Alice Medrich's Almond Drop Biscuits

All the foodies know of Berkeley's famous Alice Waters, but there's another, lesser-known Berkeley Alice who deserves just as much recognition. Alice Medrich has won more cookbook-of-the-year awards and best in the dessert and baking category awards than any other author. As a child I remember my mom savoring truffles from Medrich's North Berkeley dessert shop, Cocolat. Some people even say she's the woman who made truffles popular in the United States. I was reintroduced to Medrich by my friend Arianna last year when she brought an amazing fruit cobbler to a dinner party and told me it was from Medrich's Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts cookbook. I promptly bought a copy for myself. Shortly after I purchased her most recent book, Flavor Flours, which is essentially a gluten-free cookbook that explores many of the alternative flours that are becoming popular.

I woke up this morning with the urge to bake something healthy and easy. I turned to Flavor Flours and happened to have all of the ingredients for the Almond Drop Biscuit recipe on hand, so I gave them a whirl. The base of these biscuits is a mix of almond and rice flour. I've done a lot of baking with almond flour, but had yet to use my bag of rice flour for anything beyond dusting bread dough. These biscuits have a surprisingly chewy texture and a light almond and rice flavor. They taste a little boring on their own, but once I added some strawberry jam they became a lovely little snack. Not quite hearty enough for breakfast, I'll be having one or two of these with my afternoon tea throughout the week. 

Almond Drop Biscuits

Adapted from the recipe by Alice Medrich, from the book Flavor Flours 

Makes 12 small biscuits 

1 1/3 cup (200 grams) white rice flour

2/3 cup (60 grams) almond flour/meal 

2 teaspoons sugar 

1/4 teaspoon xantham gum 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup heavy cream (I only had 2% milk but I bet cream would have helped the flavor)

1/2 cup plain yogurt (any percent fat) or slightly watered down Greek Yogurt 

Preheat the oven to 400°F. 

Combine all of the ingredients in large bowl. Use a handheld or standing mixer with the paddle attachment to beat the mixture on low for at least two minutes. You want the batter to be pretty thick. 

Scoop 12 mounds of batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The biscuits will rise a bit so leave about 2 inches between each mound. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the biscuits are browned on the top and bottom. Serve warm. 

Easy coconut curry sauce

Every once in a while I like to cut way back on carbs and sugar to reset my routine and reduce my cravings. Last year I read the book Always Hungry by David Ludwig and I was inspired to try his meal plan for a few weeks as a reset. If I remember correctly, Ludwig's general philosophy is that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to eating grains and sugar--some people can tolerate more than others without gaining weight. He also believes that in order to lose weight you need a lot of fat at first so your body doesn't cling to it. He starts off his three-phase meal plan with a high fat, low carb, zero grain and zero sugar (except for a few daily pieces of very dark chocolate) diet and after a couple of weeks he has you slowly introduce grains and sugar back in while monitoring your weight and cravings to see how much you can tolerate.

The meal plan and cooking schedule Ludwig wants you to follow was a little too intense for me, but a few recipes stood out. Last night I made one of my favorites, a super easy coconut curry that you can put on any protein. I sautéed a package of extra-firm tofu with a cup of chickpeas, then threw in two diced carrots, a chopped red pepper and the curry sauce. I brought it to a boil, covered it and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. I topped it with some cilantro and served it on a bed of spinach, but rice, grated carrots or cauliflower rice are all good too.

David Ludwig's Coconut Curry Sauce
Makes about 2 1/2 cups (approximately 4 servings if you use my tofu method above)

3/4 cup raw cashes
3/4 cup water
1 1/4 cups canned coconut milk
1-inch piece of fresh ground ginger, peeled and chopped
1 small garlic clove
2 tablespoons curry powder
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. The sauce will keep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge.

My favorite green smoothie

During a trip to Maui last spring, Nick and I wanted to skip the indulgent hotel buffet and save our calories for Mama's Fish House. We discovered a smoothie stand run by a woman named Sophia. She made us amazing green smoothies every morning and I asked her for the recipe when we left. I tweaked it a bit when I got home and now I make this smoothie at least once a week.

The recipe calls for spirulina, a freshwater algae powder you can find at most natural grocery stores. It's a superfood packed with plant protein and vitamins like iron, calcium and magnesium. Some people say it has a strong taste, but I don't notice it much in this smoothie aside from the vibrant green color it gives the drink.

Sophia's Green Power Smoothie 

Servings: 1 

1/2 cup almond milk 

1 teaspoon spirulina powder

1/2 scoop vanilla or unflavored protein powder (optional)

1 tablespoon flax meal 

1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter 

1 heaping tablespoon coconut flakes  

1 handful of spinach or kale 

1 banana 

1 handful ice 

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. I like to put everything in the blender in the order I've listed. It's a thick smoothie so putting the liquid and powders in first helps get things moving and ensures the powders don't clump up. Sometimes I need to add more almond milk or water on top if it's too thick to blend. 

New year, new blog

Like many of us, 2016 was pretty rough for me overall. But something that consistently brought me happiness during the tough times was cooking. Spending hours in my kitchen was always a welcome distraction. Cooking helped me feel like I accomplished something, even on the days where I spent most hours in my PJs, curled up in a ball watching Netflix. Inspired by the Great British Bakeoff, baking with my closest friends became one of my favorite activities. And sharing my food with others came to feel like a small but meaningful expression of my love and gratitude.

So as I kick off 2017, I've decided to start a blog dedicated to my culinary adventures. I'm hoping this blog will help me become a better cook and baker, encourage me to cook more often, and eat healthier. Mission:Kitchen will mostly be a simple chronicle of the recipes I make. Most of my recipes come from the dozens of cookbooks I've collected over the years. I'm excited to document the old favorites that I turn to again and again, and the experiments that may or may not turn out so great. In general I eat everything, though I try to cook "healthy" food for the most part. I'm especially into baking, and I love to try out recipes with less sugar and whole grains since that kind of thing is hard to find.

I have no idea how often I'll post or how long I'll keep it up, but I figured I might as well get started and see where it takes me.

Here's to a happy, healthy and delicious 2017.