Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Gluten Free Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Recipe


I love a good burger (sans bun of course!). I have fond memories of going to the pool at the Officer’s Club at Naha Air and Naval Base in Okinawa and ordering huge, juicy burgers loaded with ketchup, mustard, tomatoes, pickles and onions, eating them by the pool with the juices dripping down my arms, the sounds of happy kids splashing away and the occasion shriek from some one being pushed off the high dive by the rowdy boys in the background while the sun beat down on us and a gentle breeze stirred the air. Of course charging them to my Dad’s account at the O Club was pretty cool too.

My vegetarian sister, Karen, ironically sent us a big box filled with meat products for Christmas so I have been enjoying lots of burger lunches lately.

While there is nothing wrong with ketchup and mustard (except possibly all the sugar in the ketchup) sometimes I like something a little more sophisticated on my burger. This is an easy little topping just packed with flavor. I add a touch of Chilpotle Puree for some heat. That recipe follows. The Chilpotle Puree is hot so judge accordingly when adding.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

1 large roasted red pepper (from a jar, packed in water) – pat dry
¼ teaspoon Chilpotle Puree – or more or less depending on your heat tolerance
Pinch salt & pepper
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon agave syrup

Directions

Put everything into a small food processor or blender and whirl for a few seconds until blended and fairly smooth. Taste for seasoning. Great on burgers, chicken or fish.

Chipotle Puree

(Taken form the cook book “Seriously Simple” by Dianne Rossen Worthington. I keep this in my fridge at all times and use is for topping everything from hummus to mango sorbet.)
Ingredients

1 – 7 ounce can Chilpotle in adobo sauce
Directions

Pour the chilies and their sauce into a food processor and process until smooth. Place in airtight container, cover and refrigerate.
This gluten free recipe makes a great condiment!

Simply…Gluten-Free recipes is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE.

Resource :
http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2008/01/roasted-red-pepper-sauce.html

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

Gluten Free Grilled Orange Chicken Recipe




You know how you are at the mall, famished from all the shopping and bag carrying, and you go to the food court and some enthusiastic teenager pushes a piece of orange chicken at you to taste? Yes? Well I have a confession – sometimes I really wish I could have a taste. I know it is fried and filled with gluten and probably about a thousand calories in just that one taste and that I shouldn’t want to taste it, but I do. I don’t taste it – I WANT to taste it!  After all, eating orange chicken used to be an integral part of my whole mall experience.
I kind of want to hurt that  guy for bringing up the idea of orange chicken to me in the first place. Here I was all set to have a nice healthy salad for lunch and now all I can think about is orange chicken. And so with some disappointment and resentment I eat a salad. And a gelato. And…well… never mind.

If you, like me, miss the taste of orange chicken at the mall you will be happy to know that you can make a much healthier grilled version very easily with the help of some honey and gluten-free Orange Sauce from San-J. With a little forethought, I can have this recipe mostly prepared and waiting in the fridge for me when I return from shopping and finish my mall experience at home.

Now if I could just get Nordstrom to open up a shoe store in my living room…


Grilled Orange Chicken

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
½ cup San-J Orange Sauce
½ cup honey
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Directions

Cut chicken into 1½ inch pieces. Combine the San-J Orange Sauce and honey and put half in a medium mixing bowl, reserve the rest for later. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and toss to combine. Let chicken marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature or for up to 4 hours in the refrigerator.  If you are marinating in the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling.  If using wooden skewers, soak 4 in water for 20 minutes.  Pre-heat the grill to moderately high heat (450 degrees on a gas grill).

Divide chicken pieces onto 4 skewers allowing the chicken to touch but do not cram together. Brush grates of grill with oil.

Grill for 4 minutes with the lid to barbeque closed. Turn skewers over and grill another 4 minutes covered. Brush the reserved sauce onto the chicken and cook for another 2 minutes, turning several times, or until the chicken is cooked through but still juicy. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

A gluten free recipe that serves 4.

Simply…Gluten-Free Desserts is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE

Resource :

http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2011/09/gluten-free-grilled-orange-chicken-recipe.html

Friday, 9 March 2012

Gluten Free Biscuits Recipe


Gluten-free baking can be complicated, fraught with trial and error (emphasis on the error) and frustrating. However I am happy to report that making gluten-free biscuits need not be as difficult as some would have you believe.

There are those that will tell you the only way to get perfect baking results is to weigh your flours, measure very carefully, calibrate your oven and what not. While this may be true for some things, I have found that biscuits are very forgiving. Think about it, pioneer women mixed up their biscuits on the “road” in the back of a covered wagon and “baked” them over a campfire. Probably while making sure their children weren’t bitten by snakes and fending off hostile natives not too happy with the intrusion, all the while wearing a corset. Seriously, how much time did they have for carefully weighing their flour?

I have found that gums such as xanthan and guar are not necessary in gluten free biscuits, just some type of gluten-free flour and a starch mixed with baking powder and salt. I like my biscuits white and fluffy so I prefer superfine white or brown rice flour but if you want to use another type of gluten free flour such as millet, sorghum, quinoa, etc. or any combination thereof, then go right ahead. For starch I prefer to use either tapioca or potato starch but you could also use cornstarch or arrowroot powder. Again, you can also use a combination of starches if you prefer.

After you pick the type of flour and starch you want to use, it is simply a matter of adding some fat and liquid. The type depends on your taste and dietary needs. Personally I like to use butter for my fat and milk for my liquid but Earth Balance, shortening or even bacon fat and any type of dairy-free milk works really well for dairy free biscuits. Just make sure your fat and liquid are cold.

Once you have made all your decisions the thing to keep in mind is to use a light hand, don’t overwork the dough. The less you work it, the lighter and flakier the biscuit. And when you add the fat to the flour make sure you keep some larger chunks in there, this is also important for flakiness.

When it comes to adding the liquid, start with less than the recipe calls for and add just enough to form the mixture into a dough, various factors such as humidity can affect how much is needed. You may even need a tad more than the recipe calls for.

You can roll and cut out your biscuits or drop them by spoons onto a baking sheet. I prefer to pat out my dough rather than rolling it out with a rolling pin. It is easier and there is one less thing to wash.

I guess the most important thing to keep in mind is not to be intimidated. Really, what’s the worst that could happen? You bake little hockey pucks and try again. The best that could happen? You have warm, flaky, light biscuits warm from the oven ready for a slathering of jam – a little piece of heaven.

Gluten Free Biscuits

Gluten Free Biscuits
Ingredients

1½ cups superfine white or brown rice flour plus more for rolling
¾ cup tapioca or potato starch (not potato flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
6 tablespoons cold fat (such as butter, Earth Balance or shortening), cut into small pieces
¾ cup milk (any kind including dairy free)
Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Whisk together the flour, starch baking powder and salt. Cut the fat into the flour either with a pastry cutter, two knives or by rubbing the fat into the flour with your fingers. Make sure you leave some larger pieces of fat. Add the liquid, starting with ½ a cup and gradually adding a little more at a time, mixing until the dough comes together. Put a little flour on a work surface and dump out the dough. Knead 3 or 4 times then either roll or pat it out to about ½ inch thick. Cut into biscuits using a 2 ½ inch cookie cutter. You can gently reform the dough to cut more biscuits. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

This recipe makes approximately 12 gluten free biscuits depending on the size.

Simply...Gluten-Free DessertsSimply…Gluten-Free Desserts is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE.
http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2011/07/gluten-free-biscuits.html

Thursday, 1 March 2012

Gluten Free Apple Pie Parfait Recipe


There are times when being gluten free can be downright frustrating. For instance, let’s say you all of a sudden have an unquenchable craving for apple pie and yet you live in a town that is sadly remiss in having a gluten free bakery.
Sure you could make gluten free pie crust dough, wait an hour or two for it to chill, roll the dough, cut the apples, flavor them up, assemble it all up and put your pie in the oven for yet another hour and then you can (finally) quell your craving.

While I literally wrote a book on making gluten free desserts, even I don’t want to do that at 6:30PM on a Tuesday night after a long day’s work.  So what’s a girl to do?

Make gluten free apple pie parfaits, that’s what!  Sweet, cinnamony apple chunks layered with maple sweetened non-fat Greek Yogurt (for dairy free you could substitute dairy free sour cream or even dairy free ice cream) and a crunchy, gluten free graham cracker almond crumble.

This simple yet spectacular dessert takes about 20 minutes to prepare, perfect when you want an easy and light dessert that feels and tastes anything but – the perfect thing for when the hankering for apple pie strikes but you haven’t the time or energy to make one.

What really makes this parfait special is the crumble. Seriously, if you want any left to actually layer in your parfait hide it from the kids (and your spouse) until you finish up – otherwise it will all be nibbled away! I took some S’moreables (gluten free graham style crackers from Kinnikinnick) crushed them up coarsely, tossed the crumbs with some sliced almonds, coated with a bit of honey and a touch of oil and baked it for about 15 minutes. I am already thinking of anything and everything I can to top with this awesome mix!!


Gluten Free Apple Pie Parfaits

Ingredients

12 S’moreables (gluten free graham style crackers from Kinnikinnick)
1 cup sliced almonds
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon grapeseed (or other neutral flavored) oil
4 large sweet apples (such as Fuji or Honeycrisp)
Gluten-free non-stick cooking spray
1/8 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup Greek yogurt (non-fat, low fat or full fat)
4 teaspoon maple syrup

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place your gluten free graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush them until you have some crumbs and larger (about ¼ inch) pieces. Combine in a mixing bowl with the almonds, honey and oil. Toss until the honey and oil coat the crumbs and almonds. Spread in an even layer on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until the mixture is crisp, fragrant and browned – it will crispy up a little more as it cools and should be a little clumpy. Let cool.

While the crumble is baking prepare the apples; core and cut into 1 inch chunks. Spray a large skillet with a lid with some gluten-free non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the apples, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and vanilla and toss well to coat. Cover the skillet and let cook until the apples are softened, about 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove the lid, increase heat to high and cook until the liquid has thicken up to a syrup and coats the apples. Let cool.

Mix the yogurt with the maple syrup. For each parfait place a layer of apples into a goblet or dessert dish, top with some of the yogurt and then add a handful of the crumble. Repeat the layers. I think this is best served while the apples are still warm.

A gluten free recipe that makes 4 large or 6 smaller parfaits.

Ready for more dessert?

Simply…Gluten-Free Desserts is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE.

Resource:

http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2012/02/gluten-free-apple-pie-parfait-recipe.html