Gluten Free Goodness

“Honey, I think these are the best pancakes I’ve ever had”, said DH. Under other circumstances, I might have gotten all warm and fuzzy. He doesn’t give compliments lightly.  However, I was (in theory) making éclairs for the August Daring Baker challenge, and so I must admit I was less than delighted.

Some things are meant to be, others not so much. I have been very lucky that I tend to have a knack for adapting recipes to be gluten free, vegan, sugar free and more. They’re usually not perfect first time around, but usually at least I’ve gotten them in the ballpark.  The last DB challenges I did exceeded my expectations!!  It’s pretty ironic that when I finally decide to follow a recipe fairly faithfully that I had so much difficulty.

The first time around, I followed the Daring Baker recipe and just switched to a GF flour blend and a pinch of ground chia as the binder. Those darlins’ are hubbies new fave pancakes. Then I tried a recipe from the GF Delphi forums. They puffed up, then fell. Despite still looking pretty (or at least prettier), they were a tad raw on the inside.  At least I was on the right track with those.

My appetite for round 3 was non existent, largely because I can’t eat them due to allergies, DH doesn’t really care for cream puffs, and the rest of my GF tasting squad isn’t really into éclairs either. Aside from my pride, there didn’t seem to be a good reason to try them again. So éclairs2, Cheryl 0, and for the time being, puff pastry, I’ll let you claim this match. But next time…watch out!

I made a chocolate cherry filling, made of coconut milk, cocoa powder, cherries, powdered chia and agave. The filling was quite nice, and gluten, dairy, egg, corn, soy and sugar free (i.e. safe for me). I love using fruits as a sweetener, and the cherries paired quite yummily with the chocolate. Though it was tasty, the proportions still need more work, though if I get it down, I’d be happy to share the recipe in the future.

I wouldn’t call it a total loss.  DH had a HUGE plate of pancakes to celebrate his 30th birthday.  It wasn’t quite what I was going for, though.  Please go see what other Daring bakers have done with their éclairs…I’m sure they look a lot better!  Many thanks to this month’s hosts, Meeta of What’s for Lunch Honey? and Tony Tahhan.

Ah well.  I can’t wait until next month!

This soup is a celebration of summer veggies, and is one of my favorites!  I make a huge batch and freeze it, and it’s such a treat to devour a bowl of summertime in the middle of the winter.

Growing up, I wasn’t a fan of tomatoes.  It was only once I started having them straight out of the garden that I discovered they were actually quite yummy!  So I never had tomato soup growing up, nor did I really develop a concept  of what tomato soup should be like.  I made a bunch of batches last year, and discovered that I like thick, serious soup…none of that thin, watery soup for me.  That’s why I seed everything by hand rather than using a food mill, because it gives a much heartier soup.  This does take a while, but it’s totally worth it–trust me!

As you’ll notice, the ingredients are as simple as can be.  That’s because when veggies are totally ripe and garden fresh, they shine best with little adornment.  For variety, I’ve roasted the tomatoes with fresh thyme, or added in a little cayenne.

I caramelize onions with just a little oil and long, slow cooking.  I do stir, simply because I like doing huge batches.  Otherwise, there’s so little left to enjoy! on!  This summer, I’ve only found sweet onions at the market, which are super yummy, but very watery, so i periodically “bail out” some onion juice and save it to add it back in later.  That’s not needed with yellow onions.   As you can see, they cook way down.

The cashew cream on top isn’t necessary, but boy, is it the icing on the cake.  You can also use a dollop of pesto, if you’ve got some handy.

4 large onions, sliced thinly
2 Tablespoons oil
pinch of sea salt
4 lbs of tomatoes, seeded and peeled
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil

2 tablespoons of fresh thyme (optional)

Cashew Cream:
2/3 cup cashews
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon agave or maple syrup

Thinly slice the onions.  If you have a mandolin slicer, it’s much easier.  Heat the oil in a big heavy pot on medium heat, and add onions, stirring every 2-3 minutes for the first 10 minutes.   Add in a pinch of salt.  Onions should keep cooking over medium low heat for 70 min or so until dark and gorgeous.  They require little attention, just stir every 10 min or so while you’re working with the tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 350.

De- seed tomatoes, by chopping and squeezing gently.  For Romas or plum tomatoes, cutting in half is perfect, for a huge heirloom tomato, smaller pieces might be necessary.

Place tomatoes skin up on a WELL LINED cookie sheet.  Spray or drizzle with oil (if desired), thyme (if desired), black pepper and sea salt.  Roast for 15-20 minutes.  You will have more than one tray.  If you have a Vitamix or a high powered blender, it’s not necessary to peel the tomatoes.   If you don’t, it’s easy to pull the skins off as they are cooling.

Puree tomatoes in batches, adding in onion “water” if there is any.  Pour pureed tomatoes into the caramelized onion mix.

If you’re using the cashew cream, soak cashews in water overnight, then blend with water until smooth (this may take a long time!)  Add sweetener to taste.

Gently heat tomato soup, and serve with fresh chopped basil and cashew cream.

Cool to room temp before freezing.

This is my entry to the August edition of Go ahead honey, it’s GF, as hosted by the Crispy Cook.  This month’s theme is seasonal veggies.  What’s more seasonal than tomatoes?

Sometimes I choose my menus, sometimes they choose me.  I meant to make red curry paste with my lovely Thai red peppers (shown here while still green!) but kept putting it off.  Then I happened upon galangal at Wegman’s, and it was a done deal.  Ginger is good in a pinch, but galangal is the real deal, and it’s hard to come by around here.

The recipe is an amalgamation of a bunch of recipes, with more than a few twists to accommodate my inherent desire for maximum taste with minimum work.  I didn’t want to bother seeding peppers, so I made up for it by adding in a mild pepper.  I used garlic scapes (frozen from my garden a few months ago) in the recipe because I couldn’t find shallots that looked good and was out of garlic.

The taste was quite delightful, and we had a lovely dish with coconut milk, the paste, of course, and stir fried veggies.  This recipe makes a lot of paste, so I’ve got a bunch in my freezer in ice cube trays to last me much of the winter!

I saw Kalyn’s Entry for “Grow your own” and I knew I had to participate. Especially since our host, Andrea of Andrea’s recipes is actually a neighbor of sorts. I love my garden, and always welcome the chance to show off my goodies. And besides, doesn’t it just taste better if you grow it? So the lemongrass, Thai peppers, garlic scapes and mild peppers are from my very own garden.

20 fresh red Thai peppers (2-3 inch long)
1 heaping Tablespoon of coriander seeds, toasted
2 big fresh lemongrass stalks, 1 or 2 outer leaves discarded
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
4 teaspoons galangal
8 fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro roots or stems
1 mild or small bell pepper
1/2 cup garlic scapes
5 serrano peppers
2 anchovies* (more traditional is fish sauce or shrimp paste, but due to allergies, those don’t work for me) OR vegan fish sauce OR extra salt and a little soy sauce
1/3 cup of water, or as much as it takes to run the blender.

Toast the coriander seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes.  Put all ingredients in a Vitamix and blend for 2 minutes or until smooth.

If you don’t have a vitamix, regretfully, there’s a lot of chopping, pounding, and grinding in your future.  Pretty much you have to chop everything finely, then toss into a food processor.

This is huge for me.  I loathed eggplant as a kid.  My family loved it, and as any of you who have kids (or have been a kid) know, the more someone pushes you to eat something, the more you detest it.   Eggplant and okra were the only veggies that I refused to eat because of taste.  However, our fine host for MPM this week, Fresh Ginger, has chosen eggplant as the ingredient of the week.  I felt like this was a good opportunity to reevaluate my (lack of) relationship with eggplant.  I’ll keep you posted.

BTW, I’m also giving away some fun stuff (Larabars, Salba, cookies, etc)

Monday:
Out for a belated celebration of DH’s 30th B-day.  Here’s a picture of his birthday chocolate cashew mini-tart (gluten free, of course).  He’s eating it as I type and hasn’t paused yet.  I assume that means it’s good.

Tuesday:
Millet-thyme crusted turkey cutlets (didn’t get to them last week!)
roasted eggplant with thyme

Weds:
Vegan
Tomato soup with caramelized onions and cashew cream (will post later this week for this edition of GAHIGF), focusing on seasonal veggies

Thursday:
Grillin’
Salmon and roasted marinated peppers

Friday:
East indian
Beef curry, papadams and caramelized cabbage with chaat masala

Baked good of the week:

Caramel-y quinoa cookies
Rosemary cake (maybe)

From my garden:

Peppers!
tomatoes
basil
ground cherries
thyme
oregano
rosemary

From the market:

cabbage
eggplant
arugula
onions
more tomatoes

I was at my meditation class, trying to empty my mind, but all I could think of was Cashew Macadamia butter. If you’ve had it, you’ll understand why. Cashew macadamia butter is one of the most indulgently blissful things on the planet. So I promised myself I’d whip this together when I got home so that I could get back to concentrating on…well, not concentrating on anything.

This dip is fabulous to eat by the spoonful, as a frosting, on fruit, a sandwich, whatever! It’s a bit like a blond nutella.  I added a bit of agave because my banana was just barely ripe and I was impatient. If you’ve got a ripe banana, it’s probably not necessary.

This is my submission to the PB Boy’s Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #4–No Bake. You’ll notice that there’s no PB involved, since I am allergic, but “cousin” nut butters are allowed. I bet PB would work, though.

1/2 cup roasted Cashew Macadamia butter (from TJ’s)
1 ripe banana
2 Tablespoons agave, or to taste
1 Tablespoon cacao nibs

Either combine all ingredients thoroughly by hand, or do it the lazy way. Put the first 3 in a food processor, and let it do all the work.  Then add in cocoa nibs and enjoy!

I love Larabars. They’re simple, delicious, wholesome and yummy. So when a box of new flavors of Larabars showed up on my doorstep, I was delighted, then frustrated. The good news: they look luscious. The bad news: my body doesn’t seem to like dates anymore. But that’s actually good news for you! I’m giving away these new Larabars to a lucky reader.  There are 3 of each:

• PB cookie
• Chocolate cherry
• Chocolate hazelnut
• Coconut cream pie

They are, of course, gluten, dairy, egg, corn, soy and sugar free, and vegan to boot. Also included: a bottle of Salba (one of my favorite things to bake with!)  I recently won a recipe contest they hosted and got a case of the big bottles (at the rate I’m going, that’ll keep me a good 4 or 5 years), so I’m happy to share.  I need to post the recipe soon, too.  There are also  2 bags of GF/CF cookies.

Leave me a comment, and I’ll find some random way to pick a winner by Sept 15th.  Because of shipping costs, I’m limiting entrants to US and Canada.

This seemed like a good way to celebrate my new web “home”!  I’ve moved to www.gfgoodness.com and now have RSS or email feeds set up.  The irony of having a “GF and healthy” website where I’m posting decadent chocolate hazelnut cakes didn’t escape me.  Granted, I still do my very best to use whole foods, natural sweeteners, and more wholesome versions of everything.

Yum.

I got a kick out of the “mood lighting” for the picture of my cauliflower. Of course, I meant to do that! (yeah, right.) Taking pictures is still quite new for me. I’m so in awe of many of you whose photos look like a work of art!

If you’ve read my blog, you know that I have a thing for cauliflower, and that I enjoy trying different things. I saw tamarind pods in the neighborhood Latino grocery store a while ago, and I’ve
been strategizing ways to use it. Somehow I thought they were really sour. I was quite surprised that the tamarind pulp reminded me of dates, and has sweet taste! Tamarinds are actually fruit, which was news to me

This was a very experimental dish, and I didn’t know quite what to expect. The taste is unique and I did enjoy it, though I was quite surprised when I looked up the Glycemic load. Oh well, turmeric root is a good anti inflammatory food, so hopefully it balances. But it is a nice change and both DH and I enjoyed the dish.

I used Thai peppers from my garden, and I was surprised at how mild they were. I don’t know if I just have a mild plant this year. I would probably toss in a few more peppers next time! I didn’t count the number of tamarind pods, and the sizes are so different that it’s hard to give an exact amount.

1 1/2 cups boiling water, divided
enough tamarind pods to fit in 1 cup of water and still stay covered

1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 Tablespoon oil
2-3 Thai red peppers with seeds, chopped
2 teaspoons ground tumeric root
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Florets from 1 large head of cauliflower
pinch of salt

Put tamarind pods in boiling water (as many as will fit in 1 cup water). Let sit for 2-3 hours. Smoosh with a fork and press solids through a strainer (add additional 1/2 cup of hot water to help with the process).

Heat mustard seeds over medium heat for a minute and add oil and chopped Thai pepper. Add in the cauliflower florets and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Add spices and salt, mix well to coat.

Simmer, partially covered for 15 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook gently until cauliflower is tender. If there is too much liquid, just turn it up to a rapid boil at the end. Adjust seasonings, serve and enjoy! We had this with papadams and garam masala baked chilcken.

This exploration is my weekly submission to Weekend Herb Blogging. I know tamarinds are familiar territory to many, but to me, it’s totally new! WHB was founded by Kalyn as a fun way to learn more about new foods and enjoy herbs. Our host this week is Srivalli from Cooking 4 all seasons.  She has a bunch of recipes listed that I plan to try soon!

Really, I’m in awe of my garden.  It starts so small and by August I have a jungle overrunning the bounds of the garden plot!  I still am learning about proper care, and much of the bounty is due to the nice rainy summer we’ve had.  At this point, I’m growing tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, watermelon, ground cherries, celery and a gob of herbs and a few berries. But isn’t it just lovely to see something go from a seed to something luscious you can eat?

DH is heading out of town part of the week, which frees me to play a bit more. I go through periods where I need more protein, and others where it doesn’t seem to matter. Lately, I’ve felt great when eating vegan, so I’m leaning that way when possible while balancing family harmony and time.

This week’s menu swap is hosted by Mary Francis of GF Cooking School.  Thanks for hosting!

Monday:
Vegan:
My favorite arugala salad (I will probably post the recipe sooner or later!)
Oven roasted tomatoes

Tuesday:
Vegan
Kalyn’s Summertime the Tomato salad (minus the tuna)

Wednesday:
Quick and easy
Millet crusted turkey cutlets with thyme, steamed artichokes in a lemony sauce

Thursday:
Freezer diving (vegan):
African Inspired Almond Collard stew

Friday:
Grillin’
Buffalo burgers with marinated peppers from my garden!

Saturday:
Vegan/batch cooking
Tomato soup with caramelized onions

Baked good: this month’s Daring Baker challenge
and I also just finished making
David Lebovitz’ Chocolate Idiot cake with Valrona shavings (GF, but NOT dairy or egg free…birthday cake for a friend)

I’m also working on GF, vegan, yeast free, sugar free hamburger buns/rolls. They’re getting better, but are not ready for prime time yet…

Garden harvest:

From my garden:
Red and green peppers
ground cherries
tomatoes
thyme
rosemary
oregano

From the market:

plums
peaches
apples
arugala
corn (for DH)

I’ve taken time out of my grueling Olympic-watching schedule to pull the round up together.  It’s been fun, and thanks for participating!  Several new GF bloggers have joined in, like Anna and Hannah. Welcome!

On to the adoptees:

Mary Francis hopped in early with Egg Rolls (gluten free, of course), courtesy of Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked.  Even though she improvised, due to accidentally doubling the liquids, they came out perfectly.  You had me at flaky dough!

Hannah, of Hannah’s Harvest, is treating her pregant sweet tooth to yummy Oatmeal Date Chocolate Cookies from Mrs. Gf’s Blog.  The picture has me drooling!

Anna, with her new blog Gluten Free Anna, made Mary Frances’ GF Pizza. Despite having to make a last minute run for more cheese, her pizza turned out beautifully.

I adopted Ricki, of Diet, Dessert and Dogs, and went for a double header adoption and adaption.  I adopted her Spicy Cauliflower soup (yum!!!) and adapted her Maple Cookies (even yummier!). Both got rave reviews.  I even made the soup twice, due to a camera glitch.

Kimberly of Living Free, made Sally’s Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. She loved the fact that they were so easy and they disappeared quickly at her house!

Last, but certainly not least, Thomas adapted Lauren of Celiac Teen, because he’s inspired by her outlook and fashion sense! He made her zucchini bread. He made it dairy free, too. Doesn’t it look lovely?

So that’s all for this month! Check in with Seamaiden from Book of Yum for next month’s adoption details, and I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Just a tidbit of news, since it’s making my day: Karina, the GF Goddess is posting low glycemic (low carb) recipes. As a nutritionist who is very into low glycemic foods, and someone who loves to eat, I’m delighted.  Wait, you’re not gluten free?  No worries, good food has no boundaries!  So check out her luscious blog, you’ll be glad you did.

Now on to other tasty topics: ground cherries.  I was reading a seed catalog, which isn’t as boring as it sounds. Hey, I was on a plane and didn’t have much else to do! The description was intriguing: they “have a flavor reminiscent of pineapple”.  How could I resist?  I’d never heard of them before, but hey, that’s never stopped me in the past!

Lo and behold, they’re totally delicious, and probably the happiest member of my garden.  They’re a relative of tomato, but are much sweeter, like a typical fruit.  Like tomatillos, they have a papery peel, which you remove to get the fruit.   Unlike tomatoes,  they grow close to the ground, and they are super low maintenece (i.e. all I do is pick ‘em and they’re happy)

As far as preparation, usually I don’t really do much with them aside from peeling and popping them into my mouth.  I’ve used them in salsa, and in salads as a colorful addition.  I found recipes to make a jam with them, but adding sugar to them seems totally unnecessary.  Besides, I end up eating them so quickly I’d have a hard time getting enough!

I wanted to make sure I was following the WHB rules and give a recipe, so I tried dehydrating a few with a tray of apricots I was drying.  They’re interesting and not as sweet as I expected.  They’re a bit like raisins, but don’t have as full of a flavor.  However, if by some quirk of fate, you’re allergic to grapes (like me), they might make a decent substitute.

As a totally unexpected bonus, they also make an excellent cat toy.  I co-habitate with a large, lazy feline, and he went nuts for one that I dropped on the floor.  Apparently, it makes a great puck.  But the next morning I discovered they’d somehow maneuvered a bunch out of the bowl they were in so the guys would have more toys.  Gotta love it.

This is my entry into Weekend Herb Blogging, as originated by Kalyn’s Kitchen.  This week’s happy hostess is Marija from Palachinka, a fellow Daring Baker who has some seriously drool-worthy pictures on her site.