The Gluten Free Path

     Yes, you are right! Gluten free cornbread. It’s a favorite around here. There is just something about the taste that makes me think of sweet smelling kitchens, winter snow(or rain), and laughter. It’s just so homey.
     The funny thing is, gluten free cornbread is one of the more common mixes you can buy that turn out really well. But I wanted to take it a step further and make it from scratch because the prospect makes the super nerd inside of me shriek with joy!
Believe it or not, it’s fairly easy. All you need are a few basic components.

1 cup of corn meal (I’ve used corn grits as well, but it’s a different texture.)
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt (a couple pinches works as well. Also you can substitute sea salt)
5 tablespoons honey (Decide for yourself if you need that much – I love it sweet. Too much and it will taste like cake though.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 dry cup rice or almond milk (When I say dry cup I mean the cup you used to measure the flour and yogurt, the stacking measuring cups.)
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 teaspoons butter – slightly melted or room temperature

     Mix the dry ingredients. Start adding the wet ingredients. Pour into a small glass baking pan. Cook at 300 degrees. 45-60 minutes cooking time.
     Note: I’ve noticed in moving around so much in the last few years that each oven is different. What is 300 in my oven might seem more like 350 or higher in yours. I advise with this recipe to check after 25 minutes, then after 20 minutes. Depending on how it looks it might need another 15 minutes. The closer you get to 60 minutes though check more often. Do not check too often before 25 or even 30 minutes or it won’t rise properly! Also, remember that if you are cooking in glass lower the oven temperature 25 degrees or it will burn! The oven temperature listed above has already been lowered 25 degrees!

     I love soup! Until the last year or so I got all my soup out of a can. Unless my mom made it. My mother is a brilliant cook and always makes a several pots of soup throughout the winter, and even into the early summer. I decided in ’08 I had to learn how to make good soup.
A year and a half after my experiments I’m getting quite a bit better. I’ve got an idea as to what flavors go with what spices. I have even figured out how to get around food “road blocks”, like gluten. But it isn’t just gluten, it’s artificial things, like preservatives, flavors. Even “natural” things like natural almond flavor, I avoid. Things like that usually bother Rick or me.
     When it came to making split pea soup, which I love, I held off due to what I know they put in ham, which is usually used to flavor the soup. On top of that, pigs are among the most poorly treated of massively produced food animals. But that is a post for my other blog, the modern hippy I’ll be making in the near future.
     Our co-op, which I adore, carries uncured, happy pork. However, I don’t need the amount they carry and it is a little expensive. So I opted for turkey bacon raised ethically. It has the same flavor as bacon, without all the unhealthy pig fat. I have found that bacon is a good substitute for ham when needed.

What you will need:
2-3 cups dried split peas
1 cup dried black eyed peas(optional)
6-8 cups chicken broth (I make my own and freeze it)
1/2 finely chopped yellow onion
1-2 med/large carrots
Himalayan salt – to taste(or sea salt, but that will change the flavor a little)
Pepper – to taste
Sage – to taste
Cumin or Cardamom – to taste
3-6 slices of turkey bacon, torn up
( I firmly believe you should add whatever spices you like, but these will give you the split pea soup taste without changing it too much.)

     If you are using the black eye peas, soak over night or be prepared to cook them before anything else for at least an hour, maybe more. Simmer them in chicken broth, might as well start the flavor mixing at the beginning. Though remember the longer soup is cooked, the more steam be let off and the liquid may need to be replenished. This is partly why I start with so many cups of chicken broth.
     Once the black eyed peas are tender add the split peas and onions, about 30-45 minutes. If the peas still seem rock hard cook them longer. Add spices and carrots, simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are softening but not too soft that they will over cook in just a few minutes. Lastly, add the turkey bacon. Simmer about 5-10 minutes to allow the flavor to be absorbed by the soup.
Serve with something tasty and enjoy!
      For the dinner photographed above, I also made stuffed shittake mushrooms and crisped up the extra bacon. Very tasty, though I’m not convinced that the recipe is final, so when it’s done I’ll put it up!

     Recently, I was searching for a recipe that would be easy to adapt for vegetarians. We decided as a nice surprise for our friends, to make them dinner for their first night back from Manchester. By accident I stumbled upon our co-op’s food blog, Sassy Sampler, and found a garlic potato soup recipe. Brilliant! The perfect soup! I already had some frozen “junk” veggies in the freezer I could use for veggie stock. Of course I added my own flair to make it more my own. I’ve added directions for making it vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Because of the ingredients, it is naturally gluten free. So if this gluten free thing is new to you, don’t over think it. This is something that would be gluten free anyway.

What you will need:

4 medium Russets, 3 medium red, and 2-3 medium yellow potatoes
1 medium/large leek, halved, then finely sliced, green and white parts
4-7 cups of chicken or veggie stock(see below for directions for both)
2 cloves of elephant garlic finely chopped
1 small regular garlic head, papery skin removed, top cut off
1/2 stick of butter
2 TBSP of safflower oil
2 bay leaves
1/2-3/4 cup of milk (I used 2%)
Thyme/ fresh or dried to taste
1/2 tsp of cumin or cardamom
3-4 dried Sage leaves, crumbled (I’d suggest using less if using fresh, it’s always stronger)
Black pepper to taste
Chopped green onions and grated cheddar cheese for garnish

     Melt butter with safflower oil until a bit foamy. Add chopped leeks and cook until soft (do not brown). Add finely chopped elephant garlic. Cook about 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add broth, garlic head, bay leaves and spices. Cook about 30 minutes, or until the garlic heads can be easily pierced with a knife. Add potatoes and cook until they are done. Remove bay leaves and the head of garlic. Mash the garlic out of the skins. Blend about half of the soup in a blender, add swished garlic paste. You may either add the milk to the blender or add it to the soup pot. Pour blended soup back into the soup pot. Serve with a garnish of grated cheddar and green onions or chives. I did mine with green onions.

Veggie Stock:

     Veggie stock is super easy. I save the “garbage veggie parts” and freeze them; such as the bottom part of a stock of broccoli, an onion that got a little rubbery, the ends of zucchini, and carrots I think I might not eat in time. How many veggie extras you need depends on how many cups you want. But remember, it’s not an exact science. It has to do with what you think tastes good. I had two full bags of “garbage veggies” in my soup pot and added 8-10 cups of water. Remember that when everything is simmering, it will loose water via steam, add more water if you want, just remember, more water means less concentrated flavor. Simmer for 4-6 hours or more, until it seems the veggies are soft or even a little mushy. Stir, let cool to freeze or refrigerate, or use immediately.

Chicken Stock:

     I use the bones from a recently roasted whole chicken. I feel that using all the bones, along with the left over meat of a roasted chicken, gives the best taste. But feel free to use whatever bones you want. Simmer bones for 2-3 or more hours. Strain, pick off the meat, add to stock or save for another meal like burritoes or a treat for the dog. Let cool to freeze or refrigerated or use immediately. Aside from using it as a soup base I like to freeze it in smaller bags and add it to refried beans and rice for
yummy tacos.

     Apple crisp is one of my favorite desserts. I’ve made it gluten free so that Rick and I may enjoy it as often as we would like. Remember to find, or make your own gluten free flour. Because of contamination, find good gluten free oats as well. There are many out there. If your local co-op, health food store, or regular grocery store doesn’t already carry them, make a request. Or if you want to leave out the middle man, order in bulk directly for the makers. “Bob’s Red Mills” and “Gifts of Nature” are two companies that provide gluten free oats. On a side note, Gifts of Nature oats have a higher protein content than normal which can be good for those with diabetes (my mom eats them for breakfast everyday).

● 2 cups of oatmeal + 1 cup more
● 1 cup of Gluten Free Flour
● 2 sticks of butter
● 1 cup of brown Sugar
● A couple of pinches of Turbinado sugar
● ½ to 1 tsp. cinnamon + ½ to 1 more tsp.
● ½ cup of regular unbleached sugar
● 6 medium/large apples

     Peal 6 medium/large apples. Slice into half inch cubes. Add unbleached sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Do a taste test of the apple mix, if it’s not cinnamony enough, add another ½ teaspoon!
     Take two sticks of butter, microwave, or if you have two sticks left out over night use those. Mix with 1 cup of brown sugar. Add 1 cup of gluten free flour (I use “Bob’s Red Mills”, or the bulk stuff our co-op has). Stir until smooth. Add 1 teaspoons of cinnamon. Slowly add (about a cup at a time), 2 cups of gluten free oatmeal. Combine. Take about ½ of the mix and layer it on the bottom of your baking dish, using a fork to make it smooth. It should be about a ¼ inch thick. Pour in the apple mix. Add 1 cup more of gluten free oatmeal to the topping to make the mix more lumpy/crumbly. Carefully sprinkle over the apples trying to cover the whole surface of the apple mound. Sprinkle some turbinado sugar over the topping. As much as you want!

     Place in an oven heated to 300 degrees if you are using a glass dish, if not then about 325. You want it to cook slowly over a long period of time, so that the middle gets cooked completely. Cook for an hour then check. Mine takes about an hour and fifty minutes to two hours. It is done when you can hear the apples bubbling for awhile, as long as the top isn’t too dark. To completely make sure the apples in the center are cooked use a knife or a skewer to poke into the middle.
If you have self control let cool, if not at least wait until the apples stop bubbling. Enjoy!

     I think when people hear “gluten free” their brains shuts down. On my gosh was are you going to eat? Salads, one of my favorite things, is one thing that hasn’t changed much. Only a couple of things will change – the croutons and the salad dressing. Just keep it pure, without unnecessary additives and you should be fine.

     What you’ll need for my salad:
● Lettuce – preferably something like romaine
● Grated sharp cheddar and jalapeno jack cheeses
● Slivered almonds – or just finely chop your own
● Dried cranberries
● Gluten free salad dressing (Annie’s Naturals Tuscany Italian is my favorite)

     You can of course add other veggies to the salad like carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, or celery. Usually, I just like lettuce though, it’s quick and easy. Also, when picking a salad dressing be careful. Wheat and other gluten containing grains can sneak into salad dressing when you least expect it. My favorite brand of salad dressing is Annie’s Naturals. Many of those dressing are in fact gluten free. They are so delicious. Rick loves their French dressing. I’m partial, as I said, to the Tuscany Italian dressing.

     A treat for Rick before going gluten free was, breaded mushrooms. In the beginning it was Portobello mushrooms. After trying a few others I decided that the preferable one was shitake. Normally I couldn’t care less about mushrooms. But shitakes are different, so much better.
     After going gluten free this year, I had to experiment and get into a different mindset. There isn’t anything I can’t do. Some things won’t taste the same, but that’s okay as long as they are good or even delicious. That’s what tonight mushrooms were, absolutely delicious.
     What you will need:

● Shitake mushrooms (or another mushroom you like)
● Salt (I used Himalayan, because I love the taste)
● Black pepper
● Cardamom
● Bob’s Red Mill All-purpose Gluten Free Flour
● 1 or 2 eggs, depending on how many mushrooms you plan to make
● Safflower oil
● Onion
● Cilantro

     Whisk an egg in a small bowl. Finely chop a little bit of onion, perhaps 2 tablespoons or so. Put half the chopped onion in a wok with oil. Turn on medium low. Add a couple of sprigs of cilantro, tear into little pieces.
     In another small bowl pour about a 1/3 cup of flour, the remaining chopped onion, ¼ teaspoon of pepper, pinch of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of cardamom. Mix.
     Cut the mushrooms up into thin slices. Dunk in the egg, mix with fingers until completely covered, then plop into flour mix. Stir with fingers, until the mushrooms are completely covered with flour mix. Add to wok. Continue until out of flour, egg or mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms until a light crispy brown.
     Note: I always start with a small amount of flour so nothing goes to waste. So I ended up making the flour mix three times or more for five shitake mushrooms and a few white button mushrooms.

     For dinner one night our friends made gluten free mac and cheese. And it was a beautiful thing. Neither of us had mac and cheese in so long. So of course we had to make it ourselves. The original recipe is from foodneckwork.com by Ellie Krieger. Thanks for the brilliant idea Ellie!

     What you’ll need:
● 1 pound of gluten free elbow macaroni (or another shape of pasta), I used Tinkyada of course!
● Winter squash – I used one whole acorn squash.
● 2 cups milk
● 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated about 1 1/3 cups
● 2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated about 2/3 cup
● ½ cup ricotta cheese
● 1 tsp. salt
● 1 tsp. powdered mustard
● 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
● 2 TBSP grated Parmesan
● 2 TBSP unseasoned bread crust (optional)
● 1 tsp. safflower oil
● Pinch of turmeric (optional)

     Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and stringy stuff. Set aside for the Roasted squash seeds, of course! Place open side down on cookie sheet, use foil if desired. Put into oven heated to 350 degrees. Bake until thoroughly done, about an hour. Scoop out squash. Blend to puree. Or after scooping out the nasty bits, cut squash into smaller pieces and boil until done. Separate squash from skins then puree. My friends pealed the squash before boil it, but when I tried it, it was way too much work for me.
Pre-heat oven to 375.

     Bring large pot of water to boil. Pour in macaroni and cook until tender but still firm. Drain, run under cold water.

     Meanwhile, pour milk and squash into saucepan and bring to simmer. Remove from heat, add cheddar, jack, ricotta, salt, mustard, cayenne, and turmeric. Stir until completely melted/dissolved. Pour noodles into 9 x13 pan, pour over sauce, mix until combined.

     Combine bread crumbs, parmesan and oil in little bowl. Once mixed, sprinkle over the mac and cheese. Then bake for 20 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes (watch carefully!) if wanted to achieve a nicely browned and crisp top.

     In the picture above I did not add tumeric or gluten free bread crumbs. After serving myself, because I love cheese I added more Parmesan and salt. And it was so good. Comfort food for us after a day of feeling crumby.

     If you are mourning your favorite pasta recipe that you used to enjoy, fear not! There are really good noodle alternatives that don’t taste horrible or fall apart.
     Rick’s favorite meal of all time is spaghetti. When we went gluten free, I thought the only way to enjoy this dish was with spaghetti squash. There isn’t anything wrong with spaghetti squash, but for Rick it wasn’t quite right. He missed the taste of real pasta.
     My mother sent me home with a couple smaller bags of pasta and told me to give them a try. She swore that Tinkyada was the best gluten free pasta ever! And she was right!
     We have used it for mac and cheese, and spaghetti a few times since first trying it a month or so ago. It’s amazing! It tastes great, holds together wonderfully and can stand quite a bit of over cooking and reheating!

About Tinkyada:
     It is made from only RICE! And water. No other grains make up this pasta. Which makes it not only gluten free but wheat, corn, egg, dairy, casein, meat, soy, nut and peanut free! It’s great for many others those whom have a sensitivity or allergy! It is also kosher certified. I’m not sure what that means, however, I think it’s a good thing.

     I will be writing a whole set of recipes utilizing Tinkyada in the next few weeks because it’s pasta time! Autumn is here, though we are sad to see the gorgeous sun go, we are happy to welcome those foods that come at the end of the growing season, and those hot dishes that help to keep you warm!