Hamburger Buns

Well, despite being in the middle of the Hurricane Isaac path, I have enough going to actually post up a recipe. Determination for the win! I am however, going to keep it fairly simple. I worked on this recipe amdist preparing for the Hurricane and everything else, but we were responsible and paced ourselves from the first time we heard about it all. I had A taping up the windows just in case one of them shatters and taking care of our babies (Ie Kitties) while I tinkered away at the recipe. It took three tries before I was happy. I liked the flavor of the first one, but it seemed too dense. I wanted light.

Usually, I go to the Linda the Gluten Free Homemaker recipe for Gluten Free hamburger buns and while they are FULL of flavor, I was really wanting something a bit lighter still. So I poked around the internet and nothing looked quite right. They either completely relied on rice flour or even worse, they did it by cups! Nothing wrong with rice or doing it with cups, but with gluten free recipes being what they are and trying to get back to my pastry school beginnings, I wanted a more 'certain' product. But I was going to try some different recipes and see what I liked about them, and see if I could figure out how to make it more  to my taste.

I'll tell you, some people may say they came up with a recipe on their own, but it's rarely true. You have ideas of what this person did that worked well, and this other thing that happened that you liked. Things and people adapt and create new and wonderful things, and today was no different. First I tried the Food Philospher's recipe and while I loved the flavor, it just wasn't as fluffy as I wanted but I liked the texture, so I tried Carla's Gluten Free Recipe Box. but making them, I did discover what I liked the most.

I've noticed that potato starch and egg whites give me a lot of structure and porous texture, which I personally like.  But I also want something a bit soft and pliable. I want it to have give and to soak up the grease on a good burger.

Hamburger Buns 

Difficulty: Complex but not difficult
Time: 1hr 20minutes
Makes: 8-9 buns

Mise en Place

• Stand Mixer (whisk and paddle attachment)
• Measuring cups
• Microwave or stove top
• Thermometer
• Baking spray (Pam or the like)
• English Muffin rings or some form for the bread
• Sheet pans (I double pan to even out the heat)
• Parchment paper
• Tea Pot (optional)
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Pinch bowl
• piping bag (optional)
• Pastry brush (optional)
• Aluminum foil

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk scalded and cooled to 105F
• 1 TBSP Honey
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons instant dry yeast
• 2 eggs, 1 separated out
• 90grams of Sorghum Flour
• 50grams of Millet Flour
• 65grams of Tapioca Starch
• 130 grams of Potato Starch
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Chia Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Flax Seed
• 2 tsp boiling water (I just heat it up till it boils in the microwave)
• 1/2 tsp guar gum
• 1/2 tsp seasoning with salt ( Like Cajun seasoning or Italian Seasoning with a bit of sea salt)
• Sesame Seeds

First lay your parchment down on your sheet pans and put your muffin rings or the like onto it and spray it with your cooking spray. If you're using something like a muffin top form, ignore the parchment and spray. First and foremost, scald the milk. I do this the easy way and heat the milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. Then let it cool to 105F or so. Too hot will kill the yeast. You can put the honey into the milk but don't put the yeast in until you have confirmed that it's cool enough.

Now, take the separated egg and whip it to a firm peak in the mixer on high. I will often use cream of tarter just to make sure the whip is firm but that's up to you. Once it's firm, I will check on the milk and if it's cool enough, stir in the yeast. If not, give it more time by drying mixing the flours and starches together in a separate bowl with a whisk. Stir the yeast in and let it sit. The honey and the natural sugars in the milk will get it going just fine in about five minutes and it gives you time to do other things. Like preheating the oven to 175 degrees. I don't do this step, because I've set up a small proofing box of my own for my kitchen but if you don't have a nice warm place to proof the dough, do the oven proofer.

Boiling the water will also help pass the time. I just throw it in the microwave for about a minute and scoop 2 tsps out of it and into a small pinch bowl that I've already placed the chia seeds and flax seed into. Once the yeasty milk is ready (this is dry instant, so you don't -have- to proof it, I just like to make sure), keep the mixer going on low and add the yeast milk, the oil, vinegar, egg and chia seed/flax seed mixture and let it mix until it's a bit slushy.


Then add the flours and guar gum and mix on high speed for about five minutes until a soft nape forms. It looks like the dough is tearing away from the paddle.

I then scoop the dough out into a piping bag and pipe it into the muffin tins, you can also use a scooper or spoon. I spray it again with the cooking spray and put it in my proof box. If you're using the oven, turn the oven off and place your pan into the oven for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Now, you'll still have a left over yolk at this point. Add just a bit of water to it and mix it up. When the dough is proofed, very carefully remove it from the oven and preheat the oven to 375 or already having done it if your kitchen is warm enough to have proofed it without the oven. Brush the yolk mixture LIGHTLY over the tops of the dough and sprinkle with sesame seeds. The dough is very fragile at this point so be careful with the brush.

When the oven is preheated, place pan in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and forms, placing additional sheet pan or some form of covering over the top to steam the bread a bit soft until it cools on it's own. Cut with a serrated knife and enjoy with your favorite sandwich or burger.

Tuesday Tricks and Tips

When dealing with Gluten Free flours, you have to realize one vital thing. You HAVE to weigh things. They will never turn out the same if you use a cup or what have you. In addition, GF flours have different weights per equiviliant cups. So when you  convert, you have to additionally convert into the separate weights needed. If you look up my cake recipe, you'll see this is how I converted the cake flour into gluten free once I'd decided my percentages. Here's some weights.

Evil Cake Flour is 100grams per cup
Evil Bread Flour is 136grams per cup
Evil AP Flour is 127grams per cup

However

Almond Flour/Meal is 112 grams per cup
Potato Starch is 170 grams per cup
Rice Flour is 158 grams per cup

That's a lot of variations, ain't it?

So what you do is when you've decided on percentage you want of each to substitute. So if you have a recipe that calls for 2 2/3  cups of Cake Flour, that translates to 266.6 or 267grams of Cake Flour. If you decide on a 60/40 split between protein and starch. That would mean for example : 267*.60= 160 grams of Protein and 107grams of Starch. However, because GF flours have a different density, you then have to multiple those weights by the density of the GF flours. In this example, that would be 160x 1.12 = 179.4grams of protein and 181.56grams of starch.  Equally a total weight of 360 grams.

(Amount in cups) x (Weight of type of Flour called for in recipe) = Amount in grams
(Amount in grams/Percentage in Starches) + (Amount in grams/Percentage of Starches)= Amount in grams
(Grams in category (proteins/starches/etc) x (Weight of GF alternative per cup) = Amount of GF alternative needed

Tech & Fun Thursdays

First, I hope everyone is doing well. Secondly, if you'll look up at the address bar above this window, you'll see that A Sweet Geek has found a new home at http://www.eatsgeeks.com. We're still working with Blogger as our blog service but liked the idea of a .com for a bit more exposure, even though I'm -sure- you're sharing the site with other people you know, right? *grin*

In addition, this is going to mean I will hopefully (once I remember any website formatting I've done before) that you'll have more content to poke around in like any good Spark and I can be egotistical and vain and show off all the fun stuff I get into and want to get into. In this case, Eats Geeks. This is the parent name for my Food Service Company. Geeks of all types will be welcome as well as the mundanes. Why Geeks you ask? Mostly because Geeks pride themselves on their Knowledge and it's a fact that they are obsessed. I'm obsessed with tasty yummy and especially sweet things and the knowledge of how to make and improve them so I'm a Sweet Geek. Here, let me explain it even more simply.

I'm not completely socially inept, so I wouldn't be a Nerd or Dork, although just like everyone else, there is a time and place for those people as well. There is no 'bad' type of Nerd, just whether it's an appropriate situation. So tell me, what are you a Nerd about? And as we move into our new home, what would you like to see more/any of?

Chicken Nudges

Chicken Nudges

I have a few staples on my list that I make fairly regularly because I know they're good and they're simple to freeze and make later and still be 'fresh' enough my brain doesn't rebel against the idea of eating them. I should be less of a food snob but when I -have- to eat something repeatedly, I feel extremely depressed and my mood sinks. Food security is security for me. If I can find some way to eat something in the kitchen that I want and that appeals to me, I feel as if I can conquer the world. If not, I start to wonder what's next. A bit silly, I know but it's one of those ever so lovely quirks I have.

But one thing that I can make and have on hand and use in a million different ways is chicken nuggets. Now, I make them a bit bigger, but not full size tenders so that I can cut them up and use them in stirfry (which A adores) or I can dip them in whatever I have and so on. The possibilities are limitless. There are a few options on how to do this, but my basic recipe for GF chicken nudges is as follows.

Difficulty: Basic Basic
Time: About an hour
Mise en Place

• Sheet Pan
• Parchment Paper
• 3 flat containers/bowls/etc
• Deep fryer or pan deep enough to fry (Set at 360)
• Frying oil (Canola/Peanut/Vegetable/etc)
• Slotted metal spoon if using pan
• Metal tongs
• Gallon Plastic Ziplock 
• Hand blender (optional) Whisk or fork also works, just not as well.

Ingredients

1-2 cups of Masa Harina (otherwise known as Corn Flour. It should be in your Hispanic/Mexican aisle in the grocery) or Sorghum flour
4-5 eggs/yolks/whites/some mixture therein (or egg replacement = w/water)
3 cups coconut flour (Optional) or GF bread crumbs
1 Tbsp each Paprika, Garlic Powder,
1 cup of pickle juice/buttermilk/ milk and vinegar (1cupmilk to 1 TBSP Vinegar)
2 lbs of Chicken


Preparation: Cut the chicken into the size pieces you want. Soak the chicken in the plastic bags along with the acid base (pickle juice/buttermilk) for about an hour before you need to start prepping.

It's really pretty basic. I make sure there are 3 flat bottomed bowls or tupperware that are big enough. I scramble all of my eggs with a hand blender since it makes sure there is no random proteins causing clumps of eggs that will then drop off. Then lay some parchment paper down on  a sheet pan that's small enough to go in your freezer. And yes, I have a tiny kitchen so things go where things fit. In this case, in front of the microwave. Though now, even it's been moved.


Once it's soaked enough, you grab them out of the bag with your left hand, this becomes your 'wet' hand. Drop a piece of chicken into the flour. Take  your right hand and coat the chicken, then -drop- it into the egg mixture. Coating it with your left hand then drop it into the crumb or coconut mixture. Coat again with the right hand and lay down on the parchment covered sheet pan. This method of dipping will keep your hands somewhat clean and mobile. Crusted fingers =/= yummy.

Fill the pan, then stick in the freezer for about 20 minutes until chicken is solid and crumb isn't going to just slide off. You can fry at this point or you can coat it all again for a second layer then freeze again but that's up to you. This is also the point to turn your deep fryer up to get it to heat up in time. If you're wanting to make this for long term use, ignore the deep fryer bit and let them freeze a bit more solidly and then you can just drop them into a CLEAN ziplock bag and use them like any other prepared fried chicken bag.

Once you've got enough crumb on your nuggets, it's time to turn up the heat. Dropping enough for one layer into your deep fryer basket (but no more), drop them into the ready oil (usually, this is when the green light is lit). Set your timer for 2 minutes. Then bring them out of the oil and shake the excess oil off before dropping them again for 2 more minutes. Repeat this a second and third time. By the time they are done, you should have cooked it for 6-7 minutes and have a deep golden brown like this:

The sauce is whatever you want to use. I made my own marinara for this shot. I've also taken and used hot wing sauce and bleu cheese dressing (Marzetti's is GF)

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks : Xanthan Gum

Okay, everyone -knows- that you have to have xanthan gum if you're making something gluten free. FINALLY, the people who make it realize that there's a market for people who just want to make something for a friend who is GF, but having to buy a $12 package of something that they only use a teaspoon of, is kinda ridiculous so they have mini packs now. But there's something even worse about xanthan gum. It's a gum. So it makes GF products have a gummy texture. It's not anything new but it seems to have missed a few people by so I thought I'd reiterate it here.

Whatever amount you 'need' of xanthan gum, instead mix that much 1/2 and 1/2 of Chia seeds and Flax seed with twice as much boiling water.

For example: You need 1 tsp of xg, then you need 1/2 tsp of Chia Seeds (Link is for a smaller more manageable size if you want to try it out. I buy bulk for around $20 and it lasts FOREVER in the freezer. Going on a year currently and they still work fabulously) and 1/2tsp of Flaxseeds along with 2tsp of boiling water.



It will cool down quickly so I just boil more than I need. Also, don't forget to remove that amount of water from the liquid in your recipe. Then add it before you add your liquids into the recipe. This works amazing for breads, tortillas, etc. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for cookies but you could try it and see if it works for you.

Also, on a side note, I'm getting very excited. I'm going to the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo in Dallas on September 8-9!!! I can't wait to come back and show you all I've learned!

Changing things up

Let's face it, living gluten free is all about changing things up. The way we eat, the way we think, the way we do. If I'm going on one of my beloved road trips, say to the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo in Dallas like I am in a few weeks, I have to take GF munchies with me instead of just stopping somewhere and grabbing something or otherwise, I won't be able to enjoy the vendor fair or the cooking classes.

I also now have to have about 10-13 containers of flour substitutes in my kitchen at any given point instead of 4. (Used to have Cake, AP, Bread and Pastry). I have to ask exactly what is in something when I eat out instead of just going with whatever looks yummy. I have to send A into the baking aisle to get my spices or GF treats like Pamela's Product Pecan Shortbread Cookies because it's the frickin' baking aisle and there's flour floating in the air that's going to make me blow up like a balloon and give me tummy issues.

But you probably don't care about that, you want to know why I'm rambling. Well, my new job takes place mostly on the weekend so that means a Saturday recipe update isn't really doable as easily. So here's the new lineup.

Monday - News from over the weekend or random tidbits that I want to share.
Tuesday - Tips and Tricks
Wednesday - New Recipe day

Other stuff might happen on other days, but these will be the set up. And so that's your bit of random for today.

Ta ta from Tabi

A week in pictures

Okay, so no 'new' recipe today, but I've had a bit of fun this past week playing with the cake flour stuff, and then the Brazilian Cheese Bread. Then A had a truly brilliant idea. The Cheese Bread puffs up like dough...and it rolls like dough...why not see if you can make a pizza with it. So we did.

First of course, we preheated the oven to 425. We took about 900grams of the dough and rolled it out thin until it fit into a baking pan and oiled the pan. Docking the middle of the dough so it wouldn't poof out as much with  a fork, we then prebaked it for about 10 minutes.

Then loaded it up with sauce, asparagus, and chicken mozzarella sausage. We used Daiyu cheese for the topping since we'd been wanting to try out how it tasted/melted etc in case we wanted to use it in the restaurant. I wasn't really expecting to like it too much, but it actually wasn't too bad. However, I was much happier when I did a sausage and cheese pizza on Friday night with the dough. The Vegan cheese was good, but I'm not sure I'd use it unless I couldn't have dairy anymore. That's just me being picky though.

With the Daiyu Cheese

Maybe...but not quite right.

Hmmm...So I'm currently working on hacking bread flour like I did with cake flour but it's a bit tougher this go round. My first attempt was okay but it didn't really 'sing' out to me. The crust factor was nice but it dried out WAY too fast to like it long term. The second batch my yeast died so we won't mention it anymore. The third batch...

Hhmmm...that third batch was kinda nice. I did the ratio thing again and had a 40% Starches to 60% whole grain mix and I'm wondering if that's where I screwed it up. It's not bad, don't get me wrong and the crumb is gorgeous. See?

So what caused this happy accident?

I wasn't happy with the use of the quinoa seed that the first batch had, the flavor was a bit weird for me, I thought. So I thought I'd switch it, but with something but what in my ratio.

Attempt at Camp Bread Crust = FAIL

First Batch
35% Sorghum Flour
25% Sweet Potato Starch
10% Potato Starch
10% Sweet Rice Flour
10% Tapioca Starch
10% Quinoa Flour

Second Batch (Doesn't matter)

Seem a bit like hard muffins at first

Third Batch
35% Sorghum Flour
25% Sweet Potato Starch
10% Potato Starch
10% Sweet Rice Flour
10% Tapioca Starch
10% Golden Flaxseed (Milled)


This third batch is what gave the insides the nice chew I liked but it still felt like a not dry but not moist muffin to me. So it's still not right. I am using the same reference recipe as a base that comes from my school textbooks. I think it might work as a GF biscuit scone thing to eat with soup though. Very tasty. But still not quite what I want. So it's back to the kitchen to practice again.

How about your thoughts? What makes a good bread good? And any suggestions for ways to try and incorporate it into this recipe?

Dog Days of Summer

I live in Louisiana and I won't lie, the summers here never seem to end. A day when it's 79 degrees in February? Seen it. What I do love however, is all the options available to us, not just in Louisiana but in the entire United States. We get tomatoes in November and that's great that we can, but they just can't quite match the the sharp tangy yet sweet taste of a tomato fresh off the vine in July. I think we're spoiled in many ways and we restrict ourselves only to the things we know.

We don't pay attention to the 'season' of a vegetable or fruit because we don't have to, but that unrestricted plenty has allowed us to not leave our comfort zone of food. I'm plenty guilty of it and of course, finding out about my wheat allergy and gluten sensitivity has made me even a little fearful of doing so but when I'd thought about it, I realized it shouldn't. Just because I couldn't have some things didn't mean I couldn't explore what I could have and see what it could do for me.

And you can never stop exploring, because if you let what is be the total sum of your experience than you'll never truly enjoy what could be. It's as simple as "Without sorrow, there is no joy." That's the lesson I take into today as I sit here and wait for my latest creation to rise and see if my idea for bread flour and a bread recipe pans out the way I want. I already made a few unintentional mistakes that I'm wondering if I have to go back and fix in the next batch but just imagine. No matter how many loaves it takes, no how many tears of frustration I cry, when it does turn out, it'll be something to really shout about. I'm looking forward to this even if I am baking bread on the first day of August in a building that is not very well insulated and has no central air!

Enjoy whatever your day brings you and remember to live fully!

I blame the Gluten but it was my own fault.

Okay, I was stupid. Foolish and stupid. I was really in need of a little man made relaxation last night so I thought I'd grab a pack of Cider. Only they were out. I'd been told that Mike's Lemonade; a brand I went to before I'd found out about the Wheat Allergy and Gluten sensitivity, was okay for non Celiacs. Now I just wish I could find that person and strangle them. So yes, I got the Mike's...which was very tasty.

But oh man did my stomach complain. And my head. I have a good head on my shoulders even when I drink. Three Mike's at 6% alcohol should not have put me under. But I could barely stand let alone walk and my stomach swelled to disproportionate portions. In addition, my brain was not computing at all. I was there watching myself, going "Something is not right about that statement, but I can't figure out what." every time I or A spoke. Ultimately, we decided that it was a combination of the alcohol and the beer. The problem was, later, when my coordination came back, the stomach issues continued as did the foggy head. And when I woke up this morning? EVERYTHING hurt. My joints, my back. But not like a hangover. But just my entire body was sensitive and out of tune. I'm still groggy now at almost 3 in the afternoon and my normal pep and energy is just not there. Why did I ever think this was a good idea.

So...

The R&D post I was going to have up for you today will instead be next week, and it's very exciting. I HACKED cake flour and it was awesome. I have a GF cake flour and I LOVE it.

Bonus: Sweet and Sour Shortcakes (new Style)

I love strawberries and even though they are technically out of season in Louisiana isn't going to stop me from eating them. And I found out today that one of the theme carnival I've wanted to jump on board of was having the theme of strawberries this month, I had to join in. I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm going to try, right?

No form, no fashion but still frakin' fabulous!

So one of the staples of my kitchen is an amazing recipe by Linda of Gluten Free Homemaker. She's also the one who's doing the carnival. It's for a Focaccia bread/hamburger bun and I've been using ever since the first moment I found it. I even commented on it so you can see how long I've been using it and making it. I average at least one batch a week, I believe and use it for everything, sandwiches, pizza dough, etc, etc, etc. This was my first batch ever. Before the Muffin Rings came in the mail from wonderful Amazon. Not very pretty, but oh so very tasty when I hadn't had any kind of bread in about two months.

But the reason for this particular recipe stems from the fact that one of my signature dishes from before I was GF was a Sweet and Sour Shortcake Recipe. I needed a sweet bun, but one that could absorb the flavor of the vinegar and such. Things simmer and stew in the back of my brain forever if I have the time to let it. I mentally cook something about twenty times before it ever reaches the stove if it's not an impulsive thing. The cake I'm planning on for my best friend's wedding has already gone through about four incarnations and she's not even technically engaged yet.

You know how when you're sick, things sit and stew in your brain becoming all sorts of delirium, especially when you're REALLY sick? Well combine that with my generally stew-y nature (Hmm...stew sounds really good right now, but...oh wait, tangent again ) I should either never be allowed to cook while sick, or I should always cook while sick because the fact is, I can't follow a recipe worth a darn when I'm sick but I usually come up with a pretty sick (as in really good) screwup that works amazingly well for what I'm trying.

This is what happened when I brutalized Linda's recipe one steamy March night in Louisiana when I was feeling a bit loopy. See, when I'm sick, my brain remembers more of my culinary training than I do and I don't have any silly hangups about doing things the 'right' way and just do what seems intuitively right. Linda's recipe is amazing but what I wanted that night was a sweet bun designed for yummy fillings that made my sweet tooth happy. I have mentioned the ball of yarn, right? The one that tells me things? I listen to it far too often.

So in listening to that ball of yarn...I present

Sweet and Sour Shortcakes (New and Improved)

Ice cream and Cream Sweet and Sour Shortcakes

Difficulty: Sweetly simple with a Sour Twist (Aka not too hard but a lot of steps in some ways)

Time: 2 Hours total. Most of which is resting and baking.
Feeds: 8 Healthy Portions

Mise en Place

For the Biscuits and cream: 

Mixer (preferably stand) with Paddle and whip attachment

Mixing bowl (No bigger than medium needed)
Bowl Scraper/Spatula
Muffin Rings (For a more rustic look, you don't have to have them)
Double Half Sheet pans (Or a pan with a airpocket to help control uneven heating)
Parchment paper
Ice cream scoop (#3 is my preferred size but can also just spoon it out)
Oven
Optional: Half Sheet pan lid or pan topper ( I'll explain below)
Optional: pot of boiling water
Optional: Pan rack
Optional: Towel
For Sauce:
1 Good sized Sauce Pan
1 Heat Safe Spoon with deep pockets
A gluten Free cooking spray

Ingredients
1 1/3 cup Brown Rice Flour
2/3 cup Sweet/Glutinous Rice Flour (No Wheat Gluten, it has Rice Gluten. Different)
1 cup Tapioca starch though you can sub about half for potato starch (Not flour) for taste
2 tsp Unflavored Gelatin (I've also just thrown in a pack, it doesn't matter too much)
1 Tbsp Xantham or guar gum
1 Tbsp Instant Active Yeast
1/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 cup water
1/4 cup water mixed with 1 Tbsp Chia seeds (Black or White, don't matter)
4 Eggs
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp Vinegar (Don't miss this part. It's pretty important)
~~~
1/2 cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp Sugar
Cap of Vanilla
~~~~
~4-6oz Balsamic Vinegar
2-3 Tbsp Sugar
2 lbs Strawberries


First, Add all the dry ingredients together in the mixer bowl and set to slowly mix the flours; The brown rice, sweet Rice and Tapioca plus the gelatin, gum, yeast, salt and sugar and the baking soda. Normally this recipe doesn't have baking soda, its leavening comes from the yeast, but I found that a little bit of baking soda actually gives me more of a crumbly inside that I want to help absorb all the yummy sauce.

Hold its own shape.Very soft dough.

In a separate bowl add the water, the chia water, the eggs, olive oil and vinegar. Mix it up pretty well and turn on the mixing bowl to a bit higher of a speed and add the wet ingredients. Keep it at about half speed for several minutes 2-3 usually works but if it's warmer, maybe 4 until it looks like this below. I actually tried to not add the gum into it because I'm trying to steer away from gum usage but it was just falling apart so I added at the end and mixed for like another minute beyond that. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Letting the dough rest for a moment or two, it's time to get out the pans. I have NEVER run into an oven outside of a commercial oven that actually cooks evenly so I prefer to double pan all of my pans when it actually matters. Baking biscuits, cakes and breads do matter so they get the double pans. I place a piece of parchment up on it and place the muffin rings on it. I get between 9-10 biscuits for this amount of dough.

Then I place the pan lid over them. This doubled pan is also where the pan rack, boiling water and towel come in. After the lid is over the biscuits, I place the boiling water in a third pan which has a rack in it to place the doubled pans so I can just slide it off come baking time. This helps to control the amount of time I have to let it sit and it's almost a perfect 15 minutes every times for rising just the right amount I need.  Place the towel over the top to keep extra heat in (have I mentioned I'm a control freak yet? I like things to be able to be replicated even in my sick-y mind. I think I'm so much a control freak that it's permeated my entire being and so my sick brain knows I'll beat it up if I can't repeat something it did. *grin* Anyhoose) You don't have to do this, you can just let it rest, I just find this does its job consistently which I like.

Slide just the double pan into the oven and turn down the heat to 375 or 350 depending on how brown you like your top. With the additional sugar in my recipe versus Linda's the bottoms brown kinda easily so you don't want it at quite 400. It should take about 15-20 minutes. Her recipe calls for about 15 minutes, but since our temp is lower, we still need it to cook. At 20 minutes it should be very lightly brown. See?

Just enough to coat the bottom

Let them rest and cool to room temperature fully. This will take about 20-30 minutes. Then it's time to cut up the strawberries. There's no real way to get strawberries the same actual size so I just cut off the top so it's flat, turn the flat side to the cutting board and cut it into slices in a vertical cut. It'll take a while, about ten minutes. Once that's done, I put the vinegar into a pan, (and yes, I know acid to a metal for long term is bad but this won't be long it just cooks the items better.)

Don't want to add too many strawberries

While that's going on, I go ahead and whip the cream, sugar and vanilla together to get a heavy slog as my mum and her dad call it. Letting that sit for just a few moments, I throw a bit of sugar into the vinegar while it's heating up. Just use about a low medium heat (a 3 on an 8 heat stovetop) and stir it using the heat resistant spoon. When you can't hear the sugar scraping along the pan, it's ready. Toss in your strawberries (most pans will only fit about 1 lb at a time but you can reuse the sauce, just adding a bit more vinegar and sugar to re-situate it).

Left with fork edging. Right with knife.

 
Cut open the cooled biscuit bread with a fork for a nice English muffin like texture so it can soak up some of that wonderful sauce as well. The flat is not bad by any stretch. But I love to soak up sauces and rough edges do that better.

If using just the whipped cream, I put some of the strawberries and sauce on the cut biscuits then slap on some slog and voila, all done. But if I'm doing Ice cream like A prefers (him and his sweet tooth), then I put the ice cream on first, then top it with some cream and then slather it in Strawberries with a bit of sauce. Normally we share with our neighbors but they weren't home so our dessert today had a few more strawberries than normal. That's ALL strawberries under the cream in this picture.

Anyways, a great big Thank you out to Linda for the wonderful start to my Living Fully way of life. And I'm sorry for murdering your recipe. Actually, I'm not, it's still awesome...just different.

 This post links to Gluten Free Wednesday Strawberry Carnival

China: Love in the Middle Kingdom (now with pics!)

So got back from China last night and I'm still hopelessly in love with the Middle Kingdom. It might have just a little to do with the HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE service level of San Fransisco airport and frustration with my trip mates. Beijing was amazing and Shanghai was...nice.

So after that completely ambiguous summary, I should probably get to the nitty gritty. I'm going to try and do a few summary posts here and there over the course of the next month about my various types of experiences in China, each one focusing on a different aspect but it can really be summed up with Beijing still feels connected to both old and new worlds while Shanghai feels like Las Vegas and New York had a Ugly Bastard Love Child who gets a new facelift every few years because mommy feels guilty for throwing it across the pacific for boarding school so they don't have to deal with it.

Shanghai via night cruise

Entering Shanghai

I've been lucky and never really had many issues when traveling, but then again I've always been in pretty good condition when I travel and having to travel while incapacitated has really opened my eyes to the way that the service industry tends to treat disabled people and I am completely outraged.

Not the carry out but close in taste.

During my trip, I slightly twisted my ankle twice (once at the Great Wall and once at the Forbidden City) but managed to recover by not going out the night after,but the second day before we left, I stepped off the tour bus wrong though and it all came back to me in crippling glory. So instead of going to the Shanghai Urban Exhibition Center, I ended up staying around the hotel barely able to walk more than a block without crying in pain. Luckily, A was with me and he babied me, adjusted my pillows and went out and got me food as well as an ankle brace. We ended up with a very nice black pepper steak that was very yummy.

But the day we left, A had to take all of the luggage to the bus to go to the airport. This was fine, and they even arranged for a wheelchair for me as well as upgraded both of us to Economy Plus. Which trust me, on an 12 hour flight helps tremendously. It gave me enough legroom to sprawl out and actually sleep a bit. Our problems, as mentioned before, started in San Fransisco. Admittedly, thanks to China's government interference, our flight was 2 hours late in getting started and we only had a 3 hour layover window.

So when we got to SFO, we were in a rush and I was still in a wheelchair...They had 3 people at the gate to push 8 people in wheelchairs. So we ended up playing Leapfrog to get to Immigration. We then got a special green tag that was SUPPOSED to get us through everything quickly. Immigration was relatively painless but then we went to grab our bags that  had been checked because on International Flights you have to uncheck and then recheck bags for domestic flights. A got lost while trying to get a cart so he wouldn't have  to hand carry 4 carryon bags plus our two Checked bags, which he was handling that and my crankiness, pain and such with the best sense of humor of ANY man. (He's a keeper, mum. *grin*), but we looked for the bags while waiting on him.

We found my bag, but could not find his. This was not helped by the fact his bag was black. Just black. No duct tape or distinguishing marks at all except for his bright green address tag. After about five minutes of searching, we can't find it and another flight is being put on that belt so we had to leave. We found A and did another look through. Still no bag. So we piled everything on, and despite having our 'handler' leave, the guy who was supposed to be in charge of the bagging area wheeled me to a place where they could take us to security. Now keep in mind we have these green tags that are supposed to get us through security pretty quickly.

Instead, they ignored us, and pushed me over to the side and made A go through the whole shebang. So he's on the other side of security and I'm on the opposite...and still no one's come to help me. Apparently one lady was just standing there, ignoring the call for her to do her job until A almost literally grabs her and asks her to do her job. She stated then that she was about to go on break and he asks her again to do it. She finally does and it's over very quickly, but this is after I'm sitting there like a bump on a log for 15 more minutes. At this point, this was when our flight was supposed to leave. Luckily for us, there was something wrong and our flight got delayed just in time, and it wasn't for us. xp

But A had to leave the cart and so now he's stuck with 4 carryon bags and 1 checked bags and trying to push me too, since no one bothered to make sure there was anyone to assist us once we got past security.  Finally, someone was about to leave and saw us struggling and when A asked, he was happy to help and then we FINALLY began to book it through the airport, making it to the plane just in time. Then of course, we had to wait a bit more for the true delay before we could take off.

I haven't flown as much as some, but I average about 2-3 flights a year or so over the past 5 years and that is truly the most horrific experience I've had. If I had been a normal handicapped person and been treated like that every day I've flown or gone somewhere, I'm sure I can see how they feel so down on themselves. They are treated like less than human. There was a guy in front of me in security who had an oxygen tank who was still there when I left and he seemed on the verge of tears while people just ignored him.

Even on this trip, with people who do not understand Celiac and gluten sensitivity, I've felt like I was a bit less than human. Like I was some alien because I couldn't drink beer or eat udon noodles. I never want to feel like that again, and if nothing else, this has reaffirmed my resolve. It is not Living Without, it is Fully Living, which includes having a healthy functioning system that does not having me fatigued, scatterbrained and in pain so I can enjoy every food I eat. So what if I can't have a few things out there, many people out there are picky eaters and won't even try different ways. I get to explore and create and that makes me very happy!

First meal I made once we were back in US. So never got sick of Chinese style food. NEVER!