Sweet Potato Coffee Cake- and a love story

Winter in Northern New Mexico- my view.

It's been snowy, windy, cold- you name it. From all the tweets I've been reading over on Twitter lately, I'm not alone. Far from it. This has been one crazy snowy month. So what does a gluten-free goddess do when she gets stuck in the middle of the desert with no buckwheat flour, no sorghum, and no four-wheel drive? (Note to self- if you're going to live in rural Northern New Mexico, Darling, a cute and thrifty little Honda Fit won't cut it.)

Snowed in and hungry she does the only sensible thing.

She scans the pantry and pulls out a Whole Foods gluten-free cake mix and starts stirring things up. She starts imagining dirt bombs. And bakes up a coffee cake worthy of the winter holidays.

The love part of the story?

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Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger

A comforting sweet potato soup for the sun deprived  soul. With ginger.

Winter Solstice is approaching fast. The days now are so short I've been warning Steve to hide all sharp instruments. Your intrepid gluten-free goddess, you see, has that infamous seasonal wrestle with gloom this sun deprived time of year. In a perfect world I'd be spending the month of December in Hawaii like certain lucky individuals, soaking up vitamin D with the surfer girls and feeling all mahalo instead of Get me the bleep outa here before I scream.

So I've been on a sweet potato kick. I can't get enough of these ruby and golden hued tubers- perfect for winter comfort food. So tasty. And versatile. Astute readers may have noticed the trend already.

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Chakri / Spiral wheat flour snack

Chakri- Crispy and Crunchy Spiral Wheat Flour Snacks
Chakri is a wheel shaped crunchy spicy snack made from wheat flour or rice flour. In our Gujarat all people make from wheat flour. You can have lots of fun with this one as it uses a special tool called a sev maker.
Ingredients for making Chakri:
1 big bowl wheat flour
1\2 of bowl yogurt (curd)
6 tbsp sesame seeds
4 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp turmeric powder
5 tbsp oil for making dough
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Sev maker with star nozzle for making chakri
Method for making chakri:
Step 1: Place the wheat flour in steal vessel and cover with lid. Pure the half cup water in the pressure cooker and put the flour vessel in it and closed the cooker with top. Cook the simple flour in base of water for three whistles.


Step 2: Turn of the flame and cool at room temperature. If wheat flour is warm then it is best for making crispy chakri.


Step 3: Place this wheat flour in big bowl and rubbing smoothly with hand.
Step 4: Add red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder, and sesame seeds in it.

Step 5: Heat 5 tbsp oil and add the sizzling hot oil to the wheat flour or if flour is warm then add oil as it is. Mix lightly.
Step 6: Add yogurt to make stiff dough. Knead thoroughly with hand not food processor. If you need than add little water for making smooth dough.
Step 7: Take sev maker and place the dough in a sev maker, using the chakri (star) nozzle.

Step 8: Closed the sev maker tightly.
Step 9: Make long strips with the sev maker and after that make spiral on to the paper. Gently press the ends of the chakri so it is not open when we fry it. Make this type of raw chakri at least more than ten. Step 10: Heat the oil for frying. Test the oil by dropping a small piece of dough and wait for 3 or 4 seconds if it does not rise to the top then oil needs to be heated.
Step 11: Gently place the raw charki in heat oil and fry it for two minutes until light brown on the underside. Step 12: Turn in to another side and fry into middle flame for 1-2 minutes. If you are frying in low or medium flame on another sides than it’s turns into golden brown and crispy. So you can take care of it.
Step 13: Remove the cooked chakri from the oil.

Step 14: Drain on paper and fry the remaining raw chakri in the same manner. Step 15: When all the chakri have been cooled then store in an airtight jar.

Mexican Chocolate Cake (Vegan + Fabulous!)

When vegans come to call, serve this rich and dairy-free 
Mexican chocolate cake. You'll score serious points.

Serious alchemy is afoot in the humble guise of a vegan chocolate cake recipe. You know what I'm talkin' about- those of you out there with me in spirit, baking your tender little hearts out, hoping to conjure edible bites of bliss without gluten, dairy and eggs. It ain't easy. In fact, I'd venture to say that to keep at this thing- this GF/CF and allergy-free baking thing- without losing your ever fragile sanity (never mind your sense of humor) is a heroic act.

Pure and simple.

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies Recipe with Pecan Meal

A rich, gluten-free chocolate brownie with pecan flour.

Everyone needs a rich decadent brownie treat now and then. Especially if you wake up to snow and ice and no electricity. Which means of course, no heat. No hot water. No shower. Which translates into one very bad hair day. And one prickly, cranky goddess. I'm serious.

What does Mother Nature think this is, December?

Oh. Wait.

I've been deep in denial, I admit it. I've been distracting myself tweaking blog color schemes and rustling up pumpkin waffles and cozy soups and watching old Humphrey Bogart movies and downloading music pretending Autumn Shade is forever. But winter, I hate to tell you, is only twelve days away, inching closer every shivering second. It's a good thing we have a kiva fireplace and a stack of pinon outside the door. With nothing to do, I bundled up and settled in to read (long overdue) Temple Grandin's amazing book Animals In Translation.

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Gluten-Free Baking Tips + Substitutions

I receive so many requests for substitutes in cooking and baking recipes (food allergies are on the rise, you know, not to mention those tender-hearted animal loving vegans- their smiling faces are popping up everywhere these days) that I thought I would write a post about what works- and what doesn't- in quirky Substitution Land. And...provide a permanent link to this vital information in the Karina's Kitchen sidebar. For your convenience, Bubbie. See how much I think of you, Dear Heart?

So now you can scoot your accommodating Aunt Sadie over to this Baking + Cooking Substitutions link when she calls you up to ask, For the love of Pete- how the heck do I fix you a mac and cheese casserole if you can't eat gluten or casein? You can now answer, Have I got a blog for you.

Of course, then she is sure to ask, Um, what's a blog?

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A Creamy Sauced Gluten-Free Pasta

Artichokes and a creamy sauce make this pasta pure comfort food.

This was almost a vegan recipe. Until I added the bacon. Non-carnivores, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. (Edit: I've returned to the fold now that my hip has healed completely.) I was standing there (quite innocent!) in my humble little kitchen stirring this velvety cream sauce (that I'd just improvised with some leftover sweet potato) listening to my pick-me-up when I'm draggin' 80's playist (Phil Collins, The Church, Suzanne Vega, Tears For Fears, Wham! and Simple Minds) when I remembered the smoky gluten-free and casein-free Sunday bacon Steve had cooked earlier. 

And that, as they say in Guy Ritchie land, was Bob's yer uncle. And speaking of Tears For Fears- I have one quick question. Does everybody want to rule the world? Because to me, it seems like too much work.

For those of you who are fans of my Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe and well acquainted with nutritional yeast- a fab source of those requisite B vitamins and a non-dairy sort-of-but-not-exactly cheesy nutty flavor spike for those us lucky enough to live gluten and casein-free by celiac necessity or neuro-different choice (or hope or, I don't know why it works it just does) you'll love this variation on a vegan cheese sauce theme.

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