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

Spring Into Eating Safely…Let Me Rant a Little First!

Okay, call this my spring bitch rant.  Need to freak safely and this blog is my vent place! First, let me say that I am great being gluten free.  But, I am tired of justifying to people I barely know as to why I can’t eat gluten.  I am very tired of friends and even family saying words that clearly imply that I might sometimes choose to eat things that contain gluten, say a slice of birthday cake or a tasty looking donut.  That just makes me nearly crazy.  Because that idea is nuts to someone with celiac; that you can just eat a slice of regular cake because you want it.  That is nuts.  If you have celiac it is a serious, life threatening allergy, not some diet choice.  Eating gluten can give any combination of up to 200 symptoms. None of them are fun or worth having just for a few bites of dessert.

My reactions include burning pain in the area of my small intestine.  I get extremely tired, to the point of being unable to function. My head aches and I can do nothing but lie down for a long time, generally several hours. It is sort of like a stomach flu and generally is unmistakably from accidental consumption of gluten. Other people with celiac may have different symptoms than me, some terrible and some rather mild.  There is a wide range of how severe the symptoms are of someone with celiac.  But even without any noticeable symptoms anyone with celiac who eats gluten (wheat, rye or barley) is damaging their small intestine in a serious and lasting way.  That exposure to gluten can lead to malnutrition, leaky gut, cancer and a few other diseases.  Celiac is serious business, not to be ignored or made light of.  It totally pisses me off when someone makes light of my disease.

It used to annoy me when I went to a function and couldn’t eat anything.  Two years ago I was at a church gathering with a 40 foot long table of desserts and not one single one that I could eat safely.  I had a glass of water.  That was all that was okay for me.  These days there is often something safe I can eat.  Sometimes people serve a vegetable tray or some cubed cheese.  I always hope they will keep the crackers on a separate plate and get a dip that is marked gluten free.  I was at a pastoral installation last week and there were two kinds of gluten free cake and gluten free rolls for sandwiches as well as a ton of fresh fruit and trays of raw veggies that I could enjoy.  What a difference! I asked and discovered that someone in the congregation was celiac so they knew to serve some safe foods for those of us who cannot consume gluten.

It should be known that I really am glad to be eating safe for me.  I feel so much better.  I was amazed at how great my tummy felt about two weeks after I was totally gluten free in my diet.  And that continues to this day.  It’s wonderful to feel healthy.  It was very difficult to be happy with a constantly painful gut.  Now, 2 ¼ years later I have found many good recipes, many tasty ways to eat safely.  There is not huge sacrifice in always eating gluten free.  Getting that gf baking thing down these days feels fantastic. My brownies are crazy good.  I bake muffins far better than my old gluten filled ones.  The fennel and golden raisin bread I recently made was amazing, my sister is still raving about the flavor and aroma.  She eats wheat but she loves my Christmas cookies, said so the other day; that they were the best this past holiday season. fennel italian bread 012turkey meatballs, cranberry blue muffins 004shortbread cookie 001xmas cookies 006

So please, do not pity me. I don’t want or need it.  Quite the opposite: you can envy my perfect brownies or my lovely lemon almond cake or my best ever chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Or all the entrees and sides I now make safely with a variety of starches or flours that don’t include gluten.  I am totally fine.  I don’t have to take any medicines to make me well.  I just need to keep all the gluten away from my body, not in my food, my medicine, my shampoo or my moisturizer.  Not even a pinch of it- anything from 20 parts per million is contamination. 

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Please don’t be offended if I don’t eat food I am not sure is totally gluten free.  I have lost friends that way; they were actually offended that I got sick at their house. If you bake, don’t make me a cake in your pan that baked wheat flour cakes, use a disposable aluminum pan.  And read the freaking labels if you cook for someone with celiac.  It is appalling how many foods have wheat contamination issues due to the equipment a lot of food is processed in/on or by. Don’t trust promises by caterers. I wrote a post on that once.

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I am good these days.  I really am. No pity…maybe you can have some dessert envy as I’m still a great baker! Gluten free is no death sentence. For those of us with celiac it is more a release from pain, undiagnosed suffering and a way to live healthier and happier. I blog so you can eat safely too, or cook safely for someone you love. Be happy, enjoy good food and live with joy.  I know I do!

Marvelous Chocolate Cake: One Layer, No Fuss

Nothing satisfies quite like a thick slice of homemade chocolate cake.  This dessert is my favorite chocolate fix these days.  It is a simple one bowl recipe.  I love that I can make it with ingredients I usually have around.  It is not too sweet which is good as I am not supposed to eat as much sugar as I have been doing.  It only makes one layer which I like because there are less leftovers for me to snack on.  Best of all, it is moist and tender and addictive.  I made it on the fly this weekend for a belated birthday celebration, out of milk, no problem; this recipe uses water, out of butter; fine as it is made with vegetable oil.  No chocolate; okay…it uses cocoa powder.  I have made it 2-3 times.  It is from well known blogger and prolific cookbook author Nicole Hunn.  Unfortunately she doesn’t allow other bloggers to give her recipes. So I will honor that and just give you a link to her site; look it up and next time you need a quick cake, this is your recipe! This time I put a chunky peanut butter icing on top.  Utter perfection in the chocolate cake department.

It has a lot of unsweetened cocoa powder, sour cream, 2 eggs, canola oil,  baking powder, water and some gluten free flour mix: I like a mock Better Batter recipe I found on Nicole Hunn’s blog. Use your favorite blend and I am guessing it will be good; this is a very reliable recipe.  So easy: you put the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir good and add the wet ingredients one at a time stirring well with a spoon.  Pour it into a greased 9 inch cake pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool ten minutes and turn out to cool.  More than ten minutes and you run the risk of your cake seriously sticking.  Do not frost it warm.

I will say that my latest cake was made with 2 tbsp. less cocoa powder than the recipe on line. I liked it just fine; not quite as dark.  My peanut butter icing is simple and spectacular.  We love it made with chunky but you can use smooth peanut butter if that is your preference. For this cake I only iced the top; double this if you use it for all over or for a 2 layer cake. I used a square 9 inch cake pan; love that square look.  I also used my magic cake strip; silver fabric strip that you soak in water and put around the pan before it goes in the oven. It keeps the edges from drying out and you get a more level cake.  For the square pan which is too much perimeter; I just used one and clipped it on with 2 clothes pins; worked great.  You can buy them on-line and they really work to make your cake level and keep the edges moist.

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The last two slices; cut on the long side and it is taking every ounce of my willpower not to eat one right now!

This is an awesome cake; people rave about it, people who eat wheat every day and know what a great cake can taste like.  You can make it; so easy; no mixer, one bowl, simple ingredients, no fuss and fantastic results. Go on her website; this fantastic chocolate cake recipe is to be found at http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/.  Click on recipes, type in chocolate cake, it is the “One Bowl GF Chocolate Cake” recipe.  Leave in all the cocoa if you like it extra dark.  She also gives a great ganache recipe for topping the cake.  Dark on dark chocolate: always a winner!  Check out the rest of her site; fantastic gluten free recipes.  I love the look of them and you may well find a recipe for your next special dessert to impress whomever you bake for.

Simply Smashing Slow Cooker Citrus Chicken

I really love my new slow cooker with a timer and that great oval shape.  I have made some really yummy suppers in it.  As I have said before, I am not a fan of overcooked vegetables so I am rather choosy in what I make if it has to cook for 4 hours.  This citrus chicken is a variant on a recipe in that gf slow cooker cookbook by Carrie Forbes that I bought last fall.

I changed boneless chicken breast into thighs with bones; more flavor as far as I am concerned.  I didn’t have orange marmalade so I used some of my homemade lemon marmalade.  I added some slices of lemon.  All to the good of the flavor parade.  It was addictively fantastic served over brown rice with a side of asparagus.  I made the rice the night before so all I had to do was heat my serving of rice and top with the hot chicken.

Another lovely easy meal is created in my magical time machine slow cooker!.  Not that pretty to look at, maybe slightly more handsome than the Peruvian chicken.  But oh the flavor!  Serves 4 if you can restrain yourself from eating more than one thigh.  I used 4 in my recipe; I think you could put in up to 6, less sauce per serving which I frankly object to as this sauce is the bomb! I ate it four days in a row and each night I couldn’t wait for dinner because of this sauce and this dish.  One of those recipes where the results seem more than the sum of the ingredients.

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Citrus Chicken Thighs

4-5 chicken thighs

1 medium onion diced

½ cup orange juice; I made mine from concentrate

3 tbsp. orange or lemon marmalade

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (GF of course)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

½ a lemon sliced in ¼ inch thick rounds

1 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp. hot water

Grated rind of one naval orange

Directions

Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray.  Lay the chicken thighs in the bottom.  I left the skins on but I am sure you could remove them if that is your preference.  Top with the onions.  Mix the oj, marmalade, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and mustard in a small bowl.  Pour over the chicken. Top with the lemon slices.  Cook 4 hours on high.  Add the cornstarch water mix, cook ten more minutes. Add the grated rind and stir. It’s that simple!  I serve it over rice.  I sided it with asparagus once and with a lovely salad of greens, european cucumber, chickpeas and avocado with my own vinaigrette another evening. Enjoy!