Month: May 2025

Mushroom, Prosciutto, and Tomato Sauce for Rice or Pasta

I combined 2 different recipes, both of which I have made and found this new version to be delightful. I also tested it out on reheated white Jasmine rice; chilled for the express purpose of turning the rice starch into resistant starch which is much healthier than freshly cooked rice. Resistant rice can improve gut health, reduce inflammation and help your blood sugar management. As a person with pre-diabetes I was very interested in this concept. I found that the gently reheated rice didn’t seem to spike my blood sugar as it normally would. Only tried it once so far, definitely will do it again. Good for all folks trying to reduce their consumption of “white starches.”

Anyway, try it because it is delicious and easy to make in a short cook, no fancy ingredients other than the Prosciutto. I bought a half inch thick slice of deli prosciutto and chopped it up into 1/3 inch squares. It tasted very authentic, salty and added that classic Italian ham flavor to my sauce. Sometimes you can find it alredy diced which is convenient but you need to make sure it is gf if you have celiac. I do think the whole slice method had a stronger more authentic flavor than the pre-diced ham. Don’t use precut mushrooms; slice them yourself for a fresher flavor. You can use white button mushrooms if that’s all that you can find. Wild mushrooms, carefully sourced would be fantastic. This is definitely my new favorite Italian sauce. My mouth is watering as I type!

Mushroom, Tomato and Prosciutto Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 lb crimoni mushrooms

1 Tbsp. EVOL

1 Tbsp plus 1 more for the second saute of butter

1/3-1/2 cup finely diced onion

1 good sized garlic clove minced

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice (petite dice is even better if you can find it)

1/2 cup chicken broth (I made it up from jarred concentrate)

1/2 lb prosciutto diced

a couple of grinds of fresh black pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley or 2 tsp. dried parsley (I had dried some myself and it was great)

Directions:

Melt 1 tbsp. butter with olive oil in a saucepan or mini wok. Add mushrooms you have cleaned and sliced slightly thicker than usual. Sautee 3 minutes, stir several times. Remove to a plate. Add in another tbsp. of butter and once melted add the onion. Cook 3-4 minutes; do not let brown. Add minced garlic, cook 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and let heat. Push the veggies to the edges and fill the center with the diced prosciutto. Give it a minute and add the chicken broth. Turn down to where it bubbles gently. Cook 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and cook gently for 2 minutes. Add parsley and stir well, taste and add salt/pepper as needed. Enjoy!

Served over jasmine rice that was made a day or 3 before; reheated before I sauced it

GF Gingersnaps!

I really don’t like the store-bought gf gingersnaps, pretty sad tasting and pricy too. So, I went looking for a likely recipe. I ended up combining from 2 recipes and I include some notes on best ideas for this recipe.

They are thin and crispy with a delightful ginger flavor. Even people who wrinkle their noses as they say “no, I don’t like gingersnaps” will agree to taste one and then they suddenly are lovers of gingersnaps! I think homemade is always tastier. I hope you will agree.

I bake these to make gingersnap crust but if you want them for said purpose make sure they are very crispy and bake them at least 3-6 days in advance or they will be too fresh. Basically, they melt when baked; into one giant cookie crust which isn’t bad but if you want a traditional cookie crumb crust you should bake long before you make the crust.

Notes: You could dip the raw balls of dough in granulated sugar before baking but honestly most of that sugar disappears. I use Bob’s Redmill GF All Purpose Flour Blend. Last time I made it I was a bit more than a half cup of flour short, so I used a bit of a different flour blend by King Arthur. It led my cookies to spread a bit more than I would like so I plan to get a new bag of the correct flour before my next batch. You will need the xanthan gum if you use this Bob Redmill blend. Warning; the flour does contain bean flour but you will never know that when you bite into one of this crisp beauties!

Angie’s Spicy Ginger Snaps

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

1 lg egg, room temp

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups Bob’s Redmill GF All-Purpose Flour blend

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum unless you use a flour blend with it built in

1/4 tsp. salt

2.5 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. ground cloves

Directions: Put all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until well blended. Start oven preheating to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter until fairly smooth; add the egg. beat a bit, add the molasses. I used a stand mixer, but a hand mixer could work. Slowly add to the wet ingredient bowl, mixing as you add. When it is fully blended in it is ready to spoon out. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop portion out cookies onto baking sheets. I did 12 cookies a sheet. Bake for 13-14 minutes. If you are using them for a crust bake them the full 14 minutes. They shouldn’t be super dark though. Let cool 4 minutes on sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Store in a cookie jar. I like to freeze some for later; use a freezer Ziplock bag and consume within 3-5 weeks. Enjoy!

Rhubarb Custard Crumb Pie

This is my favorite rhubarb pie and my go to recipe for a great spring dessert.

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, slimy texture and no ultra sour flavor.  I think this version tastes even better than it did when I made it with wheat-based flour.  This GF crust will work for any pie and the GF crumb topping is perfect for any crumb pie topper.  What I am giving you is my mixture of three recipes with some small modifications over time to create one of my favorite GF pie recipes.  I know it has several steps, but each one is easy, and you can use these crust and crumb recipes for other pies.

I like it because it has a great texture, and the flavor is complex but subtly rhubarby.  It isn’t really soft or all that custardy but more cake-like in texture. It is a game changer of a rhubarb pie. I promise you that!

Angie’s GF Rhubarb Custard Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 1 tbsp brown rice flour mix (recipe for blend at bottom of pie 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 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

——————

Spray a 9-inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. I must confess I forget this step a lot of the time and it doesn’t seem to matter much….

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice. Do not leave out the juice; it is critical to the crust texture and structure!  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape the sticky mess 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.

rhubarb

And make the crumbs while the crust ball chills:

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

Make the fruit Filling:

5 cups cut up fresh rhubarb – place in medium bowl

Mix with dry mix made of

2/3 – 1 c sugar (depends on how sweet you like your pie) I generally go with 2/3 cup

¼ c brown rice flour mix (see below recipe)

½ tsp nutmeg

Sprinkle cinnamon

Rolling out the bottom crust: My sister bought me one of those pie crust plastic bag thingies; has a zipper around the edge.  By OXO: I love it; it works better than wax paper which can get soft and tear as you roll out the crust.  King Arthur Flour sells an inexpensive one on line. I highly recommend you get the OXO version for making scratch pie crust.  Or maybe improvise with a sheet of heavy duty plastic! Strong enough to work with the rolling pin and better than wax paper.pie crust bag

Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or 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 the following wet mix evenly over this mixture: Wet mix: 3 eggs (171 grams) beaten lightly with 1/3 c milk (not skim), and ¼ tsp almond extract.

Sprinkle the top of the pie with the crumb mix; use as much as you like.  I like about 2/3-3/4 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 on the bottom shelf 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 (same as King Arthur’s Basic GF Blend) [Not Measure for Measure or baking mix]
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

This post was originally published in the late spring of 2013.  I revised it somewhat since then.  I have made this pie many times in past years to rave reviews.  One of my friends had it for dessert at my house and said it was the best pie she had ever eaten, gluten free or not!  Spring is rhubarb season.  Go forth and make pie!

Gluten Free Dog Treats…Yummy and Safe for Me!

For a long time, I have debated about feeding my dog wheat dog treats. I used to occasionally buy them and I used to make several kinds of homemade dog cookies. Chesse, my cocker spaniel, loved them all.  Sadly, Chesse has been gone for about 8 years. I now have a treeing cur, a beautiful sweet gir: Daisy who is about 8; got her 3 years ago. She loves treats!

I worried about contaminating my hands and touching my lips which would be not good at all. I also was uncomfortable with baking wheat products in my kitchen. I had to clean up (a lot!) after each time I made wheat based dog cookies last year.  After much thought I decided to change what snacks I fed him as his dog cookies are held in my hand, unlike they dry dog food which I use a scoop to gather the appropriate amount.  Image

Gluten Free Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:
• 2-3/4 to 3 1/2 cups of wheat and gluten free flour (I use a mixture like this: 1 cup sorghum flour, ½ cup cornmeal, 1 cup white or brown rice flour and 2/3 to 1 cup gf old fashioned oatmeal. You can use whatever flours you prefer

1/2 tsp xanthan gum (optional but really need it to hold them together)
• ½ to 3/4 cup of milk, 1-2 percent
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of mild olive oil or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (Optional, I have made it both ways)
• 2 gf stock cubes (any flavor you chose) dissolved in
• 3/4 cup of boiling hot water
• 1/2 cup of grated or finely chopped carrots (1 medium carrot)
• 1 egg

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 F
2. Combine all dry ingredients and add the rest of the ingredients and mix them well either by hand or in a mixer. If it is really sticky add up to ½ cup more of any gf flours you have.
3. Using a large spoon scoop out cookies; approximately 1-2 tbsp.
4. Place onto non-stick baking sheets, smooth the tops with damp fingers and bake for 30 minutes. This recipe usually fills 3 cookie sheets for a total of 38-40 cookies.  I generally leave them in the oven for 30 minutes more after I turn the oven off and crack the door to release some of the heat.Image

Let cool before storing in an airtight container. I like to freeze most of the cookies; leaving out a 4 day supply. The will otherwise spoil before my doggie can eat them.

Now I can serve dog cookies without worrying I will be contaminated while making or handling them. No preservatives and healthy ingredients for your favorite pooch!