American style cheddar "biscuits", yum

I like to take my time over breakfast and savour the smell of brewing coffee, luxuriating over the coffee itself rather than pining for the caffeine... Real breakfast is the preserve of the time-rich. Setting the table, putting my almond milk into the machine that turns it into foam (unsuccessfully, but I don't complain), beckoning bacon in the oven, eggs on the stove. And of course, the smell of Ina's cheddar buttermilk biscuits, either freshly baked or defrosted, is a warm comforting hug. 

And I can't even eat it. Not yet, anyway. One day, one day I'll eat you, cheddar biscuits, in true duck&thyme style -gluten, dairy and egg free. In the mean time, I'll enjoy my yummilicious homemade strawberry by itself.

A field of homemade gnocchi

We are big on homemade pasta in this house, being half Italian and all. The Italian half was inspired to make some gnocchi just the weekend gone which in turn inspired the non Italian half, me, to make the gluten, rice and egg free equivalent. Not that I even like gnocchi as it's heavy and full of tats which aren't fried, but just the idea was so novel, one couldn't resist. And also, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a direct comparison of normal vs my own fill-in-the-blanks free pasta! Short recipe to follow after the pictures, if required. I should really consult the Larousse to see if it tells a gnocchi story...hope to report back.

Anyway, looks wise, it was pretty easy to tell which were free friendly and which weren't: it's difficult to roll up dough which does not want to stick to itself but a little gentle primping by each of the fingersmiths within us should do it. Try not to pack it too hard together as it would lose all it's lusted for fluffiness. Which mine did, but the Italian half still gave it a thumbs up... I'm beginning to sense a bit of positive bias here, but hey I'm not complaining.

Bon appetito!

Normal gnocchi:

Free friendly ones

Recipe:

Weigh then boil /roast 1kg waxy potatoes whole (this is important if boiling as not to release too much starch from the tats) until tender. Remove skins and mash; I put mine into the kitchen aid and used the beater as if mixing a cake. Tilt it out and make a well. Add 300gm GF flour, and mix in 1 tablespoon xanthum gum and 1 tablespoon cornflour dissolved in 50ml water. Mix until well combined and form into small balls and try to roll these out into a very fat spaghetti, I would say the diameter of a 20p coin. Cut into 1cm pieces and roll each on the ridges of a fork to create....ridges. If it refuses to cooperate, break off dough the size of your thumb, cup them into your hands (hands at perpendicular angles) and form them into elongated balls. Cook or freeze! Remember to cook for a further ten seconds after the lil pillows float to the top.

Bass vs bream vs duck

Being "duck&thyme" and all, I really should have "inaugurated" with a duck recipe from Larousse / Barefoot, but I only thought of this today and there was already a sea bass defrosting in the fridge. I did look up some duck recipes as consolation, and the duck soufflé looks rather promising, perhaps for a day alla prossima.

Anyway, I looked up both bass and bream which I think (hope) are similar types of fish and found a charming recipe for each. One was bass a la duglere (frenched up, of course) and the other bream stuffed with fennel. To be honest, whilst a rustic cook, the a la duglere recipe looked a little simpler so I decided to try the fennel stuffing, which at least required "butterflying" it. I've done fish this way before and it has always turned out well. What's intriguing is that the stuffing is with a mixture of fennel, breadcrumbs moistened with milk, pastis and lemon juice. I hope milk brings the same flavour to fish as does butter, it's from the same source after all. 

I should note now that my trusty local Waitroses, both little and large, had no kitchen twine, which is required as part of the recipe. This is most peculiar as it was American thanksgiving only yesterday, Canadian thanksgiving only last month and Christmas is round the corner! I'm tying some birds up soon so hopefully they will be stocking it then. Oh well, never mind, my bass won't be in bondage so I'll just have to adjust the cooking time, right?

The verdict: the other half gave it a thumbs up, fish was moist and yummy. The stuffing was good but only when eaten with the fish (perhaps I put too much milk for the adjusted cooking time). I think it would also have been easy enough to make it diary and gluten free. But, already with all the bass vs bream/bondage/time adjustments, one had enough to argue that I hadn't followed the recipe at all! Perhaps I have another chance at inauguration after all...

Larousse and Ina

As part of my recovery and to keep my mind focused on something other than that, I am beginning a two part challenge of cooking my way through Larousse Gastronomique (only because I read somewhere that Marcus Wareing, who has somehow managed this year to be frightfully hot, loves the book) and all of Ina Garten's recipe books. I need to start somewhere so today I purchased the books from Amazon, which are expected to arrive in two days, and that would give me time to convince the family that it would be a good idea to be both sponsor and guinea pig. After all, I read the reviews of the "bible" and apparently there are 3800 recipes within - hopefully, my dishing out skills will also be good enough to meet the French standards i.e. small, in order that my guinea pigs should stay french-fully thin. And if you have cooked a la Barefoot Contessa, where recipes begin and end with a pound of butter, you would understand what I mean.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I am intolerant to, amongst others, wheat, rice, soya, eggs, dairy, yeast, which means my food intake primarily consists of protein, vegetables and potatoes. Hopefully I actually get to try one or two recipes which might turn out to be rather fun! 

I'm off to stock up on butter, mmm!

Larousse has arrived!

It's here! And it's Friday! What more could a girl want?

Except for...I have had it for a full hour and a half so why haven't I even taken the plastic off it? Should I not rip it apart and start devouring it, feeling blessed for every nugget of wisdom it imparts me?

Could it be "Fear, plain old fear" ..?

Perhaps I should start with La barefoot contessa!

Reasons to love America!

"People like me" (I hear this phrase a lot) find breakfast the most difficult meal - no bread, no eggs, no butter....need I say more? Fruit is great, but after about the 3rd day, rather boring..

We were recently in Santa Barbara, California, and I had: Toasted quinoa with raspberry jam, poached pears, toasted almond flakes and pistachios with a giant side of almond cappuccino.

My very own gluten, diary, egg, rice, oat and soya free heaven