November 4, 2009

Indonesian Coconut Chili Eggs: Gluten Free, dairy free and delicious

Just because you can’t eat gluten or dairy doesn’t mean your culinary life has to be dull. My dad hailed from Indonesia so we grew up eating sate, sajoer, nasi goreng, bami goreng,  hot fish, tofu, and all kinds of things like that. For those of you who can’t eat eggs (or don’t want to) you could easily replace the eggs with something like tofu, fish or chicken. There’s only two semi weird ingredients that are essential to this dish so if you’re not in the habit of keeping lemon grass or trassi in your pantry than it would be a good idea to go grab some at your local Asian grocery outlet.

I got this recipe out of the only Asian cookbook I own. It’s called The All Asian Cookbook by Jackie Passmore. I’ve used it for years and love it. It’s called Sambal Goreng Telur.

Here goes:

6 eggs

I medium onion

5 cloves garlic (I upped it from 2)

1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 tsps chili powder

1 tsp fresh grated turmeric or 1/3 tsp powder

2.5 cm or 1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced

1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste

10 cm (4 inch) lemon grass

1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 1/4 cups coconut milk (thick)

1 medium tomato

Hard boil eggs and put in cold water. Mince onion and garlic and fry in oil until soft . Add chili powder, turmeric, ginger, shrimp paste or trassi, lemon grass and salt.. Saute for 2 minutes then pour in coconut milk and add tomato. Stir well and simmer for 5 minutes on moderate heat. Strain sauce through muslin or a fine strainer and return to pot adding peeled and halved eggs. Simmer for a further 6-7 minutes, then lift out eggs in a slotted and arrange on a serving plate.

There’s no doubt an official Indonesian way of eating this as part of a rice table for example. But if you just want to do something quick and easy this is perfect on it’s own served with rice, or for something a little fancier you can add satay or chicken skewers and peanut sauce (or tofu skewers) .add an easy salad of sliced tomatoes, cucumber and sweet onion with salt and lemon squeezed over top and you’re set.

October 7, 2009

Conversations With My Mother: Shakin’ it down from the afterlife

Tessa:  Hi mom,  How are you?

Rosie: As well as can be expected given my condition.

Tessa: I know. I’m sorry but it’s solvable, right.

Rosie: Well I guess if it’s my time, it’s my time.

Tessa: Anyways, Dave and I are planning the BIG PARTY. You know next year. I want to make sure you’re coming.

Rosie: Why not have it this year, I could be dead by then.

Tessa: You’re the healthiest 83 year old I’ve ever met.

Rosie: One word. H1N1.

Tessa: Anyways, what else is going on? How’s Tante Aggi?

Rosie: She’s upset. Gypsies stole her bag.

Tessa: There are no gypsies in Mississauga.

Rosie: Yes there are. They have a whole organization set up to steal.

Tessa: Just like dad.

Rosie: Hahahah. You’re right. Your father was a bastard thief.

Tessa: You married him.

Rosie: I know. What did I know. So innocent. Aggi seems sad.

Tessa: Well, I can see that. I mean it must be really hard without Uncle Bernie.

Rosie: I know but for god’s sake. Even if she did pass away, how the hell does she know she’ll meet him up there?

I told her she wouldn’t so she may as well enjoy her life with me right now.

Tessa: That’s supportive.

Rosie: Well, don’t you think we’d all know by now if there was life after death. People have been dying forever and at least one of them would have broken through to let us know.

Tessa: That’s a great point.

Rosie: When I die I’m going to make sure you know there’s an afterlife if there is one. I’m going to come down and shake things so you’ll know. Like bowls and glasses of wine.

Tessa: Perfect. I’ll keep my eyeballs peeled for you. But don’t go just yet. I like all the shakin’ you’re doing right now.

Rosie: Ohhh Tessie!

September 21, 2009

Kamut pastry recipe

It turns out I’m one of those people who can eat kamut but not spelt or wheat. It’s sad for me because I happen to love pie and everyone knows you can’t beat a wheat based pastry.  But I’ve played around with Bob Redmill’s gluten free flour mix and tonight I made a fabulous quiche following this recipe for gluten free pastry and replaced 1 cup of flour with kamut flour. It’s fabulous. I imagine you could also replace it with spelt. My next experiment will be to make a 100% kamut based pastry. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Here’s the recipe for the pastry:

Now to make pastry:

1 1/2 cups Bob Redmill’s Gluten Free flour  mix

1 cup kamut

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup shortening

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/4 liquid egg substitute of 1 egg

4 tablespoons ice water

September 18, 2009

Isabella Rossillini makes waves with Green Porno 3

I subscribe to this very cool blog called Brain Pickings and every day they deliver something interesting  into my inbox. Today’s cool item is a series of videos that actor, model, philanthropist and filmmaker Isabella Rossillini created called Green Porno which is essentially a series of videos that explores the sex life of bugs.

She has now launched Green Porno 3 which continues on the theme of sex but this time with marine life. Check them out. Also check out the Brain Pickings folks because they’re on to some interesting things.

September 18, 2009

Xylitol: Natural Sugar Replacement that is Healthier For You

Hey, I just discovered a little something that might be of interest to those of you who want a sweetener but can’t eat sugar. My sister is a cancer patient and from her research she’s learned that sugar is one of the worst things for cancer, my IBS riddled nasty bacteria infected stomach (which is currently actually doing very well due to cutting out sugar and other things) can’t have sugar, cavity prone kids have to avoid it and well, let’s face it, sugar is pretty useless except for its fabulous taste and addictive qualities. Xylitol is a sweetener that is found in many fruits and vegetables and is typically made from birch trees. I bought some the other day and it looks like sugar and tastes like sugar (maybe a little sweeter).

I’m one of the worst bakers in the world so I haven’t tried baking with it but if anyone has I would love to hear what your experience is with it. People with serious health issues should probably run this by their doctor or naturopath but here’s a link for more info.

September 11, 2009

Health care in Canada: Thank god I don’t live in the States

I have to say, I just don’t get the health care debate in the States at all.  The only thing I can think of is that social media and media in general has allowed the lunatic rightwing fringe in the US to whip up a propaganda storm around this issue that is stopping any momentum to bringing decent accessible healthcare to average income earners in America.

I had my small taste of what privatized uninsured health care can do to a family income a few years ago when Dave and I went out on a limb and spent a very large sum of money on saving our dog. (think down payment on a house or college tuition for your kid). When someone you love is sick you just do it. I can’t imagine trying to fix my family member myself, or not being able to get medical care when my family needs it because I don’t have insurance or I don’t have adequate insurance.

Dave and I spent last Saturday night in emergency. He had a massive gall bladder attack and we had to go in. We arrived at 12:00 am and left at 4:00 am. The nurses and doctors were amazing. I can’t imagine sitting at home wathcing him suffer knowing we couldn’t get him care.

I understand our system isn’t perfect. But I’m extremely thankful to have it and I have no problem paying our monthly dues. England, Holland, France are just a few of the other countries who also have great excellent healthcare systems. I really hope that Barack Obama is allowed to do the job that he has set out to do. Let him set the world on fire. It needs it.

September 10, 2009

Vegetarian, dairy-free, wheat-free yummy Moroccan Chickpea Lentil Soup

I found this recipe on the Wholefoods web site which has excellent , delicious and searchable recipes by category and a variety of other searchable methods. I’ve made this several times, each time a little differently mainly because I’m not a precision master when it comes to cooking. But I have to say, each time I’ve made this, it’s been delicious.

This soup has saffron, turmeric, cinnamon and ginger and is fabulously fragrant. Add the charmoula and you have a meal made in heaven. This recipe just calls for cilantro but I actually do half parsely/half cilantro and it tastes great. This recipe serves 8 so if you have leftovers just toss it into a tupperware and throw it into the freezer and enjoy it later. Keep reading →

September 1, 2009

The Glass Castle: Book Review

Jeanette Wall’s The Glass Castle isn’t exactly the lightest kind of summer read but who says summer reading has to be light.

The truth is I did find Wall’s memoir of her childhood growing up moving from town to town with her peripatetic parents and her brother and sisters quite refreshing for the first quarter of the book. Her mother is an artist and her father is a brilliantly imaginative man who uses the power of imagination and the innocence of childhood to help his children believe that their world of increasingly grinding poverty is a magical and special place.

The Wall children, not knowing anything but the life they have, for a long time believe that while other children have Christmas trees they have stars in the sky, while other children live in homes with running water, food and beds, they one day will have a Glass Castle, a home their father promises to build.

But as their mother spirals into depression and their father into alcoholism the family’s troubles increase. When they settle into Rex Wall’s hometown in Virginia the parents leave their children to fend almost entirely for themselves.

While other children eat lunch, the Wall kids scour garbage cans to find something to fill their stomachs. Beyond their emotional and addiction issues there is a selfishness to the Wall parents that is often shocking. Mary Wall secretly eats a chocolate bar while her children starve and Rex’s drunken charm finally reveals its true character when he sends his teenage daughter Jeanette off to a gambling buddy’s apartment to potentially pay off a debt.

Ultimately the image of the Glass Castle which is sustained as a beacon of hope throughout the book, is finally broken when the place where it is to be built is turned into a mountain of the Wall family’s refuse. Dying to leave home,  Jeanette’s older sister moves to New York as a teenager to find her fortunes as an artist and Jeanette follows soon after to pursue  her love of journalism. Jeanette’s father begs her to stay saying he’ll finally get to work on building their dream home but her childhood illusions of her father are finally broken and  she moves to join her sister knowing that the Glass Castle exists only in Rex’s imagination.

Ultimately the entire Wall family end up in New York. As dysfunctional as this family is, the one thing all the Wall’s children end up doing is pursueing their life long dreams. While their parents end up living on the streets and squatting, Jeanette, her sister and her brother fall successfully into their respective careers.

As difficult as parts of this book is to read and as angry and you might become at Rex and Mary Wall for their crazy selfishness, it does strike me as amazing that these kids managed as well as they did. They survived and then some.

Jeanette Walls does a great job of balancing the emotional territory of telling a very difficult personal story without engaging in armchair psychoanalysis or even judgement. It’s clear that her early life was very difficult but she also brings to life the magic and the power of her father’s imagination and in that way the book serves as a kind of tribute to Rex Wall.

Check out Jeanette Walls on Youtube discussing The Glass Castle.

August 14, 2009

Conversations with My Mother: We get naughtier as we get older

Tessa: Hi mom, where’ve you been?

Rosie: I was at Tante Aggie’s for lunch.

Tessa: That’s nice. How is she doing?

Rosie: She’s really upset.

Tessa: Why?

Rosie: She didn’t pass her driver’s licence.

Tessa: Oh, that’s awful

Rosie: I say big deal.

Tessa: Mother.

Rosie: I told her to drive her car anyways.

Tessa: MOM.

Rosie: When I go and I fail, I’m doing the same thing.

Tessa: No you’re not.

Rosie: Yes, I am and nobody will know. I won’t tell anybody. Besides I only do little distances to the mall and back. Why not?

Tessa: Because  you could kill somebody or yourself.

Rosie: I’m almost dead anyways.

Tessa: I’m not talking about you.

Rosie:Anyways. Did you see Larry King with Jermaine. Ohmigod. Those children are so beautiful.

Tessa: Yeah, they’re pretty nice looking.

Rosie: They look just like Michael.

Tessa: No they don’t. They look like their mother.

Rosie: That horrible beast. You see her? Crooked nose and long stringy hair. She’s awful.

Tessa: I don’t think she’s that awful.

Rosie: She sold her children for a million dollars.

Tessa: Eight million.

Rosie: Eight million? Wow. [pause] I’d sell all of you for eight million.

Tessa: Me too?

Rosie: Yes. [pause]  We get naughtier as we get older.

Tessa: Not we. You. You are naughty. And it’s not just as you get older. You just are this way.

Rosie: I know. BYE!!!!

August 13, 2009

A new bra at last

For those of you have followed the story of my Indestructible Japanese Underwear and how my bras are older than most dogs grow to be, you’ll  be happy to know that I have finally bought a new bra.  It’s been 10 years but I finally did it. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, it’s just that I find it close to impossible to do. The problem is that I’m thrifty.  Unless I absolutely have to, I won’t cave. For the last two years though, I have been on the hunt for new undergarments. Dave drags me into stores and points. I look, shake my head and leave. I realize now, it’s not just that I’m cheap but I really find that things have to talk to me. Out of the thousands of bras and sizes and racks one bra has to stand out and say “Buy Me”.

I went into Canadian Superstore the other day to buy dog biscuits. I took a short cut through ladies underthings and out of the millions of items there one little purple bra stood out. There it was in all it’s glory. Purple, sassy, cute. I grabbed it, looked at the size, miraculously it was my size, saw the $8.98 price tag and I understood at once that my partner for the next 10 years was right in my hands.