Gluten-Free

Make enough for 4-5 hungry people

This is the easiest way to use up leftover gluten-free sourdough starter! Just feed the starter (and measure, to make sure you'll have the right amount in the morning) so that it's very thick (and for even better texture, make the last feeding tapioca flour, white rice flour, sweet rice flour, and/or other gluten-free flours - the starter doesn't like this for regular use, but if it's the final feeding-before-it-gets-eaten, it works just fine).

This is adapted from Shannon Haye's exceptional recipe for meaty deliciousness! I post it here so that I can reference the ingredients even when I'm away from her awesome cookbook.

4# potatoes
4-8oz Parmesan, shredded
4-8 T. butter
1/2 cup yogurt
~2 tsp. salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
pepper

Growing up vegetarian, we often ate "lentil loaf" for dinner; it had a good flavor, as lentil loaves go, but a crumbly texture. When I started eating meat six years ago, I wondered about meatloaf - but my attempts up until now yielded dense, greasy loaves, swimming in their own juices. I recently adapted a recipe from "Cook's Country" magazine, and turned out this amazingly delicious, perfect-textured loaf, with a lovely deep brown Crust, no greasiness to speak of, and fantastic flavor. Plus, the pan drippings turn into a delicious mushroom gravy!

This recipe is by Elena (creator of the beautiful blog http://elanaspantry.com/ ), written down by me so that Ben could attempt to make it by himself.

Squash Pie

Ingredients

2 medium butternut squash, cut in half [ask Mama or Papa to help with this!], seeds removed
3 tablespoons butter
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

With gratitude to healthyseasonalrecipes.com, from whose recipe this is adapted. I was so thrilled to find something so perfect to fill a craving for a warm, spicy apple cake! (If you leave some of the applesauce chunky, so much the better.)

1 large bundt pan or a 9x13” sheet pan

Ingredients:

I have recently discovered Otto's Naturals Cassava Flour http://www.ottosnaturals.com/ , a dangerous addition to a reformed special-diet baker's pantry... :)

When I saw Cooks Illustrated's latest issue, with a description of the Best Crispy Roasted Potatoes Ever...I was intrigued. And after we polished off the whole batch, I knew I'd have to scale up my recipe and technique to meet the demand. :) These are amazing! I discovered that the salt and baking soda does not need to be doubled, even with more than twice as many potatoes as the original recipe. This makes enough for our family, with some left over. And don't be tempted to substitute for the animal fat - I think it really makes them super good.

Maya gave me her recipe for "tree cake 2.0", which involved two unusual ingredients: chestnut flour, and acorn flour, and was a big hit. :) I decided I liked it even better with more fat, and I experimented with using dates to sweeten it, and I discovered that a banana version is quite delightful. Great flavor, with none of the Strange Gluten-Free Taste that sometimes haunts GF baked goods...

Many thanks to Sue for both a delicious dinner after Ivy was born, and this recipe, which is infinitely variable and a great way to make ground meat taste really special. Lamb or goat would be awesome, but ground beef is good, too. It's delicious served with basmati rice, peas, and raita (yogurt with grated cucumber, dill, coriender, and salt).

I have actually never eaten "traditional" mochi - but traditionally, when I was growing up, we bought flat cakes of Grainnaissance raisin-cinnamon mochi and baked it till it puffed up in the toaster. Such a delicious tradition!

Now we're eating rice again, but only if it's white or fermented (if it's brown). The folks at Grainnaissance confirmed that they don't ferment their rice, so I was determined to make my own mochi.