Strawberry Pie

 Steve has been really craving Strawberry Pie lately, so last night I looked up the recipe (after he was wonderful enough to buy me 6 quarts of fresh berries!) and a pie crust recipe - and tonight I swallowed my fear of gluten free pie crust - and made the pie.  Of course I made it Mandie-safe - aside from the whipped topping.   It was a huge hit!  Everyone is eagerly awaiting the second slice tomorrow night!   The only thing I'd do differently next time is to cook the glaze a bit longer so it gets thicker.  As you can see, it was still a bit thin.   

STRAWBERRY PIE

2 quarts of strawberries, sliced

1 baked gluten-free pie crust*

1 cup water

¾ cup Pure Cane Sugar

1 Tbsp. tapioca or potato starch

Fill the baked pie crust with sliced berries until no more will fit.  Chill the full crust in the fridge for at least an hour.  Save the remaining strawberries.   At the end of the hour, put the berries in a medium saucepan with a cup of water.  Cook 4-6 minutes, til the berries are soft.  Put the water and berries in a mixer or food processor, and blend until smooth.  Pour back into saucepan, and whisk in ¾ cup of sugar and 1 Tbsp. of tapioca starch.  Cook on low until sugar and starch dissolve and mixture thickens.  Pour hot glaze over the cooled berries in the pie crust.  Chill for another hour, and serve plain or with Coconut Whipped Topping**.

*SUPER EASY GLUTEN FREE PIE CRUST

½ cup lard (may use shortening)

1 ½ cups brown rice flour

4 Tbsp. cold water

Preheat oven to 400* F.  Cut shortening into flour until crumbly using pastry cutter or a fork. Add water.  Work dough with hands until it’s soft and you can form into a ball.  Place dough into an 8” or 9” pie pan, and press it up the sides.  This works best using your fingers.  Using a fork, prick the bottom of the crust about 2 dozen or so times, to let air escape.   Place crust in oven and bake 12-16 minutes, or until edges start to turn golden brown.  Set on a wire rack and fill with strawberries.

** DAIRY FREE WHIPPED TOPPING

1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled in fridge 24 hours

2-3 Tbsp. pure cane sugar or pure maple syrup

1-2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Chill milk in fridge for 24 hours.  Chill metal bowl and wire whisk of mixer in freezer for 2-3 hours.  Combine milk with sugar & extracts and whip until creamy. Use in place of whipped topping.    

Stores well in fridge.

Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Crepes with Cream Filling

YUM!

I originally made these for Mandie's Kindergarten class, as part of her international unit.  Of course, I made plain crepes, with cherry filling, for her for class.   They were amazing.  They reminded me of the waffle cones I used to love.         I got to looking at the recipe, wondering what would happen if I played with it a bit and made it more decadent, for fancy dessert....      Of course I had to add chocolate, and the homemade whipped cream recipe I have used forever was an amazing complement to it, especially since it can also be altered a bit.      The result is sheer heaven!

Chocolate Crepes 

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups chocolate coconut milk
2 Tbsp. pure cane sugar
1/2 cup gluten free flour mixture  - I filled a 1/2 cup with equal parts tapioca starch, sorghum flour, and brown rice flour, and added 1/4 tsp. guar gum
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. Hershey's Especially Dark Cocoa Powder
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon
dash of sea salt

Preheat the broiler.  Whisk together eggs and milk.  Whisk in sugar.  Combine flour mixture with cocoa powder, guar tum, and spices. Whisk in flour mixture, making sure batter is very smooth.  Add oil, vanilla, and salt.     The batter should be very thin.  If it is too thick, add more milk a bit at a time.     Wrap the handle of an 8 inch non-stick skillet with heavy-duty foil (unless you are lucky enough to have a metal handled one like I do).  Spray with cooking spray, and heat the skillet over medium-low heat on the stove.  Remove the pan from the stove and use an ice cream scoop to pour batter into pan.  Tilt pan quickly so batter covers entire bottom.  Return pan to the stove top and cook batter for 1-2 minutes.  Lift the edges up with a thin spatula to see when the underside is just starting to get brown. The top will be getting bubbly by this point.       Place the pan under the broiler for 60 seconds or until the top of the crepe is just starting to brown.   Remove crepe from pan to waxed paper and repeat process.  Re-spray your pan after every third or fourth crepe.  Cool on a cookie sheet. 

Easy Whipped Cream

2 cans full fat coconut milk
2-4 Tbsp. pure cane sugar
1/4 tsp. guar gum
Optional: almond extract, vanilla extract, orange extract, etc.

Add everything to the bowl of a stand mixer.  Use the whisk attachment and whip 2-3 minutes until frothy.  Chill before using.   
This keeps very well for up to 10 days in the fridge, or freezes for 3-6 months.

Ready to put under the broiler.

Cooling before filling with cream.

Add cream to the center or just to one edge, and roll up.

The finished crepes!  These would look nice with a dollop of cream or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Linked to Gluten Free Fridays 27 

 Almost Friday Thursday Blog Hop

 Weekend Whatever #60

 

Biscuit Topped Chicken Pie in the Crockpot

BISCUIT TOPPED CHICKEN PIE

(free of gluten, dairy, soy, corn)

4 Tbsp. brown rice or sorghum flour

4 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

1 ½ cups Kitchen Basics Chicken Broth

1/ 2 cup hemp milk

1 tsp. sea salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

2 cups cooked chicken breast, diced

2 cans peas & carrots, drained

1 can white or black beans, drained & rinsed

1 batch of dough for Buttermilk Gluten-Free Drop Biscuits*

Greast a 4-quart slow cooker.

In small saucepan over medium, whisk together flour and oil.  Slowly stir in milk, broth, salt, & pepper.  Cook on medium for 5-10 minutes or until mixture is thick, mixing often.

Add chicken and veggies to slow cooker, pour cream soup mix over top and stir to combine.

Using an ice cream scoop, drop biscuit dough over top, making sure they all touch.  They will expand as they cook.  

Cover slow cooker and vent lid with spoon handle or chopstick.  Cook on High for 3-4 hours or on Low for 6-8 hours until sauce is bubbling up around the biscuits and biscuits are cooked through.

BUTTERMILK GLUTEN FREE DROP BISCUITS

 1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup sorghum flour

½ cup all purpose gf flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

½ cup arrowroot starch

¼ cup potato starch or tapioca starch

2 Tbsp. pure cane sugar

4 tsp. Hain Grain Free Baking Powder

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. guar gum

½ cup lard

1 ¼ cups hemp milk

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1 egg (or 1 Tbsp. chia or flax seeds mixed with 3 Tbsp. hot water & left to set 5 minutes)

Combine milk and vinegar, let stand 5 minutes.  If using egg replacer, combine and let stand.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Cut lard into dry ingredients with pastry blender or two forks – until it is crumbly.

In smaller bowl, combine egg or replacer, and buttermilk.  Pour buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork.  Dough will be just slightly stiff when mixed.  

This is one of my latest, most-requested meals by my family.  It is soo easy to put together, and is an amazing comfort food dinner!

linked to: glutenfreefridays#26

Guest Post on Pretty Little Celiac - Managing A Family Full of Allergies - One Parent's Super Mom Story

A few weeks ago I was asked to write a guest post for Rebecca Black of Pretty Little Celiac..
       She asked me to write about my journey with children with celiac disease and food allergies.   I am sharing my guest post here, so you can all read our story.

Managing A Family Full Of Allergies - One Parent's Super-Mom Story 

Gluten Free Flour Tortillas

GLUTEN FREE FLOUR TORTILLAS

¾ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose gf flour

½ cup potato starch

½ cup tapioca starch

1 tsp. guar gum

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. Hain Featherweight Baking Powder (grain free)

¼ cup grapeseed oil

1 cup hot water

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Add oil and blend until crumbly.  Add half a cup of the hot water and knead dough in the bowl.  Gradually add the rest of the hot water, a little at a time, until you can knead the dough into a smooth ball.  Sprinkle rice flour on the counter and divide dough into 8-10 small balls.  Cover with a damp towel.  Preheat a non-stick skillet on high.  On the floured surface, roll each ball into tortillas, about 6” wide, working one at a time.  For clean, round tortillas cut around a small plate with a sharp knife.    Place tortilla in skillet for a few seconds until bubbles appear, then flip over and cook other side til slightly golden brown.    Serve warm.

These are fantastic for quesadillas, fajitas, burritos, breakfast burritos, etc. 

Dough can be frozen and thawed with excellent results. 

Roll the dough into a log, then cut in 10 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball, and cover with a wet towel.

Place ball on a floured counter and roll out with a floured rolling pin to about 6" in diameter.

Place in a hot skillet. Wait for bubbles to form, like this before flipping.

Cook the other side 1-2 minutes til golden.

Perfectly warm, soft tortilla!!!

Linked to: Allergy Free Wednesdays

Tuscan Potato, Kale, and Sausage Soup

TUSCAN POTATO, KALE, AND SAUSAGE SOUP

Modified from The Everything Gluten Free Slow Cooker Cookbook

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4 slices bacon, diced

1 lb sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. white wine

2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cups gluten free chicken broth

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

2 cups fresh kale, chopped (may use spinach)

1 cup coconut milk

1.       In a large skillet heat oil and cook bacon and sausage until crisp – about 5 minutes.  Remove bacon and sausage and ad to a greased  4 quart slow cooker.

2.      Saute onion and garlic in the bacon fat until softened, 3-5 minutes.

3.      Deglaze the pan with wine.  Scrape the pan to remove all bits of vegetables and meat.   Add all of the pan contents to the slow cooker.

4.      Add potatoes, chicken broth, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours, until potatoes are very tender.

5.      An hour before serving, stir in the kale and the coconut milk.  Continue to cook for an hour until kale has softened.


Linked to: Gluten Free Fridays #28;

 

Linked to: Weekend Whatever #59