Left Brain / Right Brain

Typical Sunday Situation: Eggs Murphy

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:46:08 GMT

I woke up at 8:00 this morning like I was late for work. It's Sunday. Give me a break, internal alarm clock. Seeing as I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon, and J was busy in dreamland (probably killing zombies or taking back Poland), I decided to get up and make breakfast for him. I have been craving Eggs Benedict lately and decided that's what I would make. Only, as I surveyed the contents of our fridge and pantry, I discovered a few slight problems with this plan.

We didn't have English muffins.

Or Canadian bacon.

Or the makings of Hollandaise sauce.

We did have eggs, though. A whole carton, in fact. We also had leftover steak from last night, a whole bag of spinach (buy one get one baby!) and half a loaf of Italian bread. After two sips of coffee, I was inspired to come up with a variation of Eggs Benedict that would make J fall in love with me all over again. After you read this recipe, you may just do the same. Sorry, I'm taken, but "Have Whisk, Will Travel."

Click Read More to see the recipe.

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Daring Baker’s Challenge – February 2010

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:08:27 GMT

The February 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

The original recipe sources are:
Mascarpone Cheese – Vera's Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home
Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

Seeing how J and I are still sort of doing the Specific Carb Diet, I adapted the recipe to fit the guidelines. It was definitely a challenge, but that's ok – the results were quite tasty, even if it wasn't technically tiramisu, but more of a Tiramisu-Inspired Stacker.

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SHOES!!!

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:01:12 GMT

These are my shoes. My only friends in the whole wide world some days.

Oh…. And a fat cat….

Quick and Easy Bread

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:53:50 GMT

Easy Homemade White Bread

Ingredients:
4 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C lukewarm water
1 packet (or 2 1/4 tsp) dry yeast
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp salt

Instructions:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. The key is to make sure it is lukewarm...not hot, not cold, but the special place in between. I like to measure out the water in my glass measuring cup and then whisk the yeast in until it dissolves. Then, sit this aside for a minute to let the yeast have a little party and really get going.
In a glass mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 C of the flour, olive oil and salt.
Mix in the Partying Yeast and combine until it is thoroughly blended.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for about 30 minutes. This allows the yeast to mingle with the other ingredients and hopefully make some new connections.
Add 2 C of flour to the mixture, 1/2 C at a time. Mix well, but don't overwork the dough. This is the time to add spices to the dough, too. I used a secret combination of Italian and other spices in the loaf tonight. I have also used Old Bay seasoning and cinnamon-sugar. It all depends on your mood and taste preferences - this bread is excellent if left plain, but adding the spices does kick it up a bit. The amount of spice will vary. I usually eyeball it, but I would guess I used between 1/4 and 1/3 C of the spice in this batch.
Sprinkle 1/4 C flour on a work surface and turn out the dough. The dough will be very sticky at this point, so I recommend flouring your hands, too.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 C flour over the dough and knead until just combined. Here's what you should have sitting on your workspace:
Split the dough into two loaves and place the loaves on a non-stick baking sheet.
Place the dough into a cold oven on the middle rack. Let sit for 15 minutes. During this time, the dough will rise slightly.
Turn oven on to 425 degrees F and bake the bread for approx. 30 minutes. I like to take it out at the 15 minute mark and turn the baking sheet around, so it bakes evenly. Here's what you'll see at the 15 minute mark:
After 30 minutes has passed, check the loaves for doneness by thumping the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow, it's done.
Cool on a baking rack. Alternatively, slice a few pieces, slather with butter and burn your tongue. Totally worth it.

The sliced result looks like this:

SCD Update

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:33:00 GMT

It's been almost a month since we started back on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Here's an update on how it's been going...

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SCD Muffins

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:17:00 GMT

I made my first batch of SCD muffins today. Baking with almond flour is going to take some getting used to.

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Daring Baker's Challenge - January 2010

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:20:00 GMT

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

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SCD Yogurt

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:19:00 GMT

The yogurt recipe found in Breaking the Vicious cycle is so simple, it surprises me more people don't make their yogurt from scratch.

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SCD Chicken Soup

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:22:00 GMT

This is a step-by-step guide, with pictures, for making the SCD Chicken Soup, as outlined in Breaking the Vicious Cycle. I have copied the instructions from the original recipe. My notes appear in italics.

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Back on the wagon

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:01:00 GMT

I ordered a copy of Breaking the Vicious Cycle from a lovely seller on Half.com. I opened it to the first page and you'll never guess what I saw.

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