Chocolate Chip Cashew Shortbread

 These are based on the Ratio cookbook, by Michael Ruhlman. 

Ingredients

4 ounces butter

4 ounces cashew butter

2 ounces sugar

6 ounces gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup (150 grams) chocolate chips 

Directions

1. Cream butter, cashew butter, sugar.

2. Mix dry ingredients with a whisk.

3. Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture.

4. Gradually blend in the flour mixture 

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Chill dough.

7. Line baking sheets with parchment, then spray with coconut oil.

8. Make balls about 13 grams, and flatten a little when putting them on cookie sheet.

9. Bake 350 for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

About 48 cookies, 67 calories and about 2.5 grams added sugar each. 

Note: I only had about 2 ounces of GF blend flour, so the rest was about an ounce of potato starch and about 1.5 ounces each brown rice flour and jowar/sorghum flour, and an extra 1/2 tsp xanthan gum. 

Low Sugar Almond Cookies

 About a dozen years ago, WildeMan gave me the Ratio cookbook as part of the best birthday gift ever. 

So, with him being diabetic now, I need more low sugar cookie recipes. So, I looked up the basic shortbread and started having some fun. 

This was my first take. Next time, I think I'd double all ingredients except the egg to get a more shortbread-like texture. But for now, these aren't bad for cookies with less than 1.5 g sugar per 9 g cookie.

Ingredients 

4 ounces (113 g) butter 

2 ounces (60 g) sugar

6 ounces total flour:

• 60 g almond flour
• 110 g gf flour blend

1 Egg

1/2 tsp almond extrct

1/2 tsp double fold vanilla

1/4 tsp baking powder

Dash salt

Chopped slivered almonds - about 36g

Directions 

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add extracts and egg.
2. Add in flours, baking soda,  salt. 
3. Chill dough 30 minutes
4. Chop slivered almonds and put in a shallow bowl 
5. Roll out 9g balls of dough (see note below)
6. Dip tops of balls in almonds.
7. Place on cookie sheet about 1.5" apart, flatten with fingers.
8. Bake 350 for about 12 minutes, until lightly browned.
9. Cool on wire rack, then eat or freeze.

Note:

Yes, I weigh each ball to get a more consistent cookie size, and hence more consistent cookie browning. Not to mention more consistent calorie/sugar counts. It's not that hard, and with practice, it gets even easier.

1. Put almonds in shallow dish.
2. Place dish on scale, and zero out. 
3. Grab off a ball of dough, maybe about the size of your thumb, and roll into a ball. 
4. Place ball on top of almonds, and note weight. Add or remove small pinches of dough to get the right weight. Don't worry about rerolling the ball.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the dish is full. 
6. Making sure each ball has almonds squished into it, remove balls, place on cookie sheet, and flatten. 

Tiny Quinoa Nutbutter Cookies

 These are probably my favorite GF cookie of all time.  The original source was the Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes box.  In the last few years, those quinoa flakes have been harder to find and have gotten very expensive.  But, for these cookies, it's well worth the price. 

The last box I bought didn't seem to have the recipe on the box, so here is my variation on it. My modifications: mixed nut butters instead of peanut butter, different sweeteners, real butter, add xanthan gum, weights instead of measures, cookie size, and some changes to directions

Alas, no photo.  Just use your imagination.  They look like.... cookies. 

Ingredients

170 g total of maple syrup, honey, and/or agave (1/2 cup)

68 g organic cane sugar or raw sugar (1/3 cup) Optional: Substitute about 8-10 grams molasses

112 g organic butter (1 stick)

128 g total mix of cashew, almond, and sunflower butters (1/2 cup) 

1 tsp vanilla

140 g brown rice flour (1 cup)  Can substitute part sorghum or other grainy flour

83 g quinoa flakes (3/4 cup)

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt (more if butter is unsalted)

¼ to ½ tsp xanthan gum (optional)

55 g chopped nuts (1/2 cup) (Optional. See notes.)

 

Directions

 Oven: 350 (f)

Yield: About 90 tiny cookies

1.       Beat first 5 ingredients together until creamy.

2.       Combine remaining ingredients except nuts.

3.       Mix creamed and dry ingredients, then fold in nuts.

4.       Chill for about ½ hour or more to make dough easier to work with. 

5.       Line cookie sheets with parchment.

6.       Roll dough into 8 g balls, flatten slightly, and place on cookie sheet about 1” to 1.5” apart.

7.       Bake 350 for 7-10 minutes, until cookies are lightly brown on bottom.

8.       Let cookies sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move them to racks to cool.

 

Notes & Tips:

·         Pecans are the best nut to use, especially if you use more maple syrup and less honey/agave.

·         Use 1/3 cup each nuts and mini dairy-free chocolate chips.

·         Use 1/4 cup chopped coconut shreds, ¼ cup chopped pecans, and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.

·         If you must measure instead of weigh, oil the measuring cup before you put nut butter or honey/agave/maple in it.

·         Weighing the cookie dough makes the cookies a more even size, which helps them bake more evenly.

·         Consider dipping the bottom of the cookie balls in almond meal before putting them on the cookie sheet. Then use a sugared fork to flatten them, as you would peanut butter cookies.

Salsa Round 1

Spouse 1.0 and I moved 500 miles away from our usual Mexican food spots, and 500 miles from the store that sold our favorite store-bought salsa.  Love the new digs, but not digging the lack of good Mexican food.  

True story: We asked the taco truck guy at the fair where to get good Mexican food locally, and he said, "There isn't any."  Then he backpedaled and said his food was pretty good.  (It was, but the salsa was still not quite what I need.)

My mom made awesome salsa, but she took her recipe to her grave over 40 years ago.  All I remembered was that she used Serrano chilis and a blender.

I asked Baby Sister how she made salsa.  She replied by sending a picture of ingredients. (She then described what she did with the ingredients.  No measuring, of course.  That's just now how Mom did things.  But, since Baby Sister doesn't do chilis at all, I figured I needed to keep looking. 

My Ingredients

So, I googled a bunch of restaurant salsa recipes.  Putting them together with my vague recollections of mom's salsa and my sister's photo, below is what I came up with.  It's a bit runny, but pretty good.  Spouse said it tasted too much of tomatoes.  I think that's because I'm using fresh, ripe tomatoes instead of the underripe, mass-produced tomatoes that high-volume salsa chefs have to use. But, it's the best we've had since moving here, so worthy of noting.  

8 medium tomatoes on the vine,  quartered

1 very large serrano chili, about 1 ounce before stemming and chopping

About 2.5 ounces yellow onion (next time, try white)

About 4 good sized cloves of garlic

Cilantro to taste

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp lime juice

3/4 tsp cumin

Pulse blend until everything is coarsely blended

Pour into stainless steel pan and cook briefly (maybe longer next time to thicken it more?)

Pour into clean glass jars with corrosion-resistant lids. Makes a little less than 2 pints. It's fresh food, so use it before it ferments.

Salsa!

Strawberry upside down cake, take 1

If anything can be a pancake, and any pancake can be adapted into a muffin, then why not adapt the pecan maple muffins into an almond and honey coffee cake? And, why not use up those strawberries that are starting to go iffy?

I think this recipe still needs some wor, but here is is for now....

180 grams total almond flour and almond meal (about 1/3 meal, 2/3 flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum, and maybe a pinch more
3/4 tsp baking soda
About 1 Tbsp tapioca starch (or arrowroot starch, or....)

84 grams honey
42 grams melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanillaf
2 large eggs

4 ounces water

About 1/2 lb strawberries, washed and chopped
About 1/4 cup organic sugar
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Spray 8" square pan liberally with coconut spray.
2. Sprinkle nuts on bottom of pan.
3. Sprinkle strawberries over nuts, then sprinkle sugar over all. Set aside and preheat oven or toaster oven to 325 (f).
4. Mix dry ingredients in small mixing bowl.
5. Mix wet ingredients in medium mixing bowl.
6. Mix dry into wet.
7. Spread batter over strawberries in the 8" pan.
8. Let sit about 5 minutes for batter to hydrate.
9. Bake until toothpick tests done, about 30 minutes.
10. Let sit about 10 minutes. Loosen edges, then invert on a plate to serve.

It's not as beautiful as you'd want a strawberry cake to be, but it is moist and tasty.

Gluten-free Cranberry Bliss-ish Bars

Often, instead of developing my own recipe, I'll redevelop someone else's. There are already several GF versions of cranberry bliss bars out there, so it's not like the world needs another one. Or, maybe the world does. You can never have too much bliss, right?

I started with Cookin' Diva's glutenacious recipe on Food.com. I took her suggestion to reduce the sugar, and instead of regular white and brown, I used a combo of organic sugar and molasses. I used my new favorite GF blend, Premium Gold. I added a pinch more xanthan gum than was already in the flour, plus a pinch more baking powder than the recipe called for.  Then, to further lower the sugar count as well as the effort, I skipped the melted white chocolate on top and the grated orange rind.

For the bars:

2 sticks very soft butter

188 grams organic sugar

12 grams molasses

3 large eggs

2 tsp orange extract

224 grams Premium Gold flour blend or GF flour blend of choice 

a pinch of xanthan gum (more if your GF blend does not already include it)

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

scant 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup dried cranberries, lightly chopped if not already sliced/chopped

3/4 cup dairy free or regular white chocolate chips

Frosting:

2 ounces vegan or regular cream cheese

18 grams butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp orange extract

200-230 grams organic powdered sugar

optional: 2 tsp - 1 tbsp non-dairy creamer or milk

Topping:

Extra dried cranberries, sliced or chopped

Make the bars:

1. Preheat the oven to 350, line a 10X15 jelly roll pan with parchment, then spray the parchment with coconut oil. 
2. Mix butter, sugar, and molasses in stand mixer or with hand mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time to incorporate,
4. Add extract.
5. Mix flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, ginger, and salt in a small bowl.
6. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture to incorporate.
7. Fold in cranberries and white chocolate. 
8. Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for 18-22 minutes, just until edges are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake.

Frosting and Topping:

1. Using a hand mixer, mix cream cheese and butter in medium bowl until fluffy. 
2. Add extracts and incorporate.
3. Gradually add sugar, mixing until smooth, light, and fluffy. Add creamer if needed to get a spreadable consistency.
4. Spread frosting over cooled bars, then sprinkle cranberries on top. 
5. Cut into bars or triangles. 

To freeze: Put one layer of bars in the container, then freeze a few minutes to harden the frosting. Put a layer of wax paper on top, then another layer of bars. Repeat until the container is full.  

To serve: Remove frozen bars to a plate, then let thaw for a few minutes. Do not thaw bars while they are stacked in the freezer container. 

 

Chicken Vegetable Soup for One

I love soup. I just don't love all the work that goes into making a big pot of soup. And, I don't love the fact that some bowls of soup get more chicken other bowls get more pasta.  So, I make soup for one.

First, take a 2 quart pan and dump in about 6 to 8 ounces of random fresh or frozen vegetables. Today I used:

• 1 ounce frozen organic peas
• 2 ounces frozen bell peppers
• 2 ounces frozen okra
• 2.5 ounces frozen organic green beans

Next, add about 3 or 4 ounces organic canned tomatoes and 3 ounces cooked chicken.

Then, spices and herbs. Today I used:

• Penzey's  Cajun seasoning
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Rosemary
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Pepper

Add chicken broth, water, and maybe a squirt of tomato paste, then cook until it is as done as you like.

Arroz con Frijoles Muffins

Think of these as a bean and cheese burrito turned into a muffin.  Never mind that I cheat a little by using Asian sauces as a topping. 

Arroz con Frijoles Muffins

Dry Ingredients

24 g. white rice flour

66 g. brown rice flour (or, omit white rice flour and use 90 g. brown rice flour)

30 g. almond meal

3/4 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp dry basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp chipotle powder

2 tsp dried minced onion

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Wet ingredients

2 oz. tomato paste

4 oz. water

2 eggs

54 g. olive oil

12 g. agave syrup

1 Tbsp lime juice

Add-ins

1/4 cup frozen bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup frozen petite peas

1/4 cup frozen corn

70 g. cooked brown rice

130 g. refried black beans

Topping

goat cheese

sriracha sauce

green dragon sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. 
3. Whisk together wet ingredients.
4. Gently mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients using a silicone spatula.
5. Gently stir in the add-ins.
6. Let batter sit to hydrate while you line 36 mini muffin cups. Spray muffin liners with coconut or other spray oil.
7. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 to 7/8 full. Top with a small amount of cheese and a few drops or a small drizzle of sriracha, green dragon, or both.
8. Bake about 10-12 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let sit in the pans about 2 minutes, then gently remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

Oh, Crap Muffins

Friday. My day to bake a little something in the morning then volunteer in my friend's kindergarten class  A nice day.  I like Fridays.

7:30 AM: Maybe a variation on my fried rice muffins. Spanish rice style. Top with cilantro pesto. Yumm. But, first, coffee and a little more book time...

8:25 AM: Oh, crap. How am I going to get that fly out from between the patio door and the screen door out without him getting in the house? Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Dagnabbit, stop clinging to the screen and go away! Yeah, I can prevail over flies. Wash hands. Apron...

8:36 AM: Oh, crap! Spouse 1.0 needs to leave in 20 minutes, and I haven't even started assembling ingredients. OK, quick breakfast burrito for him, then make the muffins. Now, where did I put my iPad?

8:53 AM: Oh, crap! DAVID!!! You gotta get outta here!!!!  Here. Eat this. Muffins when you get back.

9:08: 1 cup of cooked rice. Oh, crap! That doesn't look like even a third. Cook some quinoa? No, black beans! Yes, black beans!

9:10: Oh, crap! no black beans. (rummage, rummage rummage...) OK. Red beans. Mix dry ingredients. Now, get the muffin tins ready.

9:22: Dang, I hate it when the coconut oil spray drops on the floor, I really do need to organi... OH, CRAP!!! The sprayer doohickey's bent! IT WON'T STOP SPRAYING!

9:25: Well, if the can explodes, at least it'll do it outside in the trash bin.

9:27: Oh, crap! Oil on the kitchen floor. And, spray oil, no less!

9:53: OK. good enough for now. Clean more while the muffins are baking. Now where did I put the olive oil spray? Oh, crap, I can't be out!  I never run out! Oh, here it is. 

9:54: Muffins in the oven, floor still hazardous. I know! Put the non-slip undermat from a throw rug over the worst of it. Oh, crap, that's dirty. Need to get new undermats.  Well, it'll keep us from breaking our necks for now. Hopefully.

9:56: Oh, crap, it's getting late.  Still need to pack my lunch. And put notes on the floor so Spouse 1.0 doesn't slip and kill himself when he gets home. Yikes, what a mess! OK. Breathe. No problem. Still plenty of time.

10:17: Wow, a bit crumbly, but actually pretty tasty.  Oh, crap! I should be in the shower already.

10:43: OK, showered, dressed, no makeup. Ready or not, here I com...  Oh, crap! Still need to put muffins away. And set out some for Spouse 1.0. And pack some for Melanie.

10:48: Oh, crap, I'm late.

Not sure what I'll call these, but for now, I guess it's "Oh, Crap Muffins."

Pesto Musings

I used to hate basil.

I used to hate oil.

I used to hate washing and chopping and getting my kitchen messy.

I used to hate the smell of garlic on my hands.

I used to hate food preparation of any kind.

There's not much here that would cause you to point to me and say, "That woman makes her own pesto."  In fact, there's not much here that would lead you to believe I even like the stuff.

I am, however, an infernal optimist, a bit creative, somewhat impulsive, and always on the lookout for ways to get Spouse 1.0 to eat his vegetables.

And, that's how I got into making pesto. 

One day I was walking by the organic basil at T-Jo, and the thought flitted through my head, "I could make pesto for Spouse 1.0!"

Why anyone who had never owned a jar of it, routinely scraped it off sandwiches, and probably had never even tasted it would suddenly decide to start making it is still a mystery. 

But, I was sure I could make pesto, and I was absolutely certain he'd love it. (Did I mention that I can be a little impulsive and a bit optimistic?)

So. I did.

And, he did!

And, now, I'm a basil geek. Totally in love with the varieties available: Italian, Greek, lemon, lime, cinnamon, purple ruffly, jade, opal...

Today, the CSA brought me an abundance of cilantro. (Alas, no basil of any nationality, flavor, or gemstone.)

So, I made cilantro pesto. 

About 60% cilantro, 40% Italian basil (from my T-Jo potted plant). Pepitas. Olive oil. Pecorino romano. Garlic.  Lime juice. Salt, cumin, and chipotle. 

Spouse 1.0's comment?  "It's good. I like it." 

 



Southwest Lime Basil Pesto and Lemony Lemon Basil Pesto

I think you can't be a basil geek without being something of a pesto adventurer.  So, with the recent frosts threatening to destroy my miniature basil crop, it was time for some creative pesto creations. 

The first creation, lemony lemon basil pesto, was pretty simple: Using my favorite pesto recipe (the Williams Sonoma recipe in their muffin cookbook), use all the lemon basil. Supplement with enough Italian basil to make 1 cup. Add a splash of lemon juice. Other than that, follow the recipe.

Using up the lime basil called for something with a little more of a southwest inspiration. Alas, I didn't have any cilantro.  But then, Sis-in-lalala will be visiting soon, and she loathes cilantro. So, for now, we stick with flat leaf parsley. Plus some Mexican oregano, since I have enough to feed a small nation. But, next time, I will use cilantro and oregano. 

Next, the nut. Almonds immediately came to mind. While I was rummaging for almonds, I thought about using pepitas.  Next time maybe.  Or maybe next time, sunflower seeds. But, for now, almonds.

Oil: Either olive or sunflower. I used both.

Other seasonings: chipotle powder, ancho chile powder, smoked paprika, cumin.

Ready, set, Pesto:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw almonds (or pepitas, or sunflower seeds, or combo)
4 cloves garlic
6 Tbsp unrefined sunflower oil or extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, loosely packed
1/4 cup fresh Mexican oregano, loosely packed
1 cup lime basil leaves (can use part Italian)
1/4 tsp chipotle powder
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ancho chile powder and/or smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
salt to taste
3-4 Tbsp grated pecorino romano cheese

Directions:

1. Pulse almonds and garlic together in a small food processor until finely minced, but not quite ground.
2. Add parsley, basil, and oil.  Pulse until well-incorporated, stirring periodically.  If it seems a bit dry, add more oil.
3. Pulse in the rest of the seasonings. Stir, taste, and adjust. 
4. Stir in the pecorino romano, adding more oil if needed.

Top with a little extra oil to keep the basil from turning brown.

Thai Basil Pesto, Take 2

Beautiful Downtown Santee rarely gets frost, but we're getting it this year.  A lot. And, covering the veggie corrals with old sheets only goes so far in protecting this sun-loving plant. So, I've been on a pesto-making frenzy all afternoon:

• Classic pesto (Italian and Greek basils)
• Lemony lemon basil pesto
• Southwest lime basil pesto
• Thai basil pesto

I looked at my last recipe for Thai basil pesto and figured I could stand to be a little more precise. And, I could stand to play with it a bit more.

So, here's another version of Thai basil pesto, plus a variation.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
1/2 cup raw cashews
4 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 Tbsp regular sesame oil
1.5 cups Thai basil leaves
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pulse sesame seeds, cashews, and garlic until cashews are finely minced, but not quite ground. 
2. Pulse in the oils.
3. Pulse in basil leaves. Periodically stir. If it isn't mixing well, add a little more sesame oil.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add some garlic powder if needed.

Variation: Spicy gingery Thai Basil Pesto

Stir the following into the pesto, then taste and adjust seasonings:

1.5 to 2 tsp crushed/minced ginger. (Or, use about 1/2 tsp powdered ginger)
Dash of galangal (or more ginger)
Dash or two of cayenne
A little extra black pepper



Thai Basil Pesto and Spicy Gingery Thai Basil Pesto

GF Marie Callendar's Style Cornbread - Take 1

Melanie informed me that Gluten-Free Mike had been lamenting the loss of Marie Callender cornbread in his life.  I understand. It is indeed a lamentable loss.

And, unlike Spouse 1.0, Gluten-Free Mike can't like the dense, corny cornbread made in cast iron skillets.  No, to Gluten-Free Mike, "cornbread" has only one definition: Marie Callender.

So, what could I say, other than, "Challenge accepted!!"

My first thought was to try incorporating corn and honey into my garbanzo bread. I rejected that idea before even getting home to my mixing bowl.  Instead, I reached for my iPad and started googling. Surely someone had done a GF copycat recipe.  They had. I tried it, and it was good in the way that an over-sweetened box of Jiffy cornbread would be good.

As in, not good enough.

I thought back to the first time I had Marie's bread. I splurted, "This isn't cornbread! It's cake!"

It took me many Sunday lunches of steamed vegetables to accept the idea that having a square of dessert with your steamed vegetables wasn't a bad thing.  And, many more Sunday lunches to come to love the stuff.

So, back to Gluten-Free Mike and the quest for cornbread.

If Marie's is more cake than bread, then I need to understand the ratio differences between quickbread and cake. Fortunately, Spouse 1.0 got me the Ratio book last year for Christmas.

I decided to try something half way between a quickbread and a cake. And, it worked!

Unlike a lot of my recipes, this one is all about specific ingredients and correct technique.  You'll dirty more things when you make this.  But, it is so very worth it.

I haven't heard yet whether the bread passes the Gluten-Free Mike test. But, since everyone else likes it, here it is: The bread and its back story.
Since this is half way between a bread and a cake, use a cake making method.  First, you cream the butter and sugar in your stand mixer until it is very, very creamy.  Scrape the bowl a time or two while it is mixing.

Cream butter and sugar

While the fat and sugar are creaming, prepare the dry ingredients.  Grind the cornmeal in a clean coffee grinder or a high power blender until the cornmeal is warm.  If using the coffee grinder, do it in two stages. Add all dry ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk well to combine.

Mix dry ingredients together

Once the fat and sugar is well creamed, add the eggs and mix until they are well incorporated. Don't over mix. You don't want the eggs to get tough. Scrape the bowl.

 



Add eggs

Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture in 2 or three stages, mixing only well enough to incorporate and scraping the bowl a couple of times.





Add dry ingredients

Add the clabbered milk and mix just until incorporated. Gently scrape the bowl once while mixing. The batter will be fluffy and beautiful. 



Add clabbered milk

 

Gently pour the fluffy, beautiful batter into a well-greased 8" pan.  Wet your fingers and gently smooth the batter so that it is evenly distributed. 



Bake and enjoy.  Of course, you'll want to mix up some honey butter to go with this. 

Pamela's Marie-Style Cornbread

Ingredients:

1-2 tsp organic apple cider vinegar
4 ounces goat milk
2 ounces butter, softened but not melted
2 ounces Spectrum organic shortening
4 ounces (1/2 cup) organic sugar
2 large eggs
3 ounces Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten Free Cornmeal*
3 ounces Authentic Foods Classic Gluten Free Blend**
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp xanthan gum

Directions:

1. Thoroughly grease an 8" square baking pan and preheat oven to 350 (f).
2. Pour 1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar into cup.
3. Add goat milk to weigh 4 ounces. Set aside to clabber.
4. Weigh butter, shortening, and sugar into the mixing bowl and set it to creaming. Scrape bowl periodically.***
5. Grind cornmeal in a clean coffee grinder or a high powered blender.
6. Add dry ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk to incorporate.
7. Add eggs to butter-sugar mixture. Mix just enough to thoroughly incorporate. Scrape bowl once while mixing.
8. Add dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture in at least two stages.  Mix just enough to incorporate. Scrape 2-3 times while mixing.
9. Add clabbered milk, mixing just enough to incorporate.  Scrape bowl once while mixing.
10. Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan.  Wet fingers and smooth batter evenly in the pan.
11. Bake 350 for about 25-30 minutes, until toothpick tests done.

Notes

* I love Bob's Red Mill products, and I love the course grind of their cornmeal for other things.  For this bread, you really do need the finer grind of Arrowhead Mills.

** Authentic Foods grinds their brown rice flour more finely than other brands I've used.  This is important for the fluffiness factor. 

*** Be sure to turn your mixer off and unplug it while scraping the bowl. 

Thai Basil Pesto

What do you do when you want to make pesto, but only your Thai basil is doing well, while your other basils are barely hanging on for dear life?

Well, you could make normal pesto using Thai basil, but that would be just too weird.  Thai basil is its own thing.  It really isn't a substitute for other basils.

So, embrace the Thai-ness of it.  Make Thai basil pesto.  I know that sounds weird, but it's weird in a good way. Whereas normal pesto using Thai basil would be weird in a bad way.

So, what might that look like?  Going ingredient by ingredient....

Garlic: Keep.  Thai food and garlic are friends.

Pine nuts: Nope. No way. Sesame seeds would be good, but using only sesame seeds would be kind of... seedy.   Almonds would be tasty, but they're too hard. Cashews have a good texture. Sesame seeds and cashews. Definitely!

Olive oil: Absolutely not! Toasted sesame oil is lovely, but a bit strong.  Using part untoasted sesame oil would be lovely, but I don't have any. So, maybe walnut oil along with the toasted sesame.

Pecorino romano: Cheese? Yuck! Not for Thai pesto. Just leave it out. Or increase the nuts.

Salt:  Yes. And black pepper.

So, more or less using my favorite pesto recipe, I just madke the substitutions above.  Except, I've been making pesto so long, I don't use a recipe and have no idea how much of each ingredient I use. I just do everything to taste. Here are some rough guidelines:

Ingredients (quantities are very approximate):

1-2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2-3 Tbsp walnut oil
2 cloves crushed garlic, or 2 garlic ice cubes, plus a dash of dry roasted garlic
1 fist full of cashews
2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 cups loosely packed Thai basil leaves
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pulse everything except basil, salt, & pepper until minced. 
2. Pulse in basil leaves, being careful not to over process. 
3. Add salt & pepper to taste.
4. Store in refrigerator.

Serving suggestions:

• Toss some with poached chicken and cooked rice noodles.
• Plop some on cooked vegies to give them a little excitement.

Roasted Tomato Dipping Sauce

Two weeks ago, Dawn the Lovely and I were enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon, visiting, drinking coffee, shopping.  The perfect girlie day. And then....

Dawn bought a bistro box containing a delicious tomato dipping sauce. Channeling my mother, I made the rash and spontaneous statement, "We could make this!"  But would it be the same? "Of course not. We'll make it better!"

(Yup, definitely Bettye's child, here.)

And, we did.

I shopped for organic canned roasted tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Decided that either my avocado oil or walnut oil would suffice very nicely in lieu of olive oil.

Dawn came over. We went into the back yard so she could shop for herbs.  Pinching each one and getting high off the fumes, Dawn decided to use a combination of Greek and lemon basil, maybe a few leaves of the lime.  We added Rapunzel (aka my wild and overgrown Mexican oregano) and some Italian parsley.  And rosemary.  Because, for Dawn, life without rosemary would probably not be worth living.

Back to the kitchen to choose oils.  Dawn sniffed each oil, then tasted. She decided on walnut oil.

Maybe everything else should have been fresh, too.  But I'm pretty sure the commercial stuff used a lot of dried ingredients. So, here we go.... As always with this kind of thing, everything is really "to taste".   If you don't like it, it's your own fault.

Ingredients
2-3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar (we used three in the 2nd batch, which Dawn liked more)
4 pinches of salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp. granulated roasted garlic
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. freeze dried shallots
About 2.5 tbsp. fresh basil
About 1 tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, maybe a little more
About 1 tbsp. fresh Mexican oregano
A few leaves of rosemary
About 4 tbsp. walnut oil (or olive, or....)
About 8 to 10 ounces canned roasted tomatoes

Directions

1. Blend everything except oil and tomatoes with a stick blender until herbs are nicely chopped.
2. Blend in the juice from the tomatoes, reserving the solids.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings, keeping in mind that you will be adding the oil and more tomatoes. 
4. Slowly drizzle in oil while blending on low to create a gorgeous emulsion.
5. Make sure tomato solids are finely chopped, then spoon them in.
6. Taste and adjust.

A note about the herbs:  Measuring full, unchopped herb leaves is an imprecise business at best.  You may stuff your measuring spoon more loosely or more fully than I do. So, the above measurements really are only suggestions. Also, you can use dried herbs.  Start with 1/4 to 1/3 the amounts suggested for fresh, and take it from there.

(Special thanks to Dawn the Lovely for staging the above photo.)

Dr. Axe's Pumpkin Bread - By Weight

Several months ago I discovered the Dr. Axe pumpkin bread recipe.  I have no idea who Dr. Axe is, but man, does he do a yummy pumpkin bread!  Half-way between a custard and a bread, it's like pumpkin pie as a finger food.

The original Dr. Axe recipe is here:

http://draxe.com/recipe/gluten-free-pumpkin-bread/

Spouse 1.0 likes things a little sweeter, so I added some liquid vanilla stevia. I don't love commercial pumpkin pie spice, so used my choice of spices plus some vanilla. And I prefer an 8" or 9" square pan to a loaf pan for faster baking.  But, other than that, no big changes to his recipe except for converting everything to weights. And adding more details to the directions. And topping with nuts.

So, here it is:

Ingredients:

• 112 grams almond flour
• 28 grams coconut flour  (30 to 32 grams if Trader Joe brand)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 183 grams pumpkin
• 56 grams maple syrup
• 56-58 grams coconut oil, warmed to melting point
• 4 large eggs
• 15 drops of liquid vanilla stevia (or to taste)
• 1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts. 

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 325 degrees (f). Thoroughly grease 8" or 9" square pan with coconut oil and/or coconut spray.
2. Combine all dry ingredients except chopped nuts in a small mixing bowl.
3. Combine all wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet, incorporating well.
5. Pour batter into pan.  If batter is thick, wet your fingers to gently and evenly press the batter down.  Top with nuts.
6. Bake 25 -30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Gingerbread Lemonade

Lately I've been on a lemonade obsession.  I don't particularly care for the stuff, but Spouse 1.0 drinks it like it's going out of style.

And, given The Curse of David*, lemonade may well be doing just that.

So, to mitigate The Curse of David, save money, and reduce our carbon footprint, I've been making lemonade. Lots & lots & lots of it.

I used to think that making homemade lemonade required juicing zillions of lemons.  Then I discovered bottled lemon juice.  Maybe not quite so exciting as fresh squeezed, but there's still a lot of money and bottles saved when you buy just one quart of lemon juice to make 8 quarts of lemonade.  Plus you get to control the sugar content.

Of course, it's completely impossible for me to make the same thing over & over again. There's just something in how my brain is wired that connects the brain cell that stores the information, "Spouse 1.0 loves lemonade" with the brain cell that stores "Spouse 1.0 loves ginger", which in turn connects to the brain cell that stores "Spouse 1.0 loves gingerbread lattes".

So, we get Gingerbread Lemonade:

Ingredients
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, or 1 ginger ice cube
- 1/8 tsp powdered ginger
- 5/8 tsp Apple Pie spice
- 35 drops liquid vanilla stevia
- 1/2 ounce agave syrup
- 1 ounce molasses
- 4 ounces fresh or bottled organic lemon juice
Filtered water

Directions:

1. Using a sturdy kitchen scale**, place all ingredients into a 1 quart bottle or jar.
2. Add a small amount of warm or room temperature filtered water.  Tightly cap the jar and shake until all ingredients are well-combined.
3. Continue filling jar with room-temperature water.  Taste and adjust seasonings and sweetness, then place in the refrigerator to chill.
   Don't over-spice it.  As the lemonade chills, the spices will continue to infuse.

* The Curse of David: A law of the Universe by which anything that Spouse 1.0 likes will be discontinued almost as soon as he discovers that he likes it.  The law further decrees that the more he likes it, the sooner it will be discontinued.  Most blatant example: VW Cabrio. 

** I strongly recommend using a kitchen scale, especially when you are dealing with sticky-ickies such as molasses, honey, or agave. Using a measuring cup wastes water and unnecessarily increases your work load.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Gluten Free and Casein Free

The Moosewood Cookbook's Hungarian Mushroom Soup showed up at one this year's Lenten Soup Suppers. Now, I'm not a fan of cream soups, but one taste of this stuff and I knew: Spouse 1.0 would love this soup -- if I added meat.  I had to get the recipe and adapt it for him.

One thing that makes this soup so wonderful is that it's not as heavy as most cream soups. It's just creamy enough to gently hold the earthy flavor of mushrooms, the subtle flavor of dill, and the mild zip of paprika together.

When adapting, you have to make decisions. Your decisions make the difference between good flavor and better. They are the difference between horrible texture, OK texture, and decent texture. In baking your decisions are the difference between dry, moist, and gummy -- and the difference between rising and falling.

Fortunately, soup isn't baking. The decisions are easier.

First decision: Butter. Our casein restrictions permit organic butter, so yay! That was easy. Second best choice would have been goat butter, followed by Earth Balance. Soup is actually pretty forgiving, so you could use the equivalent amount of any oil, but flavor would be compromised.

Next decision: Milk. This is a savory, slightly tangy soup, so goat milk is perfect. It has protein and fat to help the soup hold together.  A good second choice would have been unsweetened, unflavored soy milk. Any of the other unsweetened and unflavored milk alternatives might work, but I think texture would be compromised. A sweetened or flavored milk would probably be pretty awful.

Third decision: Flour. Don't you love how one simple little 5-letter word for the glutivores opens up a world of complications and questions?  Any common gluten-free all-purpose blend will probably work.  I used the Trader Joe brand, which does not include xanthan gum. It worked perfectly.  I wouldn't use a blend with xanthan gum.  The texture might come out too slimy or thick. You could also use a single flour, such as brown rice, but texture and flavor would be compromised. 

Final decision: Sour cream.  The soup is delicious without it.  I wouldn't bother.  Alternatives: vegan sour cream substitute or your choice of plain yogurt substitute. 

So, here it is: My adaptation of Hungarian Mushroom Soup:

GFCF Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
24 ounces mushrooms, sliced
4 cups chopped onions
4 Tbsp fresh chopped dill, or 4 tsp dry (Divided use)
4 cups chicken stock, divided use. (Use homemade or a GF brand.)
2 Tbsp GF tamari soy sauce
2 Tbsp Hungarian paprika or smoked paprika (I used smoked.)
4 Tbsp butter or butter substitute
6 Tbsp gluten-free flour blend
2 cups goat milk (or unsweetened, unflavored soy milk or other milk substitute)
2 tsp salt
4 tsp lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (or 1/3 that amount, dried)
Optional: 1 cup vegan sour cream substitute and/or extra dill

Directions:

1. Saute onions in a small amount of stock, salt lightly
2. When partly done, add mushrooms, half the dill, about 1 cup more stock, tamari, and paprika. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes while you prepare the cream base.
3. Melt butter in a 6 quart soup pot.
4. Whisk in flour blend and cook on medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick and the flour is a nice golden color.
5. Reduce heat to low, and slowly whisk in the milk until completely incorporated. Cook about 10 minutes, whisking frequently, until the mixture is thick.
6. Whisk in the mushroom mixture and the remaining stock.  Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring periodically.
7. Just before serving, add salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
8. Garnish each bowl with a little vegan sour cream substitute and/or extra dill.

Variation: To make this a protein-packed meal, add about 12 ounces of chopped poached chicken in step 6.

Serves 8.

Sorry: For now, no picture. 

The above adaptation is based on this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/hungarian-mushroom-soup-from-the-moosewood-cookbook-135215

Mixed Fruit Muffins

I love Elana Amsterdam's recipes.  This one started off as the Apricot Muffin recipe from her book Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry.  And, you might ask, if I love the recipe so much, why did I change it until it's hardly recognizable?  In short:

• I don't love measuring, so I convert to weight wherever possible.
• I love apricots, but not all the time.  Sometimes it's fun to just mix things up a bit.
• Sometimes my dried fruit gets to be a bit too dry and needs pre-moistening.
• I don't love dragging the food processor out to make a small batch of muffins, so I've found a different way that's easier for me.
• I like mini muffins.
• I like nuts on top.

Ingredients:

• 80 to 90 grams total dried prunes, dates, & apples (whatever proportion suits your fancy)
• Small amount of hot water
• 28 grams coconut flour (30 grams if Trader Joe)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 112 grams melted coconut oil
• 4 large eggs
• 7 drops liquid vanilla stevia, optional
• About 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Chop fruit in small pieces, place in small glass container, and cover with just barely enough hot water to cover. Let sit for about 20 minutes.
2. Drain excess water from fruit.
3. Line mini muffin tins with 24 liners.  Spray liners with coconut oil spray.
4. Place fruit in medium stainless mixing bowl. Add coconut oil. Using a stick blender, pulse until fruit is very finely chopped, almost pureed.
5. Pulse in eggs and stevia.
6. Pulse in coconut flour and salt. Let set 3 to 5 minutes so coconut flour can thicken.
7. Stir in baking soda.
8. Fill muffin liners about 3/4 full.  If you have extra batter, line a custard cup and pour the batter in the custard cup.
9. Top with nuts.
10. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out almost clean.
11. Cool thoroughly. Refrigerate leftovers.

Pizza Pain Perdu (GF)

It happens way more often than we want to admit. We go to some GF restaurant, pay an extra $4 for our pizza to be on a gluten free crust, and when served, we realize that we have just been served cardboard with a smattering of cheese and meat.

Not wanting to be wasteful, we bring that miserable excuse for pizza home, and try to feed it to our dog.  He snubs it.  We try to compost it, but even the worms won't touch it.

Never fear, you can stop using that leftover pizza for a doorstop and turn it into an easy, yummy breakfast. It's easy.  (Not fast, but definitely easy.)

Pizza Pain Perdu

Ingredients

For each serving, you will need:

2 small slices of leftover GF pizza
1 egg
Scant 1/2 cup goat milk or unsweetened milk alternative
dash of salt or smoked salt
dash of pepper
pinch or two of Italian herb blend (Penzey's Frozen Pizza seasoning is perfect)

Directions

 

1. Lightly oil or spray a 3-cup rectangular Pyrex dish.
2. Place pizza slices in dish, alternating directions.
3. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the pizza and let set for about 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes, until all is baked through.

Alternating pizzza slices in a Pyrex dish

Savory custard mixture: Egg, goat milk, seasonings

Pizza soaking in the custard mixture

 

The finished product

Close-up of the finished product: No more cardboard