Apples hold a special place in world culture. We give them to teachers as a sign of respect, we tell our loved ones they're the apple of our eyes, and we still hold to the age-old medical advice: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Ever wonder what makes apples so special?
It's downright irresponsible to have a late breakfast without some sort of vegetable on the table. Though it may run counter to your upbringing, the breakfasts of my young adulthood have always featured something green to accompany my meats and starches. But I'll cut you some slack here, it is the morning after, after all. Have a bunch of kale in your fridge? Is it starting to wilt? Yes, of course it is. Well strip the leaves from the stems and let them crisp up in the oven. Everybody loves a good chip.
INGREDIENTS
1 bunch Kale (curly leaf)
3-4 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper (don't be shy here)
BUSINESS
Heat your oven to 325 degrees.
Strip the leaves from the stems of your kale, add them to your largest roasting tray/pan. If they are too bunched in the pan (i.e. on top of each other), bake them in batches.
Drizzle olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper over the kale, then toss with your hands until evenly distributed.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, shaking the pan intermittently, until crisp and dry.
Bacon needs no introduction, it begs no accoutrements, but sometimes (just sometimes) it likes to be treated like a GD star. It doesn't take much to put bacon in the spotlight, just of touch of sweet spice and some proper cooking. I like my bacon straight and stiff as a board, thick and crisp. For my tastes, there is no better purveyor of the porky strip than John O'Groats in LA. I base my cooking technique on their expert presentation, and it doesn't fail.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound Bacon, thickly cut
2 tablespoons Garam Masala
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
BUSINESS
Heat your oven to 475 degrees.
In a medium bowl mix together both the Garam Masala and brown sugar.
Dredge each bacon slice through the spice mixture, coating both sides liberally.
Line a large roasting tray with the bacon slices, keeping them in one layer.
Place a rack on top of the bacon slices, to keep them flat while they bake.
Bake the bacon for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and crisp all around.
Remove the bacon from the oven and, using a fork, take each slice out of the roasting tray while still hot and let it drain on a separate rack.
The perfect appetizer for a small group. Make a batch and let your friends gather in the kitchen to nibble the crisp edges as you scrape these off the hot griddle.
INGREDIENTS
9 tablespoons White Rice Flour
6 tablespoons Sorghum Flour
1/2 tablespoon Tapioca Flour
1/2 tablespoon Potato Flour (flour, not starch, take heed)
1/4 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1/2 cup Boiling Water (boil first, measure later)
Salt and Pepper
Sesame Oil
~1/4 cup finely chopped Scallions
Oil for pan frying
GET BUSY
In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
Pour the boiling water over the flour mixture and stir everything together. The dough will be tough, so get in there with your hands and knead it toward the end.
Pinch off some dough the size of a ping pong ball. Dust your counter with some extra rice flour and roll the dough out into an oblong shape, about 1/8 inch thick.
Brush the flattened dough with sesame oil and sprinkle gently with salt and pepper.
Scatter about one tablespoon of chopped scallion on the dough.
Roll the dough up like a cigar and pinch the ends to secure.
Roll the cigar into a spiral.
Using your rolling pin, roll this spiral out to about 1/4 inch thick. You should have a pancake roughly 5 inches in diameter.
Heat some oil in a saute pan until it is almost smoking.
Pan fry the cake for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and crisp all over.
Let the cakes cool on a paper towel to absorb some of the oil, then slice and serve!
