On Life As A Picky Foodie

Happy 2012 everyone!

There's a book I love to read to Vida Lev.  In it, the world becomes a relatively small, very nature-oriented planet where the birth of a child is passed on from creature to creature until gradually everyone is ready to welcome a new being onto this earth.  Beautiful, no?  And about as far away from our technocratic, virtual world as it's possible to be.

We live far removed from one another and while physical distance is easier to bridge than ever -- my daughter knows the word Skype already, and knows that it means we will be seeing her grandmother on the computer screen -- local relationships sometimes feel trickier to manage.  

The other day, a woman I follow on twitter was commenting how distant she feels from her Facebook friends.  I have to admit that I completely understand her.  My Facebook page is personal and everyone on there are people I have met face to face and have felt some kinship to at one point or another -- from pre-school to high school, from El Salvador to Ojai, these are people I supposedly know.

And yet, I often find these "friends" and I have little in common.  Sometimes I am even offended by their postings -- apparently, in addition to lovely and kind people,  I am also "friends" with fascists, bigots, racists and chauvinists.  (I'm shuddering right now, by the way.)

When I was first introduced to twitter, I rejected it completely.  Enough, I said, no more social media.  But seeing as The Picky Foodie won't grow legs and walk the earth without some help, I decided to give it a shot.  And the results were astounding.  Though I haven't met most of my twitter peeps -- with some wonderful exceptions like the delightful Molly of The Particular Kitchen and Mona of Wise Words -- I find we have so much more in common than I do with so many of my "friends" on Facebook.

Today is my three-month veganiversary.  While many assume I have been vegan for yonks, I wasn't ready to take the official step until this year, October 12th, to be exact.  My 35th birthday.  Will I be vegan forever?  Who knows!  But for now, I'm enjoying the feeling of not eating animal products (with the exception of the occasional bit of honey), experimenting with plant-based proteins, and eating in a way that is more in line with my values.

While I took this step on my own, I have found inspiration in so many blog posts, recipes and experiences shared by the people I have found on twitter.  What can I say?  It does truly take a village.  Here are my  3 faves:

-  Gena Hamshaw at Choosing Raw -- hilariously, when I went to her website to double check the spelling of Gena's last name, I found a recent recipe for  a similar kind of bread and just like me, she found that while the loaf is good, it's probably closer to the taste of a health-food-foodie (in fact, I think I'll try hers next).  Nutritionist, future super-power MD, Gena is a wiz in the kitchen and knows truck-loads about health as well as recovering from Eating Disorders.  Love her!  

-  Seyward Rebhal's Bonzai Aphrodite -- totally fabulous, totally fun, totally unique, totally vegan.  I return to this site again and again, for inspiration and because Seyward is just totally awesome.  

-  Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy website-- This woman has makes living with incurable disease look glamorous.  She's the rock star of healing with food and healthy living.  Think attitude isn't important when it comes to kicking Cancer's ass?  Check out Kris, her amazing story and her wonderfully informative website.  

Through these and other sites I visit regularly, I will occasionally stumble on a one-off wild card recipes by people I haven't heard of before.  Blog posts passed and retweeted, about foods and recipes I'm delighted to play with as well.  And so too with the original recipe for this moist apple bread by Wendakai.  In my gluten-free, mostly grain-free life, I sometimes crave bread and sometimes long for cake.  This recipe falls somewhere between sweet and mildly savory, between bread and cake.  Does that make it a loaf?  

Anyway, the first mouthful took me back to the night I gave birth to Vida Lev. After we had cleaned up, my baby had fed for the first time and we were all happily cuddling in bed, Elke and Sandesh, the amazing midwives, asked me what I wanted to eat.  By then it was one in the morning and I hadn't had any food for close to twelve hours.  "Be careful what you ask for," Elke said, "because you will remember this for the rest of your life."  She was right: the slice of toasted bread DW had baked for me the day before with almond butter and fig spread is something I still dream of.

And when this lovely little loaf came out of the oven, as my beautiful daughter slept in the next room, I slathered a nice slice in almond butter and topped it with fig spread and a touch of nostalgia.

May this year bring health, happiness, joy and may you dance in the sunshine.

With love,

Gabriela

Gluten Free, Vegan Apple Spice Bread

1 c whole garfava flour (a mixture of garbanzo and fava bean flour available from Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 c millet flour

1/4 c almond flour

2 t gluten free baking powder

1 1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t ginger powder

1/2 c date sugar

2 T mesquite (optional)

1/4 t sea salt (optional)

1 flax egg (if you need instructions on how to properly make one, Bonzai Aphrodite has great instructions here)

3/4 c apple sauce

juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 c)

1/2 c water

Instructions:  Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (about 175 Centigrade)

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, spices, salt

Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Bake for about 50 minutes.

This loaf if great toasted though, as I mentioned before, it might not be for everyone.  

There's a great story of my mother, who has always baked "different" (read: healthy) things, taking a zucchini bread to a picnic once.  The husband of a friend of hers couldn't get enough of it -- he just loved it.  Until my mother told him what it was made of and he found he suddenly didn't like it anymore. 

Afterwards he politely requested that my mother never reveal what she put in her lovely baked goods again. 

Somewhere along the way, I lost my sense of direction.  The map I had drawn got washed along with my favourite flea market jeans.  I was sixteen and couldn’t remember where I was supposed to turn to get where I wanted to go.

The first time I revealed to someone I loved and trusted that I wanted to be a writer, I took what was, for me, a huge leap of faith.  It was a deep and scary revelation that took all of my courage.  Their response broke my heart:

“Why would you want to do that?” they said with a chuckle that felt like a smack across my cheek, “you can’t make a living at it, and besides, who would be interested in anything YOU have to say?”

Though I am no longer in contact with this person, their words shut me down for years.  Unable to get past the question about who my audience would be, I froze – I didn’t have the answer and couldn’t muster the guts to find out.  Because what if they were right and nobody read my words?  I couldn’t bear the thought of pouring my soul onto the page and having it be rejected.  

Though I was able to get that person out of my life, their words continued to haunt me.  To this day, when I’m struggling with my writing, I can hear that familiar voice telling me I’m not good enough.  With time, I have learned to recognize it for what it is.  And now, after years of hiding and procrastinating, I have finally decided to take that leap once more. 

The kitchen is my sanctuary.  It’s where I go when I’m sad or angry or frustrated.  It’s my safe place.  Somehow, I seem to have more courage in the kitchen.  Because here’s the thing: I am a terrible baker.  My cakes, gluten-free and vegan, come out crumbly or hard, too gummy or not sweet enough.  Sometimes – believe it or not – my cakes come out all of the above, and it takes a certain talent to make a cake that is both crumbly and gummy!

I guess with cake as with fiction, it’s about accepting that your first draft will probably be terrible.  In fact, it’s supposed to be terrible.  Not that that’s easy to admit to yourself or pleasant to hear or acknowledge.  But only by doing something over and over, by ripping it to shreds and really analysing what needs to be improved can you get good.  Like writing.  Or baking.

Recently I have been spending a lot of time on Jennifer Perillo’s blog.  When I saw this cake, although, as I say, my baking leaves a lot to be desired, I decided I had to attempt it -- Picky Foodie style of course.

The result? 

I’m pretty sure I will bake better cakes in the future.  But I’ve definitely done worse.  It wasn’t too gummy or too crumbly and it wasn’t too hard.  Amazingly, it stayed together quite well in that you can pick up a piece and comfortably take a bite without losing half of it along the way.  It could possibly have been a little sweeter -- the kind of cake you could have for breakfast or for dessert -- and I suspect it will complement DW’s afternoon tea really well.

Best of all?  I love the feeling of having another draft under my belt and my baking seems to have really improved in that my raspberry cake was at least edible.  I’m going to make this one again, try for better, keep working towards that elusive perfect Picky Foodie cake.

Calorie-wise, at least, I think writing will be easier than baking.  So there’s another reason to give this fiction thing another shot.  In the mean time, however, I think I’ll go brew some rosehip and hibiscus tea and cut myself another little piece.  

Raspberry Cake
(adapted from Jennifer Perillo’s Raspberry Olive Oil Cake)

Makes one 10-inch cake

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten free All Purpose flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
1 T maple syrup
2 t baking powder
¼ t coarse salt
2 T ground flax seeds briefly soaked in 2 T water
1 T melted coconut oil (and a little more to grease the pan)
2 t vanilla extract
½ cup coconut milk
2 c frozen raspberries
1 mashed banana

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit / 175 Centigrade

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Whisk together the wet ingredients, leaving out the raspberries.

Combine the two and then fold in the raspberries.

Grease a 10 inch round cake pan with a little coconut oil and then pour in the batter.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly and then remove the cake from within the cake pan but keep the bottom. 

Once the cake has cooled down completely, indulge in a piece and wait for the muse to find you.

When we get home from a long trip, one of my favourite things to do is go through my closet.  It feels a little bit like shopping, and a little like a treasure hunt.  What forgotten gems will I find?

Part of this is a practical reality – the requirements of LA sunshine vastly differ from those of rainy London – and part of it is that I simply don’t get rid of much (I just know I’ll need that pair of six-inch wedges right after I give them away!) 

Some bits and bobs come everywhere with me.  Like the long black sweater that fit when I was at my thinnest and carried me through my pregnancy.  It’s so flattering, so comfortable, so deliciously simple.  I can dress it up or down, it doesn’t crease and packs compactly.   

Other pieces I forget about until I’m cleaning out my closest, or packing, or looking for something else.   Those reunions can be emotional and exciting.  They can also make for a great charity shop run. 

And so it is with food as well.  Some recipes I could not live without.  I make them again and again and they don’t get old.  Others are filed away for special occasions.  Or never again.  This week, I pulled out an old favourite and made it brand-spanking new.

Many of us who remove gluten, dairy or other foods from our diets worry about having to give up beloved dishes.  But much like we clean out our closest, and an outfit that we thought we could never live without suddenly seems stale and dated, so too our palates change.

When I was a child, I loved pancakes. 

More to the point: I loved my grandfather’s pancakes. 

My grandparents lived a ten-hour flight away, so we only had pancakes during our summer visits.  On any random morning, my grandfather would put on his apron (two of which I now cook with) and get those eggs a’cracking.  I can still smell them, hear my grandfather whistling, and taste the maple syrup (it was all about Aunt Jemima back then).

His pancakes were paper thin – I guess most people would refer to them as “crepes” though my grandfather called them “pannekakkes” -- and yet crisp and doughy at the same time.  They were perfect. 

After my grandfather passed away, and when I discovered my food intolerances soon afterwards, I figured I would never eat pancakes again. 

To avoid disappointment, I shoved any thought of them to the back of my mind, like I would chuck an old sweater that I’m not quite ready to part with to the back of the dresser. 

Until this week. 

Pancake day rolled around and I decided it was time to try my hand at making a Picky Foodie version: gluten, dairy, eggs and refined sugar free.  
(note: I don’t avoid eggs for allergy reasons, but I try to minimize the amounts of animal products I consume)

I remembered the sugar crashes from my past -- definitely better to avoid those this time around.  One way to minimize the effect baked goods will have on blood sugar is to use whole grain flours instead of their refined white versions.  I decided to include robust, intense buckwheat flour.  While many people (myself included) dislike buckwheat (also referred to as kasha), I have come to really enjoy it as a flour.  Buckwheat flour adds a certain depth and earthiness to breads.  I wouldn’t, however, use it for cakes as it isn’t the slightest bit sweet.  

The result was a fluffy yet substantial pancake, about half an inch thick, with a taste bordering on savoury.  I figured we could each use maple syrup and toppings to tailor the sweetness to suit our individual needs.  Besides, I love sweet/savoury medleys. 

We topped them with maple syrup (organic and produced in small batches these days – no more brown, flavoured liquid), bananas and fresh blueberries.  They were absolutely divine. DW gave them a big ol’ thumbs up as well.  And best of all, neither of us experienced any kind of crash afterwards (a definite plus when you’re caring for a ten-month old).

(DW had the leftovers a couple of days later with ham and eggs, some maple syrup and blueberry jam.  According to him, the combination was orgasmic)

I know my grandfather would have loved them.  He too found great pleasure in testing, trying, recreating, and inventing in the kitchen. 

Jewish Shrove Tuesday Pancakes (gluten-free and vegan)
(adapted from veganbackpaker.com)
Makes 6 large pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1/3 cup water
2 T maple syrup
1 ½ cups rice milk
1 t apple cider vinegar
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t chia seeds*
1 t vanilla powder
Coconut oil for the pan.

Preheat  a tray in the oven to 120 Centigrade (about 250 Fahrenheit) – will be used to keep the pancakes warm.

Sift the dry ingredients together

Mix in the maple syrup, rice milk. 

Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Add the vinegar and mix well.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and melt a sliver of coconut oil.  Once the oil has melted, make sure it covers the surface of the pan and then using a ladle in, scoop into the pan.  Use the bottom of the ladle to flatten into a pancake. 

When the edges start to brown, flip the pancake (about 2-3 minutes)

Keep in the oven as you make the whole batch.

* Chia seeds are wonderful. They are easy to digest, full of fibre and Omega 3s and they are wonderful to help balance out blood sugar.