Cooking

A short post...

I've recently rediscovered my love of cooking. Ajax was advised to steer clear of dairy and wheat which has oddly brought out my rebellious, love-a-challenge side. I'm determined to find yummy things to cook that are a) healthy, b) wheat and dairy-free and c) appealing to a not-so-adventurous eater.

So far so good. Sort of a going back to basics road, but with a twist. Also having been veggie for many many years and now cooking meat, it's a whole new world!

Not surprisingly Thanksgiving got me really excited! My very ambitious menu was corn bread from Gluten-Free Girl; stuffing, also from G-F Girl (I love Shauna!); roast chicken stuffed with garlic, lemons and rosemary; green beans with carmelized shallots and roasted hazelnuts; rosemary roasted potatoes (do you notice a theme here?) and for dessert, vegan, wheat-free root beer float cupcakes. Oh and cranberry relish - just a little bit because I love it, but I'd be the only one eating it, and I don't love it that much! (Though it turns out that breakfast heaven is a tarty cranberry and orange relish on corn bread with soy butter... mmmmm)

What I actually made was the chicken, the potatoes, the cornbread (and have since made again - it was popular!), the green beans and the cranberry. We actually didn't end up eating dessert, which is good since I still havent' found a place to buy root beer extract!

The thing about cooking that I think appeals to me is that it gives me the opportunity to be creative while simultaneously following directions and improvising on them. For instance the chicken recipe I found called for a lot of nonsense stuff - I tossed it out, didn't make the gravy, and it turned out DELICIOUS. Oh I also frequently roast chickens upside down... mostly because I just don't know my way around a chicken, but then I read that it makes the chicken breast extra juicy, so... and much to my surprise and delight the chicken actually tasted of lemon, rosemary and garlic. Not overpowering, but just enough to make it delicious.

So now it's time to up the ante with some baking challenges...
I still want to try those root beer cupcakes - they're vegan and wheat-free (which from here on out will be called ACME - anything vegan and wheat-free is now known as ACME in our house... somehow that makes it more appealing). I'm determined to find ways to make ACME cookies and ACME bread that actually taste GOOD. I know it's possible because I did it for the wedding - spent hours making ACME cupcakes (well not entirely vegan, they had eggs, but close enough).

The other thing I'm dying to try to make is Lemon Olive Oil cookies. I know - it sounds weird and kinda gross, but the pictures are tantalizing... and if I can do them ACME, I'll feel so proud!