Recently, I received this gorgeous cook book - Easy Elegance from Fabulous Fairholm, written by Sylvia Main. Sylvia has a most beautiful Inn - Fairholme Manor located in the "Rockland - Fairfield" district of Victoria B.C. Not only is her Inn one of the best rated Inn Bed and Breakfast vacation destinations in our City, Sylvia's breakfast and brunch entres offer a divine food experience - as you will see in her recently published second cook book - Easy Elegance from Fabulous Fairholme.  I am in love with this cook book! It has a number of naturally Gluten Free Meals, as well as a number of recipes that easily convert to Gluten Free. Plus - I love that Sylvia uses local organic fresh ingredients, the only way to go in my humble opinion.
Also included in this cook book are recipes from celebrated chefs Nora Pouillon and Chris Young. Even more deliciousness to add to your plates.
This is a cook book that oozes style and grace. The kind of cook book you want on your kitchen counter as well as sitting open on the coffee table for people to peruse through - ooohhhing and ahhhing - believe me, as they turn the pages they will be ooohhhing and ahhhhing. The photography is stunning which inspires one to get into the kitchen and start cooking!
After showing my sister this cook book, she ordered two copies, having fallen in love with it as much as I did. She made Sylvia's FAIRHOLME MAPEL-PECAN GRANOLA, PAGE 5 and loved it! She said it was not only delicious but surprisingly hearty as well.
If you ever get the opportunity to visit our fair City, and have the good fortune of a stay at the lovely Fairholme Manor, you will go home remembering all the delicious foods served during breakfast - many of them from this new cook book. Please check out Fairholme Manor to view this lovely Inn and what this gorgeous cook book has to offer.
Meanwhile, I have been busy in the kitchen with Easy Elegance from Fabulous Fairholme. Deliciousness abounds:
The first dish I made was: INDIVIDUAL BABY POTATO, CHEESE, BACON & THYME FRITTATAS, PAGE 8. Hearty deliciousness that was an easy make breakfast. I did not have bacon on hand, so used smoked ham. With fresh Thyme, Swiss Gruyere Cheese - deliciousness in a pretty ramekin.
Here is a picture plated - don't you just want to dive in?
Then the next recipe we had were these CRANBERRY WALNUT SCONES PAGE 55 which I converted to Gluten Free. It can often be a challenge converting baked goods to Gluten Free - but these turned out great! We served these scones with homemade Apricot/Peach Jam. So yummy, they did not last long in this household.
Gluten Free Cranberry Walnut Scones:
1/2 cup of Cornstarch
1/2 cup Tapioca starch
1/2 cup Brown Rice flour
1/2 Tblsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 cup of Coconut Palm Sugar
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup plus 2 Tblsp. cold butter
1/2 cup plus 2 Tblsp. Buttermilk (I used Kefir milk)
2/3 cup dried Cranberries
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts
1 Tblsp. Coconut Palm Sugar
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
Sweet Rice flour
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use two baking sheets together to prevent the bottom of the scones from getting too brown.
Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, coconut palm sugar, salt and cinnamon to a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Then turn on and add in the cold chunks of butter - process to incorporate.
Transfer to a bowl, and add in the cranberries and walnuts stirring to combine. Pour in the milk stirring until the dough comes together and form a ball. Transfer the dough onto a lightly dusted surface of Sweet Rice Flour and shape into a round about 1 inch thick. Cut into sections - this made six.
Combine the 1/4 tsp. of Cinnamon with the 1 Tblsp. of Coconut Palm Sugar, mixing well. Then sprinkle over each of the scones. Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked through and golden.
The next dish we had was PAN-ROASTED CHERRY TOMATOES PAGE 19 (I could not get yellow cherry tomatoes, so used regular sized yellow tomatoes)Â With the fresh Basil, good Balsamic - a marriage made in heaven!
We had these delicious pan roasted tomatoes with BBQ triple AAA Angus Beef Tenderloin, Organic baby potatoes, carrots and broccoli. I will use the leftover tomatoes tomorrow with poached eggs - can't wait for that deliciousness.
And finally GLUTEN FREE AUSTRIAN CELEBRATION COOKIES (Vanillekipferln) PAGE 139
These are a delicious light cookie that just melts in your mouth! I realized with the first batch I made that the gluten free flours were too light for the amount of butter in them - they baked into one big flat cookie. But so so delicious. Can you believe my DH ate the whole thing?!
So I tweeked the recipe and although I did not get quite the pretty crescent shape like Sylvia's - they are darn delicious! The recipe calls for vanilla sugar which I did not have, so I substituted fresh lemon in the recipe.
Gluten Free Celebration Cookies:
1/2 cup of Sweet Rice Flour
1/4 cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup ground Almonds
1/4 cup plus 1 Tblsp. White Rice Flour
1/2 cup room temperature butter
3/4 cup Icing Sugar
zest from 1 small organic lemon
juice from 1/2 a small organic lemon
In a mixer, cream together the butter, icing sugar, and lemon zest. In a bowl combine the flours and ground Almonds whisking to combine.
Slowly add into the creamed butter mixture, continue to mix and squeeze in the lemon juice. The dough will come together in clumps.
Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and roll to form a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the dough into 20 pieces. I flattened the dough with my palm, then shape into a crescent shape.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the cookies evenly onto the sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet on a wire rack. While still warm, sift some icing sugar on top of the cookies.
A delicious, light, and most lovely cookie for any occasion or celebration.
Easy Elegance From Fabulous Fairholme is such a beautiful cook book, with outstanding recipes. I can't wait to make more.
You can order this lovely cook book through the Fairholme Manor Website or Amazon.ca. Thank you Sylvia - my family has had very happy tummies. 🙂
All of that food looks mouthwatering! I will have to try the crescent cookies - thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks Erin! The cook book is great as is the food! Enjoy the cookies! 🙂
Looks like a great cookbook. All the food looks incredible!
Thanks Asmita! The food was fabulous!
That looks oike a great & lovely book, Ina! 🙂 That Inn looks amazing & chique too! 🙂
Those scones look to die fore & those other ecipes call my name too!
Sophie - it is such a good cook book, and the Inn is gorgeous too! 🙂