The Gluti Girls...

Photos of our Mexican Dinner Party

I must say, my friend Carrie makes the best tacos.  I'm going to have to get a deep fryer now.  Tacos from a box will never taste right after eating them the way Carrie makes them.  It's a secret family recipe so you'll have to use your imagination!  I can tell you that she deep fries corn torillas, but for only a very short time.  They are cooked but still soft.  The meat is a mixture of ground beef and ground pork, along with mexican chili powder.  For everything else there are recipes here.

Corn Squares (these can get addictive)

Homemade salsa

Carrie's enchiladas

The tacos, beans, and rice.

All those tacos makes one thirsty!

Happy Labor Day everyone!  

Mexican dinner party

I can't believe Labor Day weekend is almost here!  What happened to summer?  I know for me, it went way too quick!  

We decided it was time for a dinner party with our friends Tony and Carrie.  Carrie's family has been making authentic mexican tacos for generations.  She was telling me about it one day and I thought we needed to have a mexican themed dinner.  She is bringing all the needed ingredients to make the tacos so all I have to worry with are the side dishes.  

Mexican food is very easy to make gluten free and a great choice if you are cooking for a lot of people because you can make large amounts of everything.  If you are not sure what to have yet for labor day weekend, maybe this might be fun!

Here is the menu (recipes below)....

Salsa, guacamole and chips 

Chili-Corn Custard Squares

Tacos

Spicy Black Beans

Rice with summer Squash, Red Peppers, and Roasted Pepitas

Toasted-Coconut Caramel Ice Cream Sundaes

and last but not least, Margaritas!

I got  the recipes from Bon Appetit magazine.  I tried these recipes out first on Mother's Day weekend and they were very good!  The recipes are for 6 people, but could easily be doubled.  I will make my homemade salsa and throw together some simple guacamole.  

• Chili Corn Custard Squares (print recipe)

  
  

  From Bon Appetit Magazine

  serves 6

• 
  
• 
  
• 3 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (sub with an all purpose gluten free flour)
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend or 1/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese mixed with 1/3 cup crumbled queso fresco, divided
• 1/2 cup sour cream plus additional for Garnish
• 1/2 cup canned creamed corn
• 2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapenoño chiles
• Tomato salsa (for garnish)

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add finely chopped onion and sauté until soft and beginning to brown, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 8x8x2- inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in small bowl. Whisk egg, 1/3 cup cheese blend, 1/2 cup sour cream, creamed corn, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Add flour mixture; stir to blend. Stir in jalapeño and caramelized onions. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup cheese blend over.

Bake until puffed and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool completely. Custard squares can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Cut into 1-inch squares. Place on platter. Top each square with dollop of sour cream, then small spoonful of salsa.

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Spicy Black Beans (print recipe)

adapted from Bon Appetit recipe

serves 6

Beans:

• 1 1/2 cups dried black beans (about 10 ounces)
• 2 peeled onions; 1 halved, 1 chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro plus additional for garnish
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced seeded jalapeno
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• salt

For beans: 
Place beans in large saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Let beans soak overnight.

Drain beans. Return to saucepan. Add onion halves, bay leaf, and oregano. Add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered until beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (depending on age of beans). Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Discard onion halves and bay leaf.

Heat oil in heavy large deep nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add chopped onion to skillet. Cook until soft and golden brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, garlic, jalapeño, and cumin and coriander; stir 1 minute. Add beans, 3/4 cup reserved cooking liquid. Stir to distribute evenly. Simmer over medium-low heat until heated through and flavors are blended, 3 to 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cool, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm over medium heat before serving.

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• Rice with Summer Squash, Red Peppers, and Roasted Pepitas
• (print recipe)

• From Bon Appetit magazine
• serves 6
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow zucchini or crookneck squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 medium green zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice (about 10 ounces)
• 3 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons roasted salted shelled pumpkin seeds*
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until soft, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes. Add bell pepper, yellow zucchini, and green zucchini; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add rice; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add broth, increase heat to high, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in pumpkin seeds and parsley.

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• Toasted-Coconut Caramel Ice Cream Sundaes (print recipe)

• From Bon Appetit magazine
• serves 6
• 
  
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco López)*
• 1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut (loosely packed; about 3 1/2 ounces)
• 1 1/2 pints purchased French vanilla
• ice cream

Place sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy deep medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. Boil until mixture turns dark amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately add cream and sweetened cream of coconut (mixture will bubble vigorously). Whisk over low heat until caramel sauce is blended and smooth and any caramel bits dissolve. do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm slightly over medium heat, stirring often, before using.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut evenly on small baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, about 12 minutes. Cool. DO AHEAD: Toasted coconut can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Scoop ice cream into bowls. Spoon some of warm caramel sauce over. Sprinkle toasted coconut over and serve immediately.

* Sweetened cream of coconut is available in the liquor section of most supermarkets.

Cooks notes: I will be making homemade ice cream for this recipe.  It's just as good with store bought, but I haven't made homemade ice cream all summer and summer is almost over!  

Hope you all have a wonderful labor day weekend and find some time to get together with family or friends!  Enjoy!!

Dinner Party part 2

Do having dinner parties scare you?  They didn't use to me.  I used to have so many short cuts for having people over.  I knew where to buy really good bread that tasted home made.  I knew how to make really good desserts that involved gluten.  If I was having a lot of people over and didn't have a lot of time to cook, I could go to Sam's Club and buy so much pre-made, decent quality food.  

I can't do that now.  Now when I have friends over, it all has to be home made.  That means planning and time.  It also means simple.  I poured over my cookbooks for days.  I wanted to make everything I saw, but when it came down it, I knew I had to choose some simple things.  I decided that most of my time would go into my salad and soup.  Everything else needed to be easy.  This is the menu I choose......

For starters:

Goat Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Rosemary

Soup and Salad:

Fresh Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Caramelized Onion and Roasted Shallot Cream Soup

Main Course:

Roasted Asparagus

Rosemary and Garlic Filet of Beef

The prep for this meal was really easy.  I made the bread the day before.  I could have easily prepared everything for the salad the day before but I didn't have the ingredients yet.  Same thing with the soup.  Actually, it was better the next day as leftovers!  When you are planning a party, think of foods that you can prep the day before to take some of the work load off of you the day of the party.  

Goat Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Rosemary (print recipe)

(From Southern Living Annual Recipes)

6 dried tomato halves

3 cloves garlic, pressed

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 French gf baguette, thinly sliced

olive oil

1 (11 oz log shaped) package goat cheese 

1. Cover tomato with boiling water; let stand 5 minutes.  Drain and chop.  Combine with garlic, oil, and rosemary; cover and chill up to 4 hours.

2.  Brush baguette rounds with additional olive oil.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes or until lightly toasted.

3.  Just before serving, place goat cheese on a serving plate, and top with tomato mixture.  Serve with baguette rounds, and garnish if desired.  

Yields 8 servings

Cooks notes:  I grilled my baguettes!  Love this recipe!  

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Fresh Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette (print recipe)

(From Pampered Chef Spin on Salads)

Beets

8 medium fresh beets, scrubbed and peeled

1 can (12 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed, divided

1 cup water

1 tsp. orange zest

Dressing and Salad

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp snipped fresh basil leaves

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 large oranges, cut into segments

2 sweet onion slices, separated into rings

1 cup lightly packed frisee or endive

4 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

1. For beets, trim greens and root ends and peel. Cut into 1 inch wedges.  Place beets, 1 1/4 cup of the orange juice concentrate (reserve remaining for dressing), water and orange zest in saucepan and bring to boil.  Cover and reduce heat and simmer 35 to 40 minutes or until beets are tender.  Drain beets, cool slightly, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use in salad.  

2.  For dressing, combine remaining 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Slowly add oil, whisking until well blended.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

3. For salad, for each serving, arrange onion rings on serving plate; top with beets, orange segments, frisee and cheese.  Drizzle with dressing.  Sprinkle with black pepper.  

Yields 4 servings

Cooks notes:  I could not find frisee at the grocery so I used a bed of mixed baby greens and layered the other ingredients on top of that.  

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Caramelized Onion and Roasted Shallot Cream Soup (print recipe)

(From The Bon Appetit Cookbook)

8 servings

16 large shallots, peeled

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup unsalted butter

3 1/2 pounds onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 cup cream Sherry, divided

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried sage

2 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 cup beef broth

3 cups whipping cream

3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss shallots with oil in bowl.  Arrange shallots on large rimmed baking sheet, spacing evenly.  Bake until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 30 minutes. 

They will look like this.  Yum.  

 

2. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and sugar; cook until onions are deep golden brown, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, about 50 minutes.  

3.  Add whole shallots, 1/2 cup Sherry, and dried herbs to onions.  Cook until almost all liquid evaporate, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.  Add both broths and simmer 25 minutes.  Add cream and simmer until soup thickens, about 10 minutes.  

4.  Add fresh thyme and parsley along with the remaining 1/4 cup of Sherry.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

Cooks notes:  For me, this soup was a tad to sweet and very rich.  When I make it again, I will not add the sugar to the onions and might not use as much Sherry if any (I'm not sure I like Sherry!).  Also, I think it would be just as good with half and half or for those dairy free to use hemp milk in place of the cream.  

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I have no real recipe for the asparagus and filet or pictures!  I just took fresh asparagus, tossed it in some olive oil, salt and pepper, laid it in a roasting pan (one layer) and roasted it at about 400 degrees for about 15- 20 min.  You want the asparagus to still be a nice bright green.  Don't let them get soggy.  Not good!  

For the filets, I marinated them in olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, crushed garlic and black pepper in a zip lock bag.  I didn't measure any of that.  Just guess!  I grilled the filets on my indoor grill while the asparagus was roasting in the oven.  

We ate the meal in courses.  I love doing it that way.  We snacked on goat cheese while I put the salad together.  The onions for the soup was finishing while we ate the salad.  We talked and laughed.  Then we had soup.  Talked and laughed, drank some wine, then I cooked the main course.  It's just so relaxing to have a meal this way!  How many meals do you make, where you work for hours, or days (Thanksgiving, Christmas), you put all the food out at once, and in 30 minutes it's all over!  I like taking time better.  

And the wine.....like I said in my last post, Steve and I are not knowledgeable about wine.  We just know we like wine!  Maybe you too are a little nervous about picking out the right wine for a meal.  Do what we did.  Ask around your town and find a liquor store where there is someone who does know what's good.  Ask for their recommendations.  Tell them what you are serving.  I did just that.  I knew I needed a white wine for the salad and soup and a red wine for the main course.  The man at our local store recommended a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio 2007.  I'm not a big fan of white wine, but this was really good.  He did not steer us wrong.  Now I am a big fan of red wine.  He told us about one he had tasted the week before and he thought it was so good that he would put it up against any expensive bottle of wine.  It was Ghost Pines Merlot 2005.  I love, loved it.  I would serve this again to company.  

I almost forgot dessert!  This dessert is an easy one to make on the spot.  My mom used to make it when we were kids on Christmas eve after coming home from my Grandmother's house.  It's a throwback to the 1970's

Cherry's Jubilee (print recipe)

2 15 oz cans of Bing cherries

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup brandy

Heat the cherries in a skillet.  Add the sugar and cinnamon.  Mix the water and cornstarch in a small cup, then add to the cherry mixture.  Cook until thick and bubbly.  Add the brandy but do not mix in.  Light it with a match and watch it flame!  Then mix well.  Kids love this!  

Check back in a couple days.  I will have a recipe for some gfcf cookies and a story about Mia, the cookies, and the doggie er.  Yes, she's ok now.  

Dinner Party part 1

Welcome to my new blog site!  I hope you found me okay and have bookmarked the new location.  I have tried my best to get all of my old posts moved here.  It did not load all of my posts from Wordpress well.  I have to fix almost all of them.  Five of the most recent posts lost their comments.   But, I think it's all here!   I have some new things added that I didn't have on my old blog, so look around!  I will also be adding some new things in the future, like a recipe index and some other things I'm thinking about.  I have no clue how to get a picture up in my banner, so that will be a challenge as well!  

We have some friends by the name of Tony and Carrie that we like to get together and eat with.  We have known them for a very long time.  Last year, Carrie was brave enough to have us over to their home for dinner. She went to great lengths to make the entire meal gluten free, which I very much appreciated. 

Last night was our turn.  I had so much fun planning the menu.  I wanted to make everything I saw and it took me forever to make up my mind.  We like to eat one course at a time and with each course try a different wine.  Tony and Carrie are really good at pairing wine with food.  Steve and I are clueless.  However, that did not stop us!  

For the appetizer, I knew I was going to need some french bread to make bruschetta.  I have been playing around with a baguette recipe from Jacqueline Mallorca's book, The Wheat-Free Cook.  She has some really great bread recipes in this book and most of them don't require yeast.  Most do require dairy.  I really like her baguette recipe just as it is.  It has a wonderful flavor and the next day it is still moist and does not need heating to eat.  We like it use it for making sub sandwiches.  

Because this recipe calls for yogurt, and our son Bryan is casein intolerant, I have been experimenting with converting her recipe to dairy free.  I am trying to find something I can make him that he can take out of the freezer in the morning and take to work with him and make a sandwich.  With my converted recipe, some things I like better, like the loaf was just a tad higher and it had a nice crispy crust.  It worked very well for making bruschetta and the taste and texture on the day it's made is really nice.  The drawback is, on the second day, the loaf is a little dry and has to be heated to eat.  

Rice Flour Baguettes (print recipe)

converted from Jacqueline Mallorca, The Wheat-Free Cook

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

1/2 cup white rice flour

2/3 cup almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup mayonnaise

soy milk

2 egg whites

1. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.  

2. In a liquid measuring up, place the 1/4 cup of mayonnaise.  Fill with soy milk to the 1 cup line.  Mix that together well.  

3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  

4. Add the mayonnaise mixture and 1/3 of the eggs whites to the dry ingredients.  Mix well.  This will seem a little thick.  

5.  Add the remaining egg whites to the batter and patiently fold until they are all incorporated.  This will take some folding.  Be patient and gentle.  

6.  Using a greased french bread pan and  an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto the pan forming long, even loaves.  You can use a rubber spatula dipped in water to smooth the loaves and shape them.  

7.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.  

The problem of the loaf being dry the next day might be fixed by adding more liquid to it.  In the original recipe, it calls for more liquid.  But, you will need to lay parchment paper on your french bread pan if you do this.  I was trying to avoid that so I added less.  I like all those little bumps you get from the french bread pan!  

Since this was my first attempt at converting this, I will continue to experiment with this recipe.  Let me know if you try it and any changes you make that make it better.  I added the mayonnaise because I thought it would get a good flavor and richness to the dough.  I have not been able to find a plain dairy free yogurt or I would have tried that. 

This is a picture of the sliced bread on my indoor grill.  I brushed them with oil olive and simply grilled them on both sides.  They worked prefect for bruschetta! 

 

 

In the next day or two, I will post my menu and the recipes for our dinner.  Check back!  

 

 

Christmas Cookies

I don't know where the month has gone!  Christmas is almost upon us and I've hardy posted a single post.  This coming weekend is our annual Christmas party.  All weekend I was busy baking cookies.  Some turned out and some didn't.  

Gluten free baking can be challenging at times.  This year it was especially challenging.   Last year, I had two baking days.  You can see the results here in the posts Round 1 where I made Gooey Bars and Magic cookie Bars, and Round 2 when I made Pecan Tassies and Sugar Cookies.  

Last year, I used Pamela's baking mix as my flour with a little potato starch added.  This year, I'm allergic to potatoes.  This poses a problem.  You see, if you look at what ingredients are in most all boxed gluten mixes or flours, they add potato starch.  I can't use any of them.  And, I think potato starch really adds something to a flour mix.   

I have been using Carol Fenster's flour mix from her book, 1000 Gluten Free Recipes, but even she recommends potato starch, so I have to substitute something else.  I made my own mixture up.  It worked okay in some things, but in other things it didn't work very well.  

Example, last year I made Mexican wedding cakes and used Pamela's baking mix along with the extra potato starch.  They were just like I always remembered them.  They held their shape really well and stayed rounded while baking.  This year, with my new mix, they were Mexican pancakes.  Blah.   

The encouraging thing was that I made Pecan Tassies and they turned out even better than last year.  I also made Spritz cookies.  They have a really good flavor, but I felt they are a little too light and airy.  I thought they should be more dense.  My mom thought they were really good and tasted like they did with gluten.  I just might not remember what they used to taste like!   

Here is the blend of flours I used and a recipe for Spritz cookies.  I mixed a large batch of the flour  up in a mixing bowl then transfer to a zip lock bag to store.   

Melanie's gluten free flour blend (print recipe)

2 cups tapioca flour 

1/4 cup sweet rice flour 

3 cups sorgum flour

 2 cups arrowroot flour 

1 cup cornstarch 

2 cups almond flour   

Swedish Spritz Cookies   

1 pound butter 

1 cup sugar 

1 egg 

2 egg yolks 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

 2 tablespoons juice from orange 

1 teaspoon xantham gum 

5 cups gluten free flour blend 

Cream the butter.  Add the sugar gradually and cream until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and egg yolks, vanilla, zest and juice.  Blend in flour and xantham to make a soft dough.   Force the dough through a cookie press onto a parchment lined cookie sheet forming into desired shapes.  Decorate with colored sugars and candies.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Makes 14 to 16 dozen.     

At our party, I will be serving pretty much the same things as last year.   I just haven't come up with any new idea yet!  I posted these recipes last year but thought they would be good to share again because they are quick, easy and always good.  If I come up with anything new and delicious, I will be sure to post.  I always make wassail.  I usually make two crock pots of this because it goes fast.   

Wassail (print recipe)

1 qt. apple juice 

1 qt. cranberry juice 

1/4 cup sugar 

2 cinnamon sticks 

1 small orange 

10-15 whole cloves 

Put the first four ingredients into the crock pot, and then add the orange which has the whole cloves stuck in it. Cook covered on high for 1 hour then on low for 4 hours. Remove the lid the last 1/2 hour so the aroma of the wassail fills the air. 

I also always make Artichoke dip.  Don't put it in a pie pan though.  I did this at a party I had this year and my sister-in-law thought it was quiche.  "Wow, that's the best quiche I've ever had!", she said.  We got the biggest laugh out of it. No, it doesn't look like quiche either.  It looks like dip.  It could be my sister-in-law is just silly (just teasing), but put it in something that doesn't look like pie, otherwise you might have people taking big old wedges of it!  If she comes to the party, I'll tell her to go get some quiche.  She'll know what I'm talking about and we will crack up laughing!  

Artichoke dip (print recipe)

1 can artichoke hearts (16oz.) drained and chopped 

1 cup mayonnaise 

1/4 lb. Parmesan cheese (I just use Kraft already shredded) 

Mix all together and pour into a 9 by 9 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min or till browned and bubbly. Serve with gluten free crackers or tortilla chips.   So easy and let me tell you this goes quickly. I double and triple this recipe. There are never leftovers of this!   

I am having my family over on Christmas day.  I'll have another post about that before Christmas along with our Christmas menu!  Hope you all are enjoy this wonderful time of year!