Tonight's Dinner

One of the things you will find in a gluten free lifestyle is you have to be creative. Not everything you cook or bake will turn out perfect, some will be inedible. But sometimes you can turn what could be a disaster into something delicious. Tonight was one of these times.

My plan for dinner was steak and something. Thanks to my sister-in-law re introducing me to quinoa, I have actually started to like quinoa. So when thinking about dinner and my options to go with steak I pulled the quinoa out of the cupboard. Last week I found a very simple recipe for cooking fluffy quinoa that was very tasty with a pork chop. When I tried the same recipe today, it did not work the same. The quinoa ended up overcooked and mushy. Once the steak was resting and I looked at the quinoa in the pot it reminded me of mashed potatoes. So being creative I thought I would turn them into a mashed potato substitute. I added a Tbsp of butter and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and stirred it in, kind of mashing the quinoa as I did.

They ended up tasting wonderful. Lighter than potatoes, but had the same satisfying texture and mouth feel. Went wonderfully with the perfectly rare steak.

Some times when cooking you have to be creative and turn a mistake into something better. Under cooked brownies can be cut up and frozen for ice cream sundaes, overcooked bread can be made into croutons. Just look at the possibilities and make lemonade out of lemons.

Gluten Free Chocolate Turnovers

My sister came home with McDonalds one day for lunch and one of the things she had purchased was their new chocolate cherry pie. It looked really good and she asked me if I wanted to try it. I told her no, not only because it was not gluten free, but I didn't want to know how good it was and get hooked on it if it was fantastic and I could never eat it again. There are so many other non gluten free things that I already crave and cannot have, I did not want to add another to the list. But it got me thinking that I could make one myself. This lead me on a quest to make the perfect chocolate pastry. I used a pastry recipe that a friend had given me once, that I have since tweaked, and tweaked it further. It took a couple tries to perfect the recipe, the first one was really bad, but the end result was a flaky pastry with a gooey filling.

Elizabeth's Gluten Free Chocolate Turnovers

Chocolate Pastry:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/8 cup white rice flour
1/8 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
Pinch salt
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
1/4 cup very cold butter, cut into small pieces
4 Tbsp ice water
Coarse raw sugar for sprinkling on top
All purpose gluten free flour mix for dusting

Sift rice flours, cocoa, salt and xanthan gum together, press out cocoa lumps. Add honey and vanilla, stir. Cut in butter until butter resembles small pea sized bits. Add water, 1 Tbsp at a time and stir until just combined. Shape into a disk, wrap disk in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-2 hours. Once out of fridge place on well floured surface. Cut disk into four pieces. Working with one piece at a time, coat outside in flour and roll into a 1/4" thick rectangle. Fold the rectangle onto itself in thirds like a pamphlet (ie fold ends over onto middle). Coat with flour if necessary and roll out again into a 1/4" thick oval. Brush egg wash around perimeter of pastry, spoon 2 heaped Tbsp of filling onto left side of pastry, keeping at least 1/2 - 1 inch away from edge. Fold top over filling, careful not to squish filling out. Crimp edges with fork to seal pastry, trim extra pastry to make a clean edge. Brush top and sides with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse raw sugar. Cut slits in top to allow steam to vent and pastry will not poof up and make a large hole in the middle. Bake on parchment lined sheet at 400F for 25-30 minutes.

You can use any canned pie filling you wish. The first time I made them I used jam with a little cornstarch to thicken, but I found this made a very flat, soggy turnover. So I made my own pie filling with the jam. See below for recipe.

Filling:

1 cup diced strawberries

2 Tbsp your choice of jam, I used ED Smith Raspberry, Cherry, Key Lime Jam.

1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp lemon juice

Cook first 3 ingredients in microwave for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add lemon juice and stir until combined. If filling becomes to thick, add another Tbsp of jam. Cool before using in turnovers.

These turnovers are fabulous hot out of the oven, but let them sit for at least 15 minutes or the filling will be extremely hot. After a day or so the pastry starts to get a little soggy, but the turnover still tastes great.

Give into Cravings: French Toast

This morning I had a craving for french toast. I love french toast and have not had it since going gluten free. I have always been scared to make it with a gluten free bread, because my Dad tried it a decade ago when I was first diagnosed and it was terrible. It was Sunday morning and my Grandma was visiting. She is strictly gluten free as she has Celiac and is very sensitive to gluten. My Dad decided he wanted to make gluten free french toast. He found a recipe, I am not sure where now, but it was one that was baked in the oven. You mix all the ingredients together, pour it over the bread slices and bake it in the oven in a rectangular pan. It was so soggy and mushy that I couldn't eat it. Since then if I had a craving for french toast I sucked it up and went for the real thing. Now that I have cut it all out of my life, I miss french toast.

I decided this morning that I would give into my craving and try and make a good gluten free french toast using the regular french toast method. I used my Udi's white sandwich bread as it is the only one I eat. I made my regular egg mixture (2 eggs, 4 egg shells of milk, cinnamon, nutmeg) and added 1/2 tsp honey for sweetness and to help the toasts brown. I dipped the bread into the egg mixture and drained each slice like I usually do, to remove any of the extra egg mixture. I paid special attention to the edges of the bread to make sure they felt a little squishy so they were not hard when cooked. I cooked them on a griddle with lots of butter (I always use butter for french toast not oil, it tastes so much better) until they were browned on each side and cooked in the middle.

All I can say is WOW!

Not quite as fluffy as french toast with a regular texas toast, but they tasted like real french toast. I did find that I needed to eat them hot off the griddle for the best taste, they got hard when cold. I only made 8 slices as I was not sure how they would keep and I only had a few slices of bread left. I will  definitely   try this recipe again when the craving hits.

Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ever have to bring a dessert to a function and have no time to make something from scratch. There are lots of really great packaged gluten free product in the stores these days that can make your life a little easier.

I usually have a few things in my pantry for occasions that I need a little extra help. One of these products is Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mixes. I have previously made wonderfully decadent chocolate cupcakes with the Gluten Free Devils Food Cake Mix. This time I was looking for something a little more festive. I saw pineapples on sale in a grocery flyer and decided for family Christmas function that I would make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Since I had a Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix, all I need to purchase was a pineapple. I picked up a pre-cored pineapple from the grocery store instead of a can so I could cut the slices myself, a little thicker than the canned versions. But the canned ones would work perfectly as well.

I changed up the recipe slightly, as that is what I usually do. I did not have corn syrup in the house so I used maple syrup instead and I used the pineapple juice that came with the pineapple instead of the water. I also minced a little pineapple and added it to the cake mix. It took longer than the time stated to bake, close to 50 minutes. Watch the cake carefully in the oven and starting at the 30 minute mark check the cake every 5 minutes with a toothpick to see if it is done. When toothpick comes out clean remove from the oven. Do not over bake as the cake will be come dry. After trying the cake at dinner I would make a few changes the next time I try it. The topping is a little gooey, probably what caused the cooking time to change. So I would cut back on the butter and brown sugar a little. But the taste was amazing.

Betty Crocker's Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Gluten Free)

1/4

cup butter

2/3

cup packed brown sugar

2

tablespoons light corn syrup

9

slices pineapple in juice (from 16-oz can), drained

9

maraschino cherries, drained

1

box (15 oz) Betty Crocker® Gluten Free yellow cake mix

1/2

cup butter, softened

2/3

cup water

2

teaspoons gluten-free vanilla

3

eggs

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square pan, melt 1/4 cup butter in oven. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup; spread evenly in pan. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar mixture. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, 1/2 cup butter, water, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
3. Bake 38 to 43 minutes or until surface is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loose cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake. Remove pan; cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator.

Makes 9 servings

Christmas Cookies

Ask anyone what their favorite parts of Christmas is and I am sure food will be on the top of the list, specifically Christmas baking. A tradition growing up was my Mom and I in the kitchen in the weeks leading up to Christmas baking copious amounts of Christmas cookies. Baking sheet after baking sheet came out of the oven and the table would be spread with layers of newspapers with golden cookies from edge to edge. It was an endless conveyor belt of rolling dough, cutting cookies, baking them, and cooling before we could devour them. We made so many cookies they would last well through the winter in the freezer. Making memories by baking with children can be such a simple thing that can last well into adulthood.

Many Christmas cookie recipes can be simply adapted with a change to a gluten free all purpose flour mix instead of wheat flour and the addition of xanthan gum. I use Bette Hagman's Gluten Free Flour Mix, which is 6 cups rice flour (I use a combination of white and brown rice flour, more of the brown than white), 2 cups potato starch (not potato flour), and 1 cup tapioca flour. Blend this well and keep in an air tight container. I always have this on hand to use in recipes and for thickening. Sugar cookies and gingerbread are the simplest to adapt to gluten free. There are also many recipes that are naturally gluten free such as; meringues, chocolate barks and chocolate drop cookies, depending on the fillers.

Take the time to create new memories within your family and try some baking this Christmas. Put on some Christmas music and gather the family in the kitchen. Make sure you have all ingredients on hand before you start and have some fun. Licking the beaters and the messes come with the territory. But you would be surprised at how much that time you spend with your children can mean to them down the road. I have now taken up the baking of the Christmas cookies from my mother, as she no longer has kids in the house to eat the results, but I will always thank her for the memories.

Cookies pictured (from left to right): Chocolate Truffle Brownies (baked in mini muffin pans), Sugar Snowflake cookies, Gingerbread Men and Women , Peppermint Meringues.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

Several years ago I printed out a recipe for gluten free gingerbread cookies from the internet. The author of the online posting said that she had modified the recipe from a Parents Magazine recipe and adapted it for gluten free using Bette Hagman's featherlight mix. I made the recipe back then and made notes on the page that I wanted to try this recipe again and make a few adaptations of my own. At the time I found that the cookies needed more flavor to them, more spice. Today I tackled this recipe and I think I found the perfect combination.

The original recipe called for 4 1/2 cups of gluten free flour mix, which I thought was a lot, so the first time I made these I halved the recipe and I am glad that I did as it made 60 cookies (at 1/8" thick) with 3" gingerbread wo/men cookie cutters. This recipe would also make a wonderful gingerbread house.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

2 1/4 cups gluten free flour mix

                 [I use Bette Hagman's original gluten free flour mix]

1 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 whole nutmeg, grated

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 lg egg

2/3 cup molasses

In medium sized bowl mix the flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and baking soda with a whisk until completely combined and set aside. In a large bowl or stand mixer cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and then the molasses. Slowly add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture, a little at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be stiff but sticky.

Divide the dough into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refridgerate for at least 2 hours. The dough can be made several days in advance and kept refridgerated until baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Dust surface well with gluten free flour mix before rolling out dough to 1/8" thick. Cut out cookies with desired cookie cutters and place on parchment lined cookie sheet 1" apart. Combine extra dough to roll out again. Bake for 10 minutes or until cookie feels crisp and removes from baking sheet easily. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely and continue to bake remaining cookies.

Once cookies have cooled you can decorate with frosting and gluten free candies of your choosing.

This is a very sticky dough so flour your rolling surface well prior to and during rolling. These cookies like to puff up when baking, so roll them as thin as you can (1/8").

Comfort Meals: Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

Ever get a craving for one of those boxed macaroni and cheese dinners, you know the ones that come with a package of cheese sauce right in the box. Since becoming gluten free I miss the convenience that those types of dinners bring. In 15 minutes you can have dinner ready from start to finish which is a good thing when you come home from work late and want something fast. Now things need to be made from scratch, making sure you have all the right ingredients on hand. This usually takes more time than those convenience dinners took, but the efforts are usually way worth it.

Tonight was one of those nights.

I came home with nothing in the fridge, starving and looking for comfort food.

I decided to make a macaroni and cheese dinner that was as simple and quick as the boxed versions.

Easy Broccoli Pasta and Cheese Dinner for Two

Step One: Boil 1 1/2 cups of gluten free noodles. Any short cut gluten free noodle will do. I love MolinodiFerro La Veneziane corn pasta. It tastes just like wheat pasta and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Today I used the "gnocchi" which look like shells. Defrost 2 cups of frozen broccoli in microwave for 5 minutes. While pasta is cooking shred 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of a really sharp extra old cheddar cheese and set aside.

Step Two: When cooked to desired taste drain pasta and broccoli.

Step Three: Add 2 Tbsp of butter to the pot you cooked the pasta in, once melted add 1 1/2 Tbsp of a gluten free all purpose flour mix. Whisk until the flour is incorporated and cook until it starts to smell like shortbread baking. Add 1 cup of milk slowly while whisking continuously (add 1/2 cup more milk if you like a thinner sauce, 1 cup if you like a thick cheese sauce). Cook whisking continuously until it thickens. Add freshly ground pepper to taste and a very small pinch of onion powder for seasoning. When sauce is thick, whisk in shredded cheeses.

Step Four: Add drained pasta and broccoli to cheese sauce and heat until broccoli is hot. Serve immediately. Makes two servings.

Start to finish this dish took no time at all. You can make it faster by cooking the sauce in a different sauce pan at the same time as boiling the pasta and defrosting the broccoli, but I wanted to make a one pot dish that would make cleanup easier. Of course like any dish you make yourself the additions can be what ever you like. I used broccoli as that was what I had on hand and it goes nicely with the cheese sauce. You could add a chopped tomato and turn the cheese sauce into a rose sauce. The possibilities are endless.