“A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner.”
― Samuel Johnson
A Flour By Any Other Name
tales from a gluten-free kitchen
Paleo Pancakes
My sister made me these delicious pancakes on a recent Sunday. What a perfect way to start the day. They are made with coconut flour and tapioca flour, which makes them completely grain-free. My sister used coconut milk, making them dairy-free too. They have an amazing texture. We topped them off with a sauce made from raspberries and blackberries, and we poured on a bit of maple syrup too, just for good measure.
The original recipe calls for blueberries, but we didn’t have any of those, so we were of course forced to use chocolate chips. The flavours went together beautifully.
Pure Deliciousness
Recently, I found pork loin on sale at my grocery. I bought it and froze it. Later, when I decided I needed to clean out my freezer, I decided that pulled pork would be a fine thing to do with it.
Tenderloin is not the recommended cut for pulled pork, but it was what I had. I threw it in a crock pot, and added barbecue sauce ingredients, such as honey, vinegar and ketchup. I got to use up the last of some sweet chili sauce and add in some of my sichuan pepper blend. I plugged it in at night and woke up to an amazing aroma and a generous quantity of spicy, delicious pork.
Pulled pork is so versatile—perfect over rice, but also good on nachos or as part of a plate with cooked vegetables. I will definitely be making this again sometime soon.
Quick Thinking
I have quick breads on the brain lately, so I made this currant loaf. It has lots and lots of currants, plus orange rind and citron peel. It turned out nicely—this photo doesn’t really do it justice. This is what I am having for breakfast tomorrow.
What I Did Today
I have mentioned before how I have trouble finding good breakfast options. (This may be partly why I like cake for breakfast…) Lately, I have been scouring the Internet for good breakfast cookie recipes. Ones that are high in fibre and are a bit filling.
I found these protein cookies by Heather at Kula Mama and decided they were exactly the kind of cookie I was looking for. I had a break in my regular routine and all of the ingredients, so I made my version of these cookies.
My version is a bit different—I used cashew butter instead almond butter, quinoa flakes instead of oats, sugar instead of maple syrup, canola oil instead of coconut oil, and so on. I loaded mine with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds and citron peel.
The result was delicious. It made 5 dozen cookies. I’ve frozen lots and have some in the fridge for the next few days. And now I know that tomorrow morning won’t mean me heading out the door on an empty stomach. Yay!
A Little Tale of Woe
“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”― William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming”
Ages ago, when I told my brother that I was going to start blogging about gluten-free cooking, he suggested I call the blog Things Fall Apart. Clever, and absolutely on point. That’s the reality of cooking and baking without gluten—gluten is amazing at helping things stick together. All of the gums or other tricks we use to coerce gluten-less flours to stick together only work so well.
Almond Coconut Banana Bread
As much as I love eating leftover dessert cake for breakfast, I sometimes want something a little simpler. When I first stopped eating gluten, banana bread was one of the little things I missed, so I started looking for a reliable gluten-free alternative.
The first time I tried to make a gluten-free banana bread was also the first time I baked with coconut flour. I had no idea how different coconut flour is from other flours. The result was dense, leaden and dried-out mini loaves of banana bread that tasted good but fell far from my ideal.
A Delightful Meal
“Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.”
― Auguste Escoffier
A Flour By Any Other Name 