Monthly Archives: October 2014

Pumpkin Pie

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The coconut milk is what gives this pie a cow-dairy-like mouth feel. The tasty GF graham crackers are a good substitute for the usual wheat pastry crust, a GF version of which I haven’t yet managed to pull off. See “Pie Crust” for a tasty wheat flour crust.

For the Filling (recipe in progress 10.30.14)

  • 15 oz + 7.5 oz canned pumpkin
  • 2 large eggs or 3 small eggs
  • 12 oz coconut cream (sans liquid in the can) or *cow cream
  • 1 cup dextrose (or 3/4 cup sugar)
  • 1/4 cup real maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon clove
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

*1/2 whipping cream and 1/2 half-and-half

For the Crust

  • 100 grams gluten-free graham crackers (try Smoreables brand)
  • 100 grams *nut-seed-meal (e.g., walnuts, pecans, almonds, flax seeds)
  • 3 tablespoons melted salted butter
  • 2 tablespoons powdered dextrose (or 5 teaspoons table sugar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (if not using salted butter)

*I used 50 g walnuts and 50 g flax meal.

Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350F for 50 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean. Cover the crust edges with foil before baking.

Anna and Maddie came home to help us prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Anna and I set out to make pumpkin empanadas, but we used this filling recipe (the dairy version) by mistake. We realized that pumpkin pie filling is liquid, and empanada filling is not. Anna added extra pumpkin, but there was no fixing it. We made a very tasty pie instead.

 

 

Peanut Butter Cookies

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This recipe is an adaptation of the foolproof, yummy Betty Crocker recipe that I grew up with. The salt, sweet and peanut butter flavors are just right in this gluten-free version.

  • 1 cup *dextrose (or 7/8 cup table sugar)
  • 2 tablespoons **molasses
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup salted peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup salted butter
  • 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil or non trans fat shortening
  • 1/4 cup flax meal
  • 1/2 cup ***teff flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (3/4 t. if no salted butter)

Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients. Blend the two mixtures together. Bake at 350F for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

*Ratio of fructose to glucose in sugars: dextrose 0-100; sucrose (table sugar) 50-50; HFCS 42-53 or 55-42.

**Barley malt syrup (100% glucose) has the same flavor as molasses but is not GF.

***Or any other flour (like wheat, oat, buckwheat, more coconut). Bob’s Red Mill makes teff flour.

Baked Beans

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These beans make a divine dish for a party or a campout. Topped with a rosette of thin tomato wedges and broiled until blackened around the edges, they’re as pretty as they are tasty. You can add the protein of your choice for a different flavor. Smoked tempeh is a good option.

  • 3 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, diced
  • 2 onions, diced
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Saute until semi-soft.

  • 2  6-0z cans tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chipotle (or other) hot sauce
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1/2 cup dextrose powder (or 1/3 cup table sugar)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
  • bean juice from 2 cans of beans (see below)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Blend.

  • 4 cans navy beans (or other white bean), drained

Stir together beans, sauce and sauteed peppers and onions. Place in large stoneware bowl. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

  • 1 tomato, sliced into thin wedges

Take the beans out of the oven. Decorate with tomato wedges to fill the top surface. Broil for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are blackened around the edges and the sauce has begun to caramelize on top.

Helen’s note:

We have taken these beans camping for years with the girls and their many cousins. We recently served them at our empty nest party, celebrating 25 years of parenting three lovely daughters (we did it!) and our return to the twosome we created so long ago. In those days, our favorite meal was instant mashed potatoes, blackened hot dogs and canned green beans. You will see after eating these beans that we have been practicing in the kitchen a bit since then.

June 2016 note:

Barbecued Tempeh

My sister Katherine her husband Tomás asked me to convert this recipe to the grilled barbecued tempeh that Scott and I served them on their recent visit when they came to town for the Ragnar race (go, Team What Was I Thinking? !). Here it is:

Make the sauce as described above. Cut the tempeh into slices about 3/8″ thick. Boil them for 15-20 minutes to expand the tempeh. Lay the slices out on a well oiled baking pan. Brush them with sauce and broil. Turn midway through and brush the other side. Broil until just blackened. Enjoy!