Risotto Bolognese

Have you discovered Pinterest?   I'm mildly obsessed.  One of the best parts is discovering the millions of gluten free and gluten freeable recipes out there in the interwebs.  The one below is my adaptation of an adaptation www.smittenkitchen.com did of a recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday.

Hubs LOVED it!  If you are missing pasta but can't get behind the GF stuff, try out this dish!

Serves 4

1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice, pureed

4 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons minced basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup porchini mushrooms
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 bunch flat-leaf spinach (2.5 ounces), washed well, tough stems removed, chopped (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1. In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice), garlic, red pepper, and 2 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.
4. Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).
5. Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, basil and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Crust-a-thon

This last week had me trying to find a gluten free solution to lunch time.  Feeding The Bee gluten-freely is pretty easy.  I mean she could happily eat some combo of applesauce, waffles, grapes, carrot "coins," yogurt, and grilled cheese for every meal.  I'm the problem.  I found out last week that I need to be off gluten as well.  Sadly I'm not as easily impressed.

I need a quick easy lunch, and what fits the bill better than pizza?  I kind of hated the grocery store GF crusts I tried while nursing The Bee and being on the diet.  I decided to take matters into my old hands.

Thin Crust:
It occurred to me that the goldfish recipe could be tweaked to make an easy to roll thin crust.  That was my first attempt.  Basically the role of cheddar was played by parmesan (and I used half as much: 1/2 cup).  I rolled it all out into a big round disc, baked, topped, baked a few minutes more and devoured.  Delish!!!!

Deep Dish:
The next day, I made the brazilian cheese rolls below but with mozzarella and decided to pour the extra dough into a greased raised sided pan and bake.  I then topped the deep dish pie with red sauce, parmesan (since plenty of mozz was already involved), herbs, and pepperoni.  I broiled it until the pepperoni crisped.  Again, amazing!

Quiche Crust:
Finally, I needed to make a quiche for a friend.  Again, I tweaked the goldfish recipe.  Instead of cheese, I used shredded potato (Simply Potato brand).  I rolled it into one circle big enough to fit a 9 inch pie pan.  I pierced the dough and baked it for 10 minutes until it started to brown.  After it cooled, I filled it with quiche lorraine goodness and baked it again.  PERFECT!!!!

Best. Dinner Rolls. Ever.

I'm in love.  We had a friend come to dinner tonight and I felt the need to have bread.  Since it was a last minute thing, I needed a quick and easy recipe.  I found this one from Jeanne Sauvage and am never going back.  They were amazing!!!!  Just don't skimp on the butter.

Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls for Thanksgiving
By Jeanne Sauvage of The Art of Gluten-Free Baking

Makes: about 20 rolls

Ingredients
3 C (420g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
2 tsp xanthan gum (this is in addition to the xanthan gum in the mix) 
4 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 C (50g) sugar
2 TBL active dry yeast (I use Red Star)
2 C (475ml) warm but not hot milk (or milk substitute, or water)
2 tsp vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
2 large or extra large eggs
1/4 C (60ml) olive oil (or neutral vegetable oil)
melted butter (or butter substitute) for pans and for brushing tops of rolls

Butter muffin tins.

In a small bowl, whisk 1 TBL of the sugar into warm milk.  Add yeast, whisk to dissolve; set aside to proof (start the yeast working)–it will get foamy on the top.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, the remaining sugar, and salt; set aside.

In bowl of mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together eggs, vinegar and oil.  Add yeast mixture, beat to mix.  Add flour mixture, beat on low to combine, then beat on high for about 3 minutes.

Spoon dough into prepared muffin tins–filling about 3/4 of each cup.  With a sharp knife that has been dipped in tapioca flour, cut a deep slash in the top of each roll


Turn on oven to preheat to 375 degrees.


Let rise until doubled in bulk–about 40 mins.  I put muffin tins on top of stove to let dough rise in proximity to warmth of the preheating stove.

Once rolls have risen, brush the top of each with melted butter.  Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes–until the tops are a nice golden brown.  If they start to brown too quickly, loosely tent the rolls with aluminum foil.

Remove from oven.  Release rolls from tins–I often put them into a tea-towel lined basket to keep warm.

These rolls keep well, although you’ll probably eat them all the day you bake them! I have put them on the counter, unwrapped, overnight to see what they would be like the next day–and they were yummy!

Brazilian Cheese Rolls

This recipe came to me from a fabulous blog, www.ourbestbites.com.  If you've ever had the Against The Grain french bread, these aren't too far off.  Best part, they are insanely easy.  Easier than opening a can of gluten-ful biscuits easy.  They are like little cheesey poofs of bread.


Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
*you can play around with the cheese.  I’ve used Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar.  All great!

Optional:  extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add.  Try rosemary and or garlic powder, my favorites!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth.  Add cheeses and pulse 2 times.  Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.  If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan.  Serve warm. {Que Gostoso!}  These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Sea Salt Caramel Crispies

Kellogs has recently come out with Gluten Free Rice Krispies.  Yay!  This discovery lead to the secondary discovery that Post's Cocoa Pebbles were already gluten free.  While I stood in the aisle of the grocery store, the idea for the perfect rice treat came to me...


Sea Salt Caramel Crispies

4 tbsp of Trader Joes sea salt caramel sauce
3 tbsp of butter
3.5 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups cocoa pebbles

You know the drill.  Melt the marshmallows in the butter.  When this is a sauce consistency, stir in the caramel.  Pour over the pebbles.  Stir.  Pour mix into a baking dish to cool.

If you want to really drive the point home, melt some butter and dark chocolate chips in the microwave then pour over the treats.  Sprinkle sea salt on top.

Puddle Cookies

Since my last post, I've finished the hell that is a gluten challenge.  Now with a diagnosis of Gluten Intolerance (with a side of potential "pre" celiac),  I'm diving even more headlong into baking.

First off, puddle cookies.  Deliciousness.  Picture a meringue, a brownie, and a lava cake morphing into a heavenly cookie.  These are amazing.  The best part is they were gluten free from the start...  No gums, special flours, or starch required!

Puddle Cookies:

3 cups pecan pieces

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cups (scant) cocoa powder

1/2 tsp (scant) sea salt

4 egg whites at room temp.

1 tbsp GF vanilla

Preheat oven to 325F.  Line two baking sheets with silpats.  

Sift together sugar, cocoa, and salt.  Stir in pecans.  Add egg whites and vanilla.  Stir until well combined.

Spoon the batter onto the sheets in heaping tablespoons with lots of room between for the cookies to grow. 

Bake until the cookies, puff up and crack 12-15 minutes.  Let them cool and eat as many as possible.  They get chewier the second day.  You may want to eat them with vanilla ice cream and caramel.  Hypothetically, of course.

Gluten Free Birthday!

In two short weeks, it will be the Bug's birthday!  Like any good preschool mom, I've been brainstorming what birthday treats to share with her class.

A year ago, I made cupcakes.  This is still an option I guess, but the Bug isn't gluten free yet our house is.  So it seems silly to waste expensive GF flours on twenty cupcakes for kids that could eat the alternative.  Add to that a classmate with an egg allergy, and it gets even more complicated.

Fortunately, a trip to a local theme park gave me an idea...  Marshmallow pops!  Kind of a peep on a stick. Plus, the Bug can help me dip and decorate, which she LOVES.

They are GF, easy, and a big hit with all.

Marshmallow Pops:

GF Marshmallows (we used Campfire)
Wilton Candy Melts (GF per a call to the company)
Sticks
GF decorating crystals or jimmies

Melt candy melts according to directions.  Dip sticks into the coating and then into the marshmallows.  Coat marshmallow one at a time and sprinkle with sugar (this was the Bug's job).  Set out on parchment paper to dry.  Wrap with cellophane and deliver to happy classmates!

Smore's Variation...  Half dip marshmallow in chocolate melts then dip in honey nut chex pieces or GF graham crumbles.