Gluten Free Goodness

As my family is Middle Eastern, I grew up adoring baklava, hummus, shwarma, halva, tahini, and all that good stuff. Since developing allergies to…let’s see, ingredients in all of the above, I’ve really been missing the tastes of family and celebration across the years.

So when I accidentally happened upon Siri’s Corner and and her Middle Eastern recipe challenge AWED:Middle Eastern I figured it was time to start playing and bring back some of the old flavors, even if they were in new form. The experimentation process was quite fun. Really, how can you go wrong with ingredients like these?

The result was a satisfying, shortbread-ish cookie with a whiff of rosewater. Unlike most Middle-eastern treats, they are not very sweet. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll want to dust with sugar. I’ll have to try these with orange blossom water sometime, too. I might also make them into thumbprint cookies with a dab of raspberry jam…

1 3/4 cup finely ground blanched almond flour
pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons almond or other oil
2 generous Tablespoons honey (for vegan or low glycemic, use agave)
1 teaspoon rosewater
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
slivered almonds or pistachios (optional)

Mix flour, sea salt, and baking powder. Mix honey oil and rosewater, microwave (or put in a hot oven) briefly to soften the honey. Add to the almond mix and stir.

Briefly kneed together, put on wax paper and roll into a log. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Preheat to 350. Cut slices 1/8-1/4 inch thick and place on a silpat. Press in an almond or pistachio, if desired. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until starting to brown.

Enjoy.

~from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008. Please do not replicate without crediting/permission.

The timing for this worked perfectly. It’s over 100 degrees outside, a perfect day for a no-bake recipe. Additionally, I’m attending a conference in June, and they’ve challenged all participants to go grain free for a month (including quinoa and other pseudo grains). I’m currently on day 8, not that I’m counting. So Sheltie Girl’s (Natalie’s) Truffles saved the day!

I have enjoyed the Gluten a go go blog for quite some time. Natalie makes great use of a lot of unique flours and binders, which is awesome. Some, like mesquite, agave and chestnut, were already ‘loves’ of mine, but others, like chia, and sweet potato flour were inspired by her recipes.

Natalie is also a fellow Daring Baker, and it was great fun to bake with her and get her suggestion last time around. It’s clear her experimentation has made her quite an expert.

I did follow her recipe exactly, but made 4 mini batches, to give a wider variety of flavors. One batch used curry powder, another mesquite, another Ras el Hanout, and the last vanilla extract. And then within those, some got dried orange peel, some that got heath bar (NOT dairy free, but DH’s favorite) some plain, some nuts…and then they were rolled in carob powder, cinnamon and coconut flour, cocoa powder and powdered sugar, coconut powder and ras el hanout or nuts. No, it wasn’t as complicated as it sounds, and using the muffin tray made it a lot easier. It’s amazing how ambitious I can be when I know as soon as I finish, I have to file insurance claims. Anything but that…

The recipe worked marvelously! My husband remarked a few months ago that carob was something that he’d never eat. So obviously, I didn’t mention what he was eating, and asked what he thought and he said, yummy chocolate. Tee hee…

Due to allergies and such, I was limited to the carob and cinnamon covered curry and mesquite truffles, and I enjoyed both. I enjoyed the curry, but didn’t care for the mesquite (one of my variations, not Natalie’s). It just didn’t add much. Most of my tasters enjoyed the orange peel ones best, but they all disappeared quickly.

This adoption is part of the “Adopt a GF Blogger”, as started by Sea Maiden of Book of Yum. Our current fine host is Thomas, of the GFCF experience.

This week is going to be another busy week, and there are quite a few days when I simply won’t be home at dinner time, so planning before hand is even more important, so that my husband simply has to put something pre-prepared in the oven. The ingredient of the week is egg. I am very allergic to egg, so you won’t be seeing it in my menu! However, I do have chicken planned, does that count?
Our host this week is Manda at Asparagus Thin, who always has a great, global menu.

My garden is bursting with raspberries canes, and they’re fruiting! I bought a few raspberry plants a few years back and they never grew. I decided to try once more, and that ONE plant has become 30 or so. It’s such a big patch of raspberry canes that I was watering it last summer, and a very indignant rabbit hopped out. Oops.

Most of the time, we’ve been having raspberries plain, but as the season goes on, I’ll have to find something fun to do with them.

Monday:
Fish
Halibut with parsley hazelnut pesto and carrots

Tuesday:
Brined lemony baked chicken breasts with fresh mint and roasted cauliflower with rosemary

Wednesday:
Vegan
Tomato and caramelized onion soup (from my freezer)
Avocado

Thursday:
Freezer diving
Turkey leftovers with rhubarb

Friday:
Crock pot love
Vietnamese inspired beef stew, with star anise, lemongrass, and a slew of veggies

Baked good of the week:
Almond rosewater cookies
Sheltie Girl’s Truffles

Weekly garden harvest:
From my garden
Parsley
Mint
Lemongrass
Basil
Raspberries
Garlic
Garlic scrapes

From the Farmer’s Market
Rhubarb (fingers crossed!)
Cabbage
Broccoli
Asparagus–last of the season

It was one of those moments. We were already hungry, and I was hoping to toss some sauce with veggies or pasta and call it dinner…then, the moment of panic creativity.  What do you mean we’re out of tomato sauce?  So it was about getting a full flavored sauce in a short amount of time.

I have more oregano that I know what to do with, and it’s taking over my herb bed, as you can see. Oregano is something I tend to use as one of the supporting players rather than a main flavor. Generally my sauces are heavy on basil, so this was a deviation from standard operating procedure.

I’d like to use oregano more, because it’s quite good for you! It’s antinflammatory, antibacterial, a good source of antioxidants, and has a lot of fiber, too.

And the result? A bold, chunky, satisfying sauce that came together in maybe 20 minutes. DH had the sauce on pasta, we had turkey cutlets poached in the sauce, I had some with steamed broccoli and handful of pine nuts, which was a perfect lunch.  Not bad for minimal effort.

I love Eden brand tomatoes because the ingredients are…organic tomatoes. I didn’t even miss the citric acid, additives and other fillers. Works for me! I used crushed and diced because I wanted a hearty, chunky sauce. If you don’t, adjust accordingly!

You could also use any mild onion or shallots in place of the spring onions, but I currently have an overabundance of spring onions and need ways to use them up.

2 spring onions, (green parts discarded) chopped
1 small garlic bulb, minced (or 3/4 a big bulb)
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 cup of broth or white wine
28 oz of crushed tomatoes
14 oz of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of loosely packed oregano
1/2 cup of Kalamata* olives, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1-2 Tablespoons agave nectar or sugar, or a pinch of stevia
Basil to sprinkle on top
Salt and pepper to taste
Parm cheese and/or pinenuts, optional but tasty

* for my vinegar avoiding comrades, Trader Joe’s sells vinegar free Kalamatas, or use a brine cured olive for a different, but yummy, flavor.

Brown the spring onions with a pinch of salt and a little oil over med-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, stirring for a minute until golden. Add rosemary leaves from stem. Add broth and deglaze. Allow to reduce for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes to let flavors meld.

Enjoy!

This is my entry to this week’s edition of Weekend Herb Blogging. WHB is brainchild of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Our kind host this week is Maninas of Maninas: Food Matters. This is my first time visiting her site, and she has some lovely looking East Indian dishes.

I just peeked at the ingredient of the week–cabbage! Not only am I currently munching on a meal including napa cabbage, so I’ll have to include that. And I just happen to have bought a cabbage this morning. Quite lucky, I think! I have a very busy 2 weeks ahead of me, there are a lot of wonderful things that I’m juggling.

If anyone is interested, I have the June issue of my GF newsletter here “Gluten free on the go” on staying GF through summertime fun.

Sunday:
Vegan
Veggie Medley (starring napa cabbage) with Brazil nut butter sauce
This was an entry into the Beautiful Bones event, hosted by Food Blogga. Osteoporosis and osteopenia is very common among Celiacs, so calcium is especially important for gluten free folk! There are a wide range of recipes here for your drooling pleasure
 
Monday:
East Indian
Beef keema with roasted cauliflower and garlic

Tuesday:
Simple and easy
Turkey cutlets in tomato sauce

Wednesday:
Roasted salmon and roast asparagus

Thursday:
Crock pot love
Crock pot chicken–chicken, cabbage, herbs, spring onions, celery, carrots, and who knows what else

Friday:
Garam Masala spiced roast chicken and steamed broccoli

Weekly harvest
From my garden:
First raspberry of the season!
Spring onions
Thyme
Rosemary
Marjoram
Oregano

Farmer’s Market:
Asparagus
Greenhouse tomatoes
Onions
Rhubarb (I hope!)

Baked good:
depends on time. I’ve baked a lot the past few weeks, and have evidence to prove it! Here’s my Hazelnut opera cake.