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

Easy Low Sugar Cranberry Lemonade

I don't drink things with calories. Calories are for chewing, not sipping. I mean, seriously. For 150 calories, would you rather have one 12-ounce can of soda OR a small cookie, a small piece of chocolate, a small salad, plus a big glass of water with a lemon or lime slice?

And, don't even get me started on the $5 frou-frou drinks.

Spouse 1.0 does not share this philosophy. And, because I really don't want him to be dead, I'm always on the lookout for low-sugar alternatives.  Preferably ones not loaded with chemical sweeteners.

To that end, liquid vanilla stevia has become my best friend. Powdered stevia is nasty. Liquid stevia is less nasty. Liquid vanilla stevia is almost bearable. Liquid vanilla stevia mixed with a caloric sweetener such as agave, honey, or organic cane sugar is actually quite pleasant.

This lemonade is easy to make, just sweet enough, and has less than 40 calories per cup.  Depending on how you shop, it's probably under $1.00 per bottle -- less than 1/4 the cost of commercial drinks.

Easy Cranberry Lemonade

1.5 ounces bottled pure lemon juice
1.5 ounces bottled pure, unsweetened cranberry juice
1 ounce honey, agave syrup, or ginger syrup (Spouse 1.0 prefers the latter.)
About 35 drops liquid vanilla stevia (Whole Foods brand is best.)
Filtered water

Add all ingredients to a 32 ounce container.  Add a little warm filtered water and mix well.   Add cool filtered water until the container is almost full. Mix, taste, and adjust.  If you want things a little sweeter, add a couple of drops of the stevia and a drizzle of syrup.  If you want things a little more puckersome, add some more lemon and/or cranberry juice.  Chill and enjoy.

Maple Pecan Muffins

I'm learning that it doesn't take much to turn a pancake into a muffin.  And, for me, muffins are infinitely less tedious.  Who has time to stand there babysitting pancakes 3 at a time?

This recipe started out as the pancake recipe from the back of a bag of FunFresh Foods almond flour. 
The first thing I did was convert from measuring by cup to going by weight. (I really can't stand dealing with messy measuring cups!)
Here's a summary of the transformation from pancake to muffin:

Pancake	Muffins
180 g almond flour	90 g pecan meal 60 g almond flour 30 g cashew meal
82 g agave nectar	82 g maple syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda	3/4 tsp baking soda
n/a	1/4 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
n/a	28 g melted coconut oil
n/a	4 to 8 grams Teff grain, chia seed, rice flour, whatever
n/a	chopped pecans for topping

Here's what stayed the same:

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
116 g. water (4 ounces)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 (f).
2. Line 24 mini muffin cups with liners, then spray with coconut oil or other non-stick spray.
3. Use wire whisk or fingers to mix pecan meal, almond flour, cashew meal, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt  in a small bowl until well-combined.
4. whisk maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl together until well-combined.
5. Whisk in the eggs, then the water.
6. Whisk in dry ingredients. I do this in stages to ensure more even incorporation.
7. If the mixture looks too runny, stir in the Teff, chia, or whatever.  Teff has a nice nutty flavor, and adds a little bit of poppyseed-like crunch.  If you don't like that texture, then just add a little of whatever you like.  It will still be a bit runnier than normal muffin batter, but that's OK.
8. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 to 7/8 full.  If you have a little batter left, just bake it in a lined custard cup (or two).
9. Bake for 12-14 minutes.  Tops will spring back when lightly touched, and a toothpick will come out with a crumb or two.
10. Remove from muffin tins and cool thoroughly on wire rack.  The texture is best at room temperature.

German Chocolate Quinoa Cookies

I really call these "Oops Cookies".  I accidentally got the nut butter mixture too hot, and the chocolate chips mostly melted. 

Oops! 

Sometimes a thing that initially seems bad can turn out to be surprisingly good.  So maybe I should call them "Redemption Cookies".

But, rule one of putting your cookie recipes on your blog is, "Make the name make sense to others."  So, with flavors of coconut, pecan, and chocolate, maybe it's best to call them German Chocolate Cookies.

Ingredients:

138 grams total of maple syrup, honey, and agave syrup (1/2 cup)
68 grams organic cane sugar (1/2 cup)
1 4-ounce stick of Earth Balance margarine or organic butter
128 grams total of almond butter and cashew butter (1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
140 grams brown rice flour (1 cup)
83 grams quinoa flakes  (3/4 cup)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
Scant 1/4 cup chopped pecans
Scant 1/4 cup shredded coconut, chopped
1/3 cup dairy-free miniature chocolate chips (e.g., Enjoy Life)

Directions:

1. Add first 4 ingredients into a medium steel mixing bowl, then place over a pan of simmering water to soften.
2. Mix brown rice flour, quinoa flakes, baking soda, salt, pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips in a small mixing bowl.
3. When nut butter mixture is very warm, add vanilla and stir until everything is smooth.
4. Remove nut butter mixture from heat and stir in the flour mixture.  Combine well.  The chocolate chips will mostly melt. 
5. Place in refrigerator until firm enough to handle (about 30-40 minutes).
6. Roll into small balls (about 12 grams each) and place on lightly greased cookie sheet about 2" apart. 
7. Bake at 350 until lightly browned but still soft in the middle (about 8 minutes)
8. Let rest on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, the place on wire racks to cool.

Makes about 60 cookies.

Savory Garbanzo Bread

Once upon a time, I had most of the ingredients for Chickpea and Chives Waffles, but no waffle iron.  No problem: Waffles and pancakes are sort of the same thing.  So, I decided to make pancakes.

Got part way into the process, and wondered: What would it take to make chickpea and chives bread?

Waffles get some oil from the waffle iron and some from whatever you put on the waffle. So, bread needs more oil.  And, bread probably needs more binder than waffles. So, maybe an extra egg.

I didn't have chives, but that's OK.  I had other things to provide flavor.

And, I really prefer to call them garbanzos.   So, that's how chickpea and chives waffles turned into...

Savory Garbanzo Bread

Ingredients

90 grams garbanzo flour
8 ounces warm water (about 120 degrees f.)
1.5 tsp Italian herb blend
1.5 tsp dehydrated minced onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper (Really, I have no idea.  Just grind a bunch in.)
12 grams honey or agave syrup
45 grams oil
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
3 eggs
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
60 g. gluten-free flour blend (Trader Joe's blend is fine.)
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
Optional: Smoked paprika and/or pecorino romano cheese

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together water and garbanzo flour.  Let sit for about 20 minutes.
2. Grease a 9" square baking pan.  Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350.
3. Add herbs and spices, honey, and oil.
4. Add eggs and whisk until well-combined.
5. Whisk in xanthan gum.
6. Whisk in flour blend.
7. Add baking powder and soda, then whisk thoroughly.
8. Top with paprika and/or pecorino romano if desired.
9. Bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Play with the seasoning.  The photos below are of the bread sans topping and seasoned with dill, onion, parsley, and garlic.

GF Ginger-Cashew Brownies

These brownies are largely based on Roben Ryberg's rice flour brownies, so they're bound to be delicious and easy.  If you don't have one of her cookbooks, you're missing out.

These brownies are fudgey, spicy, and just gooey enough.

Gluten-free Ginger-Cashew Brownies

 Ingredients
4 ounces organic butter, melted & cooled.
54 g sorghum flour
70 g brown rice flour
200 g organic cane sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs, beaten
3-4 Tbsp candied ginger
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand), divided. (Or more.)
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped cashews
Cinnamon-sugar mixture

Directions

1. Grease a 9" square pan with coconut oil and heat the toaster (or real) oven to 350.
2. Gently melt butter in a double boiler or a small pan.  Do not microwave.
3. Mix flours, sugar, salt, xanthan, and ginger in a medium mixing bow with a wire whisk.
4. Sprinkle the candied ginger with a little of the flour mixture, then mince finely. You should have about 2 Tbsp when done.  Set aside.
5. Mix the butter and egg into the flour mixture, then stir in the ginger and half the chocolate chips.  The mixture will thick.
6. Dump the brownie mixture into the pan. Dampen your fingers and use them to pat the brownie mixture into the pan. Re-dampen fingers as needed, but don't drown the brownies.
7. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and the cashews evenly over the top, then press down a little so they stay put.  Sprinkle with as much cinnamon-sugar as you like, but don't go crazy.
8. Bake about 30-35 minutes, til a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack and cut into 12-16 squares. 

 Sorry, no picture.  They look like brownies with slightly toasted cashew pieces on top.

Yes, Anything Can Be a Pancake -- Even Lentils

A while back I purchased a GF magazine that had a recipe for chicken pancakes (oh, yeah!).  They also had one for garbanzo pancakes that used whole beans instead of flour.  That seemed like a good idea for any legume.

So, I decided to do it with lentils.  But, I didn't bother reading the recipe before cooking the lentils.  The recipe used soaked, but not cooked beans. And didn't use eggs or other binders.  Hmm...

OK. So, I'll make up my own lentil pancakes.

And I did.   You're welcome.

Lentil Pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked lentils
Your favorite lentil seasonings
2 T oil
1 T pepper vinegar, or your favorite vinegar
5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup tapioca starch, or your favorite starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Cook lentils in water to cover plus a little more with your favorite seasonings.
   I used about 1/3 cup dehydrated mixed vegetables, a little dry onion, some garlic, salt, and pepper.  Cook them until they're mushy, adding water as needed.
2. Using a strainer, drain as much liquid as you reasonably can from about 3 cups of the cooked lentils.  Put the lentils in a mixing bowl and let them cool. Reserve the remaining lentils for soup or another batch of pancakes.
3. Add oil, vinegar, eggs, starch, and xanthan gum.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.
4. Stir in the baking soda.
5. Cook as you would any other pancake, but make them pretty small so they don't break. 
6. Serve with cashew cream ranch dressing.

Cashew Cream Ranch Dressing

Ingredients
Cashew cream  (A little more than 1/2 cup)
Organic mayo  (A little less than 1/2 cup)
Apple cider vinegar
Lemon juice
Dehydrated minced onion
Garlic powder
Freeze-dried parsley
Dill
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Add cashew cream and mayo to a bowl using about a 60/40 ratio. 
2. Add a splash of vinegar, a squirt of lemon, and other seasonings to taste.
3. Stir it up, then taste. 
4. If it needs more zing, add more lemon or vinegar.  If it needs more kapow, add more pepper or salt.  If it needs more Mmmmm, add more garlic, onion, parsley, and/or dill.  If it has too much zing or kapow, or if the Mmmm is more like Ohhhh, add more cashew cream and mayo.

I won't bother giving instructions for cashew cream.  There are zillions of cashew cream recipes out there already.