GF and Sugar Free Peach Croustade

Gluten Free and Sugar Free Peach Croustade

This is the same recipe as Ive posted in the past, but I replaced all refined sugar with 100% pure maple syrup and honey

Peaches:

• 1 1/2 pounds small ripe yellow peaches (about 6-7), unpeeled, quartered and pitted

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup.

Crust:

• 2/3 cup slivered almonds

• 1 cup gluten free flour

• 1/4 honey

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

• 1 large egg yolk

• 2 tablespoons honey

Honey Yogurt

• 1 1/2 cups plain Greek-style yogurt

• 3 tablespoons honey

Crust:  In a food processor, coarsely chop almonds.  Transfer nuts to a bowl (do not wash processor).  Blend flour, honey in processor.  Add butter, using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Drop egg yolk through feed tube and blend just until moist clumps form, using on/off turns.  Gather dough into ball, flatten into a disk.  Wrap in plastic and freeze 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Roll out dough disk between 2 floured sheets of parchment paper to 10-inch round, sprinkling with .  Remove top sheet of additional flour as necessary.  Remove top sheet of parchment.  Sprinkle dough evenly with 1/2 cup chopped almonds.  Replace parchment atop crust and roll to 11-inch round, embedding nuts into dough.  Invert crust and parchment onto heavy baking sheet, nut side down.  Remove top sheet of parchment.

Put peaches in the center of the dough. leave a 1 1/2 to 2 inch plain border.  Using parchment as aid, fold outer edge of crust over edges of peaches.  Drizzle peaches with maple syrup and honey.  Sprinkle with remaining chopped almonds over crust and peaches.

Bake until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Cool 20 minutes.  You can try and transfer the croustade onto a platter, but I generally leave mine on the baking sheet and serve.

Gluten Free and Vegetarian Dinner

Gluten Free Veggie Burger, Hummus, Sweet Potato chips and Scallops sauteed in olive oil and garlic


I recently went Vegetarian. Needless to say, eating a gluten free and vegetarian diet is a challenge, but also it is the reality for many people who find that they don't digest meat very well. I have only been vegetarian for two months. After getting my fill of black beans and avacodas for dinner each night, I decided to branch out. The meal above is not only super delicious, but it is very high in protein, which is essential to a vegetarian diet. 



Veggie burgers are great because you can pick them up in your local supermarket's freezer and pop them in the toaster. I cooked my scallops with only salt and pepper in olive oil for about 10 minutes on each side on medium low heat. I put some fresh garlic in the pan at the end.

Gluten Free Vegetarian Pot Pie

 Filling

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)
• Optional- 1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup gluten free flour
• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash soup + 1 cup water  OR  2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock if you are not Vegetarian
• Optional - a Pinch of saffron threads
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream or Almond Milk
• 1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound)
• 1 1/2 cups asparagus tips
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound)
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
• Fresh Rosemary
• Fresh or dried Sage and Thyme to taste

Crust

• 3 cups Gluten Free flour. I used half Domata flour brand and half Betty Crocker GF Bisquick because these brands already have baking powder in them. IF you use a GF flour with no added baking powder, THEN, you have to add 1 teaspoon baking powder for this crust.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• half stick of cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the butternut squash soup OR Chicken stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream or Almond Milk and season to taste. 

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and then add the rosemary, sage and thyme. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour and salt (and baking powder if your GF flour doesn't already have it) in the bowl or a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

 You can take a 8 inch or 9 inch pie pan. Divide the dough into halves and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Sarah's Birthday Cake

Chocolate cake layered with strawberry sauce and whipped cream

My sister asked for a lighter gluten free chocolate cake for her Birthday this year. I decided to use a Gluten Free mix this time. I used Pamela's which is a company that makes gluten free baking mixes.
I added an extra egg to the recipe, so that the cake would be fluffier. I also baked it for 10 minutes longer than directed.
I used two 8 inch round cake pans and greased them with coconut oil.
After the cake cooled down, I divided each layer into two, using dental floss so as to get a smooth cut.
Then, I made strawberry sauce to put into between the 4 cake layers.
Strawberry Sauce
2 cups frozen or fresh strawberries. If frozen, thaw in microwave oven.
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Bring all of these to a boil in a heavy sauce pan

After strawberries are boiled down, turn heat down to simmer and Add about 2 tablespoons of corn starch that is already mixed with cold water. 

Let the strawberry sauce completely cool down before spreading it on the cake layers.

Then, I made whipped cream and spread that onto top of the strawberry sauce. The final layer of cake has strawberry sauce and then I frosted the cake with the rest of the heavy whipping cream.

Heavy whipping cream: 
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar 
 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 
Bowl used to mix these and beaters have to be cold before making this. 

Gluten Free Flours

    Gluten Free Flours

The main gluten free flour mix I use in my recipes is the Domata brand. Here is a link to their website, so you can see what the mixture contains and what store near you sells it. In my area, I can get it at Hyvee and Natural Grocers.

http://www.domatalivingflour.com/

Domata flour already has Xanthan Gum in it, so it really is more cost effective to buy this mixture. Domata brand is one of the best tasting gluten free mixes I have tried. However, the flour mixture is dense, so I suggest NOT packing the flour into measuring cups. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup.

Also, you can combine Domata brand with this Betty Crocker Bisquick Gluten Free IF you are making cakes, biscuits, pancakes, waffles or anything that you want to rise- BECAUSE..Betty Crocker already has baking soda in it.

I usually use half Domata and half Betty Crocker GF Bisquick.

Here is a link to their website. You can order it here. I have found it at Walmart in my area. 

http://shop.glutenfreely.com/Bisquick-Gluten-Free/dp/B0045KDDU0?gclid=COjIoZmHuLACFWQDQAod9zPN7

                                 TRICKS

One of the other tricks is that I always add one extra egg to any recipe that call for eggs. I do this because of the egg's Coagulation quality.  Basically, the conversion of the liquid egg into a solid, binds together other ingredients. 

Binding together ingredients is essential to gluten free baking as there is no gluten to "bind" the flour to your other ingredients, which is why most gluten free products fall apart when you eat them. The Xanthan Gum is supposed to help with this "binding" process, but I have found that it isn't enough. Adding the egg will assist in this problem.

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

This is taken from my Bon Appetit dessert cookbook.
The original recipe is for Apple-Almond Crisp
 Ingredients topping
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour- I used 1 cup Betty Crocker Gluten Free Bisquick mix and half cup of Domata brand GF flour
 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled salted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup sliced almonds (about 4 1/2 ounces) I used Pecans instead
 Filling
3/4 cup sugar
 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 8 small Granny Smith apples (about 4 1/2 pounds), peeled, halved, cored, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
Preparation topping
Whisk flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend well. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture holds together in small, moist clumps. Mix in almonds; cover and chill until ready to use. DO AHEAD Can be made up to 3 days ahead.
  Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl; whisk to blend well. Mix in apples, then vanilla and almond extracts. Spoon filling into prepared dish. Sprinkle topping over. Bake until apples are tender and topping is golden and crisp, about 1 hour. Cool at least 10 minutes; serve warm.

Gluten Free Strawberry Almond Tart

I wanted a simple, yet delicious, Easter Day Dessert. I found this recipe on Cooking Light's website. I modified it to make it gluten free.


Ingredients

Crust:
1 bag of gluten free Pecan cookies.Or you can use 30 gluten free graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 teaspoons water
Cooking spray

Filling:
2 packages of 5 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Topping:
6 cups small fresh strawberries, hulled and divided
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted. I used a skillet to toast the almonds because it's faster. Or you can toast them in the oven while the crust is baking.

Preparation


1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare crust, place crackers in a food processor; process until crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, butter, and 4 teaspoons water; pulse just until moist. Place cracker mixture in a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan lightly coated with cooking spray, pressing into bottom and up sides of pan to 3/4 inch. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.
3. To prepare filling, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and extracts in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over bottom of tart shell.
4. To prepare topping, place 2 cups strawberries in food processor, and process until smooth. Combine strawberry puree, 2/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook 1 minute. Remove glaze from heat. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
5. Combine the remaining 4 cups strawberries and juice; toss to coat. Arrange berries, bottoms up, in a circular pattern over filling. Spoon half of glaze evenly over berries. Put Tart in the refrigerator for 3 hours to chill.