Ok not every day or even every month but this time I have been experimenting with a lot of recipes (will get to posting them soon) but with it I have also bombed a few things :P (that isn't recently though) so I have come here with a tip of the trade.
Tip/Thought - Let batter style cooking/baking sit at least 10minutes (if folding items in, wait to add these items until after the wait time) and then give a nice good stir to the batter before pouring into baking dish/pan or adding ingredients you have to fold in (such as blue berries into blue berry muffin batter). Then bake as normal. This will allow your batter to absorb the wet ingredients rather then leave them to float to the top while baking, while the heavier ingredients sink to the bottom.
When I 'bake' things with gluten free flour whether it be cakes, breads or other sweets/savories I use to have this problem where all of my 'inside' ingredients would drop to the bottom of what ever it was I was baking before it actually baked. So instead of having this wonderful piece of cake with say blue berries going through it, all I had was this cake with a row of blueberry mush at the bottom.
I had thought about that and wondered what I could do to prevent it. Well the first thought was to go in after I had put it in the oven to bake and stir it just before it started to set but that was not a really good option as it's a good way to cause accidents.
Recently I made the most INCREDIBLE corn dogs (have recipe, have photos, will post!) and I noticed as I made them (made like 2 dozen of these things LOL) that the batter I was using started to get thicker and thicker the longer I let it sit. So my brain went into over drive.
A LONG while ago (last winter I think, might have even been the winter before) I had a craving for gold old American style corn bread. When I made it I took a recipe originally calling for some really odd amounts of wet-dry ingredients like using 3 whole eggs and 1 1/4 cups milk when your only using 2 cups dry ingredients... something else I didn't understand in this recipe was the fact that it called for over 1TBS of baking powder. So, I took the same recipe recently and made it using my editing and it came out wonderfully compared to last time. The BIGGEST thing I did to it though, was let it sit 10mins after it was mixed so it could have time to really absorb some of the wet ingredients. Then I gave it a really good stir, put it into my greased pan and baked it as normal.
Last time I made this recipe and did it as the recipe said, I ended up with a kind of corn custard style pie rather then soft moist corn muffins. All of the 'wet' stuff sank making a kind of sweet custard (recipe also called for 3/4cup sugar) and the corn/flour went to the top and actually created 2 layers to the thing. Although good in itself, it was not what I was looking for. This time it turned out perfectly though.
I'll get to posting more of the wonderful recipes I've been making and the photos to go with it!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Recipe - Cold Pea Salad
We had quite a warm streak here a few weeks back and I wish I had thought about this before but it's one of those dishes you really don't think of when you think 'gluten free'... specially when it comes to veggies. My mother made her attempt at a fresh cold pea salad and it was rather good but we all agreed it was lacking something. So again with thoughts in my mind, the next day I went shopping for ingredients and off I went to the kitchen to see what I could come up with. Below is what I made and it was wonderful but also made a HUGE bowl again so I would suggest for only 2 people and if you want only 1 meal or so out of it, use half the ingredients mentioned. Sorry but no photos this time... will remember next time!
1 kilo (2pounds) frozen peas
1 cup cheddar, cubed (1/2 inch works best but if you want more bite, cut them bigger)
2 medium red onions
3 large eggs, boiled
1/2 cup - 1 cup gluten free mayo
Directions
This couldn't be an easier fish except that I suggest make it the night before so that it has the night to let all the yummy flavors (like the onion) to meld.
Take the frozen peas and dump them in a strainer. Select a large bowl for mixing the salad in and then place the strainer in it. Fill the bowl with HOT water (not boiling but the hottest your tap will give you works very well). Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
As mentioned in the ingredients, hard boil your eggs and let cool. Finally chop your onion (this again is per taste.... if you like bigger pieces of onion don't chop it so fine... just do what you like best). When eggs are boiled and cooled, use an egg slicer and first slice them normally but then take them out carefully and turn it around and slice it the other direction as well. This will make the egg break into smaller pieces and save work for you in the end. Remember to cube that cheese too!
With all the ingredients prepared, strain peas, empty water from the bowl you are going to use for mixing and place pea without the strainer this time in the bowl :P. Place the rest of the prepared ingredients in with the peas along with the 1/2cup - 1cup mayo. Again this all depending on taste. I don't like over mayo'd items/salads so I only use 1/2 cup and it works just fine but like my father, he likes a lot of mayo so he'd probally use 1cup.
Cover and refrigerate. I suggest again over night but this mixture would be good with just a couple of hours cooling. Salad is good for about 4 to 6 days.
Cold Pea Salad
Ingredients1 kilo (2pounds) frozen peas
1 cup cheddar, cubed (1/2 inch works best but if you want more bite, cut them bigger)
2 medium red onions
3 large eggs, boiled
1/2 cup - 1 cup gluten free mayo
Directions
This couldn't be an easier fish except that I suggest make it the night before so that it has the night to let all the yummy flavors (like the onion) to meld.
Take the frozen peas and dump them in a strainer. Select a large bowl for mixing the salad in and then place the strainer in it. Fill the bowl with HOT water (not boiling but the hottest your tap will give you works very well). Let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
As mentioned in the ingredients, hard boil your eggs and let cool. Finally chop your onion (this again is per taste.... if you like bigger pieces of onion don't chop it so fine... just do what you like best). When eggs are boiled and cooled, use an egg slicer and first slice them normally but then take them out carefully and turn it around and slice it the other direction as well. This will make the egg break into smaller pieces and save work for you in the end. Remember to cube that cheese too!
With all the ingredients prepared, strain peas, empty water from the bowl you are going to use for mixing and place pea without the strainer this time in the bowl :P. Place the rest of the prepared ingredients in with the peas along with the 1/2cup - 1cup mayo. Again this all depending on taste. I don't like over mayo'd items/salads so I only use 1/2 cup and it works just fine but like my father, he likes a lot of mayo so he'd probally use 1cup.
Cover and refrigerate. I suggest again over night but this mixture would be good with just a couple of hours cooling. Salad is good for about 4 to 6 days.
Recipe - Baked Mac and Cheese
It's been ages since I had mac and cheese of any sort. So with my husband's love of pasta with cheese sauces, I started again on another search. Mac and cheese here I come (ok there I went but still!).
This recipe is slightly altered from the one I found... well actually it's altered a lot and I found this works much better since I already had some experience in the making of cheese sauce from the potatoes earlier... I knew that straight cheddar was not going to work well in this nor was the amount of flour and such, so I already started changing it there.
The original recipe I found and went from was at Gluten Free Mom
Here is what I found worked best for me.
1 pound (16oz) uncooked gluten free elbow macaroni
2 TB butter
1/4 cup gluten free flour
2 cups milk (works well with lactose free milk)
8 oz (250grams) cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch cubed
4 oz emmental (or swiss) cheese, shredded
1/2 -3/4th cup gluten free bread crumbs
1/4th cup grated parmesan
Directions
Preheat oven to 375f or 190c and then prepare macaroni as required and then rinse well to remove extra startch. Butter a large enough baking dish that you can also put in about 3 cups of liquid and then toss in the cooked macaroni.
Mix together the gluten free bread crumbs and parmesan together and set a side.
In medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Leave heat on but remove pan for a moment. Whisk in gluten free flour and blend well. Return to heat and slow whist in milk. Bring to a very slow boil. Continue whisking entire time or you risk burning the milk to the bottom of the pan. When mixer starts to thicken, remove from heat entirely (yes turn heat off :P).
Quickly pour in emmental and whisk til melted and then add the cubes of cheddar. Mix the cheddar slightly til it starts to melt but til you can still see small pieces of it through the mixture.
Pour mixer over macaroni that you put in a baking dish earlier and give it a good mix (I sometimes depending on the amount, prefer to put macaroni in a big bowl so I can mix properly and then pour it into the baking dish). At this stage, if you you want to add cut up hotdogs or even pieces of smoke turkey/chicken pieces (lunch meat style) this is the time to do it also.
When ready to place in oven, sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the macaroni mixture and then bake 30mins to 1 hr depending on how done and how crisp you want it.
This works well when a bit of meat is added to it as a full meal but also makes a LOT of mac and cheese. I made 3 meals (I had turkey added to it when I made it) for both my husband and I, with large portions of it even.
This recipe is slightly altered from the one I found... well actually it's altered a lot and I found this works much better since I already had some experience in the making of cheese sauce from the potatoes earlier... I knew that straight cheddar was not going to work well in this nor was the amount of flour and such, so I already started changing it there.
The original recipe I found and went from was at Gluten Free Mom
Here is what I found worked best for me.
Gluten Free Baked Mac and Cheese
Ingredients1 pound (16oz) uncooked gluten free elbow macaroni
2 TB butter
1/4 cup gluten free flour
2 cups milk (works well with lactose free milk)
8 oz (250grams) cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch cubed
4 oz emmental (or swiss) cheese, shredded
1/2 -3/4th cup gluten free bread crumbs
1/4th cup grated parmesan
Directions
Preheat oven to 375f or 190c and then prepare macaroni as required and then rinse well to remove extra startch. Butter a large enough baking dish that you can also put in about 3 cups of liquid and then toss in the cooked macaroni.
Mix together the gluten free bread crumbs and parmesan together and set a side.
In medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Leave heat on but remove pan for a moment. Whisk in gluten free flour and blend well. Return to heat and slow whist in milk. Bring to a very slow boil. Continue whisking entire time or you risk burning the milk to the bottom of the pan. When mixer starts to thicken, remove from heat entirely (yes turn heat off :P).
Quickly pour in emmental and whisk til melted and then add the cubes of cheddar. Mix the cheddar slightly til it starts to melt but til you can still see small pieces of it through the mixture.
Pour mixer over macaroni that you put in a baking dish earlier and give it a good mix (I sometimes depending on the amount, prefer to put macaroni in a big bowl so I can mix properly and then pour it into the baking dish). At this stage, if you you want to add cut up hotdogs or even pieces of smoke turkey/chicken pieces (lunch meat style) this is the time to do it also.
When ready to place in oven, sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the macaroni mixture and then bake 30mins to 1 hr depending on how done and how crisp you want it.
This works well when a bit of meat is added to it as a full meal but also makes a LOT of mac and cheese. I made 3 meals (I had turkey added to it when I made it) for both my husband and I, with large portions of it even.
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