Amazing Fruit Pizza: dairy/gluten-free

I was asked to bring a gluten free dessert to a family reunion the other day. I was feeling overloaded on sweets so I looked for something a little lighter. I came across a fruit pizza recipe and it sounded perfect. But it called for sugar cookie dough, and I have NEVER been successful at making GF sugar cookies. They always melt! The posted recipe looked the same as the other ones that had failed me before. I knew I had been relatively successful at rolling out GF pie crust and tortillas before, which have a common ingredient of sweet rice flour. I'm not one to do a lot of experimentation myself, so I searched for a recipe that had sweet rice flour. 

I found several recipes, but this blog post really caught my attention (please do go read the whole thing!). The first paragraph says:

"You know those super soft, frosted sugar cookies with festive sprinkles that they sell in the plastic boxes at every grocery store in the world? Yes, you know what cookies I am talking about: always decorated with colors and sprinkles to go with whatever holiday is coming up next?"

I am one of those people who always walks past those cookies and craves them. I thought, if this recipe is as good as she says then I've found my recipe! So I tried it, and it was amazing! It really DOES taste like that. Now I still don't know if cookie cutouts will melt when I make them, but the pizza crusts I made stayed pretty close to their shape so I am optimistic about it.

Here is my adaptation of the recipe. I admit I was a little scared to make a GF recipe that did not have xanthan gum or starch, so I did just a little swapping. Maybe next time I'll be braver and try the real thing!

1 1/2 c sweet rice flour
1 1/2 c brown rice flour
1 c GF oat flour
1/2 c tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
5 tsp baking powder
3/4 c coconut oil
3/4 c dairy-free margarine
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a standing mixer cream coconut oil, margarine, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredient mixture. Separate into two parts (according to the size you want your pizzas) and chill for 1-2 hours.

Now if you are doing sugar cookies, you'll have to go to the original recipe for instructions. But if you are making fruit pizza, read on.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out parchment paper and cut it to fit your pan. Place the paper on the counter top and put the chilled dough on top (unwrapped). Place a piece of saran wrap over the dough and press from the center outward with your hands until it fills the parchment paper completely. (No rolling pin necessary!)

Now put it in the oven and bake it until it's done. How can you tell it's done? I don't know, but tell me when you find out, will you? Seriously, if it looks like it's starting to brown then it's overdone. I sort of tapped the top until it was springy and stuck a toothpick in, which came out clean. But it really doesn't look done until it's burnt so good luck! And if it helps, mine took about 11 minutes.

There are so many things you can top your pizza with that I'm not even going to give a recipe. I wanted it light and dairy-free so I used So Delicious coconut yogurt (vanilla), a sliced peach (mine wasn't ripe, unfortunately), kiwi, and frozen mixed berries (thawed).

So there you have it. Enjoy!

Delicious Homemade Rice Milk

I've been experimenting with rice and almond milk recipes because buying rice milk at the store is really expensive, and they add fun things like carrageenan  to the mixture, which more and more people are showing allergies to. Here is the recipe I have had most success with so far. So much success, in fact, that my very inflexible son told me it tastes just like the rice milk in the blue box. I don't think it does (it's better!), but if he thinks so I'll take it!

Ingredients: 
1/4 c raw almonds (you can blanch them first but I don't)
1/4 c shredded coconut
3/4 c cooked jasmine rice (or sweet rice)
6-8 dates
1/4 tsp salt
4-6 cups hot water, depending on how thick you like it. (My kids seem to like it thick--and all the better since I need to stuff them with as many calories as possible!)

Directions: 
Place almonds, coconut, rice, and dates in a high-quality blender with two cups of hot water. (The higher quality your blender is, the thicker and smoother your milk will be and the less you will have to strain out. The milk is probably higher in fiber as well). Blend until the mixture becomes too thick for your blender and slowly add in the rest of the water.

Strain the mixture through cheesecloth. This is the hard part because you have to make sure the cheesecloth doesn't collapse and ruin what you've just strained. I usually use a large piece and make a large dip in it inside the picture so there is lots of room inside. I lean one edge of the cloth-covered pitcher to keep it from falling in and hold the rest with my free hand. Pour a little at a time and then pull the cheesecloth up and squeeze it. (Make sure you wash your hands first!!!) Throw away the excess pulp, rinse your cheesecloth and repeat. I have also heard of someone who uses automobile filters with elastic on the edges to make it easier. I like to strain mine twice.

Add the salt and mix in, then store your milk in the fridge and remember that it has no preservatives so it will not last as long as store-bought products. I like to keep it in a pitcher with those handy pumps on the lid because the milk settles and separates over time. I also prefer to use glass to store my food to avoid plastic leaching into my food.

[ETA 3/16/12]:  I used my tax return to buy a commercial blender. I got an Xtreme blender but you could also get a Vitamix or Blendtec or a similar one. With this blender I do not have to strain the rice milk at all. (Hooray!) I do add a little extra water because it is much thicker. But the bonus is that you are not straining out all the fiber and nutrients from the almonds and coconut.

Chinese Sweet Rice Balls--a naturally gluten, milk, and soy-free treat

I recently bought some Chinese red rice to try for a little variety. I didn't find much on that but I stumbled across this recipe for Sweet Rice Balls that intrigued me. I'm always looking for easy recipes for my kids so I decided to try it. Result: BIG SUCCESS! They were a big hit and really easy to make.

Filling:
1/3 c peanut butter (or sesame, almond, or other desired nut butter)
1/4 c powdered sugar
rice, soy, or cow's milk to desired consistency

Stir powdered sugar into peanut butter and if necessary, add a small amount of liquid if it get's too thick and clumpy. You should be able to pick up and shape the peanut butter with your fingers. I used a knife to place pieces onto the balls.


Shells:

1 cup freshly ground sweet rice flour*
4-6 oz water
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
1/8 c fine ground flour of your choice (I used corn, but sorghum might be really good)
(optional) a nice health idea that I haven't tried yet is to add a small amount of ground flax seed


*I don't store flour, I store whole grains so I used a coffee grinder to grind sweet rice kernels (and it's so much cheaper!). You can use any kind of glutinous rice (does not contain actual gluten, it just means it's sticky). The coffee grinder is an easy way to grind a small amount of grain but it makes the flour a little bit coarse. This is why I had to add xanthan gum and another fine ground flour. If you use Mochiko or a store bought flour you can probably just use water and flour with no additional ingredients.

Fill a medium saucepan halfway full of water and begin to heat. Combine rice flour and water until it forms a large sticky ball. I mixed it with my hands. If the mixture is not sticking add the xanthan gum and other flour until it forms a ball. roll out the ball into a long "snake" and cut into 1/2" circles with a knife. Smash the circles flat and place a small amount of peanut butter filling onto the circles. Wrap the dough around the peanut butter and form small balls. When the water is boiling, place the balls into the water. They will float when they are done. It took mine about 5 minutes. These are best if served while warm.

Syrup: 
This is traditionally served with a fermented rice soup or brown sugar and ginger soup poured over the top. I'm trying to pack my kids with calories so I made a brown sugar and ginger syrup to pour over ours.

1/2 c brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground ginger*
1/4 c water

*You can also use a slice or two of fresh ginger instead.

Stir brown sugar and ginger together in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add water and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Pour over rice balls and serve.

Gravy and Biscuits with Mashed Potatoes--dairy, soy, gluten free

Biscuits

I just found the most fantastic biscuit recipe. I've never been able to get one to work very well. I got it from this link and made a few adaptations: http://iamglutenfree.blogspot.com/2010/10/most-amazing-biscuits-gluten-free-egg.html


1 1/2c. flour of your choice (I used brown rice and coconut)
1/4 c. potato starch
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 c. rice milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice (or milk of your choice)
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. oil

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add lemon juice to milk and set aside. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Form a hole in the center of the mixture and add liquid ingredients to the "hole". With a spoon (not a whisk or the batter will get stuck inside) slowly stir dry ingredients into the liquid until fully mixed. Batter will be very thick. With a 1/4 cup measuring cup form biscuits and place them on the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes. For me this recipe made 10 biscuits.

Sausage Gravy:

This can be really fattening, but in our house that is a good thing. My kids do not get enough calories so we are looking for many ways to increase their calorie intake and get them growing again. You can use less grease if this is too much for your taste.

1 lb ground sausage
abt 1 cup milk
abt 1/4 c potato flour
salt
ground pepper
herbs of your choice

Cook 1lb ground sausage in a frying pan. remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside. Using about 3tbsp leftover grease (to desired taste and fat content). Add milk and heat. Slowly add potato flour, stirring constantly until desired thickness. Add about 1/4-1/2 tsp salt and ground pepper to taste. The sausage should add plenty of flavor, but if not add herbs of your own to enhance flavor. Add some of the sausage back in if desired.

Mashed Potatoes: 


I don't like using rice milk in my potatoes so I usually pull some potatoes out after they have been boiled for my dairy-intolerant kids and use cow's or goat's milk for the rest of us.

Boil potatoes until tender (at least 1 potato per person). Drain. For dairy-intolerant kids add rice milk and dairy-free butter substitute and mash until creamy. For dairy-eaters add sour cream and milk to taste. You could also use plain yogurt. Serve with gravy and biscuits. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free All Purpose Flatbread--by Mary Brown

I recently sent in a children's book manuscript modeled after my son Barrett with his experiences living gluten-free around other children. My book (currently titled That Will Make You Sick but that will probably change), was accepted by Tate Publishing and given a production date. After having a discussion with my publisher they informed me they had just published a Gluten-Free cook book and sent me a free copy:

Going Gluten-Free: Breads and Baked Goods with Mary Brown

I have only tried this flatbread recipe, but it is just perfect for making sandwiches, bread sticks, cinnamon bread, pizza, and much more! I have made a few adaptations, as usual, but the original is very good too.

dry:

1 1/2c brown rice flour

3/4 c gluten-free oat flour (or white rice flour)

3/4 c tapioca starch

3 tbsp potato starch

3 tsp sorghum flour

3 tsp cornstarch

3 1/2 Tbsp sugar

3 tsp xanthan gum

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/8 tsp unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 tsp yeast

liquid:

1 1/2 c water with 3 tsp sugar dissolved

3 egg whites

1 1/2 tsp egg yolk

3/8 cup corn oil

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Take the yeast and eggs out of the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature. (You can warm the eggs faster if you place them in a bowl of warm water).

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Grease pan (I use a jelly roll pan).

Mix yeast and sugar water in your mixing bowl and let sit until it foams.

Separate the eggs from the whites. (Google it if you don't know how, there are lots of ways to do this).

After the yeast is foaming add the required amount of eggs, oil, and vinegar and mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix. (I use the bread arm on my Bosch but I bet a paddle attachment on any mixer would also work well). Beat for 10 minutes.

Spread dough (looks like a really thick batter) in the pan and let rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour. (I have cheated and done it for less--the bread is just flatter and more dense).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

When bread is risen bake for 20-24 minutes. (The instructions say to release immediately and cool upside down on cooling racks, but I have never done this).

Cut the pieces to whatever size you want. Use right away or freeze for later use.

Best Brownies Ever!

This recipe is adapted from my friend's Blondie recipe, which is also fabulous.

1 cup packed brown sugar*

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup dairy-free margarine

1/2 cup cocoa

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups gf flour blend (I used 1/4 cup tapioca starch, 1/8 c potato starch, 1/2 +1/8 c sweet rice flour, 1 c GF oat flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

optional add-ins: 1-1 1/4 cups of total of dairy-free chocolate chips, walnut pieces, coconut, etc.

*The brown sugar seems to be the key to what makes these so good. It helps cover up the rice flour taste and makes the brownies more moist.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9x2 pan, set aside. Melt sugar, butter, and cocoa. In a separate bowl mix together flour blend, baking powder, and baking soda. Slowly add cocoa mixture, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in any additional add-ins you desire.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan. Cut into bars while warm. Makes 24 bars.

Gluten/Dairy/Soy Free Orange Rolls

I tried to make orange syrup to put on my pancakes the other day. It didn't really work at all. But I couldn't let it go to waste so I decided to make it into a glaze and put it on some orange rolls. I found a recipe that looked promising at Lauraleacooks.com. I tried it and it tasted really good. I'll post what I did below. BUT WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE BREAD RISE?!? I always end up with dense lumps instead of bread or rolls.

Despite the density though, these do taste pretty darn good.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice milk

1/2 cup oil

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 1/2 c GF flour (I used 1 cup oat, 1 cup brown rice, and 1/2 cup sweet rice flour)

3/4 c potato starch

3/4 c tapioca starch

4 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp yeast

grated rind of 1 orange (I would actually recommend using 2 oranges because 1 didn't seem like enough to me)

3 eggs, room temperature

Glaze:

1/4 c orange juice

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp softened soy/dairy free margarine or butter

1 1/2 c confectioners sugar

grated orange rind (optional)

Directions for dough:

Set eggs out in a bowl of warm water until they are room temperature. Scald the milk (heat until just before boiling point), then remove from heat and add oil. Let cool until it is lukewarm.

Mix sugar, flour, starches, xanthan gum, and salt, in a bowl. (I use a Bosch mixer with a bread arm, but you can also mix and knead by hand if you don't have a Bosch or Kitchen-Aid type contraption). Pour yeast evenly on top of flour mixture. When milk is lukewarm, pour it over the yeast. Crack the eggs over the top of the whole mixture and sprinkle in orange rind. Mix with the bread arm for 10 minutes or until flour is fully mixed in (or knead until flour is mixed in).

Put oil on your hands and seperate the dough into two balls. Rub outside with bowl or pour oil in the bottom of your bowl and roll the balls in the oil until it is completely covered. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise.

The original recipe said to let it rise until double, but mine had not doubled after two hours so I gave up and moved on to the next step:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x12 pans and separate and roll out dough into about 24 balls and lay them in the pans. Let rolls rise until they have doubled again. (Mine did rise more, but not double and I was starving so I just cooked them after about 30-40 minutes). Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Directions for glaze:

Mix softened margarine with almond extract and orange rind and slowly blend in orange juice. Slowly blend in the sugar until the desired consistency is reached. If you want a stronger orange flavor you can use a more concentrated orange juice. When rolls are cooled, drizzle glaze over the top of all of them.

*You can also include something like dried cranberries or blueberries in the bread dough, or fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries in the glaze.

Gluten/Soy/Milk Free Gingerbread House

I used to love making graham cracker houses with my family when I was a kid. I made my husband and foreign exchange student make them a few years ago even though none of us were kids because I love doing it so much. I was sad when I realized that I couldn't do that anymore.

But this year I learned that I actually had two choices. I could uses Kinikinnik Smoreables to build houses with, or I could try to make my own gingerbread. Since it would take a whole lot of Smoreables to build a house I opted to try to make my own gingerbread for the first time ever! I searched the internet and found this recipe and was going to try it because the almond meal sounded good. However, a friend of mine posted a different recipe and I had both up at the same time. I accidentally started following my friend's recipe instead so I just went with that one, with a few adaptations. I'll try the other one next year. ;) The recipe as I used it is posted below.

For candy we used various gluten-free cereals, cashews, Glutino pretzels (they contain soy lecithin but my son never reacts to the lecithin so we still use them), spice drops, Nerds, Skittles, M&M's (for my dairy-eating daughter), and gummy bears.

I'm not sure why Blogger keeps inserting this picture upside down but I'm tired of trying to fix it so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Recipe:

2/3 c sweet rice flour*

2/3 + 1/4 c gluten free oat flour (I use a grinder to grind up Bob's GF oats)

2/3 + 1/4 c almond meal

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca starch

*If you grind your own flour you may want to add just a touch of extra liquid to the recipe and let the dough sit for a little while to soak up the moisture.

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c molasses

1 1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c palm oil shortening

1 egg, beaten (I haven't tried it with egg replacer but I might next time because it turns out that my son is still having problems with egg).

Directions:

In a saucepan, mix sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, mix flour mixture together in a mixing bowl. Once sugar mixture is boiling, remove it from heat and stir in soda (it will foam up). Melt in shortening. Slowly stir in flour mixture. Knead dough until fully mixed.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lay out plastic wrap or parchment paper on rolling surface. (Some recommend to use a floured surface but for me it worked better to just use plastic wrap.) Divid the dough into two equal portions. Set one aside with a wet towel over it to keep it from drying up. Smash the other flat and lay it on rolling surface. Place plastic wrap over the top and roll it until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Create pattern pieces using wax paper (don't use mailing envelopes like I tried, because you won't be able to peel the paper off the dough). You can draw your own or look one up on the internet. Place the pattern over your dough, cut it out, and move it to a greased cookie sheet. They shift a bit when you move them so you may have to trim them later.

Bake for about 12 minutes. Let them cool for just a minute and then move them to a cooling rack. (Don't wait too long or you will regret it, they harden pretty fast and it is difficult to get them off without breaking them).

For me, this recipe made two houses with pieces about 4x6 inches, and four gingerbread men. Except that I was short one piece on one of my houses so it probably would not have made any gingerbread men if I had remembered the last piece.

Next you need to make frosting to put the house together. I used Royal Frosting this time, but it's not going to cut it next year because like I said earlier, I found out my son still doesn't handle eggs well. The egg-white in the frosting was just too much for him. But for you...here it is:

2 egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice

3 c powdered sugar

Put egg whites and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Beat until the mixture is frothy.

Add the powdered sugar and beat in. Once the sugar is mixed in well enough that it doesn't fly all over the place, beat on high until the frosting is shiny and it peaks.


Spoon it into a frosting bag and cover what you do not use with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out.

Now you are ready to put your house together. Do this the day before you plan to decorate it so it has time to dry up and gather strength.

I had a really hard time putting mine together because I didn't trim the pieces and they weren't stable enough to stay up. Finally I gave up and trimmed all the edges straight with a serrated knife. I had my son hold up one wall while I attached others to it for stability. I made the base and left the roof for later because I didn't want to take any chances.

In the picture at the top you will also notice that one roof is different from the other. That is because I forgot to make one piece and so I used Kinikinnik Smoreables to finish it off. I thought they made a pretty cute roof so maybe next year I will make the house out of gingerbread and use crackers for the top. That way there will be enough dough leftover to make a few more gingerbread men.

Also, after I discovered my son got sick off of royal frosting, I made a new kind to attach the candy with. It didn't really work all that well but it was enough to get a 4 and 2 year old through the process. I just mixed powdered sugar with rice milk and made it really thick. I left out the shortening/butter because those don't really dry out. I also added blue food coloring so my son could tell the difference between "safe" and "not safe" frosting.

I found a recipe that supposedly worked really well but I didn't try it. It called for glycerine and I was hesitant to put something that is commonly used in soaps and lotions in my frosting. Maybe next year though. ;)

Gluten-Free Fruit Cobbler

I combined two different recipes for this cobbler. The filling comes from about.com and the breading comes from celiac.com.

Filling:

4 cups chopped fruit
1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup water or juice from canned fruit

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Topping:

1 cup GF flour (I used 1/2 cup GF oat, 1/4 c rice, 1/4 c potato starch)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 c rice/soy/cow milk or buttermilk

Abt 2 tbsp butter, margarine, or soy/dairy-free buttery spread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x9 baking pan and place the fruit in the bottom of the pan. In a saucepan, sift sugar, corn starch and cinnamon. Add lemon juice and water or juice from can and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil at medium-hi heat until thick and bubbly. Pour over or mix with the fruit in the baking pan. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Slowly mix in milk with a whisk. Pour over fruit/filling mixture and dollop with butter or butter substitute. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. (Only insert the toothpick as far as the batter goes. Do not push it all the way down to the fruit).

Scallop Squash

I grew this in my garden just for fun and I have finally figured out what to do with it. This recipe turned out really good--and it is wide open for variation! I didn't actually measure any of it, so my ingredient list is a ball-park guess. Really you just put in what you like, and how much you like of it.

4 white bush squash (you could probably use butternut or acorn squash as well)

8 slices of bacon (or 10 if you peel off the fat).

1/2 onion, diced

1 c bread crumbs or crushed cereal or chips(I used rice and corn Chex)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp marjoram or rosemary

1 egg (optional, or you could use two eggs if you want the filling to be more firm)

1/2 c Parmesan cheese (optional)

10 cherry tomatoes cut in half (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut open the top of the squash and scrape out the innards like you would when carving a pumpkin and set aside. (If you want to speed up cooking you can cook them for a few minutes in the microwave while you prepare the filling). Cook the bacon and chop it up (I used pre-cooked). Add onions, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and marjoram or rosemary and mix together. Mix in egg and cheese. Stir in tomatoes if desired. Scoop into squash and place the lid back on top. Fill a baking dish or pan with a small amount of water on bottom and place squash in the pan. Bake for 45 min to an hour, until the inside of the squash is tender.

Variations: try mixing in cottage cheese or softened cream cheese. Experiment with different herbs such as lemon and dill, Italian herbs etc. Use rice or quinoa instead of bread crumbs. The possibilities are endless!

My New Favorite GF Pizza Recipe

The pepperoni-only portion of this pizza has soy-free rice cheese on it. Apparently my son does not like the rice cheese baked so I would recommend leaving it off and just putting sauce and other toppings.

I have been very unimpressed with most GF pizza recipes I have tried. Last night I searched for a new one and found one that I really liked. It actually would have made a fabulous dessert pizza (with cinnamon and glaze...mmmm!) as well. (If you want this one less sweet then leave out the sugar and use the original recommendation of millet and rice flour instead of oat and sorghum like I used).

I adapted this recipe from GlutenFreeMommy.

2 Tablespoons almond meal
2 eggs (I used 1 egg and 1 egg's worth of egg replacer because I ran out of eggs)
2 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Honey

1/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup oat flour (I actually used 1/2 c oat and 1/2 cub Bob's all purpose flour, just to get rid of the extra Bob's I had)
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon sugar for proofing yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 c warm water

1/2 cup warm water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix liquid ingredients together and set aside until room temperature. Do not mix it in with dry ingredients cold.
3. Combine all the dry ingredients and sift together in a bowl.
4. In a separate small bowl, place your yeast and the teaspoon of sugar. Mix with about 1/4 cup of the heated water, stir, and let it sit for a few minutes. Once you know the yeast is active, proceed with the recipe. At this point, you want to double check and make sure all your ingredients have come to room temperature.
5. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix.
6. Add the yeast mixture.
7. You want the dough to look like stiff cake batter. The dough should hold the swirls of the mixer, but it should be shiny and not dull. Add the rest of the water slowly until the right consistency is achieved.
8. Grease pan or grease parchment paper and place on a pan. With a cake scraper, slowly spread the pizza dough batter in a 12-13 inch circle. You want the batter to be evenly distributed. Cover your hands in olive oil and shape the edges like you want them. If you find your hands getting too sticky get a little more olive oil on your hands. You don’t want your dough to be too wet, so be careful.
9. You can either let the dough rise and then cook it, or bake the crust as is. I baked mine at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
10. Then add toppings and place back in the oven until toppings are heated and/or melted

Gluten-Free Bread Experiments

For a long time I had given up on the bread idea altogether. I couldn't find anything that tasted good enough to make me want to spend the money on it. I couldn't really use any of it for sandwiches because it wouldn't stay together, and never tasted very good after the first day it was opened/made. But I have been CRAVING bread lately (probably because I am pregnant now :) ). A friend of mine told me she found a recipe that made delicious, chewy bread that stays together. I was skeptical but desperate so I tried it.

She was RIGHT! I smelled good, tasted good for multiple days, and stayed together!

I will credit the author of the book the recipe came from just as soon as I can find out. I'm hoping to buy a copy and try some other recipes from it as well.

Stir together:
¾ C brown rice flour (I used GF oat flour, my friend uses a mix of rice and oat).
2/3 C potato starch
2/3 C tapioca flour
2 tsp potato flour
2 ½ xanthan gum
2 tsp egg replacer
1 tsp salt
2 tsp (1 pck) unflavored gelatin
1/3 C almond meal (or grind up some almonds)
1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp yeast
Put yeast on top of powder mixture

Stir together in separate bowl:
1 ¼ C warm water
1 tsp vinegar
1 ½ tsp olive oil

Pour on top of yeast and let it sit for three minutes.
Mix everything together on low speed.

Add two egg whites
Mix until combined and beat on high speed for five minutes.

Grease a loaf pan
Spoon into pan and let rise for 20 min. (texture is really sticky, thick)
Smooth it out with wet fingers or greased spatula
As bread is rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees
Bake for about an hour, covering with aluminum foil after first 10 minutes.*

*I didn't have very good success with the foil thing. Next time I am going to cook it uncovered and put foil on for the last 10 minutes. If you don't do it right the crust is way too hard and the middle is doughy. (Still tastes good though).

King Arthur's Bread Mix--Product Review





This tasted pretty good, but it was not as "normal" as the bread recipe above. It almost has the texture of angel food cake, but it stays together better than most GF bread mixes. It also stayed soft after several days. I know mine doesn't look very professional, but that's because I wasn't very careful about smoothing it out in the pan. It made decent toast. It still probably wouldn't work very well for sandwitches because it is still pretty dense and falls apart under pressure. I didn't try doing it though so I could be wrong.

Superb Sweet and Sour Chicken: gluten-free

Sweet 'n' Sour chicken from the Chinese restaurants is one of the things I missed the most after going gluten-free. I've spent a lot of time, with the help of my wonderful husband, trying to perfect this recipe. I admit it is not a replica of what's in the restaurants, but in my opinion it tastes much better--and I know it's good for me!

Breading

3/4 c rice flour

3/4 c potato flour

1/4 c paprika

2 tbsp garlic salt

1 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp dried oregano

Shake ingredients together in a plastic bag until well mixed. Pour about 1/3 of the mix on a clean plate and leave the rest in the bag.

Egg Mixture--Standard

3 eggs

1/3 c milk

Egg Mixture--Dairy Free

3 eggs

1/3 c water

Egg/Dairy-free Version

4 tbsp milled flax seed

4tbsp water (or according to directions with your seed for replacement of 4 eggs)

water*

Add water until it has the consistency of slightly watered down eggs. The flax doesn't work quite as well as real eggs but I've had pretty good success with it.

Chicken Cots

2 chicken breasts or the equivalent of meat

breading mix

egg/flax mixture

1/2 inch oil heated in a wok or pan*

Clean plate lined with clean paper towels.

Rinse chicken and cut into bite size pieces and pat dry. I usually put the pieces on a plate lined with paper towels as I cut so excess water gets absorbed quickly. Once pieces have excess water removed, put them in the bag of breading mix. Seal the bag tight and shake it vigorously until all the chicken pieces are coated. Dip chicken pieces in egg/flax mixture and set on plate with flour mixture. (You can dump the rest of the mixture from the bag onto the plate. Make sure cots are completely covered with flour mixture and drop into heated oil. Cook until breading is golden brown and the meat on top starts to turn white. Flip the pieces over and repeat until chicken is cooked all the way through. (Make sure the oil does not get too hot or you will get burnt breading with raw chicken in the middle. Always cut a piece or two in half to make sure they are cooked all the way through). Place cooked cots on the paper towel-lined plate.

*oil is ready for cooking when you toss a pinch of flour in the pan and the oil sizzles vigorously.

Sweet 'N' Sour Sauce

1/2 c white vinegar

1/3 c white sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

1 20 oz can pineapple chunks with juice

1/3 c ketchup

1 tsp ginger

2 tbsp corn starch

2 tbsp cold water

1 large bell pepper

1 garlic clove

1 onion

Chop onion and pepper into bite size pieces and sauté in leftover oil from chicken with pressed garlic clove. Cook until tender. Meanwhile. Put ketchup and ginger in sauce pan and slowly stir in vinegar. Heat with sugar and pineapple until it gently boils. Mix corn starch and water in a cup and when sauce is hot, slowly pour into sauce pan. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Add peppers and onions. Serve with rice and chicken cots.

DON'T FORGET TO COOK RICE TO GO WITH YOUR MEAL! I prefer Jasmine rice.

Almond Milk Recipe

A friend of mine gave me this recipe saying it was far better than any store bought milk you can buy. He was absolutely right! I adapted the recipe to have more calories for my calorie-deprived son.

Original:

1 cup unsalted, uncooked almonds

6-8 dates

6 cups water

Instructions:

Blend almonds and 3 cups water. Add remaining ingredients. Then add three more cups water. Strain through cheesecloth.

And it's that simple! One small problem is that most blenders can't handle these proportions. I usually cut the recipe in half and do it twice to get the requisite amount of almondmilk.

My adaptation:

1 cup unsalted, uncooked almonds

6-8 dates

5 cups water

1/4 c sugar

Next time I think I will add 1/2 tsp vanilla and perhaps a tough of oil to increase the calories.

Instructions:

Blend almonds and 1 cups water. Add dates and 1/2 cup water. Blend. Add dates, sugar, and vanilla and add liquid a little at a time. Strain through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. The milk is very foamy so I actually poured it into one of those gravy separators first:

That helped keep the foam from blocking the strainer completely.

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Here is my new favorite gluten-free crust recipe: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/03/gluten-free-beer-bliss.html. The recipe does have yeast, however.

I apologize that you have to scroll through a section about beer before getting to it. I do not advocate the drinking of beer, or of any alcohol for that matter.

And for a soy-free pizza sauce, here is my recipe:

1 can tomato sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

Gluten Free Oats--My Newfound Love

Do you see those divine-looking chocolate chip cookies above? Well they taste divine too. And they are totally gluten/soy/milk free (I admit I splurged and used eggs on this one instead of egg replacer--my kids are getting so they tolerate a little egg better).

Do you want to know my secret? I suppose the title give is away, but the secret is a bag of gluten-free oats and a grain grinder. I grind up my oats and keep the flour in a container that holds about 8 cups. (You don't want to grind too much at once because the nutrients deplete over too much time after the oats are ground). Oat flour makes wonderful Snickerdoodles too!

Gluten/Soy/Milk Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c white sugar

1 c brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/3 c palm oil shortening

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp guar gum (or xanthan gum)

2 c gluten free oat flour

1 c your favorite flour blend*

dairy-free chocolate chips

*I used Grandpa's Kitchen Baking Flour Blend with a shot of Bob's Gluten Free baking mix. You can also use the typical baking flour ration of 2 parts rice flour, 2/3 parts potato starch, 1/3 part tapioca starch

Baking directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 2. blend together sugar, vanilla, eggs, and shortening 3. add salt baking soda, guar gum 4. add flour by degrees. (dough should be firm and should not stick to your fingers if you touch it 5. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet 6. Bake for 8 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 c white sugar

1/2 c soy-free margarine

1/2 c palm oil shortening

2 eggs

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 3/4 c flour

Cinnamon/Sugar Ratio:

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Baking directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 2. blend sugar, margarine, shortening, and eggs. 3. add dry ingredients by degrees. 4. roll dough in cinnamon/sugar blend and place on cookie sheets. 4. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Banana Bread--gluten/soy/egg/milk free

I just tried the most delicious banana bread recipe, compliments of the Gluten Free Goddess. The recipe is quoted below but with my own adaptations. The original recipe can be found a the above link.

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine in a bowl:
2 mashed bananas (medium size)*
1/2 c applesauce (or 2 more bananas)
1/3 c canola oil
1 c brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Stir together in seperate bowl:
1 1/2 c gluten free flour (I used 2/3 c gluten free oat flour, 1/3c brown rice flour, 1/4 +1/8c
potato starch, 1/8 c tapioca starch)
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Ener-g egg replacer
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp guar gum
1/4 tsp salt

Optional: chocolate chips

*you can subtitute 1/2 cup applesauce or crushed pineapple per banana

Slowly beat dry ingredients into liquid mixture.

Spoon batter into lined or greased/floured muffin tins (or bread pan) and bake for 20 min. (If you use a bread pan you will probably have to bake longer than 20 min but I don't know how long because I always use muffin tins).

I believe the oat flour played a big part in making these taste so good. I finally got a grain grinder and was able to grind my gluten-free oats into a fine flour and it tastes so much better than rice flour! It's nice to have a little variety in our grain consumption as well.

You can also get a small coffee grinder to grind small amounts of oats, millet, or other grain.

[ETA 3/16/12]: A version of this recipe is included in my book Barrett's Unusual Ice Cream Party.

Corn Meal Scones--gluten/dairy/egg free with Marshmallow-Honey Butter

We were looking for some new food options and experimented with this recipe. They don't look very professional but I thought they tasted really good. They have a satisfying crunch on the outer shell and are nice and chewy inside. Dip them in a little marshmallow-honey butter and you are set!

2 c corn meal
1/3 c tapioca flour
2/3 c potato flour
1/3 c sorghum flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp guar gum
2/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c oil
1/3 c honey
2/3 c almond milk
egg replacer for two eggs

oil for frying

Heat oil in a frying pan until you can flick a bit of flour in and make it sizzle.

Mix dry ingredients together. Slowly stir in wet ingredients.

Dough should be like a thick cookie dough--runny enough that you can "spoon" it into the frying pan. (If you can roll it into a ball in your hands it is too thick). Spoon into frying pan and cook until golden and crisp on the outside. Flip and do the same. Cool on a plate with paper towels to soak up the grease.


Marshmallow-Honey Butter

1/4 c of your favorite butter substitute (I use Earth Balance Soy Free buttery spread)
1/8 c honey
1/2 c small marshmallows

Microwave for 30 seconds and stir until smooth.

Update 2/8/10: I just tried this again and something in the batter reacted with the grease and they all fell apart. It was like trying to cook straight corn meal in hot grease. I swear I made it the exact same way but this time it didn't work. We ended up cooking them as pancakes, which didn't work that well either.

Gluten/Egg/Soy/Milk Free Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is my favorite part of Thanksgiving and I wasn't about to go without just because of food allergies. Last year in a gluten-intolerance group meeting I learned how to make a delicious pie crust so I started with that:

Crust:

Donna Jo's Dream Pastry

I believe it comes from the Gluten-Free Gourmet cookbook. I'm sorry I'm not going to post the whole recipe because I don't want to be guilty of copyright infringement, but I posted a link so you can still get it. I used Ener-G egg replacer instead of the egg and it worked out just fine. I also used Earth Balance Soy-free margarine and Spectrum organics palm oil shortening in place of Crisco and butter. The crust looks pretty bad in my picture, but that's because I forgot to take pictures of the good ones before I filled them. This one is broken because I had too many "helpers" in the kitchen. It tastes delicious though!

Pie:

I decided to try four different varieties of pie to see which ones I liked the best. I went for two baked and two un-baked versions. In place of milk in all of these pies I used 2 quarts of Pacific Foods plain rice milk boiled down to about 1 quart with 1 cup of sugar added (for my own version of sweetened-condensed milk).

#1. Vanilla pudding Pumpkin Pie-unbaked:

(It is actually supposed to be Butterscotch but I didn't want to go to the store and I already had vanilla pudding). It tasted pretty good but did not set up very well. It might work better with real milk, or less milk, but I don't know. I also think the recipe calls for too much cinnamon so I'd put a little less in than it says. I don't think I'll be making it as a pie again but I'm thinking it's going to make some delicious pumpkin shakes.

#2. Unflavored gelatin Pumpkin Pie-unbaked:

I thought this one tasted fine but the texture didn't really satisfy me. Too--gelatin-y.

#3. Corn Starch Pumpkin Pie-baked:

This one was the best of all the pies. It was fairly close to normal pie in taste and texture. I still just can't get over the texture of real pie--but it was a fair substitute and a nice treat. In the future I think I will stick to this recipe.

#4. Crustless Pumpkin Pie from Karina's Kitchen-baked:

This one looked interesting so I thought I'd try it, even though I didn't really need to have four pies. Unfortunately I couldn't use what she says is her key ingredient--buckwheat--because Barrett doesn't tolerate that either. I used a mixture of sweet rice flour and sorghum instead. I have yet to taste this pie too but I'll post an evaluation as soon as I do. The batter tasted good and it looks good though.

UPDATE: This one tasted pretty good, but it's not like the "real" pumpkin pie that I crave. My kids absolutely love it though. They wouldn't eat any of the other pies but they beg for seconds and thirds of this one.

Product Review: Pamela's Bread Mix, Palm Oil Shortening

I tried Pamela's bread mix for the first time yesterday. I used half the small bag to make a small pizza for myself and some bread sticks for my kids. It actually tasted good! Not like the sawdust-pizza I had been making from scratch. I didn't follow the directions quite right but it still had a good texture and taste. It doesn't have any of the allergens my kids can't have in the ingredients although it is made on the same equipment where milk is processed. I haven't seen a reaction in anyone. I assume, knowing who they are, the Pamela's company cleans their equipment fairly well between processing. Then today I made a pie crust out of the rest and it worked really well. I actually like doing crust better with gluten-free mixes because it's easier to patch mistakes. (Unfortunately my pie didn't really turn out, but once I figure out a dairy-free recipe that works well I'll post it.)



Also, I used the Spectrum Organic 100% Palm Oil Shortening for the first time in my pie crust. I substituted it for both butter and shortening and it worked out well and tasted fine. I did add about 1/2 tsp imitation butter flavor but I don't think it was necessary. Anyway, it looks like it will be a fine substitute for regular shortening and as far as I can tell it doesn't behave strangely.
Doesn't that look wonderful? The crust was. Too bad the rest totally didn't work. I think I failed on the egg-replacer part of it.