Baking with Teff Flour

Oatmeal Teff Chocolate Chip Cookies

Someone on Twitter was asking about using Teff as a gluten free grain and it reminded me of these cookies.  I haven't made them in awhile and won't be making any cookies anytime soon because I am avoiding sugar and refined flours right now (more about that later).  But the question about teff made me remember how caramel-like and good these cookies were.

I have mostly used teff flour for baking, when i want that caramel flavor and a whole grain.  I have never cooked with whole teff before.  Someone on Twitter was saying that people are talking about teff as the new quinoa.  Anyone else have experience with it?

As I mentioned, I am avoiding sugar at the moment.  I am doing the Fast Metabolism Diet.  I did the first 28 days, starting on December 30 and lost 8 lbs.  Have lost another pound now and hopeful it will continue.  I was trying everything (including going vegan or partially vegan) without success until I tried this program.  You can read more about it here.  There are three phases to the diet each week.  Phase 1 is high carb, moderate protein and no added fat.  Phase 2 is high protein, vegetables and no grains or fruit or added fat.  Phase 3 adds back in healthy fats and some grains and fruit.  It is two days on phase 1, two on Phase 2 and 3 days on Phase 3.  If you start on a Monday, it means your weekends are pretty good.  Exercise is geared toward the phases.  Cardio in Phase 1, strengthening in Phase 2 and stretching or yoga in Phase 3.  The only phase I do not like is Phase 2.  I am ok with protein and veggies but the lack of fat kills me.  Also, it is so low carb on those 2 days that you cannot even have tomatoes.

Other things that are not allowed at all on the program are: caffeine, alcohol, sugar, dairy, wheat, corn or soy or artificial sweeteners.  Only Stevia and Xylitol are allowed.  Most of this is ok with me as going without caffeine or alcohol is better for me anyway given the headaches and I am already avoiding wheat.  It is not forever anyway.  Once I lose all the weight I want to lose, I can loosen it up a bit.  The recipes in the book and in the companion cookbook are wonderful and I have several new favorite dishes.  The best ones are the soups and stews.  My husband loves the Coconut Curry Chicken in Phase 3 served over quinoa.

Best news about the diet is that all the sugar cravings disappeared along with the post holiday weight.  Try it if you think you need to re-set your metabolism.

Karen, herself

Gluten Free Whole Grain Holiday Cookies

Pecan, buckwheat and sorghum thumbprint cookies

I read an interesting article about baking holiday cookies with whole grains in the New York Times a couple weeks ago and have been dying to try their thumbprint recipe.  

The author of the article used rye flour and toasted pecans in his recipe.  I decided to use buckwheat but worried that just buckwheat would have unexpected results, so instead of 1 1/2 cups of rye flour, I used 3/4 cup of buckwheat flour and 3/4 cup of sorghum flour and added a half teaspoon of xanthan gum for good measure.  They turned out looking like your typical vegan cookie (they are not!) but they are quite delicious.  Not as sweet as the usual thumbprint but the texture of the cookie is great and the flavor is complex and wonderful.  My only mistake was to be too pressed for time when I made them not to see that they needed to be chilled first before baking.  Mine turned out fine anyway, but next time I will chill them.

Here is what I did:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1  1/2 cups of raw pecans spread on a cookie sheet; bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup coconut palm sugar
9 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature and cut into pieces)
2-3 Tablespoons cold water

Combine the pecans, flours, sugar, salt and xanthan gum in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Turn mixture into a large bowl and add the butter and combine with a pastry knife (or your hands...or two knives).  My dough was too dry after this step so I added tablespoons of cold water one at a time until the dough held together.

Divide dough into two and mold each half into a log.  Cut each log into 12 pieces.  Take each piece and roll into a ball.  place each ball on a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat.  Make a depression in each ball, flattening it out some (see video at NYT site to see how they did it).  Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes or so, until the edges start to brown.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack.  When cool, you can fill the depression in the center with jam and serve immediately, or store unfilled in the freezer until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Karen, herself

Thanksgiving 2013

Two pumpkin pies with two different gluten free crusts

Another year, another delicious Thanksgiving dinner without gluten.  Yes, it can be done quite easily and if you don't tell anyone, no one will be the wiser.

This year I took it easy and didn't bother with soup, rolls, or appetizers.  It was just the two of us and I chose to focus on dessert.  I actually planned on making a soup, but then I tried a new gluten free pie crust recipe  I found in the New York Times and when it looked a little funny (before it was baked) I got nervous and decided to make another one my usual way, with Jules' gluten free all purpose flour.  After spending all afternoon baking pies, I was too tired to make my butternut squash soup. In my photo, the pie made with Jules' flour is on the right and the NYT recipe is on the left.  As it happened, they both turned out great and we were left to gorge on two pies instead of one.  Not great for the diet, but I learned something from it.

I started out thinking I preferred the Jules version, but then, as we ate our way through the pies, I decided that I like the other one so much that I would be hard pressed to judge either one better than the other.  The NYT recipe (from Recipes for Health) uses corn and oat flours plus a bit of almond meal, a whole egg and some salt and sugar.  It is a sweet crust, but it works with pumpkin pie filling.  It is also a whole grain crust, sans xanthan gum, which is why I was so interested to try it.  The Jules flour is a mixture of rice and corn flours with xanthan gum and it is a wonderful all purpose gluten free flour.  I use it all the time and it never fails.  I just sometimes worry about the xanthan gum and sometimes it makes baked goods a little too spongy in texture.

The recipe I use with Jules' flour is a simple pate brisée which I make in a food processor.  It is the recipe that came with my Cuisinart many years ago.  It is just flour, unsalted butter, egg yolk and salt and water.  I make it exactly the same as I used to before I went gluten free, just substituting Jules flour for wheat.

Here is how they looked ready to eat:

Left: whole grain crust Right: Jules' Flour crust

My dinner

The rest of my dinner is naturally gluten free except for the stuffing.  I make a French sausage and chestnut stuffing from a Bon Appetit recipe from 1982.  I substitute Udi's Millet Chia bread (GF). There is no difference in the taste of the stuffing, but the gf bread tends to dissolve during roasting, but this stuffing is more about the chestnuts and sausage than the bread anyway.  My cranberry relish is just cranberries, an orange, sugar and Grand Marnier.  No gluten there.  I used Jules' flour to make a roux for my gravy.  It works just fine.  I make my own stock with the turkey neck, carrots, celery, garlic and onion, bay leaf, fresh thyme and parsley, peppercorns, salt and water.  I add a half cup of white wine to the stock.  When I made my roux, I used butter, Jules' flour, a bit of salt and white pepper, the stock and the pan drippings from the turkey.  It was so delicious that I could have eaten it with a spoon.

And here is the hero of the day— turkey just coming out of the oven.  Picture perfect and gluten free.

It was a fresh Northwest Natural turkey, grown locally without added hormones, anti-biotics or other nasty things.  I roasted it on "Convection Roast" for just over two hours.  It was a small bird, just over 11 lbs, but just right for us with lots of leftovers for turkey sandwiches and — my favorite—turkey hash with potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Lemony Cranberry Almond Muffins

Cranberry Almond Muffins

We have company this weekend and I wanted to try a new muffin for breakfast.  I chose this recipe from PCC's latest monthly newsletter (PCC is a local Seattle-based food co-op).   The recipe is not gluten free so I made some adjustments.  They came out heavenly.

The recipe called for whole milk and whole milk yogurt and since I had either 2% or nonfat versions in my fridge, I added some shortening to the recipe and then held my breath to see if they came out ok.  They did!



I also used coconut palm sugar in place of the recipe's brown sugar. Here is what I did:

Cranberry almond muffins

1 1/2 cups Jules almost Normal Gluten Free Flour
2/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar

muffin batter

1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1  1/2 cups roughly chopped fresh cranberries
2/3 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 cup or less coconut oil or other shortening
2/3 cup 2% milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T lemon juice
1T lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds (for garnish on top)

Preheat oven to 375° and line muffin tin with paper or silicone cups.

Whisk together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, toss two teaspoons of dry mix over chopped cranberries.   Blend together wet ingredients, adding shortening or oil (I used a stand mixer for this part).  Add dry ingredient mix to wet mixture, then fold in cranberries.  Divide evenly between muffin cups and sprinkle almonds on top.

Bake in oven until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.  Let muffins cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 14 muffins.
Karen, herself

Gluten Free Vanilla Pudding Cake with Lemon Filling

Vanilla Pudding Cake with Lemon Curd and Buttercream icing

I threw a bridal shower for a friend on Sunday.  The food was all gluten free and all delicious.  I made red pepper hummus as an appetizer and surrounded it with a variety of gluten free crackers.  I tossed some brown rice pasta with homemade pesto sauce and parmesan cheese (olives on the side), and I made a fresh corn and shrimp salad with a vinaigrette-like marinade.  Another friend brought a green salad and I added some cheeses to go with the crackers and hummus.  But the shining star of the party was the cake.

I wanted to make a white cake and put lemon curd in between the layers and finish it with a silky buttercream icing.  The thought was to make it like a wedding cake and decorate it with white pearl like sugar pebbles.  I decided to use XO Baking Company's gluten free white cake mix.  I have used it before.  It is one of the few white cake mixes out there that are gluten free.  Betty Crocker's mixes are great and taste like the real thing, but they only make a yellow cake mix.  I have used XO's mix before so decided on that one.  Everything I have tried from XO Baking Co. has been outstanding, by the way.

The only problem was that the only time I had used this mix before, I used it for a cake that had the mix as one of several ingredients, including instant pudding, extra eggs, and ginger ale instead of milk or water.  So, not wanting to try it without these extras, i chose a vanilla pudding mix and charged ahead.  It turned out great.  So moist and delicious.  The funny thing is, with all the eggs and the vanilla pudding mix, the cake turned out yellow in the end!  No need to have looked for a white cake mix!

The decoration was a combination of the sugar pearls and lemon gummy pandas as I could not find the larger white sugar pearls, only really tiny ones and I wasn't sure they would show up on the icing.





Vanilla Pudding Cake with Lemon Curd and Buttercream Icing
1 gluten free cake mix (white or yellow)
1   3 1/2 oz. pkg instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup ginger ale
1 tsp vanilla
1 jar prepared lemon curd
1 recipe buttercream icing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 8" cake pans.  Cut a round piece of parchment to fit in the bottom of each pan and grease the top.  Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat well.  Pour into prepared pans and place them in the oven for 30-35 minutes.  Cake is done when tester comes out clean.  Cool in pans on a rack for 10-20 minutes, then run a knife around the edge, invert each pan and remove the cake onto the cooling rack.  Peel off the parchment paper.  Completely cool before frosting.

Place one layer on a cake plate.  Spread lemon curd on top.  Place second layer on top of first and spread icing over top and sides.  Decorate as desired.  Refrigerate overnight for the best flavor and moistness.  Bring to room temperature before serving to let the icing soften.

Buttercream Icing
1/2 cup shortening (I used Earth Balance Coconut Spread)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup scalded milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla

Bring milk to boil twice.  Cool.  Cream butter and shortening together in a mixer.  Add milk and keep beating, add powdered sugar, then egg white.  Add vanilla last.  You may have to continue beating for awhile if you use the coconut spread.  It took a few minutes to thicken.

Elimination Diets and Almond Flour Pancakes

Almond Flour Pancakes with Maple Syrup

Yes, I know it has been a long time since I have posted.  I spent most of the Winter months going cold turkey off my migraine medication and doing an elimination diet (the Dr. Buchholz of "Heal your Headache" fame one).  The long story short of the thing is that it seems to have worked.  I tried it once before and gave up after about a week and a half, but this time I stuck it out the whole three months and never took an Amerge...or an Excedrin to stop a headache.  The first week was tough, the second tougher.  I chose to start it when my husband was out of town and I had no real work to do and could just hunker down and deal with the pain.  The caffeine withdrawal was bad, even though I tried to taper off gradually.  But after a few weeks I had fewer headaches and the ones I got were tolerable with Tylenol and aroma therapy.  I made my own oils and put them on my temples and my neck where I had stiffness.  It did help enough that I could watch tv or do something else mindless until the headache went away.

The weird thing is that after the three months ended, my migraine with aura headaches reappeared.  I did have to take Amerge a few times since the end of the elimination diet but I have not gone back to the every other day headache existence.

What did I do?  I eliminated caffeine, chocolate, alcohol (with a few exceptions), onions, citrus, anything fermented, lentils, and the whole list of things on Dr. Buchholz's list.  It was hard, especially giving up chocolate and yogurt.  When it was over, I went out and had a cup of strong coffee and a chocolate gluten free cupcake to celebrate.  I didn't feel very well afterward so I am back to being very careful with those two items.  Small amounts, not everyday.

In addition to the aroma therapy, I found that making myself exercise a little before breakfast helped to keep me from getting a headache, even if I kind of felt one coming on when I got up in the morning.  Since the elimination ended, I have been trying a few foods slowly.  Onion seem to be ok, although they and the coffee seem to be the cause of my heartburn.  Ginger in large amounts is not ok and I think that is what brought on one of my migraine with aura headaches.  I tried a detox ginger kale juice drink that made my head feel funny as soon as I drank it.  Never again.  Just say no to Kambucha too.  Same deal.

So anyway, I am pretty much ok now.  I have my life back again.  When I feel tempted to have a glass of wine while cooking, I just think of how horrible life used to be and I drink a big glass of water instead.  I save the wine for dinner and only once a week, if that.

This morning I tried a new recipe for gluten free pancakes with almond flour.  They were a bit tricky (wait longer than usual before flipping and be very careful) and they were too mushy, but ok if you want to try them.  Next time I make them I will use only half almond flour and use an all purpose GF flour as the other half.  The maple syrup helped the taste a lot.

Here are some photos of them in the works:

The recipe I found online at The Roasted Root

1 3/4 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup almond milk

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the eggs, almond milk and vanilla in another.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine.  Use about a quarter cup for each pancake (or less).  Makes 9 pancakes.

Enjoy.
Karen, herself

Gluten Free Piroshki

Piroshki with mushroom and rice filling

What are piroshki?  They are a baked pastry  that have a variety of fillings from jam (sweet version) to cabbage (savory version).  In Russian cuisine, they are a traditional accompaniment to soup.  When I was studying Russian in St. Petersburg (many, many years ago when the city was still called Leningrad) I used to have piroshki for breakfast in the university dining hall.  They had sweet ones filled with jam (my favorites), egg and rice filled ones,  and the cabbage filled ones.  I alternated between the egg and rice and jam filled.   The little old ladies who worked in the dining hall in Leningrad tried to get me to take the cabbage filled piroshki, but I wasn't having any of that.  A few years later I discovered this mushroom and rice filling recipe in The Best of Bon Appetit, published in 1979.  The full pastry recipe is quite large and the book has three different filling recipes.  I have tried two of the three, the mushroom and rice, and the smoked salmon and kasha.  There is also a cabbage filling that I have not yet tried.  I seem to steer clear of cabbage-filled piroshki, but I bet they are good too, just not for breakfast! 

 I used to make piroshki as an appetizer at parties but haven't tried making them since going gluten free.  I figured if I could make pirogi gluten free than why not piroshki, right?  Right.  I cut the pastry recipe down to one third and substituted Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour for the flour, but left the recipe alone after that.  The dough is very short and a bit difficult to work with, but they still turned out great.  I made them all the day before my dinner party and reheated them in a convection/microwave oven at 350° for ten minutes before serving.  Here is the recipe:

Gluten Free Piroshki

(makes 20-24)

1 stick butter, room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese

2 T whipping cream

1 1/4 cups Jules GF All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Mushroom and Rice Filling

2 T butter

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 lb mushrooms, finely chopped

salt and pepper

1/2 cup cooked rice

1 T chopped parsley

Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl using a stand mixer.  Beat in cream, then mix in flour and salt.  Form into a ball, place in a zip loc bag, flatten into a disc and seal.  Chill.

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat .  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft but not brown.  Stir in mushrooms and add salt and pepper to taste.  Increase heat to high and cook until all moisture is absorbed. Remove from heat, add rice and parsley.

Preheat oven to 400°

Grease baking sheet or line with silpat.  Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8" thickness. Using a 3" round biscuit or cookie cutter, stamp out rounds.  Place 1 tsp of filling in the center of each round and brush edges with beaten egg.  Fold in half and pinch edges to close.  Place on baking sheet and make small slash with knife in each to allow steam to escape.  Brush again with egg.  Bake 15-18 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.  Serve warm.

—adapted from The Best of Bon Appetit, The Knapp Press, New York, 1979.  pp. 16-17.

Enjoy!

Karen, herself

Gluten Free Syrniki (Сырники) Russian Cheese Cakes

Just got back from a trip to Moscow where we had these wonderful little cheese cakes at the breakfast buffet at the Moscow Marriott Tverskaya.  I was doing a gluten challenge at the time, but have gone back to my gluten-free life since returning.  More about that later...

We loved the cheese cakes so much that I found a recipe online and made them this morning with Jules' All Purpose Gluten Free flour.  They tasted just like the ones we had in Moscow.  It's like having cheesecake for breakfast.  You serve them with powdered sugar and sour cream.  The cheese inside is slightly sweetened tvorog ( a soft cheese like Farmer's Cheese).  You can get the real thing at international markets.  The one I used was salt-free and unsweetened.  I added sugar to make the cakes.  Recipe follows.  The name Syrniki comes from the Russian word for cheese "Syr' (Сырь)".

Syrniki

500 g Tvorog or Farmer's Cheese
3 egg yolks or two whole eggs
4-5 Tablespoons sugar (to taste, I used 4 T and a pinch more)
1 tsp vanilla (original recipe called for 1 tsp vanilla sugar)
100 g flour ( I used an all-purpose gluten free flour)
mixture of Canola oil and butter (about a tsp of each for frying)
pinch of salt

Stir the cheese well with a fork or use a blender or stand mixer.  Add the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt and mix.  Sift the flour and add to the mixture and mix again.  WIth a spoon dipped in water, spoon out tablespoons of dough, roll them in flour and form into patties.  Heat oil and butter in a non-stick skillet and add syrniki when oil/butter starts to bubble.  Cook over medium heat until browned on both sides.  Remove and place on a platter.  Serve with powdered sugar and sour cream.

Enjoy!
Karen, herself

Gluten Free Toll House Cookie Trial

First off, I have to confess that I haven't blogged in awhile because I have either been too busy unpacking, working, or trying to stay away from gluten-free goodies.  The chaos of our move and downsizing had the effect of putting the weight back on I lost after my jaw surgery.  But over Memorial Weekend I had the worst chocolate craving and I happened to have a package of Nestlé's Chocolate Morsels in the pantry.  I decided to try making the Toll House Cookie recipe with Jules' GF flour.  After all, I have substituted her flour in all my other baked goods without a hitch.  Until now.  Gluten free disaster.  Well, not total disaster.  The taste was heavenly.  It was a disaster in every other sense.

First of all, they spread until there wasn't any definition between them, just a cookie sheet of massive, thin, crumbling, soft mess.  Maybe I put too much dough on the sheet per cookie.  Maybe we didn't wait long enough to try one (and had to peel them off the cookie sheet as they fell apart).  Maybe it was the silpat (so I tried some on an ungreased sheet like the directions said (big head slap here!).  No difference.  Bottom line is that after they completely cooled, they weren't too bad, except for the crumbling.  But I am still disappointed. Jules! I had so much faith in you.  What happened?

Anyone else had this experience?  I did some quick perusal of the topic on Google and found that other people bumped up the flour by a half cup in the recipe to get it right.  Maybe that's it.  Or maybe I should just go back to making the oatmeal-teff chocolate chip cookies that always turn out well.  They still made a great photo.  Love my Nikon D5000.

Karen, herself

Red Robin Serves Udi's Gluten-Free Bun

Hamburger on Udi's Whole Grain GF Bun

The hamburger chain Red Robin has been a favorite of mine for years.  They are one of the big chain restaurants that have a gluten-free menu.  It is not so much a special menu as a road map of how to eat there without consuming gluten.  They cook their fries in a dedicated fryer, so no cross-contamination.  Reason enough to give it a try.

Before going gluten-free I loved their salads with the crispy tortilla strips on top.  Since going gluten-free my go-to menu choice has been the lettuce wrapped burger.  It comes with a salad with balsamic dressing.  Lately, my "gluten anger" mood (being angry because I can't eat what I want) drove me to substitute seasoning-free fries instead of the salad.  Also, I can't really chew lettuce well right now since my jaw surgery, so giving in to the fries was more of a survival thing.  A girl's gotta eat some carbs, right?

Anyway, to my great surprise, the last time we were there the server asked if I wanted a gluten-free bun with my burger.  I was so shocked that I was speechless for a moment.  The funny thing is that I didn't really want the bun.  I have been trying to lose weight and with my jaws still unable to bite into a hamburger with bun, it was better to choose the lettuce wrap with fries.  But, I could not resist trying the bun and I always try to encourage stores and restaurants that make the effort to provide as normal an eating experience as possible for the gluten-free.  So I ordered the hamburger on the GF bun. I could have nixed the fries to keep my carb count down, but what fun is that?  I had to cut the burger with bun into small pieces to chew it, but it was good. It was darn good.  It was also somehow familiar.  When I got home I did some research online and discovered that it was an Udi's Whole Grain Gluten-Free Bun.  Needless to say, Red Robin is still one of my favorite lunch spots. And a big thanks to Udi's, while we're at it.

Karen, herself

Five Years Gluten Free

Brown Rice Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

Five years ago I jumped off a cliff and went gluten-free.  I was desperate.  I was headed to Detroit for six weeks with my parents (who both smoked) and I was in a panic that my migraines would be non-stop because of the second-hand smoke.  I was reacting to all sorts of things: perfume, smoke, all kinds of foods.  I had facial pain, neck pain, migraine, bloating, gas, constipation, iron-deficiency anemia and other slight problems with vitamin absorption.  I went to a naturapath, who tested me for food allergies (IgG and IgE combined).  The test results were not even back when I happened upon an issue of Living Without Magazine with an article on the cover on how gluten could affect the brain.  Leafing through the magazine, I found an ad suggesting that iron-deficiancy anemia and tooth enamel problems could be signs of celiac and it hit me that the naturapath might be right.  She thought it likely I was at least gluten intolerant, if not celiac.  I also found out what gluten really was and I understood why my attempts to eliminate wheat and dairy from my diet to stop the gas were not effective.  I went gluten-free the next day.  That was December 22, 2006.

Four months later I was tested for celiac, but the test was negative.  I had been gluten-free for four months.  I had a stool test done and that found enough gluten antibodies to suggest that I had a sensitivity to gluten.  I avoided gluten and about 30 other food items for two years.  Gradually, I brought back all but the gluten.  Now I mostly avoid milk too, but not all dairy.  I took a test for cow's milk allergy and it said I had a moderate allergy to it.  I seem to be ok with yogurt, cheese and butter, but not milk in large quantities and not whey protein powder at all.

Well, not all my problems were related to gluten, but I have remained gluten-free with only a few cheats over the years.  Since I do not know if I have celiac, once a year, I try a little gluten to see what happens.  The first few years, I got reactions within two hours.  Then it was 3-4 hours.  Then I tried some bread in France a year ago and got no reaction.  I am not sure what my level of sensitivity is, but since my iron levels came up slightly after a few years gluten free and my osteopenia was unchanged, I decided to stick with it.  I am no longer as sensitive to perfumes and smoke, although I prefer not to be around them (and what's up with all these people who douse themselves with perfume anyway? Don't they know it isn't PC anymore? That people have real issues with it?)   I have to admit that I never lost my anger and sorrow over the loss of regular bread and pastries and the frustration that I live with on almost a daily basis living in a gluten-laden world.  I am particularly angry with Starbucks (although I still go there all the time) for not providing good quality gluten free pastries and sandwiches.  These days, it is so easy to do that I get miffed with companies that can't be bothered.  Tully's, on the other hand,  I love  for providing WOW cookies right up at the cash registers.  Very classy, Tully's.

Last month I had double jaw surgery and had to endure a liquid diet for 10 days and then only semi-liquid since.  I only started chewing a week ago and it's not much, yet.  My experience as a cook and a gluten-free cook saved me.  I made 4 or 5 pots of soups and froze individual servings of them.  Then I taught my husband to make gluten-free high-protein smoothies for me and I survived it.  Thanksgiving was hell, but Christmas is going to make up for it.  I am making my usual Thanksgiving meal for Christmas, using Udi's Gluten-free bread in my stuffing and making my gravy from scratch with potato starch instead of flour (or using Jules' Gluten Free All Purpose Flour).  I am not sure I will be able to chew the turkey much, but the rest of the meal will be fit for a king...or queen.

Here's hoping you all enjoy your holidays...gluten-free.

Karen, herself

Preparing for a liquid diet

Borscht (beet soup) simmering on the stove

Next week is my big jaw surgery.  I am having both upper and lower jaws advanced to open up my airway and reposition my teeth so that my bite is optimal.  There are all kinds of technical terms for the procedures, but they are lumped into the category of orthognathic surgery.

Bottom line is that my normal soft diet (which is already driving me crazy) will be limited to a liquid diet for 10 days or so.  I will only be drinking my Thanksgiving dinner, so I think I am going nearly meatless this year.  I don't think pureed meat sounds very appetizing, so will be sticking with broths.  I have been making and storing soups and hot cereals thinned out with soy milk or almond milk so that I can easily heat them up for a meal.  My darling husband will also be making me high-protein smoothies, like the ones I have featured on this blog.  They all still have to be gluten free and pretty much free of cow's milk too, as it hasn't been sitting well with me lately.  Yogurt and butter and cheese seem to be ok though.  I made my usual butternut squash and apple soup for the holiday and my plan for dessert is to have hubby liquify some pumpkin pie filling.  Hopefully when it is all over and I can eat real food again, I will be done with the soft diet thing.  I surely hope so.  It has been far too long.

Borscht (loosely based on the Russian Tea Room recipe)
1 T olive oil
1 onion peeled and chopped
2 large carrots peeled and grated
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/4 green cabbage, shredded
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock
3 large beets, peeled and diced
1 T each sugar and red wine vinegar

Saute the onion in olive oil while you prepare the other vegetables.  Add them (except the beets) to the pot and season with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes and cook a bit, then add the broth and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 10-20 minutes while you peel the beets.  Add the beets, sugar and vinegar to the soup and simmer another 10-20 minutes until the beets are soft. (you can partially puree at this point with an immersion blender) Serve with sour cream.

I started a new blog to journal my way through the surgery and recovery.  If you're interested, it is www.herjawsurgery.blogspot.com

Karen, herself

Pear Plum Cobbler, Gluten-free

I have actually been trying to stay away from sweets of late, but I bought some Bosc pears and they ripened so fast that I was forced to cook them somehow.  I thought of making a pear cobbler inspired by an 80's cookbook I love but then realized that I didn't have enough pears.  I did have a couple really large red plums and I thought, “pear and plum would give me that tart/sweet taste” so I forged ahead.  Insanely great.  The tartness of the plums took the edge off the excessively sweet Bosc pears.  It was heaven on earth...and set my diet back big time.

The book is Lee Bailey's Country Weekends, Recipes for Good Food and Easy Living.  Not sure it is still in print, but it is a find if it is.  It is full of great down-home type recipes and gorgeous photography. I used Jules Gluten Free All-purpose Flour which has xanthan gum in it already.  If you are using your own mix, you will want to add xanthan gum.


Pear Plum Cobbler

2 Bosc pears, cored, peeled, and chopped into large pieces

2 large red plums, pitted and chopped into large pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp mace

Batter
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375°.  Grease a 1 1/2 to 2 quart ovenproof dish and set aside.

Place fruit in large bowl and pour lemon juice over.  Add grated rind.  Mix spices and sugar and add to fruit. Mix with spoon.  Put in baking dish.

Mix batter: combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl and whisk together.  Beat egg yolks and milk together and mix with flour.  Add melted butter and then pour batter over fruit.  Bake for 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.  This can take longer than you think.  Turn down the heat if it starts to burn.

Serves 6

Cool and serve alone or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.  Careful, this is so good it can lead to overindulgence.

Karen, herself

Arugula Salad with Chicken and Avocado

You haven't had arugula until you've had it fresh from the garden.  My friend gave me some from her garden yesterday and I used it in my lunch today with some spinach leaves, leftover roast chicken, chunks of avocado, and organic Roma tomatoes.  I topped it off with some chick peas and it made a really satisfying meal.  I made my own salad dressing with olive oil, chardonnay vinegar and a bit of dijon mustard. Yum.

Karen, herself

Stonewall Kitchens Gluten Free Brownies

A few months ago my husband brought home a box mix of gluten free brownies as a treat for me. I've had them in the cupboard waiting for a reason to make them and today was the day. I finished a big freelance design project yesterday and felt like celebrating and my teeth were aching from a braces adjustment. Brownies seemed like the perfect treat.

I have to say, these are the best, bar none, gluten free brownies I have ever tasted. They may be the best brownies of any kind I have ever tasted. If you see these in the store, try them. They are made by Stonewall Kitchens.

Berry Protein Smoothie

A few months ago I purchased a cool smoothie app for my iPad.  It's from Whole Living and it has collections of recipes for weight loss smoothies, allergen free smoothies, detox smoothies, etc. I tried one from the Meal-in-a-glass collection this morning.

Berry Protein Smoothie
1/2 cup frozen cherries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/8 cup GF rolled oats
1/4 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 T unsalted sunflower seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons honey

As usual, I didn't have all the ingredients, so I improvised a bit.  It called for a cup of frozen strawberries and I substituted 1/2 cup frozen cherries and 1/2 cup fresh blueberries. It was filling and sweet and great way to start the day. Try it for breakfast or for a high-protein mid-afternoon snack. It will keep you going until your next meal.

Serves 1, 8 Weight Watcher Points Plus

Karen, herself

Gluten Free Veggie Wrap

Veggie Wrap in Chia-Corn Tortilla

2 Chia-corn tortilla, heated in the microwave

2 Tablespoons of Lilly's Red Pepper Hummus

1/2 cup grated zucchini

1/3 cup grated carrot

spinach leaves

I tried a new gluten-free tortilla the other day, a Chia Corn Tortilla that I found at Whole Foods in the refrigerator section. They are really tasty and filling. I was in a hurry for lunch today and threw together a quick wrap with them.  Because I am still sporting braces, I grated my zucchini and carrot to make them easier to chew. It turns out it makes them more suitable for a wrap too. Only takes a minute to grate them with a box grater, although take care not to nick a finger!

Heat the tortillas between two sheets of paper towels for 15 seconds on high.  Turn and heat for another 15 seconds. Place the tortillas on a plate and spread one tablespoon of hummus on each. Over that layer the spinach leaves, then spoon on half the grated veggies.  Roll them up and cut them in half. Serve with sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes. Great, delicious high-fiber lunch, free of gluten.

Enjoy!

Karen, herself

Gluten Free in Japan

Just returned from nearly two weeks in Japan and feel compelled to say two things: 1) a big thank you to the cooks in the sports center we stayed at in Nishionomiya for taking care of my gluten-free requirements for four days and 2) why can’t Delta Airlines provide a better gluten-free breakfast on outbound flights from Japan?

So if you need to avoid gluten and have to travel to Japan, here are the things that are easy:

Japanese breakfast is pretty much gluten-free:  Rice, Miso soup, fish, salad, pickles, tea. Sushi and Sashimi are gluten-free.  Just bring your own soy sauce if you are really sensitive. Avoid the tempura, katsu, udon, really any kind of noodle unless it is cellophane or rice.  The buckwheat  noodles in Soba usually contain 20% wheat. Sadly, avoid the beer...but you can have all the sake you want!

Luckily, I do not have a reaction to regular soy sauce, although when at home, I use the wheat-free, but when dining out in Japan, I just tried not to overdo it.  I even tried some soba once and it did not cause a reaction.  Otherwise, I was good and had no problems.

I got so sick of fish that we ate in a Chinese restaurant in Itami nearly every night for dinner because I could have some beef and chicken and pork.  Granted, they all had some soy sauce on them, but I suppose if you were really sensitive, you could have them leave it off.

On the flight going to Japan my gluten free meal on Delta was ok, not cuisine by any means, but ok.  On the way back it was fish and rice with a rice cracker.  The breakfast is what set me off.  I had to smell the pastries everyone else got while I had a prison diet of a banana, fruit cup and water and...jelly!  Everyone else got yogurt, but for some reason, that was left off the GF meal.  My hubby was nice enough to give me his so I could have some protein for breakfast and avoid a sugar crash from all that fruit.

My last tip is to always take food with you.  This trip I didn't need to survive on it, but it was nice to have the GF snacks for the plane.  I took homemade banana muffins, Udi's Bagels, peanut butter, Lucy’s Sugar Cookies, Lara Bars, my own Chex mix with dried blueberries and pecans and GF honey nut chex cereal.  I also bought a bag of mixed nuts in Japan for the trip back.  And when all else fails, there is always chocolate!

So be prepared and have a good trip this Summer.

Karen, herself

Buckwheat Banana Muffins, Gluten-Free

Buckwheat Banana Muffins

2 ripe bananas, broken into 4 pieces each
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup Jules All Purpose GF Flour
3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Buckwheat Flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) Earth Balance Shortening Sticks (room temp., cut into pieces)
2 eggs (room temp)
1/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400° F.  Put bananas and lemon juice in bowl of food processor and pulse a few times.  Combine flours, sugar and baking soda and salt in a bowl with a whisk.  Add dry ingredients, eggs, shortening and milk to banana mixture and pulse until blended.  Take care not to over process.  It is ok if you have lumps in the batter.

Spoon batter into muffin cups or a greased muffin pan.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 mins.  Cool.

I have been making a variation of these banana muffins for nearly 30 years.  The basic recipe came from a 70's era bread baking book for the first food processors.  Now I make them gluten-free and I experiment with different mixes of flours.  I really like this buckwheat one.  They come out looking like chocolate muffins and they taste so good I start thinking they really have chocolate inside! Not sure why buckwheat has that faint chocolate-like taste, but it really seems to (to me, anyway).

I have also made these muffins sugar-free, egg free, dairy-free, or nearly fat-free.  Just be careful not to try to do all variations at once.  I find they work better when you only substitute one or two things at a time.  If you use butter, try using only half the butter called for and substitute 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.  They seem too greasy to me with 1/2 cup of butter. The shortening in this version is fine.

Enjoy!
Karen, herself

Gluten-Free Pita Pockets

Thanks to Living Without Magazine, I was able to have a tuna salad sandwich on whole grain pita bread...gluten-free!  At last, a gluten-free pita.  I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten pita bread since I went gluten-free, over four long years ago.  I got this recipe in an email today from Living Without and I decided to try it immediately.  I thought I had all the ingredients it called for, but when I started assembling things, I realized that I had run out of sorghum flour.  Rats! What to do?  What I did have was teff flour, so I substituted it for the sorghum.  I also used their egg substitution (ground flaxseed + water).  Luckily, it worked and the result was awfully tasty...and pretty to boot, don't you think?  Try it yourself and see.  Here is the recipe as I modified it:

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Pita Bread
makes 10-12 (I only got 8, but who's counting?)
1 pkg.  quick-rising yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1  1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 cup Teff flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1  1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tablespoons warm water

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (115° F).  Add sugar and stir.  Let sit 10-15 mins until water is frothy.  Combine flours, xanthan gum and salt in large bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment.  Pour in yeast and flaxseed mixture.   Mix on medium speed.  Slowly add 1/2 to 1 cup warm water and mix on medium for 2 minutes. Use enough water so that dough is soft and tacky, not liquid (I didn't need as much water as they said and I think this is how I ended up with only 8 pitas, but better to have correct-looking dough, I say).

Coat large bowl with cooking spray and place dough inside, turning to coat on all sides.  Put in a warm spot and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise (2-3 hours).

Preheat oven to 500 ° F.  Place a cookie sheet inside oven while preheating (I sprayed mine with cooking spray).  Pinch off 8 pieces of dough and form into balls.  Roll out on a floured surface.  Roll each piece into a circle with a rolling pin to about 1/4" thick.  Place 3-4 circles on the preheated cookie sheet and bake for 6 minutes.  Turn them over and bake another 2 minutes.  Remove and cool on rack.  Repeat baking for remaining circles of dough.

If you make the dough after breakfast, you can have these babies for lunch, hot out of the oven.  The baking of them doesn't take long.  When finished, slice a pocket in half, open it up and fill with your favorite sandwich filling.  I found them quite tasty and filling.  They tasted very similar to whole wheat pitas, only better!

Enjoy!

Karen, herself