italian bread rolls, for real!

a while ago, i finally caved and admitted that the gf flour blend i was routinely using was just plain not available in massachusetts. i was getting it when i went up to maine, at a place called wild flours gluten free market. they were in brunswick. then i heard that their block had a fire and they burned down! now, they are still doing bake sales and farmer's markets (it looks like from their facebook page), but that doesn't help me down here in massachusetts. so, in short, i changed flour brands. AND I AM SO HAPPY I DID!

this stuff is amazing! it's called better batter and i made real, chewy, wonderful italian bread rolls with it :)


italian bread rolls (adapted from back of better batter box)

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 c better batter flour
1/4 c cornmeal
olive oil and course salt

1. preheat oven to 450.
2. cover baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal.
3. using an electric stand mixer, mix together yeast and water and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. add salt and flour and beat on high for 4 minutes.
5. spoon batter onto baking sheet in 1/2 c scoops. smooth over with a spatula or wet hands. brush the tops lightly with olive oil. sprinkle with course salt, if desired.
6. let rise for about 20 minutes.
7. bake for 20-30 minutes and then cool on wire rack.

THIS WAS AWESOME! we made fancy sandwiches with them and just stuffed our faces. they were delicious :)

easter menu

lee and i don't do any religious holidays, but sometimes it is a nice excuse to have a lovely dinner. this year, we barbecued with our upstairs neighbors and had some great food!

marinated tofu kebabs
lamb kebabs
2 different kinds of mint sauce: english mint sauce and yoghurt mint sauce
mushroom and pea risotto
balsamic glazed pearl onions
a spicy green bean and tomato dish with feta cheese

and finally, carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting, served with salted caramel ice cream! again, no pictures, but i am getting notoriously bad at remembering to take photos these days!

carrot cake (makes 1 10-inch cake) adapted from a recipe for torta di carote del veneto from cucina ebraica by joyce goldstein

1/2 c butter (1 stick)
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
2 c gluten free all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
approx. 1 lb. carrots, grated
1/2 c almond meal (i sucessfully substituted cornmeal here this time because one of the neighbors is allergic to almonds...)

1. preheat oven to 350 and grease and line a 10 inch spring form pan
2. in a bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add the eggs, ginger, vanilla extract and lemon zest. mix thoroughly.
3. add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. mix well.
4. fold in carrots and almond meal.
5. pour into prepared cake pan and bake until golden--about 45 minutes. cool, then frost with:

lemon cream cheese frosting

1/4 c butter
1/4 c cream cheese
2 c confectioner's sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. cream together softened butter and cream cheese.
2. add confectioner's sugar, 1/2 c at a time, until all is added and well blended.
3. squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lemon and blend.

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

pineapple gingerbread

wow, was this a delicious recipe i adapted from an applesauce gingerbread recipe in the joy of cooking :) sorry i have no pictures, but hey--i'm back in the saddle with some great posts!

i also have a new and much preferred gluten free flour blend that i'm using: better batter. i was using namaste perfect flour blend (with success), but goodies often had a spongy or stretchy texture to them. the taste was fine, but i wasn't always in love with the texture. this better batter stuff is amazing! i have passed off plenty of baked goodies now with it and friends are feeling sad that i can't eat the things i've made for them because they don't realize it's gluten free. yay!

pineapple gingerbread muffins

1 c crushed pineapple, mostly drained
1/2 c molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c gluten free all-purpose flour
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 c sugar
1/3 c vegetable oil

1. preheat oven to 350. line a muffin tin with liners or grease a 8 x 8 inch pan.
2. with a medium bowl in the microwave, bring crushed pineapple to a boil. add molasses and baking soda. the mixture will be foamy and bubble vigorously. let this cool slightly.
3. sift together gf flour (or regular old ap flour), ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
4. in yet another bowl, beat eggs and sugar together on high speed until thick and pale. gradually beat in the oil.
5. fold in flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the pineapple/molasses mixture in 2 parts.
6. scrape batter into muffin tin or 8 x 8 pan and bake--about 25 minutes for muffins or 45 minutes for cake.

pineapple upside down cake

we had a bbq. i really wanted a tasty and easy dessert to make. then i craved it: pineapple upside down cake. this might be the best pineapple upside down cake i've ever had. there was none leftover from the bbq. i so wish i had taken a picture of them whole, beautiful, unmolded. but alas, they went that fast. i only have this picture of my wonderful slice of heaven.

thank you, the baking beauties, who i have on my list of favorite blogs. they are gluten free and gave me my base recipe here. i adapted a bit...sorry, i don't put mayonnaise in cake...

eat your hearts out, pineapple upside down cake lovers!

pineapple upside down cake
yield: 2 cakes

1 1/2 c white rice flour
3/4 c tapioca starch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
4 eggs
1 1/4 c sugar
2/3 c sour cream
scant 1 c pineapple juice (drained from the can of slices)
2 tsp pineapple liqueur

topping:
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 can sliced pineapple rings
maraschino cherries

1. preheat oven to 350. grease and flour 2 8" cake pans.
2. melt butter. divide evenly between the 2 cake pans.
3. sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. divide between the 2 cakes.
4. top decoratively with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. set aside.
5. mix together dry ingredients.
6. mix eggs, sugar and sour cream until fluffy. pour in dry ingredients, pineapple juice and pineapple liqueur. mix well.
7. pour evenly over the pineapple slices in the prepared cake pans.
8. bake for 25-30 minutes until done. cakes should be lightly golden and should spring back lightly to the touch.
9. remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. remove from pans at this time or they will be stuck forever!

WARNING: you will eat all of this cake! :)

orange poppy seed muffins

i'm behind! i have 2 recipes to post that i think you all will like (and could easily change for your own "normal" eating habits!). this recipe makes about 1 1/2 dozen large muffins. i adapted it from a recipe for lemon poppy seed bread or cake and left the overall quantities the same because i wanted a lot of muffins. well, i got 'em! :)


orange poppy seed muffins (makes 1 1/2 dz.)

1 c orange juice
2/3 c poppy seeds
2 3/4 c namaste perfect flour blend
1/2 c cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/8 tsp salt
1 c spectrum vegan shortening
1 1/3 c packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. mix together oj and poppy seeds in a small bowl.
2. in another bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
3. using a stand mixer (or hand mixer), cream the shortening and the brown sugar. add the eggs one at a time and then vanilla. add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the oj/poppy seed mixture.
4. scoop into muffin pans prepared with liners or lightly oiled. bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. the tops should spring back when gently pressed.

delicious warm, with a tad bit of butter or honey :)

low country boil

hey y'all!

well, there are many things i disliked about living in georgia, but low country boil ain't one of 'em. here's a good description of what low country boil is. basically, it's a big pot of shrimp (sometimes crab, as well), new potatoes, corn on the cob, and sausage boiled together with old bay. mine is a little bit of a fancier version :)


ann's low country boil--courtesy of my 9 month stay in savannah, georgia

serves 2
1 lb shrimp, heads off and deveined, but shells on
1 lb yukon gold potatoes
1 buffalo or andouille flavored chicken sausage
2 tbsp old bay seasoning
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp paprika
3 tbsp butter

1. cut potatoes into about 1 inch pieces. throw in a pot with cold water and plenty of salt. bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until potatoes are starting to get soft.
2. throw shrimp into the pot and sausage. cook until done. if using frozen shrimp, which we do up here in the frozen north, it will take about 6 minutes. then your potatoes will be perfectly done!
3. drain. put shrimp and potatoes back into pot with the butter. keep the heat on low. melt butter and add nutmeg, dill and paprika as well. coat everything real well.
4. serve hot, with a nice bit of corn bread on the side :)

at my house, the sausage is not boiled in the pot. lee cooks it on the side. i am not sausage friendly, so i don't want it touching my food. so i take out my portion of shrimp and potatoes, and then lee throws his sausage into the pot and coats it nicely with everything else. he also drastically prefers the buffalo sausage to andouille. the church's page above says they use polish sausage, but i'm pretty sure the places i saw it on the menu it was usually andouille. you can use whatever sausage you want to! (oh, and a note here, low country boil does not work with sweet potatoes. we tried that when we were out of potatoes, but it was unsuccessful...)

drink with plenty of beer!


ann's gluten free cornbread

1 c cornmeal
1 c white rice flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 c sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
3/4 c plain soymilk
1/4 c canola oil
1 tbsp honey

1. mix together dry ingredients. add wet ingredients and stir to combine.
2. pour into muffin cups or 8 x 8 baking pan. put into 400 degree oven.
3. muffins will take about 20-25 minutes to bake. bread will take closer to 45 minutes.

sometimes, i add chili spices to the muffins if i'm having them with something like low country boil. either way, be sure to serve with plenty of butter :) or they make a nice breakfast, too, with plenty of jam!

sugary peanut butter cookies :)

this is a fantastic recipe for peanut butter cookies, gluten free or not. in the past, i have disliked peanut butter cookies. i think it was a combination of the texture and something that i did not like about the smell of baked peanut butter. but these are fantastic, and i will make them again. maybe because they are crunchy sugary! woo hoo! i made mine with peanut butter and company's dark chocolate dreams peanut butter.


gluten free peanut butter cookies

1 c creamy peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

1. preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. mix peanut butter and sugar until well blended. then add the rest of the ingredients.
3. take about 1 tbsp of the dough and roll into a ball. if desired, roll in granulated sugar (i did not do this--cookies are very sugary on their own.)
4. press fork pattern in tops of cookies. bake for about 12 minutes.
5. cool for 5 minutes before removing cookies from pan onto wire rack.

mmm... i love warm, toasty breads for breakfast!

so i've made a new recipe, something i've dubbed tropical bread. and it's perfect with my mango jam!


ann's tropical bread

3/4 c sorghum flour
3/4 c brown rice flour
3/4 c blanched almond slices, toasted
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 egg
1/2 c pineapple juice
1/4 c oil
2 tsp vanilla

1. mix together dry ingredients (flours down to cinnamon). whisk together to combine thoroughly.
2. mix together wet ingredients. blend wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
3. pour into a well-greased bread pan and bake at 350 for 50 minutes (or up to an hour, depending on your oven).
4. eat!

if you are not gluten free, you can make this with 1 1/2 c regular white flour, omit the xanthan gum, and you may need to increase the pineapple juice to make a loose batter.

cute 'n tasty li'l muffins

this recipe was on the back of the bob's red mill teff flour. i thought i'd give it a try. teff is the staple grain of ethiopia and is used to make traditional injera. i love ethiopian food, but i have never had injera made this way. i've been told that what you usually get in restaurants is made of a barley mixture, better suited to american tastes, apparently. but the next time i have ethiopian food, i will request teff injera :) this is my first cruise with teff and it is delicious! you could probably substitute the brown rice flour for all-purpose flour, as well. but these muffins have a unique and wonderful taste as is!


teff muffins

1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c teff flour
3/4 c brown rice flour
1/2 c arrowroot, potato, or tapioca starch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg (the original recipe used cinnamon instead)
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 c olive oil
2/3 c water
1/2 c chopped hazelnuts

1. preheat oven to 400. grease or line muffin tin.
2. combine sugar, flours, arrowroot (or starch of choice), baking powder, nutmeg and salt.
3. mix eggs, oil and water together. add to flour mixture and combine quickly. stir in nuts.
4. fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full and bake for 25 minutes.

EAT! i like them warm and split in half with either butter or strawberry jam :)

5-spice molasses cookies

mmm... i'm sharing this recipe today on my sick-day home from work :( but the cookies were delicious! thanks to lee's mom for sharing a ginger molasses recipe that worked great to convert to gluten free, 5-spice cookies! sorry for the lack of photograph, but i either mailed the cookies away or ate them. they are long gone--but the lucky recipients of them (my nieces and kara--the purchaser of the great 5-spice) will enjoy them, i hope. even if they arrive via usps in a million pieces...

5-spice molasses cookies

3/4 cup vegan shortening (or softened butter or margarine)
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp high quality chinese 5-spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup gluten free flour mix of your choosing (or regular all-purpose flour)
1 tsp xanthan gum IF you are not using a GF flour mix that already has it. OMIT for regular white, all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar

1. preheat oven to 350.
2. in a large bowl, beat shortening or butter on high speed for about 30 seconds.
3. add brown sugar, 5-spice, and baking soda. beat until combined. beat in egg and molasses.
4. add flour (and xanthan gum if using)--beat in as much as you can with the mixer. then add any remaining flour by hand if necessary.
5. shape dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls. if you are using gluten free flour, you may need to refrigerate the dough for 5 minutes before doing this. roll in white sugar to coat.
6. bake on a parchment covered baking pan (for GF cookies) or an ungreased baking sheet or baking stone. bake for about 10 minutes, until puffy and lightly browned. let stand about 2 minutes before attempting to remove from baking sheet.

new year, new 90-day challenge

i never make new year's resolutions. but this year, i was inspired by many things (including julia child!) and also thinking more about my health and how i can make 2010 the year that i finally feel like i think a normal person feels like. so this year, i have a resolution--and i think it will be easy to fulfill because it only requires being diligent for 90 days.

i have resolved to make virtually EVERYTHING i eat homemade until march 31, 2010.

EVERYTHING includes:
bread
pasta sauces
pasta (when possible)
yoghurt (for lee, not me--i hate yoghurt)
bbq sauce
any pastries, sweets, etc.
some alcohol, such as hard cider

EVERYTHING does not include:
things that are not easy to make when one has a full-time job, such as:
tortillas
crackers
other alcohol, such as beer (because i do not know how to make gf beer)
cheese
butter
soymilk

i think you get the picture.

i will try to get as much as i can locally and/or organically, but i already do, so that is not the focus of this project. this project is meant to inspire me and prove that living without wheat is a wonderful thing. when i was a chef, even though i worked in a kitchen all day, i still made almost everything homemade. every week, i made bread, yoghurt, granola, cookies and snacks for our lunches, you name it. i'd like to get back to that. i do not need to eat out as much as i have started to. i do not need (nor do i really like) pre-made mixes. it's about taking time to prepare everything i eat, and making it WITH LOVE :)

obviously, if friends want to go out, i will go out for a drink of wine (or what have you), but i will not eat food out. also, if friends want to have us over for dinner, we will do that as well. but our friends will also have to make the dinner from scratch--NOTE: this is not a problem at all with our friends. whenever we have dinner together, we all cook together anyway. this will not be an undue hardship.

so to start the year off right, i made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. i modified a recipe from here which apparently came from a book called The Gluten Free Kitchen by roben ryberg. here it is:


gluten free cinnamon rolls (TO DIE FOR)

2 tbsp vegan shortening
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup room temperature vanilla soymilk
1 packet yeast
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup namaste all-purose gluten free flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup roasted and crushed hazelnuts

glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk, to taste to make spreadable or drippable glaze

1. preheat oven to 375.
2. cream sugar and shortening.
3. dissolve yeast in milk. stir well and add to sugar mixture.
4. add rest of ingredients and mix well until there are no lumps.
5. grease 2 large pieces of wax paper with some oil. place dough on one piece and lightly sugar the top, then lay the other piece on top and roll out dough to desired thickness between the two sheets. i made mine about 13 inches by 12 inches.
6. remove the top piece of wax paper. spread filling on the dough. leave about 1/4 inch on both the top and bottom of the dough--some of the filling will squeeze out as you roll. also leave a couple of inches on the one side. you want the dough to stick on the one side so your rolls will close.
7. using the bottom piece of wax paper, slowly roll the dough into a jelly roll shape. cut into 8-10 pieces. put pieces into a greased pie plate. bake for about 20-25 minutes.
8. while the rolls are baking, make glaze. drizzle glaze over warm rolls before serving.

the next time i make these, i will not use nuts. the hazelnuts tasted fabulous, but they pierced through the dough in a couple of places, which made the rolls difficult to cut and transfer to the pie plate. and i really don't think the rolls needed them. i'm kind of a purist when it comes to cinnamon rolls.

these rolls are delicious and they made my year! 2010 is off to a great start. i have been in heaven since consuming them :) ta da!

good food to eat :)

i've been cooking up a storm recently--cookies that i can eat, good dinners, crepes (which is one of my favorite foods!), and wanted to share some pictures.

breakfast crepes: at first, the pan was too hot and they were coming out thick and a little gluey. but once we learned how to work with a batter that had xanthan gum in it, this was the result. what a beautiful crepe!


i made these cookies, which were supposed to be macaroons, the other night for a cookie exchange. the reason they're not really macaroons is because i had almond paste on hand and didn't want to make the appropriate amount of almond flower. the almond paste was for a different cookie that i wanted to make and then couldn't get all the ingredients. but it worked well here! lee calls these meringueroons, because they are more like almond flavored meringues.

so delicious... here's the recipe:

1 7oz. tube almond paste, crumbled well (i did this in a food processor)
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
pinch of salt

1. beat egg whites until you have medium stiff peaks.
2. add the salt and almond extract and beat in quickly. continue beating and slowly add sugar.
3. fold in the almond paste.
4. chill for about 15 minutes.
5. fill a pastry bag and using a standard round tip, pipe cookies onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. bake at 325 for about 20 minutes, or until set and lightly browned.

(alternatively, you could use 2 cups of almond flour and would likely get a cookie of a different consistency. but i am in love with these little cuties! look at this one--this piping mistake looks like africa!)

these cookies are the same recipe for the chocolate chip cookies i made a while back (i made the modifications I said I would--rice flour & honey if you read it again). just minus the chips, flattened and with blueberry jam in the center. i can't lie. i prefer the chocolate chip variety. the cookie isn't very sweet, so the chocolate seems to help it out.


and a 5-star dinner here! tofu marsala with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. the tofu was breaded and cooked in a mix of brown rice flour and cornmeal. it was perfect. and the gravy was thicked with a bit of all-purpose gluten free flour and it also game out delectably. sigh!


happy cooking to all you out there as well :)

and also a new diet...

my friends know me as a baker :) in fact, i might be known in some circles for my delicious vegan cupcakes. unfortunately, a fly has gotten stuck and is gooping up my proverbial batter.

when i got my new job here in boston, i got new health insurance. and then i decided to change doctors because i was so damn tired of the crappy service i got at my local health center. i had a great np there, but it didn't matter. i usually waited for her for 2 hours--even though i had an appointment. and the rest of the staff at the place were deplorable! so at the first visit with my new doctor, she looked through my past medical records. by the way, she was only looking through what i've had done since moving to boston. that's medical records for only 3 1/2 years. and guess what? IT'S 57 PAGES LONG! you might say i've had some issues.

anyway, as she was looking at this and looking at all the tests, symptoms, and mumbo-jumbo that's been going on in my life, she says, "i think you have a food allergy. i'm sending you to see our nutritionist."

fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago, after multiple lab tests and elimination diets, i have discovered that i have ncgs, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. this basically means i can no longer have gluten which is found in: wheat, barley, rye, spelt, triticale, and commercial oats (due to cross-contamination). i've probably left something out. but now my eating world, and my baking world, has been shaken upside down.

now, i may be able to re-introduce some wheat gluten in the future, in small amounts. because i don't have celiac disease, i may be able to eat some wheat as long as i feel ok. we'll see. for now, i'm on a pretty strict diet--or at least i'm trying to be.

now, back to baking. i made some gluten free cupcakes for halloween that were delicious! but i don't have pictures of them. they were made from sorghum flour, white rice flour, and some cornmeal and i made them marbled vanilla and chocolate (with cocoa powder added to about 1/3 of the batter). no one knew they were gluten free! they just asked about the texture and i said i was experimenting with some cornmeal in the batter. YAY!

but today i was home from work (i love having mondays off), and decided to make some cookies. here you go...

gluten free, dairy free, egg free...


chocolate chip cookie crisps (i heavily adapted a wheat-free cookie recipe from Great Good Desserts Naturally by Fran Costigan)

1 c sorghum flour
3/4 c cashews, toasted and cooled
1/2 c cornmeal
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp canola oil
1/8 c honey
1/8 c white sugar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
4 tbsp vanilla almond milk
vegan chocolate chips

1. put the cornmeal in a food processor and pulse. this can make it a little finer to take the toothy grain down a bit in the cookie. place in a large mixing bowl.
2. put the cashews in the processor and create a fine meal or flour. add to the cornmeal. then add the sorghum flour, salt, and spices. mix well.
3. in a small bowl, mix together canola oil, honey, sugar, vinegar, and extracts. add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. you should be able to form little walnut-sized balls of dough that stick together nicely, but aren't too sticky. if the mixture is a little dry, add the almond milk, one tablespoon at a time. then add chocolate chips.
4. place the balls on a baking stone (or a cookie sheet with parchment). flatten and bake for about 12-13 minutes at 350 degrees.

the next time i make them, i will use 1/4 c of honey, not split honey/sugar. but i ran out of honey half way through! i would also use rice flour rather than cornmeal and almonds rather than cashews. the cornmeal is a texture thing, the almonds are a taste thing. but i have to say that i successfully made a chewy and yummy cookie without any gluten! moderate improvements and i might have something perfectly delicious :)