Tofu Sticks Appetizer

I’ve seen a recipe for these before but they call for using regular breadcrumbs.  Since GF bread is not super cheap, I keep the crumbs and ends  and use them for these.  They’re a nice to serve as an appetizer with a dipping sauce and they’re pretty fat free.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

• 1 lb block of extra firm tofu, gently pressed and drained then cut into 1 inch thick sticks
• 1 1/2 c. gf breadcrumbs (tapioca/rice bread works great)
• 3 tbsps sesame seeds
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp  garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tablspoon dried parsley
• 1 Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp light tamari soy sauce
• 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
• 1 egg lightly beaten

You can add more salt if desired.

Lightly grease a baking sheet lined with foil. Mix the soy and worchestershire sauces and soak the tofu sticks in it. Combine all the dry ingredients and place on a shallow baking dish or large plate. Dip each tofu stick in the beaten egg and then roll in the breadcrumb mixture and place on the greased baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Almond Tea Cakes

I had to create a set of cakes for a party I’m going to tonight. I know there will be at least one other Gluten sensitive person there. I think these would be quite marvelous for a tea dusted with some powdered sugar and served with fresh strawberries. I really do like egg-sponge cakes better than baking powder leavened cakes.

I adapted the Financier Cake here: http://frenchfood.about.com/od/frenchdessertrecipes/r/tradfinancier.htm

By substituting 1 c. flour with 1/4 cornstarch, 1/4 potato starch and 1/2 tapioca flour and 1/2 tsp. Xantham gum. Also I baked them in metal tart tins (well-greased with butter) for 12-14 minutes at 375 F.

Let the tins cool on a rack for about 5 minutes before removing the cakes. I found out that in a conventional oven it’s best to bake only 12 tins at a time and that the tins with the least amount of flat surface area actually released their cakes easily when tapped lightly.

I have to confess I think I broke two or three on purpose so I could eat the ‘rejects.’ Don’t know why I still have to do that.

English muffins that don’t taste like rocks

 

Kninnikinnick English Muffins 

I think my search for decent gluten-free breakfast breads might almost be over. We just had these for breakfast and they were not that bad. The didn’t taste exactly like an English muffin and they didn’t have the airy and crusty texture we’re accustomed to.  At least they didn’t taste like something I should be scrubbing the bathtub with. I’m thinking that they’d make decent hamburger buns.

It looks like you can order these products via the mail. Though that’s a concept I may need to get used to… mail order baked goods.

http://www.kinnikinnick.com/

Mochi Fantasy

Image of Two Ladies Strawberry Mochi from the blog Big Island Grinds.

I may have mentioned my obession with Mochi in a different post. Last year when we were married we purchased a beautiful tray of these artfully prepared cakes from the Two Ladies Kitchen in Hilo for our wedding in lieu of a traditional wedding cake. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the result. If you’re ever on the Big Island and driving through Hilo I do suggest that you make a stop there. It’s an unassuming little shop where the locals and probably tourists line outside the door to purchase their packaged treats.

For the lay person: Mochi is a rice cake. Sometimes there are simple mochi which are just plain rice cakees which can be baked in an oven. When baked the mochi cakes puff up. Mochi comes in more decorative and festive forms including daifuku mochi (see image) which are usually filled with some sweet filling such as red bean (Koshi-an) or white bean (Shiro-an) paste. The Two Ladies actually made a mochi out of one of my favorite Asian foods, Purple Yam (known as Ube in the Phillipines). Actually, at one point I’d fantasized about having my wedding cake made out of Ube, the shocking purple hue of the cake would be a sight to see. In addition to the Ube and Strawberry Mochi, my favorite Two Ladies mochi flavors are: Passionfruit, White Chocolate and Peanut Butter, Plum, and Green Tea

As I write about this now and I continue the fantasy of having really good fresh mochi. I did try to make it myself; however it was so messy I don’t think I’ll do it again anytime soon. I took a green tea mochi recipe and I used strongly brewed apricot tea as the liquid. The cakes themselves were tasty, but the labor required to make and clean up discourages me from making this again until I get a microwave and can make the microwave version. Despite the effort involved in making them, I will forever be infatuated with mochi because after all they’re adorable looking. Small packages of aesthetically pleasing and delicous cuteness.

Tray of Daifuku Mochi and Manju*

After doing a search online for pictures (looking for mochi-porn), I found a rather terrific post on Japanese Cake Molds. Though it sounds like the cakes produced in these beautiful molds are more sugar than pounded rice dough.

http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/03/28/japanese-cake-mold/

 

Japanese Cake Mold

Links:

• Map to Two Ladies Kitchen in Hilo
• Recipe for Mochi Daifuku

*Manju = baked cakes not always made of rice flour which are filled with sweet fillings such as redbean or adzuki paste called koshi-an

Lentils and brown rice

For the budget-minded and health conscious… I’m posting this recipe. Plus I feel guilty for dropping the butter mochi bomb. If you don’t dig cumin you could leave it out. Jona, if you need brown mustard seeds. I have plenty. I buy in bulk from the Indian grocery.

• 3 c. brown or black lentils (soaked for several hours or overnight, then rinsed thoroughly)
• 3 tbsp. ghee or clarified butter
• 1 large onion chopped fine
• 2 tsp. brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
• 3 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp sea salt (more to taste if needed)
• 1 lemon
• ground pepper
• 1/2 c. chopped Italian parsley

I like to grind my spices in a coffee grinder we have reserved for spice grinding. In a large sauce pan heat the ghee on high heat add the ground spices and the cinnamon sticks and lower the heat to medium. Saute the spices for a few minutes or until you can enjoy the full aroma of the spice cooking in the ghee. Add the onions and cook until tender. Add the lentils and cook over the heat for 5-7 minutes. Make sure you stir them constantly to avoid burning. Add the salt and stir. Squeeze the lemon juice from the lemon, taking care to remove the seeds. Add the lemon juice and the whole lemon halves to the lentils and stir. Cover the lentils with water and return the heat to high allow the lentils to boil for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low cover and allow to cook until the lentils are tender. Add more water as necessary season with freshly ground pepper and serve with brown rice and chopped Italian parsley.

Random thought:

Every time I cook Lentils… I think of that story Lentil by Robert McCloskey (of Make Way for Ducklings Fame).

Butter Mochi

This dessert is also know to Filipinos as bibingka… and it’s not fat free. If you want to feel a little better you could use low-fat coconut milk. Cut into smaller squares and eat sparingly or wrap the squares individually and give as gifts. Just like brownies the edges are wonderful. You have this combination of a buttery crust and a chewy center.

• 1 lb. box of Mochiko sweet rice flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 c. unrefined cane sugar
• 3 eggs beaten
• 2 sticks of butter (1 c.) melted
• 1 can coconut milk (low fat can be substituted)
• 1/2 c. evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Grease a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with the butter wrappers.  Set aside beat the sugar into the eggs and beat until well combined. Stir in the remaining liquid ingredients, making sure to combine the ingredients well. Gradually add the rice flour mixture and combine until absolutely no lumps form.  Mix in the vanilla extract. Pour the ingredients into the greased baking dish and spread it evenly with a greased spatula.  Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the cake is a golden brown. Sprinkle the shredded coconut over the top of the bibingka. Return to the oven and bake for about 10 more minutes or until the coconut also reaches a nice golden brown.  Let sit in the pan on a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. With a sharp knife cut the mochi into tiny squares.

I like having mine with a bit of brown rice tea.

Bakewell Tart Reference

So now… I’ve decided to set up a few challenges for myself. Gluten Free Recipe Challenges. It actually would be great to have a recipe competition for finding the best substitutes for one’s favorite gluten filled recipes. Thanks to the BBC series and the character DCI Gene Hunt, I think I may have found my first challenge.

My husband and I adore watching the show Life on Mars. In one episode the hard-nosed Detective Chief Inspector gives Detective Inspector Sam Tyler a hard time for being a little too soft…”Should I bring out the Bakewell Tarts and a spot of tea?” he jabs.

So now being very uneducated about British cuisine I search google for bakewell tart images and the history and I find this. I also find this absolutely delicious sounding recipe on Foodaholic: Celebrating the Bakewell Tart. Note, the image of the tart on this blog is far more tantalizing that the one I found below.

My first challenge will of course be creating a decent shortbread… which I suspect may not be that hard…it might just take a good and selective blend of tapioca, potato, and dairy whey, with either rice or sorghum flours. The frangipan filling is easy enough. Check back by the end of the month I may have something for you.

Fairly Easy Buckwheat Pancakes

E. complained that a great deal of gluten-free recipes seem to take a lot of time effort and ingredients. I dinked around in the kitchen to come up with this recipe to prove that there are some simpler ways to make food truly gluten-free (thanks to Bob’s Red Mill .

These are particularly tasty if you let the batter sit in the refrigerator overnight. They have a rather chewy texture that we love. This batter makes enough griddlecakes for about four people. We like to make the batter on Saturday and then use the second batch on Sunday.

• 1 c. buckwheat flour*
• 1 c. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Mixture
• 1/2 tsp. xantham gum
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. club soda or water
• 2 tbsp. molasses
• 1 large egg slightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp. malt vinegar (or cider vinegar)

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Gradually stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Make sure they are well combined and let them sit for at least 20 minutes. I like to get the sausages or bacon started and fruit cut up while I’m waiting for the batter to set.

When the batter is ready, grease a large frying pan with butter and pour the cakes in 1/4 c. amounts on to the pan. Cook on each side a few minutes or until the cakes are done. Make sure to add more butter to the pan as necessary so the cakes won’t stick. Serve immediately with plenty of real maple syrup.

*When you purchase buckwheat flour, it’s a good idea to make sure that it was not milled or processed in a place that used the same equipment to process regular gluten flour.

Quinoa Pasta Puttanesca

One of the first things we cleaned out of our pantry was pasta. After this, I set out on a mission to find a gluten-free alternative that didn’t dissolve in the pot of water if left in the pot just a little to late.

I finally discovered a fairly good substitute for homemade pasta, using quinoa. I found a recipe but was a little skeptical of the proportions of the flours.  I’m planning to create a larger batch of this (for drying) soon and will try to capture some photo documentation of the finished product.

• 1/2 c. stone ground quinoa flour
• 1/3 c. tapioca flour
• 4 tbsp. potato flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp water
• Additional flour for kneading (1/4 c. quinoa, 2 tbsp tapioca, 1 tsp potato flour).

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Form a deep well in the center of the flour mixture and crack the egg and add the olive oil and water to the indentation. With a fork combine the flour with the liquid ingredients until you have a mealy substance that can be kneaded into a dough add more of the additional flour mixture if needed. Form into a ball. Place back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour. After an hour has past, check the pasta dough, if it’s a little sticky knead more flour into it. The dough should hold its shape well and be sculptable like firm clay.

Making the pasta:

I used a hand-crank pasta maker as recommended by the manufacturer.  I flattened the dough into a rectangle just slightly thicker than the width of the largest or first setting on the pasta maker.  I tried a number of thickeness and found that moderately thick pasta works well with this dough.

Cooking the pasta:

Total cooking time in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water took about 4-5 minutes.  As soon as the pasta was cooked al dente, I poured it into a colander and then rinsed with  a good deal of cold water to prevent additional cooking of the pasta.

I served with the pasta was a healthy dose of puttnesca. I’ve included my recipe. Note – I pulled this directly from one of my older blogs (in a past life).

Last night I whipped up some Puttanesca as it is an easy thing to do.

-1 28 oz. can organic roma tomatoes

-1 16 oz. can organic tomato sauce

-1 c. pitted kalamata olives

- 1/4 c. capers

- 1 tsp red pepper flakes

- 3 cloves garlic minced

- 2 dried bay leaves

- 1 tsp. ground oregano

- freshly ground pepper to taste

- 1 16 oz. can of artichoke hearts

- 3-4 sliced roma tomatoes

- 1 small tin of anchovies in oil, drained

Basically you place everything except the artichoke hearts, fresh roma tomatoes, and anchovies. In a pot and simmer on medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes. Then before serving you add the remaining ingredients and serve over linguine or spaghetti. Also, I like to take the leftover sauce and toss it with some penne rigate. I bake it in an oven safe dish with a generous covering of mozarella, shaved parmesan and romano at 350 F for about 1/2 hour. This gets the edge noodles nice and crispy. According to a friend of mine puttanesca has a rather seedy origin. After all, with a name like puttanesca you can’t be made from wholesome goodness. My friend has given me a a website that speculates on the origin’s of this pasta dish’s name: http://www.washblade.com/2003/8-29/arts/homefront/homefront.cfm  

Why I’m here

Last year my husband discovered that he was wheat-intolerant. He does not have full-blown celiacs disease, but throughout his life he’s been plagued by mysterious digestive woes and strange bouts of sore-throat, sluggishness and reduced immunity. A close relative of ours suggested that he might be displaying symptoms of wheat intolerance. He did the research and reduced and then finally eliminated the wheat from his diet and the symptoms all went away.

Finding out that you’re wheat-intolerant in America is almost like finding out that you can’t drink tap-water. Wheat is present in the majority of foodstuffs including pre-packaged and preserved foods that include modified foodstarch.  Bread made from gluten flours is a big part of western culinary culture and recipes for the foodstuff in it’s gluten-free form are few and far between. This is undoubtedly because gluten grains lend themselves to bread-making more than the other grains.

But there are other favorite foods staples besides breads and pastries which are forbidden to a person on a GF diet:

• Pastas (semolina)
• Beer
• Tasty sauces in many recipes like bechamel or any roux based sauces (say in Cajun) cooking
• Breading or batter on yummy fish and chips
• Soy sauce
• Phyllo dough (Baklava, Spanokopita, etc)
• Half the dumpling recipes in existence
• Some candies

One of the first things you discover when you must write-off gluten from your diet is that gluten-free (GF) alternatives are often rare and exotic, and being rare and exotic they are almost always costly. A package of GF brownie mix runs about $4 -5, while your average package of Duncan Hines is only $1.50.

I’m finding that there are some translations to wheat dependent recipes of breads, cookies, cakes, etc. which are less than palatable. Some having the texture of the sandbox cakes the mean kid at daycare made you eat.  I would like the blog to be a place where I record what we learn and any of the recipes we develop on our own, including some replacements of the items above (excepting phyllo dough because I really don’t want kill myself with such an impossible task). I also want to  include our shopping tips for eating GF affordably as well as share some tasty discoveries of packaged foods or GF guilty pleasures.  Sometimes treasures are treasures because of their rarity.

Please note: many of the recipes we’ll be posting here are sort of experimental.    I’ll share the ones that are successes: however, I will also share the failures and if possible even try to determine why they failed.  Best to learn from one’s past mistakes, I always say.