalmut), I have to bake these items myself. Luckily I like to bake, and, since my mom rarely bought mixes of any kind when we were kids, I've always understood that if you want sweet treats, it's going to take a bit of work and preparation.

The UK is definitely gluten free friendly, and I've located all the necessary ingredients: brown rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, gram (chick pea) flour, almond meal, gluten free baking powder and xantham gum. My pancake recipe is just a modified version of a Betty Crocker one where I substitute a mix of brown rice flour, gram flour and almond meal for one cup wheat flour. I also add 3/4 tsp xantham gum which helps bind the pancakes (this is what gluten does and xantham gum mimics this behavior). Now, I'm an approximator (I fill up the one cup measuring cup with the flour mixture-I don't measure each ingredient separately), so the pancakes may turn out differently each time. Today I made them with a little more gram flour (about 1/3 cup), and we think it made them lighter.

The brownie recipe is also a modification of a recipe-Epicurious' Best Cocoa Brownies. The recipe is easy to modify without too much of a change in flavor because it only calls for 1/2 cup flour to begin with. Once again the mixture I use changes each time, but I mostly use brown rice flour and a bit of almond meal. I sometimes use gram flour. I'll also add about 1/2 tsp xantham gum to the dry ingredients. I've also made them cholesterol free (for M*) with egg whites and vegetable based shortening. Thanks to the use of high quality cocoa and sugar, these are still moist and chocolaty enough to serve to friends.

Once I find a bag of chocolate chips that contains more than 12 pieces, I'll be making chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is from a fabulous gluten free cookbook-"Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts. Her recipes first appeared in Gourmet magazine in November 2005. The big plus about her book is that you don't have to create a gazillion different gluten free flour mixes to make the recipes in her book. There's one basic one using finely milled brown rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch. Then there are a few modifications if you want to make breads and certain cookies.

Oven Fries

CI had a recipe in 2004 for oven fries that were suppose to taste as good as if they'd been deep fried. CI did all the research, including determining the best type of potato to use; russet was the winner. My sister made these with great results, and now I've made them twice. M* and I have scarfed down the fruits of my labors, but thrift has kept us from buying russets since we have unknown varieties of organic potatoes delivered weekly that need to be used. Can't wait to make these with the correct potato and in a pan that does not dip on the sides (the fries that are in the dip tend to cook quicker). One of the CI tricks is to soak the peeled potato wedges in cold water for 10 minutes and then to cook them covered for 5 minutes before removing the cover for the remaining 30 minutes or so. I do recommend making a lot of these because it's so sad to have ketchup left on your plate with nothing to dip in it.

Love the Stockpot

Finally bought a stockpot. With our old 3 1/2 quart pot, making soups resulted in much liquid spilling over the sides and onto the hob (as a range/stove top is called in the UK) and required adding the required water or broth in stages, once some liquid had evaporated. Our new 7 1/2 quart pot is just perfect. Made chicken soup last night. Correction-made a lot of chicken soup last night.

Saturday Night Cooking

Gluten-free apple cinnamon cake, corn chowder soup and roast chicken with rosemary, thyme, onion and garlic. M* and I didn't set out to spend a few hours in the kitchen, but after a trip to the Whole Foods-like Waitrose, we felt inspired with our bags of high quality groceries.

First, the GF apple cinnamon cake. This recipe was actually for muffins, but we don't have muffin tins here and couldn't bring myself to spend $38 on a 12 count muffin tin. The recipe was from the cookbook "Gluten-Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts. Gourmet magazine published a few of her recipes and her brown rice flour mix in November 2005. Thanks to her, I made irresistible chocolate chip cookies that people didn't realize were not made with wheat flour and thin-crust pizza that a friend said was the best pizza she had tasted in Los Angeles-she moved to LA from NY about 18 years ago. So how was the apple cinnamon cake? I'll let the photos tell the story.

(Sat night left, Sun night right)

With M* no longer in classes (he's still finishing a few projects), he took a break and made his yummy corn and bacon chowder. The recipe calls for two cans of cream corn, but no one at Waitrose had heard of it before. They do sell it in the UK, but maybe Waitrose is too upscale. M* just pureed some corn in the blender instead. Other ingredients include potatoes, bay leaves, celery and celery leaves, vegetable broth, chili pepper, milk frozen corn, onion. Simple recipe with pleasing results.

Roasting chicken in the oven is pretty basic, and I have taken the CI recommendation to rotate the chicken from one wing side up to the other wing side up and finally to the breast up. Having a v-rack is recommended to keep the chicken off the bottom of the pan, but I've just been approximating this effect by making an aluminum foil grid on the bottom of the pan. I didn't have time to brine the chicken, so I just created a rosemary, thyme and garlic paste and rubbed into under the skin. I also put a bit of onion and rosemary inside the chicken. Chicken was really yummy, and it made great chicken broth when we cooked it down the next day.

I still have to master using the thermometer. After the chicken had been in the recommended time, I tested the temperature, and it was certainly above the suggested level. However, I thought the chicken could have really used another 10-15 minutes. I hate cutting into a dish, only to have to have to put it back in the over. I'm still not sure if it was my temperature-taking technique or the super-cheap Tesco thermometer that was the problem.

Lebanese Taverna's Lentil Soup

My sister took a cooking class at Lebanese Taverna in the DC area a few years back, and she served us the lentil soup that she learned to make. I am only slowly becoming a fan of the taste of lentils, however even I was a fan of this hearty, filling soup. M* copied down the recipe that night, but we had yet to make it. I had already made a satisfactory recipe with green lentils since arriving in Cambridge, but once I realized that we had this recipe with us, that one was soon forgotten.

I'm happy to report that our efforts were as successful as my sister's, and this recipe will be a staple in our cadre of winter meals. The only real prep is to remember to soak the lentils for about 12 hours. Besides the sumac, spinach and lemon, we had all of the ingredients: cilantro, garlic, potatoes, cinnamon, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper. I certainly would not make it without the sumac, as it certainly lends a distinct, strong, slightly sour flavor. Like most soups, it tastes just as yummy one, three or five days later.