Gluten free muffins September 28, 2009

Ingredients:
- 4 eggs,
- 200 grams (1 and ¼ cups) almond flour,
- 200 grams (1 and ¼ cups) sugar,
- two tablespoon of chopped semisweet chocolate,
- one teaspoons baking powder.
- rom extract or almond extract.

Beat the whites very well.
In the yolks add the baking powder.
In the beaten whites add slowly the almond flour, the yolks with baking powder, almond extract and chocolate.
Add the composition in muffins pan.
Bake in preheated oven – at 375 F for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is a light brown.
If you like – you can sprinkle some confectioner sugar on top.

Enjoy!

Flourless orange and almond cake -Gluten free September 28, 2009

Ingredients:
2 oranges
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
300g (3 cups) ground almonds(almond meal)
1 tsp baking powder

Wash oranges and boiled them (unpeeled) in a pot (it is water in the pan) for 2 hours.
Drain the water and allow the oranges to cool.
Blend the oranges in a blender or food processor to a smooth consistency.

Preheat oven to 180° C – 356° F.

Beat the egg yolk and sugar using an electric mixer until smooth. Add the orange puree and beat. Add the baking powder and ground almond and beat at low speed until just combined.

Beat the egg whites in another bowl until firm peak forms. Add the whites to the almond batter and fold in gently until just combined.

Grease a spring form baking pan with margarine (or vegetable oil spray).

Pour batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.

Serve with fresh oranges or your favorite homemade jam.

Gluten-free simple salad September 27, 2009

Shred all the veggies and add simple vinaigrette (salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar).
Here is the result.

Enjoy!

Almond delight – Gluten Free September 18, 2009

One of my favorite recipe – if is easy and very healthy. The initial recipe was with blueberries but I have changed it with apples and some semisweet chocolate.

Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs,
- 200 grams (1 and ¼ cups) almond flour,
- Two apples and one spoon of chopped semisweet chocolate,
- Two teaspoons baking powder.

Beat the whites very well.
Grate the apples on the grater. For me the two apples were fine – because I wanted to have 400 grams – grated apples and chocolate.
In the yolks add two teaspoons of baking powder.
In the beaten whites add slowly the almond flour, the yolks with baking powder, the grated apples and chocolate.
Add the composition in muffins pan or in a cake pan. I use a cake pan because I don’t have at that time a muffin’s one.
Bake in preheated oven – at 375 F for 25 minutes or until the crust is a light brown.
If you like – you can sprinkle some confectioner sugar on top.

Enjoy!

Good stuff September 17, 2008

Mixed Fruit Cider Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

1 quart apple cider
1 quart pineapple juice
3 cinnamon sticks
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1 orange, thinly sliced

In a Dutch oven, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain mixture, discarding solids. Serve warm.

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Orange Banana Smoothie Copyright Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (4 oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup strawberries, tops removed, and cut in 1/2
1 to 1 1/2 ripe bananas

Combine the orange juice, lime juice, strawberries, and banana in a blender and process until smooth. Refrigerate until cold.

Molten Lava Cakes August 22, 2008

6 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
2 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) butter
1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange liqueur

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups. Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave, or in a double boiler. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange liqueur. Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates.

Strawberry Fool August 13, 2008

A fool is an old-fashioned English dessert that is made from pureed fruit and whipped cream or custard. It can be made with a variety of different fruits. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, or kiwi make great fools.

1 cup fresh fruit, strawberries in this case

2-3 Tablespoons of sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon of sugar

Puree about 3/4 cup of the fresh fruit with 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar. Sweeten to taste- When you use fresh fruit there is no way to know, without tasting, the exact amount of sugar needed. Refrigerate the puree for several hours or overnight.

Place the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the refrigerator for a few minutes until cold. Whip the cream and a tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the fruit puree- leaving some white streaks of cream. Transfer into wine glasses and layer with the left-over strawberries. Cover and refrigerate for up to four hours before serving time.

You may consider adding liqueur or orange/lemon zest.

Serves 4.

This pecepie recepie is from http://glutenfreemommy.com/.

Cornmeal Pancakes August 13, 2008

I found this recipe online and I want to try it. I’m writing it down because I don’t want to lose it. So there it is:

CORNMEAL PANCAKES

2 cups stoneground yellow cornmeal, medium grain
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, rice flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, beat the buttermilk, water, oil and egg with a fork until blended. Add to the cornmeal mixture and mix until lumps are eliminated.
Lightly oil a griddle and heat over medium heat. For each pancake, the recipe recommends pouring about a 1/4 cup of the batter onto the griddle. I made my pancakes slightly larger. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until brown. Turn the pancakes and cook for about 2 minutes longer, or until browned on the second side. I kept my pancakes warm in the oven. My pancakes cooked a little faster than this on med. heat.

This pecepie recepie is from http://glutenfreemommy.com/.

Lemon Yogurt Cake August 3, 2008

I like lemon and I like cake. So I will try this lemon cake- it is from foodnetwork.com. The only change I will do – change all-purpouse flour with gluten-free all-purpouse flour.

Lemon Yogurt Cake Copyright 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved
Show: Barefoot Contessa

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Polenta July 24, 2008

500g yellow corn meal,
1 1/2 liter water,
1 teaspoon salt

Boil the water in a pot. When the water is simmering add salt and a bit of corn meal. When it boils fully pour more and more of the corn meal, sprinkling little by little, all around the pot, while continuously stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon. When the mix becomes thick enough stop adding corn meal. Take into account that it will become quite a lot thicker when boiling, and that it shouldn’t be too thick in the end so we can still mix it easily with cheese. Keep stirring the pot, pressing the spoon against the side of the pot. You’ll know when the polenta is boiled enough by tasting a bit. It should taste like cooked (boiled) corn, rather than the raw corn meal.

Enjoy!