Tag: New Recipe

Lo Is Domestic AF: Saskatoon Berry Biscuits

Posted on by Lo in Personal Blog, Writing

I love exploring new and unusual foods that break the normal monocultures people expect – particularly, wild edible foods.

It had been a while since I did a recipe comparable to the Ship of Theseus, so it seemed time to make that happen again. I hope everyone is ready 🙂

Pictured above are Saskatoon berries. While similar to huckleberries or blueberries, Saskatoon berries do have a higher quantity of amygdalin than some other fruits and this breaks down into hydrogen cyanide. Eating too much of any fruit containing large amounts of amygdalin will you sick, but heat will break this down easily.

But how do you use them? In baking! Today, I’m going to share my recipe for Saskatoon berry biscuits. I based the recipe on one for blueberry drop biscuits, but I made quite a few significant changes to all of the ingredients to the point that it’s no longer the same recipe. Additionally, please keep in mind that the baking process heats the berries to a toasty 500 F (260 C) for ~10 minutes and helps guarantee that the berries are safe to eat for sensitive populations.

It’s important that you always wash berries before you cook with them. I removed all kinds of twigs and things from these before I added these to the dough, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

So, besides approximately 1 cup* of Saskatoon berries, what other supplies will I need? You can replace 1 cup of Saskatoon berries with a cup of huckleberries or local wild blueberry relative – I’m sure Maine blueberries would be divine!

*I include metric measurements for all of my ingredients at the bottom of this post

Because I try to reduce the overall sugar content of these recipes, I use Truvia sweetener baking mix.

I make my own self rising flour using Namaste flour blend (though you can use any cup for cup gluten free flour blend containing xantham gum). You may find that you need to adjust the ratios depending on the humidity and elevation of where you are living. I baked these biscuits at 3500 feet (1067 meters) above sea level and about 30% humidity.

The next task is to combine all dry ingredients called for – in this case it’s the sugar substitute and the self rising gluten free flour blend. Make sure to take your time with this step because uneven mixing can create issues. The one thing I would have changed while making this recipe is that I would have added a sifting step (I do not own a sifter).

Before we go any further, make sure your oven is preheating to a toasty 500 F (260 C) and get a vent fan going. At that temperature if you have anything baked to the inside of your oven, your smoke alarms will let you know.

Next, we add the dairy free milk option.

Let’s make something really clear: I’m from The South. I like my fats. They make everything taste good. In the drop biscuits I grew up with we used butter and full fat buttermilk, so I thought why not use coconut oil and canned coconut milk?

It takes a bit more effort though – because canned coconut milk comes out looking like this:

Doesn’t that look appetizing?

To fix this, place the bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds, then stir, and repeat until smooth. You’ll end up with a homogenous and smooth coconut milk.

Okay! We have all of our wet ingredients, fats, fruits and dry ingredients. Before we go any further be sure to double check your berries for stems and ripeness.

Next, add the coconut oil and start cutting (with 2 knives) the coconut oil into the dry ingredient mixture until you end up with dry pea sized granules.

Next, slowly add your coconut milk little by little and continue cutting in until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and the majority of the mix looks moistened.

It should looks something like what I have pictured below:

Now, add your berries and very gently (as to avoid squishing them) fold in your fresh berries. I did the folding part with a flat wooden spoon.

Once fully incorporated, move to a plastic or silicone mat and get a wooden rolling pin (marble or silicone may work here too) and gently roll out dough mass into a 1 inch (~2.5 cm) thick mass. I used a medium sized biscuit cutter, but the choice is yours. A smaller sized biscuit cutter will likely double the yield.

Continue to cut, transfer to a greased cookie sheet. If you can’t cut, reshape and gentle roll out without pushing the dough down with force – you do not want to squish the dough particles together!

A medium biscuit cutter yielded 8 biscuits, but the small may yield closer to 12-16 depending on how big your small sized biscuit cutter is.

Once the biscuits have started to get a nice golden brown appearance on top they are cooked through. Go ahead and take them out of the oven, but let them cool to at least 100 F (37.8 C) before serving. Cook time will vary based on a number of factors – these took approximately 10 minutes in our gas oven.

I’m so happy to have been able to share this recipe of Theseus with you today! While none of the ingredients matched the original version I based this on, it turned out fantastic. Therefore, I am going to put it out into the world and call this one a success.

Ingredients (Summary)

  • 2 cups (480 g) gluten free self-rising flour
  • 1/3 cup (80 g) truvia baking sugar substitute
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) coconut oil, non-melted
  • 2/3 – 3/4 cup (160 – 180 mL) canned coconut milk, warmed and blended smooth
  • 1 cup (240 g) fresh Saskatoon (or other local wild) berries (frozen may work too)

Did you give this recipe a try? What did you think? Have you ever cooked with Saskatoon berries? Are you a fan? Let me know in the comments below!

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read about this recipe. If you enjoyed this post, please like, share, and/or leave a comment. This helps me know which posts my readers like best. I hope you are well and I encourage you to try new things, experiment, and don’t be afraid to replace ingredients if you’re allergic to them. You’d be amazed what you might discover!

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Lo Is Domestic AF: Cast Iron And Carrots

Posted on by Lo in Personal Blog, Writing

Lazy Cooked Carrots

How lazy, you ask? Well, you can buy 2 lbs (907 grams) of baby carrots from the store in a bag. The rest is about 15 minutes worth of work standing in front of a stove. That’s it. It’s okay though, this is one of Jacob’s favorites.

Grab that bag of baby carrots. Throw it in a cast iron pan with 2 tablespoons (or more) of coconut oil or olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh chopped parsley. I like adding garlic scapes to taste in the oil first and getting those cooking while the oil is heating to medium or medium high heat.

While the oil is heating, pat your baby carrots dry and combine a half teaspoon of sea salt, a quarter teaspoon of ground black pepper, and a quarter tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley in a separate bowl – you’ll be adding these later. Remember: you don’t want the outsides of your carrots wet. Why? Water hitting hot oil splatters and splattering hot oil hurts. A lot.

Your oil is hot, now what? Add the baby carrots. All of them. Stir and coat them completely with the oil, then let them sit for a couple minutes, then rotate the bottom to the top. Repeat this for about ten minutes. Then, add your seasoning mixture and stir in completely making sure all of the carrots are coated evenly. Repeat letting the carrots sit for a few minutes, then rotating the bottom to the top. You should notice that the exterior of the carrots starts to blister and turn a brown/black while the carrots begin to soften. Once the carrots are completely tender, they’re ready to serve!

Leftovers are great chopped for soups and stews or pureed for sauces. The options are pretty endless. Bottom line: there are no excuses for carrots to go bad.

Hard mode: If you don’t want to be lazy, you could buy carrots and not a bag of baby carrots, then chop them or coin them. You can make a root vegetable medley and cook it the same way (I highly recommend turnips). If you do buy carrots, make sure to get the carrots that have the carrot greens on them. At the very end, remove the cooked carrots and add a little more oil and salt to the pan, then fry up the chopped carrot greens. I might be a little weird for this, but I love the taste of carrot greens and they’re one of the most exciting parts of any carrot harvest for me, even if I’m the only one eating them.

If you liked this post, please be sure to share, like, and/or comment below. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this brief write up of a quick and easy way to cook carrots.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

Lo is Domestic AF: Tie-Dye Pie (Mild Fail)

Posted on by Lo in Personal Blog

Fourth Of July Jell-O? Oh No.

What started out as an attempt at carefully crafted Jell-O art quickly became a disaster turned new creation and summer tradition.

Jacob loves tie-dye. He’s living in tie-dye hoodie II – the slightly darker sequel. To celebrate the Fourth of July, I wanted to get out of the house. I am a fan of Randonautica (it’s kind of like a weird spin on geocaching without the human caching). I’m showing you that picture first because it’s prettier and it had to wait until after my kitchen disaster.

The Disaster Begins With A Jell-O Mold

It all started with me wanting to make a bundt molded Jell-O with a regular cake pan-molded Jell-O to then fill with lemon-vanilla pudding and top with whipped cream. Sounds simple enough, right?

It would have been if I had nonstick spray and hadn’t resorted to using coconut oil to grease the pans. This was a horrible mistake. I put the powder dissolved in hot water into pans coated in coconut oil. So many levels of disaster.

A few hours later I decided I had to get the Jell-O out of the pan. Somehow, this was when I realized the error of my ways and not before. With the Jell-O mold ruined, I decided to invent a new recipe to recover everything! Behold – Tie-Dye Pie (without the crust this time around. I’d recommend using a graham cracker or equivalent crust).

The Recovery And New Recipe

Next up, I decided to make the filling, since the Fourth of July is a Keep Calm and Blow Stuff Up kind of day. I combined a shot (1 fl. oz) of Torani French Vanilla syrup (we use Sugar Free, you don’t have to), Jell-O lemon instant pudding, and a can of coconut milk. Using a hand mixer I blended this on medium for 3 – 4 minutes.

Next, in my Pyrex pie pan I layered everything together, Blue Jell-O. Sickly lemon yellow pudding. My history of culinary mistakes. Throw them all in there in layers.

Now, once that shameful mess is slopped together, do not stir. Instead, try to hide it under a nice layer of whipped topping. To make this extra American, we’re not making our own whipped topping – we’re using the store bought polymers.

Look at that unnatural creation. From the side, it looks like I should have filled it with little drink umbrellas and gummy fish.

Here’s the fun part – now stick a giant spoon in that pie and start scooping it out. Watch the transformation into your dish!

Now, you have yellow and blue tie-dye pie! You can do this with any color of Jell-O and one of the more colorful options of instant pudding (I would recommend pistachio or lemon).

Taste Test Verdict?

Now that we survived that disaster, it’s time to eat it. I found this dessert to be way too sweet for me, but that may make it perfect for kids. I love that the Jell-O pudding and gelatin keep their colors separate in the serving process and help to create that fun tie-dye illusion. I can imagine this becoming even better with a deeper dish, like one used for a torte, and a rainbow of Jell-O gelatin options layered with the instant pudding.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Lo Is Domesti AF and my Fourth Of July food disaster. If you enjoyed this, please be sure to share, like, and/or comment. This helps me know which types of posts my readers prefer.

As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this post. It means a lot to me that these words aren’t trapped forever on a server where they never see the light of day (or your computer screen).