Old Fashioned Country Biscuit

For the lightest biscuits, the less you handle the dough, the better. A delicious country classic; like mom used to make!

2 cups GF flour blend, plus 1 T. extra for dusting

1/2 t. salt

4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

2 T. butter, chilled and chopped into pieces

2 T. coconut oil, chilled

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Preheat oven to 450˚F.

Combine all dry ingredients and whisk together. Add the butter and coconut oil and work into the dry ingredients quickly, using a pastry cutter or fork. Do not allow the fat to melt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until the dough forms a soft, moist glob. It should be sticky. But it still needs to have enough body to be able to form a very soft dough that you can cut into loose biscuits. We are not making hockey pucks here!

Plop the ball of dough onto a tea towel that has been dusted with the extra flour. With floured hands, very gently knead the dough 4 or 5 times and gently pat down  into a mound that is about 1 1/2 inches thick. Again, do not overwork the dough!

Cut biscuits with a floured drinking glass or 2.5 to 3 inch biscuit cutter and  arrange them, touching each other, in an unbuttered cake or pie pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and flakey (not doughy) when pulled apart. They should read around 205˚F on an instant read thermometer.

Makes: Eight biscuits.

Notes: For a shortcake biscuit to be used with berries and as dessert, add a

little extra sugar to the recipe and sprinkle extra sugar on top of the

biscuits just before baking.

This recipe is from my cookbook: "The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free."

To watch a slide show "tour" of the cookbook, click this link:

Youtube slide show "tour" of book here:

Snowball Cookies

The secret ingredient in this cookie is ricotta cheese! This is a wonderful, slightly crunchy on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside cookie.

2 cups GF flour blend
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
Pinch of salt
½ cup butter (one stick)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 t. GF vanilla or maple extract

 Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar, 2 T. milk
1cup coconut flakes for garnish

Heat oven to 350˚F. Coat 2 baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray or parchment.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until blended; set aside. Beat butter and sugar together until blended. Add egg, ricotta and vanilla and beat until combined.

Mix flour mixture into liquid mixture until blended. Chill dough for one hour, if desired.

With oiled hands, roll dough into rough one inch balls OR just scoop out portions with a teaspoon. Place onto cookie sheets two inches apart. Bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges of cookies. Cool on a rack.

Glaze
Beat powdered sugar and milk until well blended. Dip tops of cookies into glaze and sprinkle with coconut. Set aside on waxed paper until glaze has hardened.

Makes: Three dozen cookies.

This recipe is available in my first cookbook: 
"Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking" www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

 

Kale Fritters with Smoked Paprika Aioli

Not too sure about kale? Never had the stuff? Myself, I am HOOKED.

Last Spring we grew our own kale from April thru June and this year, we chose to join our Community Supported Agriculture program, by participating in our local Whipstone Farms
produce share program from May until October. The local, organic kale that they supply us with (among other produce) has been fresh and wonderful. Working with Whipstone has been a very wise decision,too, when one factors in our rather challenged well.

In this recipe, healthy, gluten free kale fritters with sweet potato and bacon create a tasty breakfast, lunch or dinner offering... or a main dish with a salad for a vegan.

One of the best uses of kale that I have found...

3-4 cups of kale, ribbed and chiffonaded (finely shredded)*

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, baked and mashed

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

½ cup low fat GF mayonnaise

¼ cup GF flour blend or cornmeal

½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

6 slices of bacon, fried and coarsely chopped

¼ cup green onions, sliced (green part only)

Cayenne, salt and pepper to taste

 ¼ cup olive oil (or less) for frying

Toss all the ingredients together until well mixed. Spoon large scoops into a saute pan and fry until crisp, but not burned; about 5 minutes per side.

Notes: *You may prefer to saute' the kale for a couple of minutes in some of the bacon grease, before folding into the remaining ingredients. You can purchase the kale in a bag and already shredded.

Smoked Paprika Aioli

Aioli is a fancy word for mayonnaise; in this case seasoned with smoked paprika.

2 large cloves garlic, smashed
½ cup mayonnaise
1-2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 t. smoked paprika
1 t. fresh lemon juice, more to taste
Salt and black pepper

Put the garlic in a small saucepan and sauté with a little olive oil. Allow to cool. Whirl the garlic in a small food processor with the remaining ingredients and serve with the fritters.

For more recipes from my cookbook: "The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free", go to:   http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

 

And the winner is.....drum roll please!

Theresa Gates

Congratulations to Theresa Gates! Theresa is the winner of the drawing for my free cookbook !

Theresa hails from Eagle River, Alaska and her name was selected by my assistant, Topper, (see more on Topper below*) out of the voter submissions on my new cookbook cover and title vs. the existing one. A personally autographed edition of my 160 page gluten free/wheat free cookbook goes out to her this week! Theresa is a housewife and she is not alone in being the only member of her family with celiac. Her daughter and son have celiac disease as well. 

This week, the new title and cover will become available at my website right along side the older cover and title: “Delicious!The very best if gluten free and wheat free cooking”, so watch for it!

While Theresa’s personal favorite in the voting was my previous cookbook cover, the majority of voters chose the new vintage-looking cookbook cover and title: “The Farmer’s Daughter Cooks Gluten Free.”

Topper about to choose a name from the bowl
of contest submissions.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to send me their thoughts and input on the new cover and title. Your feedback was very much appreciated! 

*And a special thanks to Topper, my lab, for carefully picking Theresa’s name from the batch of names for the drawing. She did good (GOOD dog!) and received a Three Dog Bakery gluten free carob “Oreo” cookie for doing her job as my personal assistant!

Note: the cookbooks are shown on the posting at this blog dated January 5th, 2012. My cookbook is available both at my website and blog. Links are below...

http://www.celacdiseaseinfo.org

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Cooking-Collection-Celiacs-Sensitive/dp/0615305709/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282852260&sr=1-

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

This is a moist bread that holds its’ shape and tastes wonderful! Using the coffee can option* makes it a unique bread and very user friendly for slicing bread for sandwiches or muffins.

3 cups GF flour blend
3/4 t. additional xanthan gum

¼ cup milk powder

1 T. sugar

1½ T. dry yeast granules

1 t. salt

2 eggs, room temperature

1¼ cups water, warmed to 115-120˚F

1 t. apple cider vinegar

3 T. olive oil

Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend with a whisk. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, water, cider vinegar, and oil. Mix wet into dry ingredients and beat for at least two minutes.

Fold the mixture into an oiled muffin pan for rolls OR pour into an oiled 1# metal coffee can. For the coffee cans, you may opt to dust the insides of the cans slightly with flour blend, also. Fill no more than half full. Set aside in a slightly warm area free of drafts to rise approximately 30-40 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Bake in a 350˚F oven for 15 minutes for rolls or 30 minutes in the coffee can. Test with instant read thermometer until breads are 200-205˚F in center. Allow to cool before removing from the muffin pan or coffee can and/or slicing. Slice the bread, easily following the grooves made on the bread by the coffee can. PERFECT for buns, English muffins, etc.

Notes: *Acquire 1# metal coffee cans and empty out the coffee. Rinse and dry the can and use a can opener to remover the inner ring near the top of the can. Oil the can well and fill half full with bread batter.

Makes: Two coffee can loaves or 12 rolls.

This recipe is from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. It is available at:   

http://www.celacdiseaseinfo.org