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Adoption: Wendy of Celiacs in the House (Gluten-Free Crepes—Savory and Sweet)

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Pennywise Platter Thursdays, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Another one of my favorite bloggers is Wendy of Celiacs in the House. I’m pretty sure that we met via Linda’s (The Gluten-Free Homemaker) weekly gluten-free roundup. (I’m betting that’s true for many of us—a big shout out and thanks to Linda for hosting this event, now called Gluten-Free Wednesdays.) From the start, I liked Wendy’s straightforward posts, her commitment to feeding her family real food with some occasional gluten-free specialty items thrown in, her informational posts on celiac and living gluten free, her ability to convey a lot in a brief manner (I always admire that, since I often lack that skill!), and, finally, her warm, sweet nature. So, I’m adopting her this month for the Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger event, originated by the lovely Sea of Book of Yum. This month’s event is hosted by another terrific lady, Tia of Glugle Gluten Free (who incidentally just happened to adopt me this month … you can see her post here!).

Several months ago, Wendy actually pondered giving up blogging … for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was being busy hosting a gluten-free foreign exchange student. Feeding a house full of gluten-free teenagers and supporting their various sporting activities definitely can keep a person too busy to blog. But, thankfully for all of us, she decided to continue blogging. The exchange student eventually returned home, summer break came, and we’ve been reading more of Wendy’s posts than ever with her terrific 30 Days to 50 series. In this series, she shared her own reflections on moving towards age 50 and wanting to be in optimum health. She also brought together some of the best blogger voices on health, fitness, and nutrition. Some of my favorite posts shared in the series are this one called Let’s Get Personal and this one on Wendy’s family history, but every single post in the series is worth a read.

We’ve also gotten to see Wendy more on Twitter, too. She gave up tweeting for a while and then came back and reinvented herself there with a new Twitter handle—midlife_celiac. I love the idea of reinventing one’s self and starting fresh! From her tweets, I found out that she’s also attending the International Food Blogger Conference. She’s one of several of us gluten-free bloggers who will be flying into Seattle at the end of this month for what promises to be an amazing conference and meet-up. Similar to what many other adoptive parents experience before adopting, I’ve seen photos of Wendy, read about her, read her writing (as an “older child”), corresponded with her via sometimes rapid-fire email exchanges and tweets/Twitter direct messages, and after flying across country, I’ll get to meet her in person and greet her with a hug. I can’t wait!

Until then, I’ve selected a recipe from Wendy’s blog to try out. To get maximize value/cooking mileage, I chose one that is really two recipes in one:  crepes, which she adapted from Carol Fenster’s cookbook, 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes.

For dinner this evening, we enjoyed the savory crepes. I followed Wendy’s lead and filled ours with a creamy chicken mixture. I used what we had on hand, which ended up being roasted chicken, bacon, mushrooms, zucchini, coconut milk, plus some mayonnaise (to add more creaminess and flavor), sea salt, pepper, onion powder, and smoked paprika. I made my roux using butter and sweet rice flour as Wendy directed. I filled my crepe and then added some grated cheddar cheese for Mr. GFE’s crepes. I adapted the recipe for the crepes even more because I don’t usually eat sorghum flour or potato starch. Therefore, I used a combination of my gluten-free flour mix, millet flour, and some almond flour, plus the other ingredients as specified. The results were great. In fact, we both absolutely loved the crepes. The last time we enjoyed crepes was in a very tony restaurant in Georgetown (part of Washington, D.C.) many, many years ago. That was a day spent with old friends visiting the National Zoo before strolling through Georgetown and running into Jack Albertson in the French Market there. (Albertson was perhaps best known for his movie roles in The Poseidon Adventure and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and later  in the television show, Chico and The Man) . Fond memories for sure. 

I definitely need more practice as far as making thin crepes and rolling them after cooking. As you can see from the photos, some of my crepes have more of an omelet fold. That didn’t affect the taste one bit though.

Wendy filled her dessert crepes with jam, which would be a simple and lovely dessert. However, I looked at what I had on hand and decided to use a ripe banana, sliced thin; slivered almonds; very dark chocolate chunks; and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Because I had cooked the entire batch of crepes at once, after dinner I placed my room temperature crepes back in my 8-inch skillet (one at a time) on medium, placing the filling ingredients in the center, and then covering the skillet for a few minutes. Then I folded the crepe for further melting. Oh, my, this combination makes for another wonderfully simple, yet upscale, and divine dessert crepe.

You’ll find a variety of recipes on Wendy’s blog. Many others caught my eye and will be on my menu in the future; e.g., fish cakes (that can made with salmon, cod, or another fish of your choice); crispy vegetable and risotto cakes; and summer turkey salad. Go check out Wendy’s blog.  You’ll end up wanting to adopt her, too! And, don’t forget to wish her a happy birthday when you visit! Last, the complete roundup of all the adoptions is up over at Glugle Gluten Free; check it out here.

Enjoy!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Timely News … Chocolate Zucchini Bread Trumps Classic Version

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Delicious Dishes, and Wheatless Wednesday.

It’s that time of year when the zucchini vines overfloweth. We don’t have a vegetable garden, but I’ll gladly take a zucchini now and then. I’ve even purchased them from the grocery store occasionally, but somehow that just never feels right. You know what I mean? There are just so many zucchini out there looking for love and a good home. We had our support group meeting—a cookout/picnic type event—at the very “green” farm (green as in low impact to our Earth) of one of our member families this past Sunday. We were only a few feet from their impressive garden and their chickens roamed freely while we ate. As the meeting was ending, I asked my friends, DeLaura and Steve, who hosted the meeting if they had any zucchini to spare. After a quick trip through their garden, Steve returned with three that were just the perfect size for tender goodness without lots of seeds—ideal for baking!

I’m a fan of both savory and sweet zucchini dishes. When making savory zucchini recipes, this Cheesy Chicken Zucchini Bake from last year is still one of my favorites. I’m trying out some “Squashcchini” (shown below) in this recipe this evening and, of course, keeping at least part of  it dairy free. That’s what I was told it’s called—a cross between yellow squash and zucchini—but found no mention of this name online. I’m told it’s sweeter than typical zucchini. (Has anyone used it before? What do you call it?) Typical zucchini also shines in stir fry dishes, and, it’s always fun to make a veggie lasagna using zucchini. But when it comes to a sweet zucchini recipe, Chocolate Zucchini Bread is my favorite. 

Long before I was married, a friend passed on her zucchini bread recipe. It was delicious—a moist bread with lots of cinnamon that one could enjoy on its own, with a cup of tea, or as a dessert. However, somewhere along the way, this Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe made its way to me and it trumped the other recipe without question. Game over. So, the original, classic recipe got filed and pushed to the back of the recipe box.

After I happily toted my gift zucchini home the other day, I almost went into a panic when I couldn’t find the recipe for the Chocolate Zucchini Bread. I went through my recipe box (coming across the classic recipe in my search under “Breads”). I went through several cookbooks (even though I didn’t remember it coming from a cookbook). I hurriedly flipped through “my pile” of recipes (printed out from the computer, pulled from magazines, etc.). I knew it wasn’t in the pile, but I still had to look. (Have you done that?) Finally, the next day I found the Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe, in plain sight—just not where I was looking. It was behind the Cakes tab. Ahhh, the recurring question—is it bread? or, is it cake? When I discussed this subject regarding my Molasses Banana Bread recipe, most gfe readers said the label didn’t matter as long as the end result was good. The same holds true for this recipe.

I want to make a couple of points regarding this recipe and adapting recipes in general. First, when I did find this chocolate version, out of curiosity, I compared the ingredients to that in the non-chocolate recipe. The only differences were the fact that ½ cup of the flour had been replaced with cocoa powder and less cinnamon was used in the chocolate version. It surprised me that the two recipes were so similar, but there’s a lesson there. If you have a favorite zucchini bread recipe that you’d like to turn into a chocolate rendition, just make that change. The same guidance will also probably work for other baked goods, like cookies, cookie crumb crusts, and the like (although amounts may vary according to total amount of flour used; keep it proportional). If you don’t eat chocolate and have been looking for a good zucchini bread, just use 3 cups of flour mix, skip the cocoa, and add 2 more teaspoons of cinnamon. The original bread is still very good. Next, this is a recipe that previously contained gluten. I simple replaced the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour mix and added some xanthan gum for binding. I often skip xanthan gum in recipes, but I think it’s needed in this one. When figuring out how much xanthan gum to add to a recipe, I usually add ½ tsp per cup of flour used. At ½ tsp per cup of flour, that would mean 1 tsp of xanthan gum. But, I used 1 ½ teaspoons. Why? Remember the cocoa powder had replaced part of the flour amount, so I added another ½ tsp for that as well, with the final amount of xanthan gum being 1 ½ teaspoons. (FYI—I’ve read that a higher proportion of xanthan gum is needed when making yeast breads, but I have no experience in that area.) If you want to attempt to convert one of your old recipes to gluten free, make these changes and see how it goes. (Note: The only recipes that I’ve not been able to “convert” using this method are recipes for waffles and pancakes. I’ve made successful versions of both, but they usually require different measurements and different flours and flour mixes. Buckwheat flour is the easiest to use, but I now have a sensitivity to that.) Of course, if you are a gfe reader who knows that you don’t need to eat gluten free, just use your traditional all-purpose flour mix and omit the xanthan gum. 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (I used ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ grapeseed oil, and ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce)
2 cups sugar (I used 1 ¾ cup coconut sugar plus ¼ cup granulated sugar)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded, peeled zucchini (about one zucchini, medium sized)
2 ½ cups gluten-free flour mix (use your favorite mix for this type of recipe*)
½ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla.

Add in zucchini; mix.

Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour into two greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until bread tests done (toothpick method). Cool. Slice. Enjoy.

Yield: Two regular-sized loaves

Source: Unknown

*As I’ve noted before, I can’t always tolerate many of the healthier, gluten-free flours; e.g., sorghum, buckwheat. Therefore, my gluten-free flour mix is 3 parts Asian white rice flour (which is very finely ground) and 2 parts cornstarch. I gently mix three one-lb bags of the Asian white rice flour and two one-lb boxes of cornstarch in a very large bowl and then store the mix in several airtight containers. It’s a very economical mix that works well in most recipes. No refrigeration is needed. However, I’m sure another mix of other gluten-free flours that one would use in a similar recipe could work as well. And, as always, if you do not need to eat gluten free, traditional all-purpose flour can be used instead.

Shirley’s Notes: You’ll notice that I just shred/grate my zucchini the old-fashioned way, but you can use a food processor if you like. Despite its reputation for making baked goods moist, I think the addition of applesauce makes this bread just a little bit drier than if all oil was used.

Other gfe-worthy news, both here and from some of my favorite blogging buddies …

Tinsley over at Celiebo made a fun video on the Crab Claw cocktail recipe I shared recently. You can check it out here. How cool is that? You may have noticed that Tinsley has an entire video blog—a vlog. She doesn’t just share or adapt a recipe; she walks you through each one, step by step. Her videos are a lot of fun and quickly show you if the recipe is something you want to make at home. She also does other vlog sessions on information that’s of interest to those of us with celiac/non-celiac gluten issues. No reading required, just sit back and enjoy. Oh wait, she does have funny and/or helpful subtitles from time to time, but nothing labor intensive!

If you like real crab claws, from say the Maryland Blue Crab, you’ll want to head over to Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix roundup today because crab is the featured ingredient. Crab is certainly my favorite ingredient and I linked up a few gfe recipes there. Hope you will, too … or at least that you’ll find some to try. 

Right now, Amy (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) is hosting a giveaway of Diane’s first cookbook, an e-book, The Gluten-Free Diner. Two of SS&GF’s readers will receive a downloadable copy. You can enter her giveaway here. There you’ll be able to read Amy’s review and get Amy’s adaptation of one of Diane’s recipes, too. Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom) also just hosted a giveaway of Diane’s book. Her giveaway is now closed, but you can see her review and versions of Diane’s recipes here. Stay tuned to gfe for more love for Diane’s Diner cookbook.

Although that particular giveaway is closed over at Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom, Heidi has a new giveaway up for Erin Elberson’s brand new e-book, 7 Quick Start Tips for Living a Healthy Gluten-Free Fit Life. I’m a big fan of Erin’s and her goal to get folks healthier while living gluten free. Heidi’s giveaway is open through Monday, July 19. Incidentally, Heidi’s own story, which she shares in the post, is very compelling. Like I’ve said before, we all have stories to share, from which hopefully others can benefit. It takes guts to put your history out on the interwebs, so major kudos to Heidi! But, it’s worth it … even if you think one person can be helped. Check out her giveaway of Erin’s book here.

Incidentally, Erin is also one of the folks who is offering expertise to Wendy (Celiacs in the House) in her 30 Days to Fifty health and fitness event. Wendy has questions (that once again I can relate to) and Erin answers them with some great, common sense advice.  Wendy is also offering a giveaway of Erin’s e-book (with some Bakery on Main granola thrown in for good–and healthy–measure). Read all and enter Wendy’s giveaway here (it’s open through Tuesday, July 20).

I mentioned the other day that my doctor recommends four fats/oils for cooking. I emphasize the four because I left one out the other day, olive oil. So, to restate, my doctor recommends: organic butter (unless you’re dairy intolerant), grapeseed oil, olive oil, and coconut oil. It just so happens that Alta (Tasty Eats At Home) is giving away a quart of Tropical Traditions coconut oil, and her giveaway doesn’t end until July23. Enter here. I just ran out of Tropical Traditions coconut oil, so I know I’ll be entering.

Kelly(The Spunky Coconut) made some amazing looking tapioca pudding (vegan) using products from iHerb. And, she’s having an iHerb giveaway, too. It ends Friday, July 23, as well. Check it out here.

And, returning to gfe …

The winner of the full scholarship to the Fertility E-Course by Donielle of Naturally Knocked Up  is posted here. (There is a gluten connection between what I reference as ob/gyn issues, so you may want to read the post if you missed it and/or have symptoms that fall into that broad category.)

My iHerb shopping spree giveaway will run through Tuesday. Find that here.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday–yippee! I’ll be away at our mountain property with Mr. GFE, Son, and Son’s crew, but I’ll have up a trifecta of giveaways up on my Out and About page some time this weekend. That way we can all celebrate! And, I might be able to squeeze in one more special post on my main page for my extended  birthday week. Next week, it will be back to normal (I think). After all, I will be a year older … I might need to take it easy.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Guest Post: Starlene’s Polka-Dot Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Almond Butter Frosting

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, and Foodie Friday.

Today’s post and recipe comes from Starlene over at GAPS: A Food Experiment. Starlene writes about her journey on the GAPS diet at her blog, but on occasion comes up with a recipe that isn’t fully “legal,” so she asked me if I would host this gluten-free, refined sugar-free recipe here at gfe. I’m so happy to oblige, especially when the recipe featured is as gorgeous and mouth watering as this one!

My husband loves chocolate and I wanted to make him a special treat for Father’s Day. I could cheat a little and enjoy it as well. (Baking soda and cocoa powder are not allowed on GAPS.)

Polka Dot Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Almond Butter Frosting

Chocolate Cake:

• 2 cups and 1 Tablespoon blanched almond flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Gently whisk cocoa into the almond flour, then add the salt and baking soda, whisking again. In a different bowl, mix the wet ingredients together: honey, eggs and vanilla extract. Pour the wet into the dry and stir just until fully mixed. Butter an 8-inch cake pan (the kind with the little piece that goes around to help release the cake works best) and flour lightly with almond flour. Don’t forget to flour with almond flour as this cake will stick. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The texture of the cake will be brownie-like.

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup raw almond butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons softened butter
• 2 Tablespoons and 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• sliced almonds as garnish, optional

Mix the frosting ingredients together. Frost the cake when it has cooled for about fifteen minutes. Frosting it while warm helps the frosting spread easily. The frosting is just enough for a one-layer cake.

Serves eight. This cake is very rich and decadent. Also tastes great frozen for twelve hours.

Cake portion of this recipe is adapted from Elana Amsterdam’s The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Frosting recipe is an original recipe from Starlene. The ice cream shown in the photo is Elana’s Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream.

Shirley here: Many thanks to Starlene for sharing her beautiful cake. I, for one, can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ll substitute coconut oil  for the butter in the frosting to make a gluten-free, dairy-free version of this Polka Dot Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Almond Butter Frosting. Be sure to read more about Starlene’s journey using the GAPS Diet including her 6-month assessment on healing post and check out more of her wonderful GAPS-compliant recipes (e.g., Chicken Stir Fry, Butternut Squash Fries).

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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