I finally saw the movie, but that is not relevant to anything. I was in the middle of copying down a recipe for kimchi in my trial run recipe book and I just dropped everything to write this post. 

So, where have I been for the last few weeks? I've been out of town, and then I was back in town... and then back out of town again. I have been making some basic things, nothing really worth sharing. Had some fried cabbage and brats, some beef stew, some chicken wild rice soup that wasn't creamy. I didn't take pictures of any of the processes, so I won't be sharing those. So, why haven't I done anything exciting for this blog? Well, late one night our fridge started making this really annoying ticking sound. It has something to do with the door that connects our freezer and fridge. So, someone came over to fix it. Turns out we need a part for the fridge that would take a couple weeks to get here. So, the guy who "fixed" the fridge did something to make that door not work anymore. Then everything in our fridge started to freeze. Then we went out of town for a week. Now we're back and are avoiding buying groceries because everything is freezing. As much as I love frozen eggs... I really don't. 

I did have some sparkling water that didn't freeze (because ice, when you add enough pressure, reverts into a liquid until the pressure is released). 

So, that was pretty cool. 

Maybe during this lull I will find a time to take some pictures of my trial run book for you. ...maybe.

I posted this link on facebook and I got a lot of positive feedback. It sounded so intriguing, that I had to give it a go. 

Promises, promises. 

I really like garlic, and I really like ginger. So far, I love this recipe. I tried it out yesterday. I probably should have done it another day. TC and I had spent all day working in the yard, and I was exhausted by the time I realized that this was going to take a couple hours to make. I was plumb tuckered by the end of all this, and a nice hot cup of soup sounded so good. 

Ingredients:
26 cloves Garlic, raw and unpeeled
2 tbsp Butter or Olive Oil for sauteing 
1/2 tsp Cayenne Powder
1/2 c. Fresh Ginger
2 1/4 c. Onion, Chopped or Sliced
1 1/2 tsp Fresh Thyme
26 cloves Garlic, raw and peeled
1/2 c. Coconut Milk
3 1/2 c. Vegetable Broth

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Toss unpeeled garlic in olive oil and salt and wrap in tinfoil. Place in baking dish and roast for about 35 minutes (or until garlic is browned and tender)
• While waiting for the garlic to bake, I would spend that time peeling the rest of the garlic and grating the ginger.
• When the roasted garlic is done, take it out of the oven and wait for it to cool. When it has cooled, squeeze the garlic out of it's shells. 
• Melt butter, or use olive oil, to saute the onions, ginger, thyme, and cayenne pepper
• When the onions are fully sauteed, add the garlic... all of it. Cook for 3 minutes. 
• Add broth, cover, and simmer until the raw garlic is tender (about 20 minutes)
• In batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor (be aware to use something that can handle the heat)
• Return the soup to the saucepan and add coconut milk. 
• Simmer. 
• Season to taste.

Notes:
I got the recipe from Real Farmacy
I doubled the recipe so I could freeze some for later when one of us gets sick. 

The ginger is stringy. I don't know if it's just my blender, but even after I blended it all together, I found little stringy bits as we were eating it. 

This, surprisingly, didn't taste too garlicky. 

When TC wants soup, he wants stew. When I want soup, I want broth. So, this wasn't exactly his type of soup. 

Review:
All in all, this took a couple hours to make. If you have the time (or the extra hands to help you peel garlic), I say go for it!

As a brothy soup, I really loved it. It also would be good with potatoes or tofu. I give it a 4.5 

As a stew, TC found it completely lacking. Without chunky delicious bits, TC gave it a 3. Sad day.

Assuming you use olive oil instead of butter, this recipe is totally vegan, gluten free, paleo, and vegetarian. 

Total Score:
4

I had some leftover french fries from Ruggles (if you can't have certain foods like dairy, wheat, meat, etc, and you're in Houston, check this place out. They have three locations.)  So, I poured the soup over the fries. It was quite tasty!

I had a bunch of bananas that were overripe. What do you do with a bunch of overripe bananas? I could make Baked Bananas: Part 2, but at most, for two people, you would only need 4 bananas. I had about 8. So, I figured, Crepes are super easy to make, I bet I could do something similar. So, my idea was to mash up the bananas and then kinda coat them in rice flour (like you would the baked bananas) and then put them in a pan with some coconut oil. Flip after the first side is browned. Doesn't sound too difficult, eh? 

Ingredients:
6-8 Bananas, overripe
1-2 c. Rice Flour
Lemon Juice (optional)
Honey (optional)
Cinnamon (optional

Directions:

• Mash up the bananas in a bowl
• Add about a cup of rice flour to the bananas as they are being mixed (prepare for little floury explosions)
• Preheat the coconut oil in a pan
• Put some rice flour in your hand and scoop some banana on top of it. 
• Cover the banana in your hand in rice flour
• Brush off any extra rice flour and make sure the banana is covered enough to make a non sticky to the touch glob
• Put glob (which should resemble a pancake) in the pan and let it brown. 
• When the bottom side has browned, flip it. 
• When it has browned on both sides, it is done. 
• Serve with lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon if it pleases you. 

Notes:
As you can see from the first picture, the banana was way too sloppy to just coat in rice flour. So, I added a bunch of flour in with the banana, and then coated it as well. 

These took forever to make. I made 6 and got bored with making them, so I made a "banana cake"... which is where I basically put the ricey banana flour in a cast iron pan with some coconut oil to keep it from sticking. It wasn't nearly as good as these pancakes. I don't recommend doing it that way. 

Also, this is gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and most other dietary restrictions-an.

Review:
The taste was good on the individual pancakes, but they were really quite time consuming. I mean, it wasn't too terrible, pancakes take a while as it is, and I rarely have the patience for them. But, if you have the patience and the leftover bananas, give it a go! I'm sure regular flour would work too, but I can't have wheat flour, so I used the rice flour. 

These were super tasty. TC gave them a 5 with the lemon juice. He said the honey might be overkill. 

I gave them a 4.5 with the lemon juice, but I liked the honey and cinnamon. 

Total Score:
5

I love duck. I really do. I love duck more than I like more other foods. The problem is that it is more expensive than I like to spend. I guess I'll have to raise ducks, because I really... really like duck. 

I picked up a duck the other day and decided to roast it in my new roasting pan. I've roasted duck before, but I had to cut it in half to make it work. This time, I got to roast the entire duck, and I did not follow directions. Before I even begin telling you what I did and did not do properly, I need to tell you about the tutorial I used. It's amazing. The pictures alone are amazing. I can't even begin to come up with a tutorial that compares in any way. The tutorial is from The Hungry Mouse. In fact, the tutorial is so good, that I'm just going to direct you to that page. 

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/02/11/the-best-way-to-roast-a-duck-hello-crispy-skin/

Now let me tell you what I did wrong. 

First of all, when you buy a packaged duck at the store, sometimes it comes with a package of orange glaze and the heart, neck, and liver still in the middle. I didn't plan ahead enough and it took over 45 minutes to thaw. When I took it out of the microwave, it was still a little frozen in the middle, but I got the packet of orange glaze out. You are supposed to tie the legs together, but I didn't have anything that could accomplish the task, so I just didn't do it. If you saw the tutorial, there is a bit in there about folding the wing in some crazy way or another... yep. Didn't do that either. 

Secondly, before you stick the duck into the oven, you have to score the skin to make sure it gets super crispy. For some reason, my duck's skin was not easy to score. We have some sharp knives, but I don't know what the problem was. I raggedly managed to score the skin, and I stuck it in the oven. It sat in there for about 25 minutes before I thought, "Ya know (I am Minnesotan after all), I am pretty sure there was a heart, liver, and neck in the last duck...". So, I took the duck out of the oven and carefully (the duck was pretty warm at this point) removed the innards... which were still frozen. So, the inside of the duck was still a little frozen, but I just let it go. 

I followed the rest of the tutorial pretty well. I didn't glaze the duck because the flavor of duck is so good that you don't even need to glaze it. Also, I recommend having the windows open because duck has a very rich smell, and it can be overwhelming. 

Alright, that being said, my review is simple.

Review: 
This is amazing. Follow this tutorial. Eat duck. Save the duck fat. Sooo tasty. 

Total Score:
5

Just looking at these pictures makes me want to make duck again. 

I'm not even going to build the suspense. SUCCESS!!

I got this recipe from a friend, and I gave it a go. Super easy, gluten free, and totally tasty!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Butter
2 c. Corn Meal
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Honey
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Egg
1 c. Buttermilk or Sour Cream

Directions:

• Preheat your shortening in your pan (I use cast iron so I do this in the oven). 
• Preheat oven to 400°F
• Mix ingredients together well.
• Take the preheated shortening and add it to the mix. Stir. 
  
• Pour the batter in the pan (if you're using cast iron, it should sizzle as the batter hits the pan)
• Bake for 25-35 minutes. 

Notes:
I let it go too long. I always manage to burn the bottom, and even the top looks a little too dark. The cornbread was dry, and I think it's because it baked too long. It didn't really affect the flavor, and no I know better for next time. This turned out so much better than Cornbread and Cornbread: Part 2. 

Review:
I will most definitely be using this recipe again. It turned out really well. I would give this attempt a 4 but the recipe a 5. TC says the same. So, to take that all into account, I'm going to give it a...

Total Score:
4.5

I tried this again only I made a few changes this time. I used my tried-and-true gluten free flour blend and I used less sugar. 

Let's start off with my original post. 

I'm just going to jump into my review. 
Review:
Because I used more almond flour than before, it was grainier and dryer. The gummy problem is not totally solved. The muffins were definitely fluffier this time, but still a little gummy. After taking out some of the sugar, I don't recommend doing that. It alters the balance. 

Okay, now let's get into the real reason I'm writing this post. The first batch TC had a problem with them. His stomach would rebel each time he ate one. I had no issues. The second batch and I are not friends. I had some stomach reactions that are wholly unpleasant. So, I don't honestly think we'll be making these again. They are super tasty, but something about them doesn't sit right with us. 

Total Score:
2 (flavor was good, sickness was not)

This is a strange title. I'm not really sure what else to call it. When I first read that that this recipe is for a spinach muffin, I scoffed. One of my friends had posted the link on Facebook and she said it was delicious. So, I figured, sure, why not?

Ingredients:
1 c. All Purpose Flour
1 c. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 c. Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
1½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Salt
¼ c. Canola Oil
¾ c. Milk
6 oz Fresh Baby Spinach
½ cup Mashed Banana (from about 2 bananas)
2 tsp Vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F
• Whisk all the dry ingredients together. 
• Put the spinach, milk, vanilla, bananas and oil into a blender and puree
• Pour spinach mix into the dry ingredients and fold until completely mixed. 
• On a greased baking sheet, put 6 globs of batter. (I know "glob" isn't a precise unit of measurement but the pictures will give you a better idea. 
• Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the edges and top are slightly browned. 

Notes:
The original recipe is from The Green Forks

The original recipe calls for Canola Oil. I used coconut oil, which you may know has a low melting point. Basically if the liquid coconut oil touches something cold, it turns back into a solid. So, I had to heat up the milk and spinach before I mixed the oil in, but it still didn't mix fully. 

The original recipe also calls for milk. I used coconut milk. 

So, instead of using the all purpose flour and the wheat flour, I used the gluten free flour blend that I had made for the cornbread (1 c. of that), and one cup of almond flour. I have an issue with almond flour. Mostly my issue is in the serving size. A handful of almonds is a serving. So, about 1/4 c. of almond flour is a serving. That's why I didn't use 2 cups of almond flour. It would have been almost a serving per muffin top. If I had also used almond milk, it would have been so much almond! I used coconut milk and almond flour to balance it out. 

The original recipe also had me using an ungreased baking sheet. That didn't work for me, so I used a greased pan for the second go. 

I also added a dash of lemon. Didn't hurt anything, but I don't know that it helped. 

Review:
This tastes amazing and you can totally eat it raw, and it is vegan! Delicious! TC says, "They're green and sweet!" and he gives them a 4. I would also give them a 4 and I look forward to making them without the xanthan gum next time... it will be less gummy. :)

Total Score:
4

I don't know if you've read about my cornbread adventures. They haven't gone well. I think I may have figured out the culprit. 

I have baked all sorts of gluten free baked goods without problem. The crisp and the cobbler both turned out well. It was only the cornbread that had turned out all gummy. I recently tried another recipe (post coming soon) and it also turned out gummy. 

For those of you that read the cornbread recipe, you know that I tried a new gluten free flour blend. It contained xanthan gum, which is a thickening agent. I don't usually use xanthan gum, and I think it may have been the problem. Here's the thing. When I made that new GF flour blend, I made a whole jar of it and I have been using it ever since. I used it on this new recipe and I got the same gummy results. So, I'll stop using it. I don't like it. I'm super excited for my next attempt at cornbread. 

So there you have it, I hope to update you further when I figure this whole thing out. 

I would love to say that if I totally botch something the first time, I can make up for it the second time. I wish that was the case with this cornbread. Okay, let me start out with the truth. I have never really been overly fond of cornbread. I don't like cornbread without modifiers. I need something extra. I need jalapenos or honey. I need something. So, I made the cornbread using the same recipe I did last time, except I actually read it correctly this time. I'm not going to go over the directions with you, but I will give you a piece of advice after the pictures. 

I was so excited when it came out of the oven because it looked fluffy and delicious. My word of advice is to evenly distribute the batter. Mine was thicker on one side than the other, so it didn't cook evenly. So it goes...

Well, my dreams and hopes deflated with this cornbread. It sank. It was a sad day. It also still had that pudding like texture. There flavor wasn't as strong either. 

Review:
TC gave this a 4.5 and really liked it. He went back for seconds. It was less sweet than last time (I think maybe I should cut back on the sugar if I am using coconut milk). I would give this a 2.5. This cornbread was meh. I still have a ton of cornmeal, so I will try again... maybe with a different recipe this time. 

Total Score:
3.5

This was a strange title. I want to call it an egg bake, but saying "Chorizo and Egg Egg Bake" sounds very strange. Either way, It is what it is. It's chorizo (a spicy pork sausage type thing) and eggs. Exciting, eh?

I've been wanting to make a large egg bake for a week of breakfasts, but we have a tendency to eat this at any meal, so I'm not going to call it a breakfast food. 

Ingredients:
12 Eggs, Whisked
1 lb. Chorizo, Cooked
1-2 Potatoes, Grated
1/2 Onion, Diced
1/2 c. Mozzarella, Shredded
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
(any other seasonings you think would complement this bake)

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 375°F. 
• Cook your chorizo*
• Chop onion and grate potato while chorizo is cooking. 
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl (you're going to be adding everything to this bowl, so make sure it can accomodate potatoes, onion, and cheese)
• Add potatoes, onion and cheese to egg bowl. 
• Pour half the egg mix into a small casserole (7x11 or 9x9)
• Add the chorizo on top of the egg mix
• Pour the rest of the egg mix over the chorizo
• Bake for 22-25 minutes (until eggs aren't runny, you may have to cut it open to check on the middles)
• Let sit for 10 minutes

This is one of my all time favorite shows. As a Minnesotan, I love Rose. The clip is 5 minutes long, but you only have to watch 2 minutes. I strongly recommend watching the whole thing because the Golden Girls are hilarious. So, what is happening in this scene: Rose is baking something and needed egg whites. She didn't want to throw away the yolks, so she put them in a little bag on the counter. Blanche has just written the world's greatest romance novel...

Notes:
I'm pretty sure I watched that video 5 times. I love the Golden Girls. 

I originally got this recipe from PaleOMG (a paleo cooking blog).

*When cooking chorizo, it helps to cook it at a higher temperature (on our stove, that would be a 7). If you do so, turn the fan on because it will burn your eyes with the spices. Also, I start it at a high temperature and then turn it down to a medium-low temperature for the duration of cooking. 

I used a 4 cup measuring cup for the eggs, potatoes, onion, and cheese and it fit. 

Alternatively, you can mix the chorizo in with the egg and potatoes. I didn't use a big enough bowl, so I did it lasagna style. 

I used two tubes of chorizo, which was a little more than a pound. I would definitely use less chorizo next time. It's spicy. Not too spicy for me, but too spicy for a lot of folks. 

We couldn't find soyrizo, but we really wanted to do our recipe with it because it is delicious. 

Review:
It was a tad spicy for my taste, but I think it turned out great! I definitely want to do it again and add other things like spinach. TC says, "I like it. It's spicy! It would be good on tortillas!" He gives it a 4 because we don't have tortillas (there is this place near where we live that makes the most amazing flour tortillas... which I can't have.). I give it a 3.5 because it needs a little more diversity of ingredients. Next time, I will add red peppers and spinach and use less chorizo. As for the mess factor, the potatoes are the only really messy part. The chorizo pan might be difficult to clean, but I use cast iron, so I just wipe out my pan and the next thing I cook (cornbread) will have a little chorizo taste to it. 

Total Score:
4

Update 02/14/2014:
We tried this again with soyrizo instead of chorizo. I don't recommend it. It's very bland.