Holiday Baking

I had time this holiday season to do some baking.

I played with Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten free flour.  Most of the time it behaves just like regular flour. It's a straight replacement and works well for people who must avoid gluten.

I can't eat grains without alarming my auto-immune but gluten-free grains are easier on my system than wheat flour.

This is an amazing flour for Biscotti. I made lemon biscotti and the 1 to 1 flour gave them the perfect dryness.  I just used the first recipe I found online - they are nearly all the same. 

I drizzled mine with dark and white chocolate and they were perfect for dipping in our morning coffee. 

My next cookie is an old Betty Crocker recipe that goes by the name of Cream Wafers. 

My sister discovered this cookie when she was baking for a wedding a long time ago. These are little bite-size cookies that melt in your mouth. The wafers are like a pie crust with frosting between. I will say Bob's red mill 1 to 1 flour made them super melty in your mouth.

You roll them out as thin as you can and then cut with 1 to 1 1/2 inch cookie cutters. Then you sluice them through some granulated sugar and lay them on a cookie sheet. With your biggest fork, prick them like saltine crackers. Bake for just 7 minutes.

However, half of them were so fragile, they broke just moving from the cookie sheet to my counter. I made the frosting as loose as I could but still had some serious airplane disasters. The poor little gingerbread men lost legs and heads at an alarming rate.

I had made a couple of batches of chocolate chip cookies with this gluten free flour and noticed that my cookies were drier than usual. More crumbly after a few days. Someone suggested adding more butter, so I kept this in mind when I made the Cream Wafer dough.

The stars lost their pointy bits

 The pile of broken bits were eaten up anyway. This little cookie is a holiday favorite. I get requests all the time. Next time, I might try half Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free flour and half regular wheat flour and see it this helps keep them less fragile but still delicate to melt in your mouth. The ones that survived were a fantastic texture but too delicate for me being in my usual hurry.

 I also made my traditional Danish Puff Pastry - also from an old Betty Crocker cookbook but lost the taste for playing and used regular flour instead. It's difficult to experiment, especially at holidays where the pressure is on to have the usual tried and true delectable treats.

It was fun to play with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1  flour with several recipes back to back. I have a good sense of how it works for me now. And it's way better than the old gluten free method of combining four or five different flours to get the texture you want (plus the xanthum gum...).

Both my kids came home. I like to think it's my danish puff that brings them home but it's probably the lottery scratch off tickets that Santa gives out in the Christmas stockings.

 In other news, my dear sewing friend Kyle, made a month by month calendar featuring her bags she has sewn in the last few years. I love this idea and the thoughtfulness of sharing. What better way to acknowledge what we make than to celebrate it.


I'm still working long hours after a co-worker suffered an on-the-job injury that the supervisor is trying to bury under the rug and not do workman's comp paperwork.

 
I'll leave you with a beautiful Oregon coast photo that my son took the day before Christmas.
Both of my kids really enjoy photography and get very creative.

Ceramic Non-Stick Pans

I had last Monday off for MLK Day. First up was a doctor visit with the discovery of sunshine surrounding Canbyland which meant there was no way I was heading back into that inversion layer  wall of fog.

I went shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond for a wedding present. I was also looking at juicers and a new non-stick frying pan. The old fry pan was getting cranky (not to mention those toxic fumes)  so we wanted to try a ceramic one.






















It works.
My Sunday yams/sweet potato hash fried up fast. In fact, the pan gets a little hotter than the old non-stick pan so you need to learn how to turn down the heat a bit. Nothing stuck - at all.
The ceramic browns wonderfully.

We'll see how long it lasts - probably as long as the old non-stick pans which is about three years.
My BB&B coupon on my smarty pants phone was duly scanned and we all agreed how easy that was.

I don't remember the brand on this pan. There were about three to choose from at BB&B. I don't see it on the web site.

Sunday breakfast;  fried yams with bacon (voget's)  & eggs (did I tell you about the seaweed wraps?).

Back to MLK Day: Totally enjoying the sunshine which made the interior of the car toasty warm even though it was only 35' outside, I took my mom out for lunch without our coats.

I made a few other stops and then as soon as I took the left-hand turn at Columbia Helicopters back to Canbyland, I could see that wall of fog still intact isolating Canbyland; dreary and cold and wet.
That inversion layer broke Friday (Thank God) and we are now enjoying cloudy/sunny skies around 40'.

Off to a bridal shower today  and then to Retro Revival. My creative friend owns this shop in Oregon City and they are hosting a gigantic grand opening today.

Apple Cider Caramels

 Wow. These are seriously good. Totally in the autumn season.

 Small bites, wrapped in wax paper.

 See the squiggly one on the left - yeah- that's a 'sample'.

 Easy to make - but time consuming.

Forgot how I stumbled across this recipe but I found a really cool blog, The Smitten Kitchen, because of it.

These are melt in your mouth caramels that are so apple pie happy. Just a dash of salt and cinnamon.

I reduced the apple cider in the morning and after 1 1/2 hours, finished the cooking. Then the mixture had to cool for a few hours. Set aside a day or at least half a day to make these. Worth the time.


APPLE CIDER CARAMELs
By The Smitten Kitchen.

Apple cider (sometimes called sweet or “soft” cider), as I’m referring to it here, is different from both apple juice and the hard, or alcoholic, fermented apple cider. It’s a fresh, unfiltered (it has sediment), raw apple juice — the juice literally pressed from fresh apples. It’s unpasteurized, and must be refrigerated, because it’s perishable. In the Northeast, I usually find it at farm stands and some grocery stores. I occasionally find vacuum- sealed bottles called apple cider in the juice aisle, but none of the bottled varieties that I’ve tried has the same delicate apple flavor as the more perishable stuff sold in the refrigerator section.

4 cups (945 ml) apple cider
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, or less of a finer one
8 tablespoons (115 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (110 grams) packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream
Neutral oil for the knife

Boil the apple cider in a 3- to- 4- quart saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to a dark, thick syrup, between 1/3 and 1/2 cup in volume. This takes about 35 to 40 minutes on my stove. Stir occasionally.
{Kathy's note: Try 1 1/2 hours. I was afraid to put the burner on High. However, when it does go thick, it can burn (almost!) fast. So- watch it carefully towards the end.}

Meanwhile, get your other ingredients in order, because you won’t have time to spare once the candy is cooking. Line the bottom and sides of an 8- inch straight- sided square metal baking pan with 2 long sheets of crisscrossed parchment. Set it aside. Stir the cinnamon and flaky salt together in a small dish.
Once you are finished reducing the apple cider, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, sugars, and heavy cream. Return the pot to medium- high heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side, and let it boil until the thermometer reads 252 degrees, only about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on it.
(Don’t have a candy or deep- fry thermometer? Have a bowl of very cold water ready, and cook the caramel until a tiny spoonful dropped into the water becomes firm, chewy, and able to be plied into a ball.)
Immediately remove caramel from heat, add the cinnamon- salt mixture, and give the caramel several stirs to distribute it evenly. Pour caramel into the prepared pan. Let it sit until cool and firm—about 2 hours, though it goes faster in the fridge. Once caramel is firm, use your parchment paper sling to transfer the block to a cutting board. Use a well- oiled knife, oiling it after each cut (trust me!), to cut the caramel into 1-by-1-inch squares. {Kathy's note here: Unwrap a cube of butter and constantly edge the knife on it. If the knife gets too cruddy, wash in hot water and do the butter thing again.}

Wrap each one in a 4-inch square of waxed paper, twisting the sides to close. Caramels will be somewhat on the soft side at room temperature, and chewy/firm from the fridge.
Do ahead: Caramels keep, in an airtight container at room temperature, for two weeks, but really, good luck with that.


Allergy note: does contain butter and cream. But - oh-so-good.

Gluten Free White Birthday Cake

Bakery Girl's Gluten Free White Cake

1 cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
4 Eggs & 1 Yolk
3/4 tsp Hazelnut Extract
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Millet Flour
2/3 Cup Sorghum Flour
1/3 Cup Tapioca or Potato Starch
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp  Salt

Preheat oven to 350'.
Grease & Flour cake pans. I used 2x 8" pans.

Mix all flours, bak. pwd. & salt. Set aside.

Beat butter with electric mixer until light & fluffy.

Add sugar, beat again for several minutes until light & fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating 2 minutes after each egg.

Add extracts.

Fold flour mixture carefully so as to not lose the light softness that you spent several minutes mixing in.

Pour into/ fold into  prepared cake pans and smooth surface as best as you can.

Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out shiny but not sticky - around 18 - 20 minutes. (I needed 22 minutes -- 8" pans?)

Remove from pans after about 10 minutes and let cool.

Because of the double extracts, this smells devine out of the oven. Mmm.
Be sure to beat and beat some more. Goal is to incorporate lots of air into this batter.

When queried, the birthday girl requested chocolate frosting. I made a simple buttercream.
Loose measurements are:

1/3 cup softened butter beaten with mixer.
Add two cups of Powdered sugar and beat so butter sticks to sugar.
Add about 1 capful from the jug of milk (~ tbsp)
Add 1 -2 squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled a bit.
Add several Tbsps of powdered cocoa.
Add 1 capful of milk again until it starts looking like frosting.
Add up to two cups more of powdered sugar
Maybe another capful of milk

To spreading consistency. Finger licking is necessary.

And then - because I don't stock birthday candles or other decorations anymore, be creative for the decorations.
I had little valentine colored sprinkles that made the chocolate pop. Cute.
You could also utilize some flag toothpicks by glueing a triangle of paper to the tips as a flag.

And here was the best deal: Gluten-free baking (whatever your reasons) is done well by the combination of select & certain flours. Of which you buy the entire bag from Bob's Red Mill and because you infrequently bake (my health problems go beyond gluten), you are stuck with the remainder - all these bags piled into the fruit drawer of your fridge. I asked for and got nicely, the precise amount of flours direct from bakery girl. Beyond helpful to me.

A moist, light cake.

Technically, the extracts are in an alcohol (grain) base. Feel free to substitute but be mindful of the liquid replacement value.
Those specialty bags of flour store longer in the fridge.
Since the butter has salt in it, I added just a sprinkle.
I had minimal problems eating this cake. Two slices over two days.

Clear Lake Fish for Dinner

 

We are blessed with tasty fish in the Pacific Northwest.
Chinook & Coho Salmon, Halibut, Cutthroat Trout (land-locked Salmon) and Rainbow Trout. While there are both Rainbow and Cutthroat in Clear Lake, we caught only Rainbows.
I tend to be simple in my prep of local-caught fish using butter and lemon as my mainstays as they do not disguise the fish but rather enhance it.

I fill the cavity with butter and sliced lemons and sprinkle just a bit of pepper on top.
(Which is crazy when you think about it because we don't eat the skins. . . )

I think I baked them at 350' for about 25 minutes - maybe it was 20. See that lovely pink flesh on the large one. Fish are done when a fork flakes the meat away.

Served with fresh lettuces from my garden, the fish were stripped to the bone in about ten minutes.

 We pick through and give the skins and some meat to the dogs
and bury the fish bones deep in  the garden.

My edible peapods were left untended for one too many days and I shelled that whole big mixing bowl and gained a quart-size bag of peas for the freezer.There is a reason why no one shells peas anymore. It took a long movie in time.

Celery Root Soup

 

I spotted this recipe last week  and it grabbed my attention with ingredients I can eat.

It's really difficult to find soup recipes with no flour or dairy or beans or grains.

I can only eat so much chicken soup, squash soup or beef soup before its gets really boring.
I do like soup because it's fast to reheat and its easy. Therefore, when I have soup made, and in the fridge, I am a good girl as regards to my health issues.

In the old days, I would never have looked at a recipe like this. It's complicated. It takes a couple of hours to make. These aren't ingredients I have in my fridge or pantry.
I have never in my life bought celery root before. Before I made this soup, I ranked celery root right into the parsnip/rutabaga nightmares that were my childhood. 

It's time to get past my childhood.

The soup turned out really good. We ate it as a first course because we felt so 'gourmet'.

Celery Root Soup with Granny Smith Apples and Chive Oil

 This is a three-part recipe.
1. Cooking down the celery and seasonings

2. Making the cashew cream - starts with soaking the nuts for 24 hrs in the fridge.
3. Chive Oil?

Pinch of Sea Salt
3 Tbsp. X-virgin Olive Oil
2 Med. Celery Roots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
2 Ribs Celery, chopped
1 lg. Onion, chopped
2 qts. Stock
1 Bay leaf
1 cup Cashew Cream***
salt & pepper to taste
1 granny smith apple, unpeeled, diced small. ( I used a Fuji Apple).
2 Tbsp. Chive Oil***

We start with a large pot over medium heat. Warm the sea salt  for one minute. Add the oil and heat for 30 seconds, careful not to let it smoke. This will create a non-stick effect.

Add celery root, celery and onion; saute for 6 - 8 min. until soft but not brown.
Add the broth(stock) and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add cashew cream and simmer for ten minutes more.

Remove bay leaf from soup (oops).
Working in batches, Puree soup in blender with lid firmly on.

Season with salt & pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls. Place a spoonful of diced apple in the center of each serving and drizzle with 1 tsp. chive oil around the apple.

 

Soup keeps for 3 - 4 days in the fridge. It can be frozen, thawed and reheated. When reheating, vigorously whisk or re-blend the soup for optimal creaminess. Chop apples just before serving (browning).

***Cashew Cream.

Put 1 cup of raw cashews in a bowl. Cover with cold water and soak in fridge overnight. Drain and rinse two times. Place in blender with enough fresh water to cover the nuts. Blend on high for several minutes until smooth and creamy. If you want more creaminess, place through a sieve. (My blender texture was fine.)(I forgot the 24hr thing - so mine were put in freezer for 30 minutes).

***Chive Oil.

Blanch 1 small bunch of chives for 30 seconds in boiling water, then drain and chill in an ice bath. Squeeze moisture from chives and place in a blender with 1/2 cup canola oil (used Safflower Oil) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Puree for 2 minutes. Strain with sieve (I used a tea strainer). Oil is very flavorful, so only use 5 -6 drops per serving. Can be stored in fridge for several weeks.

When I first thought of this soup, I envisioned a green soup - kind of a split pea green soup. This soup is more of a tan, creamy color. The cashew cream was easy to make even if I forgot to soak them 24 hours in advance. The chives were freshly picked from my garden and packed a lot of new spring into the soup.

I am, I confess, the only person on this planet who dislikes Granny Smith apples. I can see where a green skinned apple and the green chive oil would compliment each other for presentation. I used a Fuji and it was all right.

This soup was thick & creamy. Same blender process as my butternut squash soup but the nut cream is crazy cool. Then there were the subtle flavors of the celery and the chives - hints if you will - nothing overpowering. The diced apples were different but added to the flavor notes.
I liked this as part of a meal. I would definitely make this again and even looked at Celery root seed in my garden catalog.

Two Soups

About all of the cooking that I do revolves around soup. I have so many food

intolerances/allergies that it is not really possible to cook recipes easily.

But - soup is.

This last week, I made a beef soup. Well, actually, I made two - mine and his.

My husband really likes canned tomatoes, potatoes, and a thicker feel to his

beef soup. However, I don't need the bad reactions to those items so I am

learning the fine art of making two soups at the same time.

First off: making the stock. Commercial stocks all seem to have soy or flour or

other non-pronounceable ingredients in them. I make my own. I have to make my own stock.

Soup for me is not quick to make but I do it over several days in small  manageable steps. I brown the beef chunks in olive oil and then add some chicken/turkey stock that I have made previously and frozen.

STOCK: I throw whatever chicken/turkey carcass I have into the crock pot and cover with water. It does its thing during the night. Strain the liquid. Throw away the carcass.  Since I have a slight problem in incorporating fat into my diet, I usually skip this next step: Place liquid in fridge until fat rises to top, skim off the solid fat and throw it away. Freeze in containers for later.

Once the beef is tender - a few simmering hours later; I add carrot chunks,

green beans from the garden and finally after a few minutes, some celery. Spices generally include turmeric, mushroom powder, maybe some oregano, sea salt, fresh-ground pepper (pre-ground pepper has flour in it to keep ground pepper from clumping). The Right Flavor is all about the spoon test.

Meanwhile - there is another pot bubbling away in a parallel universe. It's got one or two jars of tomatoes in it, potatoes, white (or black) beans. And the carrots and celery. Similar spices. Thickened with a bit of flour stirred into water. (I have mashed some of the beans into a paste before to thicken which works well if you can tolerate the beans and can't handle flours.)

His always looks so good that I usually have the lid on his. Out of temptation.

Unfortunately, the flour, more than anything, sets off the 'bad reaction's and

I'm really not that tempted.

Lectin Intolerance is similar to Gluten Intolerance where the attack on your lower intestines can give you real debilitating grief. Lectins are protein sugars that are abundant on all grains & legumes. Some research indicates that the nightshade vegetables are also problematic.
All I know is I continue to feel wonderful and energetic if I do not eat these foods.

One of my favorite sites is by Shauna James Ahern. She has Gluten Intolerance (Celiac's Disease) and is a very positive pathway type of person. She has come up with good-tasting recipes that won't make her sick. She is very encouraging regarding overcoming your own personal health issues.

One of my problems  is the dairy element. I tolerate Nancy's yogurt, and I have tried the whole goat angle but basically, dairy is an iffy food. Without dairy- its a tad difficult to incorporate ingredients into a DISH.

Some of the research on Lectin Intolerance indicates that one may, possibly, when healthy, occasionally eat these problem foods. Hopefully, as my intestine heals, I will tolerate some of these lectin-bound foods occasionally.

Next week - I am making a Butternut Squash Soup (no dairy). I haven't had this recipe since last fall and I've a mind for a challenge. Will the squash create a reaction or not?   I'll post the recipe as well because this soup freezes so well!

Tomatoes Before The Frost

It's beginning.
We just had a couple of nights where it dipped below 40'.
I made my husband happy by canning the last tomatoes.

Over the years, in my indescribably busy life, I have figured out how to can and not go crazy.
First of all, canning your own food can quickly become expensive. The jar lids are 2 or 3 bucks/dozen, then the electricity cost. Finally - what's your time worth?
My tricks are to grow the right product, know what you like and make it simple & quick.
These are just stewed tomatoes - same as the ones in a can (sans chemicals).
I can in pints - 2 cups is a nice recipe measurement.

First?-- get everything ready: Water in the canner simmering, jars sterilized in dishwasher then waiting in hot water on back of stove with lids, pan for boiling water bath - the bath helps slip those pesky skins off nice & easy.

Drop tomatoes into bath for 30 -45 seconds. Use paring knife to either take top core out or slice off top (romas), usually the skin slips right off here, but the knife is helpful for the stubborn ones.
I slice them into big chunks.

Into each jar; one Tablespoon of lemon juice to help the acidity level and then I carefully cram tomatoes into the jar. I wipe off the top of the jar, place a lid on, then the Screw top and place it in canner to stay hot until the canner is full.

The jars gently boil in my water canner for the specified Ball Blue Book time and voila, canned tomatoes to add to soup, lasagna, or marinara sauce.

Roma tomatoes remain my favorite because they speed up the prep time amazingly. Next fave is Early Girl, a nice meaty medium size tomato with a few seeds.

The point of this? People get way too finicky and fanatical about their canning - to the point - it's too much work to can every year.
My system means I have enough canned tomatoes for two years (hint!) and it's fast. Not to mention healthier.

Not to mention that smug feeling of satisfaction when I open the cupboard doors and see the array of food put away for a rainy day.