Week(and every) day cobbler

Hello again, my friends. From the looks of it, it’s been a year since I posted – A YEAR! I never intended to take such a substantial break, but I suppose such is life. I’ve still been making delicious food and have thought about Yum For Tum too many times to count, but just couldn’t seem to muster up the power to sit down and write. Honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit (well, more than a bit) stuck and trying to figure a whole lot of things out in the last 12 months, and I think I’m finally making some headway. I’ll spare you all the details, and just leave it at that. I’m writing a blog post, so that’s progress right? 🙂

Making and eating cobbler is also a form of progress, so let’s do it.

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This cobbler is my go to dessert at all times of year, work night or no. It’s so very easy, so very tasty, and it takes about 5 minutes to throw together. You can use fresh or frozen fruit, and I’ve experimented with pretty much everything – the only thing that I’m not wild about as the sole fruit in this is citrus fruit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great addition to something with less water in it, but it makes for kind of a mushy final product. Adding in dried fruit with fresh or frozen stuff also makes for sweet, sweet goodness.

One more thing, this whole recipe is super flexible! You have dried apricots and frozen blueberries at home? Use them! You have a handful of raspberries, some left over blueberries, and couple apples – that’s a fine mofo of a cobbler!

Also, the amounts of every ingredient are more suggestions than anything else. Depending on pan size, you change the amounts of fruit and topping to suit what you’ve got.

What you need (makes 4 mini cocottes – see disclaimer below):

Topping:

2 cups gf oats

1 Tbsp coconut or sunflower oil (even a light olive oil is pretty good here), melted

1/4 cup maple syrup (the oats should be coated lightly with maple syrup – if you want more sweetness or find your oats aren’t coated, add more, but don’t let the oats get mushy)

1/2tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

pinch of nutmeg

Filling:

2-3 cups fruit, chopped.

Juice of 1/2 lemon

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Here’s where I make a quick disclaimer: I use these little cocottes to both make and serve the cobbler. If you’re thinking, “this is bullshit! I don’t have cocottes!” worry not, my dear. Really, even I’m shocked that I have cocottes. So, take whatever pan you’re going to be using (ideally it doesn’t have more than about a 3 inch side), fill it with fruit about 2/3-3/4 of the way, then pack on the topping! 

So, first, preheat the oven to 375. Then wash your fruit (yes, yes, fresh and seasonal fruit is always sweetest, but I’ve been using up the rest of my frozen nectarines and daaaa-ummm, Gina, they’re good!)

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Next, add lemon juice, stir, and fill your cocottes or not cocottes.

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Mix all the topping ingredients together and spoon onto your fruits. I like to make each of these little guys heaping because I love me so oaty topping and they just end up so nice and crunchy. If your topping layer is too thin, the oats will be mush. I’d shoot for at least 1/2 inch, maybe an inch of topping. If you don’t have enough fruit or topping to cover your pan, just keep adding more until you’re satisfied!

Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy on top and all bubbly and luscious in the middle.

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Boom, tasty dessert! Enjoy!

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(The Best) Buckwheat Oat Biscuits (Ever).

IMG_9252  Ah, February. I can’t believe you’re here already. Another birthday coming up, a last “arctic blast,” and we’re still in the middle of soup season.

Is this post at all about soup, you ask? No.

So what’s with the soup season comment? Well, with soup season (and yes, this is a season I celebrate and look forward to all year long) comes biscuits and another reason to marvel at the magic that is buckwheat.

So my friends, after many attempts at making the buckwheat biscuits of my dreams, here we are. I present to you a recipe I love and will be making pretty much every week for the rest of my life. Maybe that’s an overstatement, but you get what I’m saying.IMG_9253For those of you who haven’t yet heard me wax poetic about buckwheat, I’ll keep it short. If you’re gluten free, go out and buy some buckwheat right now! It will make being gluten free so much happier. Rice flour has always had an odd texture to me, and who can live without whole grains? Nobody. That’s who. IMG_9251These little buddies are easy to whip up in a jiffy, and they’re great with soup (or what I like to call “the big show”), jam, or anything else your heart desires. Nutella? YES. Smashed banana? Why not?! Honey (if you’re not hardcore about the vegan thing)? Do it.

What you need:

1 3/4 cup oat flour (I ground mine from certified gluten free oats in a magic bullet)

1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour (buy online at Bob’s Red Mill or grind it from groats)

3 Tbsp Potato Starch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 – 1 tsp salt (depending on how savoury you like your biscuits)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup unsweetenend almond milk (if dough is too thick, add 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved)

IMG_9239Preheat the oven to 450. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another, and mix! Your dough will be fairly dry and crumbly, but if it won’t stick together add more almond milk. If it’s too wet, and a little bit of flour.IMG_9245Once you’ve mixed, knead the dough into a ball and roll out on parchment paper into a flat layer about 1/2 thick (thick if you’d like). Using a mason jar or cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles, repeating the rolling and cutting until all of the dough is used.IMG_9246IMG_9248Bake for about 15 minutes, until crusty on the outside, then take a tea and biscuit break. You deserve it.IMG_9256Seriously, the smashed banana thing is good. Enjoy, friends! 🙂

Glooooooorious Morning Everything Muffins – Vegan, Gf, quick and easy!

IMG_9058This week I found myself with an abundance of beautiful zucchini, apples, carrots (I know, it was a good week). While I totally love those fine veggies in their natural form, I also am a huge fan of the veggie+fruit+seed muffin, and so it only seemed right to make some of that magic happen.

Also, excitement! I have 3 weeks off from school and the end of my degree is in 3 months. WOOOOOO! Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming.IMG_9044What you need: Makes 12 muffins

1 cup of buckwheat flour

1 cup of oat flour (gf oats)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup cacao nibs

1/3 cups pumpkin seeds

1 zucchini, grated

2 carrots, grated

1 medium apple, chopped,

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 6 tbsp water to form a gel (this is the egg replacer)IMG_9049Preheat to 350 degrees. Start by making your chia gel, it should take about 5 minutes to set. Continue by combining dry ingredients (I ground my own buckwheat flour and oat flour in my magic bullet) in one bowl. In another, combine the wet ingredients (including sugar, oil, and chia gel here).IMG_9053Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stir, and then add veggies, seeds, apple, and nibs. Stir until well combined.IMG_9054In a greased muffin tin, fill each cup.IMG_9057Place in oven and bake for about 20-30 min. When a fork comes out clean, your muffins are done!IMG_9061IMG_9060Enjoy! 🙂

For Your Consideration: Oat Flax Beer Bread (Gf and Vegan and The Best Gf Bread I’ve Ever Tasted!)

P1030093_2Sometimes I really, really miss good fresh bread. My grandpa used to make the best sourdough, and everything else has kind of paled in comparison. I’ve been tweaking this recipe for a couple of months now, and I think I finally got it totally right. IT IS SOOOOO GOOOOOODDDD! Whoa.

If you’ve been looking for a good all around bread that doesn’t cost $7 a loaf (Udi’s, I’m looking at you), this is your new best bread buddy. It toasts well, makes a mean sandwich, and was born to sop up soups and sauces. It also freezes like a champion, so you can make it, slice it, and freeze it for another day.P1030092_2What you need:

1 cup oat flour (gluten-free, natch). I ground my own in the magical bullet

1 cup supafine rice flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/3 cup sweet sorghum flour

2 Tbsp flaxseeds, soaked in 6 Tbps water until a gel is formed

1/8 cup coconut sugar

1.5 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 Tsp of sea salt

12 oz of gluten-free beer (I used New Grist)

coconut oil to grease breadpanP1030094_2First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then grind your oat flour, and sift together all dry ingredients. Add flax gel and beer, and stir until well mixed. Pour into prepared bread pan and pop in the oven until golden brown and slightly cracked on top and a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 30-45 minutes, but varies quite a lot depending on your oven).P1030096_2Let cool for a few minutes (I could only wait for about 2 before I had to eat some, but I’m weak, you might be stronger). Eat plain, or top with something tasty. Hummus and tomato worked pretty darn nicely for me. Enjoy! 🙂P1030097_2P1030098_2