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Eating My Words with Honey-Sweetened Corn Muffins (March Muffin Madness)

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Eating Your Words, Pennywise Platter, and Simply Hot Recipes.

My friend, Diva, over at Beach Eats, recently shared her entry in a challenge called Eating Your Words. It’s actually a competition where you create your blog name, URL, etc. using food so that it’s edible—really cool idea, huh? You can read more over at the co-hosts’ blogs–Jennifer at Savor the Thyme  and Tracey at  Tangled Noodle. But, listen to this … Chef Andrew Zimmern (of Bizarre Foods fame) is the judge for this event! I actually didn’t read Diva’s post until Monday, but this was a challenge I couldn’t resist.

With today’s post for corn muffins already planned for March Muffin Madness (MMM), I had to think of a way I could use my muffins to spell out gfe.  With a little thinking, I came up with the solution below (a couple of versions/views shown). It isn’t perfect or by any means a winning entry. I really could have used more of the same-sized mini muffins, but I still think my submission is cute. Most importantly, I had fun. Hope you can see “gfe”! If you can’t, just pretend you can anyway (please … LOL). Eating Your Words actually ends today at midnight. Like I said, I don’t expect to win any prizes; there are some pretty amazing entries that have been shared so far. But, I thought I’d take part just to have some fun. Playing with food in this way is not something we often do, but we should. You might want to check back at those sites to see just how creative the entries are. I know I will; I love seeing creativity in action. Even if the edible “words” of others are not all gluten free, it still will be enjoyable to take a look at all the entries—after all, there’s no risk of cross contamination. UPDATE: Part 1 is up here at Savor the Thyme and Part 2 is up here at Tangled Noodle. They are all amazing, but I have to say that the Scrabble Cookies are the prize winner in my book. Enjoy!

Let’s get to the gfe recipe behind the food play—today’s entry for the last day of MMM—shall we? Corn products like cornmeal and corn tortillas are something we can fall back on if we’re gluten free. (Of course, always read labels, etc. to ensure products are gluten free.) Cornbread and corn muffins tend to be great comfort food for most everyone. The weather on the day of our last support group meeting was rainy and cold. When all the food was spread out on the table, we discovered that three of us had made corn muffins. There was one basket full or regular-sized muffins, and and two of mini muffins (including my muffins made from this recipe). And, guess what? I think every one of them got eaten! They tasted especially good that evening with a variety of dishes, including my black-eyed pea soup.

Depending upon how you make your corn muffins, they can be savory or sweet … or a little of each, as is the case for these muffins—they are on the sweeter side of corny. I discovered this evening that I have 8 muffin tins/pans. I know. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that. I have enough standard-sized tins to make 24 muffins, and I have five mini muffin pans … in all different sizes. All mini muffin pans are not created equal, as you probably already know from your own experience and can see from my photos. The pan below is my healthiest and prettiest pan. It’s made of cast iron and was a gift from a dear friend at my bridal shower. Yes, that was decades ago, but cast iron pans rarely need to be replaced. Although they may need to be re-”seasoned” from time to time; and they can crack if not handled properly. Cast iron pots and pans also add a tiny amount of iron to the foods baked in them, which is a great thing for most folks. (However, if you have hemachromatosis, you’ll want to steer clear of using cast iron bakeware.)

Corn Muffins
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

1 cup gluten-free flour*
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup cornmeal
½ cup butter (dairy or non-dairy), melted
1 large (or extra large) egg
½ cup honey (or agave nectar or granulated sugar; with granulated sugar, the muffins may be a little more crumbly)
¾ cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin cups.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in cornmeal.

Stir butter, egg, honey, and milk into cornmeal mixture. Stir until just moistened and any flour or cornmeal chunks are broken up.

Fill greased muffin tins and bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

*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.

Shirley’s Notes:  These muffins can be a tad crumbly, especially when made with granulated sugar (and, incidentally, adding xanthan gum does not change that), but we actually don’t mind. For one thing, they are just so tasty, but more importantly, the fact is, Mr. GFE and I often crumble them right into our chili or soup. There’s no need for expensive (or homemade) gluten-free crackers!

What else is going on?

Amy’s (Simply Sugar & Gluten Free) excellent post on getting the gluten out  went up yesterday as part of her weekly Slightly Indulgent roundup. She offers so many great resources and tips on transitioning to the gluten-free lifestyle. Frankly, I am always amazed at everything that Amy does for our gluten-free community and the blogosphere in general. Don’t miss this really worthwhile discussion/resource post. The links and comments are extremely helpful as well and worth a read. You can read all here. Amy’s post is part of the spring cleaning Get the Junk Out! blog carnival being hosted by Katie at Kitchen Stewardship. Amy also did a guest post on getting the gluten out at Katie’s site. Be sure to check out the other weekly themes for this carnival, too.

Amy’s also the host of the Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! blog carnival this month. (For those who don’t know, Go Ahead Honey is the fabulous invention of our beautiful friend in the U.K., Naomi Devlin. Naomi’s gluten-free blog is Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried.) Amy selected guiltless pleasures as the theme and almost 3 dozen bloggers accepted the challenge. I scrolled through the entries quickly this morning and was blown away by the diversity and appeal of them all. I can’t wait to put my feet up and give them (and all the blogs who submitted them) a proper look. Be sure to check them out here!

Last, when Diane (The W.H.O.L.E. Gang) shared her monthly meal plan the other day, she also offered some thoughts and challenges in regard to the new show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. The food blogosphere is abuzz about this show and for good reason. I think we can all learn from the show and improve our eating habits with increased awareness. Read Diane’s post here. As a follow up to that post, she offered the Great Gluten-Free Pasta Challenge here. I’m game, how about you? Remember Diane is the one who gave us the fabulous easy gluten-free, dairy-free whipped cream recipe (which incidentally I just made, and it is indeed easy and fabulous). These challenges could lead to some exquisite new recipes added to our repertoires!

Make a muffin! (I’ve shared Marvelous Cheese Muffins, “Sweet” Milk-Nut Muffins, and now Honey-Sweetened Corn Muffins this week, but there are others on my site, too.) See how creative folks can get with “Eating My Words,” be wowed by the Go Ahead Honey! guiltless gluten-free pleasures, read about getting gluten and other junk out of your life, accept some challenges (maybe making pasta). Most of all, enjoy … happy Wednesday! 

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Thanksgiving–The GFE Way

This post is linked to What can I eat that’s gluten free? at The Gluten-Free Homemaker. 

With Thanksgiving on Thursday here in the U.S., I thought I’d do a quick roundup for folks who are still not sure what dishes they’d like to make. Of course, these dishes are all gluten free, but many are free of other allergens (or adaptable in that regard—notes included). These gfe recipes may be made without certain ingredients that folks have come to expect in foods, but they are never short on taste. These are recipes that everyone will love! Oh, and they are gluten free easily, gfe—meaning they are naturally gluten free or easily made gluten free by a simple substitution or two.

Some folks balk at anything green on the table for Thanksgiving (other than the ubiquitous green bean casserole, which Mr. GFE adores and I’ve made gluten free several times), but serve up this Great Salad and folks who never eat salad will be sampling it, and enjoying it. Trust me … I’ve seen it happen numerous times.

If you serve a turkey breast (or even a small turkey or roaster chicken), my super easy Traditional Turkey Breast (two ingredients—one is the turkey breast) and Special Turkey Breast recipes, both cooked in the slow cooker, are wonderful options. Son popped in for a visit yesterday and ended up taking the rest of the Special Turkey Breast home with him. He initially declined my offer saying he didn’t want to cut us short, but when I packed him up for him, he said “that turkey is so good!” That was after I’d fixed him a plate.

Special Turkey Breast

Another main dish option is Susie’s Crab Casserole–a real treat for the seafood lovers.

Then there’s stuffing, or dressing as some folks call it—Surprise Stuffing. I confirmed that wonderful stuffing can be made using tortilla chips. Now there’s no need to find the perfect gluten-free bread or make bread in preparation to make stuffing/dressing. (Note: This recipe is linked to the Slightly Indulgent roundup over at Amy’s Simply Sugar & Gluten Free blog. You’ll want to see her homemade, healthy ketchup recipe! By the way, the Slightly Indulgent roundup is moving to Tuesdays next week.)

 Even with stuffing on the table, folks often want a “bread” as well. My personal favorites are popovers and cornbread:

Desserts can be made gfe by focusing on flourless cakes and crustless pies. You won’t believe it, but you and others won’t even miss the flour or the crusts. There’s the classic Flourless Chocolate Cake (no special ingredients like almond flour or even separation of eggs required for this one) and Mediterranean Chocolate Cake (a classic chocolate cake flavor, also naturally dairy free). There’s even Flourless Chocolate Banana Honey Walnut Cake for those who are gluten free, dairy free, grain free, and refined sugar free. This latter flourless cake gives you enough chocolate and sweetness, but doesn’t leave you wanting more.

For the crustless pies, usually only a small amount of gluten-free flour is needed. Take your pick: pumpkin, coconut, or apple. Most likely you can use the concepts in these recipes to adapt your own favorite pie recipe to crustless and gfe.
 

Do you have guests staying over? Consider making one or more of the following for a very special breakfast: Banana Maple-Nut Muffins, Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole, or Volcano Pancake. Your guests will be so grateful and none of these breakfast dishes are hard to make. The muffins and casserole can be made ahead, and the puff pancake (which also can be made into a cheesy side dish) comes together in minutes. It’s a visual delight and huge crowd pleaser! Some friends recently confessed that they make this on a whim all the time–just as a decadent afternoon treat. (They are not gluten free, so they just use standard all-purpose flour.)

If you are still looking for more recipe ideas, please look at Diane’s (The W.H.O.L.E. Gang) summary of the Progressive Dinner Party we held last week. There are 15 fabulous recipes in all—from drinks to desserts—courtesy of myself and seven other top-notch bloggers: Diane (the “Engergizer battery” originator of this dinner party roundup), Stephanie (A Year of Slow Cooking), Karen (Cook4Seasons), Ali (The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen), Shauna (Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef), Jean (Gluten-Free Organics and More), and Seamaiden (The Book of Yum). Their recipes will wow you with flavor and beauty, but not necessarily difficulty—I love that! Plus, they’re all gluten free, but look for other allergen accommodations as well. Head over to The W.H.O.L.E. Gang  … Diane has all the individual links right in her post for you! Plus, you’ll get to see her Thanksgiving menu plan … what the heck is Spatchcock Turkey anyway? Diane will tell you. If you’re planning to cook a whole turkey, this recipe might be a Thanksgiving blessing you didn’t expect.

Have a wonderful gfe Thanksgiving all! Best,

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tasty Tortilla Soup

This post is linked to the Friday Foodie Fix-Chicken over at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang and Friday Favorites, co-hosted by Liz at Hoosier Homemade and Monica from Daily Dwelling.

I’m one who doesn’t usually make soup often during the summer months, but the other day it was cold and rainy. The temperature didn’t even reach 70 degrees, and the dampness made it feel much cooler. “Is this really June?” I thought. Well, now it’s hot again, so the answer is yes. Sunday is officially the first day of summer, so it’s time! I’ll take the heat, but just give us a break on the rain, please. However, with the rain and unseasonable coolness the other day, I was happy to have a good reason to make tortilla soup. Also, Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix called for green beans this week, so I thought this recipe would be a great entry, as I use green beans often in making it. This Tortilla Soup comes together quickly to provide a very satisfying meal in flavor and nutrition. The tortilla part of the recipe—the crunchy topping provided by fried corn tortillas—makes it especially tasty and fun. Our family has been enjoying it for several years now. I also double it from time to time so I can share with family and friends. The container of tortilla strips included in their care packages initially surprises most of them, but they all end up praising the combination of the spicy vegetable soup and tortilla topping that is Tortilla Soup. I try to always have salsa in my pantry,  just so I can make this soup any time I like.

Tortilla Soup
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

28 ounces chicken broth*
1 jar red or green salsa (Select your favorite salsa with your favorite level of spiciness. I used mild red salsa and opted for one that did not contain high fructose corn syrup. This recipe is especially terrific with organic or homemade salsa.)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey (I used the meat that came off a chicken carcass, cut into bite-sized pieces. This soup is also a great way to use turkey leftovers.)
About 2 cups of green beans (I used frozen green beans. Our grocery store didn’t have any fresh ones and it’s too early for my mother-in-law’s homegrown green beans.)
About 1 ½ cups of corn kernels (I used frozen.)

Tortilla Strips for Topping/”Crackers”

Four 6-inch corn tortillas, cut into strips
Cooking oil (I used olive oil)

In large saucepan/pot, combine chicken broth and salsa and bring to boil over medium-high heat. While broth/salsa mixture is heating, cook tortilla strips in hot oil until crisp (they cook quickly) and then remove to drain on paper towels. When the broth/salsa mixture reaches boiling, stir in the chicken (or turkey) and vegetables.

Reduce heat to a simmer and continue simmering until the vegetables are done and soup is heated through (usually about 10 minutes). (If using fresh green beans, you’ll want to add the green beans with the chicken broth and salsa to ensure they are cooked completely, unless you like them really crunchy.) Serve in bowls topped with tortilla strips, which you can break and “sprinkle” on top as you like.

The tortilla strips can actually be used as a topping or “crackers” for any soup or as a crunchy little snack—very tasty with a nice cracker texture and also very economical. (Several of our support group members are using the tortilla strips in place of gluten-free crackers since I first served them Tortilla Soup at one of our meetings. As long as you have a bag of gluten-free corn tortillas in the refrigerator, you can make your own “crackers” any time.) Other options for a bread to serve with this soup versus the tortilla strips are my cornbread or popovers. My marvelous cheese muffins would also be great … I’ll have to share that recipe soon.

Makes about 6 soup mug-size bowls (the size shown in photo).

*I made my broth from simmering a rotisserie chicken carcass. But, I also make broth sometimes by using Better than Bouillon chicken base from my local grocery store. (Herb-Ox states that their bouillon is gluten free.) If you like, you can use canned broth instead, but note that not all canned broth is gluten free—always check the label.

Shirley’s Notes: For draining the tortilla strips, I always place newspaper under one paper towel for extra absorption. (I remember reading that our local newspaper is printed with vegetable-based dyes, so I feel safe doing that.) You really do not need to add anything other than the ingredients shown—the seasoning provided by the salsa is just right and the amount of onions, tomatoes, etc. is perfect, too. But, you can be flexible and add or substitute some other veggies (like chopped zucchini, peas, butter beans, or peppers), especially if your garden is happily producing. I figure out amounts when I’m getting creative with the veggies by looking to see if I have enough color and still enough liquid. If you use canned vegetables, you can use the whole can of vegetables and the liquid. However, don’t add so many vegetables or liquid that you lose the special zip of the salsa. Taste test along the way if modifying the recipe this way. When I have doubled the recipe or used a lot more vegetables, I have just added additional salsa as needed to maintain the spicy flavor level. This soup can also be served with lime wedges, sour cream, and cilantro, if you wish.

Adapted from a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine

Enjoy!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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