Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding (Gluten Free, Dairy Free–If You Wish)

March 12, 2010 · Filed Under Friday Foodie Fix, bread, breakfast, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe, treats · 9 Comments

Along with pound cake, bread pudding is a dessert I grew up eating. One of my grandmothers made great bread pudding. It was one of the few things she was still making “from scratch” when I was growing up. My mom’s bread pudding was very similar to that made by my dad’s mother—both in taste and quality. Of course, I learned from both of them and made bread pudding the same way—using stale bread and saved ends of bread and throwing it all together with a few eggs, spices, and milk. There was never a recipe. You sort of eyeballed how much bread you had once you crumbled it in a bowl, covered it with milk, added some eggs, and went on from there. This method actually worked pretty well, but you were never 100% sure your bread pudding would be a success until you had your first bite. Then one day a good friend of mine, Denise, brought her bread pudding into work for a luncheon. It was wonderful! It had a rich custard flavor, but wasn’t heavy in any way, and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla made both the smell and taste lovely. Best of all, Denise had an actual recipe … with measurements. What a concept! LOL With her recipe, one could re-create delicious bread pudding over and over—with no moments of uncertainty. I passed the recipe on to my mom and she’s been enjoying using it for many years now. Denise’s recipe guarantees success every time. Incidentally, Denise also made a scumptious pound cake. That recipe she would not share. Instead, she made pound cakes for everyone during the holidays. As you can imagine, nobody complained about the lack of the actual recipe.

Of course, going gluten free made me push the bread pudding recipe card to the back of the box. But, when I had some leftover gluten-free challah bread from a vendor’s donation to our support group, I thought it was time to pull out the recipe again. I’m happy to report that it worked beautifully! So start saving your stale bread and look forward to a delightful dessert. It makes a very nice breakfast, too. Bread pudding is often served with distinctive sauces like lemon, vanilla, caramel, and even whiskey, but I grew up enjoying it with a little milk poured over it. (We actually did that for any type of pudding.) This time, I enjoyed it with a drizzle of honey mixed with some vanilla.

Oh, Mr. GFE is not a big fan of bread pudding … unless I add some raisins, then he’ll enjoy a bowl or two. I added a small amount of raisins to part of the bread pudding mix left in the bowl to allow one section of the pan just for him. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos that really show the raisins. But, if you love raisins, be sure to head over to Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang where you’ll find lots of recipes that feature raisins.

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding (Gluten Free, Dairy Free–If You Wish)
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

6 eggs
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
12-ounce can evaporated milk (see coconut milk substitution in notes below)
½ can (¾ cup) of water
1 cup raisins, optional
4 cups of gluten-free bread, crumbled (I like chunky pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease 9 x 11 baking pan.

In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.

Add bread and raisins (if used) to mixture.

Pour milk into saucepan. Fill milk can halfway with water; add to saucepan with water. Heat milk and water over medium heat until warm, not hot.

Add milk and water mix to other ingredients in bowl. Let sit 5 minutes.

Pour into baking pan and bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold, topped with milk or any sauce of your choice.

Shirley’s Notes: Any leftover bread, muffins, waffles, and such, should work. Even the results of failed recipes for such “bread” products could potentially be used. If you only have a small amount at any given time, just stockpile them in a container in the freezer until you have 4 cups worth. If using coconut milk, you can use the full can, which is generally 14 ounces, but be sure to use only ½ cup of water in that case.

Adapted from my friend, Denise

The bowl in the photos is from my grandmother’s china. Even with cracks and chips, it gives me such joy to use it. Spooning my bread pudding out of this bowl, I can almost imagine myself back at Grandma’s table.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tags: bread, breakfast, dairy free, easy, GFE, gluten free, go ahead honey, pudding, raisins, recipe

Black-Eyed Pea Soup (with Ham and Chicken)

March 4, 2010 · Filed Under Crockpot Wednesday, Slightly Indulgent, What can I eat ..., chicken, crockpot, dairy free, easy, entree, flourless, gluten free, recipe, slow cooker, soup, sugar free · 15 Comments

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, What can I eat that’s gluten free?, Crockpot Wednesdays, Pennywise Platter, and Simply Hot Recipes.

One of my favorite people and, also, one of my favorite gluten-free bloggers is Stephanie of A Year of Slow Cooking. For a year, she literally cranked out crockpot recipes day after day—without fail. Now she stays busy with so many other things including two other blogs (that makes three in total), a new baby (that makes three children), a hubby, and so much more. However, she still gives us, her loyal readers, enough recipes on her slow cooking blog to keep us happy. All of her recipes are gluten free, but I love that so many of them are naturally gluten free. That’s a large part of the gfe approach. For one thing, it just makes life easier not to have to remember to order a case of gluten-free X or to have to run out to get gluten-free Y, particularly since there are no gluten-free specialty items in my grocery store. So, in my opinion, cooking with real food just makes sense for convenience. That may seem contradictory to many, but it’s true. But let’s get to my latest favorite recipe of Stephanie’s.

Stephanie posted a Black-Eyed Pea Soup recipe for New Year’s Day. I have loved black-eyed peas long before they were the name of a hip musical group. Give me some black-eyed peas and I’ve got a wonderful meal. So, this recipe has been in the back of my mind. With a support group meeting coming up, I wanted a dish that would serve many, but I wanted to use mostly what I had on hand. Stephanie’s recipe calls for spiced sausage, but I didn’t have any. My mom and my sister always save the ham bones from holiday meals for me so I can use them to make soup from scratch. Sometime that’s potato soup, but more often than not, it’s a soup that combines veggies and other meat, like chicken or turkey (or sometimes small amounts of several meats, like in my Everything Soup). My sister had given me a nice big ham bone, with a decent amount of meat left on it. The freezer yield two chicken carcasses. I also had a big bag of carrots and package of celery in the refrigerator just waiting for some action.

I added a few inches of water to my big stockpot and brought it to a boil and then added my frozen chicken carcasses. I let them simmer for a while as I did other things in the kitchen. Occasionally, I’d stir them, and finally I turned the burner off and left the lid on a while. Once I was sure the meat was ready to be picked off the bone, I put a colander inside another stockpot and poured the whole pot through the colander. My lovely broth was in the pot and the chicken—bones and all—remained in the colander. Once that cooled a few minutes, I picked the chicken off the bone and set it aside. This is really a great way to get the most from a chicken and not have waste. Even if I buy a rotisserie chicken at the store, I know we will eat a few meals from the chicken before I freeze it and it eventually gets turned into great broth and other meals. So even at a price of $6.99 for a rotisserie chicken, I can end up with several meals and at least a quart of chicken broth. That sounds like a bargain when you look at it that way. So imagine what a savings, roasting your own chicken could be. I often make broth from my chicken carcasses; then I use the “found” chicken for soup or other favorites like chicken pot pie and chicken and rice casserole. However, feel free to use safe packaged chicken broth and chicken from cooked chicken breasts, etc. for this recipe.

Black-Eyed Pea, Ham, and Chicken Soup
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

1 pound dried black-eyed peas (I don’t recommend using canned as a substitution, but fresh or frozen would work well)

1 ham bone (ideally, with some meat remaining on it)

2 cups, cut-up chicken

2 diced onions

2 cups diced or sliced carrots (I prefer slices, but I halve the larger slices)

1 cup diced celery

6 cloves garlic (I used 3 tbsp minced garlic)

6 – 8 cups of chicken broth (I used my homemade broth and just kept adding until my crockpot was almost full)

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp coarse sea salt (any salt will work though)

Soak your beans overnight. Drain and pick out the undesirables (e.g., discolored beans) in the morning.

Use a 5- to 6- quart crockpot. (I used my 6-quart oval programmable crockpot.) This recipe will serve a lot. It served at least a dozen folks at my support group meeting. (We had about 25 folks, but not all ate soup. Those who did enjoyed at least one full mug.)

Dice the veggies, and add them to the crockpot with the black-eyed peas that have been soaked and drained.

Pour in broth, and stir in Italian seasoning and salt.

Add ham bone. You can also add the chicken at this point, or save it until closer to the end of cooking time. As your chicken is already cooked, it’s your preference on when you want to add it. I did add mine at the beginning and the soup was great, but adding it at the end would have also worked and kept the chicken in nice little chunks.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 6. About a half hour to an hour before serving, use an immersible blender to smash up about 1 cup of beans. If you don’t have an immersible blender, scoop out 1 cup of beans, blend them in a traditional blender, and add back to the soup. You will really only need to blend for a few seconds. Stir after blending. The soup will thicken and have the most wonderful color.

Adapted from Stephanie O’Dea at A Year of Slow Cooking

Shirley’s Notes: If you don’t want to use ham, but would like the flavor, Better than Bouillon makes a ham base that could be used. Probably a teaspoon or two would add some nice flavor. If you’d like fewer servings or would like to use a smaller crockpot, don’t just halve this recipe. You’ll want the same amount of black-eyed peas, 2 cups of meat, 4 cups of broth, and about the same amount of seasonings. Be sure to take a look at Stephanie’s recipe, too, which serves 8. Stephanie suggests adding Tabasco sauce to taste after you’ve ladled your soup into your bowl. We enjoyed it without, but if you like to add a little zip to your soup, that might be an option for you. Any time, we want a little taste of hot at our house, we tend to add some Texas Pete hot sauce. Many of the peppers used in Texas Pete are grown locally.

I have two cooking confessions. Confession #1—This is the very first time I’ve ever soaked black-eyed peas. I’ve always used canned black-eyed peas before, although one has to be careful to find good ones. (Some canned black-eyed peas are very mushy and come in a thick unappetizing broth. Other brands contain just black-eyed peas in salted water and taste pretty good.) These dried black-eyed peas are far better than any of the canned varieties and almost seem dainty in comparison, even after soaking. As Alta added in comments, fresh black-eyed peas are the very best when you can get those. She said that frozen black-eyed peas come in a close second. As both Alta and Stephanie said, black-eyed peas offer a wonderful, earthy flavor. I’ll definitely be using more dried black-eyed peas. I’ve never even seen frozen black-eyed peas before, but I’ll look for those, too. One benefit of using dried black-eyed peas is that like other dried beans, they are very inexpensive.

Confession #2—I’ve never used an immersion or “stick” blender before. I’ve had one stashed in a cabinet for years. Son had received one as a gift for dorm life for making milkshakes and such. That involved what he considered to be work, so he left it behind for me to use instead. When Steph’s recipe called for this type of blender, I pulled it out and was delighted at how well it worked. I’ll be using that blender a lot more for soups, sauces, etc.

Several readers commented on Stephanie’s post that they didn’t even like black-eyed peas, but loved this soup. So, if you’re not a black-eyed pea lover, you still might want to give this soup a try. Several of my members commented on how much they enjoyed this soup the other night. I heard the words “comforting” and “homey.” On a cold evening with alternating rain drops and snow flakes, this soup was indeed very welcome. Even those who didn’t comment must have enjoyed it, because there was little left from the full slow cooker. I served this soup with mini-corn muffins and that made for a great combination.

Because soup always thickens in the refrigerator overnight, I added some leftover chicken broth to make my mug of soup for lunch yesterday. For dinner with these leftovers though, I’ll just reheat the thickened soup and serve it over some mashed potatoes. The thickened soup would also be great over rice over or noodles. If you’re looking for some other great soup recipes, be sure to head over to Linda’s What can I eat that’s gluten free? roundup where soup is the theme this week. I already took a peek and there are some terrific, new recipes … like Diane’s West African Chicken and Peanut Stew and Jenn’s Osso Buco Stew. I love it when there are so many recipes that make your mouth water, that you’re not sure which one to try next. Linda had a great idea with her soup challenge!

What else is happening?

Chaya is hosting her first giveaway over at her Sweet and Savory blog … a Paula Deen cooking ensemble. Check it out here.

Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix tomorrow features rice recipes. If there’s something most of us who are gluten free know about, it’s rice! Be sure to link up your favorite rice recipe and check out others here. Diane is also doing a survey and soliciting input right now on eating out gluten free.

This Sunday is the Academy Awards show where those golden Oscars get presented. If you hadn’t had time before, take a few minutes to check out our Gluten-Free Progressive Oscar Dinner Party. You can see all the links at my two posts for this event: Veronica’s Pumpkin Soup or Southern Fried Oysters.

Ginger hosted The Gluten-Free Lifestyle Blog Carnival this month. See all the entries at her site, Ging Recommends. Created by Kim, The Food Allergy Coach, this carnival features recipes, tips, reviews, and so much more. Take the time to read what’s been submitted here and consider adding your own links next month.

I enjoyed seeing the tropical vacation meals in this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival over at Bean’s Without Adornment. Anything associated with the tropics is very appealing to me right now. There are some fabulous meals and even a few drinks that are so worthy of those cute, colorful little umbrellas. Get tropical here.

Next month’s Go Ahead Honey is being hosted by Amy over at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free. Her theme is Guiltless Pleasures. Being the Slightly Indulgent queen on Tuesdays, she’s now going to take us to the next level! (Check out this week’s Slightly Indulgent entries here.) Fellow bloggers, start planning your post now. (You can read the rules here.) Readers look for Amy’s roundup at the end of the month. I have enough guilty pleasures already, so some guiltless ones will be very nice!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tags: crockpot, crockpot wednesdays, dairy free, easy, GFE, go ahead honey, pennywise platters, recipe, slightly indulgent, slow cooker, soup, What can I eat ...

Fried Calamari with Pico and Avocado Dressing Plus Pina Coladas

February 28, 2010 · Filed Under GAHIGF, appetizer, beverage, bread, dairy free, easy, entree, gluten free, recipe, salad, seafood, vegetarian · 21 Comments

When Bean over at Without Adornment announced her theme for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival, I was completely on board. Tropical Vacation meal … oh, yeah. We had plenty of snow at the time and our Key West vacation seemed long ago. One of our favorite appetizers that often turns into a meal is Fried Calamari. We’ve eaten calamari all over in our travels from our favorite waterside restaurant “down the road”—Dockside—to much more exotic, tropical spots. Going gluten free meant giving that pleasure up. Oh, sure, I’ve heard of some restaurants that serve gluten-free calamari, but we just haven’t had the good fortune to find and visit one. So making calamari has been in the back of my mind for some time.

My goal has been to make calamari as good as what is served as that favorite local restaurant. And, it’s not just calamari. It’s delicious calamari served on a bed of shredded lettuce topped with a sweet pico de gallo and a special dressing. Here’s a photo of Dockside’s calamari.

I’ve mentioned that our grocery store is pretty basic. While I was happily surprised to find squid in the freezer case recently, I was less pleased to find out that it was a package of whole squid. Opening the package, the squid didn’t look too intimidating, but once I thawed them out, many soulful eyes stared back at me. Maybe I was having flashbacks to images of the giant squid in The Beast, starring William Petersen (before his rise to fame as Gil Grissom on C.S.I.). (Mr. GFE and Son had watched and recorded that movie and we’d watched it more than once.) In the end, I just couldn’t deal with those squid. They plain ”weirded” me out. However, I still wanted to make calamari.

So we made a trip into town to the upscale Wegmans and headed to their seafood counter. And, there they were … beautiful, headless squid bodies and tentacles. Not an eye in sight—thank goodness. The folks at the seafood counter were happy to slice the squid into rings for me while we chatted. The staff member who assisted me shared that her mom had been recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance. She added that she was also trying to eat gluten free, but she expressed frustration over the high cost of gluten free products. Of course, I shared my gfe approach. Seems like I was meant to go to that seafood counter.

Once home, it was easy to prepare the squid. I used the breading mix that I used recently for the chicken tenders and fried oysters. Sometimes if you find something that works with one application, it makes sense to try it with others. There is no need to reinvent the wheel all the time. I breaded the squid exactly the same way I had done the chicken tenders … with no egg wash. The result was very lightly breaded, melt-in-your-mouth calamari. I served them over romaine leaves cut into smaller pieces topped with pico de gallo (pico is easy to make; here’s one recipe I use) and a thick, creamy, and slightly tangy avocado dressing. It’s a great dish. But, truthfully, it’s different than our favorite calamari from Dockside. Not bad different—this calamari dish is really very good—but it is different. I will make the remaining calamari in two batches. For one I’ll use this breading, but also do the egg wash like I did for the fried oysters. I’ll also do a batch to test some gluten-free breading that I purchased a while ago. I’ll keep you updated on both.

Fried Calamari
(Click here for a printable version of this and the following recipes.)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free flour*
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
cooking oil (I used a mixture of grapeseed and olive oil)
2 lbs fresh, raw squid—rings and tentacles

Mix cornmeal, gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl (or paper/ziploc bag for shaking).

Dredge squid through cornmeal breading (or shake in bag). Fry in hot oil (about an inch deep on medium-high, about 375 degrees if using an electric skillet). The calamari will only take a minute or two, at most. Flip pieces when brown on one side. Remove once browned on both sides. To prevent tough calamari, do not overcook.

*I can’t 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 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 (like large glass jars). It’s a very economical mix that works well in most recipes. No refrigeration is needed. If you’re interested in a complete tutorial on gluten-free flours, please read Amy’s (Simpy Sugar & Gluten-Free) post here. As always, if you are not gluten free, you can substitute all-purpose (wheat) flour instead of gluten-free flour.

Thick and Creamy Avocado Dressing

one half of an avocado, mashed
2 – 3 tbsp of Greek yogurt (to taste)
one garlic clove (I used ½ tsp minced garlic)
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil (to taste and/or consistency)
1 tsp honey

Add all to blender and blend on high a minute or two until well blended. Dollop over salad mixture and calamari as desired.

Shirley’s Notes: This dressing has more of the thickness of mayonnaise or a spread versus a true dressing. If you want a true dressing consistency, you’ll want to add more liquid: olive oil, milk, lemon juice, water, etc.—your preference.

As Bean shared on her Tropical Pork Pineapple Kabobs post, a tropical vacation meal requires a tropical drink. My faves are margaritas and pina coladas. This time I went with a pina colada. This one is gluten free and dairy free, and uses no processed mixes either. I basically took the idea of a Southern Living recipe that I’d enjoyed years ago and just revised it to use whole food ingredients, including coconut milk. Easy and luscious!

Luscious Pina Coladas

1 cup coconut milk
1 cup pineapple juice
½ cup rum
4 tbsp sugar (or other sweetener)
1 banana
1/4 cup shredded coconut
8 or more ice cubes
additional shredded coconut, if desired

Blend coconut milk, pineapple juice, rum, sugar, banana, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, and ice cubes to desired consistency. Top with additional shredded coconut, if desired.

Inspired by Southern Living

Shirley’s Notes: I like to use a frozen banana (I always have frozen baking bananas on hand), which provides a nice, thick consistency—the luscious factor in this pina colada.

If you want to stay in the tropical vacation mindset a little longer, be sure to check back at Without Adornment for the complete roundup of recipes. Thinking sunshine, turquoise blue water, warm breezes, bare legs, and wonderful tropical fare … so nice. Special thanks to Bean for hosting this month as well as ongoing thanks to Naomi (Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried) for originating the always fun and helpful Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival.

By the way, be sure to visit my Out and About page to find out who won the recent giveaway. And, we’re now into the final week before the Academy Awards presentation, more fondly known as the Oscars. Be sure to check out the complete roundup–either recipes inspired by Oscar nominees or others just right for throwing your own viewing celebration. They are definitely all award-winning caliber! My own contributions were Veronica’s Pumpkin Soup and the already mentioned Southern Fried Oysters. You can the listing of all the Gluten-Free Progressive Dinner Party recipes at our gracious hostess, Diane’s, blog events page at The. W.H.O.L.E. Gang.

Enjoy!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!