Bundt Kick: Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

What can I say? I’m on a bundt kick. With Thanksgiving around the corner I’m also in my favorite hibernation mode: cookbooks open all around me, notepad in hand, and post-its everywhere. It’s also the most amazingly cool and crisp air in Austin and I can’t help but dream about the foods I want to make: fall foods, warm and comforting foods.

This is a very dense and moist bundt cake. It’s light on the sweetness and the pumpkin and chocolate balance each other out pretty nicely. I went again with weighing out the volumes for a precise measurement. Try it for a Sunday morning brunch or a pre-Thanksgiving evening at home.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup strong coffee, cooled
125 grams coconut flour
100 grams sweet white rice flour
100 grams brown rice flour, stone ground
25 grams tapioca starch
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup pumpkin (1 can)
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a bundt cake. Whisk together the cocoa powder and the coffee and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flours, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and the sugar. Add the pumpkin and then the oil. Mix the egg mixture with the flour mixture. Slowly add the cocoa mixture and then the hot water.

The mixture will be pretty thick. Pour it into the bundt cake pan and place in the oven for about 50-60 minutes. The toothpick should come out with crumbs on it. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the cake out. This cake tasted best when room temperature or cool.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Sweet | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Crispy Polenta with Wild Mushrooms and Arugula

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


To round out our book club experience with bison meatballs, I wanted to make sure I had a vegetarian dish for the vegetarians amongst us. While Empire of the Summer Moon chronicles the rise and fall of the Comanches specifically, other Indian tribes are mentioned as are the white settlers and families of a more agrarian ilk. So the farmers aren’t the stars of the book and there is a scene where the Comanches attempt to eat corn and then spit it out, but hey I opted to go with a creative take and make foods that one would have potentially grown in Texas in the 19th century: items that the farming communities would have harvested and foraged. Here is a recipe for corn cakes with foraged wild mushrooms. Sadly, I didn’t forage them myself. But I totally would have had I lived amongst the settlers or the Arapaho 150 years ago. I did pick the basil from my backyard if that counts.

The recipe below includes making the polenta yourself, but if you’re not feeling it, you can buy a roll of pre-cooked polenta. Most brands’ ingredients are just like you would make: corn meal, water, salt. Just slice the polenta roll into 1/2 inch circles and then follow the directions below.

Crispy Polenta Cakes with Wild Mushrooms
3 Tablespoons olive oil (approximately)
2 cups cooked polenta*
6 cups shitaki mushrooms, or a mix of wild mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
3 cups arugula, torn
5 large basil leaves, torn
pecorino romano, optional

Preheat the oven to broil. Lightly grease a 9×13 pyrex dish with the olive oil. Spread the polenta in a layer over the bottom of the pyrex about 1/2 inch thick (more or less according to your taste). Brush the top of the polenta very lightly with some of the olive oil. Broil in the oven for just about 4-5 minutes, until slightly browned and a bit hardened.

While the polenta is broiling, heat 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Brush the mushrooms clean (there are debates about dousing them in water, but I like to brush them clean instead of washing in water) and chop them into small chunks, about 1/2 inch pieces. Toss the mushrooms, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of the salt into the skillet and mix to coat with the oil. Stir just a couple of times while the mushrooms cook over medium heat, about 2-3 minutes until just barely soft. Set aside.

When the polenta comes out of the oven, cut into squares about 2×2. Throw the arugula evenly over the polenta, then spread the mushrooms and garlic on top. Put back in the oven and broil for about 2-4 minutes until the mushrooms brown slightly and the arugula (if you are using) is wilted. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the basil and a dash of salt over the top.

Serve each square individually with grated pecorino. There. Just like the settlers used to eat.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Salty | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Plains Indians Bison Meatballs

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


Book club was at my house this month and we just finished reading Empire of the Summer Moon. Each month we attempt to make foods based on the theme of the book. Some are easy themes (Japanese, comfort food, vegetarian) while others take a little more interpretation (what foods really represent themes of survival or pop culture?). Reading about the rise and fall of the Comanche Indians, the author describes in detail the foods the Plains Indians ate. While I am a stickler for details, I wasn’t so sure raw bison hearts should really be on the docket for menu items for my club.

I went for the next best thing: meatballs. I hadn’t made meatballs in quite awhile, but these are so simple and delicious I should really make them more often. I served these with a spoonful of or two of my favorite easy roasted tomato sauce I happened to have in my freezer.

Bison Meatballs
1 pound ground bison
2 teaspoons salt
1 scant teaspoon fresh oregano
pepper
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 egg
1/8 cup gluten free oat flour
1/8 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped

For the sauce:
2 cups roasted tomato sauce (or your favorite tomato sauce)
1 cup red wine
handful of basil

In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients with your hands. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the sauce.

In a wide skillet, heat the tomato sauce until it’s at a low boil. Add the wine and simmer for 15 minutes.

Shape the meatballs into 2 inch round balls. Don’t be afraid to roll them in your hands to help shape them. When they’re all ready add them to the tomato sauce, cover the skillet and simmer over low-medium for about 3-5 minutes. The sauce should reach just about 1/3 up the meatballs. If there is more sauce, set some aside. If there is not enough, add a little water or more wine. Remove the lid, flip the meatballs over, re-cover, and simmer for another 3-5 minutes. The meat cooks quickly since I made them small and the meat is so lean. They are done when they’re no longer pink in the center (cut one in half to check).

Remove with a slotted spoon to the serving dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the meatballs. Tear the basil for garnish and serve hot.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Reviews, Salty | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cold Front Bundt: Pear and Cardamom Spiced Bundt Cake

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


I’ve never attempted a bundt cake until now. When I heard that this month’s Gluten-Free Ratio Rally is starring this domed comfort cake, I took it as a challenge. This is my first time participating in the ratio rally. The idea is to work with Rhulman’s Ratio measuring by weight and proportional ingredient ratios, to create a recipe according to a monthly challenge (past themes have been tarts, breads, etc). Thank you to this month’s Ratio Rally host, Adina of Gluten Free Travelette!

Gluten-free baking can be so finicky that using weight ratios rather than volume measurements allows us to obtain a more precise product. Okay, bakers say this is true no matter what, but Gluten-free baking needs all the help it can get to create lofty, risen, structured results. You know what I’m talking about.  Baking gluten-free by weight can actually give us the freedom to create new recipes or alter our favorite gluten-full recipes. Think about it: white flour weighs in differently than sorghum cup for cup. So why substitute a cup? Substitute the weight instead. It makes perfect sense.

With the “change” of weather here in Austin, I decided to go with something autumnal, which often translates to “spices”. If you know me at all, you know cloves and cinnamon and the like aren’t really my bag. But cardamom. How I love cardamom. And my favorite fall fruit paired with cardamom? Pears. Pears infused with cardamom. Black pepper. Fresh nutmeg and maybe a hint of the cinnamon to round it out. Now those spices I can get behind.

I have now tested this creation many times to make it absolutely perfect: I’ve eaten it for breakfast, afternoon snacks, and several times instead of dinner. My favorite version does not follow Rhulman’s Ratio to a T: I went very light on the sugar as it was unanimous amongst my tasters that the less sweet versions were the favorite.

Using the sorghum and rice flours gives this bundt cake an amazingly light texture while the yogurt and olive oil give it the perfect moistness. Be sure to use stone ground brown rice flour. The first version I made used regular brown rice and it left the cake with a grainy texture that did not work with this recipe.

If you like cardamom and pears, this is a must-try.

Pear and Cardamom Spiced Bundt Cake
3 cups ripe pears, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 3 pears)*
6 to 8 cardamom pods
100 grams white sugar
100 grams brown sugar
juice of half a lemon
150 grams sorghum flour
50 grams sweet rice flour
50 grams tapioca flour
65 extra fine (stone-ground) brown rice flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons guar gum
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
5 eggs (approximately 275 grams)
115 grams yogurt (1/2 cup)
190 grams extra virgin olive oil (scant 1 cup)
1 Tablespoon butter for greasing the pan

Prepare the cardamom pods: remove the green outer pod and smash the black seeds as much as you can with a tenderizer or a rolling pin. Mix the pears and the cardamom seeds in a small bowl. Add 3 Tablespoons of the white sugar. Add the the lemon juice and mix. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a bundt cake pan well. In a large bowl combine the flours, the baking powder, guar gum, salt, and spices.

In another large bowl beat the eggs until frothy. Add the remaining sugars and beat with a whisk or a fork. Add the yogurt and olive oil and beat well.

Pour the dry ingredients into the egg mixture slowly while whisking until just amalgamated. Gently fold in the pear mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then raise the temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes. I found that the temperature difference helped create a nice texture around the sides and crisped up the top. The cake is done when it is slightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry.

Let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving. The cake is delicious warm and the texture on this one lasts in the refrigerator for a few days, covered. The texture didn’t change at all which is always an elusive bonus when it comes to gluten-free baking.

*Bartlett worked the best for me.

Be sure to check out this month’s other Gluten-Free Ratio Rally Participants:
Apple Almond Cake | Heather | Discovering the Extraordinary
Blueberry Molasses Bundt Cake | Jenn | Jenn Cuisine
Date Pecan Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze | Caneel | Mama Me Gluten Free
Gluten Free Mini Vanilla Chai Bundt Cakes | Mary Fran | Frannycakes
Spiced Sweet Potato Bundt Cake | Brooke | B & The Boy
Spiked Egg Nog Bundt Cake with Vanilla Bourbon Glaze | Charissa | Zest Bakery

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Sweet | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Wisdom Berry Trail Mix

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

The mulberry fruit does not bud until frosts are past: they symbolize patience. Once the danger of the last frost passes, mulberries produce their buds so quickly that they appear almost over night, thereby acquiring their symbolism of expediency and wisdom. I like to think that eating the mulberry somehow makes me all the more patient and wiser.

I love the mulberry, not just for its symbolism. It’s one of my favorite fruits. It’s the fruit with which my best friend, Brooke, and I painted our faces and dyed our hair in middle school; it’s the fruit I eat by the bowlful when I arrive in the summertime at my parents’ home; and If I ever get a tattoo, it would likely be of the mulberry. A couple of years ago I found dried mulberries, and while they are not the same as the Persian Mulberry buy at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, they certainly fill that mulberry void while in Austin and I buy them by the bagful.

This Halloween, instead of eating all of the candy, I made this trail mix for friends to munch on during the escapades in our neighborhood. It’s so good I was hardly sad when the last kid took the last box of junior mints. To me this is all about the cashews and mulberries together in every bite, so I go heavy on those two. Feel free to mix and match how you see fit.

Mulberry and Cashew Trail Mix
1/2 cup dried mulberries
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
1/4 cup raw pecan pieces
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup raisins
2 Tablespoons toasted hemp seeds
pinch of salt

Toss together in a bowl and leave on your desk or toss in a ziplock baggy and eat it my the handful when you need a snack for the road.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Salty, Sweet | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Chocolate Nut Crinkle Cookies

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

You know those cookies they have at Central Market? They’ve always been naturally gluten free and they’ve been a great treat when folks want to pick up dessert for me without any hassle and without rummaging through the gluten free section. Recently, the market even put out a sign over these delicious chocolate crispie cookies that says “naturally gluten free”. They’re chewy, pecan-ey, addictive, chocolatey, delicious. I tend to take a bite and then take one more and one more until I realize that I have not just had a part of a cookie, but rather I’ve had three whole ones.

Back to the cookie baking for the staff meeting celebrations: I decided to have light and dark cookies. So alongside the orange amaretti cookies, I made a version of these chocolate cookies. I couldn’t find the Central Market recipe, but here’s what I made. I love these and they were just as addictive: not too sweet, just rich enough.

Chocolate Nut Crinkle Cookies
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted*
1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted*
4 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and cocoa and salt. Stir in the chocolate and the nuts. Add the egg whites and mix until just amalgamated.

Drop about 2 Tablespoons of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20-24 minutes. The tops should crack a bit. They’ll be nice and chewy and will keep in tupperware for a few days (if they last).

*I find that raw nuts when they are baked in batter sometimes hurt the roof of my mouth. Toasting the nuts prior to baking slightly fixes this issue. Also, toasting the nuts really brings out the nutty flavor and they stand up on their own two feet.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Sweet | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Oh Boy These Blogs

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

Oh boy oh boy! There are so many recipes in my drafts waiting for one final test run. So many ideas going through my head and so many assignments for the next few weeks. We’ve got the Gluten Free Ratio Rally creating Bundt Cakes for November; I’m hosting Thanksgiving again this year and the cooking and baking wheels are already turning; I’m working on a post for in.gredients; I tasted and fell in love with Hemp Seeds (shocking to me as well); and most recently I had an amazingly delightful meeting over coffee with Karen Morgan of Blackbird Bakery.

Over Rosh Hashanah this year I made Blackbird Bakery’s Stacked Apple Cake and had some issues with it. As I mentioned in my version, there were a few minor pieces of instructions missing and I totally panicked. I panicked mostly because I trust Blackbird Bakery recipes so once I saw any error (you know, nowhere to add the orange juice, and the like) and the cake didn’t look right as it baked (turned out I also didn’t have the right pan)- you never know what’s going to happen. When Karen saw my blog she reached out to me. She wanted to be sure she wasn’t misleading in her recipe, she wanted to hear what I had panicked over and any details she may have missed, and she wanted to explain to me any nuances and gluten free tips I may need. I love this gluten free community!

I walked away once again feeling so appreciative for my gluten free community, a desire to be more involved in the blogging world, and I must say inspired to bake and bake and bake some more. And that’s my story for today. Now, back to my bundt cakes!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Thai Mango and Cucumber Salad

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


I love this salad. I love it any time of day and any time of year. Thai food is comfort food to me. And that’s what I need right now. I’m trying to remember that crap happens to the best of us, but that’s no reason to stop enjoying the natural gifts that we are given: like our taste buds. This one stimulates every taste bud- salty, sweet, sour. Appreciate it. Appreciate what you have and what you enjoy. This recipe makes me feel comforted, calm, full of energy, and happy that I can enjoy flavors as much as I do.

Thai Mango and Cucumber Salad is a variation of the more commonly found green papaya salad but I find that those are harder to come by here in Austin. The following recipe is exactly how I made mine, but this one isn’t an exact science. A little more spice, a little more sweetness, that’s all up to you. Just make sure to take a bite that has a morsel of every ingredient.

Mango and Cucumber Salad
1 fresh Thai chili, minced
1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon shallot or red onion, minced
1 Tablespoon palm sugar (or honey)
1 1/2 Tablespoons fish sauce
approximately 3 Tablespoons keffir lime juice (or to taste)
2 cups mango, a bit unripe, sliced thinly or julienned
2 cups cucumber, sliced thinly or julienned
1/2 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup loosely packed mint, torn
1/2 cup peanuts, smashed and toasted lightly
2 Tablespoons dried shrimp, optional

Combine the chili, garlic, shallot, sugar, fish sauce and lime in a small bowl. Smash with the back of a spoon to let flavors in. Let sit for at least 15 minutes.

Slice your mango and cucumber. I like to use a slightly unripe mango (not completely), as it’s easier to cut. Use a thin-skinned cucumber so you don’t have to bother peeling it. Combine the mango and cucumber and the dressing in your serving bowl. Tear the basil and mint leaves and throw on top, mixing ever so slightly with your hands or a fork. Add the peanuts and dried shrimp (if using) on top and serve as is. This can be room temperature or chilled. Will last in the fridge for a day or two.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Este Sorbet de Chocolate es Muy Rico

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


I love sorbet. I always have. I miss ice cream every so often, but sorbet easily fills this void. Dairy-free ice creams tend to often disappoint, but the naturally dairy-free wonder that is sorbet, never fails to satisfy the need for an icy treat.

And yet… a major hole existed in my sorbet world: Chocolate. I missed the creamy chocolate-y texture of old fashioned chocolate ice cream… until I found the chocolate sorbet at La Dolce Vita. Their chocolate sorbet was creamy, tasty, not too sweet, and incredibly rich. While it is indeed vegan, it was not what you normally find in the “vegan ice cream” section- there is no avocado, tofu, or other alternatives: it’s straight and simple sorbet.

Enter Alice. I’ve likely mentioned Alice Medrich‘s book “Pure Dessert” many, many times. One of my favorites of this book is her chocolate sorbet. When I discovered the recipe a few years ago, I went wild with it. I tried it as is (many times) and then with goat’s milk, with rum, peppermint, cacao nibs, orange, candied orange, burnt sugar, various toppings and more.

And then The Writer took me back to Dolce Vita. Between spoonfuls of ice cream, he expressed his love for chocolate and I remembered my ice cream maker collecting dust on the shelf and Alice’s amazing recipe. I pulled the ice cream maker down and The Writer didn’t mind testing this one out for me. I’ve never seen someone inhale my ice cream with quite so much relish. It reminded me I should make this one again and again. Now you can too. I’ve made Alice’s version here (with no embellishments) and served it with raspberries, one of my all-time favorite combinations.

Alice’s Chocolate Sorbet
1 scant cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 cups boiling water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 Tablespoons rum (optional)

Combine the sugar, cocoa, and salt in a pot and whisk in about 1/2 cup of the boiling water. This will form a thick paste. Stir in the remaining water over medium heat just until small bubbles appear around the edges. Be sure to mix in the chocolate that sticks to the bottom.

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill for at least 4 hours. I prefer to put it in the tupperware I am going to use once it’s frozen, and then chill it over night if possible. If using rum or other additional flavorings, add right before pouring into the ice cream maker.

Follow ice cream maker’s instructions for freezing. While the sorbet is turning, keep the tupperware in the freezer. Place finished sorbet back in the frozen tupperware and freeze for at least 3-4 hours.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Sweet | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Orange Amaretti Cookies

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

I love a good chewy cookie. Cakey? Sure. Fudgy? Sure. Crisp? Okay. But chewy is what makes my mouth water. It’s also (fortunately for me), easy to make a gluten free and very chewy cookie. Another birthday in the Sustainable Food Center office and I chose to veer from my usual cake experimenting and go for bites we could pass around the table. I made two kinds of cookies- both chewy.

These are a really simple Amaretti Cookie. There are a ton of recipes out there for this cookie and most include the same three basic ingredients: almonds, sugar, egg whites. Delight. Some have a little gluten here, a little extra something there. Me? I love a strong almond flavor and wanted to add a little more “pizazz” so opted to make these orange flavor.

I tested this recipe with both orange extract and orange zest as well as another day with candied orange. I love the subtlety of the orange extract so that’s the version here. Take the basics and do what you like. This is a cookie-canvas free for the taking.

Orange Amaretti Cookies
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 Tablespoon orange zest

Preheat oven to 300. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat almond flour and sugars with a handheld mixer or a stand alone mixer. Add the eggs, and beat after each addition. Beat until smooth.

Place small teaspoons of the dough in your fingers and roll gently into a smooth ball. The dough is very sticky, so fingertips are best. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until just slightly browned on top. If you want them crisper, bake about 2-3 minutes longer. They’ll still be chewy when they first come out of the oven.

While they’re still warm, dust the tops with powdered sugar. Another option is to roll them in sugar and then in the powdered sugar before baking, but I find dusting them after they’re baked uses less sugar, is simpler (read: not as messy), and it’s pretty too.

Posted in Dietary Restrictions, Recipes, Sweet | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment