gluten – morestomach

birthday | checkerboard pâte sablée

Published on December 12, 2017December 10, 2017 by Lan | MoreStomach4 Comments

it snowed for the first time on saturday.
we finally turned on our heat,
over-bundling of winter layers wasn’t cutting it.
life has been specially sweet lately,
and i am grateful.
forty looks good,
and i am reminded,
often,
that though the days blur sometimes,
that there’s more disappointment than
enough fingers to count them,
it can be balanced with kindness,
thoughtful friends,
mindfulness,
and
cookies.

thanks for visiting, friends. ❤

Checkerboard Pâte Sablée
adapted from baking obsession, sadly now defunct, with slight improvement from previous attempts at assembly and photography

Makes about 8 dozens

5 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 sticks of butter, at room temperature (i use green valley organics)
2 cups sugar
1 TBL vanilla extract
2 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

sift dried ingredients in bowl. set aside.

in a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light + fluffy. beat in eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract. add in the flour mixture and combine.

divide the dough in half.

in the mixing bowl mix the cocoa powder in.

last, divide both halves into half again. you’re going to end up with 4 quarters: 2 vanillas and 2 chocolates. wrap individually in plastic and fridge for up to a day.

when ready, take 2 quarters of different flavors out & allow to soften for about 15-20 minutes. btwn parchment papers roll out a quarter dough into 1/2″ thick rectangles, measuring 12×5″. repeat for other quarter.

using some sharp object, knife, dough scraper (preferred tool) or pizza cutter, cut out a nine 1/2″ wide stripes.

being gentle, but not precious about it, form two checkerboard logs switching btwn the chocolate and vanilla strips. press gently so that the strips will adhere to each other, try not to smooch them. you’re aiming for cubed logs, roll the logs from side to size for sharp, right angle quarters. ~~good luck with that.~~ wrap in plastic wrap and fridge, until firm. (*note: logs can be frozen at this point, as long as well wrapped).

repeat with remaining two quarter doughs.

when ready, preheat oven 350F.

prepare baking sheet with parchment paper (very important!)

using a sharp knife, slice the logs into 1/4″ thick slices. place on prepared baking sheet, but leave about an inch space btwn cookies.

bake for about 12 minutes, don’t go more than that though, cus you want the color contrasts to be pronounced. as the cookie cools, it will firm up. cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes then transfer on wire rack. if you don’t parchment your baking sheet, don’t let the cookies cool directly on the pan, cus you’ll be scraping that shit off.

will keep, well wrapped, in fridge for awhiles. in fact, i had it on the counter, not so very well wrapped for a week and they were fine.

BAM!

4 years ago: peppermint chocolate ice cream
3 years ago: gingerbread cake
2 years ago: chocolate espresso dacquoise
1 year ago: kefir biscuits

garbage plate

Published on December 5, 2017December 4, 2017 by Lan | MoreStomach4 Comments

i don’t remember thanksgiving growing up.
sure, we had school off,
but thanksgiving meals were …
non-existent?
i seem to recall a time when
we had black duck soup.
other than that,
it was just another meal.
this resulted in me as a grown up
with lukewarm aspirations for
turkey and all the fixings
(though, i will eat the shit outta some stuffing).
despite this,
most years we’ll mark the occasion
with something special.
this year,
dw re-created a regional favorite,
that region being Rochester, NY.

i won’t lie,
i only managed 1 1/2 sittings,
out of like 5 sittings,
but dw,
he was in a fog of nostalgia each time.
he planned this meal for weeks,
dissecting various recipes,
discussing with friends,
and all i did was take pictures.

it is a season of gratitude,
and i have much to be thankful for,
notably,
you all.

Garbage Plate
as written up by dw, with proper punctuation and complete sentences.
this was served with healthy slices of molly’s scallion pancakes challah

Meat Sauce (I used this one. Very good taste and texture. Doubled the spices) – (Warning – Plays a MIDI song on load)

1 lb. ground beef
2 tablespoon minced onions, plus extra for garnish
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon crushed thyme leaves
2 ½ cups water (I just used as much as needed, and added more when it cooked down.)

Method: (This is my method that I wrote)
Saute some finely diced onion in oil.
Before the onion takes color, add the ground beef breaking it up and stirring constantly until it is cooked to a fine consistency.
Add spices, stirring well. Perhaps double the amount of spice for extra flavor
Add water to the sauce so that it has a bit of a runniness. It should have enough that it will trickle through the other elements for added flavor.
Let it simmer as long as you want. Add water as needed.

Home Fries
Potatoes – Cubed
Oil
Salt/Pepper
Place cubed potatoes in a saucepan with enough water to cover
Bring to a boil and continue boiling for about 3-4 minutes.
Drain very well
In a large skillet, using a generous amount of oil, fry the potato cubes. Take care not to move them too much, but careful to keep them from sticking. Cook until beautiful.
Season generously with salt and pepper

Macaroni Salad
Elbow Macaroni
Mayonnaise
Carrot
Celery

Cook the elbows perhaps a bit too much for soft texture
Dice the carrot and celery to a fairly small size.
Add a bit of mustard if desired. Ties in the plate flavor and reduces the amount of mayo needed.

Meat (Choose one and use two per serving)
Sausage – Weisswurst is perfect to represent a white hot
Fried Egg – Runny yolk
Hamburger
Cheeseburger – Cheese should be white
Other
White Onion – Chopped coarsely
Mustard – Brown, and should be loose/runny

Final Method:

On a standard dinner plate, arrange one side with the mac salad, and the other with the home fries. Don’t be stingy.
Add the meat. If patties, use two. If a hot dog or sausage, split in half lengthwise (Sear the cut edge on a skillet or grill) and use two.
Add a generous swipe of mustard across the plate.
Add a generous scoop of diced raw onion
Top with a generous scoop of the meat sauce. It should be runny enough to wet the plate through the mac salad and home fries.

Enjoy!

4 years ago: pumpkin challah chips
3 years ago: chocolate chip pb cookies, vegan & gluten free
2 years ago: chocolate espresso dacquoise, lactose free
1 year ago: kefir biscuits

dark molasses pear bread

Published on October 16, 2017October 15, 2017 by Lan | MoreStomach10 Comments

a little over a month ago,
while going about my business on a thing called Work,
a work much entrenched in judging resumes,
i realized that i needed to work on mine.
it had been a rather disappointing summer,
career-wise,
and rather than harp about it,
i decided to do something about it.

tl;dr; i applied for a job,
i started said job last week.

happy autumn,friends.

dark molasses pear bread
adapted from epicurious

*note: i’ve been sitting on this recipe for years, playing around with ingredients, adding and subtracting here and there, following the recipe exactly to not at all. it’s delicious with tea, or an after dinner treat.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup + 2 TBL olive oil
1/4 cup coffee
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (actually, i don’t pack it in too hard, sweetness level up to you)
1/2 cup molasses
3 large eggs
1/4 cup grated peeled ginger, or if you’re lazy, minced as fine as you can manage
1 Bosc pear, diced
sprinkle of cocoa powder, about 1/4 – 1/2 a tsp

preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. grease loaf pan, set aside.

mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a small mixing bowl, set aside

add the coffee with olive oil, set aside.

using a stand mixer, beat the brown sugar with molasses. add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well. throw in the dry mixture until just combined. next add in the liquid with ginger.

pour into prepared loaf pan.

in bowl, add the pear pieces, sprinkle with cocoa powder. scatter the pieces over the batter. (the cocoa powder should help a little from keeping the pieces from sinking to the bottom of the pan. it works sometimes.)

bake for 35-40 minutes. cool.

serve sliced with a spot of tea.

BAM!

4 years ago: carrot bread
3 years ago: three bean chili
2 years ago: apparently i didn’t do shit.
1 year ago: lemongrass chicken & rice soup

anniversary | blueberry slab pie

Published on September 28, 2017September 27, 2017 by Lan | MoreStomach11 Comments

this post was created in partnership with Green Valley Organics.

yesterday: i loved you.
today: i love you.
tomorrow: i will love you.
all wishes, 11:11, eyelashes, blowing out birthday candles,
they revolve around you:
your health
your happiness
your safety
sometimes i say it out loud,
other times i yell it out,
and more often than not,
i act it out
and show it to you,
because i love you so.

blueberries are your favorite,
and you are my favorite,
so i stashed freshly plucked blueberries
in the freezer,
for this occasion.

happy anniversary sweet beloved,
i love you.

this post is sponsored by green valley organics. all thoughts and opinions are my own. the first time i discovered this product, i damn near cried. dairy can be in my diet again without any adverse impact. basically, they’re making my dairy dreams come true. thanks so much for supporting the sponsors that keep morestomachblog up+running, toot-free.

blueberry slab pie
makes 1 slab pie, for two hungry lovers

*note: our wedding favors were homemade blueberry-lemon jam that we had picked. this pie has the same flavor profile. it’s nice on its own, but with some vanilla ice cream, it’s divine.

pie dough:
2 cups AP flour
healthy pinch salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
10 TBL butter, frozen and cut into small pieces. i use green valley organics
1 container (8oz) cream cheese, frozen and cut into small pieces. i use green valley organics
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
3-4 tsp ice cold vodka

filling:
3 cups blueberries, i used frozen, picked from hybridoma farms
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBL cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1 lemon, zested and juiced, plus more zest from another lemon but that’s optional
1 egg, lightly beaten
healthy sprinkle of sugar

to make dough:
in a food processor, add the flour, salt, baking powder, butter and cream cheese. pulse until the mixture is mealy. while pulsing, add the cold liquids until the dough forms. dump the mixture onto a plastic wrap, wrap tightly and fridge for at least 30 minutes.

when ready, divide the dough in two. wrap one of the halves and put in fridge. on a very lightly floured piece of parchment, on a clean surface, roll the dough out as thin and evenly as you can, try not to cry. you’re aiming for 12×12″ square. place parchment on baking sheet, and fridge.

repeat the rolling out steps with other half of dough. again fridge it.

meanwhile, preheat oven to 400F.

in a bowl mix together the frozen berries, add the zest, sugar and juice of lemon. mix it well. now add in the cornstarch to sop up most of the liquid.

crack an egg into a small bowl, whisk real quick and set aside.

from the fridge take out the ugliest sheet of rolled dough. that’ll be the base. very carefully spoon out the berries onto the dough. aim to keep about 1/2″ border around the edge. the berries had started to thaw so it was a tad juicy so i was careful with only spooning the berries and not the juice.

grab the other rolled dough layer. if you’re fancy, cut out designs to vent. very carefully transfer the dough over top the berries and seal the edges by pinching the two layers together, or using a fork to pleat them together.

brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar

bake for 40-45 minutes, turning about half way. i did have to foil it part way through, and then taking off the foil the last 5 minutes.

cool pie before cutting.

serve as is or with ice cream.

BAM!

previous anniversary sweetness:
chocolate tahini cake + rosemary infused buttercream – dairy free
6″ chocolate cake – vegan
meringue roulade with shaved chocolate and salty-sweet peanuts – dairy free

bento love

Published on September 5, 2017September 3, 2017 by Lan | MoreStomach6 Comments

autumn is in the air —
i vacillate between
excitement for
mustard yellows & crunchy leaves
and
utter dread for
dreary cold temps.
today marks the first day of school
for most kids in MD,
which means traffic is up,
the campus is packed,
and the kids in my building
aren’t seemingly training for the
gymnastics olympic team at 1pm.

in favor of transparency here,
i’ve been in a food rut.
i’m not my usual excited self on market day,
most evening dinners have been veggies on toast,
i’m spotty with the breakfast thing
and while i still pack our lunches 4/5 days,
more often than not,
it’s PB&Honey sandwiches
or pasta salad.
just punch me with all this food blogger burnout already.

enter the bento.
i tinkered with it a little last summer,
then lost interest
and for reasons beyond me
picked up the interest again.
i like the portion control,
and honestly,
how pretty it looks.
if that’ll get me out of my slump,
i’ll take it.