Sunday, March 30

Gluten Free French Bread




So Sunday's are my baking days and I wanted to try something new for bread. I'm so excited about this recipe, it turned out so amazing! This didn't have an off taste or reminded you of eating gluten free. The other great thing about this recipe is, it only takes an hour to make. Yes you heard me right...it's easy, yummy and ready in an hour!! One thing that happened to me the first time I made this recipe, my yeast wasn't as powerful as I thought. So the loaves turned out on the smaller side. It also helps to putting it in a cold oven, while it heats up for the rising of the dough. I do recommend forming the dough into long skinny logs. The second time I baked this recipe... I had new yeast and oh boy did it rise! But I didn't make the longer skinny logs of dough, so it puffed up kind of crazy. I will be adding new pictures soon, to show the follow through process. Still getting used to getting my camera out for my baking and cooking.

I did have to buy a special pan to bake this recipe, but for was worth the small amount I paid for it. You can buy the pan here at Amazon. Hope you enjoy this amazing bread as much as I did! I would love to hear from any of you trying this out or post some pics in the comments. It's exciting to have such wonderful bread in our gluten free world.



Gluten Free French Bread
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  • 1 cup sorghum flour (you could substitute for gf oat flour or millet flour)
  • 1 1/2 cups potato starch
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch/flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (I use coconut sugar)
  • 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons instant or bread machine yeast
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
  • 1 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)




  • 1 cup sorghum flour
  • 1½ cup potato starch
  • ½ cup tapioca starch or flour
  • 1½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon guar gum (or xanthan)
  • 1½ Tablespoons instant or bread machine yeast
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
  • 1 cup warm water (105 – 115 degrees)
  • - See more at: http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/gluten-free-french-bread-recipe/?utm_content=buffer2e01b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.nD01xLK6.dpuf
    Directions:

    1. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the dry ingredients (flour through yeast)
    2. Add olive oil and egg whites, and mix to incorporate
    3. Add the vinegar and most of the water. Beat for 2 minutes, adding the remaining water if needed to make a soft dough.
    4. Spoon the dough onto the pan and carefully shape with a spatula. Because the dough is soft, it will go through the small holes in the pan. Don't press hard when shaping.
    5. If you like, you can brush the top with beaten egg white. Or you can wait till the end of baking and brush on melted butter.
    6. Use a sharp knife to cut several slits in the top of each loaf. 
    7. Place the pan in a cold oven on the middle rack. Turn the oven on to 425 degrees and begin timing for 30 - 35 minutes.
    8. Cool the loaves on a wire wrack before slicing.

    Thursday, March 27

    Quinoa Stuffed Peppers


    Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite meals to make. I change it up all the time with quinoa or rice and also many different ingredients. Sometimes an Italian one with sausage, marinara mushrooms, rice & Parmesan cheese. It's a great meal in one or serve it as your side and veggie, next too a grilled steak or chicken. The list can go on for these babies! Enjoy and as I make other recipes with stuffed peppers, I promise to be good about measuring my ingredients and taking a photo to share.

    Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    • 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to directions (I usually use a stock or bone broth in mine)
    • 1/2 onion, diced
    • 2 garlic cloves, chopped (More if you are crazy for garlic.)
    • Olive oil
    • 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
    • 1/2 cup celery, diced
    • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
    • 6 bell peppers (red, green, or yellow) tops removed, cored and seeded
    • salt & pepper to taste
    • 1 tablespoons basil 
    Directions:
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
    2. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a pan, saute diced onions and chopped
    3. When onions become translucent, add diced celery and mushrooms
    4. Stir in cooked quinoa, diced tomatoes and spices
    5. Divide mixture into bell peppers
    6. Place in greased 9x14 inch baking pan and cover with foil.
    7. Bake until is hot throughout and peppers are softened, about 1 hour.

    Wednesday, March 26

    Eggplant Parmesan


    Let me start by saying...I never ever thought I would like this weird looking fruit. I thought it was a vegetable, but after doing the smart thing and looking it up first before posting...it is in fact a fruit. My brother in-law made eggplant parm for an event and I fell completely in love with it! Since then I've made it a few times as a lasagna style meal or as beautiful rounds of layered cheesy yumminess. 

    Eggplant Parmesan

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    • 2 eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/4" thick rounds (I don't always peel them)
    • 2 bottles of your favorite sauce, or fresh sauce
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 tablespoons water
    • 3 - 4 cups mozzarella (or more, because you can never have too much mozzy!) You can also blend some cheeses.
    • Oil for frying (Olive oil, coconut oil or your favorite vegetable oil)
    • 1 cup gluten free bread crumbs
    • 1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour
    • 1 cup Parmesan cheese + 2-3 tablespoons for topping
    • basil
    • oregano
    • thyme
    • Olive oil for frying
    • Salt and Pepper 
    Directions:
    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    2. When you are prepping the eggplant rounds, run some water over them, and salt both sides, then leave for 15 minutes in a colander. Rinse thoroughly after this. It's a bit of a pain but it leeches out the bitterness from the eggplants and will make the end result taste better. 
    3. Add enough oil to a frying pan that comes up the sides slightly, heat up for frying.
    4. Whisk together eggs and water set aside.
    5. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, flour and 1 cup Parmesan and 1 tablespoon of your dried spices of choice. 
    6. Dip eggplant rounds in egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then dredge in breadcrumb/flour mixture, coating well. Add to hot oil in frying pan, being careful not to splash yourself (good reminder to myself as well, I'm a kitchen klutz at times). Keep an eye on them, it only takes a couple of minutes for each side. Turn as they turn golden brown.
    7. Grab some paper towels to place fried rounds on. Let the cooked eggplant rest on paper towels to soak up extra oil. Keep this production going until all pieces are cooked.
    8. Now grab a large casserole dish...add a thin layer of sauce, layer eggplant, cheese, veggies if wanting to add (sometimes I roast veggies to add). Keep the laying going with sauce, eggplant, cheese, veggies or meat optional, then repeat until done with eggplant. Top with remaining cheese and Parmesan cheese. 
    9. Bake uncovered for 15 - 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting & serving.

    Sunday, March 23

    Coconut Vanilla Granola w/Dried Cranberries


    All I can say is I'm hooked on this granola, literally can't stop snacking on it!! Super yummy, crunchy and just enough sweet. This can be made gluten-free (like I did) or you can buy regular oats and ingredients. Granola is something I really love to make since it's my go-to snack and you can add so many nutritional ingredients.

    Coconut Vanilla Granola w/Dried Cranberries
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    • 2 cups old fashion oats, gluten-free if needed (not quick oats)
    • 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
    • 3/4 shredded sweetened coconut
    • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
    • 1/3 sliced almonds
    • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt or sea salt
    • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
    • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    Directions:
    1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
    2. In a large bowl, toss together oats, walnuts, coconut, almonds, dried cranberries, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
    3. In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. 
    4. Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir until all the dry ingredients are well coated.
    5. Spread mixture in an even layer on the lined baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until mixture turns a light golden brown. You'll want to check on it every 10 minutes and stir around to make sure it doesn't burn.

    Tuesday, March 11

    Gluten Free Dutch Babies



    This is happiness on a plate! It's my first time making Dutch babies and it was a great experience for gluten free. I found the recipe over at Simply Gourmet and it was wonderful. There is a regular version she lists first, with a gluten free recipe towards the bottom. I did one in a cast iron pan and one in a pie pan (pictured above), with both turning out lovely. This batter makes 2 - 3 good size ones.

    It's just the two of us, so it left an extra one for me to play with. As it was getting closer to dinner time, I started thinking it reminded me of a quiche almost...but pizza like. So I added some cooked gf sausage, sliced tomatoes, olives, orange bell peppers sliced and some cheese. Baked it in the oven at 350 degrees and turned it into a quiche pizza, which I served with a salad. It was a great dinner or would be a wonderful brunch!

    Gluten Free Dutch Baby
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    • 5 eggs, at room temperature. It's REALLY important that you do this!
    • 1 cup milk
    • 1/4 cup tapioca flour
    • 1/2 cup white rice flour
    • 1/4 cup brown rice flour
    • 1/4 almond meal
    • 4 tablespoons butter (2 for the skillet and 2 for mixture)
    Directions:
    1. Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet (or glass pie plate) inside the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
    2. In your blender add eggs, milk, flour and 2 tablespoons of butter. Blend on high until light and fluffy. You will want the air in the mixture to make it light. You can use a mixer too, blender just makes it easier to pour the batter into the pans.
    3. Remove skillet from oven. Melt 2 tablespoons in hot skillet so that inside of the skillet is completely coated with butter. Pour the batter equally between your pans (either 2 or 3 pie plates or cast iron skillets). It's okay if the butter browns a little bit.
    4. Bake until puffed and lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove promptly to serve. Some like to sprinkle with powder sugar and serve with lemon. Or you can treat it like a pancake and drizzle maple syrup on them.

    Wednesday, March 5

    Gluten Free Raviolis!!



    I was super excited about this recipe...it turned out wonderful! I love pasta a lot...however it's been a bit of a change getting used to gluten free pastas. I've found some dried pastas I like, but miss the nice chewiness of fresh pasta. I haven't played more with it in awhile, I would love to make pasta and maybe try to dry it for later use or freeze it. 

    This is a recipe for the dough only and walking through how to make raviolis, not the filling or sauces. Above I did a sausage and cheese filling with a brown butter sauce, tossed with fresh herbs I had on hand. It's a little time consuming, but so worth it! I've made meat fillings, cheese fillings and a cheese butternut filling. Same with the sauces...it varies from brown butter & sage, marinara or cream sauces. Anyways...here we go!

    Gluten Free Ravioli Dough
    Yield: 50 - 60 Raviolis
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    • 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour/starch
    • 1/2 cup corn starch (Bob's Red Mill has a GMO free one)
    • 1 cup white rice flour
    • 1/2 cup potato starch
    • 2 1/2 teaspoons of gluten free baking powder
    • 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
    • pinch of salt
    • 3/4 cup + 1 teaspoon water
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 large eggs, beaten
    • 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
    Directions:
    1. Whisk all dry dough ingredients thoroughly. 
    2. Add oil, water and beaten eggs; mix thoroughly to form a stretchy type dough, the consistency of soft play dough.
    3. If the dough is too dry you can always add a little water; or if it's too wet you can add a little corn starch or tapioca flour/starch.
    4. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, and refrigerate 3, wrapped in plastic wrap or placed in a ziplock bag.
    5. With a rolling pin, roll out 1/16", as thin as possible without being sheer. 
    6. Cut out 2" circles or squares (I used a small tupper wear container for my squares). Remove outer edges and set aside in ziplock or plastic wrap. Continue to do this until all the dough is used. 
    7. Baste all edges of squares/circles with egg wash.
    8. To each square/circle add a slightly heaping 1/2 teaspoon of your filling.
    9. To another square/circle, flatten it with your palm of your hand to make it slightly larger.
    10. Add the larger one to the filled piece and meet all sides evenly: press together and pinch edges to seal.
    11. Refrigerate each batch of raviolis as you make them, covered with plastic wrap until you have all 4 pieces of dough done.
    12. Boil water in a large pot. Add raviolis. Cook for 6 minutes. They float to the top right away, therefore, this is not the indication of when they are done.
    13. Serve with your favorite sauce.
    14. Layer unused portions between sheets of parchment paper. Either refrigerate for 1-2 days or freeze.



    Monday, March 3

    Cabled Honeycomb Purse...LOVE!

    I loved this purse so much when I saw the pattern! It turned into one of those challenges to learn a new stitch each week. Love the style and size of this bag...and it's a great pattern to learn out to knit a great bag. The pattern can be found here at The Bees Knees blog... Purse Pattern.




    I actually hand stitched the lining in the bag, it was a bit of a challenge, but worked good for me. She has details on how she put her lining together. I added lace trim to add a cute little detail in the purse...plus I have an embarrassing stock pile of new and vintage laces. Figured it's time to start using them! 


    This pattern I think is advanced beginner and is very rewarding. I did use a bulky weight yarn called LOVE from Red Heart. It's soft, bulky and a great buy for this type of project. Hope you enjoy it! 

    Sunday, March 2

    Spring Knitting Project

    I knit and crochet a lot for my little business...whether it's making up something new, stocking up local retail or orders. The one thing I'm really bad at is making stuff for myself in this process! So this year I started to keep a list of things I've been dying to make. One is this super cute Springtime sweater! Here's the link to this really fun sweater Springfield Sweater.

    These are the pictures of the what my sweater will look like...



    The yarn I've chosen for this project is... Bamboo Pop, it's 50% cotton and 50% bamboo. By far my favorite yarn to use for clothing, great weight and a dream to knit (or crochet). I can get some locally at a yarn shop, but when they are out of colors I do a search online... fantastic buy for the yardage too! The color I used is called rose and it's the perfect rich looking coral color.


    So far this is what I have done, still have to do the bottom cabled band and the arms. So excited to have it done! It's taken me on and off about a 1 1/2 weeks...although it would be much less if I worked on it solid. It's a great project and not too difficult. I would say an Advanced Beginner could do this without a problem. I will post an update of what it looks like when it's all done!!