No-Rise Pizza Crust- Recipe Review from Elizabeth Barbone's newest cookbook

  Imagine this, it has been a busy day and you don't know what to make for dinner.  You ask your kids what they would like and they respond in unison, "Pizza!"  Um yeah.  There are two problems with that, OK three but the third is easily worked out.  The first problem, you eat gluten-free and everyone knows that good  GF pizza is rare.  The second problem, it's close to dinner and there is no time to let a crust rise.  The third problem, you can't have cheese (but that is easily solved thanks to Diaya's Mozz 'cheese').  Imagine this...melt downs all around.  I've seen it, you've seen it...

  In comes Elizabeth Barbone's newest superhero cookbook, How to Cook Gluten-Free: Over 150 Recipes That Really Work. :) 

(like the drama?!)  :)  Today's recipe review is for her No-Rise Pizza Crust.  Now, I'm usually a fan of a nice yeasty raised crust pizza, but that's just not practical on some days.  Having a recipe like this that works, reliably, is great.  And, this one does.  I made it with traditional pizza ingredients; sauce, cheese (Diaya Mozzerella) and pepperoni.  I substituted my Rice Free GF Flour blend for the rice flour, but  still added the tapioca starch.  I wanted to make sure it had enough 'give'.  The boys also gave this one a two thumbs up! :)  That's two for two (or two cubed..two thumbs up, for two recipes, out of two tried) from this cookbook.  My view is that even one staple recipe from a book makes the purchase worthwhile.  This book is definitely one to have.  Oh, this pizza crust is even good reheated the next day for lunch.  Can't beat that!

No-Rise Pizza Crust

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups white rice flour

3/4 cup tapioca starch

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1)In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  In a small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients with a fork or small whisk until combined.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry.  Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine until a dough forms.  The dough will be on the dry side.  This is normal.

2)Generously sprinkle your counter with white rice flour.  Turn the dough out onto the counter.  Knead the dough until it is smooth.  If, after kneading for a minute, the dough is still dry and doesn't hold together, add a tablespoon more water.

3)Center the dough on a 16 1/2 by 12 1/2 inch piece of parchment paper.  Dust the dough generously with white rice flour.  Roll out the dough until it covers the parchment paper.

4)Set a rimmed baking sheet very close to the rolled-out crust.  Grab the corners of one of the long sides of the parchment paper and slide the crust into the pan.  Do this quickly. 

5)Top and bake as directed in the recipe.

Makes one pizza crust.

*I substituted my Rice Free GF Flour blend for the rice flour, but  still added the tapioca starch.  I wanted to make sure it had enough 'give'.  I also did not use the xanthan gum since my flour blend already has it added.

  Once again Elizabeth Barbone has not disappointed with this new cookbook; recipes that work, for people who by default see food as something they can't have is priceless.  She is making food dreams come true for those avoiding gluten. For more great recipes like this pizza crust, and the powdered sugar donut muffins recipe I reviewed yesterday, check out her cookbook!

 

"Powdered Sugar Doughnut" Muffins - From Elizabeth Barbone's Newest Cookbook!

I had the amazing opportunity to preview a few recipes from the newest cookbook by Elizabeth Barbone, How to Cook Gluten Free: Over 150 Recipes That Really Work. She is one of my favorite cookbook authors, and Easy Gluten Free Baking was one of my first gluten free cookbooks. She really puts thought into each and every recipe, and that thought goes into her cookbooks too. I mean, how many gluten free cookbooks are spiral bound so they lay flat on the counter?! And, the pictures look so yummy! I love cookbooks that have pictures. The recipes are 'normal' food that taste like Betty Crocker. This cookbook has breakfast, dinner, dessert, and other special recipes. So, I was excited to try some recipes from her newest cookbook!

I decided to try the Powdered Sugar Doughnut Muffins recipe first. Mainly, because I love powdered sugar donuts. Yum! Frying just two or three at a time can be time consuming though. When I saw this recipe, I just had to try it. I substituted my flour mix for the flour components (because I avoid rice) and they turned out really, really well. The boys gave them two thumbs up. When I gave one to my husband(who doesn't avoid gluten) to try, he ate it and then said, "I could eat all of them!" LOL! :) So, if you walk by those sugar donut holes at the grocery store, this recipe will be one you want to try....like now! See my notes at the end of the recipe for my variations from the cookbook recipe. And for a special treat, scroll all the way down to the bottom.

"Powdered Sugar Doughnut" Muffins

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg

1 package (1 pound) Powdered Sugar

1)Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350`F. Lightly grease the cavities of a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray (I used olive oil)

2)In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. The batter will be thin.
3)Fill the muffin cavities about half full, Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown.
4)While the muffins are baking, fill an 8-inch square baking dish with the powdered sugar.
5)Remove the muffins from the oven and working in batches, place them directly into the powdered sugar. Gently roll the muffins in the sugar to cover them. The stream from the hot muffins will make the sugar stick to the muffins. Remove the muffins from the sugar and tap off any excess. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Makes 24 mini muffins.

My recipe changes/comments:
*I sprayed the muffin pan with olive oil instead of cooking spray. Worked fine.
*I subbed my Rice Free GF Flour blend for the white rice, cornstarch and sweet rice flour. Total 1 1/2 cups my flour blend.
*For the milk I subbed SoDelicious Coconut Milk.
*It actually made more than 24 mini muffins...which was great! I made 24 mini muffins, and 6 regular muffins.
*For a super duper easy way to coat the muffins with sugar, dump about 2 cups of powdered sugar into a lunchbag sized paper bag. Then put about 6 muffins at a time in the bag, hold the top closed and shake the bag gently to coat all the muffins in sugar. Repeat proccess with remaining muffins.

*For extra special donuts, after coating in sugar, fill with raspberry jam. These are the leftover batter made in the regular size muffin pan. My husband LOVED these. LOL!

Go buy the cookbook for more great recipes like this! :)

Waffles - Gluten and Dairy Free style

Using a belgian waffle maker this recipe makes 12 full size waffles.  Enough for dinner, um I mean breakfast, with just a few to freeze.  The recipe can easily be halved.  I have never actually made this recipe with real buttermilk.  I always use the Coconut milk with vinegar.  These waffles easily pass as "real" waffles.
A tip: be sure to use Olive Oil to avoid waffles sticking to the waffle iron.

Waffles

6 eggs
3 1/2 cups Buttermilk (or ~2 tsp vinegar in measuring cup and fill to 3 1/2 cups with SoDelicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
3/4 cup Light Olive Oil

3 1/2 cups My GF Flour Blend (rice based, or no rice based)
4 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp salt

Heat waffle irons, and cook until desired cripness.  Makes 12 waffles.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Mock Tastycake Peanut Butter KandyKakes!!!

Yep, you know them. Those lovely peanut butter over yellow cake, chocolate covered goodies, packaged in twos, like little delicious hockey pucks.  If you are on a gluten and dairy free diet, these lovable little treats have been off limits.  No more!  The process is (can be) involved if you are looking for a replicate of the real deal. But, the result is amazing, if I do say so myself. These aren’t like “homemade gluten free” food. You all know what I mean. These are good! :)  and, they are gluten and dairy free.  They could even be peanut free if you used Sunbutter. 

To summarize the directions...make cake, bake cake, melt peanut butter over hot cake, freeze peanut butter covered cake, cut out circle shapes and freeze, dip bottoms in chocolate and cool, cover entire cake in chocolate and chill again. Then, admire the copy! :)

I used the Perfect Pound Cake recipe from Glutenfreeeasily.com with some modifications as the base for the cake part of the KandyKakes.

Gluten and Dairy free KandyKake cake recipe:

2 ¼ cup My GF Rice Free Flour mix (if you use another GF flour mix, be sure it has xanthan gum added.  Add 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum to the recipe if your flour mix does not contain xanthan gum)
1 ¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

¾ cup olive oil

1 ½ cups sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract

3 large eggs
¾ cup SoDelicious Coconut Milk

½ cup Peanut Butter (or more!)
1 ½ bags Enjoy Life Mini Chips
1 tsp Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together Olive oil, sugar, sugar and vanilla extract. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each. Add milk and mix for 2 minutes, then gradually add dry ingredients. Pour batter into 12”x9” jelly roll pan (or any pan you can bake the cake in a thin layer). I actually had enough batter for the jelly roll pan and a mini-pound cake.

Bake at 350º for 35 minutes, testing with a toothpick.

While cake is still hot from the oven, carefully remove from pan onto parchment paper, and spread peanut butter over entire cake. The heat from the cake will make the peanut butter soft and very easy to spread. Once the peanut butter is spread evenly, freeze until the peanut butter is hard.

***This is where the magic happens. You have two options; make bar cookies, or make Kandy Kakes. I prefer to make the real thing, so I pulled out a small glass 2” diameter to use as a cutter to make the Kandy Kake shape. ***

Cut the circle shapes out and lay them out on a parchment covered cookie sheet. (just be sure you have space in your refrigerator or freezer for the pan!).

Use a double boiler or microwave to melt the chocolate chips and shortening until smooth. When the cake cutouts are cool and the chocolate is melted and smooth, bring the cake cutouts back out to put the first layer of chocolate on. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on the bottom of each cake layer (not the peanut butter side!). You can go ahead and put it peanut butter side down. When all the cutouts have their bottom side covered in chocolate, return the sheet to the refrigerator or freezer to cool the chocolate. The chocolate will change from shiny to matte when it is completely cool. When the chocolate cake cutouts are cool, bring them back out to do the final chocolate covering. There are several ways to do this. What I found worked best was to use the corner of a wire cooling rack. One at a time I set a cake cutout peanut butter side up and poured a little chocolate on top. Then, I shook the rack to completely cover the cutout. This will smooth out the chocolate and make it look real! When it is covered, place it back onto a parchment covered cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet into the freezer for the final cooling of the chocolate.

What you have when you are done is a pretty good copy of the real thing, a Tastykake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake. If you ask me, it is definitely worth the effort to make the round shape. It is time consuming, but half of replicating the true Kandy Kake experience, is biting into it and seeing the layers covered in chocolate…which you just don’t get if you layer everything in a pan.

Were these a success? Definitely! My boys were raving over these! I have never seen them so excited and express so much appreciation for anything I have made before. That makes it worth every minute, and a success in my book. :)

Extra Thoughts:
* Using the EnjoyLife chocolate chips give it a dark chocolate flavor. Look for a DF milk chocolate for the milk chocolate taste.
* To get a more authentic peanut butter taste, I would use a more processed peanut butter product instead of natural peanut butter. Natural may be healthier, but really, are we going for healthy here? Honestly?
* You will have extra cake/peanut butter pieces after cutting out the circles.  One idea to use this extra cake material to make cakepops!  Crumble it all up, mix in vanilla icing, form balls, freeze and dip in chocolate.  Sounds like a sugar headache waiting to happen. :)

GF Bagels!!!!

Anyone that knows me knows how much I LOVE bagels.  In grad school, Sunday mornings before church consisted of stopping by the bagel shop for my chocolate chip bagel.  Then, after I graduated, I would stop by the bagel shop on my way to work for breakfast...a fresh, warm bagel.  Needless to say, a good bagel has been sadly missed.  But no more!  These bagels meet my criteria for "a real bagel" unlike any other GF bagel I have had.  I'm still tweaking, so I'll update this as I improve.  Since I said I'd post it, here it is...   Btw, that's an actual picture below!!!

GF Bagels

1 1/4 cup warm water
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups Jules Inspired Rice Free Gluten Free flour mix

Boiling solution:
4 cups warm water
2 T sugar
1 tsp molasses (not necessary, but might add some color)

1 egg white, beaten with a bit of water added

Easy Directions: Mix wets(water/yeast/sugar), mix drys(flour/salt), combine wets and drys together, beat until smooth, divide into 6 on floured surface, form bagels with floured hands, refrigerate overnight, boil in sugar water, brush with egg, bake and enjoy.

Detailed Directions:
- Measure warm water in a measuring cup, add yeast and brown sugar then whisk to combine and dissolve yeast and sugar.  Let rest to be sure yeast is active.
-Measure out flour and add salt.
-Pour water mixture into mixer bowl, add flour mixture and beat for 3 minutes (or until it is smooth).
-Lay out a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap, and heavily sprinkle with flour.  Put dough onto flour sprinkled sheet and fold over a few times to work it in.  It will be pretty sticky at this point. 
-Get a knife and cut (or mark) the dough into 6 even parts. 
-With floured hands, flop one part of the dough between your hands forming a ball.  Poke your finger through to make the bagel shape.  Make the hole larger than you want it to be in the end.  Remember, the dough will rise and the hole will shrink by more than half.
-Place bagels onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  You could even sprinkle with cornmeal.
-When all 6 bagels are on cookie sheet, cover with saran wrap and place sheet into refrigerator overnight.  Putting it into the refrigerator overnight helps it to rise slowly, but it also allows the next step to happen easily.
-In the morning, turn oven to 425 degrees, and boil 4 cups of water (or a small pan full) and sugar.  Adjust to low boil and slide bagels one or two at a time into the boiling water, allowing to boil for about 30 seconds on each side then return to parchment lined cookie sheet.  When all the bagels are returned to the cookie sheet, brush tops with egg whites and place bagels into preheated oven.
-Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
That's it!!! :)  Enjoy!!
They are wonderful with eggs for a breakfast sandwich, toasted with butter or jam, or just eaten plain.  They will stay fresh about as long as a "real" wheat-filled bagel.  (I didn't like stale wheat bagels so I always froze whatever I didn't eat...so I'll do the same with these).
Seriously, these are amazing!!!  Gluten free, dairy free, rice free....but every bit as tasty as the "real" thing. :)

*again, sorry for the poor picture. :)

Gluten Free Pretzel Bites!

Yet another food you've probably been craving; a good gluten free, chewy, soft pretzel. Here you go!  Necessity is the mother of invention yet again.

Thanks to Better Batter for their inspiration for this Auntie Anne's clone. I halved the recipe because I didn't want to use too much flour in case it didn't turn out. But they were wonderful! This quantity will make one cookie sheet full of pretzel bites...maybe about 25? Just a guess, I didn't count them before we ate them all.

I mixed up this dough and formed the pretzel bites before heading to bed. I put the cookie sheet of pretzel bites into the refrigerator to rise overnight. In the morning I ran the bites through the baking soda solution, and baked them. It was way easier to do it this way, than wait for them to rise.

One final note, I used the Jules flour recipe, but made my modifications to substitute Sorghum and Millet for the rice flour.  You'll see these changes reflected in the link to the flour blend recipe.  I have not tried my recipes with a rice based mix, so if you are using rice, you may have slightly different results. :)

Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Bites

1 1/4 cups warm water

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups Jules Gluten Free Flour mix Flour, plus some for dusting surface

2 cups Warm Water

2 tablespoons baking soda

Instructions
-Put warm water and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer; stirring to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir again. Let this sit for a few minutes to make sure the yeast is active (you'll see it 'grow' and 'move').
-Add salt and half the flour and beat on high for three minutes. Dough will be very sticky (that is good). Add remaining flour (about 1 1/2 cups) and stir in. Drop it onto a generously floured surface and very gently fold over on itself a few times. You're looking for a dough that you can form with effort, but not one that you add tons of flour to because sticky dough will lend itself to a lighter end product.
-Get a piece of dough the size of a lemon and roll it out into a long roll about 1/2" diameter. Use kitchen scissors to cut into pieces about 1" long. You could also form this into a traditional pretzel shape too; make a U, cross the ends over twice and lay ends back down on top of the U.
-Lay the pretzel pieces onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and put in refrigerator overnight to rise.
-In the morning pull the pan out of the refrigerator, turn on oven to 450 degrees and prepart the baking soda mixture.
-Combine 2c water and 2T baking soda mixture in small pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat on baking soda mixture down to medium, and dip pretzels into baking soda solution for about 30 seconds. After dipping in solution, lay pretzels back onto parchment lined cookie sheet. At this point you can brush with egg to get a more shiny pretzel, and/or sprinkle with coarse salt (pretzel salt or kosher salt works).
-Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden.
Enjoy warm with a dip of mustard, or just eat plain. :)

**My appologies for the poor quality picture.  I took it very quickly this morning on a mobile device since the camera wasn't handy.  :)

Meal ideas: Gluten and Dairy Free style

So, what exactly do we eat if our diets are so restricted? Well, I've been doing weekly meal planning for a while so I have a pretty good list of the foods we eat. I was actually surprised at the foods. Didn't seem all that restrictive to me. Of course I rely on my GFRF(gluten and rice free) flour mix, and milk substitutes so I feel that we can really make any dish. That's the thing...we can MAKE anything, but we can't just go to the store and buy it. But what freedom! :)
I put all the different meals into an Excel spreadsheet and set it up to randomize for those weeks when I just don't want to plan. Sounded good in theory, but really didn't work that well for me. LOL! :) Now I at least have a list of meals so it wasn't lost effort.

We have a little bit of a dillemma in our house. I LOVE carbs, and the rest of the family needs protein. I try to balance that by minimizing grains and maximizing proteins, especially at breakfast. I was able to find all natural breakfast sausage on sale for $2/lb so it was worth using. Smoothies are made with frozen fruit bought in a bulk bag (makes it cheaper than fresh fruit) and coconut milk (get those extra good fatty acids in too).

For pasta we use Quinoa Pasta, or Corn Spaghetti and they work pretty well. The rice free GF pasta options are limited but we are thankful for what we have.

I have listed breakfast and dinner options.  Lunches are a whole separate post.  Dinners can be grouped into several main groups. There are the meat/starch/veg based, starch based, breakfast based and soup based. I will divide them up accordingly. So, for example, if you wanted a meat/starch/veg dinner, then you could choose one from each category.  If you could have rice, this would greatly expand the possibilities in nearly every category. We also vary vegetables seasonally and according to what’s new or different.  These lists don't even include the endless dessert possibilities! :)

Again, all of these options can be made gluten and dairy free!  The master list.....

Breakfast:
A combination of GF cereal/coconut milk, cereal/coconut yogurt, GF Oatmeal, Quinoa, eggs, fruit, smoothies, sausage, bacon, tater tots, hash browns, muffins, fruit, waffles. Breakfast always includes fruit. Protein (sausage or eggs) is included in at least 4 breakfasts per week.

Dinner: (note, on Sunday night we have breakfast for dinner)
1. Meat/Starch/Vegetables
     ·Meat
       - Grilled Chicken
       - Roast Chicken
       - BBQ Chicken
       - BBQ Pork
       - Mustard Onion Pork Chops
       - Grilled Pork
       - Roasted Pork Loin
       - Meatloaf (made with GF breadcrumbs)
       - GF Corndogs
       - Hotdogs
       - Hamburgers
       - Pork with Pesto
       - Ham
       - Meatballs (made with GF breadcrumbs)
  · Starch
       - Quinoa Pasta
       - Scalloped Potatoes (thickened with starch or GF flour blend)
       - Mashed Potatoes
       - Parsley Buttered Potatoes
       - Tater Tots
       - Smiley Fries
       - Corn Spaghetti
       - Potato Salad
       - Pasta Salad (made with GF Pasta)
       - Pierogies (Homemade with GF flour, or storebought GF frozen)
       - Ravioli  (Homemade with GF flour, or storebought GF frozen)
  · Vegetable
       - Peas
       - Corn
       - Green Beans
       - Baked Beans
       - Mixed Vegetables
       - Tomatoes/Cucumbers
       - Carrot Raisin Salad 
       - Applesauce

2. Soups (serve with salad or GF bread of some sort) -made with no Gluten containing thickeners
       - Vegetable
       - Vegetable Beef
       - Beef Stew
       - Chili
       - Broccoli
       - Chicken Stew
       - Chicken Tortilla
       - Chicken Noodle (corn pasta)
       - Lentil Spinach Stew with Pork

3. Pasta/Starch or Casserole-type Based Dishes (add a vegetable/salad or baked bread product to round out the dish) made with Gluten Free ingredients
       · GF Pasta with Greens and Beans and Sausage
       · Shepherd’s Pie
       · Spaghetti Squash/Sausage Bake
       · Italian Loaf Rustica (Made with GF flour blend)
       · GF Quinoa Pasta with Sausage/Vegetables/Spag. Sauce
       · GF DF Pizza
       · Cuban Black Beans with Pork or Chicken

4. Breakfast dinners = baked product/protein/fruit(fruit or smoothie)
   · Protein
       - Egg Bake with Sausage/Onions/Peppers
       - Fried Eggs
       - Scrambled Eggs
       - Sausage
       - Bacon
   · Baked Product
       - GF Pancakes
       - GF Waffles
       - GF Muffins/Coffee Cake

5. Baked/bread dinner product all made with Gluten Free flour or mix
       - Cornbread
       - Bread
       - Breadsticks
       - Tortilla Chips
       - GF Crackers (expensive option unless homemade)

This is not an exhaustive list, and is merely here to give some examples of ways to fix GF/DF meals.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a recipe I got from my sister in law that pushed me beyond the traditional soups that I was used to making (beef stew, chili, chicken noodle, chicken pot pie).  It's a wonderful recipe that has great texture and will make your house smell delicious!  The best part is that it is naturally gluten free.  I've pared down the recipe to minimize the prep work.  it can be as complicated or easy as you want it to be.  There are two parts (potentially three if you want to make your own chicken broth) to this recipe.  The first part involves the crockpot.  The second is adding the prepared 'mix' to the broth and vegetables.  I usually double this so I can put one frozen "mix" in the freezer for later.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

6 Chicken Breasts

1-2 Tbs. Cumin

2 cans of Black Beans

1 pound of Corn (give or take)

1 jar Salsa (whatever spice level you desire)

10 cups Chicken Broth (make your own, or be sure it is gluten free...it isn't always)

3 Potatoes

4 stalks Celery

1 chopped Onion
1 Tbs. Piccapeppa Sauce
dash of sugar
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)

Tortilla Chips (for garnish)

The first part of this recipe calls for a crockpot.  Put 6 chicken breasts into the crockpot.  Add cumin and mix (so it doesn't just sit on top).  Cook for 3 hrs on high, or until it is cooked and shreds easily(ie. with no effort on your part!).  When the chicken is cooked it should shred easily.  Add the salsa (the entire jar), bag of frozen corn, and two cans of black beans.  Mix this until it is evenly distributed.  If it looks like it needs more of something, add more of whatever it needs (like if it needs more corn, or needs more beans...).  Divide this in half and put into labeled freezer bags.  Each bag will make one regular pot of soup.  Use one now, and save the other for dinner another day.  Or, make a large pot and invite a family over for dinner. :)

If you want to make soup right away, then either make or buy chicken broth.  Two large cans should do it...I really have no idea what quantity this is....8-10 cups?  To the broth, add one bag of soup mix (or one half of what was in the crockpot). Piccapeppa sauce, potatoes, celery and sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste, but remember that the salsa adds some salt.  Let this simmer until potatoes are tender.  Serve with tortilla chips crumbled on top (or use the chips as spoons as our boys like to do). :)

There are also many ways to personalize this recipe.  Green chili, cilantro, cholula sauce and cheese are all excellent additions or toppings for this soup.

Special notes:

Add the beans after the chicken is cooked...the black beans will cook away and leave their skins if you add them when you start cooking the chicken in the crockpot.

The Piccapeppa Sauce is optional, but adds depth to the flavor.  Also, the sugar mellows the acidity of the tomatoes and blends the flavors well.  It just works. :)

You can make this totally from scratch by making your own broth, and cooking your own black beans.  If you want directions for that, email me.  That's what I do.

GF pizza crust...that actually tastes great! :)

What does every person eating GF really want on a Friday night?  PIZZA!  Not just something that will pass as a pizza like food, but real, soft crust, yummy pizza.  Well, I have the recipe for you! :)  I also just discovered Daiya 'cheese' so we are in gluten free, dairy/casien free heaven!!! :)  Prayers have been answered yet again. :) 

 (photo courtesey of Jules blog)

I have made this recipe several times and have not been disappointed.  The fact that I made it more than once says a lot! :)  The boys love it.  It tastes better than the picture.  I bet you can even smell it now....

It's Jules Gluten Free pizza recipe(click to go directly to the recipe).  I made some minor modifications but her recipe will work as it is.  For one, I couldn't understand what would feed the yeast if you didn't put in just a little sugar.  Maybe the sugars in the flour, or 'milk', but since we use GF flour and SoDelicious Coconut milk as our milk substitute I have added some sugar to the recipe.  I think it deepens the flavor of the crust too.  or, maybe I just like sugar. hehe :)

Here's the skinny on the recipe:  I have separated the dry and wets to make it easier to make sure you have all the ingredients, the wet ingredients are also written out separately.

Pizza Crust

Before you start, set two eggs on the counter to warm up

Dry Ingredients
   1 1/2 cups Jules Gluten Free flour mix (click for the recipe, or purchase it online)
   1/4 tsp oregano
   1 pinch of garlic powder
   1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
    wet bowl 1
           2/3 cup milk or milk substitute (110 degrees-no hotter, don't want to kill the yeast!)
           1Tbs sugar
           2 1/4 tsp yeast

   wet bowl 2
           2 egg whites (room temp from sitting out...you saw to do that right?) :)
           2 Tbs olive oil
          1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Mix together dry ingredients in medium bowl:

Measure out 2/3 cup milk or milk substitute into pan and warm to 110 degrees F.  When up to temp add 1T sugar and 2 1/4 tsp yeast.  Whisk to dissolve.  Set this pan aside to let the yeast 'grow'.

Separate eggs and put 2 eggs whites into small bowl, add 2 Tbs olive oil and 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar and whisk.

When yeast has proven to be active, add the egg mixture and pour this wet mixture into bowl containing dry ingredients.  Stir for several minutes (or combine the wets and drys in a Kitchen Aid mixer and leave it running for 4 minutes). 

Grease pan (I use cast iron) with olive oil, sprinkle with cornmeal(optional) and put half of dough mixture in one pan and half in the other.  Jules says this makes one crust, but I can get two nice 9 1/2 inch crusts out of one batch.  (I have two large cast iron pans the same size so this works for me).

Let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.



Extras:

At this point I usually take them out of the oven and put them on a cooling rack. 

You can either leave them in the pan and add toppings and pop back into the oven to finish up, or you can wrap and freeze the crust when cool.  They freeze and defrost really well. :)  Just like a Boboli...remember those?...well, actually better than those...  Jules has the actual directions for freezing and using later on her blog post.

This is the condensed version. :)

If you are craving pizza, you will not be disappointed with this one!  We haven't!  And I feed this to my non-GF husband. :)



GF Flour Mix - Jules Inspired Rice-Free Mix

With much thanks to The Washington Post:

For the basic Jules GF flour mix:

1 cup white rice flour
1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour or tapioca starch
4 teaspoons xanthan gum

Mix well and store in closed container.

Of course you can also buy Jules flour online too:
Search Amazon.com for Jules Gluten free flour

The mix I use is inspired by hers, but is rice free.
Jules Inspired GF Rice-Free flour mix:


1/2 c millet flour
1/2 c sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour or tapioca starch
4 teaspoons xanthan gum

Rolls.....Mom's rolls! :)

Here's the recipe for rolls that I used yesterday.  I nearly cried they were so good. :)

Dinner Rolls

2 Tbs butter (olive oil or butter alternative)

3/4 cup water (100 degrees)

2 Tbs sugar

1/2 Tbs yeast

    Melt butter, add warm water and check temperature.  When it is at 100 degrees, add sugar and yeast and whisk until sugar is dissolved.  Set aside until you see the yeast 'blooming'.  Then it is ready.

2 1/4 cup Flour (I used the Jules GF Flour Mix found posted online)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cider vinegar

Turn oven on to 200 degrees.

When yeast mixture is ready, pour into bottom of kitchen aid mixer, then pour the flour mixture and vinegar on top.  Beat the mixture for a few minutes.

Turn oven off.  (I know, sounds odd, but trust me) :)

Grease a piece of plastic wrap and use a spatula to get all the dough/batter onto the plastic wrap.  Grease a knife blade (sounds risky doesn't it?) and cut it in half, then in half again, then each into three.  You will end up with 12 pieces.  If you want clover rolls, divide each piece into three and generously grease hands and roll each piece into a ball and place into a muffin tin  - three balls per greased muffin tin thing (don't know what they are called).  When finished, cover with a piece of oiled parchment paper and place into warm oven for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, turn oven on to 350 degrees. 

 They'll look like this as they're baking...

The rolls should be ready in about 30 minutes.  I brushed mine with egg whites (because I had some, though I think I should have used the yolks instead...).

Enjoy!!!! :) 

You can also purchase Jules flour online if you don't want to mix it up yourself. :) 

Search Amazon.com for jules gluten free flour

GF DF Carrot Cake

This is the epitome of carrot cake.  The perfect balance of cake, spice and moisture.  And the best part, it doesn't taste the least bit GF. :)  You know what I mean. :) It is essentially the Betty Crocker carrot cake recipe, with some shortcuts.  I put the carrots in the blender to chop them into fine pieces (I had baby carrots that I didn't want to grate), then froze them in one cup measurements.  Then, when I want to make carrot cake, I pull out the number of 'frozen carrot chunk' that I need.  Easy peasy! :)  We had ours for Valentines day.  Oh, another great part of this recipe is that you can freeze it, then pull it out later and it tastes just like it came out of the oven. :) 

Carrot Cake

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup veg oil

3 eggs

       Blend first three wet ingredients for 30 seconds in kitchen aid mixer.

2 cups GF flour mix (I used the rice-free GF flour blend)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

     Mix these drys and add to wet ingredients already in mixing bowl.  Blend for 1 min.

1 tsp Vanilla

3 cups carrots (grated or chopped)

    Stir in vanilla and carrots.

Grease bottom and sides of pan, then flour.  Bake at 350 degrees until cake tester comes out clean and they look and feel done. 

13x9x2  bake 40-45 min

2 rounds 8 1/2"  bake 30-35 min

cupcakes (2 doz?)  bake ~ 25 min

Bake times are approximate so adjust as needed. :)

With some of the leftover batter from the above cake, I made some heart shaped cupcakes, iced with leftover icing and garnished with pink/white sugar and fresh raspberries.  (I love the look of huge sugar crystals in a picture!)  :) 

Rice-free Gluten-free Flour Blend

Apparently I was getting too comfortable with GF cooking. We had another loop thrown at us. After discovering that I also have a rice sensitivity I was faced with revamping my GF flour mix. Not an impossible task. I actually love this flour mix better than the rice one. While being frustrated by this new challenge,being forced to find an alternate no-rice flour mix was actually a blessing in disguise. This new flour mix is wonderful and doesn't have the 'moisture' issues that rice based ones do. Here are the result of those efforts.

**Most recent update(10/12) including metric measurements are below in the comments. I tweaked the cornstarch/potato starch ratio.**

**9/27/10 I've updated the recipe. What is below is the improved mix. It is continually evolving so I will post new updates as I have them. This new mix is the best yet! Oh, this is the doubled batch, but if you want to just try a little, it halves easily.**

No-Rice Gluten-Free Flour blend

2 1/2 cup Millet Flour

2 cup Sorghum Flour

2 cup Potato Starch

1 3/4 cup Tapioca Flour

1 1/2 cup Cornstarch

5 Tbs. Potato Flour

3 1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum

I have successfully used this flour mix with Betty Crocker sweet muffins straight from the cookbook with no modifications (no extra water, etc.). I also made corn fritters which turned out really well. It makes excellent pie crust!

Finally, a word to the wise.....

***It's a good idea if you are GF to rotate your grains so you don't become sensitive to rice, or any other for that matter. ***

GF Corn Dogs!

Easy as pie...well, whatever that means. In this case it means something that actually works out to be as good as a "regular" wheat filled corn dog. These corn dogs actually turn out looking like "real" corndogs, actually like the picture. Could there be anything better?! :) (I don't know about you, but I'm always suspicious of GF recipe pics, and am left wondering if they really used a wheat filled pic. I was elated that this recipe actually turned out like the picture!) Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
8 hot dogs (we use Ball Park Franks — yes, they are gluten-free)
1 cup gf flour *
2/3 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 + 1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon canola oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup cornstarch Peanut oil for frying
Popsicle sticks

Directions:
Insert sticks into 1 end of each hot dog. Hold the dog firmly to make sure that the stick goes into the center of the dog.Dry the hot dogs thoroughly with a paper towel. This step is very important! The hot dogs must be dry in order for the batter to stick.

In a small bowl mix together the gf flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and canola oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Transfer batter to a baking dish.Heat peanut oil in a deep fat fryer or if you don’t have one, heat about 1 inch of peanut oil in a large deep skillet. When oil is hot 375°F reduce the heat to maintain a temperature of about 350°F.

Place the cornstarch on a plate and roll the hot dogs in the cornstarch. Dust of excess cornstarch.

Roll the hot dogs in the batter. This part is a little tricky…you may need to use a spoon or knife to smooth the batter on and even it out over the hot dog. Carefully place the battered hot dog into the hot oil. Fry the corn dogs in the hot oil until lightly browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes total. Remove the corn dogs from the oil and drain on paper towels.

GF Pierogies!

Yes, did you know they are really easy to make?! Yep! If you have left over mashed potatoes from dinner, they're even easier because half the work is already done. I made this recipe the other day and was really impressed with how close they were to real pierogies. My only suggestion is to use a noodle roller instead of using a rolling pin. The dough gets thicker as it cooks, and it is pretty hard (though not impossible) to get the dough as thin as they say to get it (1/8"). If you're craving pierogies, or just miss them, you won't be disappointed with this recipe!

Click on the pierogie picture above to go to the link!

Here's the recipe:

Pierogies

1/3 cup Tapioca Flour
1/3 cup Cornstarch
2 Tb Potato Starch
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tb Xanthan Gum
2 large Eggs
1 Tb Vegetable Oil

Combine flours, salt, and xanthan gum. Beat eggs lightly and add oil. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir. This will feel much like pastry dough. Work together into a firm ball. Knead a minute or two.

The recipe in the book and online give further instructions depending on the different kinds of pastas you could make. For the purpose of making pierogi, you'll want to work with small handfuls of dough. Roll it out, with just the minimum amount of flour necessary to keep it from sticking. Too much flour will toughen the dough and keep it from being as sticky as it needs to be. Roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch. Use a biscuit cutter or glass or jar lip to cut circles about 4 inches in diameter. Keep rolling dough until you've made as many circles as it will yield.Use your fingertips to wet the edges of each circle. Let the water sit for few minutes, making a nice, sticky edge. (By the time you get to the last circle, the first one should be just sticky enough. Spoon some filling into the center of each circle. Fold the circle in half, pinching and crimping the edges until they are sealed tight.Any that you are cooking right away, set aside. Any that you will be freezing, place on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer until they are dry. Once they're no longer sticky you can put them in freezer bags.

To cook, place pierogi in a large pot of salted boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes (and hope you sealed them tightly enough!). Remove with a slotted spoon. Serve with hot melted butter.

another GF blog with bread recipes

A gluten free blog that I just ran across yesterday. She has many different recipes for bread...even sourdough! :)
http://glutenfreenaturally.blogspot.com/

The best GF donuts ever!

Want a round GF donut hole, or a donut that actually rises and doesn't have a rice texture? This recipe is for you. Straight from the Betty Crocker cookbook. :) Use the multi-grain GF flour mix I have posted. :) Enjoy! This makes about 1 doz donuts.

1 1/2 c flour (I used my GF multigrain mix)

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 Tbs shortening (I've used olive oil and it turned out fine)

1 egg

1/3 c milk (or coconut milk, or rice milk or whatever)

Heat oil to 375 degrees. Measure half the flour and remaining ingredients into large mixer bowl. Blend 1/2 minute on low speed scraping bowl constantly. Beat 2 minutes medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in remaining flour. Turn onto well floured board (or parchment paper). Roll around lightly to coat with flour. Roll dough gently, or pat out to 1/2 inch thick (or so). Cut with floured donut cutter. Slide donuts into hot fat turn as they rise to surface. Fry 2-3 minutes until golden brown on both sides, remove from fat, drain, serve plain sugared or frosted. Makes 1 doz.

The last time I made these I used olive oil, mixed everything in together and they turned out fine..the dough didn't look as good as following the directions, but the end product was pretty much the same. (actually I did that because I didn't read the directions before I started...oops!) :)

GF and hospital stays

I just found this info. If for some reason you have to be in the hospital, eating GF can cause problems. Check out the link for printable pages to take with you, letting the hospital staff know the dietary restrictions you have, medicine and food-wise.

GFCF Muffins

If you like the sweet muffins in the Betty Crocker cookbook, then you'll love these. You'll want them every day. :) This is my go-to recipe for 'normal' muffins. The variations are endless! Add shredded, or diced apples, or blueberries, dried cranberries, or the newest I've found....1/3 cup coconut and EnjoyLife chocolate chips (they're the mini DF/CF chocolate chips!). Yummy!

This is one recipe that I make mixes up ahead of time. I'll make up about 5 mixes at a time so when I want muffins all I have to do is grab the bag and add oil, "milk" and egg. Easy peasy!

The flour mix already has xanthan gum in it, so there's no need to add any when making these muffins. Just follow the recipe.

Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour (I use my flour mix)

1/2 cup sugar (I've also successfully replaced half of this with maple sugar)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg (gelatin replacer works well in this recipe)

3/4 cup milk (this is the main difference between the GF recipe and the Betty Crocker recipe from the cookbook...extra liquid)

1/4 cup oil

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Makes 12 muffins, or one square pan of coffee cake size. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

GF CF Lasagna

So, you're eating dairy/casien and gluten free, but what you really want is a big piece of cheesy lasagna. You're in luck! Try this recipe out! It's about as close as you can come using 'fake' ingredients. haha :) Yes, it is creamy, yummy lasagna. And, yes, that is an actual picture of what it looks like! The only thing different than real lasagna is the stringy-ness from mozzerella cheese. But who needs that anyway!

There is prep needed if you're going to make this, but it's really worth the time. The night before you want to make it, you'll have to make the "ricotta" cheese. Then make sure to only cook the lasagna noodles to al dente, otherwise you may end up with rice pasta mush (though this has never acually happened to me).

I layered Tinkyada Rice lasagna noodles (one box-cooked first), vegan ricotta substitute with chopped kale and tomato sauce with meat. Bake until it's bubbly and looks like regular lasagna. Really you're only making sure the eggs are cooked.

• The vegan ricotta was easy to make:

Super easy, totally fake, Ricotta Cheese

2 c. nuts (Pine nuts, or blanched almonds work best)

1 1/2 c. water

Soak nuts in water for 2-3 hrs ( put this into a wide mouth quart canning jar). After 2-3 hrs (time isn't really important here, just make sure it's a long time), blend in blender until chunks are removed but not totally pureed into smitherines. It should be creamy though. Put in refrigerator overnight. Done! Use like you would regular Ricotta cheese. :)

• To make the 'ricotta filling for my lasagna I added in three egg whites (we were only using whites at the time, now I would use maybe two whole eggs), salt, pepper, garlic and chopped kale (well, really it was frozen and I broke it into little pieces while it was still frozen). I mixed the "ricotta" mixture up and used that to layer in the lasagna.
• If you leave out the egg whites you only have to heat to eat, but with the egg whites you have to make sure they're cooked.
• One thing with the rice noodles, make sure they're a little al dente, and rinse really well with cold water. They'll stick together anyway, but it'll help some (more water will unstick them).
• I made it in a pyrex brownie pan. The small box of rice noodles makes a smaller quantity than you'd make using "real" ingredients. I guess my "ricotta" wasn't exactly vegan after adding the egg. :)