Gluten-free Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

As promised since my last post (a mere 10 minutes ago) here is a recipe I’m working on. Your (honest) feedback would be appreciated!

Pumpkins are in season right now so I encourage you to roast your own instead of the canned stuff. Your local farmer will thank you.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

*makes two dozen brownies

1/3 cup cocoa powder + 1/2 cup water, stirred together in a small pot
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups oat flour or Gluten Free Rolled Oats, pulsed into flour in a food processor
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup ground flaxseed + 3/4 cup warm water, stirred together and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken
2/3 cup maple syrup/agave
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin
~1/3 cup added water (less/more depending on dryness)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 cup maple syrup/agave
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil and 8×8 inch pan.

2. Add the oil to the cocoa/water mixture and heat on a stove top, stirring occasionally, until the oil is melted.

3. In a large bowl whisk together oat flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together flax/water mixture, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add these wet ingredients to the oat flour mixture.

4. Divide the dough equally into two separate bowls. Stir the chocolate mixture into one of the bowls of dough. Fold in the optional chocolate chips.

5. In a food processor, mix the roasted pumpkin, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup, making a purée. Add this to the other half of the dough and stir it well. Now, you should have a bowl of brownie batter and a bowl of pumpkin batter.

6. Scoop half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out as evenly as possible using a rubber spatula. Add half of the pumpkin batter on top of the first layer of brownie batter and smooth it out evenly being careful not to mix it up into the brownie batter. Add another layer of brownie batter and finish the layering with the rest of the pumpkin batter. After smoothing out the top, run a butter knife through the batters to create a swirly, marbled pattern. Be sure to not miss the edges.

7. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Allow to cool in the pan, cut into squares and enjoy! (The original recipe called to bake for about 1 hour, but I thought that was too long. Try it for longer and let me know what happened.)

NOTE: To make bite size brownies, add a dollop of chocolate batter to the bottom of muffin cups and then mix the resto of the two batters together in a bowl (enough to create a swirl pattern) and then portion out the remaining batter into muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes.

Stay tuned for a peanut butter version….

I’ve been busy…

Once again, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything on here. For those of you who have come looking for new material and have clicked on, disappointed, I sincerely apologize. However I think being a delinquent blogger comes with the territory of trying to live a healthy balanced life. Believe it or not, we bloggers exist outside of the internet too! Although I have to admit I wonder how those ‘daily blogger’ types manage to come up for air long enough to garner new material in the real world.

Ironically, in my absence, I have actually been spending a lot more time cooking. You’d think all foodies do is cook. But that is a myth. In reality, all foodies just think about food. How we interact with the stuff is entirely another issue.

I’m going to try and post more “food” recipes as opposed to desserts. The problem with desserts is that I eat them. It’s terrible, I know. I try to pawn off my baking experiments onto friends and coworkers…who all seem more than willing to oblige in taste-testing. Yet I have to say it’s hard to get an honest piece of feedback when giving away baked goods…no matter how bad they are.

Stay tuned for a brownie recipe I’m working on…if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get some honest feedback from you!

 

Food as a gift of the universe

One of the reasons I am so passionate about food is that it’s a subject with a seemingly infinite number of angles to observe it from. What is food? Sustenance, obviously. But more personally, it’s taste, emotion, history, culture, community, communication, and health (or disease). It’s political. It’s ethical. It’s economic. It’s globalization and it’s anti-globalization. It’s a means to an end, and it’s an end in itself.

Both the vast complexity of food and its inherent simplicity become apparent to me whenever I take a moment to just be present with it. This evening we had a potluck dinner and before we ate, someone recited a quote that for me, set the tone for the meal.

This food is the gift of the whole universe – the earth, the sky, and much hard work. May we live in a way that is worthy of this food. May we transform our unskillful states of mind, especially that of greed. May we eat only foods that nourish us and prevent illness. May we accept this food for the realization of the way of understanding and love.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

I’ve written before about presence with food, but I felt that this quote really encapsulates how a big issue like food manifests in the present moment – the moment at which we eat. Sitting around a candlelit table, amongst friends and an abundance of lovingly prepared dishes, I enjoyed the opportunity to take pause and give thanks for all that I have.

What insights does your dinner table bring?

Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes

Going for long periods without food is always a recipe for disaster. Last night I got home late without having had a proper dinner and then this morning I went for a run first thing. Although it’s not good to eat before exercise, all I could think about was breakfast – and more particularly – pancakes! I’m pleased to report, however, that unlike my “Un-Enlightenment Pancakes” (i.e. the last time I had an intense craving to make pancakes), this time, I actually felt great afterward. Likely thanks to the fact that I didn’t eat the entire batch in one go and try and meditate after.

These pancakes are a perfect fall breakfast…they’re even kind of orange like the leaves…

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes

(sorry for the random measurements…it’s a bit of a recipe mash up)

1/4 cup + 1Tbsp buckwheat flour
2 Tbsp + 1tsp Quinoa flour
2 Tbsp + 1tsp corn flour
1 Tbsp arrowroot flour (cornstarch/tapioca/potato starch would work too)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 cup mashed cooked pumpkin/pumpkin purée
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp blackstrap molasses (I used apple cider molasses but it’s hard to come by)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup “milk” (I used almond) …plus up to 1/4 cup extra
Oil for greasing pan

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir to combine. Add any extra “milk” at the end until it reaches the desired consistency. (I added a bit extra – it’s okay if the batter is a bit runny)

To cook, lightly grease a cast iron skillet and heat on medium. Once hot, pour in about 2-3 tablespoons of batter. Cover with a lid until quite a few bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. Use a lightly greased spatula to flip the pancakes. (Work slowly first around all of the edges and then loosen the middle of the pancake. Finally, when it slides easily, flip the pancake and allow to cook until other side is lightly browned.)

To serve, lightly drizzle the sweetener of your choice and sprinkle with toasted nuts/seeds, and garnish with dried/fresh fruit.

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Spice Gingerbread

I try to mix up my posts between reflections on food issues and recipes. But recipes are so much easier! I made this gingerbread loaf yesterday for a potluck, and didn’t have a chance to take a pic before, but you can imagine it looked something like this:

It’s vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free But don’t let the absence of all those seemingly integral things scare you from trying it!

Preheat oven @ 325F. Lightly grease 7 x 4 x 3” loaf pan w/ oil.

1c sorghum flour
1/2c buckwheat flour
1/2c potato starch & arrowroot flour mix (may also be able to use tapioca instead)
2tsp baking powder
2tsp baking soda
1tsp xanthan gum
1tsp salt
1tsp ground cinnamon
2tbsp ground ginger
1/4tsp ground nutmeg

1/2c coconut oil plus more for pan
2/3c maple syrup
1/4c molasses (brown rice syrup may also work)
2/3c unsweetened almond/rice milk
1Tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 c mashed roasted pumpkin (I used a pie pumpkin and it was semi-dry when roasted. You could also use canned pumpkin puree)
1/4c hot water

In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients. Add oil, maple, molasses, milk, and vanilla to dry ingredients and stir until thick batter is smooth. (I actually used an electric beater and mixed for 1minute…it gets quite thick this way). Gently fold in pumpkin puree and hot water until the batter is smooth.

Pour into greased pan. Bake gingerbread on centre rack for 40 min, rotating pan 180 after 20. The finished gingerbread will bounce back slightly when pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the centre will come out clean. Note: it may actually take longer to bake than I say here. Just keep checking the centre for done-ness. I suggest lowering your oven temp by 25F after the 40min mark until its done, as to not burn the edges.

Hoes and Hoedowns…just a subway ride away

Friday night I did something I never though I would do: I put on my dancing shoes, hopped on the subway, and went to a farm.
A momentous occasion on any day, but today was the official launch of FoodCycles, Toronto’s first urban farm – and it’s 14km from my house!

Here’s how they describe themselves on their website:

FoodCycles is a city farm not for profit based in the Greater Toronto Area that raises worms, produces nutritious, vibrant soil compost and grows food. Our vision is to create a just and ecological urban food system that encourages all people to come together to grow, learn about, and celebrate food in Toronto.

Now a farm in Toronto may not have been such a big deal, say, 100 years ago…but today, ironically, it represents the way of the future. Aside from growing a market garden, FoodCycles produces more than food: today it’s also a mid-scale composting site that strives to become a worm-bank for fellow urban composters, and plans are in place to incorporate aquaculture (i.e. Growing fish that are fed with the farm’s plants and then using their waste as a source of fertilizer for the land)…Talk about a cycle! And aside from growing high quality soil in an ever-eroding landscape, FoodCycles also grows community – an apt metaphor given the ever-eroding social landscape particularly marked in cities.

I arrived at Friday’s event in the pouring rain, and having had to wander about in the labyrinth that is Downsview Park for a little bit, I was a wee wet when I showed up. I appreciated the dry sanctuary offered by the greenhouse, as I entered into the space that was already hopping with funk tunes and cheerful conversation. I peeled off my jacket, pondering putting it on top of one of the compost piles, thinking that if it was doing its job, it would heat my coat up in no time. But it also might eat my coat up in no time so I thought better of it.

It was apparent immediately that the community I just mentioned was in full swing. I knew probably about half the people through either work or the myriad food projects people had dug into.  Food of course, was in no short supply. The FoodCycles team and laboured the day before preparing a local snack feast, from food grown not 10 metres away! Le menu included kale chips, vegan pesto, kale salad, and coleslaw served on cabbage leaves!

Soon, the lights dimmed, and my friend Ian, a founding member of FoodCycles, and his band The Group of Seven, played a fantastic set that had almost everyone dancing together under the pitter patter far forgotten.  Wait a minute…people dancing at a concert? Is this really Toronto?

At the end of the night everyone pitched in to clean up. I did my part by carting off a massive bag of leftover pesto that will now allow me to indulge freely in the stuff for a good year. (Thanks guys!) Good times and generosity will undoubtedly have me coming back, likely in the form a costumer in Toronto’s first TTC-accessible CSA next spring! And next time they decide to hold a party in the middle of an industrial park on a rainy Friday night? I’ll be there. With my dancing shoes on.

Bubby’s Apple Cake

Last weekend was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Normally, I head to Montreal to celebrate with my mom’s side of the family. This year, however, I wasn’t able to go.

Jewish holidays are always a bit hard for me diet-wise, since so much of Jewish cooking involves eggs and sugar. My grandmother (Bubby) used to make this fluffy, golden apple cake every year. Of course, the main ingredients were flour, eggs and sugar.

Although I’m sure you’ve had apple cake before, there are two reasons that make this particular to Jewish holidays.

The first is that it’s dairy free: Jews don’t mix milk and meat at the same meal and since this cake is always a post-meat meal dessert, it uses oil instead of butter. (Eggs are neutral. I’ve never understood why…)

The second reason apple cake is unique to this particular holiday in that apples symbolize the Jewish new year, always in September. Apples and honey are paired for a “sweet new year”. Thus, this cake is a perfect hello to fall.

So get this: Instead of longingly staring at the decidedly Emily-unfriendly cake at my aunt’s house, I decided to make up for it and make an Emily-friendly version…for 200 people!

I volunteered myself at The Hot Yam!, a vegan cooking collective that runs a weekly $4 vegan, mostly local and organic lunch on campus for students hungry for some real food for a change. Here’s the recipe, scaled back to normal for your kitchen convenience.

Bubby’s Apple Cake – Veganized etc.

1 2/3 cups (400ml) spelt flour
2 tsp. (10ml) baking powder
1 tsp. (5ml) cinnamon
1/2 tsp. (2.5ml) nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. (2.5ml) sea salt
3/4 cup (180ml) unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup (120ml) maple syrup (but I would like to try it with honey soon)
1/4 cup (60ml) unsweetened non-dairy milk
1/4 cup oil (60ml) oil (non-hydrogenated coconut oil / organic canola oil / a light-tasting olive oil preferred
2 medium apples (appro 2 cups) peeled and chopped into chunks

**Excellent varieties for baking: Cameo, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, Rome
Good varieties for baking: Braeburn, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Ginger Gold, HoneyCrisp, Newton Pippin, Pink Lady.

Preheat oven to 375oF. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.

Add the applesauce, syrup, milk, oil, and stir just until all of the flour is absorbed.

Stir in the apple chunks.

Add to greased baking pan (8″x8″ or a loaf pan), spreading it around evenly. Bake for about 35 minutes (maybe 5min longer in a loaf pan). It’s done when a toothpick comes out cleanly. FYI it’s probably going to be quite moist at first so to prevent apple crumble, let it cool a while before removing from the pan.

My roommate, Lukas, making his internet debut

Lukas's patience in his first photoshoot wanes.

Pirates on Wheels

September 19th was International Talk Like A Pirate Day. For those of you who were unaware of this fact, you clearly live in a vacuum.

It also just so happens that last weekend my father and I went on a wee road trip to Prince Edward County, about 2hrs east of Toronto.

Given my father’s affinity for pirate-talk, stories about “Jean laFoot“, and corny jokes, I thought our road trip would be a great opportunity to immerse ourselves in the serious history of these raucous seamen. Armed with the Piratology book I picked up for nine bucks, 2 bandanas, and a list of suggested pirate pick-up lines courtesy of the ITLAP Day website, we boarded our vessel and put our sails to the wind.

We had a grand ole time, melding our interests in history (him) and food (guess who) throughout the course of the weekend. We stopped at every historical plaque we saw, talked rural real estate, and got impromptu tours of an old courthouse and a winery. Using my map-yielding power, I guided us past every farmers’ market and roadside stand I could find whilst tried to engage him in conversation about the fields upon fields of GMO corn and soy we passed through. Good food was in no short supply though, being the peak of harvest season in what is being touted as the “new Niagara.” Between farmers’ markets, roadside produce stands, and our tour of Fifthtown Artisan Cheese Company, we were well fed. But I have to say, nothing says PIRATE like pillaging windfall apples at roadside orchards. Yeah, we like to live on the edge.

GMO corn...it all looks the same after a while. Oh wait, it IS the same.

Visiting a roadside veggie stand

My best pirate face. I think I'm pretty convincing.

Not as intimidating as I would have expected from someone who scared all the boys I brought home...

Gluten-free Ginger-Peach Corn Muffins

I don’t know about you, but I love the fall. Sure it’s kind of sad that summer has ended, but to be honest, I don’t really like summer. It’s generally way too hot and humid here in Toronto. This year, summer had an identity crisis and couldn’t decide between spring and fall for 2 months straight, which frankly worked just fine for me.

Aside from colourful leaves, earthy smells, and the urge to cozy up with cups of tea again, it will come as no surprise that one of my favourite parts of fall is the abundance of local food. The time between September 1st and Canadian Thanksgiving (mid-Oct) is a foodie frenzy around here with a different harvest-related event every week. Unfortunately, most foodie events don’t cater to Emily-friendly foods. Why use imported olive oil when you could use local organic butter? Sigh. Welcome to the “local food vs. vegan diet” story of my life…or more accurately, the last four years.

My solution? Show the divas of decadence up with some gluten-free sugar-free vegan kitchen magic. The BabyCakesNYC Cookbook is a trusty go-to resource these days and it offers me the perfect recipe: Ginger-Peach Corn Muffins, gluten-free and agave-sweetened. They’ll go picture perfectly with a warm sweater and that cup of tea.

Now tell you what. This recipe is awfully long to post here. (Gluten-free ain’t a piece of cake you know) (no pun intended). So if you really want to make these delicious muffins just drop me an email and I’ll send it your way!

As a hint, here are the main ingredients: Peaches, agave, ‘milk’, Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose G-F flour, cornmeal, coconut oil, applesauce, and the magic binder, xanthan gum.

Tasting Heaven in a Tomato.

If you’ve found your way to my blog, chances are you have some kind of love affair with food. This time of year especially, when locally grown food is abundant, and every morsel is just bursting with flavour.

Or is it?

If you’re anything like me, you probably have a busy life.  And since time is precious, eating often occurs while doing something else. You eat having dinner with friends, you snack as you talk on the phone, you eat your breakfast while reading the morning paper, and you might even munch on the move. But where are our minds when we do all that? Are they savouring the delicate balance of spices in that Thai curry? Are they observing the various textures found in fruit? Are they basking in the warmth that a cup of tea and a bowl of oatmeal bring to our bodies? Or are they just registering the sweetness and quick kick we get while downing that granola bar on our way to catch the bus?

I definitely fall victim to all of these things. I am realizing, however, how important the simple act of being present with my food is. It’s better for my digestion (digestion starts in the mouth and you’d be surprised how little we usually chew our food); it’s better for my waistline (I am more aware of how much I am consuming and will only eat as much as I need to physically satisfy); it is more emotionally gratifying (so many people are emotional eaters but aren’t registering their food as they eat it so they just keep eating); and I am simply more appreciative of the journey my food made to get to me (you have more time to ponder these things with all the extra chewing).

I highly recommend it. Start small, maybe with a bite of fruit. Engage all your senses: touch, texture, smell, taste, and the effect it has on our bodies and emotions.

Presence with my food has been something that has been milling about in my mind for a while. It reemerged, however, as I savoured a tomato from my balcony garden today. Sweet, juicy and bright red with orange stripes. Eating food you grew yourself almost demands acute attention, given that you poured your heart and sweat into it. Maybe that’s why it was the best tomato I’d ever tasted. Or then again, maybe not. There’s only one way to find out.