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Applesauce Muffins – gluten free

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These yummy muffins were developed for the Gf-Zing! website. The large amount of cinnamon balances the blandness of rice-based flours.
Use a 12-muffin pan, and line with aluminum foil liners.

In a large bowl, mix:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1 cup unsweetened applesauce *

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons xantham gum

Mix throroughly, then stir in 2 cups Bette’s Featherlight Rice Flour Blend (Authentic Foods makes a pre-mixed bag of this flour blend, or you can mix your own using the directions in one of Bette Hagman’s books.)

Next, stir in 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup broken or chopped pecans. Stir to blend thoroughly.
Spoon the batter in to the muffin liners, then bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

* If by chance you do not have any ready-made applesauce, you can make your own with a couple of apples. Poke several holes in the apples with a fork.  Microwave the apples on the setting you use for baking potatoes, until they are cooked through. Cool them so that you can peel them without burning yourself.  Remove the soft apple from the peel, discard the seeds and core, and mash away.  That’s it!

Make sure all your ingredients, including the spices, are gluten free.

Other muffins you might like:

Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

Coconut Almond Muffins

Bev Lieven’s Donut Muffins

Donut Muffins (lower refined sugar recipe)

Banana Maple-Pecan Muffins

Coconut Almond Muffins – gluten free

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Preheat oven to 350, and line 10 muffin cups with paper liners.

Despite the unlikely looking list of ingredients, these muffins turn out great! The recipe is from the Gf-Zing! website.

Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups almond meal
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/2 teaspoon Authentic Foods powdered gluten-free vanilla
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add the following liquid ingredients and stir well with a fork:

2 Tablespoons extra light olive oil
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
(if you don’t have powdered vanilla, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract here)

Put a heaping tablespoon of dough in each of ten paper liners (the dough will not quite come up to the top of the liner.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. The muffins will rise, and they will get brown on the top.

Eat the muffins while they are still warm, with some sweet butter and a cup of decent coffee. Enjoy your muffins!

Make sure all the ingredients are gluten-free!

Creamy Tarragon Salad Dressing

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This dressing is excellent on Boston Lettuce, especially in the spring when the tarragon is just starting to sprout new shoots. The recipe was developed for the Gf-Zing! website, which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

Mix in a bowl:

1/3 cup gluten free mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1 teaspoon snipped fresh tarragon (or more)
sugar to taste

For the sugar, only add this by 1/4 teaspoon amounts until the flavor of the dressing is balanced. If the lemon is not very sour, there will be no need for the sugar.

Set the dressing aside for 20 minutes or a half hour before serving – this will allow the chives and tarragon to flavor it up!

You can add coarsely grated carrots, steamed or roasted asparagus, chopped walnuts, raisins or diced hard-boiled eggs to this salad.

Sweet and Sour Tofu “Meatballs”

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This recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

1 pound block of firm tofu, crumbled and drained

Mix in:

1 1/2 Tablespoons gluten free Honey Roasted Peanut Butter
3 Tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
8 scallions, minced
1/2 cup fresh or soaked dried shitake mushrooms, chopped fine
1 cup green pepper, minced
2 gluten free french rolls or 3-4 gluten free hot dog rolls, crumbled
freshly ground black pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients thoroughly, form into walnut sized balls, roll in garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour, and fry in 1/2 inch of peanut oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on high heat or non-stick pan on medium-high heat. The balls will brown so that they look like a meatball on the outside. When you cut in to the tofu balls, they will be light colored on the inside.  If you roll the balls in rice flour they will shed a nasty grit in to the frying oil, then the grit will burn and the meatballs will have a ghostly pallor on the outside. Use garbanzo bean flour for rolling the tofu balls!

Set the cooked tofu balls aside on paper towel on a plate to drain the frying oil away.

Sauce:

Mix all of the following in a saucepan:

1 1/2 cups unsweetened pure pineapple juice
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider or rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Vietnamese hot garlic sauce
freshly ground black pepper

Whisk the mixture so there are no lumps. Bring to a boil, stirring all the while. When thick, it is ready. Add 1 drained can of pineapple chunks and heat through.

The tofu balls are more delicate than meatballs. To serve the tofu balls place some on each dinner plate and spoon sauce and pineapple chunks on each serving. If you add the tofu balls to the sauce all at once, the presentation will not be as nice, they will soak up the sauce and they will be hard to retrieve intact.

Note: one large can of pineapple chunks yields quite a lot of juice.  You can use the juice from the chunks as part of the 1 1/2 cups of juice.

Serve them with rice, and steamed broccoli.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

Mustard Greens with Garlic, Golden Raisins and Anchovy

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This recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

Clean a bunch of mustard greens by immersing in cold water, remove the center tough ribs and slice the leaves crosswise. Set aside.

In a no-stick skillet, fry until lightly browned:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium shallot, chopped

Add the cleaned and prepared mustard greens
and stir fry until wilted, about 3-4 minutes.

When the greens are wilted, add:

2 Tablespoons of golden raisins
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 anchovy , rinsed and minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or Korean red pepper
coarse salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Adjust the seasoning with a little lemon juice, or not, stir thoroughly and serve with roasted poultry dishes.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free, and omit the butter is making dairy free as well.

White Beans, or Flageolets Baked with Thyme

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This recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

2 cups dried flageolet (preferred) or small white beans, cooked and drained – the beans swell up when soaked and cooked – there will be 6 cups of beans, cooked

2 small onions, chopped
8 baby carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons butter or oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne or Korean red pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt (or a couple of anchovies, rinsed and minced)
14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
2 cups homemade gluten free chicken broth

Grease a large casserole dish (with lid) and place the cooked beans inside. Make the sauce:

Fry the onions and carrots in the butter or oil until lightly browned. Add the garlic, cayenne pepper, pepper, thyme and salt (or anchovies), and stir fry for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and broth.

Pour this sauce over the beans in the casserole. Stir gently to mix, put on the top and bake the casserole, covered, in a 350 degree oven for one hour or until done. Remove the lid towards the end of the cooking to evaporate some of the liquid. The beans should have the consistency of baked beans – not too soupy.

Serve with lamb chops, grilled, or a roast turkey or chicken.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

Cranberry Orange Walnut Quick Bread

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It is up to the individual to decide whether they can eat oats or not. To eat oats or not is a controversial issue in the gluten free world. Please research the oat issue carefully for yourself, and decide what you want to do in consultation with your healthcare professional. If you are feeding a gluten-free guest, please inquire whether they eat oats or not. You may substitute dried coconut for the oats in this recipe. This recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

2 cups gluten free cookie flour
1 cup rolled quick or old-fashioned gluten free oatmeal, uncooked or oat substitute
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Authentic Foods powdered gluten free vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xantham gum

3/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup extra light olive oil
grated zest of one orange
3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix the first 8 ingredients in one bowl, and mix the second 7 ingredients in a second bowl. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and grease again. Flour the pan lightly with mochiko (sweet rice flour).

Combine the contents of both bowls and stir briefly just until thoroughly blended. Spoon the dough in to the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and ten minutes. When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the bread is finished.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a rack for one hour. Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely before serving.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free, and investigate the oat issue and the source of the oats and ask your medical professional for their advice regarding this topic before eating oats.

Batter Fried Fish – gluten free!

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One of the most popular postings on the Gf-Zing! website is this method of making batter for frying fish.  It originally comes from Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking book. She uses cornstarch and chickpea flour, which yields a much nicer fried fish than any wheat flour will do. The batter is excellent for hake, cod, scallops etc. Cut larger firm-fleshed fish filets (skinless) in to 2 x 1 inch pieces. The recipe for the batter can be halved.

You marinate the fish in seasoning to flavor it, then dip it in batter, then fry and serve.

Seasoning for 2 pounds fish or scallops (marinate in this mixture for 2 hours):

1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1-2 jalapenos, minced (omit if you don’t like spicy food)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (or 1/4 teaspoon table salt)
pepper
juice of 1/4 lemon

Alternative seasoning:

Sprinkle the fish liberally with a few teaspoons of a spice mixture of your choice, for example (the following makes a lot of extra spice mixture):

1 teaspoon of gluten free cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon gluten free paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons dried EACH thyme and oregano
1 Tablespoons gluten free garlic powder
2 Tablespoons kosher or sea salt

The batter:

3/4 cup corn starch
3 Tablespoons chick pea flour (store this in the freezer)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or other seasoning
1 teaspoon coarse salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
1 Tablespoon gluten free baking powder
3 Tablespoons peanut oil
2 large eggs
3 Tablespoons cold water

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. Dip pieces of seasoned hake, cod or whole scallops in the batter and fry in very hot oil (2″ deep) until golden brown. If you use a deep fryer, the result will be superior.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free.

Homemade Major Grey Chutney – from pineapple

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This recipe makes a little more than 1 quart of chutney. It was adapted for the gluten free community by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

4 cups fresh pineapple (peeled, cored and coarsely chopped in small bite-sized pieces)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup apple cider or white vinegar
1 cup Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup lime, seeded and chopped – leave the peel on
1/2 cup ginger root, peeled and minced
1/2 cup orange, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup lemon, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 lemon)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (or one dried cayenne pepper, minced)
1 teaspoon gluten free ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon gluten free ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon gluten free ground allspice
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt (if you use table salt, use non-iodized, and use less)

Mix all the ingredients in a large non-reactive pot (non-stick, enamel or stainless). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure the chutney does not burn.

Adjust the sweetness if necessary (you may want to add a 1/4 cup of sugar, for example.)

The original recipe (from the Bernardin canning jars manufacturer) called for mangoes and cilantro and did not include any salt. Also, the original recipe gave instructions for canning. Since this recipe has been altered, it is not known how long the chutney would have to be processed for canning. Therefore the chutney should be kept refrigerated.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

Mongolian Hot Pot, or Meat Fondue in Bouillion

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Get out your old fondue pot, or buy a new one – this is a fun dinner adventure for the gluten free cook! This meal is not suitable for very young or very irresponsible diners, as it involves boiling stock. The recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

Prepare for quick-cooking and place on plates to take to the table, using a separate dish for each meat or fish:

Boneless chicken, sliced in bite-sized chunks for cooking quickly in soup
Rib-eye steak, fat removed and sliced in bite-sized chunks
Shelled, deveined whole shrimp
Sliced green peppers
Quartered mushrooms
Sliced onions
Broccoli flowerets
Cauliflower chunks
Other meats and vegetables of your choice

Prepare the stock by bringing the following ingredients to a boil:

1 quart gluten free chicken stock
2 slices ginger
Several cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
Pepper

Transfer the boiling stock to a fondue pot with a burner underneath to keep the stock hot. Place a pad under the fondue pot to protect the table.

Make several dipping sauces, such as Tartar Sauce, Satay Peanut Sauce, Ginger Green Chile Sauce, Dry Spice Dipping Sauce. Put each sauce in a serving dish with a serving spoon.

Provide each diner with a fondue plate (hard-to-find plates have little indentations for sauce built right in to the plate,) or a regular dinner plate and several small dishes for their sauces, a fondue fork for cooking their meat and vegetables, and a knife and fork for dealing with their cooked food. Warn diners that the stock is hot.

The diner selects meat or vegetables to cook, spears the food with the cooking fork, then plunges the fork into the simmering stock in the fondue pot. When their forkful of food is cooked, they transfer the food to their plate, then use their other fork to dip the food in to their sauces and eat the food. Using a separate cooking fork is the best way to do this process while not sharing winter colds and viruses.

Serve plain jasmine rice on the side.

Use all gluten free ingredients!

Carrot Cake – gluten free!

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The cake is dairy free, although the icing contains dairy. The recipe was adapted and made accessible to the gluten free community by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

Dry ingredients:

2 cups gluten free cookie flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Other ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups coarsley grated carrots (4-5 carrots needed)
1 cup crushed pineapple (drained before measuring)
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla (or 1/2 teaspoon Authentic Foods powdered vanilla)
3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries or raisins (make sure these are gluten free)

Oven temperature is 350.

Grease two 9 inch round cake pans liberally and dust them mochiko flour (sweet rice flour).

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Add the berries or raisins and set aside.

In another bowl, or the food processor, cream the oil and sugar with the 4 eggs. Then add the carrots, pineapple, ginger, vanilla.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and fruit. Do this in the bowl, not the food processor, as the food processor would dice up all the berries and fruit.

Spread the dough evenly between the two prepared pans and bake for 35 or more minutes, until a knife tests clean when inserted near the center of the pans.

Remove the cakes to racks to cool for ten minutes, then remove from the pans.

Frost with Cream Cheese Icing:

Cream together:

8 ounces gluten free cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 Tablespoon brandy
1/4 teaspoon powdered gluten free vanilla (Authentic Foods brand)
1 box (4 1/2 -5 cups) confectioner’s sugar

Frost the bottom layer of the cake, put the second layer on top. Frost the top and the sides with remaining icing.

This makes a substantial and large cake which will feed 16.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free!

Key Lime Pie – gluten free and dairy free

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This recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

Make a 9 inch gluten free pie crust, and pre-bake it at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until it is as brown as you like it. Set the pie shell aside to cool.

Filling:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup gluten free gravy flour (see below)
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon butter or gluten free vegan margarine
1/4 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice (requires 8-10 tiny key limes or 4 regular limes)
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest


Meringue:

4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (to stabilize the meringue)
6 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the sugar, gluten free gravy flour, cornstarch and salt in a 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the 2 cups of water. Cook at medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until thickened. At this point, it will taste bland. Don’t taste it now.

Stir a small amount of the hot mixture in to the egg yolks, then a little more, then a little more, until half the hot mixture has been added to the yolks. Combine the yolk mixture with the rest of the mixture in the saucepan, whisking constantly and cooking for two minutes. Whisk in the butter or margarine. The aim of this process is to mix everything without getting lumps of hard-boiled egg yolk. Stir in the key lime juice and zest. Cool slightly, then pour in to the cooked pie shell.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar for the meringue using a hand beater or an electric beater until the whites form soft peaks that hold their shape. Gradually beat in the sugar and the vanilla until the meringue is glossy and holds well. Spread the meringue carefully all over the pie to cover the pie completely. Bake the pie for 6 minutes, or slightly longer, to brown the top of the meringue. Cool the pie completely before serving.


Gluten Free Gravy Flour:

Mix these ingredients together and use what you need:

6 Tablespoons brown rice flour
2 1/4 Tablespoons sweet rice flour (mochiko)
4 1/2 teaspoons tapioca starch
1 teaspoon of xantham gum

Use all gluten-free ingredients!

Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies – gluten free

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This recipe was developed by Gf-Zing! , which celebrates flavor in the gluten free world.

1 cup gluten free butter or vegan margarine
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups gluten free cookie flour
1/3 cup gluten free unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups gluten free semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups chopped dried cherries (Rainier cherries are good)

Oven at 350 degrees.

Cream the butter 0r margarine (or one stick of each) with the two sugars and the vanilla until light and “fluffy.” Beat in the egg. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add them to the creamed mixture. Mix thoroughly. Up to this point in the recipe you can use a food processor to do the mixing.

Stir in the chocolate chips and the cherries.

Drop tablespoons of dough on a silpat lined cookie sheet. Flatten them slightly with your hand or with the bottom of a glass that you dip repeatedly in sugar.

Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, then remove the cookie sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes on the pan before removing them to a rack to cool completely.

This recipe will make a 3 dozen cookies or so, and they will be eaten so fast you will have to make more right away!

Be sure to use all gluten-free ingredients!

Lemon Rice Pudding

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In a large bowl, mix the following ingredients:

2 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Cook one cup of dry, long-grain rice with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, until done. You can use a rice cooker, or do it on top of the stove. While the cooked rice is still very hot, stir it quickly and vigorously into the bowl with the eggs and seasonings. Stir quickly so the eggs don’t cook before the mixture is all mixed up. The hot rice will cook the eggs.

Transfer to a serving dish; sprinkle the top with gluten free cinnamon.

Cool the pudding to room temperature or colder before serving.
Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free.

The original version of this recipe is from Still Life With Menu, by Molly Katzen, published in 1988.

Baked Fish

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This recipe has been adjusted by Gf-Zing! to make it accessible to the gluten free world.

Place the following ingredients in an oven-proof casserole with a lid:

2 Tablespoons white wine
2 Tablespoons butter (or gluten free margarine, or olive oil)
2 Tablespoons capers
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (use your kitchen shears to snip the parsley)
1 teaspoon snipped fresh chives
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Give this mixture a little stir, then add
2 pounds of cod, haddock or other white fish

Sprinkle the fish with salt, freshly ground pepper, and gluten free paprika. Pour another 2 Tablespoons of butter or olive oil over the fish.

Cover the casserole and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pieces of fish.

Be sure to use all gluten-free ingredients, even the spices.

Sushi, Musubi

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Mix up a batch of gluten free sushi rice, and you are ready to make a Hawai’ian specialty called “musubi.” In Hawai’i Musubi is often topped with Spam, but no matter, it is a great method of making a sandwich-like concoction that is perfectly sized for lunch. This recipe is presented here by Gf-Zing!, celebrating flavor and excitement in the gluten free world.

You will need a plastic musubi mold or a Spam can to make this recipe. You are going to make a sort of brick of seasoned rice wrapped in seaweed, with fillings in the middle. Spam musubi would have the Spam on the top, rather than in the middle, but that is no matter.

You can cook sushi rice on top of the stove or in your rice cooker. Use about 2 to 1 ratio of water to dry, medium grain Japanese or sushi rice (Kokuho Rose or Nishiki are two common brands.)

Rinse 2 units of rice well. Cook it in 4 units of water, or use the sushi rice line on your rice cooker insert to measure the water. Turn on the cooker and wait until it is done.

When it is just finished cooking, place the rice in a large bowl. Have ready some gluten free seasoned rice vinegar, a rice paddle, and a piece of paper or a small hand-held fan.

While fanning the rice with one hand, stir the rice (using the rice paddle) with the other hand. Sprinkle a bit of seasoned rice vinegar on the rice and continue stirring and fanning. Continue to do this, adding more seasoned rice vinegar, until the rice has a pleasant sweet-sour-salty taste and has gotten cool. The rice is ready. For two cups of dry rice (5-6 cups cooked), you would use about 7 tablespoons or so of the vinegar.

Cut a piece of sushi nori (that is a dark sheet of edible seaweed that looks like shiny green-black paper) to fit the bottom and up the sides of the musubi mold. It should extend out the top of the mold on both long edges by an inch and a half. Typically, this requires half a sheet of sushi nori. Keeping the edges of sushi nori going up the sides of the mold, put some of the prepared rice in the bottom, on top of the nori. On top of this, you can add small amounts of any of the following fillings, as you like:

Cooked fish or shellfish
avocado slices coated in lemon juice (so they don’t get brown)
slivered cooked carrots
gluten free smoked fish
cucumber slivers
Japanese seasoning peppers (gluten free)
gluten free ham, sliced very thin

Fill the rest of the mold up to the top with seasoned rice. Press down on the rice with your rice paddle firmly. Fold the ends of the nori down over the top, then use the presser that comes with the mold to tightly compress the entire thing by pressing down on the top of the folded nori. You will have a dense brick of rice and pretty colored foods all contained in a portable form. Wrap this brick in tin foil (aluminum foil) and you have a nice complete lunch. Depending on the ingredients you used for filling, you may not need to refrigerate this musubi, making it very convenient for camping or work places without refrigeration.

Important Notes: Unfortunately, currently the gluten free community must avoid wasabi paste, which often contains wheat. Soy sauce also often contains wheat, so read labels before trying to dip your musubi in soy sauce. Be careful also to make sure that the seasoned rice vinegar is gluten free. Some are not. Also, imitation seafood products are often made with wheat and should be avoided.

A picture of spam musubi (with the spam on top) is available at the following page:
Wikipedia article

Always use gluten free ingredients.

Cornmeal Almond Cake with Orange Syrup

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The original recipe that this comes from was written in metric weights. It is interesting that 190 grams of corn meal is 1 cup, and the same weight of almond meal is 2 cups (loosely packed). There is not an error in the measurements – this is just how it worked out! This recipe has been modified and tested for the gluten free community by Gf-Zing!

1 1/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
grated zest and juice from a navel orange
1 cup extra light olive oil
1 cup corn meal (or 190 grams)
2 cups almond meal (or 190 grams)
1 1/2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

Beat the eggs with the sugar and salt, using an electric mixer, for 3 minutes, until light in color and fluffy. Beat in the zest and orange juice, and then the extra light olive oil. This creates a sort of mayonnaise-like substance, with the eggs acting as an emulsifier.

Mix the corn meal, almond meal and baking powder together and fold into the egg mixture. The batter will look like corn meal mush.

Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan, line it (bottom and sides) with wax paper, then grease the wax paper. Pour the batter in to the lined pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour and five minutes. The cake will be dark brown on the top. Remove it from the oven.

Syrup:

Make a syrup of 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 6 tablespoons fresh orange juice (1 orange). Simmer this syrup for 8 minutes. Skim off any foam. Add 2 Tablespoons of gluten free orange liqueur, if desired. Poke holes all over the top of the cake with a skewer, then pour the hot syrup over the cake, while the cake is still in the pan. The cake will soak up the syrup almost immediately.

As soon as possible after pouring the syrup on the cake, remove the sides of the cake pan and transfer the cake to a plate. Use the wax paper to help you in moving the cake, and make sure to remove the metal bottom of the pan too. If you leave the syrupy cake in contact with the pan for much time at all, the acidic syrup will interact with the metal pan and cause the cake to have a metallic flavor.

Chill the cake completely before serving. When completely finished, the cake will be about 1 1/2 inches tall and will serve 12.

Use all gluten-free ingredients!

Creamy Lentil Soup with Curry and Chipotles

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This mulligatawny style soup is gluten free, dairy free and vegan. The recipe has been developed and tested for the gluten free community by Gf-Zing!

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon gluten free homemade chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 Tablespoon gluten free curry powder
1 teaspoon gluten free turmeric powder
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 or 2 carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup gluten free ketchup
1 quart water
1 can coconut milk
1 cup dry brown lentils
1 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste

Briefly fry the onions, garlic and ginger in the oil until soft. Add the curry powder and the turmeric and stir to coat the onions. Add the rest of the ingredients except the salt, and simmer uncovered for a half hour. Taste the soup. Add the salt, cook over low heat for 15 minutes more, and serve.

Make sure that all your ingredients are gluten free!

Eggplant Caviar

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When this recipe first came to our attention, in the 1970s, the instructions called for cooking the mixture for two hours in a covered pan over very low heat. Over the course of time, the hybridization of eggplants and the introduction of hotter stove burners have necessitated some changes. The recipe is presented here in its original form, with recommendations for modern cooking methods. The recipe has been tested for the gluten free community by Gf-Zing!

1 medium eggplant, peeled and chopped in 1/4″ cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can gluten free stewed tomatoes (14 ounce size)
2 Tablespoons gluten free tomato paste (optional)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
the juice of a half or a whole lemon

Fry the eggplant in the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed non-stick frying pan (12″) until soft, about ten minutes. Mash with a potato masher, then add the rest of the ingredients except for the lemon juice. Do not add the lemon juice yet.

Add the rest of the ingredients and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook for 2 hours, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. A heavy pan is necessary. When it is just starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, it is done cooking. Add the juice of 1/2-1 lemon, to taste. It should be somewhat tart.

This mixture is typically spread on “black bread” or Westphalian pumpernickel. For the gluten free community, try to find “Genuine Bavarian Gluten-Free Toast Bread” which is distributed by R & R Export-Import Specialties, PO Box 7667, Nashua NH 03060. (800)-818-7729.

Notes for modern cooks: If you have a stove that has hot burners, you can stir-fry the mixture for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until it starts to stick to the pan. The flavor will not be quite as intense as the old-fashioned low-heat method achieves, but it will be perfectly acceptable. If the eggplant seems to become soft and mushy quickly during the initial frying, this should be a clue that you need to cook the mixture for less time than two hours. Thirty years ago, the eggplant cubes could stand up to quite a bit of cooking and maintain their structural integrity but somehow the modern hybrids seem to disintegrate quickly.

Mostaccioli – an Italian nut cookie

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1 cup hazelnuts
1 cup walnuts
1 Tablespoon gluten free unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup gluten free flour mix
1/3 cup honey
1 egg white

Grind the nuts finely in a blender of food processor. Mix with the rest of the ingredients and form a sticky ball of dough.

Roll out the dough on a piece of waxed paper covered in a virtual snowfall of powdered sugar. Roll the dough until it is 3/8 inch thick, and make sure to keep a deep coating of powdered sugar so the dough doesn’t stick to the rolling pin or the counter etc.

Cut the dough in to 1 x 1 1/2″ bars. Transfer them to a well-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 275 degrees, about 25-30 minutes or until they appear dry. Transfer to drying racks and cool completely. Place the cooled cookies on waxed paper and drizzle them with icing.

Icing:

Mix 1 Tablespoon of egg white, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and 1-2 Tablespoons of gluten free orange liqueur to make a thick but drizzly icing. Not too thin. Add more liqueur or more sugar as needed to achieve the right consistency. Drizzle attractively on the cookies. Allow to dry completely before storing the cookies in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers of cookies.

Note: Make sure the nuts are fresh, as the freshness of the nuts makes the flavor of these cookies. Rancid nuts are not good.

Make sure all of your ingredients, including spices, are gluten free!

Peanut Butter Rice treats – crispy style

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Gf-Zing! has developed and tested this recipe for krispy-style treats, gluten free and made with peanut butter for extra flavor.

3 cups crispy gluten free rice cereal
1 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup light corn syrup (or part corn syrup, part honey)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup gluten free peanut butter
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Mix the rice cereal and coconut in a large bowl.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large, heavy pot. Bring just to a boil while stirring.

Remove the pot from the heat. Stir the hot mixture into the cereal and coconut. Dump this mixture into a greased 9×13 inch pan and spread out, using greased hands or a piece of wax paper so it won’t stick to your hands. Cool completely and then cut into bars.

Alternatively, when the mixture has cooled enough to touch, form it into balls or make little bird nests and fill each one with 3 gluten free jelly beans. Cool completely.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free.

Chocolate Pudding – dairy free also

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This recipe has been developed and tested for the gluten free community by Gf-Zing!

2 1/4 cups chocolate almond milk or gf rice milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cups unsweetened gluten free cocoa or 3 ounces of unsweetened gluten free chocolate
1 large egg
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pour 2 cups of the almond or rice milk, 1/4 cup of sugar and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a large heavy pot. Bring to a boil and remove this from the heat. If using the unsweetened chocolate squares, break them up and add them to the hot milk mixture, to melt. If you are using the powdered cocoa, and want a more intense chocolate flavor, add 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate here.

In a bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the cornstarch and the cocoa. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of almond or rice milk into this mixture to make a smooth soupy substance. Whisk the mixture into the hot milk mixture and bring the combination back to a boil, whisking constantly so that lumps are not formed! Cook this for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat.

In the same bowl where you mixed the cornstarch and cocoa up, whisk the egg until well beaten. Whisking constantly, add a ladle full of the hot mixture. Then pour the egg mixture into the hot mixture, whisking constantly. Cook the entire mixture over low heat, whisking constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until it thickens. Do not boil. (If you are not confident about cooking homemade custard, you can do this part in a double-boiler, which will ensure that the mixture does not boil.) Add the vanilla last. Pour the pudding into a serving dish and chill. If you do not want a skin to form on the top of the pudding, place a piece of wax paper on the top and press it down to touch the surface of the pudding while it chills. Serve cold.

Kids like this pudding served with honey, believe it or not.

Use all gluten free ingredients!

Pumpkin Pie – dairy and gluten free

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This recipe has been developed and tested for the gluten free community by Gf-Zing!

A one-crust unbaked gluten free pie shell (9-inch deep-dish glass pie plate is perfect)

Filling:

1 can pure pumpkin (1 pound size – the “one-pie” size)
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups almond milk

For a standard pumpkin pie, made with evaporated milk or heavy cream, the recipe would use fewer eggs. For this pie, which uses almond milk instead, more eggs are required to set the filling. This pie also includes less sugar than standard recipes.

Mix all the ingredients for the pie filling together with a whisk, electric mixer or food processor until thorouhly mixed. You can mix the pie filling in the same food processor that you mixed the pie crust in, and any left-over crust ingredients will just get mixed in to the filling with no ill effects on the pie.

Anyway, after the filling is thoroughly mixed, pour it in to the unbaked pie shell set in a glass pie plate. The filling will be quite thick and there will be enough for a deep dish pie. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 35 minutes or more, until the filling is set. If the pie is 9-inches and deep dish, it may take as much as an additional 20 minutes before the filling is set. To test the pie, dip a clean, dry, knife-blade in to the center of the pie. The knife should come out nearly clean, but little bits of filling clinging to the knife are ok. The top of the pie will start to crack.

Remove the pie from the oven. Cool completely. Pumpkin pie is an egg-based custard pie, so it should be kept chilled when not being served, and then brought to serving temperature.

If you prefer, you can use a one-pie can of squash, or 1 1/2 cups of home-cooked, mashed, drained pumpkin or winter squash (butternut, buttercup etc.). To use winter squash or sugar pumpkin, halve them and seed them, then bake or microwave until tender.  Finally, remove it from the skin, allow it to sit overnight, then strain it thoroughly to remove excess liquid.

If you don’t care about using dairy but want to use less fat, you can substitute 1 2/3 cups of 1% skim milk or gluten-free fat-free evaporated milk for the almond milk, and use 2 eggs plus 1/2 cup of gluten-free eggbeaters product for the eggs. Make sure the product is gluten free.
Make sure all the ingredients, including the spices, are guaranteed gluten free by the manufacturer. Certain manufacturers guarantee the gluten-free quality and accurate labeling of their spices. Read the internet gluten-free lists to find out which manufacturers are currently maintaining this level of quality.

The original concept of this recipe is from the Victory Garden Cookbook by Morash.  There, the recipe was a an old-fashioned winter squash pie, and called for milk or cream.

Baked Beans with Rum

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It is a common question – which brands of baked beans are gluten free? Which ones don’t contain meat? Well, if you make your own, the beans will taste better, and you will know for sure what’s in them!

2 Tablespoons oil
1/2-3/4 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (15.5 ounces each) gluten free Navy Beans

1/2 cup gluten free ketchup
1/2 cup rum (we used light rum)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2 Tablespoons gluten free Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Mix the fried mixture with all the other ingredients in a large bowl – the mixture will be thin and soupy – that’s ok. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish (Corningware casseroles are perfect for this). Do not put a cover on the dish. Bake at 350 for one hour, stirring from time to time. Then turn the heat up to 400 and bake until the sauce has reduced and thickened to the consistency you prefer. Stir frequently during this part of the cooking (every ten minutes) as the sauce can go from thick to stuck-to-the-bottom-of-the-pan in very short order!

These beans are just delicious, and they smell great when they are cooking.

This is adapted by Gf-Zing! from a recipe from Lean Bean Cuisine, by Jay Solomon, 1995.

Make sure all your ingredients are gluten free.