Symphony of Flavours

Symphony of Flavours

I don't normally post "meals", but this one came together so beautifully both in flavours and visual impact. I confess I have been watching a lot of Masterchef lately, and it is inspiring me!
The meal above is pan-seared chicken with parsley-chimmichurri jasmine rice, cauliflower and corn puree, and a peach/red onion and cilantro salsa.

Cauliflower-Corn Puree: The puree was the starting point for me and I built the meal around it. In the blender: one whole cauliflower, broken into florets and steamed until tender. One can of corn (yes, fresh would be even better!) sautéed first in a pan with a few nobs of butter, one clove of garlic and a pinch of salt. About a cup and a half of cream/milk mixture, scalded. Add about half the cream/milk at first, then adding just enough to make a puree (you don't want to turn it into soup!).
Pulse in blender until smooth, adjust seasoning.  Silky and so flavourful!!

Chicken:  Breasts seasoned simply with garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, sautéed over medium high heat to get nice colour.

Rice: I was concerned that the plate would look too monotone so I whipped up a parsley chimmichurri and stirred that in to the Jasmine rice, along with some chopped fresh parsley.

Chimichurri: Chopped parsley, toasted walnuts, a touch of cilantro, a touch of chilli sauce, olive oil,  touch of lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Place all in blender and blend until smooth.

Salsa: Diced peach, red onion, and fresh coarsely chopped cilantro,  tied together with a touch of olive oil, fresh lemon juice and salt.

I LOVE fruit salsas to go along with chicken and fish, and will use whatever fruit I have on hand: mango, peach, nectarine, apple, etc  I will also sometimes use parsley in place of the cilantro, and sometimes add corn...It becomes a beautiful bright note on the plate, and adds some wonderful texture as well.

Apple Pie Creation, in pictures

Time again for Apple Pie!  Hubby's birthday yesterday, and that was the request. Went to 3 different stores before I could find Granny Smith Apples, but it was worth it!

(Pastry recipe is already posted)

 Readying the counter-top for the pastry

 Pastry ready to trim.  It held together so well I was able to drape it over my rolling pin and lift onto the pie plate. (Usually I roll out on parchment but I forgot this time)

 My alternate to a top crust or lattice. Roll out pastry and cut with whatever cookie cutter you choose. This cutter is an old tin one from my childhood, and the top crust took about 20 medium sized hearts to cover .  * Symmetry is good here :) 

 This is the caramel sauce that really is the key to the filling. Toss the sliced apples with the sauce, reserving about 1/4 for glazing the top crust

 The glazed top crust, pre- baking. You can see the first row of hearts at the rim are placed side to side (no overlap), but the following rows do overlap. You can have lots of fun with this.

 The finished beauty!

Yum.

You can see the caramel has set- the key is to let the pie cool off at least a couple of hours before  cutting into. This was so amazing my Mother-In-Law (who is Celiac) could barely contain herself :)

Filling recipe to follow.

Another "Favourite Thing"

Two words: Parsley Pesto. Not a new idea, but a great one.

After Thanksgiving, I ended up with a big bunch of parsley that didn't get used because the sore ran out of squash, so I couldn't use my squash recipe...what to do with it?

Parsley has been unfairly relegated to the "garnish" corner of the kitchen! A sprig here, a sprinkle there, decorating the plate, bringing a splash of colour with no expectation nor appreciation of the fabulous flavour it possesses.
I am not providing a recipe per se, as you are all smart/wise/inventive/experienced enough to either track down any basic pesto recipe, or have already made pesto yourself (likely with the classic, Basil).
Wing it.  It is hard to screw up.


My ingredients (this time, and next time they may vary):
Bunch of flat-leaf spinach
4 cloves garlic
About 1/2 cup toasted almonds
About 1 cup olive oil (extra virgin if you can)
Salt and Pepper

I used my NutriBullet to whip these up. It took a bit of doing, but got there. I didn't add enough olive oil to begin with and so it had trouble combining, but once the ratio was correct everything combined and the almonds pulverized perfectly. (Those of you with food processors would not have a problem)

It is the flavour that is outstanding. Bright and fresh and "Umami"/savoury. Gorgeous. And the colour! WOW!
I used it first on the lasagna I made the other day, mixed in with the ricotta (and pureed cauliflower : shhh, don't tell the kids!), and also dolloped on top of the lasagna when re-heating.
Another day I had it spooned on top of baked Sole fillets, stirred into cooked rice, spread on the inside of a grilled cheese, tossed with lightly sauteed zucchini as a side-dish... The possibilities are all there, and the flavour just elevates whatever you pair it with...except desserts, according to my favourite cookbook, "The Flavour Bible". (Get it, it's good)

Buy some. Whip it up. Toss it with anything.
Put the rest in a small jar and pour enough olive oil to just cover the top to retain the gorgeous colour, Store in fridge.

Buckwheat Gluten Free Pancakes

I was scrolling around GF sites the other day, and saw a request for GF pancakes, asking which flours work best. Well, the first thing that came to mind was Buckwheat (not actually of the wheat family). However, I have had varying success with pancake recipes. Sometimes they end up too runny, too thick, no flavour etc. I thought I would try a different flout combo and see how it turned out: half buckwheat and one quarter sweet rice flour (which I use in my pastry), and one quarter tapioca starch.
A winning combination in my books- the kids did not even ask if they were GF. The texture was great, the flavour delicious, the even LOOKED like"real" pancakes. Forgot to take pics- story of my life!!
Here it is:

Buckwheat Gluten Free Pancakes

1 cup milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 egg
2 Tb melted butter

Mix together milk and vinegar- set aside for 5 minutes while you combine other ingredients.
(The milk/vinegar combo mimics buttermilk, a good substitution for me because I never have buttermilk!)
Combine dry ingredients, and blend well.
Add egg and butter to milk mixture. Whisk flour mixture into wet until smooth. Adjust with additional milk if you want a thinner pancake.
Let sit for 10-15 minutes, then cook on griddle over med heat.
HINT: if you have any leftover pancakes (I had one) you can make a nice rustic yet decadent dessert by sprinkling the pancakes with chocolate chips and popping in the oven until melty but still holding their form. Drizzle with syrup.
I do love leftovers...

Pate Sucree, Gluten Free

Pâte Sucrée, Gluten Free

1 1/2 Cups my GF flour Combo (see below)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp guar gum
1 tsp xantham gum

For the flour mix I used the same combination I usually use for regular pastry. This combo makes too much for this recipe, so combine and then store the leftovers for next time:
  1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
  1/2 cup Cornstarch
  1 cup Sweet Rice flour (also called Glutinous flour, but don't worry, it is flour made from Sushi rice!)
  1/4 cup Potato starch (NOT potato flour)

Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add lightly beaten eggs- bit by bit-and continue mixing until well incorporated.  Measure out your 1 1/2 cups of flour in separate bowl, and add salt, guar gum and xantham gum. Mix well.  Add flour mixture all at once to butter mixture and mix until dough forms a ball. Place on sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a disc, wrap well and place in fridge to chill (30 minutes).

Now, being a Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Pastry), you can just press this dough into your prepared pan.
I wanted to see if it could be rolled for mini tarts, and it does work, but you must wait for the dough to warm a bit.
Roll out on lightly floured (I use sweet rice flour) plastic wrap, as best you can. Don't worry if it breaks- it will!  Simply press back together. Use a 1 cup measure to press the dough into all corners and fluted edges. Trim the top if need be. Prick the base all over gently with a fork to prevent/minimize puffing. Refrigerate, covered loosely, for minimum 30 minutes to reduce pastry shrinkage.
Bake at 400* for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for another 15 minutes.
Let cool in pan before removing.
* I also gave the tarts a light egg-white wash to prevent the pastry from getting soggy once filled: beat one egg white until frothy, and brush on to pastry when just out of the oven.

GF Pastry

This is one amazing pastry recipe. Really. I am so grateful to http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/
This is their recipe, with a few small tweaks. Visit their site!

Julie's Mennonite Gluten Free Pastry

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup potato starch (NOT potato flour)
• 1 cup sweet rice flour (find in asian supermarkets, also called glutinous rice flour)
• dash of sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• rounded teaspoon of guar gum 
• 1 cup butter (place in freezer 1/2 hr minimum before starting- I'll explain later!)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• 4 tbsp ice water
• sweet rice flour for rolling

METHOD

1. Blend well together the flours, guar gum, salt and sugar. (flours for gluten-free baking must be well-blended)

2. Cut in butter (*for this step,remove butter from freezer, and GRATE directly into flour mixture,tossing to coat with flour.. Work quickly so butter does not get too gummed up!)

3. Beat egg , add vinegar and ice-water.

4. Stir into flour mixture forming a ball. (Add a *little* more water if too dry)

5. Knead until you have a smooth soft ball.(* It will seem quite crumbly, but if you squeeze a handful and it holds together, it is ready. Lay out two sheets of plastic wrap. Place 1/2 dough on each. Press dough into a ball using the plastic wrap, until smooth and combined. Flatten each ball slightly into a fat "pancake". Try not to handle the dough too much, as you don't want to melt the shreds of butter- that is what makes the dough nice a flakey! )

6. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or more to chill.

7. Roll out between plastic wrap dusted minimally with sweet rice flour.Peel off top layer of wax paper , flip over onto pie plate and then carefully peel off the other layer of wax paper and fit pastry into pie shell fluting edges -- for single crust pie or for double add filling and then top with top crust .

NOTE: I must also add that I could not remember whether or not to grease the pie plate, so I did. I highly recommend that you do the same! The bottom did not stick, held together beautifully, and had a really nice crunch. Enjoy!

Sesame Flax Crackers!

A new recipe for wonderful, crunchy, healthy Gluten Free crackers!

I began with a basic (non-GF) cracker recipe using flour, oil and water (for the ratios), and have put together a combo that is really great. You can play with the ingredients (as I always do!) and come up with your own combinations.
I made 3 batches:
1. My first batch was a little too thick, and I scored into squares.
2. My second batch, I sprinkled extra sesame seeds onto the dough once it was rolled to the right thickness, rolled them into the dough, then scored into long rectangles -much prettier!
3. For my third batch, I used one of my very favourite baking toys, but more on that later!

Sesame Flax Crackers

1 cup corn flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup flax meal (ground flax)
1/4 cup teff flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (use freshly grated parmesan only- not the cheese "product" you find in the grocery stores).
1 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp sea salt

1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 cup water

Combine the dry ingredients.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and add oil, and most of the water.
Mix together until you have a dough that will roll out. If you need to add more water, add 1 Tb at a time. The dough should not be sticky! If you find it is too sticky, knead in tapioca flour until the consistency is right.
Lay out sheet of parchment paper, the size of your baking sheet.
Divide the dough into 4.
Place 1/4 of dough onto parchment and roll. If needed, dust with more tapioca flour, but use sparingly!
Roll until dough is very thin, and covers most of parchment sheet. At this point I like to trim the edges using a pizza cutter to make a neat rectangle.
Sprinkle the dough with a layer of more sesame seeds, and gently roll them into the dough.
Score the dough width-wise into long rectangles- like the fancy ones you pay a fortune for at specialty food shops.
Leaving the dough on the parchment, place it on to your baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in a 350* oven.
Watch closely- you don't want them to burn!
When you remove these from the oven, slide the parchment off your cookie sheet and allow to cool. Gently snap the crackers apart along the score lines.
Repeat!

As I said earlier, you can vary this in many ways- add different seeds, nuts, spices etc. I know I will be doing a rosemary-garlic combo next.
Just remember to keep your dry (flour/nut) ingredients to a total of 3 1/4 cups total to keep the ratios correct!

** To make vegan-friendly, substitute ground almonds (or walnuts or pecans) for the parmesan... you get the idea!

Potato Croquettes Anyone?

Ahhh. Potatoes. Love love love.

Have we not all ended up with left over mashed potatoes? I took a page from my restaurant days and today made potato croquettes. Fancy, yes? Well, actually simple.
Mashed potato, shredded cheddar cheese (1 cup or so, depending on how much potato you have), salt and pepper, an egg, a bit of (gluten free) flour, an oven.
Thats it.

Combine above ingredients.
Place in a large plastic ziploc (or piping) bag.
Cut one corner off with sharp scissors.
Pipe onto parchment paper on baking sheet. (can omit parchment paper if you don't have any, but it does ensure easy removal, no sticking).
Bake at 425* in oven for about 15 minutes, then flip to brown on other side another 5-10 minutes.
That is it.
Serve with anything. Or nothing.
If you want these to look really fancy, use a piping bag attachment and do not flip. Spray with olive oil ( I use my re-fillable "Misto"), and remove from oven when golden brown.

Quinoa Salad with Swiss Chard

This is a delicious salad or side dish.
Get your hands on a nice big bunch of Swiss Chard. Cook up some Quinoa. Get out your Wok, and you're in business!

Quinoa Swiss Chard Salad

1 Bunch Swiss Chard
1 Cup cooked Quinoa
3/4 Cup diced Sweet Onion
2 Cloves minced Garlic
2 T Olive Oil
1 Red Pepper, diced
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
2 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Clean and separate leaves from stalks of Swiss Chard.
Roll leaves together and slice into 1/2" strips
Blanch leaves for 2 minutes in boiling water. Rinse with cold water and drain.
Dice stalks into 1/2" pieces

Heat Wok to high
Add 2 T olive oil
Add diced onion.

When onion is just starting to show some colour (caramelizing), add garlic, red pepper, and Swiss Chard stalks.
Let cook on med-high until stalks and peppers are tender-crisp.
Add Chard leaves, and continue cooking until leaves are wilted.
Remove from heat.
Add lemon juice and parmesan.  Mix.
Add 1 cup cooked Quinoa, and toss thoroughly.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Eat.
Oh, this is so good, and the fact that it is so incredibly good for you is a bonus!

Happy February!

A new year, and new recipes!
I have an amazing muffin recipe that I have adapted from several different recipes- the flour blend is my own, which I am so happy to share with you all.
Everyone in my family loves these, and today I made them even healthier by switching in some quinoa flour and teff flour. Mmmm.

Mmmmuffins

Preheat oven to 350*
Makes 18- 24 muffins

1/2 cup sugar
4 T butter or margerine
4 eggs
2/3 cup tapioca starch
2/3 cup rice flour (** sub. 1/3 c teff flour and 1/3 c quinoa flour to make a little healthier!)
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
4 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk (or soy milk etc)
1/2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350*
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, and add vanilla.
Mix together flours, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum, and add to the egg mixture alternately with the milk.
**OPTIONAL: stir in chocolate chips, blueberries, dried fruit nuts etc
Grease muffin pans with butter.
Pour into muffin pans, bake 18- 20 minutes at 350*
I believe this recipe would work just as well as for a cake- I will post when I try it!

GF Flax Bread

This is simply a variation on my Teff bread- and what a beautiful variation!

Teff Bread Heaven

Another update for my delicious bread recipe! How to go Dairy-free.

Here it is:

Amsuka's Teff Bread for the Bread Machine

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Tapioca Starch
1 cup Rice Flour (Brown for denser, healthier loaf, white for lighter loaf)
1/2 cup Teff Flour (or Sorghum)**
2 TB Cane Sugar
2 1/2 tsps Xantham gum
2 TB Ground Flax
1 tsp Sea Salt


2 1/2 tsp instant or bread machine yeast

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups Milk- Warm!***
1 egg- Warm!
2 TB Olive oil
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (unpasturized)


**Now bread machines differ, so pay attention to your own machine's basic instructions! My machine (Cuisinart) stipulates adding the wet ingredients first, then layer the dry ingredients over top, finally sprinkling the GF yeast over the dry.**

Here we go!
Warm your milk for 1 minute in your microwave (or on the stovetop). *This is important to activate the yeast!
Place your egg in a cup of hot water to warm. Set aside.


Whisk together the dry ingredients, except for the yeast.

Take your warm milk, add the vinegar, olive oil, and your warm egg. *The egg is warmed so that it doesn't cool off the milk mixture, or cook in the warmed milk mixture!*


Place wet ingredients into the bread pan. Layer the dry ingredients on top. Sprinkle the yeast. Place in bread machine on the gluten free cycle, 2Lb loaf size, and medium crust. remove the mixing paddle when the machine indicates, and re-shape the dough with a spatula- it will be sticky! At this time I also put a generous sprinkling of Poppy or Sesame Seeds over the whole loaf.
This bread is wonderful for sandwiches, toast, everything! Enjoy!

**update- feel free to substitute rice flour for the teff, if you are unable to find it, or if you want a simpler taste. I find the teff gives the bread a sort of Rye-taste, while the rice-tapioca combo is more of a straight forward sandwich bread- still delish!!
Also, if possible, buy your rice (& tapioca) flour in chinatown- it is milled very finely, which results in a nicer texture.
***If you want to go dairy free and use water for milk, you will need to add another egg. Warm the two eggs in warm water at the start.
When you get to the liquid stage of the recipe, break 1 egg into your pyrex measuring cup, then fill with warm water to the 1 1/3 cups mark.  THEN add your second egg and other wet ingredients.

Charlotte's Fudgey Brownies

At the insistent request of my daughter Charlotte, we exercised our baking muscles yesterday, and came up with a brownie recipe I know you all will LOVE!! Here it is:

1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup organic coconut flour (can substitute sorghum flour)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp ground flax
1/2 tsp salt
1 T cocoa
1/2 cup butter
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Optional (but recommended):
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup Skor bar bits

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 x 8 square pan.
Whisk together flours, xanthan gum, flax, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate squares. Remove from heat, and stir in sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, then chocolate chips and skor bits.
Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes.
Cool before cutting.
Serve with cold milk.
Bliss out.

A few notes:
-Coconut flour is a new favorite of mine, and I am experimenting with it a lot. (I get mine from Bulk Barn, and it is not expensive). It adds to the chewiness, yet does not taste coconutty! If you want a coconut taste, add shredded coconut.
Xanthan gum, ground flax, and tapioca flour can also be found at bulk stores, or health food stores.
-If you are baking in your toaster oven, as I do, reduce baking time to 20 minutes and the temperature to 300. Rotate the pan halfway through, and beware that the bottom does not burn!!
-Silicone pans are THE BEST!!

**UPDATED to add cocoa to the dry mix. Just gets better and better...

hello dollies- revisited!

Remember Hello Dollies? The wonderful cavity-maker layer bars with chocolate chips, graham cracker crust and coconut?
My friend Mary makes me some every Christmas, and they are definitely favorites! Well, yesterday I had the hankering for some cookies, but my oven has been acting up, so I needed a sweet recipe to do in our trusty toaster oven (I love my toaster oven).
I settled on Hello Dollies, but one problem- what to substitute for the graham cracker crumbs? A little searching on the web revealed some great suggestions: substitute gluten free cookies ( any kind); use a flour mixture with butter and sugar... well, I did a bit of a hybrid!
I often use GF cereal in place of breadcrumbs for breading meats, so I usually have some on hand. I also recently picked up some organic coconut flour, which I have been meaning to experiment with.

My Graham Cracker Base Substitution:
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup crushed cereal ( I used Nature's Path Mesa Sunrise: Flakes of flax, corn, and amaranth.)
(place cereal in small ziplock bag and crush with rolling pin or jar)
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 Tb brown sugar
3 Tb melted butter

This becomes the base of the bar.
Combine ingredients ( mix dry well before adding butter), and press into bottom of greased 9 x 9 pan. ( I use silicon- highly recommended!!)
The rest is oh so easy!
Ingredients:
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 bag dessicated or shredded coconut
(you can also add white choc chips, Skor bar bits, etc or nuts if you like. I prefer to leave the nuts out)
Simply layer the ingredients over the base . Chocolate chips, coconut, (nuts), condensed milk, and place in pre-heated 325* oven (or toaster oven!)
They will take about 25-30 minutes. If doing in toaster oven, rotate halfway through, and you may need to put some tin foil loosely on top if it gets too brown. Let these cool at least 15- 20 minutes before trying to cut- they will need to set.
Enjoy these outrageously sinful bars! Even my kids who "don't like coconut" LOVED these! Happy baking!

Tortilla Update

Made a new batch adding 1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley- really good, and so pretty!
You could add it to the water and put in the blender to make "green" tortillas, but I added the parsley directly to the flour, and then added the warm water. Also, increase the water to 1 1/2 cups, adding extra as needed.
If using a tortilla press (as I do) make sure not to press so thin that the edges become papery, else they will be hard to remove from the plastic ziploc bag (which works best).

Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes

Mmmmmm..Buckwheat Crepes, with pure maple syrup! The perfect thing to hit the spot on a chilly November morning.
Here it is:
I cup Organic Buckwheat flour
2 Tb corn starch
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 lg eggs
2 Tb melted butter (plus more for the pan)
1 3/4 cup water

Makes 12 crepes



Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together 1 3/4 cup water, eggs and 2 tablespoons butter. When blended, stir 1/2 of the water-egg mixture into the flour. Mix until it is mixing until it is no longer lumpy. Stir in the remaining water-egg mixture. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Heat a 7" crepe pan, brush it with some of the remaining butter, and grasp the pan in one hand. Pour ¼ cup batter onto the pan while rotating it so that a thin layer of batter covers the surface. Return pan to the heat. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until the top dries. Turn and cook an additional minute or until the bottom is just lightly browned. Repeat until all batter is used, keeping cooked crepes warm.

Great as a tortilla substitute too!

Rice Paper Wrappers

One of my favorite things these days is Thai-inspired spring rolls. I am lucky enough to live close to Chinatown (east) in Toronto, and am contantly finding inspiration among these exotic ingredients. Rice paper wrappers, filled with wonderful fresh ingredients (or even leftovers re-invented)- limited only by your tastebuds and imagination!
Here is a basic recipe to start with:

INGREDIENTS
2 ounces rice vermicelli
8 rice wrappers (8.5 inch diameter)
Filling ideas:
-avocado, cucumber, crab, cilantro
-roast pork, lime, mango, red onion, cilantro
-shrimp, thai basil, bean sprouts, shredded carrot
(you get the idea)


DIPPING SAUCE:
4 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce


DIRECTIONS
Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 minutes, or until al dente, and drain. Dress with some of dipping sauce.
Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the water for a few seconds to soften. Lay wrapper flat, on a wooden cutting board. In a row across the center, place ingredients ie: 2 slices of avocado, 2 strips of cucumber, cilantro, crab, leaving about 1 inch uncovered on each side. If wrapper is to slippery to fold, simply wait a few seconds til it gets sticky. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper (away from you), beginning at the end closest to you. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.

Serve spring rolls, cut in half, with the fish sauce. If serving a large platter for a party, lay the cut spring rolls on a bed of shredded Napa Cabbage, sprinkled with cilantro.

Gluten Free Bread Recipe!

I must tell y'all that though I have only been baking bread a short time, I have tried lots of the gluten free breads out there- this loaf is not like those! With the inclusion of flax meal( which is wonderful) this bread is akin to an artesian whole wheat loaf. I baked a loaf 2 days ago and INTENDED to take a picture, but alas the natives were hungry and I ended up cutting into it (even before it was properly cooled-mmm ) and so kiboshed my own photo-op!! I will post one soon.

Gluten Free Bread Recipe for Bread Machine
-Adapted from a recipe on Celiac.com

wet:
3 large eggs
1 2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons corn oil
1 teaspoon vinegar (apple cider vinegar is best- more about that another time)

dry:
¼ cup brown or white rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup corn flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
½ cup flaxseed meal
½ cup skim milk powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ½ teaspoons xanthum gum

Every bread machine is different, so adjust to your own machine directions as I did!
For my Cuisinart bread machine, I mix the wet ingredients, ensuring that they are approx 110 degrees (I don't actually take the temp, but I do put the wet into the microwave to "heat" up for 20 sec at a time or so, until it is *just* warmer than room temp). Layer the dry contents over the wet in the bread machine pan. With your finger make a small depression and add 2 ¼ teaspoons GF yeast. Set bread maker for gluten free, select medium, 2 lb loaf, and press go.
A couple of notes:
-When it is humid, I remove 2 Tablespoons of water, which allows it to rise properly.
-Remove the loaf to a rack when the baking time is complete, and allow to cool completely (if you can, I know it is hard!)

Finally, if you have had those brick-like GF loaves from health food stores, this is not anything like those. You will be sweetly surprised by the taste and texture of this loaf.