Baking

Gluten Free Reuben Sandwich

0 · Jun 1, 2011 · 1 Comment

A craving for a gluten free Reuben Sandwich (Grill) sent me to the local supermarket in search of corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, dressing and gluten free “rye bread” since I have not made some. Well, of course disappointment awaited, since they carry no gluten free corned beef at the store. How is it possible to put wheat in corned beef? It’s meat, right? Sliced meat. Of gluten free rye bread, there was none.

A few compromises later, and I had a decent sandwich that had much in common with a Reuben sandwich. The following is a very good sandwich in its own right, and the directions show how to obtain the melted cheese and hot interior of a fine sandwich, despite the remarkable insulating qualities of gluten free bread.

Ingredients:

2 slices Rudi’s gluten free Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2 teaspoons butter

2 thin slices baby swiss cheese

2 thin slices gluten free deli barbecue chicken (check the label on the Dietz & Watson brand which at this writing was labeled gluten free)

Sauerkraut (check the status on refrigerated Ba-Tampte New Kraut which at this writing was labeled with these ingredients: Cabbage, Water, Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Less Than 1/10 of 1% Benzoate of Soda, Sodium Bisulfite).

1 TB gluten free Thousand Island dressing (check the status of the Wishbone brand which at this writing was labeled gluten free.)

Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium low heat. Put the two slices of bread in the melted butter to coat one side of each slice. Turn off the heat and set the bread aside.

Drain 2 TB of the sauerkraut, place it in a microwavable glass dish and microwave for about 1 minute until hot. Set aside.

Put one slice of buttered bread, butter side down, in the pan. Coat the top side of that slice with Thousand Island dressing. Lay the 2 slices of cheese and the 2 slices of chicken on top. Cover with the other slice of bread, butter side up.

Turn the heat to medium low, and cover the pan. The goal here is to brown the bread without burning the raisins. Fry the sandwich for about 1 minute (check to make sure the bread toasts but doesn’t burn). When the bread on the bottom is brown, flip the sandwich and cook for 1 minute (covered) on the other side. When both sides are toasted, transfer the sandwich to a microwavable plate.

Open the sandwich and add the pre-heated sauerkraut. Close the sandwich.

Microwave the sandwich for 1 minutes until the cheese melts. (Adding the microwave step is the key to melting the cheese when using gluten free bread). Slice the sandwich in two pieces and serve!

Make sure that all your ingredients are gluten free!

Vegetarian Maple Baked Beans

0 · May 31, 2011 · 3 Comments

These gluten free, simple baked beans are sweetened with maple syrup and maple sugar and have minimal ingredients. They bake for a long time while your slow-cooked meat is cooking on the grill. Despite the small quantity of pepper they are surprisingly spicy.

Note: you add the salt to dried beans at the end of the cooking, so the beans will not toughen.

12 ounces dried flageolet beans (soaked overnight or pressure cooked for 2 minutes and allowed to sit until the pressure reduces naturally, or boiled for 2 minutes and allowed to sit for 1 hour.)

Drain the soaked beans and put them in an ovenproof casserole with a lid. We use a Corningware casserole that hold 2.5 liters or quarts.

Add to the drained beans:

2 Tablespoons ghee (clarified browned butter)

1/3 cup dark maple syrup

1/3 cup maple sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (less if you don’t like spicy food)

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 1/2 teaspoons French’s mustard (verify that this product is gluten free at the time of purchase)

2 Tablespoons of gluten free chili powder

4 cups boiling water

Cover and bake at 350 for 2 hours, remove the cover and continue to bake until the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce – another 2 hours or more is not unusual. Stir occasionally.

When the beans are done, add 1 Tablespoon of table salt and stir thoroughly.

Gluten Free Sourdough Banana Bread

0 · Apr 19, 2011 · 4 Comments

This delicious, intensely-flavored banana bread is baked with brown rice flour sourdough, cinnamon and brown sugar. It stands up to a good buttering!

Here is a real, honest picture of this bread, highlighting the banana elements.

First, make a gluten free sourdough starter according to this recipe http://www.gfzing.com/2011/gluten-free-sourdough-starter-and-pancakes/. Then, the night before you want to make banana bread, make a brown rice flour Overnight Sponge using 1 cup of brown rice flour and 1 cup of water, added to your starter.

Next day:

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees

Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper – use one large piece of paper and fold at the corners so that no part of the inside of the pan is showing

Ingredients:

1 cup gluten free sourdough Overnight Sponge (return the rest of the sponge, covered, to the refrigerator – that will be the “starter” for the next project)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 bananas)

1 teaspoon gluten free ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon water

1 1/2 cups finely ground brown rice flour mixed with 1 teaspoon xantham gum

Mix all ingredients up through the cinnamon, then add the baking soda mixture, then the rice flour mixture. Stir thoroughly – the mixture will stiffen as you stir. You can add raisins if desired. Spoon mixture in to lined pan and bake 1 hour at 350.

When the bread is done, remove the pan from the oven, lift the pan up about 10 inches above the counter and drop the pan straight down – that’s right – drop the pan on the counter top, bottom side down of course. This action will prevent the bread from falling. Cool ten minutes in the pan, then lift up the parchment paper to remove the bread from the pan to cool the rest of the way.

Gourmet Gluten Free Brownies

0 · Mar 18, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A gourmet gluten free brownie that is just like the best wheat brownie you ever had.

Use the absolute best quality gluten free chocolate you can obtain. It is worth doing the website and company research to find the richest, darkest gluten free chocolate that is available.

For the brownies:

Melt the following in a small pot, then set aside to cool briefly:

1 1/2 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter
7 ounces bittersweet gluten free chocolate
3 ounces gluten free unsweetened chocolate

Place the following in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon of Authentic Foods gluten free powdered vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs

Beat the sugar/egg mixture with a spoon, then stir in the melted chocolate/butter mixture.

In a small bowl, combine

1 cup Authentic Foods GF traditional flour blend
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum

Mix the GF flour mixture in to the chocolate batter. Stir just to combine well.

Stir in:

1 cup walnut pieces, sized according to your preference.

Line a 9 x 13″ pan with parchment paper leaving quite a bit up paper going up the sides (so that you can grab the paper later and pull the whole brownie unit out of the pan. Pour and spread the batter in to the paper-lined pan and ease the batter out to the edges and corners of the pan. Bake at 350 F degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting. Don’t remove the brownies from the pan yet – frost first!

Frosting:

Melt in a microwavable glass dish:

6 ounces unsalted butter
4 Tablespoons milk (can be non-fat milk if you want)

Add:

4 Tablespoons (1/4 Cup) best quality gluten free cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 2/3 cups gluten free confectioner’s sugar

Stir together with a kitchen spoon until completely smooth. Because the butter is melted, the frosting can still be a bit loose or runny when you spread it, because the frosting will stiffen up later, as the butter cools and hardens. Spread the frosting on the brownies, then transfer the pan to the refrigerator to chill until firm.

To remove brownies from pan, just grab the edges of the parchment paper and lift. Transfer the paper of brownies to a cutting board and proceed to cut them.

Cut the brownies with a sharp knife. To make clean cuts, occasionally run the knife blade under hot water then wipe dry with a clean towel. Using a heated, clean knife will ensure a clean cut with no crumbs.

Make sure to use all gluten-free ingredients. If you are using a wheatavore kitchen, ensure that the sugar container is not contaminated with flour by wheatavore cooking adventures.

Potato Salad with Eggs and Carrots

0 · Mar 17, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A tasty gluten free potato salad with hard-boiled eggs, carrots and onion. The cooking is done in the microwave to cut down on the heat in the kitchen.

This is based on the potato salad shown at this webpage: http://www.sachikocooking.com/english/en0106prt.htm, altered to use less mayonnaise and much less sugar.

3 red bliss potatoes – if they are about the size of a tennis ball, the three potatoes together will weigh about a pound.
3 large carrots, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 cup very thinly sliced onion
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Sauce:

1/4 cup gluten free mayonnaise
1 teaspoon gluten free ballpark mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2-1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Mix the shredded carrots, sliced onion and salt thoroughly and set aside. Let this rest while you do all the other preparation, so that the salt can draw water out of these veggies.

Clean the potatoes, pierce each one and remove the eyes, microwave them using the potato setting on your microwave. Set aside to cool, then peel and chop.

“Hard-boil” the eggs in the microwave, adding 1 teaspoon water per egg. We use a device called a “Micro Egg” for cooking eggs in the microwave. With this device, it took slightly longer than 1 minute at 100 power to cook the two eggs in one Micro Egg. Set the eggs aside to cool, then dice.

Squeeze the water out of the salted carrot/onion mixture by putting these salted veggies in a kitchen towel and squeezing firmly.

Put the squeezed carrots and onion in a bowl. Add the chopped cooked potatoes, diced eggs, parsley. Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl, then fold the sauce in to the carrot-onion-potato-egg-parsley. Adjust the flavors, chill and serve.