OK, I don't have pictures for you yet, but I wanted to point you in the direction of some great holiday recipes I'm pulling out this year --some of these are tried and true and some are new ventures, so I hope you enjoy!
Peppermint Meringues: This recipe from Bon Apetit was forwarded to me by my mom and I'm going to be whipping them together this afternoon. The recipe is fairly straightforward and it makes a large quantity (approx. 60 per recipe).
Stained Glass Windows: This was a childhood staple for me during the holidays --for gluten-free and gluten-eating alike. I'm a sucker for the chocolate combo, so these are always good in my book. And with just five ingredients (I usually leave out the nuts), they're ridiculously easy to make!
Crisp Coconut Chocolate Pie: I made this first for Thanksgiving last month. It worked so well and was so delicious (and a little bit rich) that I just have to make it again for Christmas. Again with the chocolate-coconut combo. This time I am trying it with coconut milk instead of heavy cream - fingers crossed that it actually works!
Poached Apples: I fell in love with poached pears earlier this year. (Seriously, if you're in the Cleveland area and haven't tried the poached pear with creme anglaise at Sasa Matsu, you need to go!). When I got three (ginormous!) delicious Jonagold apples with my CSA order this week (OK, there were actually four, but with peanut butter in the house the fourth one did not last long...), I wasn't sure what I would do with them, especially with no gluten-free flour, oats, or pie crusts... And then it struck me: poached apples. Poached. Apples. Yes, yes, and yes.
For more gluten-free recipes and ideas, follow my gluten-free board on Pinterest!
Happy Holidays!
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Recipe Conversion - Egg Casserole
Growing up, egg casserole was a holiday tradition in my house. We'd all wake up on Christmas morning, open presents and then sit down to breakfast of cinnamon rolls (yeah, still haven't figured out gluten-free for that...) and egg casserole. Fluffy, cheesy, savory, egg casserole was always amazing.
When I went gluten-free I didn't even really think about how much I'd miss this until the holidays hit and then I remembered. Egg casserole is essentially a savory bread pudding. Yeah, there's that word: BREAD. In the ten years since I first went gluten-free, the market has exploded with some great options for us GFree eaters and that includes bread, so after a long sabbatical, I decided to try to recreate my mother's egg casserole. This recipe below (which I pretty much eye-balled) filled an oval pan about 8x12".
6 Slices of Gluten-Free Bread (I used Whole Foods' Sandwich Bread), cubed
6 eggs
2/3 cup of milk
1 pound of gluten-free sausage (I used Bob Evans' original)
2 Tablespoons of yellow mustard
4-8 oz. of cheddar cheese (depending on how much you want)
Some nutmeg (not a huge amount, just enough to add some zip)
Preheat your oven to 350F.
Alrighty, so first things first: Brown the sausage and break it up into smaller bits (about bite-sized), next toss your bread cubes into the pan. I like to toss them with the sausage for flavor. Layer the sausage/bread mixture in the pan with cheese throughout.
Beat your eggs and add the milk and mustard to them, mixing well. If you want to use Nutmeg you can also add it at this point. (If you are making this ahead of time, i.e., overnight, you may want to add an extra cup or so of milk). Pour the egg mixture over the bread and press the bread down with a fork so it's all coated. It's totally alright if some edges stick up though because this will be crisp deliciousness later. Spread the remaining cheese on top and pop in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes until brown on top and the middle is set. Mine took about 45 minutes and it came out wonderfully.
Serve hot! Or, do what I did and divide portions up into individual servings for packed breakfasts. Going to try to freeze it and see if it will be okay, but that remains to be seen so far.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I know I did! For a (not-very-good-quality-cell-phone-)picture, see my tweet from last night. I will be posting the photos here eventually, but it won't be immeediately.
Happy Holidays!
When I went gluten-free I didn't even really think about how much I'd miss this until the holidays hit and then I remembered. Egg casserole is essentially a savory bread pudding. Yeah, there's that word: BREAD. In the ten years since I first went gluten-free, the market has exploded with some great options for us GFree eaters and that includes bread, so after a long sabbatical, I decided to try to recreate my mother's egg casserole. This recipe below (which I pretty much eye-balled) filled an oval pan about 8x12".
6 Slices of Gluten-Free Bread (I used Whole Foods' Sandwich Bread), cubed
6 eggs
2/3 cup of milk
1 pound of gluten-free sausage (I used Bob Evans' original)
2 Tablespoons of yellow mustard
4-8 oz. of cheddar cheese (depending on how much you want)
Some nutmeg (not a huge amount, just enough to add some zip)
Preheat your oven to 350F.
Alrighty, so first things first: Brown the sausage and break it up into smaller bits (about bite-sized), next toss your bread cubes into the pan. I like to toss them with the sausage for flavor. Layer the sausage/bread mixture in the pan with cheese throughout.
Beat your eggs and add the milk and mustard to them, mixing well. If you want to use Nutmeg you can also add it at this point. (If you are making this ahead of time, i.e., overnight, you may want to add an extra cup or so of milk). Pour the egg mixture over the bread and press the bread down with a fork so it's all coated. It's totally alright if some edges stick up though because this will be crisp deliciousness later. Spread the remaining cheese on top and pop in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes until brown on top and the middle is set. Mine took about 45 minutes and it came out wonderfully.
Serve hot! Or, do what I did and divide portions up into individual servings for packed breakfasts. Going to try to freeze it and see if it will be okay, but that remains to be seen so far.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I know I did! For a (not-very-good-quality-cell-phone-)picture, see my tweet from last night. I will be posting the photos here eventually, but it won't be immeediately.
Happy Holidays!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Squash Curry Soup
Yesterday was my down day after an amazing event on Saturday (Seriously, getting to give the Cleveland Foodbank the money to help serve 200,000 meals? Pretty incredible!). But as with most Sundays, I have to start thinking about what the week will hold for gluten-free lunches. Fortunately for me, I have this tendency to pick up ridiculous amounts of winter squash when autumn comes around, so there was no doubt in my mind what I was going to be working with.
Three butternut and one acorn squash were halved, cleaned out, and popped in the oven for baking. While that was working away, I started scavenging through my cupboards to see what I could find. The results? A can of coconut milk, cinnamon, turmeric, garlic, cayenne, and black pepper. That certainly sounded like a great addition and I decided to try my hand at a squash curry soup.
In a large soup pot, I combined the spices with some butter and then added the coconut milk and squash (I used one butternut and one acorn for this recipe). After adding some sage, and a half a round of chevre (I can't resist the call of cheese, I can't!), I put my immersion blender to use and it turned the combination into a creamy, rich golden soup. Upon final tasting I added some yellow mustard to try and cut through the richness.
All-in-all this turned out to be a pretty amazing soup. Hearty, flavorful, and full of fall flavor. Definitely looking forward to having this throughout the week!
Three butternut and one acorn squash were halved, cleaned out, and popped in the oven for baking. While that was working away, I started scavenging through my cupboards to see what I could find. The results? A can of coconut milk, cinnamon, turmeric, garlic, cayenne, and black pepper. That certainly sounded like a great addition and I decided to try my hand at a squash curry soup.
In a large soup pot, I combined the spices with some butter and then added the coconut milk and squash (I used one butternut and one acorn for this recipe). After adding some sage, and a half a round of chevre (I can't resist the call of cheese, I can't!), I put my immersion blender to use and it turned the combination into a creamy, rich golden soup. Upon final tasting I added some yellow mustard to try and cut through the richness.
All-in-all this turned out to be a pretty amazing soup. Hearty, flavorful, and full of fall flavor. Definitely looking forward to having this throughout the week!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Pinterest Gave Me Hope
OK, as cheesy as it sounds, it's true. I'd been neglecting myself by not following a strict gluten-free regimen --and it was definitely showing, if we're to judge by the bouts of illness and exhaustion. So, when I started to seriously pursue a gluten-free lifestyle earlier this year, I turned to Pinterest.
I'd already been using Pinterest to track some of my favorite things: DIY ideas, my favorite color, favorite quotes, etc., so why not gluten-free recipes and ideas? Sure enough, this works! I now use Pinterest on an almost-daily basis to search for and track gluten-free recipes.
My gluten-free board is a daily inspiration to me that gluten-free food does not have to be tasteless, crumbly, and depressing --in fact, quite the opposite! I am a very visual person, so seeing amazing pictures of gluten-free food is a huge motivation for me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. Pinterest has given me: gluten-free crepes, cookies, entrees, desserts, and more. Cheesy, but true!
I'd already been using Pinterest to track some of my favorite things: DIY ideas, my favorite color, favorite quotes, etc., so why not gluten-free recipes and ideas? Sure enough, this works! I now use Pinterest on an almost-daily basis to search for and track gluten-free recipes.
My gluten-free board is a daily inspiration to me that gluten-free food does not have to be tasteless, crumbly, and depressing --in fact, quite the opposite! I am a very visual person, so seeing amazing pictures of gluten-free food is a huge motivation for me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. Pinterest has given me: gluten-free crepes, cookies, entrees, desserts, and more. Cheesy, but true!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
More Gluten-Free Experimentation
I’m back to the chickpea flour. I haven’t tried baking anything with it yet and probably won’t be attempting a gravy any time soon, but what I’ve done so far I have loved. Last night was a flounder filet, dredged in a mixture of Parmesan and chickpea flour (very similar to this chicken) that I then
panfried.
Dessert? Gluten-free cookies (the ones from this post) warmed in the micro and topped with fat free vanilla frozen yogurt. Pretty tasty and, more or less, guilt free.
panfried.
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| Lovely flounder with veggies |
Dessert? Gluten-free cookies (the ones from this post) warmed in the micro and topped with fat free vanilla frozen yogurt. Pretty tasty and, more or less, guilt free.
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| Gluten-free cookies and yogurt |
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Mini Dinner Party
While I am usually always up for cooking for a large group, the idea of hosting more than a couple people, especially in my little mousehole-sized apartment, is daunting. So, I throw Mini Dinner Parties. One or two people invited over for good food, good conversation, and some time to just sit and breathe.
Last night (today, as I’m typing this!) was an impromptu dinner party. Stress, combined with some tough decisions for a friend made this the perfect night to sit down and enjoy a meal together. They got to sit back and unwind, and I got to de-stress in my own way by cooking.
I already had some chicken on hand, so that decided the protein. With no real idea of what I was actually going to do with said chicken, I wandered into Whole Foods to see what I could fine. About twenty minutes later, I was armed with tomatoes, mushrooms, an onion, a good-sized hunk of provolone cheese, and a pint of vanilla gelato. I had decided that I was going to make what I was loosely (very loosely!) calling Provolone-Smothered Chicken with a Tomato-Mushroom Caponta. (FYI, if you are dairy-free, this was still quite delicious before the addition of cheese)
Into a saucepan, a little oil with half a diced onion. After that sauteed for a while, I added chopped tomatoes (seeds and all) and mushrooms, as well as a little balsamic, basil, and a bit of oregano. I cooked this all done and then added it to a baking dish, along with the chicken breasts. The other half of the onion was sliced and laid across the chicken.
Popped it into the over at 375F for 30 minutes. After that, added thick slices of provolone to each piece of chicken and put it back in the over for 10 minutes. This may have been just on this side of too long in the oven, but fortunately my “caponata” seemed to keep the moisture in pretty well.
Served with steamed veggies (cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, summer squash) and a glass of white wine.
Dessert, was supposed to be my simple and homey pièce de résistance. Vanilla gelato (store bought, thanks) with a [insert fanfare sound effect here] homemade blueberry syrup. The things I failed to consider when deciding to make homemade blueberry syrup: 1) I don’t have a strainer (which I eventually found out would’ve been a good idea) and 2) I don’t have the faintest clue how to make syrup. I mean, I have a vague inkling, but apparently not that clear of an idea. So, yeah. That’s going to be something I need to research. I ended up just going to town on them with my immersion blender and then trying to strain them. “Trying to” because the only strainer I own is a little tiny one for a teapot. It didn’t work. So, we just have a kind of thick, slightly grainy blueberry sauce to go over our gelato. Meh, it worked and it still tasted great!
All told, it was a moderate success and I even have just enough leftovers for lunch today.
Last night (today, as I’m typing this!) was an impromptu dinner party. Stress, combined with some tough decisions for a friend made this the perfect night to sit down and enjoy a meal together. They got to sit back and unwind, and I got to de-stress in my own way by cooking.
I already had some chicken on hand, so that decided the protein. With no real idea of what I was actually going to do with said chicken, I wandered into Whole Foods to see what I could fine. About twenty minutes later, I was armed with tomatoes, mushrooms, an onion, a good-sized hunk of provolone cheese, and a pint of vanilla gelato. I had decided that I was going to make what I was loosely (very loosely!) calling Provolone-Smothered Chicken with a Tomato-Mushroom Caponta. (FYI, if you are dairy-free, this was still quite delicious before the addition of cheese)
Into a saucepan, a little oil with half a diced onion. After that sauteed for a while, I added chopped tomatoes (seeds and all) and mushrooms, as well as a little balsamic, basil, and a bit of oregano. I cooked this all done and then added it to a baking dish, along with the chicken breasts. The other half of the onion was sliced and laid across the chicken.
Popped it into the over at 375F for 30 minutes. After that, added thick slices of provolone to each piece of chicken and put it back in the over for 10 minutes. This may have been just on this side of too long in the oven, but fortunately my “caponata” seemed to keep the moisture in pretty well.
Served with steamed veggies (cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, summer squash) and a glass of white wine.
Dessert, was supposed to be my simple and homey pièce de résistance. Vanilla gelato (store bought, thanks) with a [insert fanfare sound effect here] homemade blueberry syrup. The things I failed to consider when deciding to make homemade blueberry syrup: 1) I don’t have a strainer (which I eventually found out would’ve been a good idea) and 2) I don’t have the faintest clue how to make syrup. I mean, I have a vague inkling, but apparently not that clear of an idea. So, yeah. That’s going to be something I need to research. I ended up just going to town on them with my immersion blender and then trying to strain them. “Trying to” because the only strainer I own is a little tiny one for a teapot. It didn’t work. So, we just have a kind of thick, slightly grainy blueberry sauce to go over our gelato. Meh, it worked and it still tasted great!
All told, it was a moderate success and I even have just enough leftovers for lunch today.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Recipe Makeover: Grain Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
So, as part of my gluten-free journey, I regularly rework recipes (or at least try to!) to fit not only my dietary needs, but my tastes as well. I ran across this recipe when a friend of mine started pinning grain-free recipes on Pinterest. Since I had recently gone completely gluten-free again, I was excited to see a cookie that I could actually eat.
I tried them for the first time a few weeks ago and they turned out well, but I wasn't convinced. Especially as mine were significantly uglier than the lovely pictures posted on the Texanerin Baking blog.
What I did with this recipe. I love me some chocolate and I found the original 'dough' to have a chickpea flavor that I was having a tough time getting used to. So, I added cocoa powder to the batter, threw in some butterscotch chips and called it a day. Oh, and after rolling the cookies, I pressed them down with a fork a la peanut butter cookies.
My final recipe:
2 cans of chickpeas (drained, rinsed, and dried)
3/4 c. peanut butter
3/4 c. honey
2 t. baking powder
2 T. cocoa powder
3 t. vanilla extract
1 c. butterscotch chips
Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients except the chips in the food process. Then, fold in the butterscotch chips. (My dough was a little runny, so I ended up chilling it in the freezer for about a half hour. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and roll the dough into bolls. If you find the dough sticking to your hands, wet them and then roll. Bake for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, I like to let them cool on the rack and then froze them before bagging and popping them back in the freezer.
I tried them for the first time a few weeks ago and they turned out well, but I wasn't convinced. Especially as mine were significantly uglier than the lovely pictures posted on the Texanerin Baking blog.
What I did with this recipe. I love me some chocolate and I found the original 'dough' to have a chickpea flavor that I was having a tough time getting used to. So, I added cocoa powder to the batter, threw in some butterscotch chips and called it a day. Oh, and after rolling the cookies, I pressed them down with a fork a la peanut butter cookies.
My final recipe:
2 cans of chickpeas (drained, rinsed, and dried)
3/4 c. peanut butter
3/4 c. honey
2 t. baking powder
2 T. cocoa powder
3 t. vanilla extract
1 c. butterscotch chips
Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients except the chips in the food process. Then, fold in the butterscotch chips. (My dough was a little runny, so I ended up chilling it in the freezer for about a half hour. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and roll the dough into bolls. If you find the dough sticking to your hands, wet them and then roll. Bake for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, I like to let them cool on the rack and then froze them before bagging and popping them back in the freezer.
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| The final result. It's almost an I-can't-believe-it's-not-gluten moment! |
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The Wonders of Chickpea Flour
Okay, so it isn't so much "wonders" as it is just good. I picked up some chickpea (a.k.a. ceci, gram, or garbanzo) flour at my local Italian imports store this weekend to see what I could do with it. I'd used regular canned chickpeas before in cookies (yes, cookies!), but never tried the actual flour. It was time to remedy that situation.
The chickpea flour was incredibly cheap. $2.50/pound is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you're used to seeing alternative flours for up to $11/pound (almond flour, anyone?)!
I brought it home and immediately started searching for recipes. The first one I found was for a chickpea pancake. On further investigation, it was a thin crepe-style pancake made of just chickpea flour, water, and a pinch of salt. Sounded easy enough. So, I went to work.
I decided to use my 'pancake' as more of a tortilla and set about thinking of fillings. As I live alone, keeping fresh produce from going bad is quite a chore in my house. Because of this, I tend to rely on a lot of frozen veggies. I sauteed some frozen broccoli with garlic for the filling, but was then hit with inspiration.
I had been craving fried chicken for months now. What better to try with my new flour? I ended up mixing equal parts of chickpea flour and Parmesan cheese in with some herbs and a little salt and pepper and then pan-frying the chicken. And it worked! It actually tasted good. Color me surprised.
So, my 'tortilla' was filled with garlic broccoli and fried chicken. It was delicious. But way too filling. One pancake was huge and so dense, it probably could've served for two meals.
The chickpea flour was incredibly cheap. $2.50/pound is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you're used to seeing alternative flours for up to $11/pound (almond flour, anyone?)!
I brought it home and immediately started searching for recipes. The first one I found was for a chickpea pancake. On further investigation, it was a thin crepe-style pancake made of just chickpea flour, water, and a pinch of salt. Sounded easy enough. So, I went to work.
I decided to use my 'pancake' as more of a tortilla and set about thinking of fillings. As I live alone, keeping fresh produce from going bad is quite a chore in my house. Because of this, I tend to rely on a lot of frozen veggies. I sauteed some frozen broccoli with garlic for the filling, but was then hit with inspiration.
I had been craving fried chicken for months now. What better to try with my new flour? I ended up mixing equal parts of chickpea flour and Parmesan cheese in with some herbs and a little salt and pepper and then pan-frying the chicken. And it worked! It actually tasted good. Color me surprised.
So, my 'tortilla' was filled with garlic broccoli and fried chicken. It was delicious. But way too filling. One pancake was huge and so dense, it probably could've served for two meals.
 |
| Yay, fried chicken! |
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| It tasted a lot better than it looks, trust me! |
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