Butter Poached Eggs and Beet Greens

I know it is the Fourth of July weekend and everyone is eating potato salad and burgers and guzzling booze.  Got that in my plans but this healthy and simple lunch is just the ticket to balance against all those less than healthy meals I plan on consuming. Bonus: it is naturally gluten free and tasty.

Beet greens are underutilized; most people buy beets in a can or if fresh, the beet tops are cut off.  But, if you grow your own maybe you have tried them.  They are full of vitamins and minerals and are crazy healthy (lots of protein, fiber, iron, folate, magnesium and calcium!) – some consider beet greens to be in the top ten of healthy greens:  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=151.  I steam them a few minutes; depends on how much I put in the pan; maybe 5 minutes.  As shown above I love them with butter, salt and pepper: tasty with a subtle beet flavor.  And I still have the beets for use in another meal.  I do love raw beets in a salad; I suggest you try that sometime! I have a new recipe for that; trying this weekend.

To butter poach eggs melt a tbsp. butter in an egg frying pan at medium heat.  This is the Teflon pan I use only for making eggs.  They don’t stick when you don’t share the pan with other cooking.  I slide in each egg.  Then I add 1-2 tbsp. water and sprinkle the eggs with green Tabasco sauce.  It is far milder than the red and I love the way it goes with fried eggs.  Cover the pan with a lid and steam on low for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat and if you are like me; I want my eggs barely runny; so I let them stand a minute. If you want runny take them out after the two minutes.  Butter poaching with a tablespoon or so of water gives you a soft egg, no hard edges and the flavor almost of a poached egg but shaped like a fried egg. Bonus is you have total control because you can see the yolk, even touch it to test for doneness and you can flavor it as soon as the eggs go in the pan or as the eggs cook.  My green hot sauce is my go to topper but there are a host of sauce choices out there like sriracha sauce, Tabasco hot sauce, gf soy sauce, etc. For this posting I tried my eggs with a big sprinkle of fresh feta cheese or minus the feta cheese. I loved them either way. Feta cheese lovers rejoice!

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One of these eggs is a farm egg and one is from the grocery store.  Love farm eggs!

Sprinkle with good quality salt and freshly ground pepper and you have an inexpensive, tasty and healthy protein.  Eggs were out of favor for a long while but I never gave up on them. My dad always said they were good for you and that the lecithin in them counteracted the rich yolks.  Now experts say they are okay to eat within moderation. Go figure!  Regardless, I do love them for a quick satisfying meal at a low cost and they match perfectly with the earthy flavor of beet greens.  Don’t forget a touch of butter and the salt/pepper; this dish really needs it to brighten the greens.  Enjoy!

Mom’s Strawberry Shortcake 2.3 Version

I just have to share this recipe with you again.  It is just a classic and no one I know turns down homemade strawberry shortcake. We had it last Sunday.  I am not sure where I got the recipe…. my gf biscuit version is pretty tasty I have to say.

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This year’s biscuit was so flaky and tasty I could hardly believe it was gf and I am the one who made it!

 

But there is one thing, you gotta make it with the best freaking strawberries you can find.  None of those big firm ones with whitish cores that are shipped in from far away.  You need juicy ripe, scented red berries that can be chopped coarsely and mixed with sugar and served over shortbread.  Gluten free shortcake biscuit.  Yes, it can be made with other than local berries and it will taste great but local fruit make it fantastic!

My mom always made a gorgeous version of strawberry shortcake. When I was a kid she would serve it as the meal.  I have done that and it is kinda cool.  For that I made a huge oval biscuit that lay in my turkey platter with a smaller oval topping biscuit that I split off the big biscuit and buttered the split area before topping with berries and the smaller biscuit.  And more ripe berries.  Then a topping of softly whipped heavy cream.  Oh berry perfection.

Now I bake it in two separate pans but the construction of the final product is the same otherwise.  These pictures are from last June; my daughter snapped them as I put the shortcake together at a family gathering.  It is always a hit even with gf shortbread.  The shortbread I made this past Sunday was so good, I swear it could pass for my old shortbread… Feeds six or four piggie eaters.

Mom’s Strawberry Shortcake, GF2.3

Biscuit dough

1 cup white rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. xanthan gum

6 tbsp cold butter

1 medium egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

2-3 tsp. sugar (optional)

2 tsp. soft butter

Other ingredients:

2 quarts ripe strawberries

½ cup sugar

2-3 tbsp. Karo light syrup

1 cup heavy whipping cream

½ tsp. real vanilla

2-4 tbs. powdered sugar (if you like your cream sweet)

Directions
Heat oven t0 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter until it is small pebbles.  Add the egg and most of the buttermilk.  Mix with a spoon; add rest of buttermilk if you need it.  It should be a bit sticky, don’t over mix; just until dry is blended in.  Spray the inside of an eight inch cake pan and a 6 inch cake pan with cooking spray.  If you don’t have a small pan just use two 8 inch ones.  Pat ¾ of the dough into the 8 inch; make it about ¾ to 1 inch thick and try to smooth the top and side edges a bit.  Put the rest of the dough in the smaller pan and do the same smoothing.  Make that one ½ to ¾ inch thick.  Optional: take 2-3 tsp. of granulated sugar and sprinkle it over top of them. I think it gives a great finish to the shortcake. Bake them about 20 to 25 min; the smaller one should be done in 20 minutes; a golden light brown. Set on a cooling rack for a few minutes.

While it bakes, get the berries ready.  Hull 2 quarts of fresh ripe berries.  Place them in a glass mixing bowl; chop through them a few strokes with a sharp knife.  Add ½ cup sugar and about 2-3 tbsp. Karo light corn syrup to the berries.  Stir well and refrigerate until the shortcake is baked.  You could do this berry preparation up to two hours in advance.  No more or they will start to disintegrate.

Place the fairly hot bigger layer on a large platter, one big enough to hold the shortbread and still have room for a generous overflow of strawberries. Butter lightly if you wish.  Top with several big spoonfuls of berries.  Don’t worry if there is juice in the berry bowl; there should be; melted down sugar and karo syrup with berry juice will give you a delish berry liquid.  Top with the second smaller biscuit and then more berries.   Cut into chunks.  Top with freshly whipped cream; beat a cup of heavy whipping cream until it is softly whipped.  Add ½ tsp. vanilla and ¼ cup sugar if you wish it sweet.  Be sure to pour the berry juice over your shortcake; it soaks in and adds to the strawberry experience.  My dad liked to pour unbeaten cream over his shortcake. My mom usually set out the whipped cream, a jug of cream and some whole milk so you could chose how to finish off your personal shortcake.  I might add that I grew up on a farm so this was raw milk from grass pastured cows; fantastic cream equaling a freaking perfect shortcake topper.  We also grew our own berries; no chemical sprayed on them ever.

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Forgive the paper plate: I was at my mom’s assisted living and I do paper to save on clean up time plus her sink is miniscule!

If there is any left over it makes a great breakfast the next morning…

Originally published in June 2014, again last June and now in late June.  I confess I could not find local berries on Sunday, I used organic ones and only used the ripest berries for this cake. So can you, just set aside any underripe ones as they are not great in a shortcake.

I am thinking blackberries might be good with this shortcake biscuit. Going to try them tonight!

Angie’s GF Traveler Tales

 

Recently I went down to Florida to visit family and friends. After landing I shopped at the local grocery store; leaving with food for cooking at my daughter’s place as well as some cinnamon chex for breakfast and Kind bars for snacking.   My hotel had a full breakfast but the only things I ate from there was milk, juice and yogurt. Hence the box of cinnamon chex….

I baked a birthday cake for my daughter using a box of Pillsbury GF Funfetti cake.  Not too pricy and it made two layers *some gf cake mixes only make one layer. No mixer so I used a floppy big old plastic spoon to beat the cake batter. No cooling racks; placed each layer on a plate. I frosted it with chocolate chocolate chip canned icing.  Turned out amazingly delicious and my humble gf offering was well received by a hungry-for-cake public!trip to kasey 003 Flying 1350 miles to sing happy birthday to my dear child: pricy.  The joyous look on Kasey’s face as we sung: priceless.

I cooked two suppers and two lunches for them in a very not gluten free kitchen (bread, bread crumbs, all purpose flour and cereal everywhere)  My efforts were complete with lots of pan washing and counter wiping and a host of praying for safe gluten free eating.  Prayers answered.  I did not get glutened at her apartment.  I did get a twinge on the plane back after passing a packet of pretzels to my return flight seatmate since I couldn’t eat them and he could.  Take away: don’t even touch those small snack packets; pretzel dust on the outside makes them a hazard!

I went on to The Villages for a couple of days.  My friends there have been known to bake cake but I was knocked out by two things Claire made for me; thin little cloud breads for my lunch sandwiches which I stuffed with Boar’s Head deli meat and cheese and she baked a from scratch gluten free pineapple spice cake with cream cheese icing!  The cloud bread has very few ingredients and is baked on a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. She made the recipe a few days before I got there: froze several of the pieces for my sandwich enjoyment and said she was surprised to find how tasty it was.

As to the cake, Claire bought a 9×14 throw away pan and washed all her cooking stuff carefully before hand.  The cake was excellent, a substantial fruity and nutty treat!  The cloud bread was just like mine if smaller.  She had no trouble in making either item.  I was so impressed that someone would go to this level of effort to make my visit wonderful. I didn’t ask nor would I expect anyone to bake like that for me but she did. What a friend!

They also took me out to The Outback where I enjoyed a lovely gluten free meal of grilled salmon, sautéed veggies and a baked yam. This was a real treat for sure for someone who rarely eats out. Outback is known for its great steaks but I was in the mood for salmon and I was well rewarded with my tasty entree.  They both had steaks and I was a tad envious but my entree choice was no sacrifice; it was delish indeed.

salmon at outbck

My salmon came without the salsa but was well seasoned with lemon pepper.

I then traveled north to another family member’s home up in Gainesville, she eats gluten free for wheat intolerance; no worries there for me and very good eating indeed.  I left with a sandwich supper for my long drive plus a blueberry muffin for a snack and a tummy full of safe food!

Moral of this little story: if you have celiac don’t just stay home this summer. Advise and educate others on how to feed and care for your celiac needs.  If your family and friends are educated they can make your visit safe and very yummy. Oh and a little bit of luck is necessary because gluten is just all over this country!

Rhubarb Frangipane Pie: GF of Course!

 

Another week, another rhubarb pie.  This time I went with almond; a frangipane layer under the rhubarb but it’s quick to make and blends in: you won’t see it  when you bite into this luscious pie.  This is easy to make even though it has several steps.  Keeper recipe!

The GF crust will work for any pie you wish and the sugared topping is a great look and a crunchy sweet treat.  This pie does has several steps but each one is easy.  This was my first try at a two crust pie and I have to say the top crust was very flaky and tasty. I am now wondering why it took me three plus years to attempt a double crust.  Apple pie coming our way this fall with two crusts for sure!

 

Angie’s GF Rhubarb Frangipane Pie

Crust:

2 ¼ c brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

¼ cup sweet rice flour

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

12 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

2 large eggs

4 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions: Spray 9 or 10 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 two equal balls with your hands. Put each on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust balls 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.

Frangipane Filling:

2/3 cup almond meal

1/3 c sugar

6 tbsp. butter at room temp

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 tbsp. rice flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix the almond meal and sugar in your stand mixer on low, add the butter, cream well, use spatula to make sure the butter gets down and fully integrated into the mixture and then add egg and almond extract, mix and add the flour and cinnamon.

Rhubarb filling:

5 cups cut up fresh rhubarb

3 tbsp. tapioca flour

¼ tsp. salt

Zest of one orange (optional)

2 tbsp. sugar

1 or 2 tsp. of milk to brush on for a glaze

Raw sugar to sprinkle on top

——–

In large bowl: place rhubarb, add tapioca flour, salt, plain sugar and orange zest. Stir with spoon to coat.

Assembling the pie:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out one pie crust between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! I use a pie bag my sister gave me; works fantastically with gf crusts. Peel off one side of wax paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.

Spread frangipane filling on the bottom of the crust.  Fill with dry rhubarb mix.  Roll out other pie crust. Place gently on top of pie, crimp around edges. Cut a few vent slits in the top crust. Brush top crust with milk, sprinkle heavily with raw sugar.

Place on baking sheet to catch drips (I have a pie drip pan I love!)  Bake 20 mi, rotate it half way through so the back and front are the same level of golden. Lower heat to 350 degrees.  Bake for 30-40 min until crust is golden and you can see the filling bubbling.  Cool on rack for at least 1-2 hours before serving. rhubarb frangipane pie 001

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

This recipe is a blending of one I found on splendidtable.org with my favorite crust recipe out of Annalise Roberts cookbooks with my own small changes to create a pie to my taste buds happiness.

Strawberry Cheerios…Cheers!

I happen to enjoy the new gluten free Cheerios….haven’t been made ill by them at all, despite all the complaints about them.  My favorite is the honey nut but I also enjoy the apple cinnamon as well.  The other week I tried something new, strawberry Cheerios! I heard they were out, could only find the huge family size so that’s what I came home with. Giant box…bigstrawberrycheeriosI tried them and was not that impressed, seemed a tad weirdly flavored.  But it is a big box and I am a frugal person so I kept eating them for my bedtime snack.  Strangely, I have grown very fond of them.  They are made with strawberry puree and no artificial color or flavor.   A serving has only like 8 grams of sugar which is fairly low in the cereal world these days.

strawberry cheerios

The flavor is subtle, not artificially strawberryish, just faintly fruity.  A nice change of pace from other breakfast cereals traditionally eaten with milk poured over.  I was betting I could enjoy them with yogurt and yes…quite delicious with some plain organic yogurt.

If you see them and enjoy Cheerios I recommend this flavor, did see it last week in a smaller box, LOL.  Well; I am steadily working my way through my family size.  It is now in a Tupperware cereal box to keep it fresh; a good idea with any cereal. Enjoy!