Scenes from a Small Kitchen: Sunday

Swirly Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Scenes from a Small Kitchen: Saturday

Wispy clouds from our kitchen window

Anti-scarecrow friendly fountain person in the courtyard outside our kitchen

Scenes from a Small Kitchen: Friday

Fruit and Salad

Scenes from a Small Kitchen: Thursday

Pappadums

Scenes from a Small Kitchen: Wednesday

Trusty Kettle

The Gautrain: South Africa's first high speed train

Centurion Station

Centurion Station

Ticket Lines

Platform

Line runs from Hatfield (Pretoria) to Rosebank (Johannesburg)

Shiny New Gautrain

Interior

Commuters

Scenery

Security

Sandton Station

Bottleneck to Get Out (Bad Idea)

Faaaaarrrr Underground

Nelson Mandela Square

7 is the # between 6 & 8

SEVEN is also:

• a lucky and happy prime number;
• the amount of wonders of the ancient world;
• how many deadly sins there supposedly are;
• the number of dwarves that kept Snow White company;
• how many gods of fortune in Japanese mythology there are;
• the number of spots on a seven-spotted ladybug; and
• the number of posts I have been tagged to resuscitate by Ryan of Ryan Bakes and Ramona of Curry and Comfort.

MOST...

1 - Beautiful

Grapetizer Layer Cake - a freaky but fantastic gluten-free recipe based on Joyti of Darjeeling Dreams Blackberry + Champagne Layer Cake, made just after I got a shiny new camera to play with.

2 - Popular

Gluten-Free, Egg-Free Chocolate Cake - a collaborative effort between my Mom and me, which garnered my first website feedback of someone who actually baked it and got back to me. Yay! :-)

3 - Controversial

Chickpea Brownies - a chance find entirely made up (necessitated by what I had left in my kitchen when a chocolate craving struck.) It didn't get many comment but, to this day, still manages to top my Google Analytics charts with the most amount of views ever.

4 - Helpful

Buttermilk Rusks - a South African classic updated for an allergy-prone world. I have received the most appreciative e-mails from South Africans and ex-pats around the world seeking some homemade comfort and nostalgia. I *heart* it! :-)


5 - Successful (with an added dash of "Surprise!")

Nonna's Rustic Apple Cake - I was tripping down memory lane when I wrote this post, and I think readers identified with the family element. I've also noticed that  people really want egg-free cake recipes that actually work reliably. This is one of those.

6 - Underrated

Gluten/Egg/Corn/Nut-Free Pizza Bases - this is one of those recipes I wish I could make for EVEYRONE so that they could be addicted to wanting to make it themselves :-) But I totally understand that if one could buy a ready-made pizza base, one would. So it's all good.

7 - Proud of...

Chocolate Pots - the writing muse was with me when I churned out this one. Really. The planets aligned.

So...

1. Stacey of bakercourt
2. Lynn of Gimme Gluten Free
3. Marisa of The Creative Pot 
4. Natalie of The Wooden Spoon Blog
5. Kim Bee of Cravings of a Lunatic

..."Tag...you're it!"

Play with if you feel like it :-)

Steve, ve sink you've got ze crazy-eye!

Photo of my Stevesy bought from abbeychristine

Eleanor Zissou: How are you feeling?
Steve Zissou: I'm right on the edge. I don't know what comes next.

~ from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou by Wes Anderson (2004) ~

Friday Feature: Ms. Veronica's

I love getting mail!

The glorious anticipation of walking to one's post box to check whether there is something new and exciting is a joy to me.

Today, I was super chuffed to find my cool monogrammed card (+ 1 extra) from Roanne, the awesome graphic designer; fine arts student and talent behind Ms. Veronicas.

Roanne was also kind enough to include one of her signature book-of-matches-style note books, which is oh so useful for list making geeks like me who like to keep little writing pads and pens in every possible bag! Thank you, RB. :-)

Roanne's Blog: Ms. Veronica's
Roanne's Etsy Shop: Ms. Veronica's

Savoury Chickpea Flour Pancakes

I felt like a kitchen pirate that walked off with the loot when I discovered a veritable treasure trove of interesting goodies a few days ago...

• Gluten-free pappadums that are perfect for popping under the grill for a quick snack.
• Curry leaves and yellow mustard seeds for a spicy sautéed potato dish.
• Sago for sago pudding (similar to rice pudding but cooler...like eating little see-through pearls of fish eggs, except not gross). 

I also found bags of chickpea flour...

Chickpea flour = chana flour = gram flour = garbanzo flour = besan.

According to Wikipedia:

"Used in many countries, it is a staple ingredient in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisines, and, in the form of a paste with water or yoghurt, a popular facial exfoliant in the Indian Subcontinent. Moreover, when mixed with an equal proportion of water, can be used as an egg-replacer in vegan cooking.

Chila (or chilla), a pancake made with gram flour batter, is a popular street and fast food in India.

Gram flour contains a high proportion of carbohydrates but no gluten. Despite this, in comparison to other flours, it has a relatively high proportion of protein."

So no egg = no problem. This four holds its own.

Recipe

P.S. This isn't a recipe of exacts...rather just a smidgen of this and a pinch of that. 

Go by texture and feel!

Ingredients:

- Chickpea/garbanzo/gram flour

- Water

- Jeera or Cumin (whole)

- Dried Chilli

- Black Mustard Seeds

- Salt

- Vegetable Oil

Method:

1. Chuck some chana flour in a mixing bowl.
2. Add a pinch of salt, a pinch or two of jeera, a pinch or three of black mustard seeds, and a pinch or four of dried chillies.
3. Add sufficient water to make a medium-thick batter, and then mix in a half teaspoon of vegetable oil.
4. Lightly oil a non-stick crepe pan, and pre-heat it briefly over a medium heat.
5. Drop a small ladleful of batter onto the centre of the pan, and watch it sizzle.
6. Flip when it bubbles. Go for very lightly golden brown.
7. Make a rocking savoury topping (see ideas below) and chow down on some grindage.

Scoops of fresh avocado with a sprinkling of salt and dried chilli.

Zhoeshed chickpeas with dried chillies, salt, jeera; 

topped with cucumber slices.