The Intolerant Gourmet

These are so good that my husband ate the entire batch covered in maple syrup while I was out of the kitchen fixing my computer.

They are light and elegant and could equally well serve as a dessert if topped with Raspberry Sauce (page 199) or Chocolate Sauce (page 199). If your friends love these, make double or triple the dry ingredients and store until you’re ready to make a batch.

It is true that the variety of flours may be new; but today most of them are available at markets, and in health-food stores or on the web.

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk the coconut milk, eggs, and ⅜ cup of the oil together. Then whisk the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until well combined.

Evenly brush both the top and bottom of the hot waffle iron with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the remaining oil. Pour ½ cup batter for each waffle (the iron we used makes two waffles at a time; if yours is much smaller, use ⅓ cup batter) and close the waffle iron. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the waffles are crisp and golden brown (the waffles are crisper when less oil is used to grease the waffle iron).

QUINOA HOT CEREAL

Breakfast can be a bit difficult for Intolerant Gourmets, but once again quinoa comes to the rescue. This is as good as any hot cereal on the market and is loaded with calcium to boot.

Bring 2 cups water to a boil over high heat, pour in the quinoa, and then return to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes. Add the maple syrup and nutmeg and serve.

WHITE BREAD

Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl. Knead well until the mixture is uniform and easy to handle; there will no longer be any dry spots nor will it be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Place a large nonstick sauté pan (about 12 inches across) over medium heat. Measure out the dough into ¾-cup balls and form into discs 3½ inches wide and ⅜ inch thick. Reduce the heat to low, place four discs in the pan, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the discs over and cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until they are dry to the touch on both sides. Transfer to a platter to dry out completely for 45 minutes. Repeat for another batch. Enjoy immediately or keep in a tightly sealed plastic bag at room temperature for 4 to 5 days.

Separate the arepas with parchment or wax paper and store in a tightly sealed freezer bag for up to several weeks. Defrost each in a microwave oven for 1 minute.

ENGLISH MUFFINS

Combine the masa harina, water, and salt and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Mix the masa harina dough and the White Bread dough together by hand until uniform. Place a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Scoop out ⅓ cup dough at a time and roll it into a 2-inch ball. Place 4 or 5 balls in the pan at a time (evenly spaced apart and not touching) and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand to form 3-inch discs. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, then flip over with a spatula and cook for 5 to 6 minutes more, until dry to the touch on both sides.

EGGS FLORENTINE

This is a truly fantastic rendition of the original dish. Assembling all the different parts is a bit time consuming but well worth the effort. Enjoy alone or invite friends over for brunch.

2 bunches fresh spinach (about 6 ounces each), stemmed, washed well, and dried (about 8 cups)

Place the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, drop the spinach into the pan. Sauté the spinach until it is tender and dark green, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut in half and toast the English muffins. Put two halves on each plate. Place a quarter of the sautéed spinach on each muffin half. Put one poached egg on top of the spinach. Add the mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon water to a double boiler. Stir constantly just until the mayonnaise is warm (if it gets hot, it will separate). Season with cayenne. Pour a quarter of the sauce over each egg.

PERFECT POACHED EGGS

When I first started to cook, I was terrified of poaching eggs because I had heard so many tales about how things could go wrong. Since I was following standard practices of the day, horrible results were almost inevitable.

For example, my first, scantily equipped kitchen came with an aluminum device with five circular depressions. You cracked eggs one by one into each hollow and then set the contrivance over boiling water. The resulting poached eggs were tough and ghastly.

A noted food writer suggested creating a series of whirlpools in a pot by vigorously stirring boiling water in a circle and then dropping an egg into the maelstrom. This risky undertaking was repeated for each egg in turn. Many attempts at this still left egg whites broken apart pathetically in the water.

The standard chefs’ trick is to add vinegar to the cooking water. This does help congeal the whites, but all the rinsing in the world does not eliminate the vinegar taste.

Happily, though, much experimentation over the years has led to a regimen for perfectly poached eggs.

First of all, use large eggs (small ones will cook too quickly and harden) and make sure they are as fresh as possible (though not laid the same day).

It is also very important to crack the egg into a small container that has a rounded bottom. I find that demitasse cups serve nicely. The egg seems to take on the nice rounded form of the cup and therefore holds together in that shape in the water. These cups also have handles, making them safe to hold while the eggs are slipped into the water as close to the surface as possible. (In a pinch, flat-bottomed demitasse cups, old-fashioned custard cups, or miniature soufflé dishes will do.)

There are hundreds of recipes based on poached eggs. Try them in Brunch Beauty (page 146) or Eggs Florentine (page 18).

Use a nonaluminum pan that is just large enough to hold the number of poached eggs desired. Put 2 inches of water in the pan. (More than that will just give the whites more opportunity to float away from the yolk.) Bring to a boil.

Crack an egg into a cup. When the water is at a full boil, lower the rim of the cup to the surface of the water. Invert the cup in a smooth motion. Repeat with each egg.

Set a timer: 2 minutes will give formed whites and runny yolks; 3 minutes, medium yolks. Beyond that, it’s not poached but hard-boiled.

The eggs will start to set as the water returns to a boil. A little of the white will float loosely, but most will form around the yolk. When the water has returned to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for the remaining time.

Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon. Drain on a cloth and use or put in a bowl of warm water until needed. The eggs can be reheated by putting them back very briefly into boiling water.

BASIC OMELET

Place the oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure to move the pan around enough so that the oil coats the bottom entirely and reaches about halfway up the sides of the pan.

Using a fork, whisk the eggs together in a bowl just until they are combined well but not frothy. When the oil shimmers, pour the eggs into the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Immediately and gently pull in the lightly cooked edges of the omelet with the fork so that the raw egg flows to the empty spaces and outer edges of the pan. If this does not happen, coax the raw egg to empty spaces using the fork.

When most of the omelet is cooked but there are still spots of raw egg, turn off the heat and flip one half of the omelet over the other with the fork. Slide onto a plate and let it continue cooking for a minute or so. Season with salt and pepper.

For a 6-egg omelet, use 2 tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet. The cooking time is 3 to 4 minutes, and this larger omelet requires a cup of filling because it wants to be fuller and larger.

BREAKFAST

WAFFLES

QUINOA HOT CEREAL

WHITE BREAD

AREPAS

ENGLISH MUFFINS

EGGS FLORENTINE

PERFECT POACHED EGGS

BASIC OMELET

PANCAKES

HOT COCOA