gluten free

Sweet Corn on the Cob Without A Hot Kitchen

Sweet corn season is here.  In many places really good sweet corn can be had, like farms markets, road side stands and even Wegmans!  You can get it at Musikfest at a price; $4 for an ear. aw shucks corn

It is delicious but really? That’s a lot of moola for an ear that costs 40 cents at my local grocery store. Big mark up going on! So make it at home. I don’t know about you but when I only am making one or two ears it seems silly to fire up a tall pot of water.  I do steam the corn which only takes an inch or so of hot water but still…too much to do.

Last summer, on a hot day, I realized there was a quick and easy way to make an ear…or two without that big hot pan of water and steam. I just take a large frying pan, put a quarter inch of water in it, sprinkle of salt and let it heat until bubbling.  I then lay in my ear or two (I think you could squeeze in three) which I have husked and removed all the silk.  Then the pan is topped with a lid or a metal pizza pan if your frying pan is too big for your lids.  Cook it the usual time; depends on how fresh the corn is.  The fresher your corn ears, the less cooking time you need.  The steam in the pan will cook it really fast.  Maybe 6 to 8 minutes.

corn 002

And the bonus is that if it runs out of water your ear will get a bit of carmelization going which only adds to the flavor.  In fact I hope it gets browned a bit; sometimes I rotate the ear to brown it on another side.  Remove with tongs when your corn reaches the done stage you like.  Sometimes I take a quick bite to test for eating readiness!

corn 004

Carmelization…Yummy!

Serve your ear(s) with salt and butter and enjoy fresh corn without heating the kitchen up much.

Originally published June 2015: I thought some of you needed a gentle reminder to try this; gonna be hot in the next seven days here in PA!

Musikfest 2015 Food Notes For First Weekend

It is Musikfest time again here in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  I volunteer every year.  This year I am a cider server and an alcohol site supervisor.  I know…put the cat in charge of the mice!! Hahaha. Seriously, just kidding!

musikfest 2015

Anyway, I am there for like six hours each shift so of course I get hungry and food has to be in the equation.  My first shift I cheated; I brought a Wendy’s style chicken sandwich I made myself and a piece of fruit.  I ate it on my break, un-warmed but it was terrific. Probably the healthiest food to eat there… Today I ate festival food.  It was a bit of a gamble but I survived, unglutened! I had a plate of rice, red beans and chicken from the Hogar Crea stand. I had some last year or the year before and didn’t get ill so I took the chance and it was pretty good, 8 tickets equals $8.  Lot of money for rice, beans, and about a half a chicken thigh but it is a worthy cause and the rice/beans part was particularly good. I think I need to make some myself!

aw shucks corn

Then I went to the Aww Shucks corn stand.  I gambled a bit again, getting butter and Parmesan cheese.  The cheese was something I hadn’t tried before since my diagnosis.  It added a lot of flavor and I sure enjoyed that ear of corn, $4 for it; actually one of the cheaper things to be had and relatively good for you. Warning, do NOT get the spice topping, it is not gluten free. I did not get ill from either offering. Not really the best way to find out but I was kinda desperate due to low blood sugar.  You can do better by planning ahead as there are a few other gluten free things around the fest; you might want to check my posts from last summer. All of these vendors are here again; the tacos can be had on the north side too.

https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/tasty-taco-salad-southside-musikfest/

https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/sensenigs-meats-comes-through-with-safe-yummy-bbq-pork-for-gf-festing/

https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/musikfest-gluten-free-not-easy-but-possible/

Enjoy some cider; it is to be had at the Cider stand next to the Beer at FestPlatz, 4 varieties, all very tasty and all gluten free.

If you go to the fest and find some great gluten free food message me so I can check it out. Fest away!

Pretty Tasty Pickles You Can Make in a Big Jar

Some of us adore pickles and some dislike them.  If you are a pickle fan read on.  If not, read anyway as these are far better than the tired flabby canned pickles found at the grocery store.  A good gardening friend gave me this recipe.  It is really easy and rather fun to construct.  Even better is that you can pickle most any veggies. I have tried zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, green peppers and red peppers.  Of course, cucumbers are in there too!

You do need a couple grape leaves.  You might be able to find a neighbor with a grape vine.  I am betting you could use wild grape leaves from a state park or along a country road.   They really add to the authenticity of it so snag a few from somewhere.

Also needed are 3 dill heads (the flowers of a dill plant).  This might be more problematic but if you know a real gardener, aka someone like me, you can beg the dill heads as frankly they are not used much for cooking and I was happy to give some to the friend who gave me this recipe.  Grow your own dill for next summer; it is so easy to do and it does reseed and come back year after year.  Dill is lovely in potato salad and in other salads like my stuffed tomatoes which I plan to blog about later this week!

Refrigerator Pickles

2 cups white vinegar

¼ cup salt;  I used kosher salt in mine

4 cups water (I used 3 as my jar was slightly smaller than a gallon)

¾ cup sugar

————–

3 garlic cloves cut up

3 dill heads

2 grape leaves

Bring the first four ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan and let cool fully.  Put the other three ingredients in the bottom of a gallon jar.  Cut up your veggies and pile in the jar.  Top with the vinegar mixture. Put on the lid. Put in the fridge and let marinate for 3 days before trying it.

I have used pickling cucumbers, regular cukes, short zucchini spears, broken up cauliflower heads, thin slices of white turnip and pepper strips.  pickle jar  I want to try broccoli next!  Maybe celery?

My grandson who is three and a half clamors for the pickle jar to come out when he eats meals here.  I say, eat your lunch and you can have some pickles! He gobbles up his food and waits expectantly for me to fish out a pickle or two.

I like how fresh they are and how crunchy the pieces still are. Plus they have no additives or preservatives.  Naturally gluten free is important to those of us with celiac or wheat allergies.

You can keep adding veggies as you use them up.  I think the tough part is fishing them out of the jar.  The other day I lost a fork in there but luckily it didn’t go to the bottom of the jar; a cuke round stopped its descent! Now, go pickle fresh veggies and have some fun with it….

Originally posted late in July 2014 but I figured you were ready to make some pickles this summer so I posted it again!

Trader Joe’s and Gluten Free….For Me?

I made my first pilgrimage to Trader Joe’s.  Been wanting to go for years.  I was on vacation in the Boston, MA area, and went to one in Brookline near my sister’s condo.  Saturday morning, crazy busy parking lot; we were thrilled to find a space! I was not so thrilled with what I found inside.  No separate gluten free area.  IT was all mixed in all over the place.  Like a treasure hunt but unfortunately I found cross contamination issues with their products and had to put lots of the treasures back on the shelf.  I also was not happy to have gf stuff right next to all purpose wheat flour based products.

tj cookies

Missed these……next time.

I couldn’t accept foods that were “processed on equipment that may also process wheat, etc.”  Nope.  Been there, tried that and got pretty sick: total waste of money to purchase, waste of time to bake with it and not be able to enjoy and so not good for my digestive system.  Yes, the possibility of a small contamination due to shared equipment for processing food is definitely enough to cause a celiac to not buy a food product. Happens all the time to me when I shop; I read the label and then regretfully put the product back on the shelf.

espresso beans

Now, I hear Trader Joe’s has a reputation for gluten free products and after the fact I discovered that you can get a list of gf foods from the service desk and their staff will help you find it.  Frankly I saw no staff around the store but I can say that they were very friendly at the check out and gave me a free TJ’s bag for it being my first ever TJ experience.  Sweet of them.  Would have been sweeter if I had been able to buy some salad dressing and chocolate covered nuts.  Neither of which was safe consider the cross contamination issue, here-to-for referred to as cc.

tj bag

Today I did find a blog posting giving me some direction on what was great at TJ’s; gonna use it next time, check it out: http://dragonflyglutenfree.blogspot.com/2014/05/trader-joes-gluten-free-love.html

Something else bothered me; the shelving of gluten free products.  Two reasons for my dismay; first: when they are blended together it is frighteningly easy to mistake something and take it home and as you are munching on it you realize it was not gf, just looked a lot like the gf product next to it! Secondly, I hate seeing gf products next to or on a lower shelf than regular products that have loose flour in them; bags of wheat flour for instance.  Before you jump to conclusions of me baking with wheat flour by accident; the problem is those wheat flour boxes and bags do leak at times or even burst.  Then a shower of wheat based product sifts down or over onto the gf boxes/bags.  I might touch that gf bag or box to read the ingredients.  I don’t even have to buy it to get sick.  If I get a small amount of flour which contains gluten on my fingers and then touch my face/lips it is shockingly easy for me to get quite sick.  That brief touch of flour is all it takes to make someone with celiac very ill.  tf english muffins

Smart managers of some grocery stores have a dedicated gf baking area for products so they are not next to wheat based mixes: Wegmans does that.  They have the best gf department in general and the don’t spread their gf stuff all over the store.

wegmans gf

Wegman’s GF aisle

Other stores, at least, put the gf stuff on the top shelf so if the flour leaks; it doesn’t get on the gf stuff which is above it.  Giant does this which I applaud.  Sadly, Whole Foods doesn’t nor do most heath food stores. I have told mangers about this issue but unless they know a celiac well enough to realize how easily products get contaminated, they just don’t get it and can’t be bothered to move the arrangement of products around to make it safer for us celiac sufferers.  I would be curious to know what other grocery store chains do in how they shelve gf products.

coconut oil

I did buy a jar of this!

My friend Josh who is a total TJ addict didn’t understand what I meant by cc and suggested I share some of this in my blog so you understand it when your gf family member freaks out about such stuff.

It may seem minor but when your life depends on you eating consistently safely, then you look at all the little stuff.  I hate getting ill from gluten and if I suffer several bouts in a short period of time I feel so terrible I can barely function and spend weeks feeling nauseated all day long as a result of the multiple glutenings.  So I look at all the ways I can get glutened and avoid food with any possibility of cross contamination as well as outside the package contamination.

fig butter

Finally, I also belong to several celiac support groups and have heard serious rumblings about the authenticity of Trader Joe’s gluten free designations on their products.  I take that gf label very seriously and if they are found to be slapping it on unsafe products you will Never find my personage in a Trader Joe’s again. I hope it is not so, I really do.  Meanwhile I am going to go open my fig butter and indulge in a little fig jam party!

Hand Pies – Heaven Comes in Small Portions!

Looking for a small snack, something that is fruity and flaky? Look no further than hand pies.  I make them out of leftover dough from pies or tarts.  I’d been making them long before I went gluten free…I’m still creating different versions in my gf life. They are very simple. Basically roll out a circle of pie dough; plop on some filling; fold over, pinch and bake. They are my secret treat when I bake a pie for company!  A hand pie satisfies that pie craving and is fairly portable.  Can take these treats on a picnic, to the beach or on a hike if you put them in a rigid walled container so they don’t get smushed.

I confess that I generally only make one or two from scraps when I bake a pie or tart but you can just make hand pies and it should make about 6 depending on how big you make them. You might get 7 if on the small side or maybe 5 if they are large!

rhubarb pie, ginger stir fry, salmon with peas 043

strawberry rhubarb pie 009

shrimp bisque 011

blueberry filling in this fat hand pie

Angie’s GF Hand Pies

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

Directions: 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 do something else.  I use my pie bag; a round piece of plastic connected to another piece of plastic by a zipper; more sturdy than wax paper for rolling out gf dough.

Filling:

½ to 2/3 cup of jam, marmalade or cooked fruit – if you go with cooked fruit; add some sugar; maybe 2 tbsp of it and cook just a few minutes; don’t let it totally break down. Stir it as it cooks on low. I have used blueberries mixed with rhubarb for this fruity filling version; yumm!

I use a tablespoon per hand pie of fruit jam, cooked fruit or marmalade.  I love it with homemade jam or marmalade.  My Meyer lemon marmalade is fantastic in a hand pie.  I sometimes add a tbsp. of almond flour on top of the filling; gives more texture.

Optional: almond flour, cinnamon sugar

Directions: roll out a chunk of dough; about 2-3 tbsp worth; you can divide the big ball of dough into 6 chunks so they are the same size.  Make it a circle or oval shape, try not to get it too thin as it will be very difficult to work with and may break allowing filling to ooze out.  I peel the rolled out dough off the plastic, lay it back down so it will be easy to pick up once filled.  Top it with the jam or cooked fruit on one side; not too close to the edge!  Sprinkle with almond flour or meal if you like. Fold over the crust and pinch it shut all along the edge. You can use a fork to press it shut and make an edging.  If you leave any unsealed the filling will run out and make a mess.  Sometimes I bake them on aluminum foil so I can throw it away and avoid cleaning up the mess of burst out filling that has burnt on the pan.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if you like, which I do.  Lay on a baking sheet that you sprayed with cooking spray to cut down on sticking.  You could use parchment paper on it if you like. Repeat with the rest of the dough and fillings.

Bake in 350 oven for about 20 to 25 minutes; until light brown.  Cool before eating.  Easier said than done; I love them still slightly warm from the oven.  Yummers!

Brown Rice Flour Mix  (it is the same as King Arthur’s gf flour mix)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour