G-F Foccacia Wrap Bread Recipe

Reposted as one of my Top Ten Gluten Free Recipes rated for ease, flexibility and speed.
It's easily in the top five for deliciousness!





Flat-bread, foccacia, happiness in 20 minutes, easiest bread substitute we've come across.  

Gluten-free foccacia bread like professionals in minutes.  I have always been impressed with this recipe and just today I dragged it out, dusted it off and mixed a bunch of ziploc bag mixes up for a friend.

With another friend, Lidia, we baked a pan up in less than fifteen minutes WITH prep. and BAKING!  Don't believe me?  Just try it.  But we ate it in less than that when we served it to the family.  Thanks Lidia, you rock!


Last posted March 8, 2009  New UPDATE 4-4-10: College Boy attempts Wrap Bread: Story HERE.

WRAP BREAD

1 full cup brown rice flour or sorghum flour or my wholegrain flour mix. (any GF flour mix works.)
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons xanthum gum
2 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt

OPTIONAL MODIFICATION:
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (Lidia and I used this and it was great)

Wet ingredients blend together:

1 tsp  cider vinegar or dough enhancer
2 Tbs. canola oil (I CHANGED THIS from olive oil, baked goods preferred oil is canola. I read that online!)
2 eggs
3/4 cup very warm water 


(SOMEDAYS, I USE HALF THIS MUCH WATER) It should not be thin or pourable, but form somewhat of a soft, thicker, ball on the pan.  This time Lidia and I started with 1/2 cup, but ended up using the whole 3/4.

Mix dry and wet ingredients together in a heavy duty mixer. Beat for (three and three quarter) or four minutes on high.

Flatten in 11 x 17 greased pan (I use a sprayed plastic wrap and rolling pin for speed).  Lidia and I topped it with parmesean cheese.  Delish!

We let dough raise 15 minutes. Bake at 425 degrees 10 minutes, or until top is browned.

Cool 2-10 minutes Cut into pieces and store these wrapped tightly.

11-09-08: I was just sent a recipe online from Glutenfreeclub.com... It sounds so good, I printed it off and made it up and WOW! I am really impressed. It tasted so good, better than my last Wrap Bread recipe from Jennifer Cinquepalmi's cookbook, The Complete Book of GlutenFree Cooking.
That's what I have to do, keep evolving, keeping testing, keep challenging myself and be open to new and different recipes. I can't get stuck in the rut!

BUT, then the two recipes comingle in my file and I can't remember which is the good one and which is the old one. I check out the ingredients, hoping for a clue... and find to my chagrin, the recipes are exactly the same.



The only difference? One recommends that it be baked at 350 for 11-15 minutes and the other 425 for 5-8 minutes.

Fool me. Whatever. So since it was sent to me free online, can I reprint here with no compunction? I think so, particularly since I have modified it.

flatbread? flat-bread, flat bread, flatbread

Carrot Cake Balls -- GF, CF, sugar-free, faux-cream cheese

IT's NATIONAL DIET MONTH!!!     Today I'm looking for something that will be delicious and yet not bust apart my 21 day diet. (because I'm not up to starting over.)  

This might work!  







Cream cheese cake balls that are dairy-free, sugarless, gluten-free, grain-free, healthy, raw and delicious?

And about which the 14 year old says,  "Okay Mom, they are not terrible."  Woot!  High praise indeed.

The impossible dream?  
Well, maybe. 
It's all true, except for the cream cheese.  

There is none of that in the recipe, but I made these and asked the guys what they  reminded them of and they came up with the name.  

Actually they said they tasted pumpkin too, but I thought that was really stretching it.  

Who knew dates are the secret ingredient? 

None of the guys and they will not!  

3/4 cup carrots, peeled, diced (2 or 3 full sized)
4 dates (pitted and diced)
1 teaspoon minced ginger root (I use the stuff from the jar in the fridge)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup pecans

I have a good food processor, so I did it all together using my processor blade, but try chopping the carrots first then remove and do the rest and add the carrots to thoroughly combine into a dough.  I used my handy-dandy melon baller and then rolled them in coconut.  

This is the birthday cake ball recipe that my dear friend Pam researched and fed to me for my September birthday.  It's taken a month to get it replicated.  I hope you love it as much as I do.    

Reality Bite:  And for the record, I still do not like dates... alone. (hee,hee.)

Last posted 10-29-13

GF Banana Cake

reposted from 2009

GF Banana Cake was another exceptional recipe from the GF Potluck in December 2009. Thanks to Gayle.  I'm baking it as I write. It was easy, and looks delicious. I think I might put a lighter frosting on it rather than the cream cheese one that was on it at the party.

Banana Cake

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla -

 Mix these ingredients until flufffy.

Sift together dry ingredients:

1 3/4 cup GF Flour (Gayle used Bob's All Purpose, I used a mix of 8-grain and featherlight)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about three large)

Alternate adding the flour mix and bananas to the other wet ingredient mixture only until all ingredients are incorporated. Bake in a 9x13 at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes until the top springs back when touched.

Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting (unless you're dairy free):

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

Add enough confectioners (powdered) sugar to make a spreading consistency (3-4 cups)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (opt.)

1/2 cup raisins (opt.)

GF Asian Sesame Green Beans

This is an easy, quick side with a tangy Asian sauce. Throw in sesame seeds if you have them or substitute (like we did) with slivered almonds or another nut.
The essentials are just soy sauce, sesame oil and (of course) green beans.

2 TB soy sauce to 1 tsp sesame oil,
about a pound of green beans (we steamed 'em first),
and sesame seeds.

Stir it all together until the wet has sucked into the beans and the whole thing smells Asiany.




Reality Bite:  Having spent two years living in Hong Kong, and speaking fluent Cantonese, I can totally say that.

Greek Gluten-Free Food : Dolmathes

Dolmathes are a must-try: savory-sour-salty little packets bursting with a delicious Greek mini-feast of rice, tomatoes, mint/dill/parsely and beef or lamb. It's enough to say υπέροχος: delicious! 
We tried them for the first time at SLC's Greek festival with our good friends, and now we are certifiably addicted. The rolling is time consuming unless you get a few helpers! 

Dolmathes Recipe:
1 can of grape leaves (look next to the pickles or anchovies in your grocery story)


for filling:
a cup of rice
a can of diced tomatoes
 fresh mint, parsley and dill

meat (beef or lamb) sauteed with an onion and olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

cook all of these ingredients together for a few minutes...

 Then fill the grape leaves!
Make sure the leaf is vein-up,
then put some filling in the middle.
(Notice the rice is not cooked! Don't worry!)

 fold up the bottom,

 fold in the sides,










Then roll that little bundle of yum up.


















Cook 'em in a crockpot on high for about 5 hours or low for 7 or so. Cover the bottom and sides of the pot with extra grape leaves first, then layer the bundles with lemon juice (like 1/2 a cup! Lots!). Pour vegetable, beef or chicken broth over the whole thing with about an inch of extra liquid covering all of them, then invert a heavy dish on top to keep all the dolmathes submerged while they cook.





Serve with tzatziki sauce (must, must, must have, unless you're dairy free of course)
plain yogurt + finely diced/shredded cucumber + garlic, salt/pepper and fresh dill + olive oil

GF CF Chocolate Meringue Cookies from King Arthur Flours

short and round, but dark and handsome: picture from King Arthur flours

No flour, no dairy cookies? Light and crunchy on the outside yet deep and chewy on the inside? Less than 30 minutes for the whole deal? Only four ingredients??

Yes, please.

Here's the link to the recipe: we just suggest you whip the sugar and egg whites together like any good French chef and THEN add the rest of the ingredients. Can be a pain to scrape off the pan if you neglect some sort of parchment paper or grease.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

Mass Soup Rave--people at the latest party really loved this one again. It is a keeper.  

Go acquire the real curry from the India store.  The hot one.  It's worth the extra work to get the good stuff.   


Last posted 10-11-11

One of my bff's brought curried soup to the India fest birthday and here is her recipe for all those who loved, loved, loved it!

Mr. Darcey loved it because he prefers a savory soup and this one really hits the delicious spot.

Saute in

2 Tablespoons butter (or olive oil)

1 cup onion diced

1/2 cup apple diced (I used granny smith)

1 cup celery diced

Cook about three-four minutes, just until everything is translucent. (It's the job of the fat to take on flavors and carry them throughout the soup to the tastebuds.)

Add 2 teaspoons curry powder (use your favorite--she used spicy.)

Saute just a couple minutes more.

Add 1 cup chicken broth (make sure it's GF, and dairy-free if you need)

Blend this mixture in your blender (I used a hand-held immersion blender) until smooth.

Return soup to your pot and add

2 more cups of chicken broth

1 3/4 cups of solid pumpkin (or a 15 oz can)

Reality Bite: (I added the 29 oz can and then had to remake the second bath of the entire soup and there was soup, soup, everywhere... plenty to freeze for next week and the week after...)

Anyway...

Add 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup heavy cream (or coconut cream, if you're dairy-free)

2-3 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup

Stir and heat to a simmer-- about another 5-10 minutes. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Delicious served with a dollop of sour cream and chives.

Reality Bite: And if you accidentally blend the second batch with the bay leaf, it's still good, just green flecked.

Gluten Free Grape Poppy Coleslaw Salad

A gluten-free, sweet and savory potluck summer salad that doesn't weigh heavy on the pocketbook nor the stomach.

1 head of cabbage sliced thinly
2 cups red/purple seedless grapes sliced in half
1 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Dressing

1 cup sugar  (I used 1/4 cup of agave syrup and 1/4 cup honey instead)
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

One 4 oz. bottle of red pimentos (optional)

Mix up dressing and pour over greens.  Allow to marinate in the refrigerator a couple hours or overnight.

Reality Bite:  I used the Grand Island Salad Dressing from Great grandma Bezzants veggie salad and it turned out really delicious.  Sweet and yet savory.

G-F Devils Food Chocolate Cake

Last night's party was so much fun and there was food, learning and enthusiasm for being healthy and gluten-free.  Thanks everybody for coming.

Okay, I'm reminding you where I posted the chocolate cake that is always so successful each time I attempt it.  I recognize that it is a modification of the copyrighted recipe from Bette Hagman (Praise Be Her Name), from her cookbook Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods, but I have recommended that same book to all my friends and acquaintances, so it's all fair.  Buy it online--used on Amazon for under ten bucks, you won't be sad.

Stir together

1 cup powdered cocoa (I use dutched for that extra rich flavor)
3/4 cup boiling water

Cool then add
3/4 cup buttermilk (almond milk with a tsp of lemon works)

Mix dry ingredients

1 3/4 cup gf flour (I use my wholegrain flour mix)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan/guar gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons egg replacer

Mix wet ingredients
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup mayonaise (not salad dressing0
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla


Combine all  ingredients together. Pour into a 9x13 pan, a bundt pan for Peanut Butter Delight or into 60 mini cupcake papers for DING DONGS and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.  Test doneness by inserting a toothpick, knife or dowel until it comes out clean.

Magnifique!

GF Thai Tuna Patties

What fun it was to make this simultaneously with the daughter long distance over the phone last night.  We joked, laughed and cooked together, her modifying the crumbs to whatever she could find in a newlywed cupboard.  Once again, the guys liked it so much they fought over the last burger.  Truly delish!

First posted 1-25-10

My boys loved this recipe! Shock and awe! I called it a tuna burger... that might be why.

1 lb of Ahi Tuna flaked (or you could do like me and open three (5 oz.) cans of Starkist)

1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs (YAY someplace to use all those stale loaves.) (watch out for dairy)

Mix the following ingredients together then combine all together:

1/2 tsp onion powder (or green onions)

1/4 tsp minced ginger (I doubled this and it was great)

1/2 tsp sesame oil (Sushi Chef most are GF)

1/2 tsp fish sauce (Thai Kitchen  most are GF)

1 Tablespoon GF soy sauce (LaChoy or Kikuman's new GF type)

1 egg

Mix altogether and form into patties. Brown on each side in a nonstick skillet or my trusty cast iron on medium heat.

Serve atop greens with a Cucumber Aiolo sauce (fancy name for a simple sauce)

1 Tbs. mayo

1 Tbs. finely grated cucumber

Delicious! Easy and already to make from the contents of the pantry!!! So this one moves to one of the top twenty easy/fast main dish recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

A yummy light bisque is a great way to close out the soup season.  The daffodils are up and the salad season beacons.

My g-f team mate Lori has scored again with a delicious roasted cauliflower soup.  I thought that there were very few tastes that could match the delight of mashed cauliflower, but this one does.  Scrumptious, and I've had to double the batch both times.

 http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/02/roasted-cauliflower-and-aged-white.html

Leave out the presumptuous cheese and replace the cream with your favorite milk substitute for a dairy-free, calorie light version.

GF Jamaican Black Beans and Rice

Sorry the photo's only available on facebook until I get back to the land of the living wifi.


My dear friend Lisa, married to Gus, a Chinese Jamaican, shared this recipe with me years ago and I'm just making it now again when I unearthed the recipe from the depths of the file.  It was delicious then and it's just as wonderful now.

2 15 oz. cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
one onion chopped,
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp minced fresh garlic (I use the bottled stuff)
a  hot pepper diced (I used a serrano, but chickened out and threw away the seeds)
1 cup green pepper diced
1 13 oz can coconut milk (I used powdered from the Indian/Asian store--it's cheap)
2 cups ham diced
3 cups cooked rice

Stir it all up, heat it in a crockpot or in the oven in a hot dish 'til hot in the middle.  I left it all day on low.

Serve it with grated cheese, fresh green pepper and sriracha hot sauce (I shouldn't have thrown away the seeds.)  So Delicious!

It's a very forgiving recipe.

To be absolutely truthful, I did the recipe different because of what I had on hand.  My version:  I took 3/4 pound of dry black beans, and put it in my crockpot on low overnight, cooked it with about three times as much water, garlic, ham, hot pepper and a whole onion studded with 20 whole cloves.  The next morning I drained it, added the coconut milk, cooked rice, another onion and green pepper chopped and it turned out great that way too.     However, the diced ham turns completely black, which makes the family pretty intrigued.

Dairy free: DON'T add cheese.

Green Chili Chicken Soup

Served most recently last night.  I halved the batch and it still made mucho leftovers.
First posted Jan 10, 2011

Once upon a time, my husband ate a delicious soup in an airport in Albuquerque. He purchased the recipe and brought home a tiny bag of ingredients. We loved it and served it up to friends, until the bag was empty. One day I pulled out the recipe, looked at the enclosed ingredients and concluded that the bag was ... chicken bouillon.

And we've mixed it up ourselves since then. It's perfect for this season. Enjoy!

2 cups cooked chicken meat

2 cans chopped green chilis  (wow, spicy hot)

3 cups chopped canned tomatoes

1/4 cup chicken base (2-3 T. condensed GF chicken bouillon) (if you want it dairy free, look for one both GF and CF--OR just make your own)

1 tablespoon garlic (I used minced)

6 potatoes with skins (red or yukon gold) diced

2 quarts water

I bring all ingredients to boil and simmer until potatoes are soft. I serve it with cheese, chips, guacamole and sour cream/plain yogurt.

Mucho Caliente? I make it with one can of chilis and add on from there. Leave off the sour cream and cheese if you're dairy free as well. 

Basic Muffin Mix

Mix up the following and stick it in a ziplock to make muffins later. We eat some version of them daily it seems.

1 1/2 cups of a gf flour mix (I use my wholegrain flour mix) Remember, the more diversified the flours, the merrier.
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthum gum (or guar gum)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
chocolate chips

Then I add the wet ingredients

A scoop of pumpkin, applesauce, or a smashed banana (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
1 egg or an egg substitute
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
and with enough milk to equal 2 cups (non-dairy creamer) (or use your favorite dairy free milk substitute)

Add some part buttermilk if you have it.

Stir together til smooth. Bake in small muffin tins 15 minutes or less. 350 degree

I add chocolate chips, dried cranberries, frozen blueberries, walnuts, whatever I want today. It's all delicious.

Egg Free/ Dairy Free Miracle Muffins

These are GF/CF Miracle Muffins, because I still can't understand how they work without milk and eggs.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup canola oil
3 bananas
1 tbs. Ener-g egg replacer
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dough enhancer (optional as a lifter and preservative)

Mix everything together, place in greased muffin tins or paper muffin cups. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes until tops darken and a fork poked in comes out clean. These are said to freeze nicely, but I eat them all instead.

May bake five to seven minutes more in moister climates and I never add any of the water at all.