Gluten Free Menu Swap... a spiffing idea!

I'm posting my first menu for the Gluten Free Menu Swap. Hope I don't screw it up, lol.
I'll post my veggie meals here and all my other recipes over at Better Batter.
Okay, here goes:

Week of October 22, I'm making...

M Garlic-Basil Dinner Loaves with Artichoke heart and Fontinella Cheese Filling

T A Super-Easy Dal (with apple! You heard right....apple) with Naan

W Black-Bean and Pumpkin Soup

T Hot Mess (Aka Hunter's Breakfast)

F Mexican Stuffed Peppers

S I'm leaving Free to Try Your Recipes!
S I'm leaving free to Try Your Recipes!

This week's menu swap is hosted by Mrs. G.F.
Stop in and give her your love!

Why did I Drop the Raw Foods Thing?

Raw foods! Ahhhhhh raw foods. Delicious, healthy, light and easy recipes for a busy lifestyle. So why, oh why, dearest reader, did I drop the raw foods thing?

Because, in a nutshell, it was very bad for me.

Not the raw foods themselves. The lifestyle.

Okay,

A) Hunny wasn't buying 100% raw. So essentially, though we could survive through breakfast and lunch together, I always had to make separate dinners. Which meant I spent 1/2 of my day in the kitchen. 3/4 for a really gourmet 'uncooked' food.

B) It was too easy to slide into my old eating disorder. Maybe this isn't true for anyone else, or everyone else, or...whatever. But for me, the push to 'go 100% raw' was really too obsessive. I found myself counting percentages instead of calories, and worrying about every little thing I put into my mouth. I started getting aversions to foods that I know scientifically are healthier for you if cooked. I... it wasn't good, and it wasn't going to be healthy if I kept on keeping on.

C) It was hard to get certain vitamins and minerals (like the B vitamins) into my diet. And I feel vitamin deficiency terribly fast -- keep in mind, I've had to be dairy free for a while now, so with no animal based form of nutrition at all, I slid into deficiency hard-core. This is, I suppose, why so many people choose to do a little dairy or eggs with their veggie lifestyle. "Why not take a supplement?"... because the supplements are animal-based (see B above). "why not try masive quantities of sea vegetables?"... I did. It didn't help -- the B vitamins in seas veggies didn't absorb well. ugh. ANd yes, we do eat sea veggies all the time, so there was no aversion.

D) Did I mention that it's getting cold where I live? Really cold. Like dark, dark days of autumn, sliding into the eternal night of winter cold... The only fresh, local, organic, raw produce available here right now is kole veggies (which are fine fermented) and squashes (which get a little rough to take raw). I'm really into local, sustainable Community supported agriculture. (Isn't everybody). So we've got a war of philosophies going. And even if I give in and buy the imported organic-goods (and admitedly I do every so often, especially come winter when my garden's not producing and neither is my local farm), I'm not a Hollywood celebrity,and there's no eternal summer here in the mountains, so unless I want to mortgage my house, 100% raw was not going to happen. Period.

E) One last thing. I'm a research gal. There's a lot of misinformation going on in the Raw community right now. A lot of good, but a lot of missed. For instance, the whole nuts thing. For a while, the only truly RAW nut you could find was almonds, if you wanted to split hairs, and now, even that's hard to find unless you live in CA. Did I mention I can get a tad obsessive?


Anwhoodles.... point being:

I eat a lot of Raw anyway. I'm not going to worry about exactly HOW raw I am. I'm going to enjoy cooked foods and supplement heavily with fresh seasonal veggies, raw or gently cooked, and loads of fresh seasonal fruits (my strawberries and raspberries are just coming on heavily!). I eat well. I eat sustainably. I like to bake. I don't want to make myself starve again.

I'll still use raw recipes. I'll still eat raw. But it's a part of my lifestyle... not my identity.

Cool? Cool.

Because I'm in a Baking Mood...Bagels

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I usually post actual entrees. But I'm in a baking mood and totally off the raw food wagon (or kind of, anyway)... so I'm posting what I've been gorging myself on the last two days - bagels!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the recipes for those who are interested.

I get a lot of questions when I post a recipe calling for Better Batter Gluten Free Flour, so I'm providing a link to the website. Knock yerself out.

Meanwhile... Here's the recipes:

Everything Bagels

These are a near clone of the Everything Bagels you can buy at the Einstein Brothers bagel shops. These bagels fill the house with the smell of a bagel shop. They taste awesome toasted with butter. For a treat, make them into Breakfast Sandwiches.

I'm including photos of each step to try and make it easier to visualize. Follow the directions carefully and you'll have real bagels in no time! This recipe makes 24 large bagels.

8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c molasses
2 Tbsp salt
2 packages active dry yeast
6 cups warm water

2 egg whites, beaten with 2 tbsp cold water
1 tablespoon dry minced onion
1 tablespoon dry minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Flour, for rolling
Water plus sugar for the water bath (1 Tbsp per 2 quarts)
cornmeal for dusting the pans


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line three or four baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal.

1. Mix all Dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water and molasses and knead with your hands until the mixture resembles very sticky play-doh.

2. Lightly flour a silpat or plastic wrap (it should barely be covered with a fine film of flour). Divide the dough into softball sized portions (you can make them smaller for a mini bagel, or larger for a deli-sized bagel)

3. Gently roll the dough balls on the floured surface of the silpat until they're smooth. Flatten each ball ito a disk, about 4 inches by 1 1/2 inches thick.




4. Verygently, with floured hands, poke a hole into the center of the dough an work it until the hole is about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Repeat with all the dough. Let the bagels rise for 30 minutes.


5. Heat a pan full of water, at least 3 inches deep to boiling. Add about a tablespoon of sugar per 2 quarts of water. Drop no more than 3 bagels in at a time (they swell as they cook)!



6. Simmer for 3 minutes, gently turn over and simmer for another 4 minutes.




7. Place back on parchment paper. When the tray is full, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile combine all of the onion, garlic, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, sesame seeds and salt.Remove from oven and brush all over with egg white mixture and sprinkle equally with the seed mixture.

Return to oven and bake for 20-30 minutes more, or until deep golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

Variation: Substitute all poppy seeds or all sesame seeds for the seed mixture.

New York Style Water Bagels

These really and truly taste, look and have the mouth feel of a great bagel. Serve with cream cheese and, if you're so inspired, lox. They freeze beautifully and reheat well. For a treat, make them into Breakfast Sandwiches.

8 cups all purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
2 Tbsp salt
2 packages active dry yeast
6 cups warm water

2 egg whites, beaten with 2 tbsp cold water

Flour, for rolling


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line three or four baking sheets with parchment paper.
1. Mix all Dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water and knead with your hands until the mixture resembles very sticky play-doh.

2. Lightly flour a silpat or plastic wrap (it should barely be covered with a fine film of flour). Divide the dough into softball sized portions (you can make them smaller for a mini bagel, or larger for a deli-sized bagel)

3. Gently roll the dough balls on the floured surface of the silpat until they're smooth. Flatten each ball ito a disk, about 4 inches by 1 1/2 inches thick.

4. Verygently, with floured hands, poke a hole into the center of the dough an work it until the hole is about 1/2 inch in diameter. Repeat with all the dough. Let the bagels rise for 30 minutes.

5. Heat a pan full of water, at least 3 inches deep to boiling. Drop no more than 3 bagels in at a time (they swell as they cook)!

6. Simmer for 3 minutes, gently turn over and simmer for another 4 minutes.

7. Place back on parchment paper. When the tray is full, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and brush all over with egg white mixture.

Return to oven and bake for 20-30 minutes more, or until deep golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

What HAVE I been up to??? Pretzels!

Suprepretzels Clone
Many thanks to Sande Guetthoff for asking me to develop this recipe for her. This makes individual sized soft pretzels that taste remarkably (scarily!) close to the real thing. They freeze beautifully and reheat well. For a treat, try the Bavarian Pretzel Sandwich Rolls Variation.

I'm including photos of each step to try and make it easier to visualize. Follow the directions carefully and you'll have real soft pretzels in no time!

2 Tbsp active dry yeast
4 c cold water
6 c Better Batter Gluten Free Flour
1/2 c light corn syrup or agave nectar
1/4 c butter, margerine, or butter-flavoured shortening
2 tsp salt

Flour, for rolling

Beaten egg whites (about 3)

10 c hot water
2/3 c baking soda
coarse pretzel salt, if desired.

Line three or four baking sheets with parchment paper.


1. Put the yeast in the warm water and let sit for five minutes. Add 4 cups of the flour, corn syrup or agave, butter/margerine/shortening, and salt to the yeast mixture and beat well, on high speed, for three minutes. The mixture should resemble very, very sticky cookie dough (or even a bit wetter).

2. Put a cup of flour thickly over a silpat or plastic wrap and place the dough mixture on this. Sprinkle with another cup of the flour. Now very carefully incorporate the flour (knead it by folding the batter in half, patting it out, and folding gently again) until all the flour is absorbed. This should feel like sticky play-doh.

3. Separate the dough into balls slightly larger than baseballs but slightly smaller than tennis balls.

The outside of the ball will get slightly dry to the touch, but the inside will be really tacky and sticky (click pic for a closer look).


4. Very, very lightly flour your rolling surface. Taking one ball at a time, with floured hands, roll the ball between your hands until it is about four inches long. Lay onto the rolling surface.

Roll the dough very gently until it is about 9 inches long. At this point, it will be really delicate. Begin to VERY gently pinch the width of the dough to make it longer, and alternate this with patting the dough gently down to make it flatter. Keep doing this until the dough is about 14 inches long.

5. Take the rope and quickly form it, on the parchment sheets, into a pretzel shape. Brush a little egg white or water under the surface of each 'foot' and onto the base of the pretzel to adhere the 'arms' to the 'body'.

Let rise for 30-45 minutes.


6. Prepare the soda bath: Mix the 10 cups of water with the baking soda and (10 minutes before you're ready to dip the pretzels) heat to a boil. This will be cloudy in appearance. This should be ready just as the pretzels are done rising.


7. VERY CAREFULLY, using as wide a spatula as you can (use two-- one to life and one to slide under and support!) lift the pretzel from the parchment paper into the boiling soda bath. This will boil up into froth, so it's really important not to do more than two pretzels at a time at most! Cover with a lid and time for 1 minute.

This solution will get stronger smelling with each pretzel and may even turn a weird bright golden yellow as the batches progress. That's okay!!

8. VERY carefully remove the pretzel(s) from the water and place back on the parchment paper. Continue to do this with the rest of the pretzels.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 350 degrees.

9. Brush beaten egg white over the pretzels and bake for about 15 minutes, or until deep golden brown. If you are going to eat them hot, sprinkle the salt on before baking. If you are going to freeze them, wait until you are ready to heat them to put the salt on.

Vegetarian Stroganoff

Vegetarian Stroganoff

This meal has all the great taste of beef stroganoff, but Utilizes my favorite lentil "meat" instead of ground beef. Feel free to use fat-free yogurt instead of sour cream, if you're watching your waistline.

8 oz lentils, soaked overnight in 6 cups of water, then drained.
1 cup-2 c water
1 tsp garlic powder or one clove garlic
1 tsp salt
oil, about a cup.

1 onion, finely diced

8 oz mushrooms, finely sliced

1 16oz carton sour cream

2 Tbsp Better Batter Gluten Free Flour

1/8 tsp pepper

salt to taste

1 recipe Pasta, prepared as noodles or store bought gf noodles (we like glutano tagliatelli)

Grind the lentils and seasonings in a blender using just enough water to keep the machine from burning up. The mixture should be thick, like cold cream or pudding.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Add the ground lentil paste and fry, stirring constantly. There should form a skin on the bottom of the pan, scrape this (this is the part of the mixture that will come to resemble ground beef). Keep frying and scraping (you can leave the mixture for several minutes to allow a crust to build up) until the mixture begins to look 'dry' and resembles cooked ground beef -- remember that this will firm up even a bit more as it cools, so leave it just slightly moist.
This took me 30 minutes on high heat.

Meanwhile, boil pasta water.

Cook the pasta.

At the last minute, stir the sour cream, salt, and pepper into the stroganoff. Put on top of pasta and serve.

Finally! The pierogies

No, I haven't left you. Yes I'm very busy.

LOL!

To make these, you'll need to start by making a base for stuffed pastas. This is really very easy:

Base For Stuffed Pastas

This is a great pasta recipe, especially for making homemade ravioli, pierogis, or kreplach. This can be rolled by hand or through a machine, and is very adaptable. Make sure to follow the instructions exactly as written.

4 cups Better Batter All Purpose Flour

1 generous tsp salt

2 large eggs

2 tbsp butter or shortening

2-3 c warm water

Put flour, salt, eggs, and butter or shortening in the bowl of a food processor. Put the lid on and turn the machine to 'on.' Pour just enough water through the feeder spout, in a constant thin stream, until the dough begins to resemble a very thick paste and sticks to the side of the machine. Take out of machine and let sit about 20 minutes. (Alternately: put all ingredients into the bowl of a kitchenaid mixer and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the water, slowly in a thin stream until the pastelike texture is achieved, then beat for a minute or two more. Let sit)

Proceed with stuffed pasta directions.

Potato And Cheddar Pierogies

Pierogis are stuffed pasta - reminiscient of ravioli, but filled with potato, cabbage, or meat. Originally of slovak and Polish origin, these delicious dumplings are a major part of central Pennsylvanian cuisine. Traditionally, pierogi are boiled and then fried in melted butter. Sheer heaven. These taste like clones of the popular commercial variety available in supermarkets. This is work intensive, so make a lot and freeze them.

5 pounds potatoes

1 onion, finely minced

1 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 recipe Base for stuffed Pastas

Flour, for rolling, as well as a 3 inch round cookie cutter

water or egg white

Optional: butter for frying

Peel potatoes and cube. Boil a pot full of water and cook potatoes until soft, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and mash.

Stir the onion and cheese into the potato mixture and set aside to cool.

Split the pasta in half, and roll out one half at a time. Place the dough on a floured surface (I like to use a silpat) and sprinkle generously with flour. Roll out until the dough is 1/8-1/4 inch thick.

Gently fold the dough in half to mark the center crease and unfold.

Using the cookie cutter, lightly mark circles on half the dough (do not cut through the dough!

Working quickly coat the marked side of the dough with water or egg white and place a large teaspoon (up to a tablespoon) of potato/cheese filling in the center of each circle.

Fold the dough over and press lightly to seal around the pockets of filling.

Using the cookie cutter, cut out the circles of dough. Gather and reroll the scraps, continuing to mark and fill the dough as instructed. Set aside to dry while you make the second half of the pasta.

Boil fresh water for the pasta (about a gallon for each two dozen).

Put the pierogis in the water and cook until they float, about 30 seconds.

Either serve, or fry in melted butter until lightly browned, then serve.

Pumpkin Pierogies

These pierogies are a sophisticated, 'grown-up' take on traditional Polish comfort food. The mellow winter squash is counterbalanced by warm undertones from spices and given a surprisingly delicious kick with the addition of fresh sage. A perfect dish for autumn.

2 pounds potatoes

2 pounds pumpkin, butternut squash, or other winter squash

1 large carrots, minced

1 onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

2 eggs

1 recipe Base for stuffed Pastas

Flour, for rolling, as well as a 3 inch round cookie cutter

water or egg white

Bbutter for frying

1 bunch fresh sage

Peel potatoes and squash and cube. Boil in just enough water to cover until soft, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and mash.

Stir the carrots, onion, garlic, spices, and eggs and set aside to cool.

Split the pasta in half, and roll out one half at a time. Place the dough on a floured surface (I like to use a silpat) and sprinkle generously with flour. Roll out until the dough is 1/8-1/4 inch thick.

Gently fold the dough in half to mark the center crease and unfold.

Using the cookie cutter, lightly mark circles on half the dough (do not cut through the dough!

Working quickly coat the marked side of the dough with water or egg white and place a large teaspoon (up to a tablespoon) of filling in the center of each circle.

Fold the dough over and press lightly to seal around the pockets of filling.

Using the cookie cutter, cut out the circles of dough. Gather and reroll the scraps, continuing to mark and fill the dough as instructed. Set aside to dry while you make the second half of the pasta.

Boil fresh water for the pasta (about a gallon for each two dozen).

Put the pierogis in the water and cook until they float, about 30 seconds.

Slice the sage leaves into thin julienne slices and quickly fry in the butter. Add the pierogies, fry in melted butter until lightly browned, then serve.