Gluten Free "Egg" Noodles - Caution

A couple months ago I was at my local Publix grocery store and spied these on the sale shelf.

They were on sale since it was right after Passover so I bought one box.  Note the price, 2 for $4.19.  That's $2.10 for the box which is a good price for anything gluten free.  They are egg noodle style, Kosher for Passover.  I love egg noodles and these were the first I have seen gluten free despite the fact that there are no actual eggs in it. Still, they had me at the egg noodle style. 

Fast forward a few weeks and I decided to make meatballs with these "egg" style noodles and a nice sauce.  Think Swedish Meatballs.  Yeah.  I prepared these noodles exactly the way the directions were written.  They were MUSH.  Complete and total MUSH!  We tossed the rest of the box. 

I am still on the lookout for gluten free egg noodles, and they can actually have eggs in them.  I have a recipe but really, I am too lazy to make my own. I've made pasta before and it is really labor intensive. 

Chocolate Cupcakes (or Muffins) for Four

It's been a long time since I posted on this blog but THIS recipe is worth the wait.  OK it was for me, anyway!  I found this on a blog but modified it where it doesn't even look like the original.  Oh well. It's what I do.

If you sometimes want something chocolate and sweet but don't want to make an entire cake (you know you'll just eat the whole thing) then this is for you!

Chocolate Cupcakes/Muffins for Four


4 Tablespoons (1/4 Cup) Gluten Free Baking Mix (I used Bisquick Gluten Free but any other mix with baking powder and salt in it will work)
4 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder (Unsweetened)
1 egg
3 Tablespoons of milk
2 Tablespoons of Butter, melted
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and pour into 4 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. 

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

Awesome add-ins would be mini chocolate chips, espresso powder, coconut or other chopped nuts.

I've made these twice so far and I hope I run out of GF Bisquick so I STOP myself from making more!  Since I like my chocolate less sweet I use only 3 Tablespoons of sugar, but I know most people would prefer the 4. 

I have never made them with gluten flour but I would imagine you could use flour, about 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt in place of the GF baking mix.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan "Ice Cream"

This has been all the rage on food blogs recently so I decided to try it.  

I made this with 2 bananas and three of us shared it.  We each had maybe a half cup.

Freeze 2 bananas - They should be pretty ripe

Place the bananas and about 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder (unsweetened) into a food processor. Process until the banana seems completely mashed up.  Scrape the side, process again.  Scrape the sides and add a little (about 1/4 cup or so) milk of your choice. You could even use water. Process until it becomes smooth.

Naturally it tastes like chocolate and banana, but the banana flavor is not as strong as I thought it would be.  Next time I would add vanilla, just a tad. 

You could also use nut butter instead of the cocoa for flavoring. I am sure there are plenty of different combinations but I am fresh out of ideas right now!

Here are the photos:

                               Inside of the food processor when it was finished

                                   In my little dish.  See? About 1/2 cup.

Three Product Reviews

I have been meaning to post about some gluten free products, some good, some not so good.  First with the good!

Glutino Crackers - These are really good!  Most GF crackers are extremely crispy, too much so!  These are like Saltines, only with much less salt.  Good stuff!

                              Click HERE to see the website information



Enjoy Life Chewy on the Go Bars - Cocoa Loco -  Words cannot describe how disgusting these were.  Dry as a bone with almost no flavor!  I was sucked in by the chocolate.  Ha!  I am not returning these basically because they are easy to carry around in the car and something I can eat, providing there is enough water to wash down, while out and about. 

                                   Click HERE for website

Barbara's Gluten Free Puffins Cereal - This is an interesting cereal and is surely a nice change from Chex.  They are a little sweet for me, but a nice change still.  The cereal stays pretty crunchy in milk but has a slightly bitter aftertaste.  If you remember arrowroot cookies, that's what these taste like!

                       Click HERE for website              

Goat Cheese and Carmelized Onion Pizza

I made the best gluten free pizza yesterday so I had to share!  I started out with an Against the Grain pizza crust, found frozen at Whole Foods. I decided to make a carmelized onion and goat cheese pizza which is similar to something I've had before, I think at California Pizza Kitchen.  Or maybe not.  I know I had a goat cheese pizza when I was in Newfoundland about 13 years ago.  Anyway, it was an idea I had kicking around for a while.

To start I took four servings of goat cheese, or about 2 inches of the log, and mashed that up with about half a cup of part skim ricotta cheese.  I did this purely to save on the goat cheese since it is expensive.  After tasting I discovered that I needed another ounce (half inch) of the goat cheese log.  I added garlic powder and a squeezed some basil paste (found in the grocery store produce section) until I had a nice basil flavor without overpowering the goat cheese.  I set this mixture aside in the fridge so the flavors would combine nicely.

About a half hour before dinner I took a large yellow onion and cut up into long pieces.  I also cut the hell out of my ring finger which made the dinner prep stop for a while.  Hubby went to Walgreens to get some butterfly bandages.  Since the dinner must go on, just like the show, I started up again once it was all bandaged up.  Wanna know something?  Onion juice hurts like hell in a cut!

Where was I?  Cutting up onions!  OK I put one teaspoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a small fry pan to SLOWLY cook the onions until they carmelized. Mmmm.  Next time I will add a little salt and garlic powder to the onions to help bring out the flavor.  


To assemble the pizza I spread the goat cheese mixture over the Against the Grain crust, spread the onions evenly over the top then topped the whole thing off with some mixed Italian cheeses, shredded.  Pretty easy.  I followed the directions for cooking the pizza crust and made a YUMMY pizza!

Be sure to use a pizza pan with the holes in it so the gluten free crust can crisp up. 

 

                              Pizza before putting into the oven

                 Finished product with a couple pieces missing! 

Fried Chicken

Yes, fried chicken!  

One of our family favorites is plain old fried, thin-sliced, boneless chicken breasts.  We eat this plain with a little BBQ sauce or I use them as my base for chicken parmesan.  Since going gluten free I had not found a good alternative to  seasoned bread crumbs for a fried chicken. Then I went to PF Changs, the Chinese restaurant chain, and looked over their pretty extensive gluten free menu.  One of the items said it was lightly dusted and fried.  What?  So I asked and the waiter said that the dusting was potato starch.  Hmmm. Got me thinking.

Tonight I decided to meld two different coating options to make my chicken.  Potato starch and instant potato flakes.  Why do I own potato flakes?  Normally I find them gross beyond belief since I am a boil then mash kind of gal, but there was a recipe I found in the beginning of my GF journey that required it.  After I bought the box, I could not find the damned recipe anywhere!  What was it even for?  NO freaking clue!

This is how I made my boneless chicken breast tonight.

Fried Boneless Chicken Breast

Boneless chicken breasts, sliced fairly thinly, the long way
Potato Starch
Potato Flakes - for instant mashed potatoes
Seasonings of your choice - I used Italian Style
Egg
Milk
Canola Oil

Slice the boneless chicken breasts the long way to make thin full sized pieces.  Mix the egg with the milk to make a mixture about the consistency of buttermilk.  Mix together about 1 part potato starch to 2 parts potato flakes.  Season liberally!  I did not use enough seasonings.  

Place the chicken in the bowl with the egg and milk mixture.  Heat the oil in a large frypan.  Take the chicken out of the egg and milk mixture, one at a time, and coat in the potato mix.  Place in heated oil and fry on each side until a nice golden brown.  I take the pieces out and place on paper towels to drain some of the grease.  Came out very well with a nice crunch.

Is this the same as gluten bread crumbs?  No.  But this is sure a close enough approximation for me!  Awesome!

                These were the only pieces left after dinner!

Flourless Chocolate Torte! Amazing!

A few years ago I came across a recipe in a Publix holiday magazine that sounded amazing!  The magazine was called Publix Family Baking and the issue was Fall 2005.  While I was not on a GF diet then, I had a similar type cake at a restaurant here in Florida called Toojays.  This recipe is very similar to Toojay's Killer Cake only with no gluten! 

I tried to look up the recipe online and never found it so I am going to post it here for all the chocolate lovers out there!  YES it's a lot of eggs, butter and cream but go ahead, try it!  Amazing!!


Flourless Chocolate Torte

1 pound semisweet chocolate (Ghirardelli semi sweet or dark chips work well)
1 pound butter (yes folks, four sticks!)
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
9 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla


Topping

1 cup whipping cream
12 oz dark chocolate (also Ghirardelli)


Grease bottom and sides of a 10-inch spring form pan. In a heavy saucepan combine the 1 pound chocolate, butter, 1 cup whipping cream and sugar.  Cook and stir over medium high heat until melted.  Remove from heat.


In a large bowl whisk eggs and vanilla together.  Slowly stir half of the chocolate mixture into the eggs mixture.  Return all of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture stirring until combined.  Pour batter into the prepared pan and place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until evenly puffed and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.  Chill several HOURS .  Set torte on a serving plate , remove sides of pan.


In a small saucepan heat the 1 cup whipping cream just to boiling.  Pour over the 12 ounces of chocolate. Stir until melted.  Cool to room temperature.  Pour over the top of the torte.




This makes an AMAZING chocolate dessert!!  It has become legendary at our house!