Month: May 2015

Green Pea Soup: Spring in a Spoonful!

Spring is a great time for a light flavorful soup.  One that celebrates healthy eating: this is food code for fresh vegetables.  Fresh pea soup sounded good but I couldn’t find a recipe for a creamy pea soup, looked at a few veggie soups and combined them into this easy recipe.  I used frozen peas; fresh ones are hard to find and pricy.

Tips: You need to blend this up – blender or food processor.  You might want to put a kitchen towel over the blender in case of flying hot soup! Don’t boil it once you add the half and half; if you do it will surely curdle.  I used homemade chicken broth – use a good quality broth if you can’t make your own.

The flavor is not just of the peas; you have the other veggies and the broth not to mention the butter and half/half.  It is not too thick or too rich.  As Goldilocks said “just right.”  It is a lovely springy shade of bright green and would make a perfect first course for a dinner party or just for your family.  My mom loves a bowl of soup for supper and she adored this one. Healthy, quick to make and packed with flavor: that’s what I want these days in a soup.  Did I mention how delicious it is?  Did now!

I didn’t take many pictures; so hard to take a shot of a hot pot of soup; steamy heat equals fuzzy pictures.  Plus I wasn’t really thinking blog post.  I was just making soup for my mom….

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Spring Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 medium onion

1 celery stalk

2 cups frozen peas: ½ cup peas and rest (see below)

1.5 tbsp. butter

3 cups chicken broth

1 ½ cups peas (rest of 2 cups)

½ cup half and half

1.5 tbsp. butter

4 tsp. gluten free flour blend; I used my favorite brown rice/potato starch/tapioca mix (See my pie crust recipe for the blend or use King Arthur’s blend; same thing.)

Directions

Cut the onion into small dice, same for celery.  Heat a medium saucepan: 1/5-2 qt size, add 1.5 tbsp. butter. Add onion, celery and cook 3 minutes.  Add first measure of peas.  Stir and cook 1 minute.  Add broth.  Cook 15 minutes.  Add rest of peas.  Cook 3 minutes.  Let cool slightly, puree in blender in 2 batches, keep lid on tight, can cover with kitchen towel in case of liquid escapage.  Return to sauce pan while you make the rue.

Heat second amount of butter in a small sauce pan and add flour when it is melted.  Stir and cook a minute, add ½ tsp salt and a sprinkle of white pepper.  Add the half and half, stir well until lumps are gone.  Add a ladle of soup to it and stir until fully blended.  Add back to the rest of the soup. Heat stirring constantly until hot but not bubbling. Do NOT boil! You can thin it with more broth or water if it is too thick. Serve hot and enjoy the flavor of spring in your soup spoon.

Rhubarb Crumb Pie…A Spring Treat

Rhubarb is getting plentiful so it can be a good choice for your first gluten free pie recipe.  You can buy it fresh at your local farmer’s market.  The Hellertown Farmers Market opened today; up at their new location; the field right next to the Hellertown Area Library.  I bet there was some rhubarb to be had! They are there every Sunday until November from 9 am to 1 pm. There is free off street parking available.  Get there early before all the good stuff is sold!

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This is an easy pie even though it has several steps.  It is different from the usual rhubarb pie because the texture is a bit closer to a crumb cake, no wet, faintly slimy texture and no ultra sour flavor.  I think this new version tastes as good as it did when I made it with wheat based flour.

This GF crust will work for any pie you wish and the GF crumb topping is great for any crumb pie topper.  I store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; keeps a few weeks.  What I am giving you is my mixture of three recipes with some small modifications over time – it was my first GF pie recipe, from nearly two years ago.  I know it has several steps but each one is easy and you can use these crust and crumb recipes for other pies.

Yes, this is a re-run post but it is so good that I knew some of you who are new to my blog might want to see it. Bake and enjoy!

Angie’s GF Rhubarb Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 large egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you chop the rhubarb into ½ inch chunks.

Filling:

44 to 4.5 cups cut up fresh rhubarb – place in medium bowl

Mix with

2/3 – 1 c sugar (as much as you like; I use the lesser amount)

¼ c brown rice flour mix (see below recipe)

½ tsp nutmeg

Sprinkle – up to 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Roll out pie crust between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with dry rhubarb mix.  Pour evenly over this mixture:  3 eggs beaten lightly with 1/3 c milk (not skim), and ¼ tsp almond extract.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like.  I like about 2/3 of the mixture.  Up to your personal taste… It sinks into the rhubarb and wet mixture to create an almost cake like texture and the crumb crust adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 55-60 minutes until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  Cool at least 2 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour