Welcome to the surface of the moon....... Care for some Pizza?

Purple pizza No seriously Purple pizza. Not my fault really she made me. Well that's my story anyway. But this really is a good time to post this recipe. Being as it was made recently ie in the last weekish. And it is a modification of the crust from the Lamb en Croute. I would cut and paste the recipe but that would seem to be a tad bit redundant so instead I recommend just substituting 1/3rd of the chickpea flour with purple rice flour.


Now the baking on this does take a twist. In that you want to spread it out into a round on well greased  parchment paper and bake first at 450f until it looks like the surface of the moon. Then, and this is the step I forgot (DOH!!) turn the heat down to 300f and bake until totally dry, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before topping.

But now the interesting part the purple sauce!!! This is so simple and yet the flavors will floor you. Start with 1cup red wine reduce it over medium high heat until you have 1/4cup then remove from the heat and work in 1/2cup fresh goat cheese and black pepper to taste.

I know I didn't format that out nice but when it is only two ingredients I don't really think of it as a recipe. So after you spread our fine purple sauce on the surface of the moon, you can then top it ny way you like. So in keeping with the purple theme.....

Temporary segway here when I was younger every thing I made was green. You can ask my parents, green paint, green mud, green cake, green ... So odd how now it is purple.... but I'm sure the next thing I post will not be purple.

Ok so back to the pizza. Eggplant!! the perfect purple vegetable. Oven roasted of course, peeled and seeded. Which by the way allowed for interesting comparisons to filleting fish. It was kind of like skinning sardines. Hold at one end , bring the blade of the knife though the flesh to the skin turn the blade horizontal and pull back on the skin. I will demo this at some point. Now lay your fine fillet of roast eggplant on the pizza. Add some shaved parm and cook until lightly browned.

Purple Rice Pancakes aka Alien Brain Fritters

Ok so yes you really do eat this purple alien with an afro.

Inspired by me previous success with chickpea crepes I decided to delve into the purple world. I mean play with rice, Thai Purple rice that is. Grind up a little bit and you can turn a gluten free treat into purple neat.

Now before I get into the recipe that I know you are all dying for let me say this, I am aware that my pan was too hot and had too much oil. These are things that I could correct next time. But.....Those conditions are what gave me these really cool shapes. And isn't the point of food that it should look cool?

Ok So the recipe; (as best as I can remember it from last week)

Alien Brain Fritters

1tbl Cashew Flour

2tbl Purple Rice Flour

3/4c Chickpea Flour

2ea eggs

2tbl Olive Oil

3tbl Agave Nectar

1c Scalded Milk

1/4tsp Baking Soda

Combine the flours, agave nectar,  and olive oil. Whisk in the milk while still hot. Allow the mixture to cool then whisk in eggs. Let the batter rest for about ten minutes. Stir gently and incorporate the baking soda. Cook like pancakes. These are very fun looking. Also they taste like cute crunchy purple donuts. Very Yum.

So now that you have put these cute purple things on a plate what ever should you do with them? Try topping them with; Scrambled Eggs with Yam and Lotus Root, or a wonderful Coconut Milk Chutney. Both of these recipes will show up but the end result was tasty too!!

Scratch that... Mustard?

The most under rated and generally poor quality condiment in the American pantry. Mustard you know that funny yellow colored stuff that is like ummm welll gross? So how about we do something easy for once? Mustard from scratch is easy simple and tastetastic.

Basic Recipe to build from:

4pts Mustard Powder

3pts Liquid

But now let us work from there two variations to enliven your palette.

Mustard Numero Uno;

'Orange' Mustard

5tbl Yellow Mustard Powder

3tbl Crushed Brown Mustard

1tsp Sumac Berries

3tbl Agave Nectar

1tbl Orange Juice

As needed Cold Water

Combine all ingredients, store refrigerated overnight.

Numero Dous:

Spanish Mustard;

Here I really wanted a spicy fun and red mustard. Something to pretend to play the part of Rouille for my Terrine.... Hense;

1tsp Brown Mustard Seed

1 1/3tbl Crushed Brown Mustard

1 1/3tbl Oriental Mustard Power

5tbl Yellow Mustard Power

1tbl Hungarian Paprika

2tbl Smoked Paprika

3tbl Vinagre Viejo de Montilla

As needed cold water

Combine all ingredients, store refrigerated overnight.

These mustards were brilliantly hot. The flavors matured overnight and were great all over a fine Flax Seed Foccocia. Others will follow. Thoughts are running wild of herbal mustards, Absinthe Mustard, fig mustard... I don't know where to go.....

Dinner on Sunday Night

So the day was steady and bleek at work. Instead of visions of sugar plums dancing I had visions of plates of savory crepes. Something about lemongrass and creamy sauces has been stuck in my head for days now. So I sent a little txt birdy off to my favorite kitchen owner. And back they came with a message of Yum.................. So here goes;


Emily was so very kind to find a pair of pretty crepe recipes for me for inspiration while I was at work. Though when I looked them over they seemed more crape then crepe. Who lets people post these things. (man am I going to hear it for that). Any way they did give me a good ratio for oil to liquid and liquid to flour. I just adjusted from cold water and/or creme fraiche to Milk and egg. And here we go then;

Chick Pea Crepes
1ea egg
2ea egg yolk
3tbl Olive oil
1/2c milk

1cup Sifted Chick Pea Flour

Vigorously whisk together liquid ingredients. Incorporate flour 1/4cup at a time. Set batter aside until fillings are ready. To cook pour batter into a very hot skillet. Should take about a minute on the first side (until you see bubbles 1/2 way towards the center) then flip and ten seconds on the second side. Note that since these are gluten free they do not roll as nicely as most crepes. I will have to modify for rollability. Will try increasing eggs and using steamed rice flour......

Lemon Grass Sauce
2 egg whites
1tbl lemon grass puree
2 strips cucumber peel
1/2c yogurt
salt, pepper

Place all ingredients except yogurt into a food processor set on high and run until frothy. Add yogurt and puree until smooth. Store chilled.

Cucumber filling
1ea Leek
1ea Cucumber
1/4c White Wine
1/2tsp Poppy Seeds
1/4tsp Salt
Dice the leeks. Peel seed and medium dice the cucumber. Sautee the leeks in a hot skillet until they begin to caramelize. Add cucumbers, poppy seeds and salt. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and reduce while stirring. Should take 4-5 minutes on medium high. Reserve warm.

Now that that is all done we shall plate. Layers of crepe, Lemongrass sauce, then Strained Cucumber filling. Repeat. Then eat. Yum Yum.