Wheat Free lunch box!

Potato Pies

2006-06-06T08:17:00.000+04:00

When making dinner, think about lunch. What can be eaten as leftovers? Can you make a little extra and cook it in portable portions?

This skillet supper can work wonders for lunchtime in a smaller mold. I'll give you the instructions for a full skillet dinner and tips on how to miniaturize it.

Potato Skillet Pie

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Crust

In a food processor, shred:
1 pound baking potatoes, scrubbed

Immediately plunge potatoes into cold water, stir, and let soak for ten minutes. Drain and place potatoes on dish towel, blot dry. Put into emptied bowl and mix with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large, hot skillet, heat 1 tbs. olive or peanut oil, swirling to coat the bottom and the sides. Sprinkle the potatoes over the skillet in an even layer. Let cook 2 minutes, then cover the pan with lid and steam until potatoes are semi-translucent on top and browning on the bottom. Use a spatula to press the potatoes down into the pot and against the sides. Place skillet into oven and bake 30 minutes, or until the top part of the potatoes is golden and crispy.

Filling

Heat a large skillet on medium-high on the stovetop. Add and sautee until fragrant and semi translucent:
1 small diced onion
1 rib celery, diced
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 red or orange pepper, diced

Add and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about one minute:
1 tbs. curry powder

Add and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through:1 pound ground beef, turkey or lamb
1/2 cup chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Stir into beef mixture until just melted:
1/3 cup Swiss or Provolone cheese, shredded
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs. frommage blanc or sour cream or cream cheese

Turn beef mixture into potato crust. If you like, you may put the combined dish back into the oven to heat it through, especially if your crust has cooled. Serve at table in the skillet, or you can try to turn it out onto a plate -- a sort of potato surprise, with the filling in the center. Sprinkle with parsley and diced red peppers for colour.

The pies I made are in small, deep tart molds. You can make your mini-servings in muffin pans, tart pans, any smaller sized pan. There's no real reason why you can't just slice a piece of the big skillet pie and pack it up for lunch, but part of the appeal for little kids is a pie just their size. Did you notice all the vegetables we managed to slip in?

If you are going to make small pies, you are going to need more potatoes. Spray your mold/tin with cooking spray, bottom and sides. Follow the instructions for the crust. When the potatoes are translucent and the bottom is browned in the pan, use a spatula to cut up the potatoes into large squares bigger than the mold you're using and drop the potatoes in. Use a spoon to press the potatoes into the bottom and sides, using any extra to patch any holes. Then carry on with the recipes, baking the potatoes, adding the filling, etc. They will turn out beautifully from the molds/muffin tins, and offer a perfect size for hungry tummies.

Flourless Chocolate Decadence

2006-06-05T09:22:00.000+04:00

Sometimes, "conventional" cookbooks offer up wheat and gluten-free gems like this amazing cake I made for my belle mere's birthday. My son got to sing Happy Birthday to his mami and eat her cake. He was thrilled. It's such a rich, gorgeous mouthful of chocolate that you'll never miss your chocolate cake again.

Flourless Chocolate Decadence from The Joy of Cooking

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Grease an 8 x 2 inch cake pan and line bottom with wax or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large, heatproof bowl, combine:
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tbs. instant coffee, disolved into 1 tbs warm water (optional, my addition)
10 tbs. butter, unsalted, cut into ten pieces

Set the bowl in a large skillet of barely simmering water and stir often until the chocolate and butter are warm, melted, and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in:

5 egg yolks

In another large bowl, beat on medium speed until soft peaks form:
5 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Gradually add, beating on high speed:
1 tbs. sugar

Beat until the whites are stiff, but not dry (they should have a shiny, glossy look to them). Use a rubber spatula to fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Set the pan in a large, shallow baking dish or roasting pan, set the pan in the oven, and pour enough boiling water into it to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for exactly 30 minutes. The top should have a thin crust and the interior will still be gooey. Set the cake pan on a rack to cool completely, then refrigerate until chilled, or overnight. To unmold, run a thin bladed knife around the interior edge of the cake pan, set a plate on top, and invert. Peel off the paper, and then reinvert the cake onto another plate.

Now, I know not everyone 'knows' how to cook. Are you wondering about some of the techniques?

Soft peaks in your egg whites means when you pull the beaters out of the whites, the whites pull to a point and flop over. Stiff peaks are when you pull the beaters out and the whites stand at attention like Hershey's Kisses tops.
Folding the egg whites into the chocolate mixture is the most important step of the recipe, really. It's not stirring. You want to keep the eggwhites fluffy and light, so they can impart that quality to the chocolate. Adding a quarter of the whites first helps lighten the chocolate mixture enough that the rest of the whites don't get crushed by the weight of the chocolate. To fold an ingredient into another, you use your spatual at an angle, trying to come in as perpendicular to the table as you can. With a rolling, circular motion, you pull the chocolate mixture up from the bottom of the bowl and drape it over the eggwhites. You repeat this gentle motion until all the white colour has disappeared. Gently does it.

Serve this with a fresh raspberry couli or whipped cream if you need that final dollop of decadence.

What's for breakfast?

2006-05-30T14:49:00.001+04:00

I miss oatmeal. When my King of Everything was a baby, he and I would share my morning bowl of oatmeal -- no honey, of course. But now that Nico doesn't eat wheat, I'm reluctant to feed him oatmeal. Cross contamination.

But if you have a crockpot, there is something that will suffice. More than suffice. Rich, filling, and good for you (shh). As Captain Barbossa would say, these are more what you might call guidelines... feel free to play around with fruit and flavour combinations.

Whole Grain Hot Crockpot Breakfast

Cooking Spray
1 cup brown rice
1 cup millet, rinsed and toasted
5 cups water
2 apples, cored, peeled and chopped
3/4 cups dried fruit, diced (think apricots, raisins, pineapple, dates, etc)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg or cardamom (optional)

Spray the inside walls of your crock pot with cooking spray. Put all the ingredients in your crockpot, turn on low, and go to bed. When you wake in the morning, you will have a fantastic breakfast porrige waiting for you. Sweeten with honey, maple syrup, date honey, what have you. Top with fresh fruits: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges, the list is endless. Put in a splash of your favorite milk-type beverage and don't miss oatmeal again.

I'm sure you can make this on the stove, but I have no idea how long you'd have to let it simmer. Experiment with other grains, like a brown rice/barley combination. I wouldn't cook amaranth or quinoa this long, but if you wanted, stirring them into the cooked grains would work.

Basic Moist-Style Millet

2006-05-27T07:28:00.000+04:00

From Crescent Dragonwagon's fabulous cookbook, Passionate Vegetarian. Use this millet for Wheat Free lunch box!: Millet and fruit chewies and keep it in mind for millet cakes, which I will write up when I have a spare moment.

Basic Moist-Style Millet

1 cup millet, well rinsed and very well drained
31/4 cups spring or filtered water
1/2 tsp. Sea salt

Over medium heat, in an ungreased cast-iron skillet, toast the millet, stirring frequently, until lightly fragrant but not browned, 2 - 3 minutes (if the millet is still very damp from rinsing, it might take 7 - 9 minutes). When it's reached the proper degree of toastiness it will also sort of skitter around the pan. Remove from heat.

In a pot with a tight-fitting lid, bring the water and salt to a boil. Stir in the toasted millet. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Pop the lid on the pot and cook until the millet is tender and all the liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand, covered, for about five minutes.

This is delicious as a mornging porridge, by the way, eaten with butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, jam, yoghurt, fresh fruit... the possibilities are endless.

Oh dear.

2006-05-25T22:56:00.000+04:00

When the Pitame saw this sign, he exclaimed, "This has WHEAT in it! I can't eat wheat, it makes me crazy!"

Technical difficulties today. A sick child and a sick husband. I've been run ragged today, and no time to make up something delicious... and no one to eat it even if I had.

Instead, I'll go read about flourless chocolate tortes, and pray everyone is feeling well enough tomorrow to sing a little song and light some candles.

good night, each. Tomorrow is another day.

Wheat/Gluten Free Orange Zucchini Muffins

2006-05-23T23:06:00.000+04:00

Eat your vegetables!!

Only way I can get the King of Everything to eat his is to hide them. He'll eat broccoli on its own, baby trees he calls them. And cauliflower smash still appeals. But put a plate of veggies in front of him and he'll pull all kinds of faces; i'll beg. He'll refuse. I'll tell him that astronauts eat their vegetables. He'll eat one. And so it goes.

Put veggies in a muffin and we're singing the same song. He ate two and a half of these today. And when the sweetener is orange juice concentrate and a dash of honey? He can have three.

Orange Zucchini Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 deg F, 170 deg. C.

In a medium bowl, combine and stir well with a whisk:

1 cup rice flour
3/4 cups millet flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

In a large bowl, combine:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate, defrosted
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 cup olive oil

until well mixed. Stir in:

1 cup raw zucchini, packed

Gradually stir flour mixture into wet ingredients, just until all four is mixed in. Do not over mix. Pour into muffin tin, either non stick, greased and floured, or with cupcake papers. Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Now, for added bliss, coarsely chop canned Mandarin oranges and mix into cream cheese for a heavenly spread.

Mini Quiches

2006-05-22T12:20:00.000+04:00

All my little boy will eat these days is eggs. Which has me scrambling, pardon the pun, for new ways to serve them to him. My mother is the Mistress of Quiches, making melt-in-your-mouth, flaky pie crust and hearty, delicious fillings. I've learned at her knees how to make fantastic pie crust; this wheat-free diet is just not conducive to good crust.

But I decided to give it a try. What's the worst that could happen? Surprisingly, I've got a crunchy, satisfying crust that, while it definitely doesn't have the flaky layers that cutting cold butter into flour will give you, makes a good enough container for whatever delicious tidbits nestle inside. Huzzah!

So don't run away. This is a simple recipe. Easy. Fantastic for hors d'oeuvres, just right for a lunch box. Try an infinite variety of combinations: roasted red pepper and chevre, bacon and cheddar cheese, whatever your imagination can come up with!

Mini Spinach and Emmantal Quiche

For the crust:

50g. sticky rice flour
50g. Doves Farm Plain Flour
50g. Cold butter
2 Tbs. of cold water, more or less.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the two flours together. Cut the butter into small squares and drop into the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the flour into the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add water a tablespoon at a time, pressing the mixture together until it just forms a crumbly ball. Press the dough into a disc shape between two pieces of wax or parchment paper, and refrigerate for at least two hours, and up to two days.

For the filling:

1 large egg, lightly scrambled
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained.
Shredded emmantal cheese, or shredded Swiss

Whip the cream into the egg until well blended, then add seasonings, and mix well. Set aside.

Assembly:

Using miniature tart pans, press a small amount of the dough into the pans, working quickly so as to keep the dough cool. A wooden dowel, floured with extra rice flour and just smaller than the bottom of the tart pan, works well. Push the dough up the sides of the pan and cut off any excess with a knife. When all the tartlet pans are done, take a small (2 tsp. maximum) amount of spinach and press it into a flat disc, placing this on the bottom of the prepared tartlets pans. Add a small amount, perhaps 1 tsp. of the cheese and fill with the egg mixture. Place tartlets on a baking sheet or baking pan and cook for 15 minutes, or until crust is done and egg mixture is golden brown. Remove from tartlets cups as soon as possible and set to cool on a rack.

Crust secrets:

For a large quiche, triple the crust recipe and follow your favorite quiche recipe.

For a large batch of crust, set a bowl of ice water to the side as you cut the butter into the flour. Use a tablespoon to sprinkle this ice water into the mixture, and quickly work into a ball

The secret to great crust is to handle it as little as possible. This is very delicate dough; before you put it into the fridge to rest, flatten the ball out into a thin disk. You'll have less rolling to do.

If you have a marble or metal rolling pin, put it into the fridge.

The dough is going to break and tear when you put it into the pie pan. To minimize the damage, roll the flattened dough around your rolling pin, then unroll it over the pie pan. Repair any breaks by gently overlapping the tear, run a bit of ice water alone a seam, and pat back together. Larger holes and tears can be patched, in the same basic manner, by using a piece of scrap dough over the hole.

Experiment... try using cream cheese instead of butter, or adding a bit of corn meal in place of the plain flour.

Eggs: what's for lunch?

2006-05-20T15:43:00.000+04:00

The French typically do not eat eggs for breakfast, not with the same, steadfast devotion that Americans do. Eggs are a lunch food, and this Zucchini and mozzarella Fritatta makes sitting down at midday a delightful ritual.

Like most things in the UAE, zucchinis have two names. I had a hard time finding them in the local supermarkets til I finally asked where the marrows were. Al Ain grows its fair share of marrows, and they are delicious. Though pork is available to us in Dubai, we tend not to eat it, thus... no exquisite smell of sizzling bacon. Local beef bacon is ah, well, inedible, and turkey bacon leaves something to be desired. No worries. The protein in these eggs is more than enough, and fritattas are the only way I can sneak green vegetables into my persnickety son.

Zucchini and mozzarella Fritatta

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbs olive oil, and saute:
1 1/2 cup zucchinis, sliced (4-5 smaller zucchinis)
1 thinly sliced red onion (about 1/3 cup)

until zucchinis are tender and onions are translucent. Remove from skillet to a bowl and allow to come to room temperature (put the bowl in the fridge or freezer if you are in a hurry). When the zucchini mixture is cooled, stir in:

1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 tsp. white pepper
8 large eggs

Stir until well mixed. Re-heat large skillet (mine is a 10" Calphalon, ten years old and still working like a warhorse, surviving a stint in my catering kitchen and being shipped overseas) and add another Tbs. of oil, swirling it in the pans to coat the sides at least an inch. Pour egg mixture into hot skillet and cook on stove top until bottom of frittata is golden brown. Remove skillet from stove top and put into oven. Bake 7 - 10 minutes, or until top is golden brown and egg has set. Give it a shake to loosen it from the pan and tip it onto a serving plate.

Cooking tips:

Heat the dry skillet over a medium-high flame before adding the olive oil. This keeps food from sticking to the pan. If you pour the oil into the cold pan, your eggs are going to be a mess.

Don't add salt to this one. The zucchinis have a great, sweet taste, and the red onion and white pepper are all the kicker you will want t. Add salt at table, if need be.

These egg pies are delicious served hot, warm or cold. It's a lunch box staple in our house, and the nursery has hounded me for the recipe. Well, here you go!

Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

2006-05-19T12:40:00.000+04:00

In case you hadn't guessed, I live in the Middle East. It's not easy to get all the ingredients I need for the recipes I create. Cottage cheese, for example, costs about US $2 for four, perhaps six ounces. SIlly. I could make my own, but... who has time? Some of the ingredients I use here are not quite one or the other. Labaneh is somewhere between sour cream and cream cheese; I have to drain it to use it for cheese cake. I've even used paneer, an Indian version of cottage cheese, that is much harder than the stuff Europeans and Americans are accustomed to.

The pancake recipe I've developed is infinitely forgiving vis a vis its contents. At best, you will have a fluffy, tasty pancake that leaves no wishing for what you can't have; at worst, a delightful, spongy, dense pancake that is fully filling, and great with jam for a snack the next day.

Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk cottage cheese (you can use cream cheese, yoghurt, or ricotta if you don't have cottage, or your favorite non-dairy equivalent)
4 Tbs. melted, unsalted butter (substitute coconut oil if you wish)
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbs. brown sugar or honey (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract (gluten free)
1 c. cooked millet, quinoa, amaranth or a combination thereof
1/2 c. millet flour
2 tps. gluten free baking powder (1:2 ratio baking soda and cream of tartar, go ahead and mix up a big batch, 1/4 c. baking soda and 1/2 c. cream of tartar)
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)

1 c. Doves Farm Gluten Free Plain White Flour Blend

OR

1/2 cup chickpea flour and
1/2 cup rice flour

1 c. (more or less, to taste) frozen blueberries, preferably the small, wild blueberries

In blender or cuisinart, combine eggs, cottage cheese and butter. Blend well. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and cooked grains. Blend until cooked grains are broken and blended. Add sugar/honey and vanilla, pulse until well mixed. Slowly add flours, salt, and baking powder. Mix well. Pour batter into bowl, stir in blueberries.

On hot, buttered griddle, pour 1/4 cup batter for individual pancakes, and cook like wheat pancakes. You're going to have to clean your pan in between, and rebutter, because the blueberries will stick.

These are delicious with syrup, or fresh fruit, or frozen berries heated until warm. I chose to use frozen strawberries this time. Delish.

These pancakes are great for everyone, not just those with celiac or wheat sensitivities. They are high in protein, use complex carbs, not simple carbs like white flour, and are tasty.

Wheat/Gluten free crepes

2006-05-18T18:10:00.000+04:00

Contrary to its name, Glutinous Rice Flour contains no glutenin, and is thus safe for folks with celiac disease. It's made of sticky rice, aka sweet rice, sushi rice, waxy rice, mochi rice, Japanese rice... I was hoping its sticky character might help make a flexible crepe I could wrap around sweet and savory fillings. So far, I've made sweet crepes with fabulous results:

Sweet Rice Crepes

Have all ingredients at room temperature unless otherwise noted:

1/2 c. glutinous rice flour (check your Asian markets)
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbs. muscovado sugar (worth the search)
2 large eggs
2 tbs. melted butter
pinch of salt

Put all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a pitcher.

Prepare skillet, preferably a pan dedicated to making crepes -- with this batter, use a pan the size of the crepe you wish to make. Heat crepe pan on stove on medium high heat, and rub with butter, wiping off excess. Holding the now-hot pan off the heat, pour batter into center of pan, immediately swirling and tipping the pan to get even coverage. Keep an eye on it. You want the crepe to be golden brown on its down side, without overcooking and turning it crisp. Flip the crepe and brown the other side. Remove to plate covered with wax or parchment paper, and repeat, layering the crepes between wax/parchment paper each time. Either fill, or cover airtight and freeze for up to one month.

I filled these crepes simply, with a drizzle of honey and sliced bananas. Heaven. My French husband sampled one and declared I had to make them for his parents. He said they'd never know.

Muscovao sugar is a deep, rich brown sugar that gets its rich molasses flavour from the sugar cane juice from which it is made, and it adds a nice depth of flavour to these sweet crepes. The crepes will have a slightly malted flavour, reminiscent of hand made waffle cones. You can't beat that.

When I was a kid, I used to be allowed to go to the Old Stone House by myself, and a few times I was even dressed in period costume. I was allowed to help dip the beeswax candles, and sweep the floors, and pretend I was a little Colonial girl. But the best part was when they would make old fashioned cookies in heavy, cast iron press molds. The air in the Old Stone House was redolent of beeswax, and malt, and sweet herbs. It was heaven.

Millet and fruit chewies

2006-05-18T17:53:00.000+04:00

As we become acquainted, you will find that I try to offer as much flexibility as possible in recipes, because I've become painfully aware of how difficult it is to manoeuver around allergies in this prepackaged, preprocessed, additive-laden world we live in. I like this recipe because you can do so much with it, and if you don't have your heart set on 'cookies', you will find these strangely satisfying. And there's no refined sugar in it.

If you're reading this in the Middle East, get a jar of Date Honey. It's amazing, great poured right onto pancakes, used as a sweetener (rule of thumb: when substituting honey for refined sugar, use only half as much -- when using Date Honey, use just a tad over half). I'm hopeful that a local Lebanese grocery store in the rest of the world will have such a wonderful thing. No palate should be deprived.

Millet and Fruit Chewies

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F, i think it's around 170 deg. Celcius.

3 ripe bananas
2c. Basic Moist-Style Millet
1/2 c. millet flour
1/2 c. raisins, soaked in warm water five minutes to make soft
1/2 c. dates, chopped
2 Tbs. honey (optional, if you choose to use 1c raisins instead of the dates, use the honey)
1/3 c. oil (use a good one like olive, peanut, coconut. don't use hydrogenated veggie oil!)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg, cardamom, or what have you
1 tsp. vanilla flavour
1 Tbs. arrowroot powder

Toss it all in the food processor, blend until, well, blended... let sit 15 mins. Drop cookie method, 1" balls, onto non-stick cookie sheet, bake until golden and still soft in the middle, about 15 - 18 mins.

These will always be chewy, but are great. I'd add ground almonds or chopped almonds for even more protein, but my kid's school doesn't allow nuts. I bet you could use 1/2 c. shredded raw apples in there, instead of the dates or raisins.

I wouldn't recommend using all raisins in this, as it turns out rather tart. That being said, I wasn't using Sunkist brand raisins, and it could just be that my golden raisins weren't sweet. who knows? a little bit of honey and they are just fine. Tasty, even.

Next adventure: Amaranth-peanut butter cookies.

Hello!

2006-05-18T17:49:00.000+04:00

I'm getting deeper into cooking and baking for a picky three year old with wheat sensitivities that make our lives a living hell if we slip up. Thus, I've been on the hunt for the ultimate wheat free crepe recipes, decent home baked breads, cookies, snacks and healthy treats he can bring to school with him every day. As I perfect the recipes, I'll share them here, so other folks with such challenges can feel a little less deprived.