Pancakes

So I realize I’ve been woefully neglecting this food blog. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking or experimenting. In fact, recently I’ve worked out all sorts of great gluten free/allergen free stuff - pizza, pastys and pancakes. The pancakes are fabulous!! Very light and fluffy. Now we tend to eat with lemon juice and sugar (British way), but feel free to pour on the maple syrup or fruit sauces.

Beth’s Pancakes

¾ cup Gluten Free Flour blend

¼ cup Potato Starch

2 Tbsp. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Baking powder

1 tsp Guar gum

1 Tbsp. Flax seed

3 Tbsp. Warm water


1 cup Dari-free Milk (or whatever milk/milk replacement you prefer)

2 Tbsp. oil

2 lemons

sugar

Mix flax seed and 3 Tbsp warm water in a bowl. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, starch, guar gum, baking powder, and sugar into a bowl. Add milk, oil and the flax seed to the dry ingredients.

Heat a non stick pan up. Pour scoops of batter into the pan. Depending on the size of pancake you wish, use a 1/4 cup to a large scoop. Cook til large bubbles form in the dough, then flip. Cook for about a minute more.

Serve with lemon juice and sugar.

I rock!

I have to brag on this one.. I made egg free, dairy free, gluten free, (vegan), sugar free Gingerbread cookies. This was really a great boon. I have a friend that is hypoglycemic and allergic to chocolate. I wanted to make a dessert for us, as I’m cooking a Thai night up at their place. I did good on this one I think. They are tasty as anything too. :D

I found out you can make a killer sugar free “brown sugar” with Splenda and sugar free maple syrup. It’s really tasty!! Take a cup of splenda and a 1/4 cup of the sugar free maple syrup and blend.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thanksgiving part 2

Today was the “Rejects Thanksgiving” for those of us who didn’t have family close by. I rolled out a feast previously unknown in my kitchen (sheer size). I brined my turkey for about 12 hours and roasted that, made some apple cranberry stuffing, where the dried cranberries and apples were soaked in port for a couple of hours then added to a breadless mix, made roasted potatoes, smashed potatoes with olive oil and rosemary, cranberry-orange sauce, roasted carrots, roasted brussel sprouts, sauted green beans with onions and lemon, gravy and bread rolls.  Dessert consisted of the gluten free apple pie and caramel sauce with homemade non-dairy (vegan) whipped cream, English Trifle with glutenfree dairyfree sponge cake, gluten free dairy free custard, and fruit.  I used the vegan whipped cream for myself, and had the regular whip for everyone else.  My boss’s wife, brought an Edible Arrngement (chocolate dipped fruit artisically arranged. If you aren’t familiar, look them up!! They are worth every penny.)

Everyone seemed to enjoy immensely.  My boss, who is British, took the leftover trifle home.  That’s pretty high praise I would say. So we’re all cleaned up, leftovers put away, and puggies in the lap.  I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the job I did.

A Gluten Free Thanksgiving!

We had the most awesome meal today.  It was all gluten free and allergen free for me, but seriously tasty. 

Thanksgiving has always been a food holiday for me.  My mom loved to cook.  She would make this monster turkey and have all the trimmings. There were only four of us in the family, but family and friends always came by.  People loved her cooking at the holidays.  Can you tell I miss that?

I decided this year was the year to try to make my own holiday memories.  I decided to do a romantic meal for Thanksgiving for me and Paul.  All glutenfree, all really tasty.

The menu for tonight was supposed to be this:

Appetiser

Frisee Salad with Warn Bacon Vinaigrette (never got to it sadly, but it is wonderful)

Wine - Pinot Grigio

Main

Roast Duck

Port Wine Demi-glace

Herb roasted potatoes


Apple-Cranberry stuffing (done with cauliflower and sausage)

Homemade bread (glutenfree)

Roasted veggies (didn’t do)

Wine - Zinfendel

Dessert

Apple tart with homemade caramel sauce (glutenfree crust)

Wine - Muscadet

I can’t believe how good it was. I was really happy with it.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had a “normal” meal.  It was fantastic.  Especially the bread and the tart.  They were as good as the gluten counterparts. The tart, even better.  I need to play with the crust a bit more to get a rollable crust (i patted the crust into shape), but man… YUMMY!!!  The homemade caramel was made with dairyfree milk, so it made a nice creamy sauce.  That was as good as anything I could get out of a jar.

Public Service Announcement

Bard’s Beer, the gluten-free beer, is now available in Massachusetts!!!

That is all

Five course meal

We just moved to the new house and I really wanted to make a special meal for me and my DH.  But what to make?  Here’s what we ended up with (minus the salad - it was on the menu, but we were too full to eat it)

Amuse Bouche: Frisee with crab.  Frisee and celery leaves mixed with olive oil and salt topped with crab meat.

Appetiser:      Prosciutto rolls with Aurgula and Figs.  Dried figs, goat cheese and arugula with marinade rolled in prosciutto. How can this be a bad thing?

Main Course:  Herb crusted Lamb with sauted baby veggies.  I also did a Mushroom Gravy, made from a homemade veal stock.


Salad:          Frisee salad with Warm Bacon Viniagrette

Dessert:        Cava gelatin with raspberries and semi-sweet chocolate chips

It was an ambitious menu, but I pulled it off and if I may, pulled it off well. :D Go me!!  Some days I think I could do this for real.

Strawberry, Cucumber, and Basil Salad

4 cups hulled strawberries, quartered (1 pound)

2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 medium cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Combine cucumbers and juice; toss to coat. Add cucumber mixture, salt, and pepper to strawberry mixture; toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

From Cookling Light magazine

NUTRITION PER SERVING

CALORIES 49(9% from fat); FAT 0.5g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 1.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 26mg; SODIUM 150mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 11.6g