Thursday, February 6, 2014

A Gluten-Free Bread that actually rises!

Gluten, Corn, Soy and Dairy Free Bread

Notes

This recipe was created and baked at 6200 feet altitude, and in a very dry climate. Less yeast may be required as well as less moisture at lower altitudes. This recipe may also be possible with wheat-based flour, but then use only 1-2 tbsp yeast.

Despite the number of steps, it's actually a fairly quick and easy recipe. Just a lot of details I've noted to make it work best.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp active dry yeast
  • 2 cups all purpose flour*
    • *Gluten, Corn, Soy and Dairy Free
    • we use Pamela's, but it contains sorghum flour, which bother some
  • 1/3 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/3 cup white rice flour
  • 1/6* cup tapioca flour
    • *not a typo, just approximate, filling the 1/3 cup half way
  • 1/6* cup sweet white rice flour
    • *not a typo, just approximate, filling the 1/3 cup half way
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 heaping tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder*
  • 1/2 cup sugar
    • this may be too sweet for some
    • if you choose to reduce, recommend not less than 1/4 cup (and may not rise as well)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut or almond milk
  • Just shy of 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Roughly 1 cup warm water

Supplies needed

  • Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
  • Spatula
  • 2 cup liquid measuring cup
  • teaspoons and dry measuring cups
  • lid (large dinner plate) for mixer bowl
  • 2 bread loaf pans (one to serve as lid of other)
  • larger oven-safe pan to hold water
  • cooling rack

Directions

  1. Combine dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl: yeast, all purpose flour, brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca flour, sweet white rice flour, xanthan gum, salt and baking powder
  2. Mix by hand with spatula, making sure yeast especially well mixed (tends to stubbornly remain at bottom)
  3. If yeast was refrigerated, wait 15 minutes before proceeding to next step (allows yeast to reach room temperature)
  4. Attach bowl and dough hook to stand mixer
  5. In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup combine vanilla, egg, milk and oil
  6. Gently stir until egg mixes into liquids
  7. At this point you should be around 3/4 cup of liquid
  8. Add warm water to the liquid mixture until you reach 1 3/4 cups total liquid
    1. liquid should still be warm, but not hot, when combined with the other cold liquids. because of this, use slightly warmer water than you would when adding luke warm water to a bread recipe independently
  9. Place stand mixer between stir and 2 and slowly pour the liquid into the bowl
  10. If you mixer can take it, increase speed to between 4 and 6
  11. Periodically stop mixer and push down sides and scrape from bottom using spatula to avoid uneven texture
  12. Once the dough is well incorporated it should appear almost soft and sticky, but semi-smooth
  13. Unplug mixer and remove dough hook
  14. Use the spatula and/or your hands to combine the dough together in a single mass, mostly making sure excess is combined and not left on the side or bottom of the bowl
  15. Cover mixing bowl with dinner plate and let sit for 1 hour
  16. An hour later, clean and prepare an empty space on your counter
  17. Lightly dust with the all purpose flour
  18. Hold bowl upside down over floured surface and shake gently until mass lands on counter
  19. With your hands also lightly dusted in flour, pat dough until approx. 1 - 2 inches thick, and then gently roll, forming a lengh-wise loaf shape
  20. Gently adjust the length and width of the loaf to match your bread pan
  21. Fill large oven-safe container with water and place on bottom rack of oven
  22. Select loaf pan to hold loaf, and place empty in oven on upper rack positioned in middle of oven
  23. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
  24. Allow load to rest for 30 min (also allowing oven to reach temperature and heat pan and water)
  25. Remove empty loaf pan from oven
  26. Place on cooling rack
  27. Gently reform loaf to approximate size of loaf pan (or slightly smaller), and place in hot loaf pan
  28. Place loaf pan back in oven with dough inside, and cover with second loaf pan
  29. Bake for 30 minutes
  30. Remove loaf pan cover, and bake another 15 minutes
  31. Remove loaf from oven and immediately place on cooling rack

Thursday, January 30, 2014

salmon topped tomato and spinach sauce with pasta

Salmon Topped Tomato and Spinach Sauce with Pasta

General
Serves approximately 2 adults and 2 small children. Timing on this recipe is key: You want the salmon to finish just minutes before the noodles are ready. My timing is approximate, is based on a gas stove and noodles which take approximately 15 minutes to cook.

I don't intend to scare anyone off, this recipe is really easy.


Allergy Information
This recipe can be made free of wheat/gluten, corn, soy and dairy. Our family uses brown rice spaghetti noodles and bouillon cubes free of all aforementioned allergens.

In place of egg to thicken sauce, potato starch or other thickening agent may work (not confirmed)


Ingredients

  • Olive oil or your preferred cooking oil
  • 2 - 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 sweet onion, diced
  • 4 handfuls fresh spinach, sliced in ribbons
  • 6 - 10 golden cherry/mini tomatoes, halved
  • 6 - 10 red cherry/mini tomatoes, halved
  • 1 roughly 14 ounce can diced tomatoes in tomato juice
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 large salmon filet
  • 4 (roughly) servings spaghetti noodles
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube or similar seasoning equivalent
  • salt & pepper


Directions
  1. Prepare garlic, onion, spinach, tomatoes and egg and set aside
  2. Prepare salmon filet, removing skin (assumes not frozen)
  3. Warm frying pan (large enough for filet) on medium without placing anything in it until fully heated (roughly 3 min on gas stove)
  4. Add approximately 2 tablespoons oil to pan and allow to warm
  5. Add salmon, cooking 2 min on each side. Careful of oil splatter. Works well observing with glass lid.
  6. Set salmon aside
  7. Remove remaining grease from frying pan
  8. Return frying pan to stove on medium heat
  9. Add approximately 1 tablespoon oil to pan
  10. Brown onions and garlic (roughly 5 min)
  11. While onions and garlic browning, start boiling water for pasta with single bullion cube. Once water is boiling, add pasta (assumes pasta takes approximately 15 minutes)
  12. Once onions and garlic browned, add fresh tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for roughly 3 minutes
  13. Add canned tomatoes and juice and simmer for roughly 2 minutes
  14. Add spinach, and continue simmering and occasionally stirring
  15. Once spinach softened, add salt and pepper to taste
  16. Return salmon filet to pan and mostly cover with sauce
  17. Allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes
  18. Remove salmon from pan and wrap in aluminum foil to keep hot
  19. Simmer sauce until noodles are done (should be just a few minutes)
  20. Stir in beaten egg and continue stirring until well incorporated and sauce begins to thicken
  21. Combine sauce and drained noodles
  22. Serve immediately, topping noodles and sauce with salmon


Thursday, November 21, 2013

fresh salsa you’ll love

i can’t claim this recipe as my own. i tasted a salsa made by my former co-worker’s wife, asked a few questions and then went from there. her tip was to think of the colors on the flag of mexico when remembering ingredients. i don’t recall her exact ingredients, but here’s what it’s evolved to since then:


ingredients
  • ½ red onion
  • 2 large tomatoes (or the equivalent of smaller tomatoes. roma tomatoes work well for example.)
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 1 - 2 limes
  • 1 - 3 jalapeños depending on spice desire (1 will make mild/medium)
  • 1 - 3 canned chipotle peppers (optional, and also in place of jalapeños for slightly sweeter spice. 1 pepper, when not combined with jalapeños, will make mild)
  • 2 cobs of corn
  • 1 mango (optional - creates a sweetness in the salsa)
  • 1 small can black beans (optional. doesn’t add much in the way of flavor, but adds protein)
  • cilantro (really depends on how much you like, start small and if you forgot to pick it up, not really a game breaker)


preparation
  1. boil corn, cool, and cut from cob
  2. in a medium size mixing bowl, add ¼ cup water and the juice of one line. segments that fall into the water from the lime add great flavor. use your own digression if you’d like a second lime. or add later once you’ve tasted the result.
  3. cut 1 - 3 chipotle peppers into small pieces and add to bowl
  4. dice 1 - 3 jalapeños and add to bowl
  5. stir and set aside
  6. dice tomatoes, avocados, red onion, cilantro and mango. add each to bowl as diced, mixing upon adding each ingredient.
  7. drain black beans and add to mixture
  8. add corn (typically i perform last to allow to cool as much as possible)
  9. serve immediately or chill and serve within 24 hours. longer and the avocado will brown.
  10. i never add salt of pepper, as the ingredients stand on their own. salt lovers may disagree.


serving suggestions:
  • just salsa and chips. good with scoops or hint of lime chips especially
  • my kids will eat it simply as a snack in a bowl without anything else
  • topping on tacos
    • bake or grill fish or chicken
    • flour tortillas
    • sour cream
    • fresh spinach
    • shredded cheese

heart-attack corn on the cob

make sure to try both versions

version 1:

ingredients:
corn on the cob
butter
mayonnaise
shredded mexican/fiesta cheese mix (or cotija cheese if you can find it)
cayenne pepper (for spice)
lime (1/4 lime per ear of corn)

directions:
  1. grill corn
  2. spread butter on each cob
  3. liberally spread mayo on each cob 
  4. sprinkle with mexican/fiesta shredded cheese
  5. lightly sprinkle with cayenne pepper (be careful - gets spicy quickly)
  6. serve with lime wedges, or lightly sprinkle with lime  (optional)
i found this receipe (and slightly modified it) at http://www.recipezaar.com/251152


version 2:

ingredients:
corn on the cob
butter
queso fresco
cayenne pepper
lime (1/4 lime per ear of corn)

directions:
  1. grill corn
  2. spread button on each cob
  3. liberally spread queso fresco on each cob
  4. lightly sprinkle with cayenne pepper (be careful - gets spicy quickly)
  5. serve with lime wedges, or lightly sprinkle with lime (optional)

i had something similar to this at a denver restaurant called kiva, which sad to say is now closed :(

Orange-Pistachio Wild-Rice Salad


Orange-Pistachio Wild-Rice Salad

Salad Ingredients

  • ¼ cup chopped pistachios
  • ½ cup brown rice
  • ¾ cup wild rice
  • 2 cups veggie broth (i use chicken broth instead)
  • 1 orange, peel and pith removed, segmented and sliced
  • 10 large basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
  • ¼ cup minced red onion
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Dressing Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon honey
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Rice:
    1. Combine brown and wild rice with broth in a saucepan.
    2. Bring to a boil.
    3. Cover, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 45 – 55 minutes or until liquid is completely absorbed and rice is fully cooked.
    4. Remove from heat and cool completely.
  1. Pistachios:
    1. Toast pistachios in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant.
    2. Remove from heat and cool completely.
  1. Combine salad ingredients once pistachios and rice have cooled.
  2. Whisk dressing ingredients in a separate bowl.
  3. Pour dressing over rice mixture and toss.

Original Source: don't recall

homemade spinach fettuccine and alfredo sauce

spinach pasta dough

  1. remove stems from 8 oz. fresh spinach
  2. cook spinach in boiling water for approximately 2 minutes (until wilted)
  3. rinse spinach in cold water
  4. squeeze spinach dry
  5. puree in blender
  6. add two eggs
  7. blend well
  8. add 2 1/2 cups flour to separate mixing bowl
  9. clear pit in center of flour
  10. pour spinach / egg mixture in pit
  11. mix with hands
  12. spread light amount of flour on counter top
  13. knead dough until reaches a consistent color and texture
  14. form dough into a ball and place in bowl covered by damp cloth
  15. allow to sit 10 - 15 minutes
  16. pull small ball of dough from bowl and roll flat
  17. roll through pasta machine as desired


alfredo sauce


  1. melt 4 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan
  2. add 4 tablespoons flour
  3. cook for 2 - 3 minutes while stirring
  4. stir in 1 cup milk
  5. stir in 1 cup chicken broth
  6. stir in 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  7. stir in 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  8. stir in 5 minced garlic cloves
  9. stir in 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  10. stir in 1/2 cup white wine
  11. add salt and pepper as desired
  12. continue whisking until cheese completely melts to create a smooth sauce

cold day easy soup & sandwich

easy meal on a cold day: chicken and veggie noodle soup + grilled almond-cheese sandwich on rye

soup

ingredients

  • 1 small container canned chicken, drained and shredded
  • chicken broth (powder, cube or liquid)
  • frozen veggies of choice
  • elbow noodles; i use brown-rice wheat-free variety
  • butter; dairy and soy-free

directions

  1. prepare noodles per directions; however using some broth in the water
    • drain, place in bowl over a little butter and set aside
  2. fill pot with broth (or water + broth cube/powder), judging based on quantity of soup desired
  3. bring water to a boil, and add frozen veggies
  4. once veggies hot, add some shredded chicken and the buttered noodles

sandwich

ingredients

  • a few slices of almond cheese
  • butter; dairy and soy-free
  • whole rye bread; i use Feldkamp Whole Rye Bread, which is wheat-free

directions


  1. warm a small frying pan on medium heat
  2. butter bottom of rye bread
  3. add cheese slices
  4. butter top of rye bread
  5. watch closely, flipping multiple times to toast and melt cheese thoroughly