Cranberry Orange Muffins for Beginners

Gluten free baking can be fraught.  You put all your energy and a lot of expensive ingredients into a baked good that can turn out like a lead brick. I just did that with a lemon pound cake.  Yeap; it was very bricklike.  So I wanted to share a new recipe that I feel is pretty fool proof.   Cranberry nut muffins….muffin mania strike again!

I won’t go far from my best recipes to make these treats. This is a riff on a 2015 blueberry muffin post which was my riff on a muffin recipe out of Annalise Roberts’ cookbook; Gluten-Free Baking Classics. Her gf quick breads are delicious and we enjoy them often. I love that they seem foolproof if you follow the basic format carefully.  I have made many variations and they all turn out great.  So I recommend them to those just learning to bake gluten free. You can do these muffins, I promise, even if you are totally new to baking gluten free.

Never been a big fan of cranberries until last winter when I decided to experiment with them and found that they work very well with a variety of fruits/nuts for muffins, tarts, pies and crisps.  The cranberries brighten the flavor and add a lovely rosy color.  Do look beyond your prejudices to their sharp flavor and give them a try.  I am so glad I did.

These muffins did not disappoint: delicate texture yet slightly crunchy outside with a great cranberry orange flavor and just enough sugar for me.  The streusel topping adds a cinnamon flavor and insures that they look straight from the bakery. I made a 3×5 mini loaf as well as muffins and it was delightful sliced thick and served with a cup of tea.  I baked it a bit longer; 35-40 minutes should do it.

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There are walnuts in there to so you get some really great nutrients from the fruit and nuts. I swap the white sugar I used to use for coconut palm sugar which is very low as far as raising blood sugar.  Not much guilt in eating one of these treats! Note: You need a little extra milk if you use the coconut palm sugar; at least two extra tbsp. maybe three.

Cranberry Nut Muffins

2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

2/3 cup granulated sugar or coconut palm sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. xanthan gum

¼ tsp. salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

grated zest of one orange

1 1/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

2 large eggs

½ cup (plus 2 tbsp. milk if you use coconut palm sugar,) 1 or 2 percent

½ cup canola oil

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Topping: Mix the following in a bowl, make sure the butter is in tiny pebbles; use your fingertips to blend.

½ cup rolled oats                    1½ tbsp. butter

¼ cup brown sugar                 ¼ tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. almond meal

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Directions: Heat your oven to 375 degrees, placing the rack in middle of oven.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  One batch makes 12-16 muffins.  I got 16 when I made them yesterday.

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or big bowl Add fruit and walnuts; stir to coat them with dry mix.  Combine milk and oil.  Beat in eggs, add vanilla.  Add liquids to big bowl; stir just until blended.  It is a very thick batter.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full.  I use a big serving spoon and fill it about half way to dump in each muffin space. Sprinkle the top with the topping. Press it in a bit so it won’t flake off after baking. Bake 21-23 min until golden brown. Do not over bake or they will taste dry.  Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack.  Keeps in fridge (well wrapped) or an airtight cookie jar for 2-3 days. It is smart to freeze any you won’t eat in two days time; a zip lock freezer bag works great.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix 

(This mix is the same as King Arthur’s basic gf blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

 

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.

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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.

Luscious Lemon Tart…A True Classic

 

Who doesn’t love a luscious fruit tart? But it’s the middle of winter.  What can you make that is fresh…seasonal?  2016 is my big pie year after all.  Gotta come up with something good.

How about a classic lemon tart? Lemons are in season, in fact, I have some fresh homegrown Meyer lemons my brother sent me from Texas.  And a couple off my man’s little lemon bush he grows in a pot, it is in his kitchen keeping warm for the winter.  Sweet!

Can’t think why it took me this long to make this wonderful yet very traditional lemon tart.  The recipe is fairly simple although you can’t step away from the stove while you cook the filling.  You must hang there and keep stirring or you are gonna have scrambled lemon eggs!  The crust is easy as they come; mix in mixer bowl and press into the pan, bake.  Done. Bam!

I am sure it would be just as tasty with the lemons from the grocery store but I loved being able to make a treat out of homegrown lemons.  This can’t be made with canned or bottled lemon juice; got to be fresh real lemons. I used the lesser amount of sugar and found it plenty sweet. And it is a great choice for anyone; use the crust you prefer, gluten free or not. Sure you could buy one similar to it at a bakery but this would surely wow your family when you say, “I made it myself!”

Some photos of the tart making process. I forgot to take one of the finished whole filled tart and there isn’t much left of it…so that ship has sailed… lemon tart 001

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Classic Lemon Tart

1 pre-baked cookie crust tart shell (recipe at bottom of post) baked in removable bottom round pan.

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2/3-3/4 cup sugar

4 large eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

½ tsp. lemon extract

½ cup butter cut into 4 chunks.

Directions; combine lemon juice, sugar, eggs, yolks in a medium saucepan and cook over medium low heat until thickened.  Stir constantly, don’t step away for even a moment.  When it thickly coats a spoon it should be done, do not let it boil.  The stirring process takes about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the butter chunks, stir them a few moments and add the lemon rind and extract.  Stir the filling until butter melts.  Pour into a small mixing bowl and cover the surface of the filling with plastic wrap pressed right onto it.  Refrigerate until room temperature; 10-15 minutes.

Pour filling into cooled tart shell.  Refrigerate several hours until well chilled. Remove from tart pan and slice.  Recipe is from my new favorite source: Annalise Roberts latest cookbook, GF Baking Classics, The Heirloom Collection. If you love home baking and are gluten free it is a must purchase.

I like to serve it with a healthy dollop of Stonybrook Farm’s low fat organic yogurt.  The tangy fresh flavor of this topnotch yogurt makes a perfect contrast with the sweet lemon filling.  I served it like that to my mom and she thought it was some kind of special whipped cream.  It is that rich tasting even though it is low fat.  I can’t say enough about this yogurt.  I love it on other dessert treats: guilt free and surprisingly yummy. Great to cook with and to enjoy for a snack.

Crust

1 cup brown rice flour mix

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. xanthan gum

5 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, in 5 chunks

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½-1 tsp. water

Mix the dry ingredients in a stand mixer, cut in the butter by mixing it at a med low speed until crumbly.  Add vanilla and mix well.  If it is really dry looking add the tsp. of water.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of your tart shell as evenly as you can make it. I suggest you spray the pan first with cooking spray and sprinkle it with rice flour. Do not press the dough in too hard or you will have a tough time digging out slices….

For this recipe I use a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.   I think any low pie pan or tart pan will work.  Bake it at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Brown Rice Flour Mix  Identical to King Arthur’s gf blend.
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

 

Soft GF Pretzel Success Story

Something I had missed desperately was soft pretzels.  Just not to be found gluten free, at least not in my geographic area.  Maybe some frozen ones out there but I haven’t come across them.  Plus you know me, I Love to bake and prefer homemade to a bought baked good. So when I saw a soft pretzel picture in an email from King Arthur Flour I knew I had to give them a try. pretzels 011

The dough was very easy to make, dump and mix.  pretzels 006I did only a half batch because there is just me to eat them and I didn’t want a huge bag of pretzels in my freezer.  Rolling them out was a bit tricky but very do-able.  I sprinkled the dough with more flour and soon my pretzels were ready for their baths!  Yes – you read that right.  Pretzels get a bath in a special combination; this one was boiling water with baking soda and sugar added.  You drop them in one at a time and they lay on the bottom of the pot for 2-3 seconds before slowly rising to the water’s surface. Once they reach the surface you can scoop them up.  I have a flat wide spoon covered with small holes which is just perfect for pretzel scooping.  They get firm and less fragile in that 5 second bath…just lay each on the baking sheet.  pretzels 007If you want them with salt, sprinkle it on. I happened to have some actual pretzel salt; fat white crystals. Just sprinkle and bake about 18 minutes.  pretzels 009If you want cinnamon sugar leave them naked and when they come out of the oven brush each pretzel with melted butter and then with cinnamon sugar.

The recipe can be found at http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free-soft-pretzels-recipe#

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The flavor and texture are great especially eaten as soon as they are cooled enough to handle.  Read pretty hot for me! I adored the cinnamon sugar and enjoyed the salted ones. If you want them soft, bake them the minimum time; check a minute early and pull then if they are to your liking.  pretzels 012

They do freeze well and when you warm them up in the microwave the pretzels are fairly close to how they were fresh.

Just do it: make them this weekend; you know you have been dreaming of a gluten free soft pretzel for years now……

Cherry Kefir Quick Smoothie

Sometimes I want a healthy snack that is in a drink format.  Especially if I am in a rush I can drink a glass of something while I change clothes, feed the cats, put out the garbage and then run out the door to my second job.  So a liquid snack is welcome.  I don’t want to drink ensure; not even sure it is safe for me so I thought of kefir. pots 003

I make my own kefir, a fermented beverage that is usually made with milk although you can use coconut water or even plain water, I think, in creating it. It is chock full of healthy probiotics that everyone could use in making a healthy environment in your gut, especially we celiacs. You can buy kefir at the grocery store in a bottle; a bit pricier than making your own.  They sell fancy flavors of kefir.

But my plain kefir can be boring after a while. I like to mix it with fruit juice like pineapple juice.  Then, the other day I had a brain storm and took some Ocean Spray Cherry Juice Cocktail (about 4 ounces) and mixed it in my blender with a banana, 2-3 ice cubes and some of my kefir (about 4 ounces); magically transforming the bland kefir into a fancy cherry smoothie.  cherry kefir and winter wonderland 001The resulting tall cold glass of pink yummy stuff was so much more healthy than soda or Gatorade and as quick to make as most smoothies.  The cherry juice drink has 55 calories for 4 ounces and your kefir’s calories will depend on what kind of milk you made it from.  The banana’s calories depends on it’s size; not much regardless. No added sugar by me either. Regardless, it is healthy, tasty and a great change of pace.  Try one made with your favorite juice beverage.  Let me know of any good combos you create!