General Talk - Spring Has Sprung??

Well I thought it did at least... guess I was a little early on the gun with the 60+ degree temps we were having a couple of weeks ago. The weather here has such changed that I feel as though I have wondered back in time by about 2 months. Having to bring out my sweater and heavier coat (although not my winter one but had thought about it a couple of times). I think Belgium is the only place that I have now actually seen the impossible happen, that you will need your sunglasses and your umbrella at the SAME time! Yes, you read that right. I was working this past week and there it was, I was enjoying the bright wonderful gorgeous sunshine blasting through my work's windows and then bam, people were coming in to get out of the rain and sure enough I look up and it's down pouring with fun on bright sunshine. *shrug* Never take nature for granted, she will always throw you for a loop!

Now with that said, the weather has indeed been REALLY odd and I don't know if I should be looking for fresh Belgian strawberries in my local fruit store or if I should be preparing to make soups and stews. One minute it's sunny and bright such as it is now but within 10mins, it's down pouring and with a nasty wind. But never the less, I always seems to come up with something to make, one way or another.

It's been a busy couple of weeks with me being the 'fill in lady' for my work for the better part of 2weeks straight. The only 2 days actually off were spent shopping for a new wardrobe of clothes for my mother who I'm proud to say has lost an outstanding 50+ pounds in the last 6months or so *CHEEERRRS* and also has under gone 2 cataract surgeries within a week of each other. So to celebrate we bought her brand new clothes and got her new glasses/sunglasses... and the other day off was spent mmmm don't remember except that it was another long day and barely enough time to do anything.

Now it's becoming weekend yet again and it's hubby's planned 3day weekend... he took Monday as a vacation day just to make it longer. We were originally going to spend an evening with my folks but the weather is so up in the air that no one really knows which direction to go so we all decided it would be better to get together when the weather shapes up. I don't mind this at all but I do long for the better weather. I'm dying to use my camera which was bought at the very ending of July 2011 so I was not feeling very comfortable with it yet and I have so much I want to get photos of not to mention I just want to enjoy my summer! Last year was not the most pleasant of affairs with my mother-in-law going down hill and all mentally but now she is stable and every one is taken care of... I plan to ENJOY my summer this year, even if I do have to work, I can still enjoy my off time and free time without worry of taking care of something or another.

This weekend of cooking will I think start tonight... I'm not totally sure but since I've been working such long and odd hours, I have ended up with a few bananas that are quite over ripe and I have decided they are at a good stage that although I don't want to open them up and eat one straight, that they are wonderfully ripe for banana bread and/or muffins.

This weekend though will I hope include the following dishes to be made...

Banana Bread and/or Muffins

Corn Dogs (that didn't get made the previous long weekend off)

Cauliflower Patties

Breaded & Baked Zucchini Slices

Vol-au-Vent (not the pastries but a local dish I feel in love with before I had to go gluten free)

French Toast

American Style Pancakes w/ Raspberries

This is just what I have thought about making off the top of my head. Not sure how much will or will not get done or if I'll toss any other recipes in there while I'm at it but for now I think that is enough! It at least gives me time to spend in my kitchen and time making good wholesome gluten free foods. Geee's I have so many photos and recipes on hand, I don't know where to start with posting any more. Coming up though and already with photos edited & ready to go are Easy Shrimp Bisque and Quick Microwave Cake. I also have some more wonderful fruit photos/entries I'll be sharing too.

Let Us Talk 'Exotic' - Doughnut Peaches

It becoming that time of year again... all of my wonderful spring and summer fruits and veggies will be coming into full cycle soon and I thought today would be a good day to write about another little treasure that I am impatiently awaiting.... doughnut peaches or otherwise known as a Saturn Peach.

These little pieces of natural gluten free heaven are about as sinful as they are good for you. If eaten ripe, they are so juicy that you will need a napkin with them, they are so sweet you will think you were eating a piece of candy and they as so flavourful that you would think that you had just spent hours in the kitchen preparing them with all sorts of exotic flavours.

Any fruit is good for you and when you are living or must live the gluten free life style, we sometimes forget the most simple of things are naturally gluten free. Normal peaches are good for you as well but they are usually large and it's really a hit and miss thing if you get a really good ripe juicy full of flavour one but when you choose to find these little beauties called 'Doughnut Peaches' due to their squished in roundness that looks a lot like a doughnut with a very small seed right in the middle that would be the 'hole' of the doughnut you will not have to guess if they will be sweet and juicy as long as you remember to pick them out ripe or let them ripen a bit at home.

As with any fruit, peaches do have health benefits as well. This wonderful piece of fruit contains a large amount of fibre and on top of it important nutrients such as niacin, thiamine, potassium, calcium and beta carotene which is a vital antioxidant that converts into Vitamin A.

So when your out at your local farmer's market or your local fruit store or even your every day grocery store and crave something sweet that is good for you, look for these little beauties, you'll be very glad you did. Don't forget, there are LOTS of recipes that call for fresh peaches. Keep an eye out later in the summer months for some posts from me on recipes using this season's wonderful summer fruits.

Recipe - Sushi

Sushi... what exactly is it? There are many people around the world that have said it's either this or that or that and I am no expert on it either but to me sushi does at least mean it does *NOT* involve raw meat as many people seem to think but there are some that beg to differ with my thoughts on this as some sushi will also involve slices of raw salmon or tuna. Ok that is fine... but in the end it is still made with cooked vinegared rice known as Shan. Anyhow, the point being is that Sushi when made at home, can be any thing you want it to be or not be.

I'm not an expert in making this art and I don't strive to be but I also still love to eat Sushi because not only is it really healthy for you but it tastes really good when you have the right combination of ingredients going on. I sometimes like to also make these with a side order of freshly made Tempura style veggies (makes really nice seafood too though!). Not to mention, making it at home costs a mere fraction of the cost that you will go out to buy it already made for... oh and the fact that you can ensure that all ingredients going into it are 100% gluten free!

Tip #1 - This is where again my advice of keeping vinyl powder free gloves for kitchen use come in handy. But this time not only do you want to wear a pair of these while making this wonderful dish but you will also want to keep a bowl of cold water (doesn't have to be iced or anything, just cold from the tap will do). As you go on preparing these wonderful little treasures, you'll want to refresh this bowl of water from time to time.

Tip #2 - Make sure you have all the ingredients you intend to use for this prepared, set out before you in easy reaching distance. It's very much a PITA to get caught up in the middle of making these only to realize you left the layer of foil or what ever sitting on the other side of the kitchen or that you forgot you wanted to add cucumber but it's sitting in the fridge uncut.

Tip #3 - When preparing the rice, HAVE PATIENCE! This is what makes Sushi.... SUSHI! You need to have patience when rinsing the rice, when soaking it (if it's a kind that needs soaking), when cooking, when cooking, when working with it. I've even read or heard some where on the web that it is taboo to 'abuse' your rice in Japanese culture... they respect the rice and treat it with respect. Doing this means your rice will be just right and will produce the finest of what ever product you are making with it.

Tip #4 - When preparing your veggies and any meat that you will be putting inside rolled Sushi, you want to make sure they are slices thinly and all around the same sort of thickness. Too thick or too large of pieces will just result in un-even rolls or rolls that don't stay together at all. See the photos through out the directions.

Tip #5 - Don't get upset if your first attempt doesn't work very well. I've been making this a couple of times a year for a few years now and even I'm still not there. I get the idea of making really good rice, what goes together and not together but my rolling technique still sucks beyond words but hey I have fun doing it and so should you!

Tip #6 - For those of us (yes me included) that are a bit more cautious and don't wish to risk eating raw fish for one reason or another, you can substitute salmon lox (a bit more salty but at least cooked) for the sushi grade raw salmon but do *NOT* substitute the tuna for canned! Canned tuna vs fresh tuna, even cooked, are SO very different and does not make good sushi. If you rather not eat raw tuna, at least buy a nice steak of it fresh, cook it through (no pink/red centre), shred it with a fork and let cool before preparing your Sushi with it.

Tip #7 - Last one, just a tip that has come down from the times of rolling these, completely cover your bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap! Don't 'tighten' it around the thing, just cover completely with enough give to allow the mat to still roll but that you don't have any of the wood exposed. This will keep your mat clean and give you an easy clean up in the end. These mats are very difficult to wash, are NOT dish washer safe and are held together by string if they are true Japanese Sushi mat. Doing this will just ensure your mat will last through out the years. On this note, when storing your mat, make sure it's stored in a dry dark place as to prevent it from absorbing any odors or moister which might cause mold to form.

Ingredients - Sushi Rice (see tip #3)
 ♥ 2 cups uncooked Sushi Style rice (most stores mark this as such rice now a days)    
 ♥ 2 tbs sugar

 ♥ 2 to 3 tbs rice wine vinegar

Ingredients - Filling/Meat Selection

This following ingredient lists are no where near being what is exactly in Sushi, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to go about this. Pick your favourite veggies, seafood, fish or even egg! (will get to that one another time when I attempt to make Japanese omelets).

 ♥ Sashimi grade salmon or tuna (this means that it's of a high quality, as fresh as you can get it and can be eaten raw without fear of getting sick from it. As your fish monger for sashimi grade or sometimes referred to as actually sushi grade)

 ♥ Salmon lox (see tip# 5)

 ♥ Cooked tiger pawns (large shrimp)

 ♥ Fresh cooked crab (most fish monger have this already, just ask for it)

 ♥ Japanese omelets (not recipe for this yet sorry)

 ♥ Halibut lox (another type of fish commonly sold in lox form)

Ingredients - Filling/Veggie Selection (see tip# 4)

 ♥ Cucumber

 ♥ Bell peppers

 ♥ Carrots

 ♥ Bamboo shoots
 ♥ Green onions

 ♥ Avocado

 ♥ Water chestnuts

 ♥ Pickled ginger

 ♥ Wasabi paste (if you like it spicy!)

 ♥ Nori sheets (the seaweed sheets that are used to make Sushi)

Directions - Preparing The Rice (VITAL STEP!)

This is most likely the most important part of the whole Sushi making process. Don't fear if you end up with a couple of thrown out batches of rice before you get this but just in the same you might be lucky as I was from knowing how to cook rice that you'll do just fine. Biggest word of advice is PATIENCE! (see tip# 3)

Firstly, make sure your rice is indeed rice intended for Sushi. Most stores now a days will have a section that is just for Japanese cooking and you'll find every thing you need for this adventure in it that area with exception of some of the veggies.

Most Sushi rices need rinsing before they are can be used to remove excess dust from it's processing. Basically what you want to do is strain it through a fine mesh strainer until the water that is coming off of the rice is no longer milky or cloudy but running clear as the water that went into it.

 If the water still looks like this, keep rinsing... remember you want the water that comes out to be as clear as the water you put in

Let stand for a bit, this is not totally needed but it doesn't hurt either. When making this rice by stove top (for those of us that do not use rice enough to warrant having a rice cooker) use a heavy bottomed kettle for this. Do not use a light aluminum kettle for this as your rice will most likely end up burning.

Place rice into kettle and add as much water as needed to reach 1/2 inch higher then the rice itself. Bring to a full boil uncovered. If you use a gas stove, let the rice cook at a boil until the water as been absorbed just until the top of the rice and if you are using an electric stove simply skip the water reducing step needed in the gas stove directions and continue. Cover and turn the heat down to the lowest possible temperature. At this point, do NOT uncover for what ever reason for about 10 minutes. This is the patience part as well... uncovering it will result in losing the steam that is cooking the rice and may cause it to go flat. After this waiting time, return to your rice and it should be perfectly cooked and absorbed all of the water.

Again patience is required on this step, you have to remove the rice from the heat source and allow it to cool until it is slightly still warm. While waiting for this to happen mix the rice wine vinegar with the sugar in a small bowl. When the rice is still warm but no longer hot, drizzle over the vinegar mixture and use a pair of chop sticks to lightly toss the rice and vinegar mix until well disbursed. Again, more waiting... now you should let the completed Sushi rice sit until it is cooled completely. Working with warm rice is not going to work well as it is very very sticky at this stage, not to mention if you hit a spot that is still much too hot, you'll simply burn yourself. Have patience... this is the one place that it is really needed.

While your waiting for the rice to cool completely, this would a good time to prepare any of the veggies and meats you will be using. Remember to keep things kind of the same. Cut veggies in long thin slices, keep meats in small but workable sizes, if using bamboo shoots do not leave them whole but also slice them thinly. If using water chestnuts, make sure you buy the already sliced ones and then go about also slicing them thinly. If you are attempting this recipe, you at least have some skill in the kitchen already, use your common sense in what is a good size to go into a Sushi roll. If you think it's too big or too wide, chances are it is.

Once your rice is completely cooled, you're on your way to preparing you own rolls! Now I'm not going to go into what kind of roll is what kind of things or what not. I don't live in the 'it MUST be this way' type thinking when it comes to the kitchen. Yes some things need to be done certain ways such as measuring flour for a cake or the process needed to cook the Sushi rice in this dish but I have never been one to think that I must make a California Roll or what not. I just put in what I think will go good together and go from there. So with that said, don't expect to find recipes to make certain rolls... just go with your guts and put in what you think will go nicely together such as salmon with a bit of avocado or tuna with a bit of cucumber and ginger. This is YOUR Sushi... make what YOU want to of it!

Firstly, make sure you've prepared your mat (see tip# 7). Usually I work with half sheets of Nori (seaweed sheets for Sushi) but some prefer to use whole sheets. This is up to you and how much you are planning to add to each roll itself. If you want more inside the roll, then you will need more to roll, simple as that.

Lay out your sheet of seaweed on your mat shiny side down. You want the paler side for placing the rice on so that it sticks to the sheet better and that you have a better looking end result.

Now respect your rice on this part, do not 'mash' or 'press' your rice but spread it. Dip your fingers in the cold water (with or without gloves on) and using your fingers take enough rice to cover 3/4th of your sheet (not matter if you are using half a sheet or a full sheet) with about 1/4th inch thickness. Remember SPREAD the rice out, do not mash it down. You want a fluffy texture to this and if you start to mash or press out the rice with any thing but your fingers, you're likely to split the rice pieces and make a rice mash instead of keeping it in pieces.

Once the rice is spread out evenly, place your wanted ingredients along the short side closest to you from end to end. Place them side by side going up the length but do not add too much of any thing at one time. Remember, use your head on this one. If you think there is too much going into a roll, most likely it is. You just have to play with it and find what feels best for you.

Rolling is something I can't teach but will try to explain. You do *NOT* roll your mat up into a roll, the mat is used to add you in rolling your Sushi. If you attempt to roll you Sushi in your mat, you'll just find out the hard way that the mat is now part of your roll and that it didn't work very well (did that the first time making this). What you want to do is make sure your seaweed sheet is at the very end of the mat closest to you. Working gently, take the end of the mat and being to roll. Using your fingers on the other side where your rice is, make sure your ingredients are staying secure. Using the mat to add, begin to use it to roll the seaweed into a roll while allowing the mat to roll OVER the roll inside of it. Once you have your roll entirely together, use the mat that is rolled around the outside of it to apply some very light pressure to the roll that is inside to help seal and slightly form it.

Slowly unroll the mat and what you will be left with (hopefully) will be a wonderful little roll of Sushi made by your own wonderful hands. 100% gluten free and for only a fraction of the cost of what it would have been if you went to that new Sushi take away down the street.

I have found this best served for my tastes is a mild sweet chili sauce or a sesame sauce. The traditional way is to use soy sauce with just a bit of wasabi paste added to it, stirred with chop sticks and dipped. Remember though real soy sauce ALWAYS has wheat in it (for what ever odd reason) so if you do want to go this way, make sure you use Tamari Sauce instead... it tastes exactly as you would expect soy sauce to taste with all of its dark salty goodness (so to speak) but without the added wheat/gluten aspect. Then usually between each 'type' of roll that is eaten, one eats a small piece of pickled ginger to cleanse the pallet in order to enjoy the tastes of what each roll provides. As for me... I like it all!

I made these wonderful rolls for our Christmas Celebration in 2011 (yea yea I know, late in posting but does that tell you how long I hold on to some recipes?!). I don't have the finally cut open, laying on a plate type ending photos but basically in the end you want to cut off the ends just enough to get rid of the over hang (they taste pretty good too, so just nibble away as you cut *halo*). Take your roll, with a very sharp knife, cut it first in half, put the two halves next to each other and again cut in half. Repeat the process one or two more times depending how thin you want your roll pieces. This method allows you to keep all of your pieces the same thickness if you plan to serve this to guests or just simply want to make it look all pretty. When I make these again I'll make sure I grab photos of this stage and what the final result looks like when one is served.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter every one! I had started the recipe I added today yesterday in fact but it became some what of a spring clean for my blog that I just wasn't able to manage to finish it time to post yesterday. So what the heck, so what if there is more then one post a day! More to read, more yummies to try out and more food to talk about!

Today is Easter 2012, spring has been in the air for quite a while but the last couple of days has felt more like fall again but never fear, spring will be here along with all of the wonderful spring/summer fruits and veggies! Nothing makes a dish better then wonderfully ripe summer fruits, spring veggies so young so tender and of course bunches and bunches of fresh seasoning!

This weekend has been relaxing so far. I have family but we are not the most religious of people. We love to cook and eat like most so we do take the chance of a bigger bank holiday let us say to indulge our taste buds with the more uncommonly cooked meals and dishes.

This weekend I have planned to make....

Omelets

Blueberry Pancakes (American Style)

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies (Subway Copy Cat)

Corn Dogs (made even this time with American Hot Dogs!)

Pinwheels (a recipe I've been making for over 15yrs now)

Easy Shrimp Bisque (inspired by Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa)

Roasted Lamb Shoulder

Home-Made Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes

Ok so there it is... those are what I have 'planned'. So far I have made the Shrimp Bisque and the Omelets. I currently have sitting on my counters the ingredients (and my camera!) for the Pinwheels and White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies.

Tomorrow will be the Roasted Lamb Shoulder (which I have never made before so I hope it turns out as good as the lamb chops I seem to of gotten almost perfect now) along with Home-Made Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes.

The Corn Dogs most likely will end up waiting a couple of weekends I think since I'll be making the pinwheels today (which include 2 recipes btw because I have to make my own mock version of tortilla shells without a press and simple so no rolling is needed) but tomorrow's breakfast will start out early with the Blueberry Pancakes which will sit nicely along side a couple of simple scrambled eggs and some chicken breakfast sausages that my wonderful butcher was so kind to make me a couple of weeks back.

Easter here in Belgium is celebrated on 2 days. Why? I'm not quite sure but I'm certainly not going to argue over it! It means my wonderful husband has an extra day vacation and more time down.... and it gives me more chances to cook things other thing dinner style items.

I hope with spring almost here and summer coming close behind, that I get to spend more time in my kitchen as I just LOVE making fresh seasonable type recipes. I have taken over making my mother's recipe of fruit salad that includes almost any kind of fruit (exception of watermelon) with a hint of sour cream added to it for creaminess and I really want to try my hand at making home-made fruit leathers as well once the true Belgian Strawberries come into season at less then 6euro a container. They are starting to make an appearance again but they are much too costly to be making fruit leathers out of which calls for something like 2 cups or more of cut strawberries. I can just imagine though the taste of them already with the strawberries I've grown to love compared to the American counter part that rather be sold large with less flavour then smaller with LOADS more flavour. I wouldn't mind even trying my hand at making raspberry ones either I think!

Remember, come the end of summer this year, dear hubby and I will be looking for and hopefully moving into a new place. We hope for a detached house of some sort with a nice big backyard. If this happens, I promise there will be more entries as I start my very own garden as I take my cooking adventures down the road of producing my own food. I think it'll be such a wonderful feeling when I make a dish with food grown by my own two hands... I suspect the results will be so amazing that it will make my own dishes little pieces of magic! At least that is what I hope! I may or may not add that part of my cooking adventure to this blog but it really depends on how far/well it will go. If it becomes a bigger project them just a few random entries, I might start a new blog for it but if it's smaller which I suspect, I will just include it in here under a new label, what do you all think?

Anyhow, Happy Easter to you all. I'll come by and edit this post later on to add links as I add these wonderful recipes. I've already made a couple, have a couple in the process of being made and more to come tomorrow along with making something I've never made before. This weekend is all about enjoying my family time and taking advantage of having some time off to actually enjoy cooking again.

Recipe - Mushroom Risotto

Aaaa... My beloved gluten free blog, how I've missed you so. Life is busy, life is short, life is sweet but still filled with love every day. Today is the start of a 3day weekend off from work, life, daily stresses, the outside world. Dear hubby and I went out to do what we needed to today and will now spend the remaining time today and the next 2 days staying inside with nothing more to do then spend time relaxing. playing with games and computer, being with each other and of course being able to finally cook again at my pace.

Although this recipe is not from any time recently, I will have to make it again soon I think as it has been a very long time indeed since I have made risotto from scratch.

This recipe is a bit time consuming because it requires you stand there stirring, adding liquid often and just generally keeping an eye on things but the time vs the result are very much worth it!

This recipe originated is again from my beloved Jamie Oliver and his 30min meals collection but it is my own twist on it. Risotto rice + mushrooms = a perfect gluten free dish as long as you are a lover of mushrooms such as myself and dear hubby.

Tip #1 - Please do not use just plain white button mushrooms... although these are nice on themselves for things such as salads and perhaps even eggs, this recipe needs a very full flavoured mushroom such as oyster, sataki, or chestnut.

Tip #2 - There are a LOT of rices to choose from and they all serve a special purpose so choosing the correct rice for the dish you are making is vital. In this recipe you need to look for risotto rice. Every rice is grown different, is different and is processed different for this reason.

Copied From Wiki About Rice In General

A high-starch (amylopectin), low-amylose round medium- or short- grain rice is usually used to make risotto. Such rices have the ability to absorb liquids and to release starch and so they are stickier than the long grain varieties. The principal varieties used in Italy are Arborio, Baldo, Carnaroli, Padano, Roma, and Vialone Nano. Carnaroli and Vialone Nano are considered to be the best (and most expensive) varieties, with different users preferring one over the other. They have slightly different properties. For example, Carnaroli is less likely than Vialone Nano to get overcooked, but the latter, being smaller, cooks faster and absorbs condiments better. Other varieties like Roma, Baldo, Ribe and Originario may be used but will not have the creaminess of the traditional dish. These varieties are considered better for soups and other non-risotto rice dishes and for making sweet rice desserts. Rice designations of Superfino, Semifino and Fino refer to the size and shape (specifically the length and the narrowness) of the grains, and not the quality.

 

Ingredients
 ♥ 4 to 6 cups chicken stock

 ♥ 1/2 to 1 cup white wine

 ♥ 3-4 cups mixed mushrooms, cleaned & roughly chopped (I used oyster, chestnut and mini sataki) (see tip #1)
 ♥ 2 tbs cold butter
 ♥ 1 small onion, finely chopped

 ♥ 2 cups risotto rice (see tip #2)

 ♥ 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
 ♥ 1 small onion, finely chopped
 ♥ 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or even crushed

 ♥ 1 or 2 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only)
 ♥ 1/2 cup to 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
 ♥ 2-3 tbs butter
 ♥ freshly cracked pepper to taste

Directions

Pre-heat a large skillet pan (something that can with stand a medium-high heat for around 20-30minutes) over a medium-high heat with 2tbs olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent and tender.

Add risotto rice and saute until rice starts to turn a light golden brown.

Add wine and let cook until absorbed... keep stirring lightly to ensure you don't burn anything.

This is where this recipe gets a bit time consuming. Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock at a time to your rice mixture and stir as often as you can. The secret to a good vs great risotto is how well you work your rice to make it release it's starch! When all liquid is absorbed from each addition continue adding 1/2 cup at a time until you've added 3 cups in total.

When adding that almost 3rd cup of stock, add 1 cup of your mushroom mixture and 1 sprig worth of fresh thyme along with it. Place the rest of your mushrooms in a small oven proof dish and turn your oven on broiler/grill setting. Add a few pats of butter (the 2 tbs cold butter) throughout the reserved mushrooms and add another sprig worth of fresh thyme over it. Place in your broiler/grill until tender (about 10mins at most). Don't forget about these lovelies while you are continuing with the risotto mix. 

Continue adding 1/2 cup of stock and stirring as much as you can until you've used all stock and your rice is tender. Don't be afraid to TEST YOUR RICE! You want a soft texture while still having just a slight bite left to it. Over done risotto is just as bad as under cooked. If you want to make great dishes, you have to be willing to taste them throughout for their readiness and their seasoning. If you don't know what your food tastes like, how do you expect to know if it's good enough to serve or even eat yourself?

When you have added enough liquid and have the rice cooked to a soft texture, remove from heat and stir in butter until melted throughout and then add the cheese, again mixing until well combined.

Serve this risotto while it's still hot and creamy. Spoon over some of the grilled mushroom mixture and if desired sprinkle with a bit of extra cheese.

Let Us Talk 'Exotic' - Coloured Cauliflower

I thought this was the best place for this posting as this is not your normal cauliflower! I found these beauties around the Christmas season in 2011 when all the kind of more odd, weird and exotic type foods come out to temp the eye of the near-by shopper into their wonders.

Well these did just that for me. I know that cauliflower is just a good for you as almost any other kind of veggie and fruit. They are high in vit C and manganese, they even contain Omega-3 fatty acids! (new fact to me!). They are also a great source to lots of B class vits! But with that said, remember the golden rule in food and eating... everything in moderation. They say to limit your intake of this veggie to not more then 4 or 5 servings a week as it has purines which are broken down by the body making uric acid which with too much can in turn lead to getting gout.

With that said, look at these beauties! Purple and Orange Cauliflower! I LOVED purple and just feel for these the instant I found them! Don't worry about too much about how to cook them as there are LOTS of ways to cook cauliflower from roasting to sauteing to even just boiling or steaming it. I personally like the roasting and steaming methods best but I also like to mash it and make kind of a mock potato pancake type dish (again will post recipes I'm sure).

The colour on these beauties aren't just skin deep either, it runs all the way through. Perhaps not as deep as the colour on it's outside but it just looks so pretty when cut up and ready for cooking. I boiled mine at this time and I have to give you one small piece of advice, if you boil these kind of cauliflowers, so them separate! Especially if you have a purple one in there! The colour DOES bleed into the water and thus my orange coloured on turned a really weird colour. That is a reason I didn't post a recipe or anything with these... just sharing some more exotic stuffs with you all! I mean what is better for a gluten free diet then going to the basic things that are naturally gluten free?! 

General Talk - The Day Of A House Wife

What is there really to be said about being a house wife. In it's way there are lots of benefits such as keeping almost any hours I want to being able to go about my daily life mostly as I wish to but there are also down sides of it such as knowing that I MUST do certain things by a certain time such as dishes and cleaning. That there are going to be tough days just as there are going to be very easy days. There are going to be times where my wonderful husband is not always that wonderful just as there are going to be times where I'm in such a bad mood that any one best keep a 4 block distance from me.

Would I change the life I have? I will honestly say yes... but not really in ways I think you would expect. The first of these changes is that I don't want to simply be *just* a house wife. I changed this at the end of 2011 and now work for a wonderful Mom & Pop run business (even though they are only about my age to be honest!) as someone they can rely on when they need someone to come in at a drop of a hat (a lot of people don't have this luxury in their real lives) when someone falls ill or the business is just so busy they need an extra hand not to mention some more stable hours that I will receive well soon I would suspect... as soon as the weather becomes a bit more stable.

What else do I want to change? I want to move and we're working on that too. Well I'm not the only one that wants to move, my husband wants to as well but it's me that really has to work on this one as it'll be some where between 4000 and 5000 euros to move with. We want to move into a house, villa or bungalow. Something NOT attached to another building or other apartments as we are now. Some where perhaps just on the outside of the city where rent is a better deal and the area is quiet. We moved where we are now almost 10years ago but at that time the area besides the street was quiet. There was a baker next door, a fish monger in the shop that is part of this apartment building (not to mention they were the owners of the building!), there were no apartments next door and my mother-in-law, even as annoying as she was, lived under us. Now a days there is a dance cafe next door where the baker use to be, there have been at least 5 different shops that have come in and out of the shop in this building, mostly turkish, from butchers to bakers and to now a what seems to have died cleaning business.

I want to move into a place that has a backyard where there is a place for me to dig up and make a veggie garden out of. I want to plant and grown my own carrots, zucchinis, radishes, tomatoes and more if I can. I don't know if I have a green thumb or not as I never have had a chance but if I have one at all, I want at least that chance to find out. If it doesn't work, I will simply re-plant the area with grass seeds or put down sow... but I want at least the chance to do that!

And really the last thing I wish to change is to have a car again. I loved driving when I was in the states, just for the sake of driving but now a days I simply need a car. I should say I feel I need a car. My husband would gladly disagree because it's another expense but he isn't home experiencing my every day life where a car would save a LOT of time that goes wasted right now on waiting for buses or other transportation and it would allow me to go out to places farther away that I don't go now because I don't like long bus rides. Such as the fact that my laptop needs to be repaired because the hard drive is failing but the place I would like to get it done is a 30min bus ride away both directions... by car I can do it 30mins total and at my own pace/direction.

Among all of this... they are not things like wanting better/bigger things. They are simply changes that I wish to make. I hope along with the move though that I end up with a bigger kitchen. Right now it's so small that hubby and I can't work in it together unless it is 100% clean, dishes are totally put away and there is nothing at all on the counters. Otherwise it's him looking on from a chair in the living room. I also want some more well luxury items to me at least, perhaps some would see them as needed items, but simply I want a dish washer, a washing machine and dryer and this seems odd but I want a kitchen sink with a sprayer and garbage disposal! Yea odd I know but still, they are things I feel would make my life easier in the kitchen that I must spend my time in for even the sake of my health.

So here is a photo of one of the small corners of my kitchen. You might get to understand why I believe that it would be nice to have a bigger kitchen. The photo below is just the left side of the counter space I have. It is between a wall, recessed into a storage room area and has my stove/over on the right of it. The rest of the kitchen is kind of like this as well. The right hand side of my stove is the home of my microwave (cabinets are too low to hook the micro on it to open the counter I'm sad to say) and just next to that going to the other wall houses other counter top things like a couple of rolling pins and a mini deep fryer (used by the hubby for those few little items that aren't gluten free that he still likes to have). It then turns a corner where I have a bit of a bigger open area of counter top then it goes into my sink. I love my sink because it's a big double sided sink with an additional metal sheet to the right to put a dish drainer on. Then a bit more of an open counter where we do most of our prep work. All in all, it's not a 'bad' kitchen but it is rather small and lacking in counter space.

My dream kitchen is to have one of those new flat stove tops built into an island counter in the middle of my kitchen with enough room around it for say my husband to sit with a news paper to keep me company or even to help with some prep work like slicing apples or peeling potatoes. That to be had with an oven built into the cabinets some where at body height rather then having to bend over all the time to get to the floor style ones. Will this happen? I doubt it but a women can dream can't she??

Anyhow, this is my life right now. These are the things I wish I could change. Some will change, some will always be dreams. What does YOUR most used spot in your kitchen look like??

The left side of my kitchen. It recesses into the wall, cabinets line the top, wall to the left with places to hand my aprons, oven mitts and kitchen towels (trash can is some where against that wall too) while as you can just make out a frying pan on the stove top to the right of the photos.

In this corner 99.9% of the time houses a basket that has an assortment of tea along with misc frying pan/kettle lids (back far corner), in some shape or form there are eggs (in this case it was from a 30 count cause I was baking/cooking so much), next to that just almost hidden will be a load of (ewwww) gluten filled bread for my husband (you can just see the peek of a white plastic bag which holds fresh baked bread along with a multi coloured plastic of a pre-made bread for back up times). From the middle to the right house my most used cooking items... spices (almost all grinders of some sort... black pepper (2 kinds in this photo), rock salt and sea salt, seaweed mix, 3 or 4 pepper mix, garlic pepper, lime pepper (really good on fish!), normal table salt, olive oil, garlic oil (yes I LOVE garlic!), box of corn starch and last but certainly not least a bottle of Tamari sauce (gluten free style soy sauce... remember normal soy sauce DOES have gluten in it!). There is also from time to time a bottle of Sherry sitting there (the dark wine bottle looking thing) because I use it in egg foo young (will post a recipe sometime I'm sure) along with the gravy to go with it.

Oh and lets not forget the big huge 1 litre plastic containers that line the middle of this photo. These are my top 5 most used spices! Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Chicken Seasoning Mix and Cinnamon. There also happens to be another of these litre container in the left most cabinet (just barely seen in this image) that contains parsley as well as I add it to a lot of soups. Never mind the apples in this corner though, these are not a regular here, I just happen to be preparing for some sort of dessert so that was the best place to put them for storing for the moment!

Do you have a 'corner' like this in your kitchen? Come share it!