Cooking Video Project Request

Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Lemon Sandwich Cookies

A few years ago I shot some cooking videos with my daughter. Since then, I have been really wanting to do more videos but wasn’t sure how I would like to approach them.

Last night it occurred to me that one of my favorite things to do is to take recipes I grew up with or are very traditional and them create them through the lens of a specific dietary theory. One of my favorite examples of this are the Lemon Bars I created which were a hybrid of Raw Foods & Traditional Foods.

I decided that this was a great idea for a cooking video series! You all submit your favorite recipe that doesn’t fall into your current dietary preference and I’ll remake it for you. I’ll shoot a video and post printable recipes!

So post your favorite recipe and let me know what dietary considerations are preventing you from enjoying it. My specialties are Raw Foods, Gluten-Free, and Paleo/Primal. Please post your request and I’ll get the series started right away!

New Recipe: Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders (grain-free, dairy-free)

As I’ve mentioned previously, I am experimenting with a paleo diet. It is going exceptionally well. I’m amazed at how calm my digestion is, how free of cravings I am, and how much I’m enjoying what I’m eating. I usually eat leftovers for lunch but the other day I decided to make something for lunch. I made a nice big salad with red peppers, mixed greens, and avocado. I also made this easy and tasty pecan-crusted chicken tenders.

So tasty, I barely got a chance to take a photo!

Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders

2 tbs. arrowroot starch
2 tbs. coconut flour
1 cup raw pecans
1 tsp. celtic sea salt or other unrefined salt
black pepper to taste
2 eggs
1-1.25 lbs. chicken breast tenders or chicken breast sliced into strips

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a large baking dish.

In a food processor place starch, coconut flour, pecans and salt. Pulse until you have a coarse meal. Place meal in a wide, shallow bowl. In another bowl whisk two eggs together.

Dip a chicken piece into egg and coat well. Then, place the chicken into pecan meal, press in the meal and flip to coat other side. Place in baking dish. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Place the chicken into preheated oven. Bake for 18 minutes. At this point you can brown them up under a broiler for 3-5 minutes.

Delicious with homemade BBQ sauce, I’ll have to post my Goji BBQ sauce soon to pair with these!

Recent Adventures in Cooking

As usual, I have been doing a lot of cooking. I’m working on a few recipes to share here but for now I have some photos of recent dishes.

Chicken with Sauteed Spring Veggies and Salad

The little chef holding her quinoa salad.

Middle Eastern Spiced Lamb Patties with Quinoa Salad & Roasted Cauliflower

The little chef dishing up some Corn Chowder

Grain-free pizza topped with caramelized onions, beef bacon, apple & cheddar.

Grain-free pizza topped with green olives, jalapenos, & feta.

Nori Rolls filled with cashew spread, rice, sauerkraut, carrots, and cucumber.

Grain-free Blueberry Muffins

New Recipe: “Matzo” Balls (grain-free)

Ok, let me start by saying, I know these are not matzo balls. Matzo balls have to be made from matzo. Technically what I have made in this recipe are just round dumplings for soup. That being said, they do have texture and flavor that is very close to an actual matzo ball.

I have not put a recipe for chicken stock or soup here. I will add a few notes after the recipe that explain the basics of how I prepared my soup though.

“Matzo” Balls (grain-free)

1/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1 tsp. xanthan gum
6 eggs
4 tbs. fat/oil of choice (I used olive oil)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup chicken stock

Fill a large pot with salted water, about 2/3 full. Bring to a simmer while you prepare the batter.

In a small bowl combine dry ingredients: almond meal, coconut flour, arrowroot starch and xanthan gum. In a separate bowl beat eggs. Add oil and salt & pepper and beat well. Add the chicken broth, mixing while you pour it in. Add a little bit of the dry ingredients and beat into eggs. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until well-combined.

Once water is simmering, shape batter into golf ball sized dumplings using wet hands. Drop each dumpling in the water as you finish it. Once all the dumplings are shaped and in the water cover the pot. Simmer the dumplings for 25-30 minutes.

I served mine in a homemade chicken stock seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme and white wine vinegar. I also sauteed onions, carrots and celery for the soup. I garnished the whole thing with parsley.

To serve I added a few “matzo” balls to each bowl and ladled soup over. Any leftovers I just put in the soup to eat the following day.

New Recipe: Cookie Dough Bites (grain-free)

Over the years I have travelled a long and strange dietary journey. On the way I have learned many food preparation and cooking techniques. At this point it seems to be that everything I eat is a hybrid of different dietary theories and cooking techniques.

Chocolate chip cookies are something I could prepare as a standard, gluten-free, traditional foods, raw foods, or paleo version. What I decided to make was more of an amalgamation of all of these into one yummy little bite. I was going for the taste of a standard cookie dough, obviously gluten-free, with grass-fed butter as a nod of the head to traditional foods, unbaked as taught by raw foods, and grain-free as per paleo. What I came up with is a delicious, lightly sweet, and highly addictive snack.

Cookie Dough Bites (grain-free)

8 oz. raw cashews, ground to a coarse meal in food processor
1/4 lb. grassfed, preferably raw, butter
2 tbs. almond butter
2 tbs. raw, unfiltered honey
10 pitted dates
1 tbs. vanilla
salt to taste (I like mine on the salty side)
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup coconut flakes, lightly toasted
1/2 cup finely ground coconut flour
3.5 ounces very dark chocolate (I used 85%), chopped to chocolate chip size

In a food processor combine butter, almond butter, honey, dates, vanilla and salt. Process until well-combined and dates are broken down. This mixture is quite thick so add in the almond milk while the machine is running.

In a bowl combine cashew meal, coconut flakes, and coconut flour. Mix well. Add in wet mixture and combine with dry until evenly mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using wet hands roll mixture into donut hole sized balls and place on a plate. Allow to chill for 30 minutes before serving.

There is a possibility of baking these or dehydrating them. I didn’t try this. If you try let me knw how they hold up.

New Recipe: Avocado Smoothie (sugar-free, vegan)

The first time I had an avocado smoothie was at a banh mi shop which is a Vietnamese sandwich shop. The smoothie consisted of ripe avocado blended with condensed milk and perhaps some ice. It was so creamy and delicious. Alas, I can no longer frequent the banh mi shop but I have been making myself a sugar and dairy free version.

Avocado Smoothie (sugar-free, vegan)

1 can organic coconut milk
1 avocado, ripe and cut into chunks
2 full droppers of vanilla cream stevia
1 tbs. green powder, optional
handful of ice, optional

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If you would like the smoothie to be cold make sure to add in the ice. This is a very thick smoothie and is best enjoyed with a straw.

New Recipe: Gluten-Free Ham & Cheddar Quiche

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, over the weekend we had a brunch party and I cooked up quite the gluten-free spread.  The best part is with the exception of my family none of the guests were gluten-free.  Why is this the best part? Well, I love to test my gf recipes on people who get to eat wheat everyday.  If these people think it’s good it means I’m getting my recipes as close as possible to the real thing. Everyone had rave reviews of the quiche (and the sticky buns, which maybe I’ll share here soon)!

Ham & Cheddar Quiche (gluten-free)

Dough:
1/2 lb. pastured butter, chilled
soup bowl filled with ice water
2 1/2 cups gf flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill blend)
2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar

Filling:
6 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
salt & pepper
pinch of thyme
4 ounces sliced ham
4 ounces cheddar, cut into small cubes
a little bit of butter

Prepare dough:
Take chilled butter and cut into small cubes. Put cubes into a bowl, make sure the cubes are separated and not still stuck together, and chill in the freezer while you get the other parts ready. Place your bowl of ice water next to a food processor and be sure to have a tablespoon ready.

Place flour, xanthan gum, salt and sugar into the food processor. Turn the food processor on and allow dry ingredients to become well combined. With the processor on take your freezer-chilled butter and start dropping in one cube at a time until you have no butter left.

Now, with the machine still running, add a tablespoon of ice water slowly. You may add up to 6 tablespoons of water. I used about 5 tablesppons at which time my dough came together nicely and started rolling around the machine in a ball. I find that gluten-free dough is a bit easier to roll out if it has a little more moisture than a traditional pie dough.

Remove dough from the food processor and split into two pieces. Shape each piece into a small disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove one piece of dough at a time. Open plastic wrap and place a second sheet of plastic wrap over the top. Press the dough out into a larger flatter disk, wrap well and place back in the refrigerator to chill 30 more minutes. Repeat with second piece of dough.

Get two pie pans ready. Lay a piece of parchment paper out on your work surface. Unwrap a chilled disk and place it on parchment paper, place another sheet of parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin and roll out dough, rotating it and even flipping it to try to keep it even as you roll.

Once you have rolled it out remove the top sheet of paper and turn the dough onto a pie dish. Carefully remove the other sheet of paper and press into dish. Crimp edges as desired. Repeat with second piece of dough and chill both pie crusts in freezer for 30 minutes.

Filling & Assembly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove chilled crusts and prick the bottom of the pie crusts with a fork. Place a piece of foil in each crust and fill with dried beans or rice. Place crust in the oven for 20 minutes to prebake.

Heat up a little butter in a small frying pan. Cut ham into ribbons and toss into pan. Saute until warm and browning. Remove from heat and set aside.

Now, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, papper, and thyme. Whisk until well-combined.

Remove crusts from oven and carefully remove the foil and beans/rice. Divide the ham and cheese between the two crusts, evenly distributing. Pour the egg batter into both, filling about 3/4 up the crust.

Return to oven and bake for about an hour. Jiggle the pan to see if they are done. If the center moves around return to the oven until the center is firm.

Allow to cool, slice and enjoy! These keep great in the fridge, just reheat in the oven.

Lots of Cooking

Since moving to Washington I seem to be spending a lot of time on the kitchen preparing food. I am having so much fun cooking for my family as well as the family we are staying with. Yesterday we even had a brunch party. In addition to our two families we hosted three more couples and their children. I cooked until past 3 am on Saturday and then woke to start up again and 8:30am. I made 6 gluten-free quiche, 2 trays of pecan sticky buns, a mint & vanilla citrus salad, a strawberry & mixed greens balsamic salad and a big batch of roasted sweet potatoes & carrots.

I was especially pleased with the quiche. Making pie crusts has never been a strong point for me. I have always been far to impatient for all of the little details a pie crust requires. This time I followed all of the fussy little details though and it really paid off. The crusts were flaky and delicious and no one could believe they were gluten-free. I’m working on recording the recipe and hope to share it with you tomorrow, today I thought I would share a few photos from my recent cooking adventures.

Ham & Cheddar Gluten Free Quiche & Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Carrots

Grain-Free Lemon Sandwich Cookies

This recipe is still under development. The first batch came out pretty good but I’d like to get it a bit better before I share it here. Hopefully within the coming weeks it will be ready for the blog.

Gluten-Free Salmon Souffle

I haven’t made a souffle in years and it was so much fun! I used a gluten-free flour blend in this but I think it might have kept it from rising properly. I’m going to try another one and use a different flour next time.

New Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (gluten-free)

My schedule has been very strange to me without the shop to rush off to every morning. I keep finding myself baking first thing in the morning having nothing that I feel pressed to do at any given moment. This will change as I settle in more. I am addicted to schedules and routines and it makes me batty to have no structure to my day.

I did, however, make some yummy pumpkin muffins a few mornings ago. Having roasted too much squash the night before and with nothing planned it seemed I had no other choice than to do more baking.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (gluten-free)

1 1/2 cups sugar, refined or unrefined
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups roasted pumpkin or winter squash, mashed
5 pastured eggs
1/2 cup water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups GF flour blend of choice, I used Bob’s Red Mill
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl beat oil and sugar together. Add eggs and squash and combine well, then water and vanilla. In a small bowl add all dry ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix dry ingredients until well-combined. Add a third of mixed dry ingredients to wet batter and beat in until smooth. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth. Add chocolate chips and mix well.

Fill muffin cups at least 3/4 high. Bake for 30 minutes until baked through.

New Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake (gluten-free, grain-free)

Now that we’re settling into our new home it is time for me to start cooking, that seems to be my way of settling into a new environment. Since we are staying with another family I get the chance to cook for even more people which makes me even more happy. I think I would be happiest cooking for a whole commune.

In honor of Valentine’s Day yesterday I cooked a big feast and this cake was the finale. This is a cake I used to bake at Gathering Grounds in Patagonia, AZ. I’m sure it was based on another recipe but at this point I have no idea what the original source is.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce

cake
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 pastured butter
6 eggs, separated
12 tbs. granulated sugar (refined or unrefined)
2 tsp. vanilla

raspberry sauce
24 ounces frozen raspberries, defrosted
4 tbs. pastured butter
1/4 cup sweetener of choice
1 tsp. vanilla
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9″ springform pan by lining the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Assemble pan and grease. Wrap the outside of the pan with foil.

In a double boiler melt chocolate chips and butter, remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl add 6 egg yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar, beat until thick, creamy, and the yolks have lightened in color. Take melted chocolate and slowly add to egg yolks while beating consistently. Beat in vanilla.

Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer (I’ve done this by hand but it is a workout!) add egg whites. Start beating and slowly add 6 tablespoons of sugar as you beat the whites until they hold a firm peak.

Add a small amount of whites to the chocolate mixture and carefully mix in, then add the rest of the whites and carefully fold in. Now gently transfer the batter to prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.

When the cake is done set out and allow the cake to cool in the pan for about an hour or two. If you like a dense cold cake you can transfer it to the refrigerator at some point. I prefer the cake served at room temperature. When you are ready to serve run a knife carefully around the cake and then carefully open the cake pan.

For the raspberry sauce, add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and put over medium high heat. Stir ingredients until they are totally broken down, bring to a simmer. Let mixture simmer for a few minutes and then pour through a sieve to remove seeds. Use a wooden spoon to be sure you’ve extracted all of the juice from the seeds. I chilled the raspberry sauce before serving.

When slicing this cake have a wet rag handy to wipe the knife between cuts. Serve with some raspberry sauce.