Grain-Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake

One day in early October, I said to my Husband, "I feel like baking something." He said, "Pineapple Upside Down Cake!" And I said, "Well, okay then!" What he didn't know, or maybe he did, is that months earlier I had bought a can of pineapple rings for just this purpose. I had all the other ingredients on hand to make this Coconut Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe,which I'd printed and put into my recipe file. But, it uses a dozen eggs, and that was going to make me dangerously low on eggs in the house. So after studying it for a bit, I went back to my printed recipe file, and found this Grain-Free Coffee Cake recipe, which I'd made as written before and found awesome. I taped them both to my kitchen cabinet, and proceeded to hybridize them. The result was fantastic! So now, I'll share it with you.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

2/3c + 1/4 cup (divided use) grade B maple syrup, or honey
1/4c + 1/4 cup (divided use) coconut oil, melted
4 eggs
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (or heavy cream if you can do dairy)
3/4 cup arrowroot powder
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 1/2-inch pineapple rings (or a can of sliced pineapple)
1/4 cup unsweetened dried tart cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil a cake pan with straight sides. (I love this coconut oil spray. It's not perfect - contains soy lecithin and "propellant", but it's far better than the alternatives.)

Mix 2/3c maple syrup or honey, 1/4c coconut oil, eggs, and coconut milk until well combined.

Stir together arrowroot powder, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir well.

Put the remaining 1/4c coconut oil in a small saucepan and heat over medium high heat. Stir in the remaining 1/4c maple syrup or honey. When it foams and bubbles, pour it into the bottom of the greased cake pan. Arrange the pineapple slices and dried cherries in the bottom of the pan. Pour the prepared cake batter over the top, and pop the pan into the preheated oven. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the sides, and inverting on a platter to serve.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Poppers

This is one of those "only via the Internet" stories. A friend on Facebook posted about making these poppers, with a link to where she'd pinned the recipe on Pinterest. That, of course, had been pinned by several other people - I don't "do" Pinterest, so I couldn't quite trace the path. Not that it matters. Clicking on the pinned recipe took me to a blog that posted the recipe, which that blogger had gotten from someone *else's* blog... I took a look at it, and immediately adapted it in my head to be gluten-free. A few days later, I tried out my adaptation, and if I do say so myself, they're PERFECT! So, without further ado, here is a delicious, sugary recipe, adapted to be gluten-free and nourishing, if still a bit sugary!

Pumpkin Poppers

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup milk, cream, or coconut milk

For Coating - optional

4oz butter or ghee, melted

2/3 cup turbinado sugar

2 tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F and spray mini muffin tins with coconut oil spray.

Combine coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk until combined.

In another bowl, mix coconut oil, coconut  sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk. Pour in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fill mini muffin tins until almost full and bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one muffin comes out clean. 

If using coating: Melt butter in small bowl.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate small bowl. After poppers cool for a few minutes, dip them in the butter and roll them in the sugar mixture - either the whole popper, or just the top for a bit less sweet! 

Homemade "Nutella" Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

This was a big hit at my Holiday parties, spread on apple slices and/or crispy buckwheat pancakes*!
(*Make small buckwheat pancakes, then spread them on a cookie sheet & dry them in a 200F oven until crisp. Makes a great gluten-free cracker for savory or sweet toppings!)

I adapted this recipe from here, as I didn't have hazelnut oil, and I won't touch agave nectar.

1 cup hazelnuts

¼ cup cacao powder

5 tablespoons honey, maple syrup, palm sugar, or rapadura

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon hazelnut or coconut oil

pinch celtic sea salt

Roast the hazelnuts at 350° for 8-10 minutes until they darken a bit and smell fragrant

Transfer the hazelnuts to a towel and rub off the skins if you can

In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, about 5 minutes, scraping the sides as needed

Add the cacao, sugar, vanilla, oil and salt and process until well blended, about a minute

Store in a glass mason jar in the refrigerator

Bring to room temperature prior to serving

Makes 1 ½ cups

I used Grade B maple syrup for the sugar.
I used coconut oil, and had to add a bit more to get a spreadable consistency. 

Instead of roasting the hazelnuts, I had previously soaked and roasted them. 

Enjoy!! 

Yet Another Grain-Free Muffin Recipe (Blueberry Muffins)

This one isn't sugar-free, and is also based on the original grain-free cake recipe. I'm pleased with how it came out, so thought I'd post it. 

Blueberry Muffins (Grain-Free)

1 cup coconut flour, sifted

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

10 eggs, preferably room temperature

1 cup coconut oil

¾ cup raw honey, coconut palm sugar, or rapadura/sucanat

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange extract

1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, rinsed, and any stems removed

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease muffin pan with coconut oil and dust lightly with coconut flour.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the balloon whisk, blend eggs, oil, sugar or honey, and extracts.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and blend.

Gently stir the blueberries into the batter.

Fill the muffin cups with batter. (Since gluten-free baked goods don’t rise as much as ones containing gluten, it’s okay to fill the cups completely.) Pop the pan into the preheated oven, and bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. If your pan is thin, or the cups are smaller, start checking the muffins at 20 minutes. If you are using stoneware, it may take 35 minutes. Mine came out really brown on top, because I had to bake them the full 35 minutes.

Place the whole pan on a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool completely before removing them from the pan. In addition to being really brown on top, when I popped the first one out, I was alarmed at how *black* it was. Then I realized that was just the blueberries. I broke it open, and it was pretty perfect, studded with lovely whole blueberries! 

Enjoy!

Updated Almond Power Bars

The other day I was rummaging around in my recipe box, and found this recipe for Almond Power Bars, and thought, "Yum! I haven't made those in *ages*!" So, today I made a version of them, and found them good enough to repost the recipe, with today's changes. I didn't have any whole almonds, so I used all almond meal. I'm wary of stevia and won't touch agave nectar anymore, so I used a skosh of palm sugar, but with the chocolate they are really too sweet, so if you use the crystallized ginger, I'd leave out the palm sugar. Or, what I think I'll do next time is do the recipe as I did today, but leave off the chocolate.

I just tried to enter the recipe into Nutrition Data so that I could give you the macronutrient breakdown, but the stupid website didn't have listings for flax seed or shredded coconut, so I gave up. Sorry. I really wanted to see the fat/protein/carb ratios on this. (You know by now that I'm looking for a ratio pretty much opposite of the "recommended" balance.)

Anyway, here is the recipe!

Almond Power Bars

2 1/2 cups almond meal (I used Crispy Almonds that I had put through the Cuisinart.)

1/2 cup flax meal (flax seeds ground just before use in an old coffee grinder that I keep around for spices)

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup crystallized ginger

2T palm sugar

1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil 

1T vanilla extract (actually I used about 1 tsp almond & 2 tsp vanilla extracts)

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, optional (Dagoba is a recommended brand, but what I had on hand were Ghirardelli)

Place almond meal, flax meal, shredded coconut, crystallized ginger, salt, and palm sugar in food processor and process briefly, until uniform. 

Melt coconut oil in a small pan over very low heat. Pour into the almond mixture in the food processor, and add the vanilla and/or almond extracts. (Almond extract is a delicious, but VERY strong flavor, so I recommend using just a tsp of it, whether you use vanilla extract as well, or not.) 

Process this mixture until it forms a paste. Press the paste into either an 8x8 or 9x12 glass baking dish, depending on how thick you want your bars to be. 

Melt the chocolate chips over very low heat in the same pan you used for the coconut oil. Pour melted chocolate over the almond mixture in the baking dish, and spread evenly. 

Pop the whole pan into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up. Remove, and cut into bars. I like to wrap each bar in a piece of waxed paper and store them in the fridge. 

Made in the 9x12 pan, and using the chocolate, they are really like little candy bars. As mentioned above, I'm going to make them again, put them in the 8x8 pan, and skip the chocolate. I may skip the palm sugar as well, as the crystallized ginger has plenty of sugar by itself. 

Enjoy!

Update 3/11/11:
As noted above, I found the last batch to be a little too sweet, so I tweaked it yet again. I did basically the same as above, but I left out the palm sugar, and instead of melting a cup of chocolate chips on top, I put a half cup of chocolate chips in the Cuisinart with the mix and incorporated them into the "batter". I also put it into an 8x8 pan instead of a 9x12. If you want, here are today's measurements:

2 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup crystallized ginger

1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, optional

1/2 cup coconut oil 

1T vanilla extract

Put the first 5 ingredients in the food processor fitted with metal blade, and whir until incorporated. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and repeat. Add the vanilla extract and coconut oil, and whir until well mixed. Press mixture into 8x8 pan and refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares and enjoy! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Mug Cake

Husband's birthday is rolling around again soon, and he wants a German Chocolate Cake for it. I'm going to have a very talented pastry chef friend of ours make him one, but I wondered what I would have, as I'm totally gluten-free again now. Grain-free, in fact, for the time being. And trying to limit my general carb intake as much as I can. So I started scouring the intertubes for a gluten-free mug cake, and didn't like anything I found. They all called for too many ingredients, or one of those gluten-free baking mixes that taste kind of weird. I searched for coconut flour mug cake, but the only one I found used more rice flour than coconut. Then I thought, you know, I have a coconut flour cake recipe that I know works great, why not just chop it down and see how it comes out?? And I did, and it worked great!! So, without further ado, here is the recipe:


1 large egg
1 rounded Tablespoon coconut flour, sifted
1 rounded teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
drop vanilla extract


Crack the egg into a large (12oz) heatproof coffee mug. Beat it with a fork until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to mix thoroughly. Pop the mug into the microwave, and cook on "high" for 2.5 minutes*. Take it out and let it sit for 5 minutes, then devour! Mine pulled away from the sides of the mug, allowing me to dump it out onto a plate, but I'm sure it would be just as tasty right out of the mug! 


That's exactly how long I did mine and it was right, but as we all know, microwaves vary, so watch it and see when it's done. It rose up right at first, higher than the mug, but then it went back down into the mug, and I basically just decided it smelled done and stopped it. I touched the top, and it was firm, so took it out and let it sit, and it was just right. Oh and I know, I prefer to avoid the microwave when I can - I do suppose you could pop the mug into a regular oven and bake it - not sure how long that would take, though. 

I have a friend who has to watch his sugar intake, so I ran the statistics on the recipe, as best I could figure:
454 calories
33.8g fat (65% of calories)
33.5g carb (28% of calories)
8.0g protein (7% of calories)


The vast majority of the carbs was 26.8g sugar from the maple syrup, so I suppose you could use a fake sugar if you were a person who needed, for medical reasons, to watch the sugar intake. For me, the fat/carb balance is what I watch. 


Anyway, I'm all about the *sensible* indulgences, as Mark Sisson calls them, and this one really fit the bill! 


**Update** The second time I made this, for some reason, it was quite bitter and not nearly as tasty as the first time. I can't now remember what I did differently, but I think I eyeballed some of the measurements, so maybe I over- or under-did something. Maybe I overcooked it. I'll update again the next time I try it and post how it comes out and anything I do differently. 

Coconut Waffles (Grain-Free)

I was following the grain-free waffle recipe from Organic and Thrifty, which was apparently adapted from Mark's Daily Apple, and I liked them. A lot. And Husband liked them, too. But I found them quite dry and dense. I realized there was no butter or oil in the batter, and most waffle recipes call for butter or oil. After studying up a bit in Joy of Cooking about proportions, I came up with the following recipe, and they are GREAT! The texture is moist and tender, and I dare say they taste like A Waffle, not like, some adapted, grain-free version of a waffle, if you know what I mean. Also, last time I made them, I added some shredded coconut to a couple of them, and we liked those, too, so I added that to the whole batch today. If you are not a huge fan of coconut, don't worry, they don't really taste all that coconutty. Just leave out the shredded coconut, and you will have simply a yummy, waffley, grain-free breakfast! One last note - these are super filling - I rarely eat more than one whole waffle.

Grain-Free Waffles
Makes 3 Waffles (doubles easily)

4 eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, or both
1 T grade B maple syrup, or local honey
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk, cream, or full-fat plain yogurt
2 T melted coconut oil or butter, cooled slightly
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup coconut flour*
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1 T grade B maple syrup (or local honey)

*Available at natural foods stores or at Amazon. Don't be alarmed by the price - you use so little of it at a time. My first 1lb bag lasted me a year.

Gather your ingredients, then start the waffle iron preheating. Whisk the eggs until uniform. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and/or nutmeg, maple syrup or honey, milk, and oil or butter, and whisk to combine. Add the baking soda and coconut flour and whisk. Stir in the shredded coconut, if using.

Pour a scant 1/2 cup into the center of your waffle iron, and cook according to the manufacturer's directions.

While the first waffle is cooking, melt the 1/2 stick of butter, and mix in the 1T maple syrup. Put a cookie sheet or plate in the oven on its lowest setting (170-200F).

When the waffle is done, use a spatula to transfer it to the pan or plate in the oven, and brush it generously with the butter/syrup mixture. Proceed with the rest of the batter, brushing with butter/syrup as soon as you put it in the oven. When they are all cooked, enjoy your filling, satisfying, grain-free, low sugar, low-carb, high protein, high fiber, DELICIOUS breakfast, loaded with GOOD fats! (Or lunch, or dinner!)

Make extra, so that you have leftovers. They freeze well: Place them between layers of waxed paper & put into a gallon baggie. When you are ready to enjoy, take them out and place them on a cookie sheet in a 350F oven for a few minutes to warm them. If you want to use a popup toaster to warm them, don't brush them with the butter/syrup mixture before storing them.

UPDATE: I tried mixing fresh blueberries into the batter. This turned out to be a gigantic mess. I do NOT recommend it!! The blueberries burnt and became glued to the waffle iron, and made the batter too wet, so the couple of waffles I managed to make turned out burned on the outside and falling-apart wet on the inside. I tried making pancakes with the rest of the batter, and had similarly disastrous results. So, if you want berries with your waffles, I recommend putting them on TOP of a COOKED waffle, and not trying to cook them into the waffles!

Hot Chocolate - Dairy Free

I was going in circles in the kitchen looking for something to perk me up. I wasn't hungry, I didn't want coffee, I just needed something to pick me up. Husband suggested hot chocolate. I said, "We haven't got any milk." But then I realized I had some coconut milk in the pantry, and thought, "Yum!" So:

I put the can of coconut milk in a saucepan, along with an equal amount of filtered water, and set it to heating. I added a tsp of dolomite powder for calcium, simply because I had it on hand and it's a part of the Nourishing Traditions "Coconut Milk Tonic" recipe. I whisked it to dissolve the dolomite powder. I added a half cup of good quality dark chocolate chips (60% cocoa Ghirardelli, I had left over from the holidays) and whisked to melt & incorporate. I poured a little into a cup & tasted it. It wasn't quite sweet enough, so I added about another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips & whisked. I tasted and it was sweet enough, but it lacked body. So I added two tablespoons of coconut oil. Then I thought, "Oh, you know what it needs? Vanilla!" So I went to the spice cabinet to get out the vanilla extract & saw the almond extract - "Ooooh! Even better!" I put in about 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract & stirred it in, and a generous pinch (1/8 tsp?) of good quality Portuguese sea salt. I whisked, tasted, and declared it *delicious*! Now it was actually a little *too* sweet, so next time I'll cut back on the chocolate & see how it is. 

All that being said, here is the recipe:

Super-Rich, Indulgent, Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate

1 14-oz can Organic Coconut Milk (full fat) (Get organic because the regular has sulfur dioxide)

filtered water (use the empty coconut milk can to measure an equal quantity)

1 tsp dolomite powder (for calcium, optional) 

1/2 cup good quality chocolate chips or pieces, preferably free of soy lecithin, but this is hard to find. 

2 T coconut oil

1/4 tsp almond extract

generous pinch good quality unrefined sea salt

Put all ingredients in a saucepan & heat over medium heat, whisking to combine. When all is mixed and warm, ladle into small mugs and serve! This is extremely rich, so I don't recommend a serving larger than about 8 ounces. 

Enjoy! 

Homemade Dill Pickles

One of the cornerstones of Traditional Food is homemade fermented foods. On Ash Wednesday, I finally took the plunge and made some dill pickles. It couldn't be easier! Today I tasted them when I transferred them to the fridge, and guess what? They tasted like pickles! Amazing!

Photo tutorial of this recipe can be found here.

I followed the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, and did it thus:

3 English cucumbers (these are the long, skinny ones - unwaxed, smaller seeds, don't need peeling)
2T mustard seeds
4T snipped fresh dill
2T sea salt
1/2 cup whey (Here's how to get whey)
4 pint-sized, wide mouth mason jars with lids. I bought mine in the grocery store next to the vinegars.

Unwrap and wash off the cucumbers. Cut off & discard the ends. Slice the cucumbers at 1/4 inch intervals. Distribute them among the 4 jars. I had a few left over that I just put in a container in the fridge to eat raw. (They are great with yogurt dip!) Add 1 1/2 teaspoons (1/2 Tablespoon) sea salt to each jar. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons (1/2 Tablespoon) mustard seeds to each jar. Add 1 Tablespoon (or so) snipped fresh dill to each jar. Add 2 Tablespoons whey to each jar. Top each one up with 1 cup filtered water. Add more water if needed to cover your cucumber slices. Put the lids on, and let the pickles sit on the counter for two days. After two days, transfer them to the refrigerator. You can eat them then, but I expect they will improve with age. Exciting!

Mom's True Texas Chili

Photo Tutorial of this recipe here.

This is my own version of my Mom's recipe for True Texas Chili. Texas Chili contains Meat. And Spices. That is ALL. No beans. And for God's sake, no tomatoes! Are you making spaghetti sauce, or chili? Anyway. I modified Mom's recipe by adding an onion. Because really, what suffers from the addition of onion? Nothing. And my unorthodox addition (Sorry, Mom) is a bit of brown rice. The original recipe called for a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken it, and in the attempt to go gluten-free, and eventually grain-free (except for rice), I've used different things over the years to thicken it, from ground millet to cornmeal to quinoa. Everything works fine, but the brown rice addition is compliant with the McCombs Plan, which we are currently following. Really, you could just skip the rice and add the water and simmer the chili. It would thicken up just fine, I'm sure. *Update 4/19/10: Trying to be grain-free now, so today I'm making it without rice or any grain. It worked great! 

Anyway, Enjoy a great big bowl of Texas Red! And if you just *want* beans, just add them at serving. But not to the pot. Okay? Oh, and "beans" means PINTOS. Not those big, weird, yucky kidney beans you Yankees think go in chili... **grimace**

Mom's True Texas Chili
(Can be halved easily, but why not make a bunch and freeze half?)

Ingredients:
5 lbs ground chuck, 80/20. (If you know me at all, you know I don't believe in lean.)
2 medium yellow onions (White or 1015 will also do fine.)
2 T garlic powder (or better, a couple cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped)
1 (scant) cup chili powder (I like Fiesta "light in color" Chili Powder, but any will do.)
1/2 cup ground cumin (I like to grind my own, but pre-ground is okay.)
1/4 cup ground turmeric (If you can get this in the bulk section, it will be much cheaper than those tiny jars.)
2 T sea salt
1 cup brown rice (We are partial to Lundberg Organics Short Grain Brown Rice, but any will do.)
4 cups filtered water, plus more if needed.

Method:
Put the ground beef in a big stock pot and crank up the heat to medium-high. As the meat browns, stir and break up chunks with a wooden spoon.

While the meat browns, chop up the onions, and garlic if you are using fresh.

Measure into a bowl: 1 cup chili powder, 1/2 cup ground cumin, 2T garlic powder (if you are not using fresh), 2T salt, and 1/4 cup ground turmeric. Turmeric is supposed to be really good for your brain, and specifically in the prevention of Alzheimer's, which my Mom has, along with all of her siblings. Scare. So whenever the dish allows (chili, rice, potatoes, etc.) I try to remember (heh) to add it. I actually forgot this the last time I made chili, but I have noted it on my original recipe, so I won't forget in future!

Get the beef nice and brown. When it's fully cooked, add the onion (and fresh garlic, if using) and mix it in. Then add the spices and mix them in. Add the brown rice. Add four cups of water, and mix it all up. Turn the heat to low, and simmer this mixture for a good, long while, stirring occasionally . 2 hours is the absolute minimum. I partially cover the pot, by laying the wooden spoon across the top of the pot, and putting the lid on so that it is slightly ajar. At two hours, it's edible, but really needs more. This last batch, after two hours, I added 2 more cups of water and simmered it about another hour and a half.

When it's done - nice and thick - take it off the heat and allow it to cool for a while. Split it between two 2-quart containers. Put one in the fridge for immediate consumption, and one in the freezer for later. Chili freezes really well. And as delicious as it is, one gets tired of eating it by the time you get to the end of one of the containers. Or if you have a friend in need, you have a delicious hot meal on hand that you can take to them.

Enjoy!

Meringue Mushrooms

Or rather, 

"How To Make 100 Adorable Meringue Mushrooms a Whole Lot More Difficult Than They Needed To Be". 

First, realize at 8:15 at night that it's going to rain tomorrow, so those meringues really should have been made today when it was clear and dry. Decide that it's not too late to make them & dig out the recipe. Get out the two jellyroll pans and line them with parchment. Do a really bad job of trimming the parchment, so that the paper is not particularly straight in the pans. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Farenheit. 

Crack 6 eggs and separate the whites & yolks. Be sure they are Jumbo eggs because your Sweet Husband didn't notice the difference when he bought the last 2 dozen. 

Get out the wonderful KitchenAid mixer & whisk attachment. Wipe it down to be sure there is no residue, dust, or crumbs. Pour the six jumbo egg whites into the mixer bowl, attach the whisk, put the bowl up into mixing position, and see a tiny fragment of eggshell in the whites. Put the bowl back down, remove the whisk, detach the bowl, fish out the shell fragment, wash hands, put bowl back into position, reattach whisk, put the bowl up, and start the motor. Get the egg whites to just almost a nice soft peak stage, then realize that you forgot to add the Cream of Tartar with the egg whites. Add some, being sure not to measure it, and run the mixer some more to mix it in. Stop the mixer, & lower the bowl. 

Get out the sugar, measure 1 1/2 cups plus a little, maybe 1 3/4 cups, to account for the Jumbo eggs. Read, "Add sugar slowly". Start the mixer running, and pour the sugar in in a stream. Wonder why it doesn't seem to be getting to the stiff peaks stage. Get out the Joy of Cooking, look up "Meringues, About", and find out that you were supposed to add the sugar a Tablespoon at a time. Oops. Don't find any information about how to fix a meringue if something goes wrong. Keep running the mixer and finally realize that you have, in fact, achieved stiff peaks stage. Take the bowl off the mixer and put the whisk attachment in the sink to soak. 

Go get the stepstool and climb up to get the pastry bag supplies off the top of the refrigerator. Wonder, once again, how they ended up there inside the roasting pan in the first place? Open the supplies up and remember that the large pastry bag blew a seam the last time you used it. Get out a gallon Ziplock baggie to stand in for it. Don't find the large round tip. Decide to use the smaller pastry bag and a medium fluted tip. Put the gallon Ziploc away. Spend some time figuring out how to assemble the bag, tip, and plastic attachment thingy. Get it situated, open it up & start spooning meringue into it. Pause to wonder when the pastry bag had been washed last. Decide that it's been inside a sealed Ziploc ever since, so it's fine. 

Pipe the mushroom tops, complete with lines from the fluted tip, haphazardly onto the parchment-lined pans. Be sure not to have any symmetry or organization in the process. Get to the end of the first bit of meringue in the pastry bag. 

Get a bigger spoon and spoon too much meringue into the pastry bag, so that it won't close off completely. Now when you go to squeeze it through the tip, the meringue takes the easier exit out the top and onto your hand. Squish the excess out the top & decide if it goes back into the bowl or down the sink. Rinse your hand off & cursorily dry it, all while holding the overfull pastry bag in your other hand. 

Get back to piping. Fill the first pan with tops, and count them. Count them again to be sure, since there is no rhyme or reason to their layout on the pan. Start piping stems onto the other parchment-lined pan. Fill the rest of the space with tops. Refill the pastry bag with the rest of the meringue. Pipe more stems, to have an equal number, in between the odd gaps in the first pan. Completely fill both pans, and realize that you have a fair bit of meringue still in your pastry bag. Using one hand, while holding the half full pastry bag in your other hand, open the drawer, get out the parchment paper, pull a sheet off onto the counter, and resume piping tops & stems. Realize you've got 93 of each now, but think there is no way you can get 7 more out of the amount of meringue left. Decide to do 2 more, to have 95. Keep piping to 100. Have a bit of meringue left in the pastry bag. Decide it's going down the drain! 

Toss the pastry bag & mixer bowl into the sink & run some hot water in them. Blow the seam of the smaller pastry bag, in exactly the same way that you now remember that you blew the seam of the larger pastry bag. 

Get a spoon & start trying to smooth the mushroom tops. About 2/3 of the way through, glance at the Joy of Cooking page about making meringue mushrooms & see that they recommend using a finger to do this. Decide this is a better plan, and do so. Go into a bit of a trance while doing this detailed task. 

Get another cookie sheet down and slide it under the third parchment of meringues on the counter. Add a third rack to the oven, and slide the pans in. As it's now 9:30 and you want to go to bed before 11:30 when the oven should be turned off, dig out the oven manual and figure out how to set it to go off in two hours. 

Start cleaning things up. Seal up the bag of unused pastry bag parts. Look up at the top of the fridge where they were found, and wonder why there seems to be another gallon Ziploc up there? Get it down, and find the large round tip that you needed at the outset. Roll your eyes, sigh loudly, put it into the bag with the other supplies, and store them in the drawer they should have been in instead of on top of the refrigerator. 

Finish cleaning up, turn on the dishwasher, get a cup of tea, and go plop on the couch with netbook to share your idiocy with the world! 

Candied Citrus Peel

This is also something I make every year at Christmas time. I've done everything from pomelos to grapefruits to oranges to lemons and limes. What I've found is that smallish, thin-skinned citrus works best. So this year, I bought two five-pound bags of clementines. What follows isn't a recipe, exactly, just a method, which I've found to work over the last few years. I'm following the method outlined in the 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking, with my own tweaks. If you can get organic fruit, so much the better, since you will be eating the peels. This is a several-day process, so be sure to start about a week before you need them.

Photos of the entire process can be seen here.

Wash all the fruit in soapy water and rinse well. Be sure to remove any labels.
Cut them in half and juice them (an inexpensive citrus juicer is recommended!)
Cut the empty halves in half again, pulling out as much of the flesh as possible.
Put the quarters into a large stockpot and cover with water.
Place on medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer until the peels are starting to soften, 30-60 minutes. Don't overdo it.
Drain the peels in a large colander and allow to cool.
When they are cool, use an eating spoon to gently scrape the remaining white pith off the peels.
Make enough sugar syrup to cover the peels you now have. Here's how:

Mix 1 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup water, and 3T light corn syrup in a large pot over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Is it enough to cover your peels? If not, add the same quantities again & stir to dissolve, until you have enough. For my 10lbs of clementines, I used 4 cups sugar, 3 cups water, and about 6T corn syrup, and it was just about perfect.

Add your peels to the sugar syrup, bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until the peels start to look translucent and the syrup is starting to be absorbed, an hour or two.
Turn off the heat, cover, and allow to stand overnight.
In the morning, drain the peels. If they are very sticky, you can put them back on the heat for a few minutes until the syrup liquifies again and you can drain them.
Spread the peels out on a rack or large quantity of parchment paper and allow them to dry for a while, but not completely. You want them moist, but not drippy. Don't leave them more than a day or they run the risk of getting moldy
Spread a couple of cups of white sugar in a 9x12 pan, dredge each piece of peel in the sugar, and place in a single layer on parchment to dry. If your weather is humid like mine, this can take several days.

Between the sugar syrup and sugar to dredge the peels, I used an entire 4 lb bag of white sugar for the 10 lbs of clementines.

Finally, the peels are ready to eat! You can eat them like candy, or chop and use in recipes, or dip them in chocolate and allow to harden for an even more elegant treat!

CocoChews - Koo Koo Ka Choo!

This is an entirely original recipe. I made it up based on my annual Deadly Caramels recipe, after smelling some coconut-scented lotion! I've tweaked it a couple of years now (I only do stuff like this at Christmas time) and I *think* I've got it. Because of the shredded coconut, they are not as chewy as the caramels, but more crumbly.

You can see instructive photos of the process here.

Line a 9x12 pan with 2 layers of Reynold's Heavy Duty aluminum foil. Trust me, don't use regular. Get the heavy stuff, and the store brand is *not* sufficient. Grease it thoroughly with coconut oil. Set aside. Do this ahead of time, you will not have the chance to do it after you start the recipe.

1 cup coconut oil
1 lb turbinado sugar (white sugar will also work)
1 cup light agave nectar* light corn syrup or mild honey
15oz cream of coconut (sweetened coconut milk, like you'd use for a pina colada)
1 tsp vanilla or coconut extract
4 cups unsweetened flaked coconut

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Add the turbinado sugar and stir until mostly dissolved. Add the agave and cream of coconut. Bring to a boil. Clip the candy thermometer to the pan (not touching the bottom of the pan) and stir constantly for 15 minutes or so, until it reads between 148 and 152 degrees Farenheit. Turn off the heat, and stir in the vanilla, then the coconut. Mix thoroughly, then pour into the prepared 9x12 pan.

When it cools, lift it out of the pan using the foil, and cut into 1 inch squares. Wrap them in waxed paper squares. Bribe Invite your friends to help!

Update: Rather than a 15oz can of Coco Lopez, I got something called Coco Real that came in a 21oz bottle. Since that is about a half a cup more than the can of Coco Lopez, and I was going to have to supplement my agave nectar* with corn syrup, I just used the whole bottle and a half cup of agave nectar*. They came out just fine.

IMPORTANT FURTHER UPDATE: (2/13/10) Use honey, or maybe maple syrup, but not the agave nectar. I have since found out that agave nectar has more of the processed sort of fructose (versus the good stuff in fresh fruit) than the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup. Stay FAR FAR AWAY from it.

Deadly Caramels

I make these every year for Christmas - some people call them "Toffees" because of the butter. And because sometimes I overcook them, so instead of being chewy they are harder, LOL.

You can see instructive photos of the process here.

2 cups butter (1lb)
2 lbs dark brown sugar (1 sack)
2 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
2 cups dark corn syrup (1 bottle)
2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
Reynold's brand heavy duty foil (DO NOT SKIMP. YOU WILL BE SORRY.)
waxed paper

Line a jelly roll pan (large, rimmed baking sheet) with heavy-duty foil, extending the foil over the edges of the pan. Butter foil the foil and set aside. Do this first, you will not have time to do it once the recipe has begun.

In a heavy 6 quart pot, melt butter over medium-low heat then add  the brown sugar, condensed milk, and corn syrup; mix well.

Cook and stir over medium heat to boiling.

Clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Be absolutely sure the thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan.  Cook and stir very frequently over low heat to 248°, firm-ball stage.

This may take an hour or more of frequent stirring.  (Heather at Home Ec 101 says, "Books on tape, talk radio, or even a tv in the kitchen are nice for this type of project." Quite true!)

Remove saucepan from heat, remove the thermometer, and stir in the extract(s). Immediately pour the mixture into prepared pan.

Allow to cool completely.

When the caramel is firm, use foil to lift out of pan. Cut the caramel into 1-inch squares with a sharp, buttered knife. Wrap each piece in a 3×3″ square of waxed paper. Bribe Invite friends to help, it goes much faster!

Makes about 4 lbs (128 caramels.)

The recipe makes a zillion, so the friends you bribed who offered to help can eat all they want as you wrap, and there will still be PLENTY for Christmas presents!

Fearless Friday: Muffins

Based on the success of the cupcakes made from the gluten-free cake recipe, I decided to try an experiment to decrease the sugar even more. So based on that recipe, I made up the following one. If it works, I'll have a snack that is free of grain, gluten, dairy, sugar, and fake sugar. The only major allergen it contains is egg. I do have at least one friend who will not be able to eat them because of that. And I guess nuts, but those are quite easily left out.

Carrot Apple Raisin Muffins
(Free of gluten, grain, dairy, sugar, & sugar substitutes)

3/8 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons flax seed, ground
(1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice - suggestions*)
5 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins (used 1/4 cup golden & 1/4 cup regular)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts**

In a small bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, ground flax, & spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and applesauce.
Add carrots, raisins, and pecans and mix.
Add dry ingredients into large bowl and mix.
Grease 12 cup muffin tin and dust with coconut flour, or line with muffin papers.
Pour batter into cups 2/3 full and bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
Remove from oven, allow to cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove from pans & cool completely.

*My applesauce was homemade, and was very spicy with ginger, cinnamon, & anise seeds, so I didn't add any extra spices. Therefore these measurements are just suggestions.
**If you know me at all, you know I used pecans. I always say, "A walnut is a Yankee's poor excuse for a pecan!" That being said, I concede that walnuts would work just fine in such a recipe.

I transferred them to a cooling rack, and we each grabbed a warm one on our way out the door - Husband was halfway through his before I bit into mine, so I asked him for an assessment. He said it was, "like cornbread with fruit in it," and he liked it. I bit into mine and found the texture to be fantastic! It was pretty much not sweet at all, except for the raisins. When we got home, we each had a room-temperature one, and found it much sweeter than the warm ones had been. I refrigerated them overnight, and in the morning found them *plenty* sweet for breakfast.

There are a couple of things I will do differently next time:
- I will grease & flour the muffin cups instead of using papers, because I didn't like how much muffin stuck to the papers.
- I will try using 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut in place of the flax seed, just to see how it affects the taste & texture. Perhaps I'll try using both as well.

But all in all, I declare this Fearless Friday a success! I will *definitely* be making it again.

**Update** I made a second batch, and it did not come out anything like as well as the first. They were edible, but soggy. There were a few changes contributing to this: 
1. I used a less-expensive brand of coconut flour, which was milled less finely and had a higher fat content than the Bob's Red Mill that I used before. I now recommend *only* Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour. It's around $7/lb, but you only use tablespoons of it at a time. My first bag lasted me an entire year.  
2. I eliminated the flax seed, and added 1/4 cup unsweetened, flaked coconut. I loved the flavor of the coconut added, so next time I will try adding both.
3. My applesauce had sort of separated and was a bit runny, and
4. I didn't measure the carrot shreds, but just grated 2 carrots into the bowl. I don't know that this threw it off, but with baking, measuring is usually a good idea.

I'll make a third batch and let you know how they come out!

Cupcakes!

Tomorrow is Husband's birthday! Time to bake!

As I said, I have a new pan that makes rosette-shaped cupcakes. Since last year's cake was the first that really turned out for me, I decided to use the same recipe this year. Husband requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Since I don't intend to frost the cupcakes & obscure their shape, I added a cup of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips to the batter, to make it extra chocolatey for him. I checked with Joy of Cooking that any cake batter can be made into cupcakes; bake for 20-25 minutes. This agreed with the instructions that came with the pan. I had also asked the fabulous Heather Solos over at Home Ec 101 for advice on how to grease/flour the cups so that I didn't have flour globs on the rosettes. She advised me to use a bit of the flour/cocoa mix. Since this recipe uses such a *tiny* amount of flour (3/4c coconut flour/1/4c cocoa powder), I made 1/4 cup extra & reserved it for this purpose. The recipe uses coconut oil, which I have vast quantities of, but yesterday I happened upon a can of spray coconut oil, on sale, and decided to splurge on it. Hey, it's a birthday cake! And this isn't an inexpensive recipe, no matter how you slice it. (haha)

First batch seemed perfectly done at 20m. They spent 10m cooling in the pan, then I gave them a gentle massage to be sure they were loose from the sides, inverted a platter on the pan, turned the whole shebang over, and POP!! PERFECT CHOCOLATE ROSE CUPCAKES. I overfilled the second batch's cups because the batter was *almost* done, so it took the extra 5m.

While the first batch were cooling, I tried a couple of decorations, but I think I like them plain best. What do you think?

L-R: Plain; cocoa powder; flaked coconut mixed with powdered sugar; powdered sugar.

It's all I can do to keep from wolfing one down!!! (And then I did. It was DELISH!)

Fearless Friday: Meatloaf!

What's frightening about meatloaf, you ask? Well, I think I made it once 15 years ago, and it didn't turn out so well. So it's an entirely new endeavor for me. Also, since we are on a largely grain-free diet, I can't use flour or oatmeal to bind it. So I did a bit of research and made up my own recipe. And promptly used five whole pounds of ground beef to make it. So if it *doesn't* turn out, it will be a pretty big disaster.

Here is what I did:

5 lbs ground chuck (20% fat)

4 eggs, beaten

1 small sweet onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled & diced

1 orange bell pepper, diced (I'd have used red, but I happened to have orange)

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp smoked salt

1 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the meat, vegetables, spices, & herbs in a large bowl, using your hands. Make a well in the center, and pour in the beaten eggs. Mix again with hands, until evenly mixed. Halve the mixture and press into two 5x9 loaf pans. Place both loaf pans on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch spillovers) & put into preheated oven. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until instant-read thermometer inserted into middle reads 165F. Drain fat, and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

I just put them in the oven, so I'll update with how long they actually cook, and how they come out...

Update: OMGYUM!!! I love it! They took just over an hour & 15, certainly no more than an hour and a half. I turned off the oven and let them sit while my neighbor and I walked the dogs. I poured a bit of the fat into the dogs' food when we got back, and boy were they happy campers! I poured the rest of the fat/drippings into a container so we have quite a few more happy dog meals, LOL. So I transferred the loaves to a plate, cut a slice, and tried it out. I declare it a success! It could use a bit of gravy (or ketchup, Husband will say, LOL) because it's just a tad dry, but that really means that it held together well and is yummy!

I'm calling this one a success!

Lentils!

Yesterday began Week Nine of The McCombs Plan, so I'm allowed to have legumes again. Last week there was a great post over at Home Ec 101 about a Lentil Pilaf, and in the comments someone suggested cooking lentils in the rice cooker. My little rice cooker that I bought specifically for The McCombs Plan is my new favorite gadget, and I'm so excited to try it out on lentils! I did not make the Home Ec 101 lentil pilaf recipe, I just did what I've been doing with rice, only with lentils. And I added spinach, because I absolutely love lentils with spinach. In case you are interested, here is what I did:

Lentils with Spinach

1 cup lentils

2 cups water

2 carrots, large dice

1/2 yellow bell pepper, large dice

1 rib celery, large dice

1/4 cup coconut oil

3-4 T Tone's Rosemary Garlic Seasoning*

2 big handfuls fresh spinach (um, 2 cups maybe?)

Put all in Fabulous Magical Rice Cooker, and hit "Cook"!

*We buy this at Sam's, and it has just the right amount of salt, and no yucky stuff like "hydrolyzed yeast", MSG, or sugar of any sort. It makes fantastic rice "pilaf". You could, of course, use whatever seasoning you like/have on hand.

Update: The spinach cooked down way too far. I put another couple of handfuls in a large bowl, dumped the hot lentils on top, stirred, and put a plate on top to keep the heat in & wilt the new spinach. Tasting now: Yum! The seasoning is great coupled with the natural pepperiness of lentils. I'd call it a success!

Update Two: Hm. Further into the bowl, I find there is a tiny hard kernel at the center of some of the lentils. I think next time I'll put just a skosh more water in, and leave it on "Keep Warm" for a little while to be sure they are cooked through. Also, these lentils were pretty old, so they may have been even dryer than most. Still tasty! ;-)

Watermelon Sorbet

So I wanted to do something with this enormous watermelon I got, besides eating it in chunks and/or juicing it. There is only so much watermelon you can eat, or drink. I've always thought it would be nice to freeze watermelon pulp in the ice cream freezer, but I wasn't sure how it would come out. Actually, as I'm typing this, I'm still not sure how it will come out, but I'll let you know! I went over to Epicurious and researched some recipes, and as usual, came up with my own version. So here's what I did:

Put about 1/4 cup water in a small bowl, and sprinkle 1 envelope unflavored gelatin over it. Leave to soften.

Put 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour the sugar syrup into the softened gelatin and stir for a while to be sure all the gelatin is dissolved. Leave on counter to cool.

Put your watermelon in the sink, rinse it off, and cut it in half (mine didn't actually fit in the sink, but the halves did. You can cut it lengthwise or the short way to get the pulp, it doesn't matter. Put your blender right next to the sink, and scoop watermelon flesh, seeds and all, into the blender. Whirl the flesh, on low speed, until it's all pulp and seeds. On low speed, it won't cut up the seeds. Strain the pulp through a colander (not a strainer - a colander with round holes is best) to remove the seeds.

Measure 4 cups watermelon puree into a half-gallon pitcher. Mix in 2 tablespoons limoncello liqueur, and then the cooled gelatin mixture. Place the pitcher in the refrigerator to chill. If you don't have limoncello, you can use fresh lemon juice and perhaps some vodka. The alcohol is intended to keep it from freezing solid once the sorbet is made, but it's optional.

When the mixture is cold, process in your ice cream freezer, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

You will likely have a lot more watermelon puree than you'll need. I like to strain the rest through a strainer (a fine sieve for this second straining), and keep the juice. It's sweet, an AMAZING red color (like Hawaiian Punch, seriously, but all natural!), and it mixes very nicely with vodka! I'm sure that like all juices, the sugar is way too isolated to be healthy, but hey, it's a once-a-summer indulgence.

Now, I'm currently at the "chilling the mixture" stage. It tasted pretty good, but the big question is, how will it freeze up? Last time I used my little ice cream freezer (eggless gelatin ice cream), I didn't get the gelatin all the way dissolved (cream wasn't hot enough) and I didn't chill the mixture before putting it into the ice cream freezer. So I'm hoping these two steps will help. Since watermelon is so sweet to begin with, I added the gelatin, to help with the texture without overdoing the sugar.

Once it's frozen, I'll update with results!

Update One: Once the ice cream freezer had pretty much done its job, I scooped the sorbet into a container and put it in the freezer. Later that night, I mixed it up a little - the inside was still soft, outsides beginning to get hard. Scooped some out and ate it - the texture was silky, the color deep pinkish red, and the flavor was wonderful - sweet, with a limoncello aftertaste. I think the silky texture is from the gelatin, so I was pleased with this addition.

Update Two: The next day, it was frozen pretty much solid. I tried to scoop some, and ended up scraping it up into the ice cream scoop, which has a very useful thin aluminum edge. I found myself wishing I'd smoothed the top of the sorbet before I put it back into the freezer the night before; it would have made the scraping easier. Since it was icier, from being frozen and scraped like a granita, it came out a much lighter color, a lovely lighter pink. It was still sweet and delicious, and actually the limoncello overtones had calmed down, which was good.

Conclusion: I declare the watermelon-limoncello sorbet a rousing success! Something I've always wanted to try, and it came out great. Go me! ;-)

Gluten-Free CAKE!!

Husband's birthday is today! To celebrate, I wanted to bake him a gluten-free cake, so that I could enjoy it with him. I found this fantastic recipe at Elana's Pantry, which is a wonderful organic, gluten-free recipe and information source!
Now, I did adapt the recipe in several ways, to use what I had on hand, and to make it "German Chocolate"-ish. The more coconut, the better!! Here is my version:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

¾ cup coconut flour, sifted
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 eggs
1 cup coconut oil
1 ½ cups agave nectar*
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda.
In a large bowl of mixer, using the balloon whisk attachment, blend eggs, oil, agave nectar*, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend.
Oil (2) 9 inch round cake pans and dust with coconut flour.
Pour batter into pans and bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans.
Frost and serve.

"German" Chocolate Frosting
1 cup flaked (unsweetened) coconut soaked overnight in apple juice
1 cup Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar*
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch celtic sea salt

In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil.
Stir in agave, vanilla, salt, and soaked coconut.
Place frosting in freezer for 15-25 minutes to cool.
Remove from freezer and whip frosting in the mixer with the whisk attachment until it is thick and fluffy.
Frost over cake.
Serve!

Photos can be seen at my Picasa site!

IMPORTANT FURTHER UPDATE: (2/13/10) Use turbinado sugar, honey, or maybe maple syrup, but not the agave nectar. I have since found out that agave nectar has more of the processed sort of fructose (versus the good stuff in fresh fruit) than the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup. Stay FAR FAR AWAY from it.