gluten free cooking

Banana Cream Pie Pleasures

Early spring brings a dearth of fresh fruit.  I find the apples to be less than optimal for pies after about February.  I was looking for something fresh and fruity.  No frozen fruit either; pricey to fill a whole pie and I really try to find things that are seasonal.  No rhubarb yet, just made a shoofly pie… hummn. I had a pie to bake for Joe’s birthday, he loves a pie so what to make, he isn’t a pear fan either. My sister said why not a banana cream pie? Bananas are here and fresh so yes! Besides, 2016 is my year of the pie plus I just love sharing a great pie recipe.  Here goes…

My mom used to make this pie when I was in my thirties; for some reason she never made it for us as kids.  I remember cutting up and setting the banana rounds in the baked pie shell for her.  The contrast of the rich custard, the flaky crust and the fluffy cream with the delicate banana flavor is just so memorable.  And if you can bake a pie crust and make custard this pie is simple.  If you want, buy a crust in a package to bake; that works too.  I assume you can use a box pudding but I highly recommend this custard, straight out of Betty Crocker’s 1978 cookbook.  It is an easy pie to convert to gluten free; just get that pie crust baked fully as it doesn’t go back in the oven.

I only have a couple of pictures and I have to say my pie filling was soft so the pictures do not do this pie justice; I guess I need to make it extra firm for some better shots. Trust me; it taste much better than my pictures hint at.

curry, shepherds pie, banana cream pie 024curry, shepherds pie, banana cream pie 025curry, shepherds pie, banana cream pie 029

Mom’s Banana Cream Pie

Crust:

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

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps 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 prepare the filling.

Filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

½ tsp sea salt

3 cups whole milk or 2 percent, no lower fat than that

4 egg yolks beaten lightly

2 tbsp. butter cut into small cubes.

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large bananas

Topping: 1 cup whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions: Mix the dry ingredients in a 1 ½ qt sauce pan, Add the milk and stir as it heats.  Once it reaches a boil time it for one minute, STIRRING CONSTANTLY.  Then add 1/3 of it to the egg yolks, stir and return all to the pan, bring back to boil and time for one minute stirring constantly.  Add the butter and stir as it melts, then the vanilla, stir.  Pour into a mixing bowl, let cool a bit and then put a film of plastic wrap on the top; press it down onto the custard.  Chill at least an hour before using. Do not use until cold.  I must confess I nearly burnt my custard and actually strained it to get out any lump or browned bits.  It had a bit of a caramelized flavor due to the near disaster but I loved that sugary taste so I will maybe let it get like that next time too.

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.  Prick with a fork evenly every inch so it won’t bubble as it bakes.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 12-18 minutes until the crust is light brown.  Cool at least 15 minutes

Cut peeled bananas into 1/2 inch rounds and cover the bottom of the pie crust with them close together.  Pour the custard over the sliced fruit and smooth the top.

Chill pie 1- 4 hours before slicing and serving cold topped with a big dollop of whipped cream.

Whipped cream: Beat cold whipping cream with an electric mixer until it holds soft peaks; add a quarter cup powdered sugar and ½ tsp. vanilla.  Do not beat any more, just stir in.

I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more then 12 hours after baking for optimal flavor.  The crust will get soggy if too much time passes. Mine was still very good the next day; just not as great as when really fresh.

Note: I froze my egg whites for later use in a cake. No wasting them, that’s for sure!

Brown Rice Flour Mix (Same as King Arthur GF All purpose blend)
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

** Pie filling from Betty Crocker Cook Book, 1978 Edition.

Spring Italian Wedding Soup

My dear friend Cathy’s kids used to call this grass soup when they were little because it is chock full of fresh spinach that melts into this healthy and tasty soup.  I make mine with ground chicken for the tiny meatballs.  You could use ground turkey, veal or beef.  You can make this soup with canned broth; be sure it is gluten free if you have celiac disease like I do, for some odd reason many manufacturers add some (wheat) flour to their broth.  My favorite broth choice is Kitchen Basic, and they also have a low salt broth.  Homemade chicken broth is going to make it more flavorful if you have some around but sometimes we just don’t have time to make fresh broth.  The recipe is my modifications of a soup by Ina Garten, which can be found on foodnetwork.com.

I discovered a new bread crumb by Alieas Love of Artisan Food; gluten free Italian bread crumbs; and it worked perfectly for this recipe. I found them in my local Giant grocery store. They do have dairy and egg in them if you want to know. The store also had panko bread crumbs by this same company; next time I need panko I know what I am getting.

Don’t freak out if you only have one carrot or don’t want as much of any ingredient; relax and make it your way.  Some versions have fresh dill chopped up and added at the end 2-3 tbsp. of it. Next time! stir fry, pan dowdey and crocus 007

Angie’s Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs

1 lb ground chicken

1 large egg

About ½-2/3 cup gf bread crumbs

¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

½ tsp. sea salt

Soup

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium to large yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, unpeeled, sliced into quarter rounds

2 celery stalks diced including the leaves

1 or 2 garlic cloves

½ cup white wine

1 1/2 quarts of gluten free chicken broth

½ cup tiny gf pasta; I found some tiny ring shaped pasta

1 package fresh baby spinach, standard size

½ to 1 tsp. sea salt and some fresh black pepper

Directions: Crack the egg and mix it up well before you dump the rest of your meatball ingredients into a large mixing bowl, stir up with your hands and form into 1 1/4 inch diameter meatballs, 1 and ½ inches maximum.  Place them 1-2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, bigger ones will need a few more minutes. If you feel perfectionistic, turn them half way though the baking, not really that necessary though.

While they bake, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan; I used a two quart one.  Add the diced onion, celery and carrots.  Cook them about 6-8 minutes until soft, add the garlic and cook another minute.  Add the broth and white wine to the soup, stirring frequently; bring to a boil and add the meatballs, reheat, add the pasta, cook until nearly done, add the spinach, cook 1-2 minutes; taste and adjust the salt. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Pour in a bowl.  I topped mine with some more fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Perfect meal when you want to sooth a still slightly iffy tummy.

Kitchen Sink Muffins for Breakfast

This fun and healthy muffin recipe is my own mixture of muffin recipes from Annalise Roberts’s wonderful cookbook: Gluten Free Baking Classics and some morning glory muffins I saw somewhere, maybe King Arthur Flours.  They are breakfast muffins so not that sweet, great texture and totally yummy.  I also love them for snacks. They are healthy; less sugar, more fruit and no sugary topping.  If you want to add extra sweetening use my oatmeal topping from my chocolate chip banana muffin recipe.

Because they lose moisture if they sit around I freeze any I won’t eat in 2 days; I love using a Ziplock freezer bag for this but cool them first.  Eat within a month.kitchen sink muffins and spring flowers 001

kitchen sink muffin 001

Kitchen Sink Muffins

2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

1/2 c granulated sugar or coconut palm sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1 cup finely shredded carrots

1 c finely chopped fresh apples

½ c flaked coconut (I used sweetened)

½ c raisins

½ c walnuts, chopped

2 large eggs beaten

½ c milk, 1 or 2 percent

½ c canola oil

Directions:

Heat oven to 375, placing the rack in middle of oven.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  One batch makes 14-17 muffins.

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or big bowl

Add fruits and nuts; stir to coat them with dry mix

Combine milk and oil, beat in eggs.  Add liquids to big bowl; stir until blended.  Note: If you used coconut palm sugar you will need to add an extra 2-3 tbsp. of milk.

Fill muffin pans 3/4 full.  Bake 20-24 min until golden brown. Do not overbake or they will be dry.  Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack.   Freezes well for up to 3-4 weeks and keeps in fridge (well wrapped) a few days.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

15 Bean Storm Soup

Another stormy day!  It’s time for another hearty one pot meal.  This one is my multi-bean soup with Italian sausage.  I started with a 1.3 lb bag of 4 bean mix and added two kinds of lentil and a bit of a few others.  The thing is, if you have celiac most 16 or 15 bean mixtures for soups contain barley which we are hugely allergic to.  I found a four bean mix out at Echo Hill country store (Berks County) and added some French lentils; maybe ¼ a cup and some red lentils; another ¼ cup plus a ¼ cup of dried garbanzo beans and a sprinkling of dried limas.  You can use what ever blend you like but I like a good mix for a rich thick stew.  (NOTE: this most recent version used a 15 bean blend I found at Giant grocery store that was marked gf.  I did not use the seasoning packet that came with it.)

My soup has Italian sausage but you can leave that out if you want a vegetarian version. I personally love sausage in a bean stew. Gives you lots of meaty flavor and a healthy dose of protein. I am guessing you could use other things like smoky ham chunks or maybe a ham hock? In this latest version I used smoked bratwurst instead of Italian sausage,  good but I really love it with Italian Sausage.

I enjoyed a hot bowl of this pottage with a slice of toasted multigrain gf bread.  It made a full meal without anything else being necessary.   A fresh crunchy salad would go well if you want to round your dining experience out with some greens!

Ten or Fifteen Bean Soup with Sausage

Soak 1 pound 4 oz (typical bag size) of dried mixed beans in filtered water to cover.  Soak it for an hour or try the overnight treatment.  If you use separate types of beans, follow these directions as lentils don’t need a soak.  I set the lentils aside and added them after the soaking as they don’t need the same treatment the other beans need.  Either bring to a boil and let stand an hour or just let stand in the cold water overnight.  I did the quick version.  Be sure to drain them well and rinse before returning the swollen legumes to the rinsed pot.  Cover with fresh filtered water and add a bay leaf.  Cook 1 hour, pour in more water as needed and stir so it doesn’t stick or burn.  Then, add the lentils and cook another hour until the beans are nearly tender.  It is hard to say when beans get done, depends on a number of factors, taste often to check for tenderness. And stir that pot! As they approach that almost done spot start the rest of the dish, get everything chopped up and ready to toss in when the beans have reached the two hour mark.

Chop into dice:

3 sizable carrots

1 large onion

Mince: 2 big garlic cloves

Add the veggies to the pot, stir and cook 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add water if needed.  I like the soup thick but it can’t be solid so add water.

As that cooks, start the sausage.  Sauté one lb Italian sausage: brown in a Teflon pan with a touch of olive oil until top and bottom are browned and sausage is mostly done. Let cool a bit and slice into rounds or chunks, set aside.  In my latest version I used fully cooked smoked bratwurst and so I skipped this step; just cut it into rounds and added it in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Add the following to the soup:

½ a 14 ounce can of spicy diced tomatoes

½ tsp. dried oregano

Sprinkle dried basil

¼ tsp smoked paprika

1 beef bullion cube

½ bunch of kale leaves cut into big shreds; I cut off the bigger stems as they can be tough.

1-2 tsp sea salt

Some fresh ground black pepper

Cook ten minutes, add more water if it gets too thick. Stir occasionally.  Taste and add more spice if you think the soup needs more. Add the sliced sausage or bratwurst and cook five – ten minutes more.  A total cooking time could be from 2.5-3 hours, depending on your beans.  If they have been sitting in the pantry for many months they take longer to cook to a tender texture.

Taste and add more salt/pepper as you see necessary.  Let stand 5-10 minutes before ladling out.  Now that is comfort food that is good for you too!

Originally posted February 2015

 

 

Mongolian Beef Stir Fry: Awesome!

Don’t know why but I’ve been totally craving Chinese food lately.  Quick stir fry meals served over rice, with rice noodles.  With lots of veggies.  With beef, chicken, tuna.  You name I crave it!  And I make it ‘cause there isn’t any gluten free Chinese restaurant within easy reach of my house. So when I saw this recipe for Mongolian stir fried beef I knew I wanted to re-create it.  I confess I made changes.  Yeap; I did.  Honestly, I almost always change recipes some.  Just the way I roll. This time I added lots of veggies and took out the deep frying aspect.  Oh, and I took most of the brown sugar out.  ¾ of a cup of brown sugar is close to insane in a stir fry. Just trying to keep things healthy folks.  lemon blooms and beef with broccoli 009

And it worked.  Yummy meal over rice and no guilt because low in fat, sugar and full of healthy vegetables.  Sure there is beef in there but not that much and it is lean rather than fatty meat. I used beef sirloin but the original recipe off of food.com used flank steak.  Use whatever cut of beef you like, if it is too chewy it will give you a chewy result; this is not a low braise but a fast stir fry.  I used plain sesame oil (not toasted!) but canola or mild olive oil both work well in rapid stir fries.

lemon blooms and beef with broccoli 010

So stop whining about there being no P.F. Changs around here.  You can do this, it’s not that difficult.  You do need a wok if you want to do it half decently. And yes, a gas range works hugely better for woking. I have a big one but my favorite kitchen pan is my baby wok.  Makes up to four servings in it easily and fits on burner a heck of a lot better than my big old wok from years gone by.  You can use a big one but honestly, my baby wok does 99 percent of my stir frying.  If you need to double this recipe, well then maybe you need a full sized wok.  But for 4 or less; small is best! lemon blooms and beef with broccoli 011

You may wonder why I need to make this recipe myself and call it gluten free when there is no naturally occurring gluten in it.  Well, a lot of soy sauces have gluten in them.  And a lot of Chinese restaurants do not prevent cross contamination.  If you have celiac even a tiny amount of gluten is a serious problem.  So I really can’t chance eating food from a Chinese take out place or most restaurants unless I am sure they understand this issue fully and can make truly safe food for me. Annoying for sure as sometimes I do miss eating Chinese take out…. For now though, I am more than satisfied by the authentic flavor of my new fav stir fry dish!

Angie’s Mongolian Beef with Veggies
Serves 3-4

¾ lb of beef round sliced into ¼ inch thick by 1 inch pieces

3-4 tbsp. corn starch

1 tsp. ginger

1 tbsp. oil for stir frying

1 large onion sliced top to bottom into long segments

2 cups or so of raw broccoli florets; make them like 1 inch wide and I cut the lower parts of the stems into 1/8 inch slices

2 carrots, cut on the bias to make long ovals. 1/8 inch thick

2 celery stalks cut on the bias to make long half moon slices; 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick

1 tbsp canola or sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger minced or grated frozen ginger

1 heaping tbsp. brown sugar

1-2 tbsp. gf soy sauce or tamari sauce

3-4 green onions cut into slivers, optional

Directions

Sprinkle the ginger powder over the cornstarch on a sheet of wax paper, stir around. Roll the beef pieces around to coat them well.

Let stand while you cut up the veggies, up to ten minutes.

Heat the cooking oil in a wok to almost smoking hot.  Add the beef.  Cook a couple of minutes on the first side, stir up and cook a couple more minutes.  The heat should be fairly high to cook things fast. You want the meat to get crusty but not hugely overdone.  Remove to a plate; cover to keep warm.

Add another tbsp. of oil to the same pan.  Throw in the cut up onion and carrots.  Stir a minute. Add the celery slices.  Stir another minute. Add the broccoli stems, stir and then throw the rest of the broccoli on top. Add 2-3 tbsp. of water and let steam a minute or two uncovered.  Add the garlic and fresh ginger.  Cook a minute. Return the beef to the pan, dump the brown sugar on top, add the soy sauce.  Add the green onions if you want some, I went without this time but I plan to add them next time I made this yummy meal. Stir a minute or two.  Add more water to create sauce if there isn’t enough.

Serve over brown rice or white rice.

Note, these stir fry times and amounts are flexible.  If you don’t want one of the veggies leave it out or sub in something else.  If you want more soy sauce or more sugar; add more and taste to see how you like it.  I like things a tiny bit crunchy; taste and see if you need to cook another minute or two before you turn off the burner. I find stir frying rather freeform and fun.  It can use what you have available in your fridge and pantry.  I also would like to try this dish made with chicken.  Enjoy!

Original recipe inspiration from food.com.