A (gf) pie for Mikey

Please excuse me, but this blog post is going to take a slightly different route then most of my previous posts. Yes, I will share a recipe – but unlike most of my other recipes, I was driven to make this particular recipe not because it sounded good and I was craving it, but because of the principle behind it. After reading about a recent tragedy in the microblogging world, I decided to answer the call to make something – in this case a peanutbutter pie for Mikey – for someone I love.

So stay with me here please. In this post, I'm going to do some reflecting. Concentrate on the haves, rather than the have nots we're so used to getting stuck on. I think it's almost human nature to think about what we don't have – what we see others have and decide that we also need or want.

Yes, I have celiac disease. But instead of focusing on what I can't have (a good hamburger bun, the ease of ordering anything my heart desires when we visit a restaurant, a corn dog, funnel cake, or fried food of choice when I visit the state fair later today), I should instead focus on what I do have.

1. I have plenty of food available to me. My husband and I can provide food for our little family. We're not part of the millions of people around the world who are going without breakfast this morning and don't know when they'll get their next meal. In addition, my food options are always expanding. Restaurants are becoming more aware and are providing GF options. More companies are becoming aware of the growing GF population and are exploring GF products. This is also pushing us to eat healthier and more naturally, just because it's easier to know exactly what whole ingredients we are using in a dish than it is to carefully read an ingredients list that's inches long on a product. We're getting fewer preservatives, natural colors, and natural flavors but more whole, fresh ingredients and flavors. I am thankful that I have options.

2. Yes, I have celiac. But in the realm of medical maladies, this one isn't so bad. I am healthy, perhaps a few pounds heavier than I would prefer (see above, I have plenty of food available to me which could be the cause of this, but that is a blessing so I'm not going to complain) and I'm working on fixing that part, but it could honestly be a lot worse. I don't have cancer or another life-threatening/demanding illness. I don't have to take regular medications to ensure my wellness. I have all of my limbs, my sight, my hearing, and my health, and I am thankful for this.

3. I have my husband. He is always supportive and always has our best interest in mind. He cooks me dinner on nights that I go to the gym and would give up eating a hamburger bun or real pizza in front of me if I asked him to – all with minimal complaint. I swear that sometimes he can even read my mind. Who else would immediate guess the word "convex" when playing Pictionary? Who else could randomly laugh and comment on the exact same thing that I was thinking? Only him, and I got very lucky when I found him. We argue about stupid things sometimes (but who doesn't?) and sometimes I take him and everything he does for granted. I'm going to stop that and instead thank him and cherish him. I don't want my memories to be of what went wrong or of a stupid argument. I am thankful that he's a big part of my life and I want him to know it.

4. I am surrounded by those I love and who love me. I have a pretty kick-ass family - including in-laws, so I know I'm lucky. I don't see them as often as I should, but we always have a good time when we get together. And they are there pushing me, comforting and supporting me, and cheering me on in anything and everything. I also have some great friends – some I don't see and talk to as often as I would like to and some that I don't go a single day without talking to. I have friends that I can laugh with, cry with, and just sit silently with. I have friends that push me, support me, see the best in me, and believe in me even when I don't believe in myself. I shared this pie with some great friends of ours last night. Ones that we randomly met 2 years ago while on vacation out of the country. We struck up a conversation while in the pool and found out that we're essentially from the same town and I had worked with her father-in-law. What are the odds of that? We don't see them as often as we would like, but they are amazing people and I'm blessed to have them in my life.

I know that I have so much more, and from now on I will do my best to reflect on that rather than get stuck on what I think I need or want. I am lucky, and I should be more thankful for that.

So here is the recipe for peanutbutter pie. Reflect on what you have while making it, then share it with the people that you love. Don't wait until tomorrow because tomorrow may be too late.

Peanutbutter Pie
Serves  12
8 ounces GF chocolate cookies - I used a package of Mi-Del chocolate sandwich cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup (plus some) chocolate chips - I used Hershey's Special Dark. Yum!
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy-style peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.  Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir to mix well.  Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a pie pan.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use. 

Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar.  Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Increase speed and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanutbutter filling mixture.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream (try not to get impatient like I do).  Pour the filling into the pie pan crust.  Drizzle extra melted chocolate on top (optional) and sprinkle with extra nuts (optional), and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

Share a piece with someone you love, you won't regret it. There is way too much pie to eat yourself.

Oopsie

While I've found a couple of breads that I'm very happy with, I have yet to find any hamburger buns. I'm fine with eating a bunless hamburger most of the time, but sometimes you just want to pick it up instead of eating with a fork and knife, which is why a bun is so important.

My husband was looking around for a low carb option for himself and found a recipe for Oopsie Rolls, which are low carb and gluten free.

3 large eggs, seperated
1 packet of Splenda
dash of salt
pinch cream of tartar
3 oz cream cheese, softened

Oopsie roll, fresh out of the oven

And add Splenda, salt, and cream cheese to the yolks. Use a mixer to combine the ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff (if you're using the same mixer, mix the whites first and then the yolk mixture).

Using a spatula, gradually fold the egg yolk mixture into the white mixture. Make sure you don't break down the whites.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and spoon the mixture onto the sheet, making 6 mounds. Flatten each mound slightly.

Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes, and then remove to a rack and allow them to cool. Store them in a bread sack or a ziplock bag.

The finished product.

We didn't allow them to cool over night as we've read is recommended.

The texture was slightly chewy and did not taste like it was supposed to be an imitation of a bread product.

They held up very well to the burger patty and to the condiments.

We will definitely be making these again soon, and this time we'll experiment with adding different herbs and seasonings to the mix. I'd love to make Italian seasoned ones that I can serve as garlic "bread."

Rice Krispies!

GF Rice Krispie Treats!

Kellogg's recently came out with a gluten free alternative to Rice Krispies – finally! The company did more than just eliminate the malt flavoring from the original recipe to make it gluten free, it also opted to make the GF version with brown rice instead of white. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm certainly not going to complain.
 

After my fellow celiac friend ecstatically sent me a picture text when she found them in the store, I set off to find a box myself. The location of GF Rice Krispies depends on the store – they were in the regular cereal aisle in one store and with the other GF cereals in the health department in another.
 

After buying a box (or a few), I went back home to make Rice Krispie Treats. It had been a long time since I had last made them and I had been craving them for quite awhile – probably just because they were off limits.

I followed the traditional recipe:

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows 

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.

Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper (or your own very well buttered hands) evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.

I also experimented and made this recipe using a package of cinnamon bun flavored marshmallows (8 oz) and 1 heaping cup of regular miniature marshmallows. The flavored marshmallows add a subtle hint of cinnamon and the result is absolutely fantastic!

Bread experiments

No new recipes to post yet, although I do have a few currently in the works. I recently got a bread maker and have been experimenting with that. Each loaf has been edible (although the first loaf was so questionable that even Nora didn't want it after pulling it down from the counter to snack on).

Even Nora deemed the first loaf of bread nearly inedible.

Since then, I have been experimenting with different flour types and ratios - which my bread machine instruction manual heavily discourages. In fact, it says the only substitution that can be made is substituting one type of yeast for another.

Hogwash, I say. I've been adding sorghum flour, despite the manual saying otherwise. I've found the bread to be good, but not quite as bread-like and I'm looking for, as the loaves have had a density and flavor resembling pound cake.

However, I used this discovery to my advantage a couple of weeks ago when I decided to bring a loaf of gluten free cinnamon raisin bread to work for a fellow celiac coworker's birthday.  It turned out very well, although I don't believe I added enough cinnamon. But then again, I didn't measure and just dumped a bunch in. Before I make it again, I will consult a couple of recipes and use them to ensure I add an adequate amount.

I bought some garbanzo bean flour awhile ago that I'm pretty excited about trying out. I'm hoping that it won't be as cakey as the loaves made from sorghum flour. I need to replenish my stocks of rice flours, in addition to eventually adding coconut and almond flours to my pantry.

I vow to eventually master the art of gluten free bread making. Until then, Nora and I will keep taste-testing.

Coming up soon: gluten free beer evaluation.

Tamale skillet

I actually have to credit my sister for this recipe. She insisted that I try it because it's GF and she really likes it. I have done little adaptation to it, aside from changing the quantity of peppers and adding avocado when I serve it.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups salsa
3/4 cup frozen corn (you could also use fresh or canned, although I have an aversion to canned vegetables)
2 Tbsp water
6 corn tortillas (6 inches), halved and cut into 1/2 inch strips
3/4 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, cheddar jack, Mexican blend, pepper jack, etc.)
Sour cream
Fresh avocado (optional)

In a large skillet, cook beef and peppers over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in salsa, corn, and water, then bring to boil.

Stir in tortilla strips. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until tortillas are softened.

Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and cook 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Serve with sour cream and fresh avocado.

Veggie lasagna

I have a love of pasta dishes, but have yet to love a pasta dish made with GF pasta. I have always used "sneaky cooking" to incorporate vegetables into my lasagna, so I decided to use "sneaky cooking" to make a GF lasagna.

This recipe does not use vegetables instead of meat (which is why I call it veggie lasagna instead of vegetarian lasagna), but instead uses vegetables as a substitute for noodles. However, this dish could easily be made completely vegetarian by omitting the ground meat, as the eggplant and mushroom add a great "meaty" texture and flavor.

4 (about) zucchini or summer squash, sliced length-wise with a mandolin
1.5 jars pasta sauce
1-1.5 lbs ground turkey (or ground beef)
Mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 box frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained really well
I box winter squash, cooked
1 big container of ricotta cheese
2 bags of shredded Italian cheese
(In addition, I normally also use a diced and roasted eggplant, but my supermarket was out)


Pour 1.5 jars of sauce into a mixing bowl. Add meat, mushrooms, and onion (and eggplant).

Combine ricotta, spinach, and squash.

Just cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan with sauce. Build up layers of zucchini noodles, ricotta mixture, and sauce mixture then top each with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour, or until it looks done.
 
This lasagna is fairly watery right after you take it out of the oven due to the vegetables having a higher water content than traditional pasta noodles. This was a slight pain when I served it the night that I made it.
 
However, I was able to drain the liquid after it cooled, before putting subsequent servings into containers to take to work.

Peanut butter cookies: no adaptations necessary

Traditional peanut butter cookies have flour and need adapting. But these cookies only have 3 ingredients, and none of them are flour.


1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, but this is probably one instance in which creamy would be better)
1 egg

Mix all ingredients. Roll into 1-inch balls (or use a 1-inch cookie scoop) and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork (or the palm of your hand). Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Note: do not bake until the cookies start to brown. My husband did this and we essentially ended up with peanut butter hockey pucks. 8 minutes is really all you need for a soft and chewy cookie.

As you can see from the photo, some of my cookies have brown dots. I doubled the batch and then add a few handfuls of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips to the second half of the dough.

These cookies aren't exactly mind-blowing, but they definitely get the job done if you're in the mood for a cookie and don't feel like doing math and flour substitutions.

No adaptation necessary

I haven't adapted any more baked goods this week – including the chocolate cupcakes that I had planned on making for my husband's birthday. However, I do have more breads to review (upcoming) and 2 recipes to share that don't need any adapting at all, which is very exciting.


The first "recipe" is for spicy peanut chicken soup. You'll notice that I used "recipe" as it isn't really a recipe – I adapted the recipe from another lady, who adapted her recipe from Emeril. The way I see it, most recipes are fairly easy to adapt. The recipe I found called for 2 bell peppers, but I had a plethora of them in my fridge, so I used 4. You'll also notice that I nearly always just say "minced garlic" and don't give exact measurements. I absolutely hate dealing with fresh garlic. However, I absolutely love the taste of garlic. So I buy huge jars of it, already minced, and use that. Because it isn't quite as potent as fresh (and because I love garlic), I use quite a bit more than the recipes call for. I also don't really measure – I just use a big soup spoon. I feel the same way about onions, so I normally buy them already chopped and frozen. Yes, I know it's a bit more expensive and they aren't as good as fresh, but it's a price I'm willing to pay for convenience.

I'm also going to share a recipe for hummus. Neither hummus nor spicy peanut chicken soup traditionally contain glutenous ingredients, but I like the recipes (plus they're easy and healthy). This hummus is so much better than store-bought, and it's very easily customizable.

Recipe 1, spicy peanut chicken soup
4 bell peppers, diced (I used 2 red, 2 yellow) - can use more or less
2 large onions, diced
1 huge scoop of minced garlic (I use it from a jar;  1 Tbsp fresh minced)
2 medium sweet potatoes, roasted and cubed
1 can diced/crushed tomatoes
1 container chicken stock (32 oz?)
1 can coconut milk ( I used evaporated milk)
Chicken (breast, tenders, or boneless thighs – your choice), 2-3 lbs, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy (I mixed them. You can also use more/less, depending on how peanutty you want it)
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, more or less depending on how spicy you want it
Salt and pepper
Cilantro

Combine bell pepper, onion, and garlic in large pot. Sauté until slightly softened. Add can of tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Puree with immersion blender or regular blender. To the mixture in the pot, add chicken stock and coconut milk, peanut butter, chicken, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper. Bring to a low simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done. Top with cilantro.

It makes quite a bit pot - my normal big pot (5 quarts?) was almost full. I plan on freezing several servings. It also gets spicier after you let it sit over night.I heated it up with some  rice noodles and it was pretty good. The rice noodles absorbed almost all of the liquid, so it was more like noodles with sauce and chicken than it was soup.


                                         Recipe 2, hummus
2 16-oz cans of chickpeas/garbanzo beans
2-3 Tbsp minced garlic, roasted (or 4 cloves of fresh)
1/3 cup roasted tahini
2 lemons, juiced
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp ground cumin
olive oil

Combine all ingredients (except olive oil) in food processor and pulse a few times. Then stream in olive oil until the hummus is the consistency you desire. Makes 3-4 cups.

You can add any additional spices you desire, more or less garlic, roasted red peppers, etc. I love to use this as a dip for vegetables. Other people eat it with crackers, and it can even be used as a sandwich spread.

Great-fruit cupcakes

Last weekend I ventured into the realm of from-scratch GF baking. I set a lofty goal of making grapefruit cupcakes, which I had never made (or eaten) before. To complicate things, I couldn't find a recipe for GF grapefruit cupcakes, so I was left to adapt a normal recipe.

I ventured to an Asian store (the flours found there are supposed to be cheaper than they are in the healthfood section of grocery stores). A note about these flours: they're much finer than the ones in the grocery store, so you can't really use equal substitutions. I'll experiment with that later and let you know my thoughts. The superfine rice flour I bought was $1 per bag; the tapioca starch was $0.75. Score! Another side note: tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same thing. (This is not true with potato starch/flour and corn starch/flour.)

I ventured to the grocery store in to buy the rest of the ingredients for my flour mixture (recipe to follow), as well as some other flours. Only when I got home did I realize that one flour recipe called for tapioca starch or corn starch, so I assumed that they were interchangeable. But my flour recipe called for both. I debated going back to get potato starch but decided that because they were interchangeable in one recipe, using only corn starch would probably suffice. So I added corn starch for both amounts. I'll eventually try to recreate the cupcakes with the proper starches in the flour and let you know if I notice a difference.
After I mixed up my flour, I moved on to mixing up the cupcakes. I mixed the dry ingredients and formed a well, to which I added the wet ingredients (minus the egg whites) and a few drops of red food coloring. I wanted my grapefruit cupcakes to look ruby-red.

The batter looked like pink bubble gum.

I was very surprised as I started mixing – this batter was like no batter I had ever seen before. It looked like I was mixing a large bowl of bubble gum. I'm assuming that the small amount of xanthan gum in the flour mixture is what caused the batter to gum-up. I'm also going to try baking these again without this recipe, just to see how they turn out.
I put the gummy-concoction into the cupcake papers in my pan, put it in the oven, and hoped that the cupcakes would turn out better than I was expecting.



I took then out of the oven and was impressed. They looked like cupcakes! The strange thing, though, was that seconds after I took them out of the oven, they started to shrink. The cupcake papers pulled away from the side and the tops sunk down instead of staying rounded. Strange.

Normal looking cupcakes.

Shriveled cupcakes.

I set them aside to cool and worked on the icing. I decided to go for cream cheese icing, but also add a little grapefruit flavor. I remembered the butter this time, but it still didn't turn out quite right. Next time I'm going to let the butter soften and use a sifter for the powdered sugar.

I nervously decided to try my creation. I love it when I surprise myself! They were GREAT! They didn't have a gummy or spongey texture at all, and they weren't dry or gritty! They were light and had a great citrusy flavor. I will be making these again. I brought them in for my coworkers and they gave the recipe rave reviews – even those who don't like grapefruit.

Cupcakes and crackers and bread, oh my!

I've recently tried a few GF products that I normally wouldn't have. I'm pleasantly surprised by some and not so pleasantly surprised by others. I didn't think it would be so difficult to find adequate substitutes!

The first thing I tried (and was extremely disappointed with) was bread. I stood in the GF section of my local supermarket. I poked every single type of bread. They were all hard - no give what so ever. So I settled on the least-hard-feeling loaf – a light brown rice bread. I was feeling optimistic – until I got home and made a sandwich.

It's difficult to come up with words to convey this bread, and my disappointment in it. Have you ever seen or felt the yellow insulation on ceiling tile panels? This bread reminded me of it. When I picked up a slice, it had an almost fiberglass insulation texture to it. And it was dry – very dry. My husband almost choked when a bite of it got stuck in his throat.
I had two pieces before I gave up. I slathered the remaining pieces in butter with garlic powder, oregano, thyme, and some salt/pepper before sticking it in the oven to dry the heck out of it. Somewhat surprisingly, it wasn't horrible after I did that. I took a bite out of my little garlic-bread-bricks before I made them into breadcrumbs.

I also decided to try an interesting sounding cupcake mix that I had found in the same local supermarket. GF cocoa cayenne cupcakes sounded like they would be right up my alley - you can't go wrong with a little bit of sweet and a little bit of heat.

Oh, how wrong my opinion was. I mixed the batter per the instructions on the back of the box. I thought the batter was a little odd – it was a bit gritty when I sampled it. They came out of the oven looking like any other chocolate cupcake. I decided to top them with cream cheese icing – that was a disaster. I learned to never forget the butter when making this icing. No matter how much powdered sugar I added to the cream cheese, it just wouldn't thicken up. In fact, it reminded me of the science experiment where you add cornstarch to water. The mixture appears solid when you pick it up or squeeze it, but liquid if you let it sit in the palm of your hand. I finally gave up on that and just dipped the top of the cupcakes into the goopy icing.

The flavor of the cupcake wasn't bad at all. It was nice and chocolatey on the front, and then there was a slight heat at the back of your throat. The problem with these cupcakes was the texture. It felt like I was eating a sponge – and a dry one at that. I plan to make them again, but to ignore the directions on the back of the box and instead add some applesauce to see if that keeps them a bit moister and less sponge-like.

I do actually have 1 good find. I had tried some almond/rice crackers that a coworker seems to like. I wasn't crazy about them - they reminded me of a tortilla chip when I bit into them but then a rice cake when I actually tasted it. These aren't necessarily qualities that I want my crackers to have.

Instead, I decided to try a different kind of GF crackers. I was surprisingly impressed. They have a cracker-like texture and no funny tastes. They were quite peppery, which I enjoyed. They also went very well with the chicken salad I made. I think they would go quite nicely with some cheese and a nice glass of red wine. The packaging inside wasn't great so a bunch of them were broken, but I can live with broken crackers as long as they are palatable.

I bought a new kind of bread tonight: light tapioca bread. It is far softer than the light brown rice bread I tried and I'm hoping that it lacks the insulation-like texture. I'll keep you posted on that. I have a feeling that I'll probably have far better luck by making my own, which I plan to do after I get a breadmaker.

I thought the same about cupcakes, so I've been attempting to make homemade GF cupcakes this evening. I will have to get used to cooking with alternative flours. They have textures and characteristics that I am not used to. I will give you an update on the cupcake outcome later, after I have frosted them and tried them. Just keep your fingers crossed that they turned out better than the last ones!

The beginning...

Like many, a new diet accompanied my new year. Only, mine wasn't a result of "I want to lose 5 pounds so I'm going to stick with a restrictive diet until I do." Instead, my new "diet" is the product of getting my Celiac panel blood test results. The tests confirmed what I (and my husband) already knew. Bread was not my friend. It hadn't been for quite some time - I had been showing symptoms for more than 1.5 years. But my love of all things glutenous (beer, pasta, cookies, bread, etc.) was worth it, or so I thought.

I didn't think that giving up gluten would be the end of the world. I've stood in front of my local grocery store's gluten free section in the health department. There seems to be a substitute for almost everything I loved. Unbeknownst to me at that time, the products are far inferior to their glutenous cousins.

After poking every single package of gluten free bread, I settled on the softest one I could find and unhappily tossed it into my cart. The light rice flour bread (which I will discuss shortly) felt like one of my normal loaves of bread, but after I had forgotten about it for a few weeks. It felt as light and fluffy as a rubber mallet.

After being just as unimpressed with a box of yummy-sounding cupcakes, I am now striving to find adequate replacements for the things I loved - only better because these products won't be accompanied by the pesky side effects.

So here I am. I am on a journey to make or find the tastiest gluten free products that I can.