Authentic Strawberry Shortcake…The Best!

Strawberry shortcake is a classic and no one turns down a slice of it at at a family gathering. I am not sure where I got the gf shortcake recipe; maybe my old Bette Hagman Gourmet Cookbook. I used to make a fantastic shortcake when I could still use all purpose flour but my gf biscuit version is pretty dang tasty especially if you sprinkle the shortcake with sugar before baking! But there is one thing, you gotta make it with the best freaking strawberries you can find. None of those ultra firm ones with whitish cores that are shipped in from far away. You need juicy ripe scented red berries that are served over a gluten free short bread. My local season is peaking now so try for local grown berries – the riper the better and it will taste great!

My mom always made a gorgeous version of strawberry shortcake. When I was a kid, she would serve it as an entire meal. I have done that, and it is kinda cool. Pre gluten free I generally made a huge oval biscuit with a smaller topping biscuit that I split off and buttered the split area before topping with berries and the smaller biscuit and topped with more ripe berries and a pillow 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. The pictures on construction are a couple of years old but the process is the same and the results are consistently heavenly….

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

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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 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 tender flavor 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 we could choose 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.’

Notes: Karo is sugar syrup; I know, I know it’s not very healthy, but it is only a bit, and it greatly improves the berries’ flavor and gives more juiciness to the berries to add some. Just do it. And while I am being bossy: please use real whipped cream. So easy to make and if you are going to the trouble of a scratch shortcake you need the real deal topping. It is hugely worth it. I actually stored some whipped cream in the fridge overnight and it was still decent the next day although the texture is a bit softer than it originally was. Strawberry shortcake is a decadent treat but honestly no more so than a sundae you get at an ice cream place. SO go ahead and indulge. Enjoy!

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

Originally published in June 2014.

Lemony Turkey Pasta and Creamy Leek Sauce

I am not the biggest fan of Gordon Ramsey; he is a bit too boisterous, and his food is kinda old school rich with butter and cream and expensive ingredient rich. But I recently saw this article which said he makes this 10 minute recipe every week for his family and decided to give it a try. It was more than 10 minutes for me; more like 20-25 minutes. Still, I loved the crispy sagey breadcrumbs on top and the hint of lemon in the cream sauce. The leeks add a wonderful undertone of delicate onionish-ness. You might find this a bit rich with cream; I didn’t but I suppose you could try light cream or half and half. I have made this before with chicken and had trouble finding it on my blog so I decided to do a turkey version. I did use ground turkey as it was on sale this week at Aldi’s. I forgot the lemon zest and it was still delicious! And I only had one shallot so I used half a very small red onion and it worked almost as well as a shallot. Winner winner turkey dinner; definitely making this again!

So, you can probably sub in any ground meat; let me know how that turns out. The leeks and shallots add a delicate presence that plays so well with the rest of the ingredients. I wouldn’t mess too much with the ingredients if I were you, not the first time anyway.

Creamy Turkey and Leek Pasta before plating

Ingredients

1o -12 ounces dried penne; I did 9.5 ounces

14-16 ounces ground turkey (16 oz for me)

4 Tbsp. mild olive oil, divided

2 banana shaped shallots; minced finely

2-3 leeks; I had one gigantic one; about 2 cups of sliced white parts; I put mine in water to soak for 5 min to get out any grit

3 garlic cloves, minced

6 sage leaves, divided

zest of one lemon

3-4 tbsp. minced parsley

3/4 cup heavy cream

Breadcrumbs: 3 or 4 of the above listed sage leaves minced, 8 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs; I tore up 2 small slices of gf sourdough bread

2 of the tbsp of olive oil from above

Freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve on top of each plate.

Directions:

First: heat a large pot of salted water for pasta

Do some prep work. Slice up the leeks into 1/3-1/2-inch-wide sections and soak briefly in filtered water to get any grit out. Mince the peeled shallots. I put the peeled garlic through a garlic press.

Heat half the olive oil in a Dutch oven. When close to hot add the shallots and garlic. Cook 2 minutes medium heat. Add the ground turkey and 3 minced sage leaves. As that cooks add the leeks (drained first!) to boiling water. Cook a minute. Add the pasta to the leeks. Cook as long as package says. I dipped out 3-4 cups of water to decrease the volume, so it returned to a boil super fast (A little trick you might try.)

When the chicken looks done add in the cream and cook on low for a few minutes. Do not boil! While it cooks make the breadcrumbs; put 2 tbsp. oil in a smallish frying pan and when hot add the breadcrumbs and the rest of the minced sage leaves. Stir for a couple of minutes; it will clump up and brown; watch it closely: DO NOT LET BURN! Add the drained cooked pasta and leeks when the pasta is al dente. And the lemon zest. Stir. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. To plate, put some on your plate/dish, top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and some of the breadcrumbs. Enjoy!!

Rhubarb Crisp For Dessert…or Breakfast.

It’s still rhubarb season, at least at my house and garden. This dessert is super easy and super yummy. I swear it tasted like there were cherries in there! I never made rhubarb crisp until last spring; I make apple crisp all the time in the fall and winter…so glad I tried it. I am sharing this tasty quick dessert with you once again. Makes a yummy breakfast too!

It keeps about 3 days depending on humidity. I have a glass baking dish with a plastic lid for keeping things fresh; works great.

Notes: any gf flour blend will do, I use King Arthur blend. You can use sliced or slivered almonds. Or no nuts! Tried it with both nuts and I prefer walnuts. I think the walnuts add a hint of cherry flavor to the result. But great with no nuts too…

Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

Fruit layer

4-5 cups rhubarb cut into ½ inch bits (I do 5 cups)

¾ cup sugar (could use up to a cup if you like it sweeter)

¼ cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch if you chose)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Topping

½ cup gf flour blend

1 cup gf rolled oats (not quick ones!)

½ cup light brown sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup brown sugar, not packed

¼ cup butter, cold

½ cup walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of 8×12 glass baking dish; any dish roughly that size will do. In a large mixing bowl dump all the dry ingredients; sugar, starch and cinnamon. Mix a bit; add rhubarb, mix well. Dump into baking dish.

Dump all dry ingredients left except nuts into the bowl of a stand mixer, blend briefly. Add butter which you have cut up into about 12 or more tiny bits; a few cuts with a knife do it quick. Blend a minute or so until you can’t see the butter. Add nuts. Pour over the rhubarb. Bake on middle shelf for 35 to 40 minutes; the thicker the layer of fruit is the longer it takes; you want it bubbling and the top lightly browned. Let cool at least 15 or 20 minutes. Goes great with vanilla ice cream or plain Greek yogurt on top. Store with a tight lid on top. Enjoy!

Angel food Cake…GF – Naturally!

I save egg whites in the freezer and within a few months I use them for this delectable treat; angel food cake. Defrost a cup and a half of those whites and I have everything else in the fridge or pantry to make this most delicate cake: angel food cake. I found the recipe in my 1970s Betty Crocker, a great standard cookbook I would never want to be without. Was making it for many years before my diagnosis with celiac so once I got comfy baking gf I figured I could make it gf and it is perhaps even better than it was with gluten-based flour.

I used to make them for a boss’s birthday and for my mom who could hardly believe the first gf one was indeed gf.

So, all you gluten free disbelievers, this cake will change your mind. It is tender, moist and delicately flavored, not to mention very pretty and perfect for a diabetic (which my dad was). It makes a wonderful birthday or party cake; you could put a thin vanilla powdered sugar glaze on top to make it fancy for such an occasion.

Notes: I save egg whites; in a Tupperware container in the freezer, until I have a cup and a half of them. Then I am ready to put this beauty together. Or just use enough eggs to make 1.5 cups of whites. If you don’t have guar gum you can use xanthan gum.

A few words on separating eggs: this can be tricky, and I have learned from bad experiences not to separate directly into the measuring cup full of whites; do it into a small bowl and dump. You can NOT get ANY egg yolk in the whites, or they won’t beat properly. Best to set any egg that breaks or becomes contaminated with even a speck of yolk aside and make an omelet for supper! I crack each egg on the edge of my counter, split its shell in half and dump it over one cupped hand. The white flows through into the bowl underneath and I drop the yolk into the mixing bowl. Be gentle so the yolk does not break. Don’t use old, tired eggs or the yolks are more likely to break; fresh is best but they need to come to room temperature before cracking, so the whites beat to a high volume. FYI: When baking gf all ingredients should be room temperature unless the recipe tells you otherwise.

Put the 1 ½ cup total egg whites in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl I know, a crazy lot of eggs in this but remember, no fat what-so-ever! Angel food cake is a good choice for your diabetic friends, or so they say. I just think those folks love a good angel food cake.

GF Angel Food Cake

1 1/2 cup egg whites (room temp)

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

1 cup brown rice flour blend (recipe below) (sift before measuring)

½ tsp guar gum

1 ½ tsp. cream of tarter

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ tsp. almond extract

1 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Put baking rack on second slot from the bottom. You need a ten-inch tube pan with removable bottom, do not spray. The part with the center hole goes inside the bigger piece.

Mix and sift the powdered sugar, flour, guar gum together in a bowl at least once.

Pour the egg whites (1 ½ cups) into a stand mixer bowl, add cream of tarter and salt. Start at medium speed. Beat until foamy, increase speed until high, wait for soft peaks and add cup of granulated sugar a tbsp or two at a time as it beats. No bowl scraping or stopping. Beat at highest speed until you have stiff peaks. Beat briefly after adding the two flavoring extracts.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg whites, I do about a quarter cup at a time sprinkled all over the top and I fold it with a spatula or spoonula. Be gentle and smooth; don’t worry if it isn’t perfectly smoothly mixed.

Put big glops of the mixture into the baking tube pan; using it all up. Gently stir through the pan with your spoonula to get rid of empty spaces and smooth the top with the spoonula.

Put into preheated oven, bake 35 minutes, until when you press gently on the top it springs back.

Remove from oven, turn it over and hang on an empty wine bottle neck or a big funnel. Let cool totally in this upside-down state before cutting it out of the pan. I use a sharp serrated bread knife, cut around the outside edge and the center tube. Lift it out and then slice under the cake all around. Place a cake plate over the top and gently flip it.

I store it in a plastic cake saver or just in the microwave away from humidity and hungry fam. You could wrap it in plastic wrap too. It is best eaten within 3 days. It generally doesn’t last that long around here.

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

Yes, this is a lovely way to enjoy an angel food cake: freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries

We had it with whipped cream sweetened only with vanilla extract and sliced strawberries…delicious

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie… Classic Pie of Late Spring: Easy to Make GF

It is the peak of local strawberry season and rhubarb is still plentiful right now, so this was a perfect pairing for adaptation to a gluten free pie recipe. This is an easy pie to construct, and you can store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; it keeps a few weeks. The GF crust will work for any pie and the GF crumb topping is perfect for any crumb pie. If you prefer a solid crust just double the crust part and top your pie with it. Be sure to cut some slits for steam escape!

Please make every effort to use local strawberries; you can get them at most farm stands from now to about June 10th. This pie really showcases the strawberries more than the rhubarb which is a silent partner so that is why I suggest you get the best; locally grown sweet ripe strawberries to make your perfect pie.

Bake and enjoy June in a delicious pie in just a few minutes of work. Don’t eat it hot; it should be cooled to room temperature or even chilled. I ate it both ways and liked it either way. I am guessing you could top this with vanilla ice cream. Maybe next time.

Angie’s GF Strawberry 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 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray a 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 and hull/slice the strawberries.

Filling:

2 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and cut in thick slices

2-3 cups cut up fresh rhubarb – place in medium bowl

Mix with

½ to 2/3 cup sugar ( I used ½ cup but I guess some like things really sweet so I gave a range of sugar amounts.)

1/3 c gluten free flour mix (see below recipe or use any you like: I actually used a mock Better Batter flour for this pie filling.)

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 strawberry – rhubarb mixture

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 the crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about ½ to 2/3 of the mixture. Up to your personal taste… It sinks partially into the fruit mixture and adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.

Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 40-50 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