Sunday Brunch (Gluten-Free February): Banana Bread

This is an adaptation of the banana bread recipe from How it All Vegan

INGREDIENTS:
3 Ultra Ripe Bananas (black spots aplenty)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil (or almond if you feel like splurging)
1/2 cup Dry Sweetener
3/4 cup Dates, chopped
1 cup Rice Flour (or blend of GF flours)
1 cup Ground Flax or Ground Almond Meal (or combination of both)
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)


Preheat oven to 375F. Mash bananas in a large bowl, then stir in sweetener, lemon juice, oil and dates. In a separate large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and add chocolate chips, if desired. Spoon mixture into an oiled bread pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, testing with a knife every so often.

Saucy Beans and Rice (Gluten Free February)

IGREDIENTS:
1 cup Rice (uncooked, brown or white)
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 can Kidney Beans
1 cup Frozen Corn
1/2 cup Salsa
Water (1/4 cup for white rice, 1/2 cup for brown, more as needed)
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Basil
dash Hot sauce (optional)
Small Onion, chopped
Garlic Clove, minced
Cooking Oil


In a tablespoon of oil, saute onions and garlic until soft. Add in the rice and stir until coated. Add tomatoes, beans, chili powder, basil and water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add corn and cover. Check periodically to see if more water is needed (test by whether the rice is firm or not). Stir in the hot sauce and salsa, warm for 5 more minutes and serve.

Sunday Brunch (Gluten-Free February): Nanaimo Bars

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Margarine
1/2 cup Sugar
5 tbsp Cocoa
1 Egg Replacer (Ener-G is GF)
1 3/4 cup Curshed GF cookies (GF Arrowroots or mild ginger cookies work)
1/2 cup Finely-Chopped Almonds
1 cup Coconut
1/2 cup Margarine
2 tbsp and 2 tsp Soy Milk (Soy Creamer is best)
2 tbsp Vanilla Custard Powder (most brands GF)
2 cups Icing Sugar
4 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 tbsp Margarine

Melt 1/2 cup margarine, 1/2 cup sugar and cocoa in a double boiler. Stir in egg replacer and stir to thicken. Remove from heat, stir in cookie crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press into 8x8 pan. Cream 1/2 cup margarine, soy milk (or creamer), custard powder and icing sugar together well, beat until light. Press over bottom layer. Melt together semi-sweet chocolate squares and 2 tbsp margarine in double boiler. Set aside to cool. When cool but not firm, pour evenly over top and set in the fridge to cool. When cool, cut in squares and serve.

A Record a Week: Arlo Guthrie - Hobo's Lullaby

SIDE 1.
ANYTIME
THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
LIGHTNING BAR BLUES
SHACKLES AND CHAINS
1913 MASSACRE
SOMEBODY TURNED ON THE LIGHT

SIDE 2.
UKELELE LADY
WHEN THE SHIP COMES IN
MAPLEVIEW (20% RAG)
DAYS ARE SHORT
HOBO'S LULLABY

Well, this could hardly be more of a change from last week's record in so many ways. Style of music, amount of production, you name it.

This is a great folk record by the son of classic folk artist Woody Guthrie. The album consists mostly of cover songs, but Guthrie has blended them all to his style, creating a cohesive mix. Given that the music I grew up with was littered with politics and folk, it is surprising I am not familiar with this artist. His career began with a stab at the Vietnam war draft that spanned the precise duration of a missing chunk in the Watergate tapes. With all of the Dylan, Mitchell and countless other political folk music I heard as a kid, I certainly should have heard more of this. Perhaps I did and it was another record.

The album has an interesting mix of instrumentation and contains Guthrie's largest commercial hit, his cover of The City of New Orleans. It works well both as nice background music and also as an album to listen intently to and enjoy the well executed playing (including some excellent fiddling and slide guitar).

A Record a Week: Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

SIDE 1.
CHINESE DEMOCRACY
SHACKLER'S REVENGE
BETTER
STREET OF DREAMS

SIDE 2.
IF THE WORLD
THERE WAS A TIME
CATCHER IN THE RYE

SIDE 3.
SCRAPED
RIAD N' THE BEDOIUNS
SORRY
I.R.S.

SIDE 4.
MADAGASCAR
THIS I LOVE
PROSTITUTE

The phrase 'over-produced' is thrown around a lot. This album was harshly criticized for that very problem. It certainly suffered from a bit of this, but frankly, considering the amount of people who got their hands in on the project, it turned out far better than I thought. The songs are decent and the production is tight, if perhaps a little overdone. The downfall of the album, in my opinion, was all of the talk about it and the money sunk into it. A colossal wait and reported budget of over $10 million created an unattainable expectation for the album. I believe this album could've been Sgt. Pepper's, Nevermind and Metallica's Black Album all mixed in one and people still would have been critical about it.

My harshest criticism is that the writing on some songs sounds a little 'Sports Metal' or 'try hard-core' for my liking, not coming across as authentic as early GNR stuff. I suppose one might expect that the blend of so many different performers with a large ego overseeing the project might be scatter shot, and it was. All in all, I will say I was surprised how much I liked it, but like many others, think it failed to meet the incredibly lofty goals set upon it.

Sunday Brunch (Gluten-Free February) - GF Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cup Rice Flour
2 tsp GF Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
Dash Salt
1 1/4 cup Soy Buttermilk (add 3 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice to 1 1/4 cup Soy Milk)
2 Egg Replacers (Ener-G is Gluten Free)
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat eggs and mix in other liquids. Mix all together until lump-free and cook in a non-stick pan over medium-low (or on a large griddle).

Gluten-Free February - Warm Pasta Salad w/ Grilled Asparagus & Tofu

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Rice Pasta (or other GF pasta)
1/2 bunch Asparagus, rinsed
1/2 brick Firm Tofu, cubed
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
Dash Sugar


Cook rice pasta in salted boiling water. Drain and shock with cold water to prevent sticking, set aside in a covered dish/tupperware. Set oven to broil and chop asparagus into thirds or quarters. Put in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, minced garlic and sea salt, toss to coat. Broil until al dente (or desired consistency). Meanwhile, fry tofu in a small amount of oil until very lightly golden. Coat with a mixture of remaining olive oil, balsamic, black pepper, sugar and a bit of sea salt. Mix until heated, not boiling. Toss together pasta, asparagus and tofu/dressing mixture and serve at or just above room temperature.

Gluten-Free February - Spiced Lentils and Rice

INGREDIENTS:
1 can Lentils (or 1.5 dry cups lentils rinsed & cooked according to package)
1 cup Rice
2 cups Water (plus more for after)
1 Small Onion, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Cardamom Pods, crushed/chopped
1/2 tsp Coriander
3/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
dash Ginger (fresh or powdered)
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Large Tomato, thinly sliced
Sea Salt & Pepper


Boil water in a pot with a lid. Add rice and a dash of salt, turn to low and cover for 18 Minutes (DO NOT TOUCH). At about eight minutes into the rice cooking, saute onions and garlic in a large non-stick pan for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add lentils and stir in spices, lemon juice and a dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper. When the 18 minutes is up, add rice and any remaining water to the pan and stir to mix, adding more water if it becomes dry. Serve on a plate with thinly sliced tomatoes. Top tomatoes with a pinch of sea salt and some fresh ground pepper.

Sunday Brunch: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies

My sister's birthday just passed and she can't have gluten, so I am going to do gluten-free recipes in the month of February in honour.



INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup Rice Flour (or other GF flour)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Vegan Margarine
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt (less if using rice flour)
3-4 tbsp Soy Milk


Mix together dry ingredients. Knife in margarine until mixture is crumbly. Add milk slowly until mixture just sticks together. Spoon out tablespoon-sized balls onto lightly greased cookie sheets and bake at 350F until edges are lightly golden. Set on rack to cool.

A Record a Week - George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue/An American in Paris

SIDE 1.
RHAPSODY IN BLUE

SIDE 2.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

Gershwin was one of several composers who died at an early age (38). These two songs are his most notable compositions, Rhapsody in Blue being his first release, An American in Paris coming later. His main source of income, however, was recording the rolls for player pianos.

The first thing I thought of when I turned on this record was that it was very theatrical. The type of classical composition that really lends itself to film or stage (some research tells me that pieces of Rhapsody were arranged for West Side Story). The writing is diverse, heavy with jazz, classical, broadway and doses of other styles as well. When it comes to classical records, I enjoy ones that bring to mind a certain setting or scenery and I feel this record did just that.