Archives for April 2009

Our El Primo Property and Your Premio Dardos Awards

April 28, 2009 · Filed Under award, gluten free, recipe ·33 Comments

I’d planned to have this post up on Sunday, but at the last minute we decided a bike trip to our mountain property, which we love so much, was a better idea than hanging around the house. The photo above is of “our” rapid on the Shenandoah River and the one below if of our “bike” (those are my husband’s riding chaps on the seat). It was a great, relaxing trip, but brutally hot. On the way back, we stopped at a favorite restaurant and had a great meal. I ordered the chicken salad plate, which turned out to be a yummy chicken salad (the recipe included red grapes—love that!) served over salad greens with cucumbers and a tahini-based dressing. I ate every morsel, drank my tall glass of ice water, and felt re-energized (for a bit). As we continued home with temperatures on the way down, one bank thermometer showed 96 degrees—yikes! I’m sorry to admit that I experienced fanny fatigue fairly early on this trip—that was disappointing. I guess I’m out of practice! I better start “training” (i.e., riding weekly), so I’ll be ready for our annual motorcycle trip later this summer!

As I mentioned in a previous post, Anali (Anali’s First Amendment) honored my blog with the Premio Dardos Award recently. As she stated on her blog, “Premio Dardos means “prize darts” in Spanish. It is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.” Per the rules, I am selecting 15 blogs. Granted, 15 is a lot, but there are so many wonderful blogs that I read, it’s actually hard to narrow it down that much. The criteria for the award fits most every blog I read; that’s exactly why I read them. Without a doubt, these blogs make my life better … most making me laugh, many sharing the gluten-free philosophy, some educating me, and some challenging my beliefs. There are also many equally wonderful blogger awards, so, recipients, please don’t feel obligated to carry on this Premio Dardos award. If you’d simply like to place it on your sidebar, then please do so, but again don’t feel obligated to do even that. (Guilt is a waste of precious time, in my opinion. Well, unless, of course you can use it successfully to motivate your children. LOL … kidding … sort of.) Those of us who blog are all busy sharing our particular passions via writing posts, making terrific food, taking stunning photos, engaging in awareness projects, and, of course, just doing the drill of living our daily lives—an award can be a very neat thing or it can mess up the works a bit. Here are my choices, and, just FYI, these are not all gluten-free blogs. Also, Anali’s First Amendment is not included because she has already received the award. Thanks again, Anali!

By the way, I had another very pleasant surprise today … Z, awarded me with the Lemonade Stand Award on her From This Point Forward blog. This award goes to blogs that show great attitude and gratitude—love that concept. : – ) Since there are blogs I didn’t get to recognize here for the Premio Dardos awards, I may do another post soon to recognize other worthy blogs with the Lemonade Stand Award. Thanks, Z!

Premio Dardos Award Selections:

A Year of Crockpotting Stephanie committed to cooking in her crockpot every single day for a year starting in January 2008. Obviously, her year is long over, but while she’s diversifying to other activities (including her new blog, Totally Together, and her book of the same name), she still shares a great crockpot recipe about once a week. She’s charming and funny, and her recipes are easy and usually very economical. Dust off your crockpot! (I tend to use my crockpot more in the winter, but it makes sense to use it during the summer to keep the heat down in the kitchen. You can even plug it in on an enclosed porch, so no heat in the kitchen at all!

Banana Coconut Gal Coconut Gal is a sweetheart. She shares her experiences living with Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis—a rare gastrointestinal condition that really limits her food choices. Yet, she remains strong and positive and shares some terrific, easy recipes like BaNilla Nut Ice Cream. Go check that recipe out … you know you want some!

The Brian Williams Tie Report Archives Nance entertains me Monday through Friday critiquing NBC anchor Brian Williams’ tie choices. A high school English teacher, she can cut to the quick for a poor selection of Mr. Williams or take a nice cravat to even higher levels. It’s all in good fun, but Nance offers excellent commentaries.

Compost Studios Veronica is an outstanding writer, but there’s much more to V-grrrl (as she’s also fondly known) than that. As her blog’s name suggests, she is always re-inventing herself through prose, poetry, art journal pieces, or photography. (FYI—Veronica also has a new professional site where she offers her writing skills “to connect people, businesses, products, and ideas.”)

Elana’s Pantry While I don’t make all of Elana’s recipes, I do appreciate them all for their simple elegance. Plus, I envy her photography skills! Her recipes require few ingredients, but the ingredients used are just the right ones to offer the best combination of delicious and nutritious. Some will surprise you with their ingredients … like the Purple Velvet Torte. Look forward to an adaptation of one of Elana’s salmon recipes (three ingredients) on my blog soon. For baking, Elana uses high-quality almond flour, almost exclusively, as her new cookbook demonstrates.

Gluten Free for Good Melissa is a food expert. Seriously. Her day job (or maybe it’s 24/7) is nutritional therapy and exercise science. And, she really practices what she preaches. That sounds boring, but Melissa is far from boring! She always injects humor, joy, and beauty in her educational and entertaining posts.

Gluten-Free Kay Kay tickles me (and others) with her zest for life and terrific sense of humor. She shares her and her animals’ adventures (domestic and wild) on her Leaning Tree Farm. Gluten intolerant and diagnosed with other food intolerances as well, she often makes recipes that are naturally gluten free using food she has grown herself.

Gluten-Free Gobsmacked Kate is warm and sweet, and makes some fantastic gluten-free food. Her blog posts are a bit sparse as of this writing because she and her husband just adopted a daughter! They are over the moon with happiness, but probably more than a little sleep-deprived these days. Check out her last few posts on the joy of bringing her new daughter home and look forward to the day when she’s back blogging for us. I’m thinking that will come once her little one is sleeping more and life has settled into more of a routine, but I’m happy she’s enjoying this very special time.

Gluten-Free Steve Steve is a good guy. Unlike me, he is a person of “few words.” He shares recipes, his experiences eating out, food product reviews, and lots more. I recently made his lemon sponge cake and it was light and delish.

La Tartine Gourmande Bea has a beautiful food (gluten free) and photography blog. Now she has her darling baby girl, Lulu, to teach all about food. She’s sharing their experiences in posts and pics. La Tourtine Gourmande is a “feel good” blog. Every time I go to Bea’s site, I leave a happier person.

No Gluten, No Problem Pete and Kelli share so much valuable information in their frequent, concise posts … including recipes, restaurant reviews, product reviews, and discussion topics (e.g., how are food beliefs like religious beliefs? I loved that one). They also have a new cookbook, Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking, coming out in a few months.

Noble Pig Cathy shares her love of food and wine, and what’s on her mind. She and her husband are in the process of relocating to Oregon and opening a winery—no small task there. I wake up each morning to find a new post from Cathy. Usually, they’re recipes that have me wanting to lick the screen. Many are gluten free naturally, and others I’ve easily converted to gluten free, like the Katharine Hepburn brownies.

The Spunky Coconut Kelly is a ray of sunshine. Her dishes are gluten free, casein free, sugar free, and often raw. If you look at the pictures of her dishes, you won’t be able to tell that. Plus, I’m certain that every one of them is delicious. Her homeschooling journal shares the tales of her approach with her two daughters. I always love reading what’s going on with Kelly and her family.

The W.H.O.L.E. Gang Diane’s enthusiasm for healthy eating (including gluten free and dairy free) is infectious. With her Friday Foodie Fix, she’s bringing everyone “on board.” Her ecologically-minded perspective is an added benefit of reading her blog.

Whole Life Nutrition Ali constantly amazes me with her healthy, but delightful gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free (and more) recipes. She and husband, Tom, both with strong nutritional backgrounds, have one cookbook in print, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, and another one in the making. Ali, a former personal chef, is testing recipes and seeking input for this new cookbook as we speak. Ali and Tom have four young children, including twins. How does she do it all and do it all so well? Again, Ali amazes me.

I am so grateful to you worthy 15! Hope everyone reading will check out these great blogs when you get a chance!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Tags: awards, gluten free, mountains, Shenandoah

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus and Katharine Hepburn Brownie Bites

April 24, 2009 · Filed Under appetizer, dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe, treats ·22 Comments

Do you know that expression “kill two birds with one stone”? If you are not familiar with it, please don’t take me literally. At our house, we all enjoy birds (the kind outside our windows these days, but we raised happy finches for years) and would never harm one. But, I totally believe in the philosophy of satisfying more than one task/need with a single solution. I am all about doing things easily and not devoting time to multiple tasks. So the other day, I was thinking of a way that I could come up with a recipe that would work for both Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix using asparagus (the ingredient of the week) and Naomi’s Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free canapé theme. Naomi urged participants to go for true canapés—little one-bite size morsels. Asparagus doesn’t make one think of bite-sized morsels, but the asparagus sold in our grocery store is diminutive for asparagus and if I made the recipe appealing enough, wouldn’t one want to eat it in one bite? My husband has an ongoing professional position where he deals with legal code and over the years he has repeated to me many times that one must look at the intent of the code. With that in mind, my “intent” is that this recipe will be a one-bite, maybe one-and-a-half bite (pushing two-bite?), canapé. So, I hope Naomi will accept it in the spirit that is intended.

Initially, I started thinking about Diane’s bacon-wrapped avocados. (And, I’m still thinking about them and wanting one! Maybe this weekend for our house guest …) Specifically, I pondered bacon-wrapped asparagus, but that idea didn’t seem too feasible. The asparagus spears in my mother-in-law’s garden are usually thick and tall/long enough to be wrapped in a piece of bacon, but the asparagus spears at the store (the ones I would be buying) are far too small. The bacon would smother it. (I know it’s hard to believe for those of us who enjoy our bacon, but sometimes too much bacon really can really be an undesirable thing. LOL) Heading into the grocery store, I really had no idea how I was going to prepare the asparagus. All I knew was that I was going to prepare it for these two fun blog carnivals and serve it to my girlfriends for dinner as a canapé. But, first, I needed to pick up some Swiss cheese for my husband. Right there beside the Swiss cheese was prosciutto. Hmmm, delicious prosciutto … thinner, leaner, and a little more subtle than bacon, but still offering sweet and salty smokiness. I grabbed some.

At home later as the girls straggled in from work, I peeled off a piece of prosciutto from the packaging. While it was definitely much thinner than a slice of bacon and actually an ideal thickness for wrapping, the width overwhelmed the dainty spear. So I unwrapped the spear and pulled my kitchen shears out to cut the piece in half lengthwise. Then I rewrapped the spear. Ah, that was just right … even uncooked, it looked delicious. So I continued wrapping spears with prosciutto. One friend asked, “Shirley, are you wrapping prosciutto around asparagus?” “Yes, I am.” I replied enthusiastically. “Yum” was her response. (Again, that was before we had eaten them.) When I had used up all the prosciutto, I still had half of the pound of asparagus left. I decided to cook that on the same baking sheet but with the spears drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with cayenne pepper.

The “hot and spicy” roasted asparagus would be a nice contrast to the pork tenderloin with maple glaze that I was serving. It seems like for everything I roast in the oven these days (chickpeas, Brussels sprouts, etc.), I set the oven to 450 degrees and cook for 15 – 20 minutes. That approach worked well with the asparagus, too. Both the prosciutto-wrapped and the hot and spicy version were done in 15 minutes. I set the hot and spicy ones aside under cover momentarily, and placed the canapé asparagus spears on the counter to take a good photo before we ate them. They were absolutely photogenic. (Can asparagus be photogenic? Well, the answer is irrelevant … this asparagus was!) For once, waiting to get good pictures worked out as the spears cooled just enough to eat while I was snapping the shots. But, then we tried them. Out. Of. This. World. We all agreed they were absolutely divine and when was the last time you picked up an asparagus spear with your fingers? Okay, I admit we eat asparagus with our fingers all the time when we are camping … but usually not when dining at home. The prosciutto wrap gives some nice little structure to the asparagus spear, which makes for easy pick-up with your fingers and instant devouring. If you happen to be finicky about such food sharing (and are not among family or close friends—if that makes a difference to you), put out little appetizer forks or some type of skewers for everyone. But, really it’s a quick bite or two and then you’re done—there’s no real time or need for skewering. These are canapés—remember? They are meant to be picked up and enjoyed without utensils. They are so incredibly good, and I was very pleased with myself for coming up with the two-ingredient canapé. However, full disclosure: I later googled prosciutto and asparagus and it seems like tons of folks have been doing some variation of prosciutto-wrapped asparagus forever! So, I’m not quite as clever as I thought. Rats. Isn’t that always the case? LOL But, no recipe was exactly like mine. In comparison to a similar recipe I found, I didn’t use olive oil on my canapés (even leaner prosciutto provides enough fat in my opinion), plus, I used a higher temperature for roasting and no seasonings (again, not needed). Anyway, gluten-free and dairy-free, these canapes are fabulous.

As we enjoyed the canapés, we sipped our beverages. There was Chateau Morrisette’s Blushing Dog (a lovely Virginia wine, which my friend, Veronica, had brought to the Valentine’s Day party) and Georges Duboeuf Pinot Noir (a French wine that “Fred” brought—beautiful and fruity). There was also sparkling grape juice for our favorite teetotaler of the group. Then we moved on to the actual dinner: Kathi’s great salad (she made it while I finished cooking), pork tenderloin with maple glaze (if you haven’t tried it yet, you should … this is an amazing dish), pan-baked Parmesan potatoes (a twice-baked taste without the work), the hot and spicy asparagus, and sourdough bread (NOT gluten free—brought by Vivian for the gluten eaters). After dinner, we sat and chatted for a bit. Then, it was time for dessert.

Cathy at Noble Pig had shared a recipe for Katharine Hepburn (KH) brownies on her site a while back. Because the recipe called for only ¼ cup of all-purpose flour (i.e., flour containing gluten), I knew it would be easy to duplicate gluten-free by replacing the all-purpose flour with the same amount of gluten-free flour mix and adding just a pinch of xanthan gum. I was right. These brownies are rich, fudgy squares—absolutely delicious. (Cathy’s version calls for walnuts. I actually prefer these brownies “plain” because the chocolate doesn’t compete with the walnuts, and the plain ones cut “cleaner” and have the perfect texture, too.) I served a few of the KH brownies—cut into canapé-size bites for sampling—as a prelude to the very fine chocolate ice cream that Fred’s husband had made for us. The brownie bites were met with sounds of approval and quickly disappeared. Eventually, we moved on to the ice cream. With the ice cream, I served more KH brownies these cut into regular-sized squares. Some made their way into the bowls of ice cream. Delish! No whipped cream needed.

It was a delicious evening, on so many levels. Aren’t the times spent with true friends the best times ever? The next day we exchanged emails in rapid fashion saying how wonderful our evening was, thanking each other for contributions to the meal, and just sincerely counting the blessings of our friendship. There’s no doubt that all of us who share such friendships are extremely fortunate and are better for them, but read more here (if you like) about the actual health values of such friendships. (I’ve recently discovered this blog, Happy Healthy Long Life, and have really been enjoying the positive perspective shared.)

Finally, what’s your favorite canapé? If you’re a fellow blogger, make a gluten-free canapé, write a post, and share with everyone, by submitting your link to Naomi. (The deadline is tomorrow, Saturday, April 25. If you miss this one, the Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free carnival continues each month with a different theme and host. I’ll be hosting one month this summer.) Or perhaps you have a favorite asparagus recipe that’s gluten free … post it and submit your post to Diane’s Friday Foodie F ix using the widget on her site (those are due today, but if you want to join the fun later, be sure to check each Friday to see which ingredient Diane has picked for the following week’s FFF. Next week’s ingredient is strawberry.). Even if you can’t post a gluten-free recipe for either of these carnivals, please go and enjoy the entries—-there’s always some really good stuff at each site! : – )

Happy Friday!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Tags: asparagus, brownie, canape, chocolate, easy, gluten free, prosciutto, recipe

Banana Kahlua Coconut Cake

April 21, 2009 · Filed Under dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe, vegetarian ·20 Comments

My new friend, Anali, at Anali’s First Amendment, did a post the other day called A Weekend Mix. I was reading along enjoying her write-up on her odd dreams involving celebrities (don’t we all have those?), advice regarding African Violets, and some pictures of her charming place, and then I got to the photo of her banana-coconut cake. Banana and coconut! What a wonderful combination, I thought. The picture of her slice of cake made my mouth water. It had that lovely rich, golden brown color that banana always adds to baked goods. Anali included the recipe, which she’d adapted from a banana cake recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. Anali’s version was dairy free, but not gluten free. I immediately commented that I planned to make a gluten-free version of her recipe soon. So I did, and I’m so glad.

With living more dairy free, I am taking the same approach that I’ve taken with gluten free living. That means that I am dairy free easily (dfe , if you will), using ingredients that are naturally dairy free. Anali’s recipe called for Smart Balance; instead, I substituted olive oil. (See substitution chart here.) Her recipe also called for rice milk and banana schnapps. I don’t really plan to keep rice milk on hand, and while I have peppermint schnapps and peach schnapps in the liquor cabinet for certain friends, I don’t stock banana schnapps. However, thinking of liqueurs gave me the idea to substitute Kahlua for both the rice milk and the banana schnapps. I usually have Kahlua on hand and the thought of Kahlua with banana and coconut seemed luscious. (It sure is in liquid form!) Because I wasn’t sure if the Kahlua would be thick enough to be a proper substitute, I decided to add an additional egg to provide the right consistency. The results were very, very good.

How good? Well, tomorrow I will be making this cake for the third time in less than a week. I first made it for a committee meeting last Thursday. My cake was placed on the table right in front of one friend. Every few minutes throughout the meeting, he would lop off a small piece with the cake server. I love to feed people so I was getting a lot of pleasure (and amusement) from his obvious inability to resist the cake. Others enjoyed it as well, so by the end of the evening, most of the cake was gone. (That was saying a lot since there was plenty of fabulous food served, including pepperoni crostini.) The next day I made another one for our monthly support group meeting. I served it to our members that evening and they all raved over it. Everyone was amazed that it was both gluten free and dairy free and could taste so good. Again, despite the table being full of great food, almost all of the cake disappeared.

Tomorrow I am making it in preparation for the arrival of my husband’s cousin on Thursday. We’ll be able to use it as a dessert or for a coffee cake-type breakfast. It’s really quite a treat and another way to use up those “baking bananas”! (See more ideas here.)

By the way, in preparing this post, I went to Anali’s site to copy URLs for links back to her site and her original post. I was both surprised and delighted to discover that she’d given me a Premio Dardos award! As most of you know, I am pretty new to the “blogosphere,” so this award is my first and, therefore, very special. I was not familiar with this award, but you can read more about it here. Look for another post on the 15 blogs I have selected soon.

Note to Anali: Thanks so very much … I am honored. Hope you enjoy my gfe version of your cake!

Banana Kahlua Coconut Cake

2 ripe bananas (about 2/3 cup)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp Kahlua
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/3 cups gluten-free flour mix*
3/4 tsp xanthan gum (skip if flour mix already contains xanthan gum)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened because that’s what was available at my grocery store)

In a large bowl, mash bananas. Stir in vanilla extract. Add olive oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and Kahlua; mix well. Stir in salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Gradually stir in flour, then coconut, until well mixed.

Grease a round cake pan well. (Makes a one-layer cake.) Pour batter in pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes. (Test with toothpick to determine if done.) Remove from pan immediately and cool. I’ve served this cake “plain” each time with no complaints, but Anali also suggests that it can be served with whipped cream.

*One option is the gluten-free flour mix that I use most of the time. It consists of three parts Asian white rice flour and two parts cornstarch. I make 5 lbs of this mix at a time. I use three 1-lb bags of Asian white rice flour and two 1-lb boxes of Argo cornstarch. Mix well, but gently in a very large bowl and then transfer to airtight storage containers (like Tupperware).

Shirley’s Notes: My version of this cake has evolved, and not necessarily by design. The first time I made the recipe I used an extra large egg and didn’t have quite enough coconut, plus I am pretty sure I left out the brown sugar. It turned out lighter in color than the photo of Anali’s cake, but was still quite good. (Six committee members can’t be wrong!) The second time I made it, I decided to use two large eggs. I had the right amount of coconut, and added it, but I misread the brown sugar amount and added too much. Gasp … such an awful mistake. LOL OMG, the resulting cake was fantastic. When I make this cake tomorrow, I will use two large eggs and an amount of brown sugar between the original amount and my erroneous measurement. (These amounts are reflected in the recipe shown.) The point is … don’t be afraid to make this cake if you don’t have exactly the right amounts of ingredients on hand, want to emphasize one flavor over another, etc. Next time, I think I might add some mini-chocolate chips. Just about any good baking recipe can be improved by the addition of chocolate, right? UPDATE: When I made the cake this evening with two smaller bananas, it seemed too sweet so I’ve added measurement guidance for the bananas and reduced the brown sugar amount to the original amount that Anali used. Of course, if your mashed bananas equal much more and you want to use the entire amount, you may want to adjust the amount upward slightly.

Shirley Braden
Not just gf, but gfe!