Sunday, June 16, 2008


Today I planned to make gluten-free crab cakes for Father's Day. Since I had the ingredients, and wanted to get some Insulin Resistance fighting foods in my diet, I also made Buckwheat Pancakes for breakfast. Now mind you...I am more of a waffle fan than a pancake fan, especially homemade pancakes (never liked the taste), but I was VERY happy with my GF version!


Buckwheat Pancakes (modified from Gluten Free: Quick & Easy)

Yields: 12 - 16 pancakes (doubled the original recipe)

• 1.5 Cups Buckwheat Farinetta flour (highest in d-Chiro Inositol)
• 1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
• 4 Tbsp Smart Balance LIGHT (non-dairy)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 tsp of Sonoma Syrup "Crush" Vanilla Bean Extract
• 1.5 Cups Rice Dream Enriched Milk (unsweetened), add more if needed
• 2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2.5 Tbsp Xylitol
• 3/4 tsp SweetLeaf Stevia Plus

Lemon Poppyseed Buckwheat Pancakes

Same batter as above, Yields: 4 small pancakes

• Two scoops of batter
• 1/2 tsp of poppyseeds
• 1 Whole Lemon, juice only

This was maybe my...2nd or 3rd attempt at making homemade pancakes...in my lifetime. I added in some natural sweeteners because I didn't have any syrup, nor any fresh fruits that I could use so I needed the batter to be very mildly sweet. It really doesn't take long once the pan is hot (Low-Medium heat). I actually didn't use any oil in the pan just added a scoop of batter waited 90 seconds, flipped and waited another 90 secs before removing from the pan. They turned out warm, fluffy, and quite tasty. Note: The lemon poppyseed could have used more lemon flavor.

Serving Suggestions:

Hot Applesauce (unsweetened), fresh berries or other fruits on top. For Dad, I cut up some bananas, sprinkled with some xylitol crystals (should have used powdered xylitol) and put some maple syrup on the side.

Lemon Poppyseed pancakes - Sprinkle with "powdered sugar". This can be Inulin (Fibersure), powdered Xylitol, powdered Erythritol, etc. To make real powdered sugar you would use Maltodextrin or Cornstarch and your sweetener of choice.



Crab Cakes (modified from Gluten Free: Quick & Easy)
Yields: 16 crab cakes, 3.5 - 4 oz each (Tripled most of the recipe)

Crab Cakes:

• 6 Tbsp Kraft Real Mayo (non-dairy, no fructose)
• 3 Tbsp minced Green Onion
• 3 Tbsp dried Parsley
• 3 Tbsp French's Mustard
• 3 Large Eggs
• 3 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1.5 tsp Celery Seed
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Cayenne
• 1.5 C Large-sized crab meat
• 1 Cup GF Bread Crumbs (i.e. Orgran All Purpose Rice Crumbs)

Crab & Shrimp:

• Half of the above mixture
• 1/2 Cup Crab meat
• 1 Cup Shrimp, chopped
• 1 Cup GF Bread Crumbs

Heat the oven to 300 degrees F to keep the cakes warm once fried...or you could bake them. Mix all ingredients together except for the meat and crumbs. Add half of your meat and half bread crumbs, mix, then add the rest of the meat and crumbs. Form palm-sized patties with your hands. Fry the cakes for 3 min on one side and 3 min on the other side (Medium Heat, Olive oil). Place in oven to keep warm.

Crab was freshly cooked and shelled. Shrimp was frozen, shelled & precooked, so we thawed to use in this recipe. Everything was cooked and complete within 2 hours. We had the crab cakes with Spinach, carrot, cucumber & grape tomato salad. On my salad, I used Newman's Own Light Balsamic dressing, but you could also use (Red Wine) Vinegar & Oil or some other fantastic homemade dressing of choice.

For this being a first for me, I was very pleased with the results. I've never had crab cakes (went GF before this became a favorite for Dad). They were very yummy, my personal favorite were the Crab & Shrimp cakes. We had enough for the next day, so I would suggest heating in the oven to maintain crispness. Note: Sodium content was high enough from the seafood, Old Bay and Mayo. Will remove salt from recipe and will use less celery seed and mayo next round.


So these are my adventures. I'll pay more attention in the future to get more exact measurements.

Next Time: Gluten-Free Pizza!

June 22, 2008


OK, sorry for the delay, but on to Gluten Free Pizza!

I'm unfortunately sensitive to certain ingredients so I can't just buy a ready made frozen gluten free and vegan pizza because....it will usually have a type of sugar that I can't consume. Soooo...I decided to make my own...well partially.

I hopped on the Internet and discovered that there's a gluten-free pizza base that I can add whatever toppings I'd like on it! Awesome, so I ordered the frozen pizza and it showed up on my doorstep the next day! The requirements for use of this pizza crust base by Still Riding Pizza is to top it while frozen and put on a pizza pan with holes when cooking, otherwise it's entirely up to you...

Yields: 8 slices

Pepperoni, Tomato & Basil Pizza

• 1 Still Riding Pizza Crust, frozen
• 4 oz Hunt's 100% Natural/Organic Garlic, Basil & Tomato Sauce
• Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella, or Monterey Jack (or cheese of choice)
• Pepperoni Slices
• Fresh Basil Leaves, whole or chopped
• Fresh Tomatos (Roma or Grape), sliced or chopped
• Wild Tree Grapeseed Garlic Oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Take out frozen pizza and place on holed pan. Cover w/ a thin layer of garlic oil (use a silicon brush), followed by a layer of tomato sauce. Top w/ tomato, basil and pepperoni and then cover (sparingly or completely) w/ cheese.

I choose to make my pizza half w/ Monterey cheese (sparingly) and half w/o cheese. I let the pizza cook 15 minutes and removed from oven. Sliced and noticed that the crust could cook more and that I like the piece w/ cheese best. So I topped the other half with cheese and put the whole thing in the oven for 10 more minutes.

The directions for cooking leave it up to you for how long you want to cook it. I would suggest 15 - 25 minutes depeding on how thick you want the crust to be. The cheese takes a long time to melt in the oven (not in the microwave though), but it bubbles, melts and leaves a lovely white & brown look to it depending on how long it's in the oven.

The end result? The crust was soft, yet crisp and med. thin. The taste kinda reminded me of the homemade pizza box kits you would buy from the store. Only, I sucked at making those so, this was a nice treat w/o the fuss. The Hunts sauce to me was a bit too salty (and I like salt) but my parents didn't complain! They both thought it was good and helped me finish it off (I had 4 slices over 2 days).

I really did like it and and ordered another box to arrive on Monday. This time I will probably buy plain tomato sauce w/ a lower sodium content and will try something with mushrooms and perhaps (turkey) sausage. Or maybe I will try layering it w/a white sauce or pesto sauce....mmm


Still Riding Pizza http://www.stillridingpizza.com/

Dad's Gluten Free Pizza - Vegan (must try) http://www.glutenfreepizza.com/info.htm


As for the vegan cheese, if interested in more flavors or brands try reading this thread: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/It-is-del...it-t203467.html

If interested in finding a local gluten free pizza near you try: http://www.glutenfreeceliacweb.com/restaur...e-to-pizzerias/

Yes, one day will dabble again w/ actually making my own GF crust. For those that can't wait, here's some recipes: http://glutenguide.blogspot.com/2007/04/gl...free-pizza.html (please share your thoughts)


Next Time: Gluten Free Pastas

Gluten-free rolls made out of Tapioca flour from Simply Deliciouso, a Latin-American cooking show on the Food Network. They looked really good on TV, light and fluffy. Most things without gluten are kind of dense and heavy. This recipe contains cheese.

Cauliflower pizza crust and bread sticks

There are other gluten free recipes on the above site. Look at the list of posts in the right column.

you can make buckwheat gluten free o.O?
I always put it down when I see anything spell with wheat

I just bought stevia extract for baking bread yesterday
( the french bread is in the oven baking as Im typing haha )
From what i read..it doesnt contain any sugar and is super sweet ( I tried 1 drop of it and almost died cause it's super sweet and the taste last quite a while..with a little bitterness mixed with it tho..but it tastes acceptable to me )
http://www.recipezaar.com/180306

** im going to make pasta today too
bought a noodle machine from amazon and never got a chance to use it...cause I forgot to get xanthan gum for my GF flour
but it's going to work this time!

What kind of bread are you making that you would add stevia or any sweetener? Usually there's only a tiny amount of sugar in a bread recipe and that's just to feed the yeast, not for flavor. And the yeast really doesn't need it. It's probably to speed things up, which we don't want. And stevia would not work for that. Unless it's a sweet bread of course.

I AM A DIABETIC, YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, FOLLOWING THIS DIET WILL CHANGE THE SKIN REMARKABLY.

niceeeeee im going to give this recipe a try when ever i can


I am not allergic to gluten though.

Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake (gluten-free!) Recipe

Ingredients

* 2 eggs .
* 1/4 tsp baking powder .
* 1/2 tsp vanilla .
* 3 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder .
* 4 pitted dates .
* 1 c canned chick-peas, drained, rinsed, & loose skins discarded

Directions

* Step #1 Add all ingredients to a mixer or food processor/blender & puree.
* Step #2 Pour into one 9 inch pan or two mini spring form or cake pans.
* Step #3 Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
* Step #4 Cool completely before frosting.
* Enjoy the Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake (Gluten-Free!) recipe


--------------------------------------------
This was in a gluten free cake recipe:

# G.F. Flour Mixture

# 6 cups of white rice flour
# 2 cups tapioca flour
# 1 cup potato starch flour



There are links to several more gluten free recipes here:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/sr/37398/choco...en-free/recipe/

I'm looking for ways to use garbonzo beans in place of flour in cookies. Would also like low/no sugar at the same time.

Heavenly Chocolate Hazelnut Cake Gluten Free Recipe
Ingredients

* Cake:
* 2 1/2 cups real semi-sweet chocolate chips Nestle's is GF
* 1/2 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter
* 1/2 cup toasted finely chopped hazelnuts or filberts, skins removed
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 4 eggs, slightly beaten
* Glaze Ingredients:
* 4 (1-ounce) squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
* 1/4 cup whipping cream
* Garnish Ingredients:
* Melted chocolate, if desired
* Toasted chopped hazelnuts, if desired


Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch springform pan; dust with powdered sugar.
2. Combine chocolate chips and butter in 2-quart saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth (4 to 6 minutes). Stir in nuts, sugar and eggs. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely. Remove sides of springform pan; place cake onto serving plate.
4. Meanwhile, combine baking chocolate and whipping cream in small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth (3 to 4 minutes). Cool 5 minutes. Pour over top and sides of cooled cake. Refrigerate until set (at least 1 hour).
5. To serve, drizzle plate with melted chocolate, if desired. Sprinkle with hazelnuts, if desired.
6. Recipe Tip
7. To toast hazelnuts, bake at 350°F. for 9 to 11 minutes. Rub in a wet dish towel to remove skins. If skins don’t come off, continue baking for an additional 5 minute

Note:
Very little sugar besides what is in the semi-sweet chocolate. So you should be able to switch to bittersweet and use a sugar substitute without worrying about the loss of bulk from sugar.

All Nut Crumb Crust

From wholefoods.com

Serves 8 (one 9-inch pie shell)

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups finely ground blanched almonds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Method

Thoroughly mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Using fingers, press dough into a 9-inch pie plate, evenly pressing up the sides. For pies that call for pre-baked shell, bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool and then fill with desired pie filling. For baking pies directly in this crust, to prevent burning, keep oven temperatures down to 325 to 350°F and adjust cooking times as needed.
Nutrition

Per Serving (40g-wt.): 230 calories (180 from fat), 20g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 6g protein, 8g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 20mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Breadsticks or Breadcrumbs
serves 1
1/2 cup cauliflower florets
1/4 tsp onion salt
1 whole egg
1/3 tsp dried herbs
1 tsp butter (optional)
dash of olive oil

Wash and de-stem the cauliflower florets. Steam in bowl for 1:30 in the microwave. Combine with all other ingredients in blender and pulse until relatively smooth.
Pour mixture into a non-stick pan or spray with olive oil. Depending on how you cook the eggs (scrambled or pancake-like) you can either obtain a breadstick or breadcrumb-like texture.
Most people tolerate butter and it really gives the recipe a cheese-like flavour, but it can be omitted.
You can cut the breadsticks and dip into tomato sauce, or use the breadcrumbs on top of romaine with olive oil and lemon juice to make a complete meal.

Adding a tsp of raw broccoli florets to the mix before cooking would make the texture more bread-like, as this recipe is rather soft yet flavourful.

use GF pasta =)

West Indian Potato Curry
courtesy of Foodland Ontario (foodland.gov.on.ca)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger root
1 Tbsp curry powder (or to taste)
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 canned tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
1/2 tsp salt

In saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook onions, garlic and ginger until softened. 2 to 3 minutes. Add curry powder; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add regular and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, stock and salt, bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender