Slow Cooker Chicken Soup: October 2009

Sweet, crisp apples and tender pears are sprinkled with a cinnamon and brown sugar crumble and baked to melt-in-your mouth perfection. This simple gluten-free dessert- worthy of excavation from the Gluten-Free Goddess® archives- evokes old fashioned autumnal comfort at its coziest.

Using a gluten-free pancake and baking mix- such as Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix- makes this wheat-free treat ~~easy as pie~~ easier than pie to toss together. Celebrate fall and winter with this classic homey dessert.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Waffles

Gluten-free pumpkin waffles with maple syrup.

Pumpkin waffles for breakfast. Yes, please.

Karina's Gluten-Free Pumpkin Waffles

Recipe originally published October 2008.

For the pumpkin season- a waffle. I'm experimenting with grains higher in protein than your average gluten-free flour mix, but if you'd rather use your favorite gluten-free blend or wheat-free waffle and pancake slash baking mix, please feel free. You'll need 2 to 2 and 2/3 cups flour or baking and pancake mix.

First-

Whisk together your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:

1 cup sorghum flour or certified gluten-free oat flour
1 cup organic buckwheat flour
1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch (this adds a bit of crispness to the waffle)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Add in your wet ingredients:

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
4 tablespoons light olive oil
4 to 6 tablespoons raw agave nectar
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
2 organic free-range eggs or Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 1/2 to 2 cups hemp, almond, rice or dairy milk, as needed- start with less

Instructions:

Beat the wet into the dry ingredients to combine. Add enough liquid to make a batter that is a tad thicker than pancake batter.

Heat and prepare your waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Note: even though my waffle iron is non-stick I oiled it lightly before using.

Serve with real maple syrup or agave nectar.

Try these waffles with my Maple Apple Breakfast Sausages for a real treat.

Makes 8 to 10 large waffles.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Karina's Notes:

When I poured my first two waffles I had not yet added the tapioca starch; I was trying to create a whole grain waffle and was snubbing starches in my formula. The result was, Meh. They were soft and fell apart. When I added the tapioca starch the waffles turned out perfectly.

I made mine vegan and egg-free, so the addition of tapioca may have helped replace the eggs, even with my Ener-G Egg Replacer. I'm noting this to myself- with egg-free baking, tapioca seems to be a starch that helps keep the vegan baked good intact, and adds texture.

Those of you who use eggs- if you try this recipe with eggs and choose not to include the tapioca starch, please leave a note in Comments and share with fellow readers: what worked, didn't work.

Gluten-free waffles are finicky and affected by humidity and flour choices. Adjust batter as you go- adding more liquid if it thickens too much; more flour if it becomes too runny.

Check out my recipe for Savory Waffles (for sandwiches, panini and bread crumbs).

For substitutions, please see my guide to baking with substitutions here.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Gluten-Free Banana Corn Muffins Recipe

Tender and sweet corn muffins infused with the scent of banana

Gypsy Souls

Apartment hunting is more than a little fun, right? It's big fun. You get to tour unfamiliar lobbies and prowl rooms old and new. You get to peek into kitchen cupboards and step onto balconies, turning your face toward the sun to imagine greeting the day in that one particular spot on Earth (mug of fresh brewed coffee and a crisp LA Times in hand).

You wade eagerly into conversations about whether you'd prefer looking out at a roof top or a wall or a neighbor's patio ringed with bamboo. Hunting is fun. But finding the right apartment is not as simple as you might think.

While you think it would be beyond groovy to live opposite the Santa Monica Library with a ficus canopy crowning your street level view, your Honey Baby Sugarness states said library proximity holds absolutely no charm for him and he urges you to reconsider your enthusiasm, siting 1. street level noise and 2. the stop-and-go energy (and air-brakes) at the bus stop.

He favors a bright and airy but characterless spot on 6th Street opening to a quiet common courtyard. But you can't get past 1. the spongy beige wall-to-wall and 2. the cross-alley neighbor's clear view of your living room (hence, My Lovely, your sure-to-happen morning-brained half naked sprint to fetch the ringing cell phone forgotten in your purse the night before--- not a pretty sight).

So you brew a cup of coffee, open a bag of potato chips and hash out priorities- what is mutually essential and what might not be. What you can live with and what you cannot. And vice versa. This is a marriage, after all. Two gypsy souls.

You make lists (yes, I make lists). I'm visual. I need visual aids. Diagrams are good. Multiple colors (I'm a Sharpie lover). Arrows for emphasis. Stars. Circles. Big decisions require maps. Direction. Emphasis.

Le smack down-

Meh wall-to-wall carpet vs street noise
New kitchen! vs Ahhh, soaking tub!
Sky roof view vs neighbor dancing in his underwear (or vice versa- see above)
Walking to beach vs walking to library
Privacy vs proximity
Location, location, location (is that like, Practice, practice, practice?)

You hone and define your hopes and needs on a lined piece of yellow paper. You sip more wine. You tinker. Smile. Find agreement.

Hardwood floors win. Roof top view and new kitchen- win. Big windows- no brainer. Proximity to beach- double no-brainer.

Progress.

And here's a muffin to go with it.

Tender corn muffin goodness scented with banana.

Banana Corn Muffin Recipe

I love using mashed banana in vegan baking. The mashed sweet fruit gives egg-free muffins a pull-apart tenderness. Not to mention- the combo of cornmeal and banana? Delicious.

Ingredients:

Whisk in a mixing bowl:

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornmeal

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato starch or tapioca starch

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup packed organic light brown sugar

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

Pinch of nutmeg

Make a well in the center and add in:

1/2 cup light olive oil

1 cup banana puree

1/3 cup coconut milk or other non-dairy milk

1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water

2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or light tasting vinegar

1 tablespoon honey or organic raw agave nectar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line twelve muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat to combine. The batter should be smooth and medium thick. If it feels too stiff add a spoonful of coconut milk to thin. If, by chance, the batter is very thin, add a sprinkle of potato starch to thicken it.

Spoon the batter into the twelve muffin cups. Use wet fingers to smooth tops, if necessary. Bake in the center of a preheated oven till domed and firm to the touch. This might be anywhere from 18 to 25 minutes (a wooden pick inserted into the center should emerge clean) depending upon your oven, and humidity.

Cool the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes; then turn out the muffins to continue cooling on the rack (this prevents the bottoms from steaming).

Serve warm. Wrap extra muffins individually in foil; bag and freeze for best taste. These beauties make an easy, not-too-sweet on-the-go treat.

Makes twelve muffins.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Karina's Notes:

For those of you who cannot bake with cornmeal, I'm wondering if a combo flour mix of almond meal and buckwheat wouldn't be to die for?

For those of you using eggs, use two free-range organic eggs, beaten.

Gluten-free vegan batter really is different from traditional wheat flour based batter. It's not just a rumor. Gluten-free egg-free muffins won't puff and rise as much as their wheat based cousins. So fill your muffin cups a bit higher than you used to.

This is a gum-free recipe, but if you prefer, add a teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum. The honey or agave helps add stickiness.

Also Try:

Karina's Gluten-Free Pumpkin Corn Muffins and Blueberry Corn Muffins

More gluten-free corn muffins from food bloggers:

Gluten-Free Cornbread Muffins at Baking Beauties

The Gluten-Free Homemaker's Ham and Cheese Corn Muffins

Gluten-Free Grilled Cornbread Muffin at I Am Gluten-Free

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Roasted Eggplant Tapenade + Pasta Sauce

Tapenade made from roasted eggplant is so easy and delicious

Roasted eggplant tapenade also makes a delicious pasta sauce.

Quick Roasted Tapenade

Yesterday was summery here in Southern California. In a Meg Ryan breezy kind of way- not in a sultry no air peel off your jeans, cowboy boots and socks Jennifer Lopez in U Turn kind of way. Nope. Sunny and warm it was- but not hot like New Mexico.

We've moved into our sublet (above one of Santa Monica's most famous vegan restos). The Honda is Cuisinart and bread machine and wooden spoon free again- after lugging armloads of bags and boxes (via elevator, thank goddess) up to our cozy fourth floor cutie. Yesterday we walked to the ocean, inhaling deep. In truth? I am exhausted. Running on gluten-free fumes. Too tired to shop or cook or make even the tiniest decision, never mind attempt to be clever and insightful and entertaining in a recipe post.

And so, faithful reader, I hope you'll forgive me for reprising a recipe from my abundant archives. It's a good one. I promise. A delightful roasted eggplant tapenade. Serve it as a spread on wedges of gluten-free focaccia. Slather on your favorite pizza shell. Or add it to hot cooked pasta.

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Monday, October 5, 2009

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

Here's a recipe for a quick and easy pantry soup
that just so happens to be gluten-free.

Hunger Games

Cleaning out the pantry always makes hungry. Come to think of it, so does packing. And lugging laundry. But the truth is, this time of year- anything can make me hungry. I could blame it on shorter daylight. Or the jarring touch of the cold tile floor when I tumble out of bed barefoot and sleepy and weave through boxes of books and movies to locate my tea mug, gone missing since three PM yesterday when I set it down- goddess knows where- to help my husband wrap one of my abstract paintings.

All of it makes me hungry.

10 Things That Make Me Hungry

The relief of selling the house after 30 months of showings and price reductions and contracts falling through
The excitement of starting over
Letting go of the outgrown (again)
Snapping a photo of my last full moon in the desert
Finding childhood photographs of Colin and Alex on the beach
Realizing we'll be gone before the second anniversary of the hip incident
Finding a fourth floor studio to rent- six blocks from Santa Monica beach
The sheer joy of shedding stuff
Buying tickets to The Canyon showing at Grauman's Chinese Theater
Thinking about tomorrow rather than yesterday

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Friday, October 2, 2009

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake with Maple Icing

Karina's maple frosted pumpkin cake. Moist, tender, gluten-free. A family favorite, year round. At glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Pumpkin Cake to the Rescue

Today I'm digging into the recipe archives (back to 2005!) to share an old favorite. My pumpkin cake recipe. We're so busy sorting, bagging clothes and boxing up books for donation, getting ready for the big move to Los Angeles (next Thursday!) that yours truly has not had time to bake.

But if I did? I'd whip up this moist and tender beauty of a cake.

Today it snowed. Our first snow of the season. After photographing the backyard oak and apple branches dusted in sugary white like some fairy confection I thought of James Taylor's line in Sweet Baby James. The Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting. And I decided to bake a cake. With cinnamon.

I tried to whistle my way back to the house, to pierce the soft silence that only snowfall can bring, but I am not gifted in whistling.

A crow swung low overhead and cawed, unimpressed with my feeble tune.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...