gluten free

Berry Good Tartlets

Everyone loved that winter fruit tart I made 2 weeks ago so I decided to try a slight variation on it; individual tarts created in low sided round tartlet pans, they have a removable disk bottom for easy removal of each tartlet. I used some frozen blueberries instead of the pears plus I added a touch of ginger to spice it up differently.  If you are a ginger hater, just leave that out.

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They turned out really tasty, I used my favorite crisp cookie crust covered with a mixture of fruits and the touch of crumb almond topping.  We each had our own tartlet slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream; perfect.  Joe said that he really loves the cookie crust; great cookie flavor.

This is a simple recipe; toss the fruits with sugar and a touch of tapioca.  If you don’t have tapioca use some cornstarch or rice flour mix.  They look like I bought them in a bakery.  I took one to a church event so I would have a safe treat to enjoy and was envied by all the others at my table eating commercially made wheat based pastries. Serve these tartlets and I promise you no one will even believe they are eating gluten free!

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 Fruity Mix Tartlets

Start by making a gf cookie crust and the crumb topping. If you have leftover crumb topping in the fridge you are ahead of the game for making pies and tarts!

Cookie crust

Place the following in a stand mixer bowl and combine

1 cup GF flour (recipe below)

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp cinnamon

Mix well, add 5 tbsp cold butter, cut into 6-7 chunks.  Mix on low until the butter is just crumbs blended in.

Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1 tbsp water.  Blend well.

tartlet pans

I love these little tartlet pans made by Chicago Metallic.

 

Pour the crust crumbs into six mini tart pans or a ten inch tart pan that was sprayed with cooking spray.  Spread it up the sides ¼ inch (½ an inch for the big tart pan).  Press gently in so it is a cohesive crust but do not press really hard or your crust will be like concrete when the tartlets finish baking!

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

You will use a ½ cup of the crumbs. Put the rest in a tightly sealing glass container and store in the fridge for your next pie/tart. It should keep for several weeks.

Almond Topping: mix well

½ cup crumb topping

¼ cup slivered almonds

Heat the oven to 375 degrees while you make the filling.

Filling

1 baking apple

1 ¼ cup frozen blueberries, not defrosted

1 skimpy cup raw cranberries

½ cup sugar

1 tbsp. granulated tapioca

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ginger

Peel, core, quarter and slice thinly the cooking apple, put in a mixing bowl with the blueberries and cranberries.  Be sure to pick over the cranberries and remove any soft or iffy ones.  Add the sugar, tapioca, ginger and cinnamon, mix with a spoon.

Pour into the crusted tartlet pans.  Mound up a bit; it will sink when it is cooked.  If you have any leftover fruit; you can bake it in an oven safe dish with crumbs on top.  Sprinkle the tartlets with the almond crumb topping.  I put the pans on a baking sheet for easy placement and removal from the oven. Pop the tartlets in the oven and bake 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.  They take that long because the blueberries are frozen. Cool at least 10 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.  Enjoy!

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Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

Storage: I am Queen of Jars, Tupperware and Freezer Bags

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Where to put all those bags of freaky flours? So many kinds…made of grains I never even heard of before…so how to properly store them? I did some reading in various cookbooks and celiac informational books on this issue. Some need to go in the freezer; so I now have a long row of bags tucked in my freezer and a number of glass or heavy duty plastic canisters and jars about the kitchen. For sure you should freeze the brown rice flour because it has rice bran which spoils much faster than processed white rice. I have sweet brown rice flour which is in the freezer too. I also put my almond flour, coconut flour and teff flour in there as well. In the fridge I put the potato starch which apparently needs the cooler zone of a refrigerator. Some just need to be in a sealed jar; amaranth, white rice flour, quinoa flakes and tapioca flour. Be sure to label each item carefully as they look a lot alike. Cornstarch is already in a box…I am buying a lot of that these days….

And then there are the flour mixes. For my favorite new cookbook I created a bread flour mix canister and a brown rice flour mixture used for most everything else: two big jars. And I found a great recipe for baking powder biscuits. It has its own dry ingredient mix, was out of jars so it is in a freezer zip bag; won’t keep outside the freezer for long. Then there is the four flour mix which is basic to my new bread baking book, yet another sizable canister. And, you will need to carefully label each mixture; I like to put the name of the book it is from to help me remember exactly what recipes it is meant for. So I needed like 4 canisters for flour mixes I am using now and frankly there are several other mixes in the bread book that I want to try out… Oyy, where will I store all those jars?

When I bake a batch of cookies, they need to be placed in my big cookie jar as soon as they are completely cooled. I never used that cookie jar for its named purpose before but it is totally necessary for storing GF cookies if you want them to stay fresh tasting. To keep for more than 3-4 days: freeze them in a heavy duty plastic freezer bag. Same goes for muffins, yeast bread, quick breads and what ever else I bake. These GF baked goods do not keep as long as wheat breads and cookies. It is very convenient to pull out a cookie from the freezer and munch on it after school. And I love having some slices of sandwich bread in the freezer ready for making lunch in the morning. Always label the frozen stuff and date it -just makes things simpler in the long run.

The almond biscotti I made last week is still tasty. The basic nature of biscotti is that it is rather dry and I suspect this is why it keeps so well.  It is in a Tupperware which is great for storing biscotti.

I also have a bread bag; it is woven fabric and has a plastic bag liner. My sister gave it to me years ago. I love it as bread keeps for days in it; wheat bread kept twice as long in it as just plastic wrapped up breads. Well, no more wheat but I kept some GF Italian bread in it the other week for several days past when it should have gone bad and it was still yummy. You can buy one on the internet; check e-bay. It is worth every penny. I posted a photo of it with my cookie canister the other week.

Again, the moister the bread, the quicker it goes bad (mold!) so keep that in mind. I have a loaf of OJ bread stored in my fridge to lengthen its life. I often slice and freeze half of what I made soon after baking so nothing gets wasted…with just me eating them a lot would go bad before I could eat it. I read comments by people just wanting one GF cookie. Freeze a whole bunch and then you can munch them one at a time – actually good advice for any baker. Some cookies are really tasty still frozen; the crunchy texture and unexpected chilly bite is a great treat! Now….if I can just find the right spot to store all my flour mixes…..

Originally posted March/April 2013.  I reposted this because people new to gluten free baking are asking how to store their flours.

Eating Out at Bella’s Is a GF Yumm Fest!

Over the Christmas holidays I had a work related supper gathering at Bella’s here in Hellertown.  I was glad they chose Bella’s because not many places in the area have an actual gluten free menu.  I have eaten there twice in the past year and enjoyed some fantastic shrimp on pasta with a pink vodka sauce.  Yes, I got the same thing twice; it was soo good I could not consider anything else on the menu when we went back a few months later.

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This meal was no exception to the yummy rule.  I ordered the gluten free ravioli in the pink vodka sauce with some grilled chicken on top.  It was a healthy serving of ravioli, maybe not as extravagant as their linguine serving but plenty of pasta!  The sauce was every bit as good as the last two times.  I am not a big fan of pink vodka tomato sauce but their chef makes an extraordinary version and so Bella’s is the place where I order that particular pasta sauce.  It was full of flavor and smooth and went perfectly with the baked ravioli which were delicious in the traditional cheese ravioli form. The grilled chicken was tasty: in manageable chunks and was cooked properly.  There was a good sprinkling of fresh parsley which I appreciated.  And the waiter brought the cheese mill and added some fresh grated Romano on top.  Grazie!

Having enjoyed every bite of this beautifully presented dish I would happily order it again.  Next time I will take a picture of the plate before I dig in (to post here!) and take some home as I felt stuffed, like a thanksgiving turkey, after eating the entire entrée. Of course, I also ate a house salad and did have a small complimentary glass of house white wine.  The salad was decent and the wine was pretty good.

They had a couple of yummy sounding gluten free dessert choices but I was way too full for any of them.  Still, it was nice to know there were dessert options if I saved some room for such…next time!

I did not have any symptoms after the meal, so it was prepared properly and totally safe, just like the other two meals I ate there in the past year.  The service was great, the atmosphere is very comfortable and I highly recommend eating there to all my gluten free friends.  They now have some gf pizza on the menu; maybe next time!

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Warm Up to Shepherd’s Pie

So cold right now, I think we all are craving warm comfort food.  I made this last week for company and it was a big hit.  The potato crust is satisfying and the gravy chock full of meat and veggies is richly flavored and addictive.  This is an Alton brown recipe with a few minor changes.  I added red wine, more veggies and I left the egg out when I made the potato crust.   The red wine makes the gravy taste perfect. Plus I changed the flour to make it a gf choice.

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I know the list of ingredients might be daunting but it does go together fast. Just chop all the veggies first and brown the ground meat while your potatoes cook.  We had home grown potatoes for the crust; oh so flavorful and homegrown peas and local corn in the filling.  Yumm!  The leftover made a great lunch the next day.  Sure warms the tummy on a chilly chilly day.

I used a bit over a pound of meatloaf mix and some ground turkey meat.  You can use ground beef or even turkey.  All work fine.  I also have a recipe for a vegetarian shepherd’s pie full of veggies with amazing gravy!

I meant to take more pictures while I made this but forgot; next time….

Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

For the potatoes:
2 pounds russet potatoes
1/3 cup half-and-half
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg yolk (optional)
For the meat filling:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
3-4 carrots, peeled and diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb or meatloaf mix
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons rice flour
2-3 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth

½ cup dry red wine

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup frozen peas
Directions

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to a simmer and cook until tender and easily pierced, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the half-and-half and butter into a glass cup and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 30 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until combined.  I did not add the yolk and it wasn’t missed.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to soften, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the meat, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and stir, cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, wine, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer slowly 11 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn and peas to the meat mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish.  I used a lovely oval ceramic dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting along the edges and filling in, get it all the way to the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a spatula. Place on a sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008 with some changes.  Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/shepherds-pie-

Lemon Shortbread Cookie Bliss

Sometimes you want those fancy, full of stuff kinda cookies and that is fine but occasionally a simple but delicious cookie is the way to go, like shortbread.  Dainty crisp shortbread cookies are great with a cup of tea or coffee.  I hadn’t tried them gluten free until this holiday season.  I now wonder why it took so long.

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I baked lemon ones using Meyer lemon peel but you can use whatever lemons you buy at the grocery store.  Mine were sprinkled with a touch of green colored sugar.  Top yours as you wish or leave them plain.

No forming needed.  You glop the soft dough onto a long piece of plastic wrap, close it and roll on the table to shape.  Chill well and cut the dough into slices, onto the baking sheet and into the oven.  Simple to make and they are perfect for many festive occasions. I can’t wait to try some other variations on these shortbread cookies.

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Lemon Shortbread Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

½ lemon extract

1 tsp. lemon zest

¾ cup brown rice flour mix; recipe below

1/4 cup sweet rice flour

¼ tsp.  xanthan gum

1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

Beat together the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, add the vanilla, lemon extract, and zest and mix.

Mix flour, xanthan gum in small bowl; add to butter/sugar mix.  Mix until a soft dough is formed.

Place lumps of dough in a line along a big sheet of plastic wrap; from it into a 1 ¼ inch log of dough.  Twist ends shut, smooth into a round long by rolling it on the table top.  Chill it at least an hour; until firm.

Heat oven to 350 degrees, racks to center of oven.  Lightly spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Slice into ½ to 5/8 inch rounds. Place 1 ½ inch apart on sheet, sprinkle with colored or plain sugar.  Chill in fridge 15 minutes. Bake 12-14 minutes until lightly golden. Mine all took 14-15 minutes.  Let cool on cookie sheet 2-3 minutes so they solidify; transfer to a cookie cooling rack.  Store in airtight cookie jar once cooled.

My recipe says the dough can be kept in the fridge for a week or in freezer for up to two months.  It made about 32 cookies. They went fast!

They are delicate; if left out in the air unsealed they will get soggy and loose their crisp, delicate texture.

To make them plain leave out the lemon extract and zest and add another ½ tsp. vanilla.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

This recipe is out of Annalise G. Robert’s great cookbook: Gluten Free Baking Classics, second edition.